English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 08/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox
or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13/10-17/:"Jesus
was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there
appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was
bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he
called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’When he
laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the
sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be
done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.’ But the Lord
answered him and said, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?
And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen
long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?’ When he said
this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at
all the wonderful things that he was doing."
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 07-08/2024
Gallant warns: Hezbollah may hit Israel harder than Iran
Fatalities in Israeli attack include head of Hezbollah’s anti-tank rocket unit
Hezbollah poised to strike Israel independent of Iran, sources say
UK, Egypt issue alerts for Iran, Lebanon airspace as risks of military conflict
rise
Pakistan urges citizens to leave Lebanon amid escalating tensions in Middle East
Breaking the Sound Barrier vs. Mock Raids: Understanding the Tactics Behind
Recent Alarms
Impending Conflict: How a Potential War Between Hezbollah and Israel Could
Reshape the Region
South Lebanon: Hezbollah Commander Killed in Jwaya Strike
Two Killed, Several Injured in Drone Strike in Jwaya
Israel's Internal Debate: Prioritizing Hostage Deal vs. Preemptive Strike on
Lebanon
Spain supports Gaza ceasefire, emphasizes need for peace in Lebanon in call with
Report: US efforts with Iran may be paying off, Hezbollah 'wild card'
US Offers Repatriation Loans to Citizens Who Need Assistance
MEA confirms flight operations for August 9-13; Minor revisions cited
Abi Ramia Resigns from FPM, Reveals Behind the Scenes Truths
Another Year of Presidential Vacancy in Sight
Geagea says south suffering due to reasons related to 'Iran's national security'
British troops on standby for major evacuation of expats from Lebanon
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 07-08/2024
Iran warns airlines to avoid its airspace for 3 hours on Thursday over
military drills, Egypt says
Iran may be reconsidering major strike on Israel after American show of force -
report
Rights groups condemn Iran’s ‘abhorrent’ execution of protester
Saudi Arabia says Ismail Haniyeh’s killing is a ‘blatant violation’ of Iran’s
sovereignty
Pro-government fighters attack areas of US-backed fighters in east Syria. 2
killed
Israel 'cannot be saved from annihilation,' says Iranian army commander
Iranian president Pezeshkian asks supreme leader to refrain from attacking
Israel - report
US has communicated need to not escalate conflict to Iran and Israel, says
Blinken
Israel vows to ‘eliminate’ new Hamas leader as war enters 11th month
Over 1,000 UK troops ready to evacuate nearly 16,000 Britons from Lebanon amid
fears of war escalation
Iran asks airlines to avoid its airspace: Report says
Macron tells Netanyahu to ‘avoid cycle of reprisals’
EU, France, UK slam Israel minister for Gaza starvation comment
Netanyahu warns of proactive attack as Tehran speaks of Israel’s annihilation
Hamas leader’s killing risks ‘wider conflict,’ OIC chair warns
Israel court hears bid to close prison where soldiers are accused of sexually
assaulting Palestinian
Egypt imposes 3-hour no-fly zone over Tehran Thursday morning
Yemen's Houthis target vessels, company says Contship Ono not hit, crew safe
Turkey formally asks to join the genocide case against Israel at the UN court
Kurdish fighters kill Turkish soldier in Iraq: ministry
Ukrainian forces continue cross-border incursion into Russia, Moscow claims
Thousands rally against racism in several UK cities: AFP
US wants to know Ukraine 'objectives' in Russia incursion
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources on August 07-08/2024
The Truth about the (Muslim?) Murderer of Three British Children/Raymond
Ibrahim/The Stream/August 07/2024
Telling Their Story: Israeli Warriors in a Political Game/Nils A. Haug/Gatestone
Institute/August 7, 2024
World War III Coming Soon, U.S. Military Woefully Unprepared/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone
Institute/August 7, 2024
The importance of a judicial process against soldiers suspected of torturing
terrorists/Prof. Suzie Navot/Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
Israel's Worrying Power: Its Disruption and Activation/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/August
07/2024
Decades of Absurdity/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 07/2024
Sinwar’s Appointment: Extremism and War in Gaza and Lebanon/Bassam Abou Zeid/This
Is Beirut/August 07/2024
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on August 07-08/2024
Gallant warns: Hezbollah may hit Israel harder than Iran
Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
IDF to reinvade Beit Hanoun • Halevi promises quick response if Iran attacks
Israel
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Wednesday that Hezbollah may hit Israel
harder than Iran, noting that it may misread and downplay how hard Israel will
hit back If civilians are killed. While at a military drill in the North,
Gallant said, “As things stand, Nasrallah may drag Lebanon into paying extremely
heavy prices. The heaviest there are. They do not realize what could happen” to
them. The defense minister added, “if they looked at the pictures of Gaza, I
believe they would understand, but sometimes logic is overcome.” he told the
646th Paratroopers Brigade of reservists. Further, he stated that the situation
could “deteriorate into a full war. This is not theoretical, but very real.”
Likewise, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi on Wednesday said that “we
are at the high point of readiness” should Iran or Hezbollah attack, including
ready to quickly go on the attack. Moreover, Halevi said that Hamas’s decision
to make Yahya Sinwar its overall political leader to replace Ismail Haniyeh will
not give him any immunity from being killed for his masterminding of the October
7 mass slaughter of Israelis in the South. Separately, IDF Arabic Spokesperson
Avichay Adraee warned Gazan civilians in the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza, including
those in the Manshiyya and Sheikh Zayed neighborhoods and those currently
residing in shelters in the vicinity, to evacuate the area in a post to X,
formerly Twitter, early Wednesday morning.
Beit Hanoun is a city located in the northern portion of the Gaza Strip. Adraee
noted that Hamas and other terrorist organizations were using the area to fire
rockets at Israel, and the IDF was set to "act forcefully against them." The
Arabic-language spokesperson added that those in the area should immediately
evacuate to shelters in central Gaza City. The IDF did not provide updates on
its forces entering those areas, but every time recently that the military has
evacuated such an area, around a brigade of soldiers invades not long after to
take apart any attempt by Hamas to reconstitute itself. There have been close to
10 such reinvasions to date since the IDF first gained control of northern Gaza
in mid-January and then withdrew from the area.
Rockets in Israel's South
All of this came after rocket alarms sounded in the southern Israeli localities
of Ashkelon, Sderot, Ibim, Nir Am, and Zikim on Tuesday evening when Hamas fired
three rockets from Beit Hanoun. The military added that one of the rockets was
intercepted by Israel's aerial defense array, and the others fell in open areas.
No injuries were reported, but the IDF did not explain why it did not shoot down
the other rockets. Also, Israel struck Hamas targets in southern Gaza after
dozens of rockets were fired over the last week from nearby two humanitarian aid
warehouses, including UNRWA, at Israel, the IDF said on Wednesday morning. The
IDF added that after the air force conducted the targeted strikes on the launch
sites, secondary explosions were detected, indicating the presence of additional
weapons at the site. The military noted that Hamas continues to systematically
use civilian, as well as humanitarian, infrastructure to conduct its activities.
In the North, the IDF announced Wednesday morning that Air Force fighter jets
struck a Hezbollah military base where terrorists were located and operating on
Tuesday in the area of the Yaroun village in Lebanon. In addition, the fighter
jets also struck a Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure site in the area of
Kfarkela in southern Lebanon. On Tuesday,19 Israelis were wounded by Hezbollah’s
drone attacks, according to the Galilee Medical Center in Safed. The strikes
come as tension remains high between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah after Israel
killed Hezbollah's military commander, Fuad Shukr. Israel's strike on Shukr came
following a Hezbollah rocket launch, which resulted in the deaths of 12 children
from the Druze town of Majdal Shams. In addition, Iran has vowed to attack
Israel directly following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in the
early hours of Wednesday last week.
Fatalities in Israeli attack include head of Hezbollah’s
anti-tank rocket unit
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/August 07, 2024
BEIRUT: Two people were killed — one a civilian and the other, according to the
Israeli army, the head of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s anti-tank rocket unit — and
seven others injured on Wednesday in renewed Israeli hostilities in several
towns in southern Lebanon. An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in the town of
Jouaiyya at noon, and a passing car was hit, injuring those inside. The
emergency operations center at the Ministry of Health reported that two people
were killed, Hezbollah member Hassan Fares Jeshi and a civilian named Mohammed
Hassan Shoumar, while four others were injured.
The Israeli army said: “Hassan Fares is the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank
rocket unit.”Israeli artillery shelling and air raids continued on border towns
known for their loyalty to Hezbollah. These attacks hit the towns of Blida, Tayr
Harfa, Khiam, Jebbayn, Chihine, Majdelyoun, Naqoura, Zibqin, Chaqra, Baraachit,
Halta, Kounine, Mhaibib, and Kfarkela. The emergency operations center said that
“phosphorus artillery shelling targeted the town of Shebaa, causing a citizen to
suffer from suffocation, requiring hospitalization.”Hezbollah responded by
targeting “the Raheb site and the Jal Al-Alam site with artillery shells, and
the Malikiyah site with missile weapons.”Israeli warplanes breached the sound
barrier for the second successive day over Beirut. The National News Agency in
Lebanon reported that Israeli aircraft did the same in two waves over the cities
of Sidon and Jezzine, and various parts in the south of the country, with
activists on social media sharing footage of planes breaching Lebanese airspace.
Inhabitants of Beirut and dozens of towns in the Mount Lebanon region had
experienced severe panic on Tuesday as Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier
at low altitude, causing a loud boom.
Border villages adjacent to the Blue Line in the western and central sectors
suffered hours of tension later in the day with the Israeli army firing flares,
while Hezbollah carried out nine operations against Israeli military sites.
Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Tuesday that
a response to last week’s assassination of the group’s prominent military leader
Fuad Shukr was “inevitable.”The Israelis are also anticipating the response of
Hezbollah and Iran to the assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh
in Tehran just hours after Shukr’s death in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “The Israeli army is constantly
developing its defensive and offensive capabilities.”Meanwhile, leaflets were
dropped on Wednesday in predominantly Druze regions, especially in the Choueifat
area, bearing pictures of the children who were victims of the Majdal Shams
attack in the occupied Golan, which killed 12 people. These carried the words:
“We will avenge them, Hezbollah.”Israel has accused Hezbollah of shelling the
soccer field in Majdal Shams, but Hezbollah strongly denies responsibility for
the attack, while Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has declared his support
for the Iran-backed group.
Hezbollah poised to strike Israel independent of Iran,
sources say
Alex Marquardt and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN/August 7, 2024
Hezbollah looks increasingly like it may strike Israel independent of whatever
Iran may intend to do, two sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN. The
Lebanon-based militant group is moving faster than Iran in its planning and is
looking to strike Israel in the coming days, one of the sources said. Iran,
meanwhile, appears to still be working out how it plans to respond, multiple
officials have told CNN. One US military official told CNN that Iran had made
some, but not all, of the preparations that the US would expect to see in
advance of a major attack on Israel. But given Lebanon’s proximity to Israel as
its direct neighbor to the north, Hezbollah could act with little to no notice,
the second source familiar with the intelligence said — which is not true of
Iran. It is not clear how or if Iran and Hezbollah, the nation’s most powerful
proxy, are coordinating on a possible attack right now, the person added, and
there is a sense among some officials that the two may not be entirely aligned
on how to move forward. Looming attacks would come in response to Israel last
week killing the top military commander for Hezbollah, Fu’ad Shukr, in Lebanon.
The next day, Israel is widely believed to have assassinated Hamas’ political
leader in Tehran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in
that incident. In the days since, countries around the world are closely
watching the region. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation convened an
extraordinary meeting on Wednesday at the level of foreign ministers to address
ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The meeting, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,
resulted in a draft final communiqué “condemning Israel’s actions” and
reaffirming solidarity with the Palestinian cause. A significant highlight of
the communiqué was the condemnation of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh,
Hamas leader and former Palestinian Prime Minister, in Tehran. The OIC held
Israel responsible for this act, calling it a “heinous crime and a violation of
international law and the UN Charter.” The organization warned that such actions
by Israel “undermine” regional security and stability. This week, President Joe
Biden and his top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have held a
flurry of calls with counterparts across the Middle East. They have each had
numerous exchanges with the leaders and foreign ministers of Jordan, Qatar and
Egypt with a message of de-escalation.
UK, Egypt issue alerts for Iran, Lebanon airspace as
risks of military conflict rise
Joanna Plucinska and Rajesh Kumar Singh/LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters)/ August 7, 2024
Britain and Egypt asked their airlines on Wednesday to avoid Iranian and
Lebanese airspace amid growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the
region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and
Hezbollah. Britain's advisory to its airlines to avoid Lebanon's airspace came
hours after Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iran's airspace for
three hours in the early morning on Thursday. Many airlines globally are
revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace while also
calling off flights to Israel and Lebanon. Flights through conflict zones became
a prominent industry safety issue a decade ago after Malaysia Airlines flight
MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. U.S.-based
United Airlines said on Wednesday its flights to Tel Aviv, which were paused on
July 31 due to security concerns, remained suspended. "We continue to closely
monitor the situation and will focus on the safety of our customers and crews as
we decide when to resume service," the airline said.
Its rival Delta Air Lines has paused its flights between New York and Tel Aviv
through Aug. 31. British carriers are not flying to Lebanon currently, according
to flight tracking website Flightradar24. Singapore Airlines stopped flying
through Iranian airspace last Friday and is using alternative routes, saying
safety is its top priority. Similarly, Egyptian airlines have already been
avoiding Iran's airspace. The new directive applies to all Egyptian carriers,
including charter operators and other smaller airlines, said Mark Zee, founder
of OPSGROUP - a membership-based organization that shares flight-risk
information.
Egypt's NOTAM, a safety notice provided to pilots, said the instruction would be
in effect from 0100 to 0400 GMT on Thursday. "All Egyptian carriers shall avoid
overflying Tehran (Flight Information Region). No flight plan will be accepted
overflying such territory," the notice said, referring to the three-hour period
specified. Egypt's civil aviation ministry later confirmed on Wednesday the
notice was intended to reduce flight safety risks in light of a notification it
received from Iranian authorities. "Military exercises will be conducted over
Iranian airspace on Aug. 7 from 11:30 to 14:30 and from 4:30 to 7:30 on Aug. 8
Tehran time," the statement said. The ministry's press statement followed an
unnamed source quoted by the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV as saying that
Iranian authorities had said to avoid flying in the country's airspace because
of "military exercises."
Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani spoke with the Egyptian foreign
minister by phone on Wednesday, according to Iranian foreign ministry's website.
In 2020, Iranian air defence units said they mistakenly shot down Ukrainian
International Airlines flight PS752, killing all 176 people on board, shortly
after it took off from Tehran airport. At the time, they were on heightened
alert because of increased tensions with the United States. On Sunday, Jordanian
authorities asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes'
worth of extra fuel. Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their
airspace earlier this year amidst aerial attacks on Israel. (Reporting by Joanna
Plucinska in London and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Additional reporting by
Jaidaa Taha, Yomna Ehab and Mohamed Ezz in Cairo; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Rod
Nickel, Marguerita Choy and Jamie Freed)
Pakistan urges citizens to leave Lebanon amid escalating
tensions in Middle East
Arab News Pakistan/August 07, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office issued an advisory related to Lebanon on
Tuesday, urging its citizens to leave the Arab country or avoid traveling there
amid escalating security tensions in the region following the recent
assassinations of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut and the Hamas political chief
in Tehran. The killings of Hezbollah’s Fouad Shukr and Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh
occurred within a span of a few hours in different parts of the Middle East last
month, raising fears of a broader regional conflict as Iran threatened to
retaliate against Israel in response to the latter event.
The Netanyahu administration did not claim responsibility for targeting Haniyeh,
though it was widely believed to be behind the attack in Tehran while the Hamas
leader was visiting Iran to attend the inauguration of its new president.
Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has already been engaged in skirmishes with
Israel since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza on October 7. “In view of the
recent developments and the prevailing security situation in the region, all
Pakistanis are advised to avoid travel to Lebanon till further notice,” the
foreign office said in the advisory. “All Pakistani nationals presently residing
in Lebanon are advised to leave Lebanon while the commercial flights remain
available,” it continued. “Those staying in Lebanon are advised to exercise
extreme caution especially with regard to vulnerable areas.”The foreign office
also shared the contact details of its diplomatic mission Beirut, asking its
citizens in Lebanon to remain in contact with its embassy. Israel launched its
air and ground offensive targeting Gaza last October following a surprise attack
by Hamas in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken
hostages. The Palestinian group said its attack was in response to the
deteriorating condition of Palestinian people living under occupation. Israel’s
response was widely viewed as disproportionate by the international community in
which nearly 40,000 people, mostly women and children, have died. Since the
outset of the conflict, the international community has remained concerned the
war could also spread to other parts of the Middle East.
Breaking the Sound Barrier vs. Mock Raids: Understanding
the Tactics Behind Recent Alarms
LBCI/August 07/2024
“The enemy might resort to breaking the sound barrier over the Dahieh
suburbs."With this statement, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah began
his speech on Tuesday, placing it within the context of the psychological
warfare that Israel is waging against Lebanon. But was the sound that shattered
windows and alarmed Lebanese actually a breach of the sound barrier? The answer
is both yes and no. The sound that terrified residents of Beirut and Mount
Lebanon was caused primarily by a breach of the sound barrier and secondly by
mock Israeli air raids. But what’s the difference between the two? The sound
barrier refers to the speed at which sound waves travel through the air,
reaching 1235 km/h. When an aircraft moves at a speed equal to or exceeding the
speed of sound, it is said to be breaking the sound barrier, creating a sonic
boom. On the other hand, a mock raid is a military tactic from World War II
where aircraft fly at high speeds and close to the ground, creating a sonic boom
to induce fear and confusion without actually conducting an attack. So, while
the sound barrier is a physical phenomenon occurring when an aircraft exceeds
the speed of sound, a mock raid is a military tactic used to create a
psychological effect. In both cases, the result is the same: fear.
Impending Conflict: How a Potential War Between Hezbollah
and Israel Could Reshape the Region
LBCI/August 07/2024
Some view it as inevitable, while others see it as an event that could transform
the region and shift the global balance of power. This is the potential
comprehensive war between Hezbollah and Israel, and the question is: how might
such a conflict unfold if it occurs? Many Western newspapers and think tanks
have rushed to address this question. CNN argues that both sides have been
preparing for the next war since the July 2006 conflict, presenting a scenario
where Hezbollah launches between 2,500 and 3,000 rockets and shells daily for
weeks, targeting Israeli military sites and cities. Ironically, the newspaper
notes that Hezbollah fired about 4,000 rockets during the 2006 war, which lasted
34 days, averaging only 117 rockets per day. In 2006, Israeli warplanes bombed
Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, but according to the newspaper, the
next war could see Hezbollah targeting Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel
Aviv. The report adds that Haifa, which was hit by Hezbollah rockets in 2006,
may face attacks on additional cities deeper within Israel. The US Center for
Strategic and International Studies revealed that Hezbollah possesses between
120,000 and 200,000 rockets, including tens of thousands of short-range,
unguided ballistic missiles like the Zilzal-1 and Zilzal-2, which can carry over
half a ton of explosives, as well as guided missiles like the Fateh-110, of
which Hezbollah has several hundred. The report indicates that Israel will rely
on the Iron Dome system to intercept the barrage of rockets from Hezbollah.
However, given the enormous volume, this system might come under significant
strain, forcing Tel Aviv to respond with intensive airstrikes aimed at
destroying rocket launch platforms and weapon storage facilities. The center
also anticipates that the conflict might escalate to a limited ground invasion
of Lebanon by Israel. In addition to the intensity of the rocket fire, Israel
faces a new challenge in the form of drones, which have proven effective in
penetrating defenses and reaching military targets. The principle of "unified
fronts" or "theater integration" has also emerged as a new factor. The
next war, if it happens, might not be confined to Hezbollah and Israel alone but
could involve other parties, such as the Houthis and Islamic resistance groups
in Iraq. The leader of one of these groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, has stated that if
the US supports an Israeli attack on Lebanon, US interests in the region,
particularly in Iraq, will become targets. With all these analyses, any scenario
for the onset and potential expansion of the war is plausible, but its outcome
and results remain contingent on the battlefield.
South Lebanon: Hezbollah Commander Killed in Jwaya Strike
This is Beirut/August 07/2024
A drone attack on a motorcycle in Jwaya on Wednesday morning killed two people,
including Hezbollah commander Hassan Fares Jashi. The pro-Iranian group later
mourned him in a statement.
Read more:
https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/lebanon/279887
According to the Public Health Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of
Public Health, seven others were wounded in the strike. The Israeli army
announced earlier that “Jashi was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile
unit.”The second casuality was Mohammad Hassan Shomer.
Additionally, Israeli warplanes raided Kfar Kila, Kounine and Halta, where a
house was completely destroyed with no injuries reported. Mohaybib Square was
also targeted by Israeli artillery. For their part, Hezbollah announced
“shelling the Malkiya position and achieving direct hits.” Hezbollah also
declared targeting the Jal al-Alam base with artillery. On the other hand,
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Hezbollah’s
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah “seems to be driving Lebanon to pay a heavy
price.”Gallant, who was on a tour of the northern front with Lebanon, was quoted
by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth saying that “something unimaginable and
beyond comprehension could happen,” warning that “it is possible that this
battle could escalate into war, and that is realistic, not theoretical.”
Two Killed, Several Injured in Drone Strike in Jwaya
This Is Beirut/August 07/2024
A drone strike targeted a motorcycle in the town of Jwaya in the Tyre district.
The Public Health Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of Public Health
issued a statement announcing that the strike led, in an initial toll, to the
death of two people and the injury of four others. Israeli warplanes shattered
tranquility over several areas in Lebanon, breaking the sound barrier not once,
but twice on Wednesday. The sonic boom Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier
twice on Wednesday over Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Bshamoun, Aramoun, Khaldeh,
Shweifat, Iqlim al-Kharroub, Jezzine, and Sidon, flying at a medium altitude in
the skies of the south. In recent field developments, alarm sirens blared in
Shtula in the Western Sector on the border with Lebanon. Cluster artillery
shelling targeted the Wadi Hassan Area linking the villages of Tayr Harfa, Al-Jabin,
Shihin, and Majdal Zun.
UNIFIL
In addition, UNIFIL forces are detonating munitions left over from recent
Israeli attacks in the firing range area of Ras al-Naqoura, the echoes of which
can be heard relatively far away. In response to circulating rumors, UNIFIL
spokesperson Andrea Tenenti clarified to This is Beirut the situation of family
members of service personnel. He emphasized that UNIFIL ceased being a family
duty station in April, with dependents departing in May, reaffirming the
mission’s ongoing operational status. “UNIFIL has not been a family duty station
since April. Family and dependents left in May. We continue to be operational,”
he affirmed to This is Beirut. He explained that “in Beirut, the UN decided to
apply some security measures for extra caution and applied some temporary
restrictions for family. Therefore, most UN dependents left, but this is a
temporary measure,” he added.
UK Deployment
In a separate report by ‘The Times,’ the British publication highlighted
preparations for a potential evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon amidst
apprehensions of an Israeli assault on the country’s international airport. More
than a thousand British troops are reportedly on standby, with military
personnel, including Royal Marine commandos, already stationed at RAF Akrotiri
in Cyprus, ready for swift deployment if required. This scenario has prompted
comparisons to Operation Pitting, the 2021 mission to rescue British citizens
from Kabul. The British newspaper reported that officials familiar with US
intelligence believe Iran will retaliate against Israel later in the week or at
the weekend, after a meeting on Wednesday of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation.
David Lammy
Furthermore, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy engaged in discussions with
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, urging Iran to exercise restraint in
the face of escalating tensions. Lammy cautioned against actions that could
hinder progress toward a Gaza ceasefire, stressing the grave consequences of a
conflict between Israel and Lebanon that would serve no one’s interests.
Israel's Internal Debate: Prioritizing Hostage Deal vs.
Preemptive Strike on Lebanon
LBCI/August 07/2024
The internal conflict in Israel today is between security and political factions
that prioritize reaching a hostage exchange deal and the military establishment
which insists on launching a preemptive strike against Lebanon. While General
Michael Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, has succeeded in preventing the
preemptive strike, the US continues to bolster the region with military and
defensive equipment to deter any attack against Israel from Iran, Hezbollah, or
both. However, these measures still fail to fully reassure Tel Aviv, which has
now entered its second week of anxiety over the northern front. The Israeli
military continues to mobilize its forces while the heightened threats from
Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, especially concerning Haifa,
have increased Israeli fears. As politicians and military officials attempt to
reassure Israelis that any strike would not target civilians, others argue that
the removal of ammonia from Haifa does not necessarily mean the city is safe for
several reasons. Some factories in the city still retain small amounts of
ammonia for necessary use, and in the Haifa Bay area, petrochemical plants and
oil refineries contain significant quantities of hazardous materials.
Additionally, there are dozens of factories handling dangerous materials and a
substantial number of gas tanks. Architects have expressed concerns about
potential attacks on densely populated residential areas, and other
neighborhoods that are effectively "trapped" with only one entrance and exit,
which could complicate rescue operations and increase the danger to civilians.
Spain supports Gaza ceasefire, emphasizes need for peace in
Lebanon in call with
LBCI/August 07/2024
In a phone call with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, Lebanese
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib reiterated the need to put an end to Israeli
escalation in Lebanon and the region to avoid entering into a full-scale
regional war that would benefit no one. He called on the international community
and the European Union to abandon the policy of double standards and adopt
unified standards in the ongoing conflict. He urged them to act urgently to stop
the war crimes committed by Israel in Lebanon and Gaza and its "reckless" plans
to prolong the war. Minister Bou Habib thanked Spain for its supportive stance
towards Lebanon, its solidarity, and its efforts to avert dangers from the
country. For his part, Minister Albares emphasized that Spain views the
developments in Lebanon and the region with great concern and is significantly
involved in efforts to prevent escalation and achieve an immediate ceasefire in
Gaza. He stressed that Spain has advocated in international forums and within
the European Union to stop the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and prevent any
Israeli attack on it. Additionally, Minister Bou Habib received a phone call
from Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, during which they discussed
the developments in Lebanon and the region. The Cypriot minister affirmed his
country's support for Lebanon, stressing the need for restraint, de-escalation,
and full implementation of Resolution 1701.
Report: US efforts with Iran may be paying off, Hezbollah 'wild card'
Naharnet/August 07/2024
U.S. President Joe Biden over the past week conducted an intense round of
diplomacy and military preparation to stave off a catastrophic war in the Middle
East, the Washington Post has reported. “The White House effort has included
back-channel talks with Iran to urge restraint, blunt warnings to Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to obstruct a cease-fire in Gaza, and the
dispatch of a U.S. naval and air armada to protect Israel and other U.S. allies
if deterrence fails,” the U.S. newspaper said. “The risk of a devastating
regional war remains uncomfortably high. But White House officials said Tuesday
they believe Biden’s efforts may be paying off. Iran may be reconsidering a plan
for major retaliation after last Wednesday’s assassination of Hamas leader
Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, is still a wild
card,” the daily quoted officials as saying. The Iranian response has been
complicated by seeming confusion over the circumstances of Haniyeh’s death.
Tehran at first claimed he was killed by an Israeli missile, requiring a similar
Iranian response. But officials say that Tehran has concluded privately that he
was instead eliminated by a concealed bomb, perhaps prompting a different
response. The Iranian regime is said to have conducted similar targeted attacks
in third countries. Tehran may also be dissuaded by the U.S. show of force this
week, and secret White House communications passed via the Swiss embassy in
Tehran and the Iranian mission at the United Nations.“Iran understands clearly
that the United States is unwavering in its defense of our interests, our
partners and our people. We have moved a significant amount of military assets
to the region to underscore that principle,” a senior administration official
told the Washington Post.
U.S. messages to Iran have also made clear that the risk of a major escalation
is extremely high, with serious consequences for the stability of the new
government of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Since the recent “contentious” phone
call between Biden and Netanyahu, the Israeli leader “has moved toward the
U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal,” the newspaper said. “As of last week, Netanyahu
was insisting on changes in the U.S.-negotiated formula that mediators feared
would be dealbreakers. This week, he is said to have advised at least one member
of his right-wing coalition that he supports the pact without amendments,” the
daily reported. “The United States stands firmly behind the cease-fire and
hostage release deal that is now on the table,” a senior U.S. administration
official told the newspaper. “All that’s left are issues surrounding the
implementation of the deal. We are prepared to push this to closure,” the
official added.
US Offers Repatriation Loans to Citizens Who Need Assistance
This Is Beirut/August 07/2024
The US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, through a statement
released by the US Embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday, has extended a lifeline to
financially struggling American citizens in need of assistance to return to the
United States, offering them the option to apply for a repatriation loan.
The statement emphasized key considerations when considering a repatriation loan
from the US government. This loan may cover transportation expenses, short-term
sustenance, lodging, and travel-related fees. Clarifying the nature of this
financial support, the statement sternly reminds applicants that the
repatriation loan is a financial obligation towards the US Government, with the
expectation that it will be repaid over time, inclusive of interest, penalties,
and additional charges for late payments as dictated by law and regulations. The
embassy suggested that a repatriation loan may be used to purchase a one-way
ticket back to the United States based on availability. “Current costs for
one-way travel from Beirut to the United States may be higher than normal due to
the limited availability of flights and the security situation in Lebanon,” as
per the statement. Furthermore, applicants are advised that upon acceptance of
the loan, they must commit to repaying the borrowed amount within a specified
timeframe by signing a promissory note, failing which they risk being issued a
limited validity US passport until the debt is settled. The embassy warned that
defaulting on the loan would render applicants ineligible for a full validity US
passport.
MEA confirms flight operations for August 9-13; Minor revisions cited
LBCI/August 07/2024
In a press release on Wednesday, Middle East Airlines disclosed that its flights
from August 9 to 13, 2024, will remain as scheduled, except for some revised
flights. The delay, according to Middle East Airlines, is due to technical
reasons linked to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between
Lebanon and other destinations. To check the schedule, press on the link below
https://www.mea.com.lb/english/about-mea/news-and-press-releases
/news-and-press-releases/mea-flights-from-9-to-13-august-2024
Abi Ramia Resigns from FPM, Reveals Behind the Scenes
Truths
This Is Beirut/August 07/2024
“Every leader whose legitimacy stemmed from their history, present, and
contribution to the movement over four decades became a target for exclusion
because they did not fit the specifications of the inheritance project intended
for the ‘new movement’, Abi Ramia said. Abi Ramia reflected on his loyalty to
former President, Michel Aoun, throughout his tenure in political office,
including the presidency. However, the leadership’s failure to respond to “our
aspirations for managing the movement and the country, and our right to
participate in crafting party decisions in a real, not just superficial way, has
led me to conclude my journey as a witness to the dissolution of an institution
I helped found and develop,” Abi Ramia concluded his statement. Of note, on
August 2, the Free Patriotic Movement expelled MP Alain Aoun. The nephew of
former President Michel Aoun, Alain Aoun, was Bassil’s rival in the elections
for the party’s presidency in 2014. Last April, Bassil ousted Deputy Speaker
Elias Bou Saab from the FPM after two years of conflict over the presidency. In
addition to Bou Saab, many cadres have left the party without being dismissed or
set aside.
Another Year of Presidential Vacancy in Sight
This Is Beirut/August 07/2024
There will be no president for Lebanon for at least another year, as efforts and
initiatives to break the presidential election deadlock are put on hold. A
prominent leader in the opposition camp blamed the prolonged stalemate on the
“Shiite duo”, Amal and Hezbollah, who managed to disrupt the efforts of the
five-nation group known as the Paris Quintet as well as all local initiatives,
due to their inflexible attachment to their presidential candidate, Suleiman
Frangieh, and to Speaker Nabih Berri’s condition to hold a pre-election
dialogue. “There will be no presidential elections in the foreseeable future.
Another year of presidential vacancy is expected,” the opposition leader said.
He argued that the solution to the presidential crisis in Lebanon has become
tightly linked to a regional settlement, as the Shiite duo insists on adopting
the Iranian agenda and placing Tehran’s interests over those of Lebanon. As
things stand now, the region is increasingly heading toward open conflict, and
only after that would a settlement mature, and with it a solution for Lebanon.
Geagea says south suffering due to reasons related to
'Iran's national security'
Naharnet/August 07/2024
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea overnight said he expresses “the deepest
sentiments of sympathy with the Lebanese southerners, especially the residents
of border villages.”“For the past 10 months, they have not known sleep or a
moment of tranquility, that’s if they haven’t lost martyrs,” Geagea lamented
during the annual dinner of the LF’s Upper Metn dept. in Maarab.“What are the
Lebanese national security necessities that have pushed us into this situation?”
Geagea wondered, noting that “all the suffering that the people of the south are
living today is linked to Iran’s national security.”“The current war will end
with disastrous consequences for Lebanon,” the LF leader added, saying “those
responsible for the start of military operations in south Lebanon are to blame
for all these losses.”As for the solution, Geagea said “it is clear, easy and
represented in the Lebanese Army’s deployment on the southern border and being
in charge of defending it,” rejecting “the theories that promote that the
Lebanese Army is impotent.”
British troops on standby for major evacuation of expats
from Lebanon
Naharnet/August 07/2024
British troops are on standby in the Middle East for a possible major evacuation
of expats from Lebanon amid the soaring tensions in the region, British media
reports said. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy insisted Tuesday that the
British government was “ready and prepared” to respond to an all-out war between
Israel, Iran and Hezbollah. British diplomats have urged all sides to find a
political solution.
The Foreign Office reiterated calls for Britons to get out of Lebanon while
commercial flights were still available. The same warning could be issued to
those in Israel. Border force officials, consular experts and troops have all
been sent to the region amid planning for “a range of possible conflict
scenarios,” including large-scale evacuation, the reports said. The RFA Cardigan
Bay and HMS Duncan warships, currently in the eastern Med, and helicopters are
being readied. A new “register your presence” portal for Brits in Lebanon has
received 3,000 sign-ups. The Foreign Office believes many thousands more are in
the country. Lammy has told a Cabinet meeting the focus would be on encouraging
de-escalation of tensions. PM Keir Starmer meanwhole spoke to the Sultan of
Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, and urged restraint.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 07-08/2024
Iran warns airlines to avoid its airspace
for 3 hours on Thursday over military drills, Egypt says
Samy Magdy/CAIRO (AP) / August 7, 2024
Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said Wednesday it has ordered Egyptian airlines
to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours the following day after a notice from
Tehran to do so because of military exercises. The warning comes amid soaring
tensions in the region following last week’s assassination of Hamas’ leader in
Tehran. The Egyptian ministry said the warning came in a notice sent by Iran to
all commercial airlines. The ministry said the ban from Iranian airspace was to
last for three hours, 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. Iran’s warning also
covered three hours earlier on Wednesday, the ministry added. Speaking to Iran’s
ISNA news agency, the head of Iran’s international airport in Tehran, Saeed
Chalandari, denied reports of a warning against entering the airspace of western
Iran, but it was not clear if that applied to the entire country. Israel has
been bracing for an attack by Iran and its allied militias over the
assassinations in Tehran of Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh and a senior
Hezbollah commander in Beirut. Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the July 31
explosion in Tehran that killed Haniyeh. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied
responsibility. The escalation prompted many international carriers to suspend
flights to Lebanon, Israel and Iran.
Iran may be reconsidering major strike on Israel after American show of force -
report
Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
The report comes after the US sent more warships to the region in preparation
for an Iranian-led attack on Israel. Iran may be reconsidering its vow of a
harsh reprisal on Israel for last week's assassination of Hamas political bureau
leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius
reported on Wednesday morning, citing White House officials. The regime's proxy
militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah, is still a "wild card," however, Ignatius added.
The Post columnist noted that the Biden administration has been sending strong
messages to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to stand in the way of hostage
deal-ceasefire negotiations and messages, via regional partners, to Tehran
urging restraint in its response. Ignatius assessed in the article that, since
Netanyahu and Biden's phone call on hostage deal negotiations last week, the
former had "moved toward" the US-brokered hostage deal.
Warships moved to the region
Additionally, in a show of force, the US has sent more warships to the region in
preparation for an Iranian-led attack on Israel. The warships are equipped with
anti-missile capabilities. Speaking at a press conference in Maryland, US
Secretary of State Lloyd Austin stated, “We've adjusted our military posture to
strengthen our force protection.” This follows US General Michael Kurilla's
arrival in Israel this week to aid the coordination of efforts to deter or
defend against an Iranian attack. The Post added in a Wednesday report that the
Biden administration was continuing to move quickly in order to try to prevent
further escalation in the region. Both President Joe Biden and Vice President
Kamala Harris reportedly met with top advisers in the White House's Situation
Room this week to discuss the matter. Additionally, the American media outlet
added that a squadron of F-22 fighter jets was among the US assets scrambled
closer to Israel. Biden and Harris also reportedly discussed with advisors the
attack by Iranian-backed Iraqi insurgents that wounded American forces in the
region.
**Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report. This is a developing story.
Rights groups condemn Iran’s ‘abhorrent’ execution of
protester
AFP/August 07, 2024
PARIS: Iran faced condemnation from human rights groups Wednesday over its
execution of a man convicted of killing a Revolutionary Guard in 2022 protests,
with activists saying his confession had been obtained by torture. Gholamreza
Rasaei, in his mid-thirties, is the 10th man executed by Iran in connection with
the months-long protests that erupted in September 2022 after the death in
custody of Mahsa Amini. The Iranian Kurd had been arrested for an alleged breach
of the country’s strict dress code for women. Rasaei was executed in prison in
the western city of Kermanshah on Tuesday after being convicted of killing the
Guards colonel, according to the Mizan Online website of the Iranian judiciary.
Human rights groups have repeatedly accused Iran, which they say executes more
people annually than any nation other than China, of using the death penalty
against protesters without due legal process in a bid to intimidate their
sympathizers. Rasaei, a member of the Kurdish ethnic minority and follower of
the Yarsan faith, was executed in secret with neither his family nor his lawyer
given prior notice and his family then forced to bury his body in a remote area
far from his home, Amnesty International said. “Iranian authorities have carried
out the abhorrent arbitrary execution in secret of a young man who was subjected
to torture and other ill-treatment in detention, including sexual violence, and
then sentenced to death after a sham trial,” said Amnesty’s deputy director for
the Middle East and North Africa, Diana Eltahawy. She said the execution was
another instance of Iran using the death penalty as a “tool of political
repression to instil fear among the population.”
Saudi Arabia says Ismail Haniyeh’s killing is a ‘blatant
violation’ of Iran’s sovereignty
Reuters/August 7, 2024
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
in Tehran was a "blatant violation" of Iran's sovereignty. The comment by the
Saudi deputy foreign minister during an extraordinary meeting of members of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was the first by the kingdom, the
region's major power alongside Iran, since the killing of the Palestinian
Islamist leader in the Iranian capital on July 31. The minister, Waleed Al-Khuraiji,
added that Saudi Arabia rejects "any violation of the sovereignty of states or
interference in the internal affairs of any country".
Pro-government fighters attack areas of US-backed fighters
in east Syria. 2 killed
Hogir Al Abdo/QAMISHLI, Syria (AP)/August 7, 2024
Violence surged in opposition-held areas of Syria on Wednesday as
government-backed fighters killed at least two people in rare violence in the
east, while a truck bomb exploded in the northern city of Azaz, killing nine
people, the main U.S.-backed force in the war-torn country and an opposition war
monitor said. Fighters backed by the Syrian government and Iran attacked areas
controlled by U.S.-backed fighters in the country's east, killing at least two
people and wounding others, the main U.S.-backed force in the war-torn country
said Wednesday. To the west, a truck bomb exploded Wednesday evening in the
northern city of Azaz, which is controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters,
killing nine people and wounding 11, the opposition's Syrian Civil Defense, also
known as the White Helmets, said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for
the attack in Azaz, which has witnessed such bombings in the past. Turkey has
launched three major cross-border operations in Syria since 2016 and controls
some Syrian territory in the north. The clashes in Syria’s eastern province of
Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, came amid high tension in the region following
last week’s killings of a top military commander of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah
group in Beirut and the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group Ismail Haniyeh in
Iran. Israel was blamed for both attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to
retaliate. The clashes in eastern Syria are the most intense in nearly a year in
areas where hundreds of U.S. troops have been deployed since 2015 to help in the
fight against the Islamic State group. Syrian government forces and Iran-backed
fighters are deployed on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Deir el-Zour,
while members of the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces
control the east banks of the river. The SDF said in a statement that “Syrian
regime-backed mercenaries” attacked the villages of Dhiban, Latwa and Abu Hamam
starting late Tuesday. It added that fighting was ongoing Wednesday as the SDF
tries to bring the situation under control.Dhiban lies a few kilometers (miles)
from the al-Omar oil field that houses SDF fighters and U.S. troops at a base
there. Kurdish-led authorities imposed an open-ended curfew in areas they
control on the east bank of the Euphrates, saying that anyone that violates the
order will be referred to judicial authorities. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the SDF brought
reinforcements to the area as the fighting continued Wednesday. The SDF and the
Observatory said the clashes and shelling left two people dead and five others
wounded. Pro-government media outlets said the attacks were carried out by local
Arab tribesmen against the SDF, saying that several people were wounded in
government-held areas.On Monday, a rocket attack on a base housing U.S. troops
in western Iraq left several American personnel wounded. The rocket attack came
days after a strike near a base of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia southwest of
Baghdad killed at least one militant and wounded two others. The attack on SDF
fighters comes days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias dubbed
“the Islamic Resistance” resumed rocket attacks on U.S. military bases in the
country and in eastern Syria.
Israel 'cannot be saved from annihilation,' says Iranian
army commander
Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
“We believe that this child-killing Israeli regime is nearing its end. History
shows that anyone who rules with oppression will not remain in power and will be
annihilated ASAP." Israel will soon be met with "a strong and definite response"
to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Chief Commander of the
Iranian Army Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Wednesday, according to Iranian news
sites. According to IFP News, Mousavi was speaking at a ceremony commemorating
Journalist's Day in Bandar Abbas, a port city in Southern Iran. “The
Zionist regime will soon receive a strong and definite response, and there is no
doubt about it," Mousavi reportedly said, according to IRNA and Tasnim. "It is
clear that they themselves have realized the speed of their own destruction, and
by doing so, they want to save themselves from the quagmire, but they definitely
cannot save themselves from annihilation."Mousavi also praised the appointment
of Yahya Sinwar as the new political head of Hamas on Tuesday, according to IRNA
and Tasnim. According to IRNA, Mousavi called Sinwar a “great combatant in the
contemporary era,” and continued by saying that his appointment as Haniyeh's
replacement means that Israel will have "no hope for its own future" and "will
collapse."
Iran-Belarus
Earlier on Wednesday, General Mousavi met with the Commander of the Belarusian
Air Force, Andrei Lukyanovich, to discuss ties between the countries, IRNA and
Tasnim news reported. Mousavi reportedly thanked Minsk for its “courageous and
independent” stance on the assassination of Haniyeh, and its defensive position
against the expansion of NATO. Both countries allegedly agreed on their stance
against US unilateralism. Lukyanovich called for the deepening of military
relations between Minsk and Tehran, according to Press TV. According to Tasnim,
Lukyanovich also met with Iranian Armed Forces Commander Brigadier General Aziz
Nasirzadeh and Iranian Air Force Commander Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi.
Brigadier General Vahedi told his Belarusian counterpart that all regional
tensions were the fault of the US and Israel, according to semi-official Iranian
outlet Mehr News. “We believe that this child-killing Israeli regime is nearing
its end. History shows that anyone who rules with oppression will not remain in
power and will be annihilated ASAP,” Vahedi said, according to Mehr News.
Iranian president Pezeshkian asks supreme leader to refrain from attacking
Israel - report
Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
Pezeshkian warned Khamenei of the potential attack's effects on his presidency,
with Iran International quoting sources familiar with the development.
Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has reportedly asked the Islamic Republic's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to refrain from attacking Israel,
according to a report by Iran International on Wednesday. Pezeshkian warned
Khamenei of the potential attack's effects on his presidency, with Iran
International quoting sources familiar with the development.
Khamenei 'noncommittal'
The new Iranian president cautioned that an Israeli retaliatory attack could
cripple Iran's economy, infrastructure, and even lead to the country's collapse.
Iran International said that sources familiar with the subject noted that
Khamenei "remained noncommittal" during the session, "neither supporting nor
opposing Pezeshkian's concerns."
US has communicated need to not escalate conflict to
Iran and Israel, says Blinken
Reuters/August 07, 2024
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland: The United States has communicated to Iran and Israel that
conflict in the Middle East must not escalate, Secretary of State Antony Blinken
said on Tuesday, even as the Pentagon warned that it would not tolerate attacks
against its forces in the region. The Middle East is bracing for a possible new
wave of attacks by Iran and its allies following last week's killing of senior
members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Five U.S. troops and two
contractors were injured in an attack on a base in Iraq on Monday, which U.S.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin blamed on Iran-backed groups. Officials had been
in constant contact with allies and partners in the region and there was a
"clear consensus" that no one should escalate the situation, the top U.S.
diplomat said. "We've been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and
partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We've communicated that
message directly to Israel," Blinken said. The United States will continue to
defend Israel against attacks, Blinken said, but noted that everyone in the
region should understand the risks of escalation and miscalculation. "Further
attacks only raise the risk of dangerous outcomes that no one can predict and no
one can fully control."The Pentagon has said it will deploy additional fighter
jets and Navy warships to the Middle East as Washington seeks to bolster
defenses in the region. "What I've been focused on is making sure that we're
doing everything we can to put measures in place to protect our troops and also
make sure that we're in a good position to aid in the in the defense of Israel,
if called upon to do that," Austin said. Blinken, following a meeting involving
Austin and their Australian counterparts, also said talks to achieve a ceasefire
and hostage deal on the war in Gaza had reached their final stage and should end
very soon.
WILL NOT TOLERATE ATTACK ON TROOPS
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, was
assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran last week. The attack drew threats
of revenge by Iran on Israel, which has not claimed responsibility. Coupled with
the killing of the senior military commander of the Lebanese group Hezbollah,
Fuad Shukr, by Israel in a strike on Beirut last week, concern has intensified
that the conflict in Gaza is turning into a wider Middle East war. Iran has said
the U.S. bears responsibility in the assassination of Haniyeh because of its
support for Israel. On Monday, a rocket attack on al Asad airbase in western
Iraq injured seven U.S. personnel. Austin said the United States "will not
tolerate" attacks on its personnel. Asked if he knew who was behind the attack,
Austin added the U.S. was sure it was an Iran-backed militia, but had not
determined which one. "We're still investigating to determine that," he said.
Iraq's military condemned on Tuesday what it called "reckless" actions against
bases on its soil and said it had captured a truck with a rocket launcher. A
small truck was seized with a rocket launcher fixed on the back. Eight unfired
rockets were dismantled, the statement said. A rare ally of both the U.S. and
Iran, Iraq hosts 2,500 U.S. troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its
security forces. It has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the
Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.
Israel vows to ‘eliminate’ new Hamas leader as war enters
11th month
AFP/August 07, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel vowed to “eliminate” new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the alleged
mastermind of the October 7 attack, whose appointment further inflamed regional
tensions as the Gaza war entered its 11th month on Wednesday. The naming of
Sinwar to lead the Palestinian militant group came as Israel braced for
potential Iranian retaliation over the killing of his predecessor Ismael Haniyeh
last week in Tehran. Speaking at a military base on Wednesday, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “determined” to defend itself. “We are
prepared both defensively and offensively,” he told new recruits. Israeli
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said late Tuesday that Sinwar’s promotion was “yet
another compelling reason to swiftly eliminate him and wipe this vile
organization off the face of the earth.”Sinwar — Hamas’s leader in Gaza since
2017 — has not been seen since the October 7 attack, which was the deadliest in
Israel’s history. A senior Hamas official told AFP that the selection of Sinwar
sent a message that the organization “continues its path of resistance.”Hamas’s
Lebanese ally Hezbollah congratulated Sinwar and said the appointment affirms
“the enemy... has failed to achieve its objectives” by killing Hamas leaders and
officials. Analysts believe Sinwar has been both more reluctant to agree to a
Gaza ceasefire and closer to Tehran than Haniyeh, who lived in Qatar.“If a
ceasefire deal seemed unlikely upon Haniyeh’s death, it is even less likely
under Sinwar,” according to Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE
Intelligence Group. “The group will only lean further into its hard-line
militant strategy of recent years,” she added. US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken told reporters that it was up to Sinwar to help achieve a ceasefire,
saying he “has been and remains the primary decider.”Civilians in both Israel
and Gaza met Sinwar’s appointment with unease. Mohammad Al-Sharif, a displaced
Gazan, told AFP: “He is a fighter. How will negotiations take place?“In Tel
Aviv, logistics company manger Hanan, who did not want to give his second name,
said Sinwar’s appointment meant Hamas “did not see fit to look for someone less
militant, someone with a less murderous approach.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah has also pledged to avenge the deaths of Haniyeh and its
own military commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut hours earlier.
In a televised address to mark one week since Shukr’s death, Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday his group would retaliate “alone or in the context
of a unified response from all the axis” of Iran-backed groups in the region.
The United States, which has sent extra warships and jets to the region, urged
both Iran and Israel to avoid an escalation. President Joe Biden had calls with
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday. “No one should escalate this
conflict. We’ve been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners,
communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message
directly to Israel,” Blinken told reporters.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron
in a telephone call that the West “should immediately stop selling arms and
supporting” Israel if it wants to prevent war, his office said. The Jeddah-based
Organization of Islamic Cooperation met on Wednesday to discuss the situation in
the Middle East. Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara, whose country
currently chairs the bloc, said the “heinous” killing of Haniyeh risked “leading
to a wider conflict that could involve the entire region.”Israel has not
commented on Haniyeh’s killing but confirmed it had carried out the strike on
Shukr.It held the Hezbollah commander responsible for a rocket attack in the
Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children. Hezbollah has traded
near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli troops throughout the Gaza war. The
group said Tuesday that six of its fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on
south Lebanon and that it had launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at a
military base in the Golan Heights in retaliation. Numerous airlines have
suspended flights to Lebanon or limited them to daylight hours. The Israel-Hamas
war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian group’s unprecedented
October 7 attack on Israel, has already drawn in Iran-backed militants in Syria,
Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,198
people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official
figures. Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held
in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel’s retaliatory
military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,677 people, according to the
Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian
and militant deaths. The toll included two dozen deaths in the past 24 hours,
according to ministry figures. Israel said that its air force had “struck dozens
of terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” over the past day.
Over 1,000 UK troops ready to evacuate nearly 16,000
Britons from Lebanon amid fears of war escalation
Arab News/August 07, 2024
BEIRUT: The UK government has kept more than 1,000 British troops on high alert
and ready to evacuate nearly 16,000 Britons currently in Lebanon amid growing
fears of an all-out war, the BBC reported on Wednesday. In response to the UK
Foreign Office’s warning that the Middle East situation could deteriorate
rapidly, preparations are being made in case British citizens need to be
evacuated from Beirut. The Foreign Office renewed its call for Britons to leave
Lebanon on Saturday, while confirming that preparations were underway to help
with any necessary evacuation as hundreds of troops had been sent to Cyprus. The
UK already has a significant military presence there. Foreign Secretary David
Lammy told the House of Commons last week that there were about 16,000 British
nationals in Lebanon. Meanwhile, hundreds of troops have been put on alert in
the UK and are ready for deployment to the region if necessary. According to
Saturday’s Foreign Office statement, military personnel were in the process of
being deployed to provide operational support to UK embassies in the region,
although the number of troops involved was not mentioned. Meanwhile, Sky News
reported on Wednesday that hundreds of soldiers, Royal Marine commandos, sailors
and aviators had already been moved forward to bolster a key Royal Air Force
base in Cyprus, which would act as a hub in any evacuation mission. RAF Typhoon
fighter jets already stationed there were involved last April in a mission
against an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel. A Royal Navy destroyer,
HMS Duncan, and a landing ship, RFA Cardigan Bay, are already in the Eastern
Mediterranean. RAF helicopters have also been placed on standby. Tensions have
been growing across the Middle East since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on
Oct. 7.
Hostilities between Israel and its neighbors have escalated following the death
of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, in an attack for
which Iran blamed Israel. Haniyeh’s assassination came hours after Israel killed
Iran-backed Hezbollah’s senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Iran and Hezbollah have vowed “severe” retaliation against Isral.
Iran asks airlines to avoid its airspace: Report says
Reuters/August 08, 2024
Iran has advised civil aviation companies worldwide to avoid flying through
Iranian airspace, Al Qahera News reported on Wednesday, citing an official
Egyptian source. The source added that Iranian airspace will be avoided due to
military exercises.
Macron tells Netanyahu to ‘avoid cycle of reprisals’
AFP/August 08, 2024
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on Wednesday to “avoid a cycle of reprisals” in the Middle East, his
office said, as fears of a regional war soar. After earlier telling his Iranian
counterpart to “avoid a cycle of reprisals that would put the populations and
stability of the region at risk,” Macron urged Netanyahu in a telephone call to
adopt the same reasoning, the French presidency said in a statement. Already
high amid the war in Gaza, tensions in the Middle East have soared following the
assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah
military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last week. The former has been blamed on
Israel, which claimed responsibility for the latter. Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran
have vowed reprisals, raising fears of wider conflict in a region already on
tenterhooks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The
French presidency said it was imperative to prevent all-out war between Israel
and the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which have been trading
near-daily cross-border fire since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. “Faced
with rising tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon, every effort must
be made... to avoid a regional conflagration,” said the French presidency,
stressing that “a war between Israel and Lebanon would have destructive
consequences for the entire region.”Macron also reminded Netanyahu that “the
absolute priority” for France remained “the immediate achievement of a ceasefire
in Gaza, the release of all hostages... and the massive and unimpeded delivery
of humanitarian aid to the people there.”
EU, France, UK slam Israel minister for Gaza starvation
comment
AFP/August 08, 2024
JERUSALEM: The European Union, France and the UK on Wednesday condemned a
far-right Israeli minister for suggesting it would be “justified and moral” to
starve two million Gazans to free scores of captives held in the Palestinian
territory. “No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even
though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages,” Israel’s
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at a conference earlier this week. “We
are bringing in humanitarian aid because we have no choice. We are in a
situation that requires international legitimacy to conduct this war.”Smotrich’s
remarks sparked outrage in the international community, with the European Union
saying the deliberate starvation of civilians was a “war crime.” “It
demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic
principles of humanity,” the EU said in a statement. “We expect the Israeli
government to unequivocally distance itself from the words of Minister Smotrich,”
the EU said, as it called for access to cover the humanitarian needs of Gazans,
including hundreds of thousands of children. The EU reiterated its call for an
“immediate ceasefire” to secure the release of all hostages and also to increase
the distribution of aid across the Gaza Strip. France also criticized Smotrich,
expressing its “deep dismay at the scandalous remarks.”Providing humanitarian
aid to the people of Gaza is an “obligation under international humanitarian
law” for Israel as it controls all access to the territory, it added. UK Foreign
Minister David Lammy said on X that there “can be no justification for Minister
Smotrich’s remarks,” and called on “the wider Israeli government to retract and
condemn them.”Since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, the humanitarian
situation in the besieged Palestinian territory remains dire, with almost all of
its 2.4 million population displaced and suffering from food shortages. The war
in Gaza began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, which resulted
in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based
on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are
still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,677
people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which does
not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.
Netanyahu warns of proactive attack as Tehran speaks of Israel’s annihilation
Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
American officials ask for de-escalation and Egypt asks its airlines to avoid
Iranian airspace. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah of
proactive attacks, while Tehran spoke of the Jewish state’s annihilation and the
region braced for the possibility of a second direct confrontation between the
two arch-foes. “We are prepared both defensively and offensively,” Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during a visit Wednesday to the IDF induction
base at Tel Hashomer. “I know that the citizens of Israel are concerned, and I
ask one thing of you: Be patient and level-headed,” he said.“We are striking our
enemies and are determined to defend ourselves.”The prime minister spoke with
inductees at the base amid a tense week as Israel braced for potential reprisal
attacks by Iran and its proxy groups, including Hezbollah, which has already
been battling the IDF along the country’s northern border with Lebanon for close
to 11 months. White House Press Secretary Katherine Jean-Pierre told reporters
Wednesday that American officials were urging de-escalation and that “is our
focus.”
US advise caution, deescalation
US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said, “We’re working
really, really hard, with intense diplomacy, to try to avoid an escalation.”US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Maryland on Tuesday that
American officials had emphasized de-escalation in its intense diplomacy with
allies and had commented that message “directly to Iran” as well as to Israel.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We have always said that
when we need to send a message to Iran, we have the ability to do so.” Chief
Commander of the Iranian Army Abdolrahim Mousavi did not sound consolatory when
he spoke of Israel’s pending destruction on Wednesday. “The Zionist regime will
soon receive a strong and definite response, and there is no doubt about it,”
Mousavi reportedly said, according to IRNA and Tasnim. “It is clear that they
themselves have realized the speed of their own destruction, and by doing so,
they want to save themselves from the quagmire, but they definitely cannot save
themselves from annihilation.”Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, however,
asked Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to refrain from attacking Israel, according to
Iran International. French President Emmanuel Macron told Pezeshkian in a phone
call on Wednesday that he must do everything in his power to avoid escalation in
the region and that the cycle of retaliation must stop, the Elysee Palace
said.Macron said Iran has to call on the “destabilizing players it supports” to
exercise the utmost restraint to avoid a conflagration.
Egypt: No planes over Iranian airspace
Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for a three-hour
period in the early morning on Thursday. The NOTAM, a safety notice provided to
pilots on Wednesday, said the instruction would be in effect from 0100 to 0400
GMT. It provided no further details as to why the notice was issued. An Egyptian
official was quoted by the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV as saying that the
Iranian authorities said to avoid flying in Iranian airspace because of
“military exercises.”“Based on a report from Iranian authorities to all civil
aviation companies, flights over Iranian airspace are to be avoided,” the
unnamed official was quoted as saying. Many airlines are revising their
schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace while also calling off flights
to Israel and Lebanon as many fear a possible broader conflict after the killing
of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah. On Sunday, Jordanian authorities asked
all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes’ worth of extra fuel.
US provides defense to Israel
US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin said at a press conference in Maryland that
he had sent additional warships to the Middle East capable of defending against
missiles amid an increase in tensions between Iran and Israel. “We’ve adjusted
our military posture to strengthen our force protection,” Austin said. This will
“reinforce our ironclad commitment to the offense of Israel” and allow the US to
“remain prepared to respond to any contingency.” “To maintain our carrier strike
group presence in the Middle East, I’ve ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln to
replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt later this month,” he said. “I’ve also
ordered more cruisers and destroyers capable of ballistic missile defense to the
region,” Austin stressed. Another fighter squadron has also been deployed to the
Middle East “to reinforce our defensive air support capabilities here,” he
added. “These posture adjustments add to our already broad range of capabilities
in the region” that can be deployed on “short notice to meet evolving threats to
our security, our partners or our interests.” Austin stressed that the US
“remains intensely focused on de-escalating tensions in the region,” he said.
Israel has been engaged in a multi-front war with Iranian proxies for almost a
year, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.
Tensions increased last week in the aftermath of the twin assassinations of
Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas military leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel
has accepted responsibility for Shukr’s killing but not Haniyeh’s.
Hamas leader’s killing risks ‘wider conflict,’ OIC chair
warns
Arab News/August 07, 2024
RIYADH: The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh risks tipping
the Middle East into a “wider conflict,” the chair of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation said on Wednesday. Speaking at an extraordinary meeting for
the foreign ministers of member states, Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara
said the killing served only to “escalate the existing tensions potentially
leading to a wider conflict that could involve the entire region.”Haniyeh’s
death “will not quell the Palestinian cause but rather it amplifies it,
underscoring the urgency for justice and human rights for the Palestinian
people,” Tangara, whose country currently chairs the OIC, said. “The sovereignty
and territorial integrity of nation states are fundamental principles
underpinning the international order. Respecting these principles has profound
implications and their violation equally carries significant consequences,” he
said.
OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha condemned Haniyeh’s killing and the
“genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank,” and Jerusalem.
He called on the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities and take the
necessary measures to compel Israel to respect the rule of international law and
stop its aggression and attacks that threaten regional and international peace
and security.
Taha said that the council should demand an immediate and comprehensive
cessation of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in order to avoid
the risk of full-scale regional war that would undermine the security and
stability of the entire Middle East. He stressed the need for joint efforts to
compel Israel to abide by international legitimacy resolutions and said that the
necessary measures should be taken to implement the recent advisory opinion
issued by the International Court of Justice regarding the illegality of the
Israeli occupation. Taha condemned the Israeli Knesset’s resolution rejecting
Palestinian statehood and its designation of UNRWA as a terrorist organization.
He also called for the provision of more political and financial support to
UNRWA’s budget so that it can exercise its vital role in providing basic
services to Palestinian refugees and contribute to alleviating the humanitarian
suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Taha called on key
players in the international community to sponsor a political process to end
Israeli occupation and achieve peace based on the vision of the two-state
solution in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions. Saudi Deputy
Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji attended the meeting on behalf of Foreign
Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He told the
summit that his government was aware of the danger of the escalating events in
the Palestinian territories due to Israeli attacks and illegal practices against
Palestinians inside and outside them. He also condemned Haniyeh’s assassination
as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its
territorial integrity and national security, international law and the Charter
of the United Nations and constitutes a threat to regional peace and security.”
Al-Khuraiji said the Kingdom condemned Israeli attacks against civilians and
rejected any attack on the sovereignty of states or interference in the internal
affairs of any state, in accordance with international conventions and the OIC
Charter.
He expressed the Kingdom’s deep concern over the escalation of Israeli
violations which have resulted in large numbers of dead and wounded civilians in
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, shortages of food, medicine and fuel and the
destruction of the health sector. He also renewed the Kingdom’s call for the
international community to take effective action to hold Israeli forces fully
responsible for their crimes and violations. The Kingdom supported all efforts
aimed at ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and reaching a
comprehensive solution that enabled people to establish an independent
Palestinian state in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and
the Arab Peace Initiative, Al-Khuraiji said.
Israel court hears bid to close prison where soldiers
are accused of sexually assaulting Palestinian
Julia Frankel/JERUSALEM (AP) /August 7, 2024
The Israeli Supreme Court considered a petition Wednesday to shutter a desert
military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians, as a
new video emerged purporting to show the sexual assault of a Palestinian
detainee. Rights groups have been engaged in a legal battle since June to shut
down the detention facility, known as Sde Teiman, where Israel has held many
Palestinians detained in Gaza during the 10-month war with Hamas. The groups
claim that conditions at the facility are grave and that abuse by Israeli
soldiers is common, basing their claims on testimony from released detainees and
Israeli whistleblowers. Calls for the prison's closure ramped up in late July,
when Israeli military police arrested 10 soldiers from Sde Teiman on suspicion
of their involvement in the alleged sexual assault of a Palestinian detainee at
the facility. Five of the soldiers are no longer under investigation. A
physician who identified himself as the person who reported the attack said last
week that the detainee appeared to have been seriously sexually abused. The
soldiers’ detention triggered angry protests by supporters, and at least two
government ministers demanded their release. The response underscored tensions
between the military command and hard-line nationalists in Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who advocate even harsher treatment of
Palestinians detained from Gaza.
Defense lawyer Nati Rom told The Associated Press that the soldiers were
arrested about a month after the alleged attack and are accused of performing
acts of sodomy on the detainee. He said the soldiers used force to defend
themselves against a detainee who attacked them during a search, but did not
sexually abuse him. A video purporting to reveal the assault shows a group of
masked soldiers wresting a detainee from the ground, where he and other
Palestinians appear to be lying face down in a fenced-in pen, their arms cuffed
above their heads. The soldiers take the detainee to an area of the pen they
appear to cordon off using shields. Footage then shows about eight soldiers and
a dog with the detainee, largely hidden from view by shields held up by some of
the soldiers. Israel’s Channel 12 news, which broadcast the video, said it
captures the moment of the attack.
Two soldiers who formerly worked at the facility and requested anonymity for
fear of retribution told the AP they believed the video had been taken at Sde
Teiman. The room in which the detainees appear, a corral topped by barbed wire,
matches photos of the facility shared with the AP and the description of
incarceration conditions that whistleblowers have previously described.
Military prosecutors stated that evidence brought forth in the case indicates "a
reasonable suspicion of the commission of the acts," the Israeli military said
Tuesday. The military did not comment on the video. U.S. officials have seen the
video, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday. He called
the reports of sexual abuse “horrific."“Prisoners’ human rights need to be
respected in all cases and when there are alleged violations, the government of
Israel needs to take steps to investigate those who are alleged to have
committed abuses and, if appropriate, hold them accountable,” Miller said.
Meanwhile, more information about the case has come to light from a doctor who
treated the detainee in question. Dr. Yoel Donchin, an Israeli anesthesiologist
at the field hospital for Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman, came forward
Friday as the person who reported the case to the military authorities. In an
interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Donchin said the detainee's life
was in danger and that he was in need of emergency surgery after the attack.
During the interview, Donchin confirmed information attributed to an
unidentified medical official who said the detainee had fractured ribs, showed
signs of beating and bore evidence of being sodomized, leading to a tear in the
lower part of the intestines. Donchin said the detainee's case was the most
extreme he had witnessed since working at the facility.
Naji Abbas, a case manager with Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said the
detainee was transferred to a civilian hospital outside Sde Teiman about a month
ago because his injuries were too severe for treatment at the military facility.
Abbas received his information from a medical source with knowledge of the case.
In a written submission to the Israeli Supreme Court in advance of Wednesday's
hearing, state attorneys did not mention the military's sexual assault
investigation, but insisted the rights groups' claims of deplorable conditions
were inaccurate.
The Israeli organization arguing in court for the military prison's closure, the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel, had alleged that detainees at the
facility are punished with severe violence, including with attack dogs and
sexual assault; made to sit on the ground blindfolded and handcuffed 24 hours a
day; forbidden from moving or speaking and rarely shower or change clothes.
An investigation by the AP into the facility documented how detainees are
blindfolded, handcuffed and diapered during medical treatment. The state, in a
written response, said detainees were given sufficient food and water, showered
regularly, accessed medical treatment as needed, and were blindfolded and
handcuffed because of concerns that they could harm staff. The state said a new
wing of Sde Teiman set to open Sept. 5 would improve conditions, including
adding a walking area for detainees. Additional improvements are expected to be
made later this year, it said. Following Wednesday's hearing, the court gave the
state a week and a half to provide more information about conditions at the
prison. Sde Teiman was the main military prison holding Palestinians captured in
large-scale raids on the Gaza Strip. Israel began moving detainees out of the
facility following the rights groups’ petition to shut it down. State filings
show 28 detainees remain. Under Israeli law, Palestinians from Gaza can be held
at the facility, and other military detention camps, without a detention order,
trial or charge for over a month. Many Palestinian detainees have spent weeks in
the facility before being released back to Gaza after Israeli authorities deemed
them unaffiliated with militant groups.
Egypt imposes 3-hour no-fly zone over Tehran Thursday
morning
Mike Heuer/UPI/August 7, 2024
Egyptian officials warned airlines to avoid flying over Tehran during a
three-hour period Thursday morning due to military exercises, though observers
fear a possible military retaliation against Israel could be possible then after
the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. "All Egyptian carriers shall
avoid overflying Tehran,"an Egyptian governmental safety notice issued to
Egyptian pilots says. "No flight plan will be accepted overflying such
territory."The three-hour period is early Thursday morning from 4:30 to 7:30
a.m. local time in anticipation of what could be a massed rocket attack on
Israel by Iran and possibly Hezbollah in Lebanon. Jordanian officials on Sunday
asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry extra fuel to enable 45 more
minutes of flight. An Iranian notice issued Wednesday said Iran would conduct
"live-fire exercises with missiles and other weaponry" until 8:30 a.m. local
time Thursday. Such exercises also were planned Wednesday.Iranian Foreign
Minister Ali Bagheri Khan said Iran will strike back at Israel for assassinating
Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.Israel claimed responsibility for planting a bomb
in a hotel room and using it to kill Haniyeh after he returned from attending
the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Many airlines have
changed their normal flight schedules to avoid flying to Israel or Lebanaon and
avoid Iranian and Lebanese air space due to rising tensions and hostilities
between Israel, Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Iran. Israel also killed Hezbollah
leader Fuad Shukr in retaliation for a rocket attack on a Druze village in the
Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teens on July 27.
Yemen's Houthis target vessels, company says Contship Ono
not hit, crew safe
Renee Maltezou, Yomna Ehab and Jaidaa Taha/Reuters/August 07/2024
ATHENS/CAIRO (Reuters) -Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Wednesday
that it had targeted the Contship Ono in the Red Sea and two U.S. destroyers in
the Gulf of Aden, while Contships Management said the vessel had not been hit
and its crew were safe. Earlier, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree
said that the Houthi air force also had targeted U.S. destroyer Cole with a
number of drones and the U.S. destroyer Laboon with a number of ballistic
missiles. Saree said the Liberia-flagged, container ship Contship Ono was
targeted with ballistic missiles and drones. "The vessel and its crew are safe
and there has been no incident affecting its operations," the Athens-based
Contships Management said in a statement to Reuters. A U.S. official also said
that there was no data or information to corroborate the Houthis' claim that the
two warships had been attacked. The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched
repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of
the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to
show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war. This has forced
shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern
Africa and has stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and
destabilise the Middle East. The frequency of the attacks, however, appeared to
have decreased after Israel hit military targets near Yemen's Hodeidah port on
July 20, killing six people and wounding more than 80, a day after a drone
launched by the Iranian-backed group hit the Israeli economic hub Tel Aviv. On
Aug.4, the Yemeni group claimed the first attack on shipping lanes in two weeks
since the Israeli attack by targeting the Liberia-flagged container vessel MV
Groton in the Gulf of Aden.
Turkey formally asks to join the genocide case against
Israel at the UN court
Suzan Fraser/ANKARA, Turkey (AP)/August 7, 2024
Turkey on Wednesday filed a request with a U.N. court to join South Africa’s
lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, the foreign minister said. Turkey's
ambassador to the Netherlands, accompanied by a group of Turkish legislators,
submitted a declaration of intervention to the International Court of Justice in
The Hague. With the development, Turkey, one of the fiercest critics of Israel’s
actions in Gaza, becomes the latest nation seeking to participate in the case.
Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua and Libya have also asked to join the case,
as have Palestinian officials. The court’s decision on their requests is still
pending. “We have just submitted our application to the International Court of
Justice to intervene in the genocide case filed against Israel,” Foreign
Minister Hakan Fidan wrote on the social media platform X. “Emboldened by the
impunity for its crimes, Israel is killing more and more innocent Palestinians
every day.”“The international community must do its part to stop the genocide;
it must put the necessary pressure on Israel and its supporters," he said.
"Turkey will make every effort to do so.”Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has accused Israel of genocide, called for it to be punished in international
courts and criticized Western nations for backing Israel. In May, Turkey
suspended trade with Israel, citing its assault on Gaza. In contrast to Western
nations that have designated Hamas a terrorist organization, Erdogan has
commended the group, calling it a liberation movement. South Africa brought a
case to the International Court of Justice late last year, accusing Israel of
violating the genocide convention through its military operations in Gaza.
Israel has strongly rejected accusations of genocide and has argued that the war
in Gaza is a legitimate defensive action against Hamas militants for their Oct.
7 attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and in which 250
hostages were taken. If admitted to the case, the countries who joined would be
able to make written submissions and speak at public hearings. Preliminary
hearings have already been held in the genocide case against Israel, but the
court is expected to take years to reach a final decision. The court on
Wednesday confirmed that Turkey filed a declaration for intervention in the
case, adding that South Africa and Israel have been invited to “furnish written
observations” on the request. In a statement to the media, Hamas welcomed
Turkey’s request to join the lawsuit and said it affirms Erdogan's support for
the Palestinian cause. “No country in the world is above international law,”
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said on X earlier. “The case at
the International Court of Justice is extremely important in terms of ensuring
that the crimes committed by Israel do not go unpunished.”Keceli also called for
the immediate implementations of precautionary measures ordered by the court,
including a halt to military offensive and an increase in humanitarian aid to
Gaza. Since Erdogan took power in 2003, former allies Turkey and Israel have
experienced a volatile relationship, marked by periods of severe friction and
reconciliation. The war in Gaza has disrupted the most recent attempts at
normalizing ties.
Kurdish fighters kill Turkish soldier in Iraq: ministry
AFP/August 07, 2024
ANKARA: A Turkish soldier was killed by Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq
during a Turkish military operation that’s due to be wound down, Ankara’s
defense ministry said Wednesday. The soldier was shot by fighters from the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been involved in an on-and-off armed
insurgency against Turkiye since 1984, the ministry said. Regarded as a terror
organization by Turkiye and most of its Western allies, including the United
States and European Union, the PKK has bases in northern Iraq from where it
launches attacks into Turkiye.Claiming it needed to secure its border with its
southern neighbor, Turkiye rolled out Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022. It
involved Ankara attacking the Kurdish group within Iraq itself, where Turkiye
also maintains several dozen military bases. On July 13, President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan announced the operation’s imminent end, judging Kurdish forces to be
“completely trapped” in both Iraq and Syria. Ankara’s incursions into Iraq have
frequently strained bilateral ties with Baghdad. Erdogan’s declaration came
after Iraq’s government slammed fresh incursions by the Turkish army into Iraq’s
autonomous Kurdistan region. But there have been signs of a thaw in relations in
recent months, with Erdogan in April making his first visit to Baghdad since
2011.
Ukrainian forces continue cross-border incursion into
Russia, Moscow claims
Euronews/August 7, 2024
Ukrainian forces continue cross-border incursion into Russia, Moscow claims
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers conducted an incursion across the border into
Russia, engaging in combat inside Moscow's territory on Tuesday morning local
time, according to the Kremlin. Although Moscow originally claimed it pushed
back the incursion, the assault has continued into Wednesday, with Russian
military bloggers claiming that fighting has spread further into Russia and
reaching the village of Sverdlikovo, some 15 kilometres from the border. The
Russian defence ministry confirmed that fighting was still ongoing at midday on
Wednesday. Members of Ukraine’s 22nd mechanised brigade launched an attack
between the border villages of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya in the Kursk
region of Russia, supported by “11 tanks and more than 20 armoured fighting
vehicles,” the ministry said.The clashes originally extended as far as the
outskirts of Sudzha, a town of some 5,000 people about 10 kilometres from the
border near Ukraine's region of Sumy. The assault was backed by drones and
missile strikes, according to Moscow. At least five civilians were killed, and
some 28 were injured, mostly in Sudzha and Korenevo districts, Russian
state-owned news agency Tass said. Russian President Vladimir Putin called a
meeting with his security officials on Wednesday in response to the incursion,
labelling the attack as a "large-scale provocation". He also accused Ukrainian
forces of attacking civilian targets. None of the claims or casualty reports
could be independently confirmed.
'Russia is not in control'
Kyiv did not immediately comment on the alleged incursion. However, Ukrainian
National Security and Defence Council official Andrii Kovalenko said Russia was
not in control of its border. "Russian military commanders lie about controlling
the situation in Kursk Oblast," Kovalenko wrote in the Telegram post.
Ukraine's Zelenskyy unveils newly arrived F-16 fighter jets to boost country's
war effort. Ukraine's military says it sunk Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine
amid increased long-range strikes. This is not the first time Ukrainian forces
have entered Russian territory. In March, exiled pro-Ukraine Russian fighters
attacked Belgorod and Kursk regions but were pushed back with no gains to show.
Questions remain over the benefits of similar actions, aside from shock value
and forcing parts of Russian troops to move troops from elsewhere to bolster
their defences back home.
Thousands rally against racism in several UK cities: AFP
AFP/August 7, 2024
Thousands of anti-racism protesters took to the streets in several English
cities on Wednesday to oppose violent far-right demonstrations that have gripped
the country in recent days. Several thousand people gathered in the Walthamstow
area of north London to counter a far-right protest that had been announced for
there, an AFP journalist said, while similar rallies took place in Birmingham,
Bristol and Liverpool.
US wants to know Ukraine 'objectives' in Russia incursion
AFP/August 7, 2024
The White House said Wednesday it was contacting key US ally Ukraine to learn
more about the "objectives" of Kyiv's most serious cross-border incursion into
Russian territory in months."We're going to reach out to the Ukrainian military
to learn more about their objectives," White House Press Secretary Karine
Jean-Pierre told reporters when asked about the operation that has prompted the
evacuation of thousands of civilians.
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources on August 07-08/2024
The Truth about the (Muslim?) Murderer of
Three British Children
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/August 07/2024
On July 29, the son of African migrants went on a stabbing spree targeting small
children in Southport, England. He murdered three little girls (aged six, seven,
and nine, pictured above) and seriously injured two adults and eight other
children; five were left in critical condition.
The really big news, however, is that several Brits concluded that the stabber
was a Muslim, then rose up in protest and attacked a mosque. This prompted Prime
Minister Kier Starmer to vow to do everything in his power to protect not native
British children, but Muslims.
In a press conference, Starmer denounced those protesting the murder of three
children as “far-right” “thugs,” adding, “Let me be very clear. I will take
every step that is necessary to keep you [Muslims] safe…. The far-right is
showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.”
But why did so many Brits assume that the murderer, whose name has been given as
Muganwa Rudakubana, born to Rwandan migrants, was Muslim in the first place?
First, as it happens, many Muslims have launched similar attacks, randomly
stabbing native Europeans. While there are countless examples from Western
nations — including a public beheading in London, also at the hands of African
migrants — one need not leave the British Isles to find a nearly identical
attack.
On Nov. 23, 2023, a Muslim man of Algerian origin, with a known criminal record,
also knifed a group of preschool children attending Saint Mary’s, a Catholic
school in Dublin. Three children — two girls and a boy, all five or six years
old — and a care assistant who tried to defend them were stabbed in the assault.
Knifed near the heart, another five-year-old girl was hospitalized in critical
condition.
Incidentally, Ireland’s then-prime minister, Leo Varadkar (a half-Indian
homosexual), responded just as his British counterpart did a few days ago. He
accused those protesting the stabbing of Catholic schoolchildren of being
racists “filled with hate,” and vowed to use the “full resources of the law” to
punish the protesters and tighten legislation concerning “hate speech” and
“incitement.
Second, Rudakubana could be a convert to Islam.
There have been many examples of non-Muslims, including of European origins, who
convert to Islam, only to engage in terrorism. For obvious reasons, they seldom
formally change their legal, non-Muslim names. Rwanda, moreover, though
historically Christian majority, has seen a sharp rise in conversions to Islam.
Finally, as a young black migrant in the UK, where cultural and ethnic
polarization has become pronounced, Rudakubana would most likely have gravitated
to and adopted the ways and worldview of other black and brown migrants; and a
great many of these are Muslim in the UK.
Third, when it comes to the names of sub-Saharan African Muslims, these are
often indigenous and not what you might expect them to be — Muhammad, Ahmed, and
the like.
Consider the African nation of Uganda, which shares a border with Rwanda and is
similarly Christian-majority (with a small, though restless, Muslim minority).
Many if not most of the Muslims in Uganda — even the murderous, violent ones —
have indigenous names with no association to Islam.
Thus, the name of a teenage Muslim girl whose father “burned” her a few days ago
for converting to Christianity is Naasike Maliyat. A few weeks before that, a
Muslim man poisoned and killed his mother for embracing Christ. His name is
Arajabu Mukiibi. In February, a Muslim couple who converted to Christianity was
also murdered. Their names were Twaha Namwoyo and Nadiimu Katooko.
Indeed, the two African men who slaughtered and used a cleaver to behead Lee
Rigby, a British soldier, in the streets of London in 2013 were named Michael
Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. Both were converts to Islam.
Clearly, the Shakespearan dictum, “What’s in a name?” holds much weight here. A
person’s name, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, need not be, and often isn’t,
recognizably Muslim, even though that person is.
But perhaps the greatest indicator that Muganwa Rudakubana may have been a
Muslim is that the British authorities who are saying he is not Muslim have lost
all credibility. Their word is absolutely worthless. At this stage in the game,
who would be surprised to learn that, as part of their “Muslim damage control,”
the authorities are creating fake names, identities, and backgrounds for Muslim
criminals, lest people keep connecting the dots and rising up against their
agenda?
For example, on the day after Rudakubana’s murderous stabbing spree, another man
was arrested for preparing to launch another knife attack on a vigil for his
victims. Although the man definitely appears to be of Arab or Middle Eastern
descent, authorities quickly gave his name as “Jordan Davies.” (Even if that is
his real name, perhaps his father is British, but his mother is of Muslim origin
— and only recently he decided to get in touch with his “roots”?)
It cannot be stressed enough: The UK’s leaders, as is the case with all of the
West’s leaders, are avowed Leftists, which, among other things, means that, for
them, the ends always justify the means. Whether their professed end is to
maintain peace and order in the UK, or whether, and more likely, it is to
overcome any hurdle in the way of their mass migration agenda, using any means
necessary — including out-and-out lies and fabrications — is, obviously, part of
their modus operandi. To think otherwise is to be a fool.
In the end, of course, it does not matter if Rudakubana is Muslim or not. The
same argument sticks. Europe was founded on Christian values. Those who come to
Europe and do not assimilate, whether they are Muslim or just “third worlders” —
increasingly an academic distinction — bring with them unacceptable “behaviors,”
chiefly tribalism that manifests as hate for and attacks on “the other.”
To be sure, in Europe those acting on such tribal impulses are almost always
Muslim. Islam essentially deifies tribalism— the notion that the world consists
of “us” vs. “them” — but, on occasion, it could simply be generic tribalism.
Islam in Europe is merely a concentrated and microsmic reflection of this truth,
though it applies to all who do not share in the West’s worldview, which is
still rooted in Christian values — and which the Left hates and is doing
everything possible to undermine.
*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.
Telling Their Story: Israeli Warriors in a Political Game
Nils A. Haug/Gatestone Institute/August 7, 2024
[T]he Biden-Harris administration has not only been vacillating on military
support for Israel, but also endeavouring to micromanage Israel's war operation.
A tragic outcome of these haphazard policies is that they are resulting in more
deaths, prolonging the war and delaying Hamas's release of the hostages.
The vacillation and political gamesmanship by the Biden-Harris team have only
encouraged Iran to develop its nuclear weapons for what the mullahs apparently
plan to be the destruction of Israel and ultimately the US.
Instead of deterring Iran, the Biden-Harris administration has been promoting a
deal for Israel to surrender more of its already miniscule territory to
Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon. Why Israel or any country would ever willingly
agree to such stupidity is never asked.
"Since October 7th, Hezbollah has fired 7,000 drones, missiles, and rockets at
Israel. Yet Israel is the one accused of 'escalation.' Israel may be the only
nation on earth that would be accused of escalation after daring to defend
itself against 7,000 mass murder attempts by the world's most heavily armed
terrorist organization. The absurdity of the double standard has become too
glaring to ignore." — US Congressman Ritchie Torres, D-NY, x.com, August 3,
2024.
Countless civilian deaths in both Israeli and Gaza have doubtless resulted from
signals sent by the Biden-Harris administration that they are hostile to Israel,
determined to have Hamas win, and still fund Iran.
In addition, the Biden-Harris administration has delayed weapons for Israel, and
warned that "the U.S. will not take part in a counter-offensive against Iran."
Iran's ruling mullahs could only conclude that the Biden-Harris administration
was done with Israel and sending them and their proxies... a green light to
escalate their attacks.
Although the US finally sent 12 destroyers to the region... in general, the
Biden-Harris administration's approach has been to undermine Israel's efforts to
defend itself and rescue its hostages -- some of whom are also US citizens --
and strengthen Iran's and Hamas's commitment finally to "wipe Israel off the
map." After all, why should they agree to a ceasefire if the US keeps insisting
on a ceasefire that assures them they will win?
In addition, civilian deaths would have been dramatically reduced on both sides,
and the hostages released. Instead, the US has been engaging in political games
-- as it is doing with Ukraine's efforts to defend itself against Russia -- all
while people are being killed.
Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas clearly feel no pressure from the US to cease their
relentless attacks. They are right: there has been none.
"Islamism has never ceased to threaten the West, and there have been numerous
terrorist attacks—and thwarted attempts—in France, Belgium, and Spain in recent
years... At what point in history did we decide that it is more important to
protect the aggressor than the attacked?" — Itxu Díaz, Spanish author,
tabletmag.org, May 23, 2024.
The Biden-Harris administration has not only been vacillating on military
support for Israel, but also endeavouring to micromanage Israel's war operation.
A tragic outcome of these haphazard policies is that they are resulting in more
deaths, prolonging the war and delaying Hamas's release of the hostages.
Pictured: Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to a Hamas terror tunnel just
oustide an UNRWA compound in Gaza City, on February 8, 2024. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP
via Getty Images)
"They are fighting like lions in these alleys, under constant threat. They are
heroes. This is not a simple war," recalled Lt. Col. Almog Rotem, a battalion
commander in the Israel Defense Forces, about what is faced by his soldiers in
the Rafah campaign, in Gaza. "This was a severe event that should never have
happened but did. We're in a grueling, challenging war.... My heart goes out to
the families of the fallen; we will... complete the mission.... Not a single
soldier has said, 'I don't want to continue.'"
The context is a desperate search and rescue operation for hostages from many
nations taken into captivity by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and incarcerated in
deep tunnels under the earth on that dreadful day. "[T]otal victory," Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US Congress, means that "we destroy
Hamas' military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages
home."
tedly due to political concerns over Muslim voters in the US, the Biden-Harris
administration has not only been vacillating on military support for Israel, but
also endeavouring to micromanage Israel's war operation. A tragic outcome of
these haphazard policies is that they are resulting in more deaths, prolonging
the war and delaying Hamas's release of the hostages.
The IDF's necessary assault on Rafah for its self-defense and attempts to
determine the location of senior Hamas leaders were postponed time and again due
to US and international pressure. These postponements not only put the hostages
at greater risk of torture and death -– bodies of five murdered hostages were
recently discovered -- but increase the risks to soldiers come to rescue them.
Some hostages were eventually rescued from Rafah; perhaps others could have
been, except that during the interim period they had been transferred elsewhere.
The US-dictated delay of sending Israel's forces to Rafah allowed Hamas to set
lethal traps for them when they eventually did arrive. Tragically, some were
killed as a result, presumably unnecessarily:
Three soldiers killed on May 18, 2024, by an IED (improvised explosive device).
On May 28, three soldiers killed by a booby-trap;
In June, eight soldiers perished when their vehicle hit an IED in the same area.
Also in June, four Israeli troops killed in booby-trapped building in Rafah.
Hamas was able to set these traps during the three months in which there was a
lull in fighting, a period forced upon Israel by the inept US administration.
Despite initially sending munitions and expressing an "ironclad" commitment to
Israel's survival in the face of a multi-pronged attack by Iran and its proxies,
the US administration under Biden has grown weary of the domestic political
fall-out from supporting Israel. The absence of strong statesmanlike leadership
from the US -- with Biden again projecting weakness on the world stage and his
underlings no better -- has resulted in a compromise of Israel's geopolitical
interests in the region, which, incidentally, align with those of the US and the
West.
According to the journalist Caroline Glick:
"On the ground, the U.S. has micromanaged, slowed, subverted and delegitimized
Israel's war in Gaza, and blocked it from taking decisive action against
Hezbollah, the Houthis or Iran.
"The administration has embargoed and slow-walked weapons transfers to Israel to
prevent it from defeating Hamas or moving to offense against Hezbollah."
Consequences included the unnecessary deaths of IDF soldiers, forced to enter
enemy tunnels -- death traps that could have been destroyed or degraded by the
precision weapons and 2,000 pound bombs Israel had asked for as it tries to
defend itself on seven fronts, but which the US administration denied.
Neutralizing the danger of Hamas therefore entails the ability of Israel, with
full forces and required munitions, additionally to face Iran and Hezbollah in
Lebanon. The vacillation and political gamesmanship by the Biden-Harris team
have only encouraged Iran to develop its nuclear weapons for what the mullahs
apparently plan to be the destruction of Israel and ultimately the US.
Instead of deterring Iran, the Biden-Harris administration has been promoting a
deal for Israel to surrender more of its already miniscule territory to
Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon. Why Israel or any country would ever willingly
agree to such stupidity is never asked.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, fully aware of US pressure on Israel -- but never on Hamas
or its sponsors and protectors, Qatar and Iran -- has apparently decided that it
would be advantageous to continue bombarding Israel. According to US Congressman
Ritchie Torres:
"Since October 7th, Hezbollah has fired 7,000 drones, missiles, and rockets at
Israel. Yet Israel is the one accused of 'escalation.'
"Israel may be the only nation on earth that would be accused of escalation
after daring to defend itself against 7,000 mass murder attempts by the world's
most heavily armed terrorist organization.
"The absurdity of the double standard has become too glaring to ignore. Yet
ignored it continues to be."
In a recent, horrific, possibly miscalculated, rocket attack on July 27, twelve
youths of Israel's Druze community were murdered by Hezbollah while innocently
playing soccer.
Countless civilian deaths in both Israeli and Gaza have doubtless resulted from
signals sent by the Biden-Harris administration that they are hostile to Israel,
determined to have Hamas win, and still fund Iran. Vice President Kamala Harris
failed to greet Netanyahu upon his arrival in Washington DC, or attend his
address to Congress, and repeated her enthusiasm for creating a Palestinian
State. In addition, the Biden-Harris administration has delayed weapons for
Israel, and warned that "the U.S. will not take part in a counter-offensive
against Iran."
Iran's ruling mullahs could only conclude that the Biden-Harris administration
was done with Israel and sending them and their proxies -- Hezbollah and the
Houthis -- a green light to escalate their attacks.
Although the US finally sent 12 destroyers to the region, probably as a warning
to Iran, in general, the Biden-Harris administration's approach has been to
undermine Israel's efforts to defend itself and rescue its hostages -- some of
whom are also US citizens -- and strengthen Iran's and Hamas's commitment
finally to "wipe Israel off the map." After all, why should they agree to a
ceasefire if the US keeps insisting on a ceasefire that assures them they will
win?
If the Biden-Harris administration had simply stood by Israel, provided the
required materiel, and warned Qatar, Iran and its proxies that if they did not
stop their war immediately the costs to them would be unimaginable, it would
have been over by now. In addition, civilian deaths would have been dramatically
reduced on both sides, and the hostages released. Instead, the US has been
engaging in political games -- as it is doing with Ukraine's efforts to defend
itself against Russia -- all while people are being killed.
Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas clearly feel no pressure from the US to cease their
relentless attacks. They are right: there has been none.
So, the war against Israel continues on multiple fronts, with civilians,
hostages, and Israel's soldiers suffering the consequences.
Spanish author Itxu Díaz wrote:
"Islamism has never ceased to threaten the West, and there have been numerous
terrorist attacks—and thwarted attempts—in France, Belgium, and Spain in recent
years. It is difficult for intelligence services to monitor extremism in Western
countries with so-called no-go zones where the police can't enter. Yet not even
this disorderly and chaotic commitment to multiculturalism would be a problem if
the inhabitants of these no-go zones did not have among their vital objectives
the destruction of the West, the killing of Christians and Jews, and wiping
Israel off the map, and if European elites did not persist in denial of this
reality.
"One of the great differences between how Israel is defending itself against
Islamic terrorism and how the West defends itself is the former's integrity.
Israel clearly represents a culture... at the very root of Western civilization,
and, more importantly, a moral code that limits man's capacity for destruction.
The Israelis... to their credit... refuse to lie about the nature and motives of
their attackers...
"At what point in history did we decide that it is more important to protect the
aggressor than the attacked?"
Israel will again overcome all challenges to its people, its homeland and the
West. It always has.
*Nils A. Haug is an author and columnist. A Lawyer by profession, he is member
of the International Bar Association, the National Association of Scholars, the
Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Retired from law, his particular field of
interest is political theory interconnected with current events. He holds a
Ph.D. in Apologetical Theology. Dr. Haug is author of 'Politics, Law, and
Disorder in the Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the
Innocent – Life, Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.' His work has been published
by First Things Journal, The American Mind, Quadrant, Gatestone Institute,
National Association of Scholars, Jewish News Syndicate, Anglican Mainstream,
Document Danmark, and others.
© 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.
World War III Coming Soon, U.S. Military Woefully
Unprepared
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/August 7, 2024
"The Commission finds that DoD's business practices, byzantine research and
development and procurement systems, reliance on decades-old military hardware,
and culture of risk avoidance reflect an era of uncontested military
dominance... Such methods are not suited to today's strategic environment....
The U.S. public are largely unaware of the dangers the United States faces or
the costs (financial and otherwise) required to adequately prepare," —
Commission on the National Defense Strategy, July 29, 2024.
"The Department's usual laser focus on mission has been supplanted by
Marxist-inspired instruction, an eradication of meritocracy in favor of
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion promotion programs, with an extra emphasis
placed on administration fetishes like climate change... The Chinese, Russian,
North Korean, and Iranian militaries are not burdened by such nonsense." —
Blaine Holt, former US Air Force brigadier general, to Gatestone Institute,
August 5, 2024.
Unfortunately, Biden has not addressed the American people in a comprehensive
and meaningful way about the greatest threat they face.
The Commission on the National Defense Strategy is clear on what must be done:
"A bipartisan 'call to arms' is urgently needed so that the United States can
make the major changes and significant investments now rather than wait for the
next Pearl Harbor or 9/11."
It is unlikely, however, that bad actors will give America a decade more to
prepare.
General Mike Minihan, the chief of the Air Force's Air Mobility Command,
predicted in a memorandum to his command leaked in January of last year that
America would be in a war with China "in 2025."
Xi Jinping can see the United States is starting to stir; why would he wait for
his foe to get ready? It is incomprehensible that the U.S. after the Cold War
would allow militant regimes to develop stronger fighting forces than its own,
but that is exactly what happened. Global conflict on the horizon, and the
leaders of America's enemies are not squeamish. China's President Xi Jinping
relishes making war references at every opportunity. "Dare to fight!" is one of
his favorite lines.
"We are closer today to World War III than we've been since the Second World
War," said former President Donald Trump at the Believers' Summit in West Palm
Beach on July 26.
Trump hyperbole? No.
The former president is not alone in thinking this way. "China and Russia's
'no-limits' partnership, formed in February 2022 just days before Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, has only deepened and broadened to include a military and
economic partnership with Iran and North Korea, each of which presents its own
significant threat to U.S. interests," states the Commission on the National
Defense Strategy in its 114-page report released three days after Trump spoke.
"This new alignment of nations opposed to U.S. interests creates a real risk, if
not likelihood, that conflict anywhere could become a multitheater or global
war."
Not only is global conflict on the horizon, the Commission's report reveals
America is woefully unprepared for what is coming. Take the Department of
Defense, for instance. "The Commission finds that DoD's business practices,
byzantine research and development and procurement systems, reliance on
decades-old military hardware, and culture of risk avoidance reflect an era of
uncontested military dominance," the report states. "Such methods are not suited
to today's strategic environment."
The Commission got that right. "The report is yet again a stark reminder of the
U.S. government's failure to both anticipate the militaristic rise of Communist
China as well as to prepare our nation to deter, let alone defeat such a threat,
which the Commission rightly assesses that the U.S. military is not prepared to
do," James Fanell, co-author of Embracing Communist China: America's Greatest
Strategic Failure, told Gatestone. "The situation is dire."
Fanell, also a former U.S. Navy captain who served as Director of Intelligence
and Information Operations at the U.S. Pacific Fleet, recommends Congress take
"immediate and massive action" to rebuild the armed forces, especially the Navy.
The problems in the U.S. military go well beyond a shortage of modern ships,
planes, and weapons, however. Blaine Holt, a former Air Force brigadier general,
tells Gatestone that "the root of the Department of the Air Force's trouble is
cultural." "The Department's usual laser focus on mission has been supplanted by
Marxist-inspired instruction, an eradication of meritocracy in favor of
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion promotion programs, with an extra emphasis
placed on administration fetishes like climate change," he points out. "The
Chinese, Russian, North Korean, and Iranian militaries are not burdened by such
nonsense."
An overhaul of the magnitude Fanell and Holt recommend requires the support of
the American people. "The U.S. public are largely unaware of the dangers the
United States faces or the costs (financial and otherwise) required to
adequately prepare," the Commission states.
Roger that. Americans think they live in peace because President Joe Biden, for
whatever reason, has not seen fit to have an honest conversation about the
perilous state of the world. Only a few times during his presidency has he come
close to talking about the international situation in a realistic fashion.
In October 2022 and June 2023, he suggested that Russian President Vladimir
Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons were real. In August of last year, at a
private event for Democratic Party donors in Salt Lake City, Utah, he called
China a "ticking time-bomb" and then said "that's not good because when bad
folks have problems, they do bad things." Unfortunately, Biden has not addressed
the American people in a comprehensive and meaningful way about the greatest
threat they face.
The leaders of America's enemies, however, are not squeamish. Putin has to talk
to the Russian people about war because he is in fact waging one in Ukraine, and
China's President Xi Jinping relishes making war references at every
opportunity. "Dare to fight!" is one of his favorite lines.
The Commission on the National Defense Strategy is clear on what must be done:
"A bipartisan 'call to arms' is urgently needed so that the United States can
make the major changes and significant investments now rather than wait for the
next Pearl Harbor or 9/11."
An event like that is coming. Retired Admiral James Stavridis in 2021
co-authored 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. It is unlikely, however, that
bad actors will give America a decade more to prepare.
General Mike Minihan, the chief of the Air Force's Air Mobility Command,
predicted in a memorandum to his command leaked in January of last year that
America would be in a war with China "in 2025." Former Admiral Mike Gilday, when
he was the U.S. Navy's top officer in October 2022, warned that China could go
to war at any moment.
Xi has focused his regime's efforts on getting all Chinese society — the
People's Liberation Army and civilians — ready to fight a sustained war. The
Financial Times reported in February that Chinese state enterprises are forming
militia units, and a factory owner once told me that the Communist Party has
taken over privately owned factories to turn out items for the military.
Xi Jinping can see the United States is starting to stir; why would he wait for
his foe to get ready?
It is incomprehensible that the U.S. after the Cold War would allow militant
regimes to develop stronger fighting forces than its own, but that is exactly
what happened.
**Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China and China Is
Going to War, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of
its Advisory Board.
© 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.
The importance of a judicial process against soldiers
suspected of torturing terrorists - opinion
Prof. Suzie Navot/Jerusalem Post/August 07/2024
The very existence of a judicial process against soldiers suspected of torturing
terrorist detainees in Israel is one of the most important things happening in
the IDF right now.
‘The strength of a society to stand against its enemies is based on its
recognition that it fights for values worthy of protection. The rule of law is
one of these values.” In these simple words, written in a court ruling from 35
years ago, one can summarize the story that recently shook Israeli society.
The very existence of a judicial process against soldiers suspected of torturing
detainees from the Nukhba terrorist group in Israel is one of the most important
things happening in the IDF right now.
It seems that now, after nine months of fighting, the urgent matter at hand is
the reminder that what distinguishes us from Hamas is the obligation to obey the
law and treat even detained terrorists according to the law. We must remind
ourselves that the IDF is a professional army whose soldiers cannot act as if
they were in militias where each one does as he or she sees fit. It is
essential, even in the most challenging moments and even in the face of pure
evil, to uphold the values of the IDF. Unlike terrorists or militias, a
professional army has disciplinary and judicial procedures. The judicial process
is a constant reminder of the limits of the power of the military and its
soldiers.
The rule of law, beyond being a fundamental democratic principle, is also a
central social value in the identity of Israeli society. The shared starting
point for all of us is that all governing bodies, professional and elected
officials, civilians, and public employees, including soldiers, are subject to
and comply with the law. This is especially true given that Israel is a
“people’s army.” The fact that most of the nation is required to serve it in
compulsory and reserve service ties the military deeply to the Israeli public, a
connection that does not exist in militaries based on voluntary service.
The rule of law is a fundamental value upon which the trust of Israeli society
in the IDF, the police, and other security forces is built. It is the basis for
the legitimacy granted to Israel in the international arena, even if this
legitimacy, unfortunately, is waning. 'Most moral army in the world'
The ethos that the IDF is the “most moral army in the world” began with the
story of Maj. Hanan Samson, who was killed in an incident where he refrained
from shooting at a woman and baby that a terrorist used as a human shield, and
thus met his death.
RESEARCHERS HAVE often warned that military service under the shadow of
recurring combat operations might lead to a decline in the internal commitment
of IDF soldiers and the entire military campaign to the IDF’s moral code. The
fear was that being in the field under unpredictable, complex, and prolonged
conditions would lead to a decline in soldiers’ perception of the sanctity of
human life and the importance of the rule of law, including when prosecuting
captured enemy forces.
It turns out that this warning proved correct not outside the state’s borders,
under unpredictable, complex, and harsh conditions in the field in Gaza. Here,
right within the walls of a military detention center, IDF soldiers are
suspected of taking the law into their own hands and torturing a detainee
contrary to the law. This is precisely the judicial system’s role – to ascertain
the truth.
After the deaths of Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka, the Israeli
hostages mistakenly shot by the IDF earlier in the war, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi
Halevi referred to that moral code characteristic of the IDF. He said, “For
anyone confused here, even those fighting against us and now laying down their
weapons and raising their hands, we capture them; we do not shoot them... We do
not shoot them because the IDF does not shoot a person who raises his hands.
That is strength, not weakness.”
Perhaps this prolonged war has disrupted some of the humanity in our moral
compass. Maybe the chief of staff’s words were heard but not truly absorbed. The
suspicions of torture and rape of a Nukhba terrorist – if they indeed occurred –
are not just taking the law into one’s hands but primarily a moral and ethical
stain on the IDF. Only decisive action against these phenomena may somewhat slow
the deterioration of the rule of law in Israel and Jewish morality.
**Prof. Suzie Navot is vice president of research at the Israel Democracy
Institute. Adv. Sapir Paz is an IDI research assistant.
Israel's Worrying Power: Its Disruption and Activation
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 07/2024
Time and again, a pressing need to reaffirm the obvious reemerges: Israel is
alarming the people of the region, and they should be alarmed, and not only for
reasons tied to Palestinian rights and deterring settlement and the occupation
of Arab territories. Added to all of that:
First, it is a mighty technological machine equipped with nuclear fangs.
Second, a hysterical security consciousness has taken hold of it, and this
consciousness can turn genocidal at any moment.
Third, powerful global actors are committed to "its defense," to say nothing
about ensuring its impunity. Fourth, the social fabrics of our countries are
frayed, and the consensus that underpins them is weak, which Israel can exploit
to tear us further apart. Fifth, its current rulers represent all the worst
things about nationalism and religious politics, coupled with a crudely colonial
inclination from another era to annex land and expel the population.
However, it seems that poor and worn-out ritual incantations about resistance to
occupation, liberation, and decolonization, with constant reference to Vietnam
and Algeria, cannot address the Israel problem. It is not just that times have
changed, the structural differences between the forces involved in the conflict,
and that the world changed and its equilibriums have shifted, to say nothing
about the lived experience of national liberation, which is not very appealing.
In addition to all of that, the conflict here revolves around a single, small
piece of land, and it is being fought over by groups that are highly intertwined
geographically and economically. Accordingly, none of the forces can "go back to
their country" as the French and Americans had done when they left Algeria and
Vietnam and returned to France and the US. Once we add the technological
disparities, we find ourselves in a situation that we could describe, without
hyperbole, as without parallel anywhere in the world. Today, after a wide
variety of experiences, both military and political, we are confronting a truth
that has never been as obvious as it is today. Technological disparities mean
that thinking of violence as a solution to this massive dilemma borders on
collective suicide. Once we add the immense American and Western support being
provided to Israel, "suicide" becomes too mild a term.
It is worth remembering, here, that even Mohamed Hassanein Heikal himself warned
the Arabs against "butting heads with the American bull" in the late 1960s -
mind you, Heikal was not in the "cowardly defeatist" camp but Nasser’s
spokesperson and a key architect of his policies. It is also worth noting that
those who did choose to "butt heads with the bull" at the time quickly found
themselves embroiled - and embroiling the region - in civil wars in Jordan and
Lebanon, before having to confront an Israeli invasion.
We also know that the history of clashes with the Jewish state led to disaster
and weakened the collective consciousness, not to mention its aggravation of
tyranny, whether by militias, states, or foreign powers. What we can infer from
this, at least theoretically, is that only a political solution can alleviate
and tame our concerns about Israel. That is why drawing Israel into a political
battle that leads to a solution has always been pursued by non-radical Arab
regimes, and by the Palestine Liberation Organization since the "Ten-Point
Program" of the mid-1970s, but especially after 1982. Here, we are back to
square one, where two theories that explain the entire history of the conflict
stand out. One is the simple theory of the "Octoberists." It holds that neglect
of the Palestinian cause and the abandonment of the Palestinians, who were left
to face the occupation and Israel’s arbitrary violence on their own, led to
October 7 and make that attack an act of national liberation from occupation.
The second theory is often censored and ignored. It holds that the region has
seen no fewer than ten political attempts to resolve the problem, every one of
them thwarted by Arab military regimes, with Khomeini's Iran also contributing
to the effort starting 1979. These regimes have always found, in the Palestinian
question and in the impossibility of resolving it, an alternative that
compensates for their loss of legitimacy.
Over this long history of rejecting "half-solutions" and "conspiracies to
liquidate the cause," and slandering the "Camp David conspiracy," the "May 17
capitulation," and "Arafat's betrayal," as well as the assassinations of
Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian proponents of settlements, two
shifts emerged:
On one hand, the cause became increasingly religiously charged, with the notion
that the Palestinian struggle should not be "tainted" by politics or political
solutions becoming increasingly commonplace. Intellectuals who aren’t worth
their salt took on the task of spreading and mainstreaming this message. On the
other hand, there has been a growing sense that a political solution is not
possible, creating weariness around this irresolvable question, which the
Iranian-Syrian axis has used to veto the sovereignty of smaller and weaker
states, and to further fragment their already fragmented social fabrics. This
axis managed, through the terrorism of Hamas, to destroy the Oslo Accords - an
effort helped and supported by the Israeli far-right that assassinated Rabin. As
a result, the peace camp that a majority of Israelis once identified with has
been wiped out, and every Israeli government formed since has sought to take the
extremism of its predecessor further and to do more to encourage settlement.
Today, the October 7 operation, which is said to have "put the cause back on the
table," can be credited with successfully undermining the political process,
maybe even setting it back over 20 years by smashing the "table" altogether and
laying the groundwork for a second Nakba that is even more horrific than the
first, in addition to validating the narrative of conflict promoted by the
Iranian and Syrian regimes. At the end of the day, we have ended up in a dead
end politically and militarily, while the raging bull is growing increasingly
incensed.
Decades of Absurdity
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 07/2024
The events of the past week alone demonstrate that the past five decades have
been absurd. Our region has seen nothing but blatant lies that cost lives,
money, and the destruction of states and their social fabric, all in the name of
empty slogans.
These are the developments in question: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind
of 9/11, signed a plea deal, which was subsequently revoked by the US Secretary
of Defense. This terrorist, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, now wants to escape death.
The terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, with the help and support of other
terrorists like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, led youths to their
peril. He used them as fodder for his terrorist war, which cost the region
dearly and heavily tarnished the image of Islam, all under the guise of a
so-called jihad.
When death came knocking, the terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed sought to escape
by pleading guilty and choosing to serve a life sentence instead of dying a “mujahid,”
as he had preached to the youth he deceived and sent to their doom.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed planned 9/11 alongside other terrorists who claimed they
were seeking “martyrdom and jihad.” However, when he had the opportunity to die
at the hands of the “enemy,” he chose to cooperate with the US judiciary and
confess in an attempt to avoid execution.
The question here is: what about all the young people who had been tricked by
al-Qaeda and the criminals who pushed their lies and propaganda? If those
individuals had been given the same opportunity to live for a few more years,
would they have decided to hijack the planes and blow up the World Trade Center?
Would they have carried out the suicide attacks?
The lesson we should remember, here, is that the instigators, planners,
provocateurs, and advocates are a thousand times more dangerous than those who
blow themselves up. Unfortunately, the damage is done. Now, some of those
investigators are trying to outbid us in moderation. Here he is, the terrorist
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, trying to escape death.
The other side of this absurdity that has defined our region for decades is
evident from the recent developments of the regional conflict that has followed
the Gaza war. Indeed, it has become clear that Netanyahu's Israel is not a state
of peace, Iran is not a state of war, and Hezbollah is not a resistance
movement.
The assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran shows that Netanyahu is not a man of
peace. Israel is not genuinely capable of peace. To the Israelis, killing is
easier than signing a peace agreement, and orchestrating assassinations is
easier than engaging in negotiations.
As for Iran, it has been proven that it would not dare to upend the equation and
go to war. It has the capacity to sabotage and destabilize regional security,
but not to confront Israel. Even if Iran did decide to clash with Israel
directly, it would fail to change the balance of power or create deterrence.
The same is true for Hezbollah, which has shown that it can hijack Lebanon and
incite the Houthis, but cannot defend Gaza or deter Israel, which has killed
nearly 300 members of the party, including several prominent figures. Hassan
Nasrallah says that Israel bracing for the party’s awaited retaliation “is part
of the retaliation and punishment, as the battle is psychological, moral, and
military.” Can these lies be any more blatant?
The same applies to Hamas, which decided to launch its attack on October 7
without considering the consequences. Accordingly, our region has wasted decades
to grandiose lies and empty slogans. We must learn from this and strive to build
a better future, one that is not built on slogans and lies.
Sinwar’s Appointment: Extremism and War in Gaza and Lebanon
Bassam Abou Zeid/This Is Beirut/August 07/2024
Qatar and Egypt have concluded that achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza strip may
be unattainable at this stage, given Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued leadership
of the Israeli government and Hamas’ appointment of Yehya Sinwar as its
political bureau chief. Consequently, ending the so-called “supporting war,”
particularly from southern Lebanon, also appears unlikely, keeping the
possibility of widespread escalation on the table.
According to Arab diplomatic sources, Sinwar’s appointment has fully severed
Hamas from Qatari influence and diminished Turkish and Egyptian sway, placing
the movement firmly within the Iranian axis due to Sinwar’s alignment. Known for
his hardline, unilateral decision-making, Sinwar’s leadership is expected to
complicate the efforts of Hamas officials outside Gaza and may lead Israel to
adopt a more rigid stance in future negotiations on ceasefires and prisoner
exchanges.
Moreover, there is significant frustration in Doha and Cairo with the role of
the US in the region. They criticize the insufficient pressure applied to the
Israeli prime minister to agree to a ceasefire and argue that Washington should
have fully suspended arms shipments to Israel to compel an end to the fighting.
In addition, while awaiting a shift in US pressure tactics to achieve positive
outcomes, Palestinians in Gaza will continue to bear the brunt. The conflict in
southern Lebanon will persist, with efforts to implement Resolution 1701 failing
to produce tangible results. Meanwhile, Lebanon is striving to avoid further
negative repercussions, albeit with limited success, and is focusing on securing
support for its official position that aims to prevent a full-scale war,
insisting on the complete implementation of Resolution 1701.
In this context, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib’s visit to Cairo was
notable for the strong support he received from Egyptian officials, especially
from Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atti, who pledged to visit Beirut. The timing
of this visit will be determined through tripartite consultations involving
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Caretaker Minister Bou Habib, and
Minister Abdel Atti.
It is also reported that Minister Bou Habib has not ruled out a visit to Jordan
following his phone call with his Jordanian counterpart, Foreign Minister Ayman
Safadi, on Monday, after his trip to Tehran. The planning and timing of this
visit will also be coordinated between Mikati and Bou Habib. According to Arab
diplomatic sources, while Jordan publicly supports Lebanon and condemns Israeli
aggression against it, it is also seeking to avoid being drawn into any broader
regional escalation.