English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 28/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by
God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one, But one is
tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it
Letter of James 01/09-18/:”Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised
up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a
flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the
field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same with the rich;
in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away. Blessed is anyone who
endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of
life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. No one, when tempted,
should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and
he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured
and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin,
and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived,
my beloved. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from
above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the
word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on August 27-28/2024
The idea of a Palestinian state was criticized by a Lebanese
director/Darren Rowse/Top Buzz Times/August 27, 2024
Israeli air strike hits truck in Lebanon carrying military equipment, security
source says
Weekend escalation between Israel, Hezbollah not indication of wider conflict,
Pentagon says
IDF: 90% of Hezbollah's rockets fired from civilian areas
Rocket Launched near Peacekeeper Post in Lebanon on Sunday, UN Says
Israel must decisively defeat Hezbollah, Golan Council head says
Prepared Israel gives Hezbollah yet another beating/Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Asia
Times/August 27/2024
US hopeful that likelihood of wider conflict breaking out between Israel and
Hezbollah has reduced, officials say/Katie Bo Lillis, CNN/August 27, 2024
After a failed attack, Hezbollah’s propaganda seeks to prevent a wider war with
Israel/David Daoud/MENASource/August 27/2024
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 27-28/2024
Israel rescues a hostage from an underground tunnel in Gaza
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 18, including 8 children, Palestinians say
Saudi crown prince discusses situation in Gaza with Palestinian president
Israel Battles Hamas in Gaza as Space for Displaced Families Narrows
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘not a friend of peace,’ says Israeli
analyst/RAY HANANIA/Arab News/August 27, 2024
White House’s Kirby says US would defend Israel in Iranian attack
Top US General Says Risk of Broader War Eases a Bit after Israel-Hezbollah
Exchange
Moody's warns of significant ratings impact for Israel from all-out conflict
Iran's supreme leader opens door to negotiations with United States over
Tehran's nuclear program
Iran’s Supreme Leader Opens Door to Negotiations with US over Tehran’s Nuclear
Program
White House's Kirby says US would defend Israel in Iranian attack
Moscow Points Out Supposedly 'Obvious Fact' About The West And Kyiv's Incursion
Amid Latest Warning
Russia is signaling it could take out the West's internet and GPS. There's no
good backup plan.
Russia warns the United States of the risks of World War Three
UN Security Council considers sanctioning two RSF generals in Sudan
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on August 27-28/2024
Al Qaeda kills hundreds in Burkina Faso attack/Caleb Weiss/ FDD's Long War
Journal/August 27/2024
Important New Poll Reveals Most Americans Know China Is Funding the Fentanyl
Murder of More than 100,000 Americans Each Year/Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone
Institute./August 27, 2024
Another Coptic Christian Girl (Christina Karim Aziz) ‘Disappears’ in
Egypt/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/August 27/2024
Islamist delusions: Hidden truths behind the Arab-Israeli conflict -
opinion/Mohamed Saad/Jerusalem Post/August 27/2024
Netanyahu is dragging the US down a dangerous path on Iran/Ami Ayalon, Gilead
Sher and Orni Petruschka, opinion contributors/The Hill/August 27, 2024
As New Academic Year Begins, The PFLP-Affiliated Samidoun Network – Which
Promotes Hamas, Hizbullah, And Houthis – Continues Its Outreach And Encourages,
Trains, And Radicalizes Student Campus Protests And Encampment Activities From
New York To Amsterdam/Steven Stalinsky, Ph.D/MEMRI/August 27/2024
Gulf National Security Is a Need, Not a Choice/Yousef Al-DayniAsharq Al Awsat/August
27/2024
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on August 27-28/2024
The idea of a Palestinian state was criticized by a
Lebanese director
Darren Rowse/Top Buzz Times/August 27, 2024
https://topbuzztimes.com/the-idea-of-a-palestinian-state-was-criticized-by-a-lebanese-director/
Lebanese director Youssef El-Khoury criticises the idea of creating a
Palestinian state, calling it utopian and falsified.
It accuses the Hamas terrorist group of being responsible for the deaths of both
Israelis and Gazans, and also calls on Hezbollah leader Nasrallah to keep quiet,
claiming that he is misinforming and poisoning the minds of Lebanese society.
El-Khoury considers Hamas a criminal terrorist organization responsible for the
October 7 massacre. In his speech, he emphasized that support for the
Palestinian cause has lasted for more than 70 years, but at the same time asked
the question: “When did a Palestinian state even exist?”
The director claims that the Lebanese have destroyed themselves by fighting for
a “false idea” and asserts that a Palestinian state never existed.
It should be noted that Youssef El-Khoury is a Lebanese film director and writer
known for his critical statements on political and social issues in the region.
In the cinematic realm, Youssef El-Khoury has directed several notable works,
including The Secret (1989), Prison Days (1996) and Beyond the Palace Walls
(1998). These films received praise both inside and outside Lebanon, cementing
his reputation as one of the region’s leading directors. His work often raises
important social and political issues, reflecting the complex realities of the
Middle East.
Earlier it was also reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz strongly
opposed the idea of creating a Palestinian state.
Kursor also reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with
Mahmoud Abbas, stressed the importance of creating a full-fledged Palestinian
state
Israeli air strike hits truck in Lebanon carrying
military equipment, security source says
Reuters/August 28, 2024
BEIRUT: An Israeli air strike hit a pickup truck traveling in northeast Lebanon
late on Tuesday, two security sources told Reuters, with one of the sources
saying it carried military equipment. The two sources said the strike hit a
pickup near Chaat, a remote area of Lebanon near the Syrian border, but that the
driver survived. One of the sources said it was likely the military equipment
being transported was a damaged rocket launcher on the way to be repaired. Two
days earlier, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli military
engaged in one of the most intense exchanges of fire between them over the last
10 months amid fears that Israel’s war in Gaza would become a wider regional
conflict. Hezbollah fired drones and rockets at Israel early on Sunday to avenge
a top military commander killed by Israel last month. Israel has said its
strikes on Lebanon on Sunday destroyed Hezbollah rocket launch sites and
prevented a wider attack by the group. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
said the attack had gone as planned and that Israeli strikes afterwards had
damaged some Hezbollah launch sites. On Tuesday, a UN peacekeeping force told
Reuters that it had detected a rocket launch from near one of its positions in
southern Lebanon.
Weekend escalation between Israel, Hezbollah not
indication of wider conflict, Pentagon says
Jerusalem Post/August 27/2024
Pentagon was focused on supporting the defense of Israel and "ensuring that this
did not escalate into a wider conflict." While the Pentagon is labeling Israel
and Hezbollah's exchange of hundreds of rockets on Sunday morning as a
"large-scale attack," the US is not viewing this stage of tensions as the start
of the wider regional conflict the Biden administration has been working to
prevent, Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters on Tuesday
afternoon. The IDF and Hezbollah entered a new, much more dangerous phase of the
conflict in the North early Sunday morning, with hundreds of air force jets
striking thousands of Hezbollah rocket attack platforms. With Israeli
intelligence observing that Hezbollah was about to launch its largest attack of
the current war, including to the Tel Aviv and central Israel areas, around 5:00
a.m., the IDF preemptively and independently struck targets where Hezbollah was
on the verge of firing on Israel. Starting at around 5:30 am on Sunday,
Hezbollah claimed it launched around 320 rockets at northern Israel, including
at areas like Safed and Acre, and at 11 military bases, which to date have
mostly been left alone by the Lebanese terror group. Threat is contained, US
says
"Right now, we still assess that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is
contained to Gaza. You have seen the cross-border strikes between Israel and
Lebanese Hezbollah since October 8. What you saw over the weekend, of course,
was a much larger scale than what we've seen previously," Ryder said. "But it
is, in our view, not a wider regional conflict at this stage, and so we're going
to continue to stay very focused on de escalation of tensions in the region,
Lebanese Hezbollah had [said] that they intended to retaliate, and by all
accounts, they did, Ryder said, adding "Israel was well prepared to respond and
defend themselves." Ryder said from a US standpoint the Pentagon was focused on
supporting the defense of Israel and "ensuring that this did not escalate into a
wider conflict and that continues to be our focus."
IDF: 90% of Hezbollah's rockets fired from civilian
areas
Jerusalem Post/August 27/2024
90% of all rockets fired at Israel from Hezbollah have been launched from
civilian areas, IDF announced Monday. The IDF announced on Monday night that 90%
of the rockets and drones that Hezbollah launched against Israel on Sunday were
fired from civilian areas in Lebanon.
In addition, the military provided an infographic displaying the proximity of
the aerial threats launched by Hezbollah to mosques, schools, UN facilities, and
other such civilian locations. According to the IDF, much like Hamas, Hezbollah
is systematically abusing the laws of war by using both human shields and
civilian locations to perpetrate its terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
Israel said it detected 230 rocket attacks and 20 drone attacks against it on
Sunday. Hezbollah said that it launched around 350 rocket and drone attacks
against Israel.
The IDF's operation on Sunday morning prevented more Israeli casualties
Ultimately, a massive preemptive strike from the IDF neutralized most of
Hezbollah's much larger intended strike, and the vast majority of the rockets
and drones that were fired were shot down or failed to cause Israeli casualties,
though there was significant property damage in Acre and in other northern
Israeli areas.
Rocket Launched near Peacekeeper Post in Lebanon on
Sunday, UN Says
Asharq Al Awsat/August 27/2024
One of the rockets launched from Lebanon in the heavy exchange between armed
group Hezbollah and the Israeli military on Sunday was fired from near a
position operated by international peacekeepers, the United Nations force told
Reuters on Tuesday. The UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said
it had detected a "high number of air strikes and rocket launches in its area of
operations" starting on Sunday morning. "One such launch was detected from near
one of our positions in Hanniyeh," UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said,
referring to a town in southern Lebanon approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of
the border with Israel. The spokesperson said another explosion occurred later
in the day near a UNIFIL position in Mays al-Jabal, along the border, but said
there was no damage and no casualties. "We continually stress to everyone that
using areas near our positions to launch attacks across the Blue Line or
targeting that puts peacekeepers in danger is unacceptable and a violation of
Resolution 1701," the spokesperson said. The Blue Line is the demarcation line
between Lebanon and Israel, where parts of the international border are
disputed. UN resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and
Hezbollah, tasks UNIFIL with ensuring that its area of operations "is not
utilized for hostile activities of any kind". A spokesperson for the Israeli
military said on Monday that it had identified Hezbollah rocket launch sites
approximately 150 meters (490 feet) away from a UN position in Hanniyeh, without
specifically naming UNIFIL.There was no immediate response from Hezbollah to a
Reuters request for comment. Hezbollah on Sunday fired rockets and drones at
Israeli military sites in retaliation for the killing of a top commander by
Israel last month, and Israeli jets targeted approximately 40 launch sites in
Lebanon. It was one of the most intense exchanges of fire between the armed foes
in more than 10 months of hostilities playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
Israel must decisively defeat Hezbollah, Golan Council
head says
Amichai Stein/Israel Today/August 27/2024
Even if the Air Force did destroy 6,000 enemy missiles on Sunday, this is less
than 3% of their arsenal, says Upper Galilee Regional Council chairman. “I
received a warning a little before the [Israeli Air Force] strikes started from
officials who told me, ‘We are launching an attack in Lebanon.’ And I said to
myself, ‘It took 11 months—and it is finally happening.’ At the end of this
event, the security situation will be far better than today.” This is how the
head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, Giora Zaltz, described the tense
hours on Sunday morning, before Israel launched a preemptive strike on the
Hezbollah terrorist organization in Southern Lebanon. The Air Force operation
destroyed several thousand missiles aimed at Israel. Some of the missiles were
meant to be fired at 5:15 a.m. at targets in the north of the country and at the
base in central Israel where the headquarters of the Mossad and the IDF’s Unit
8200 (the equivalent of the US National Security Agency) are located.
With the early warning, “We activated all the officials in the council, and we
said it would take a few days of fighting and the situation would change,” Zaltz
told JNS. But as the hours passed, he became disappointed. “In the end, it was a
significant and important military operation. But, even if the data provided
about the elimination of 6,000 missiles is correct—this is less than 3% of what
they [Hezbollah] had at the beginning of the war. So it has no real meaning in
terms of the long-term impact. We essentially woke up to the same place that we
were the day before.”
Zaltz’s reaction reflected the attitude of many mayors and regional council
heads in the north. The feeling was that the operation hurt Hezbollah—but not
enough. Later that day, Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, tried to calm the anger and frustration of the people living in the
bombarded north, declaring, “Most of the missiles, even 90% plus, were aimed at
the northern border.” These statements were aimed at showing that there is no
difference in Israel’s response when Tel Aviv or the north are targeted.
They didn’t convince many. “My position is that it cannot be any difference
between the Golan or Metula and Tel Aviv,” Golan Regional Council Chairman Ori
Kalner told JNS. “Even when Hezbollah is attacking Metula and the Golan, one
should act as if a missile had fallen on Tel Aviv. There is no doubt that in
recent months Israel has been saying we are ready to absorb some of the things
[attacks from Lebanon]. “And I say—we are not ready to accept it. Israel must
attack,” Kalner declared.
Back to school
On Sunday, schools in Israel will reopen after the summer break. Some
politicians, such as opposition leaders Benny Gantz of the National Unity Party
and Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid, have said that this day should be set as the date
to find a solution for the situation in the north—either war or an agreement.
“We are preparing to open the school year in a way that students will be
protected on their way to school, and at school itself. We will continue our
routine life,” Kalner told JNS. “But, as the head of a council, I demand that
the Israeli government attack with such force so that Hezbollah will be
deterred. This is the test. “In a few days, we are supposed to open the school
year. Looking at the results on the ground, the level of security, and the
feeling of security is much lower than seven-eight months ago. “The government
has come out with so many statements regarding the north—but so far nothing has
happened. The special coordinator for the north hasn’t even started working
yet,” Kalner said. Many, and not only in northern Israel, are criticizing the
government for not putting the return of the displaced residents of the region
to their homes as the main goal of the war and relegating the operation in Gaza
as a secondary issue. Such a decision would increase the resources dedicated to
the war against Hezbollah. “We understand that a big war will probably not
happen. But there are three basic things that we do demand in the north—that
Israel removes the threat of missiles and the threat of terrorist infiltration.
And of course, we need a significant economic plan,” Zaltz told JNS. “But right
now the prime minister makes all the decisions alone, and my feeling is that he
is currently leading to another period similar to what exists today,” the
council head added. “Israel is the one that has no time, and it seems we are
constantly going backward,” Kalner said. “Therefore it is necessary to attack
more. We don’t need to wait for next time.”
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/israel-must-decisively-defeat-hezbollah-golan-council-head-says/?mc_cid=0ae3527e2a&mc_eid=3ece879aa9
Prepared Israel gives Hezbollah yet another beating
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Asia Times/August 27/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/08/133703/
Hezbollah fails to hit ‘strategic’ target Israeli media identify as Mossad and
IDF military intelligence HQ
After a series of impressive intelligence and military operations that
culminated in taking out Hezbollah’s top military chief Fuad Shukr, Israel on
Sunday gave Hezbollah yet another beating by suppressing a major retaliation
operation that the Iran-backed militia had planned from south Lebanon against
the Jewish state. Hezbollah was locked and loaded, ready to attack, deep inside
Israel, a “strategic military target to be announced.” Launch time was 5 am,
local time. At 4:45, however, 100 Israeli fighter jets started pounding —
simultaneously — dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers that had moved into
position to start the offensive. The Israeli fighter jets took out most, but not
all, of Hezbollah’s attack assets. Explosive drones and Katyusha rockets still
crossed into Israeli airspace, prompting Israeli air defenses — the Iron Dome —
to go into action and shoot down almost all projectiles. After all was said and
done, only two images emerged showing damage in Israel:
a Hezbollah rocket that exploded in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and
a chicken coop that was shown burning, prompting the world to mock the Lebanese
Islamist militia and call its attack “Operation Grilled Chicken.”
During the first hour of the escalation, Hezbollah released its first statement,
which seemed to have been prepared before the operation. “We shall exact revenge
on the criminals,” the statement opened.
At dawn, “along the lines of a primary response to the Zionist aggression on the
southern suburb of Beirut that led to the martyrdom of the great jihadist
commander Fuad Shukr,” the statement added, “the mujahideen of the Islamic
resistance launched an aerial strike using a big number of drones aimed deep
into the Zionist entity toward a strategic military target that will be
announced later.”
Hezbollah also said in the advance statement that its attack on the special
Israeli target, using explosive drones, was coupled with its launch of missiles
on Israeli military barracks and Iron Dome batteries.
Tactically, the Hezbollah offensive was designed with a reversed sequence when
compared with the April 14 Iranian attack on Israel. The Iranians sent in the
drones first, hoping to engage and preoccupy Israel’s air defenses, after which
they would fire their ballistic missiles to hit their targets inside the Jewish
state. Hezbollah, however, used its missiles to jam the Iron Dome, then sent in
the drones to hit deep into Israel.
But thanks to Israel’s preemptive strike, which took out what some estimated to
have been 1,500 missiles before they even launched, only 320 of Hezbollah’s
missiles took off – allowing Iron Dome to shoot them down easily and deal with
the drones.
Hezbollah’s attack was a flop. To save face, the Iran-backed militia quickly
issued a statement saying that it concluded “the first stage” of its operation,
listing 11 military targets that it had hit. The Lebanese group also produced a
publicity video, using Google map images, to mark the targeted spots.
That Hezbollah cited the number 320 rockets, most likely exaggerated, suggests
that the militia was trying to show that, despite Israeli preemption, it still
managed to attack. The number 320 is relatively small, given that on many days,
Hezbollah’s projectiles on Israel reach 150. The militia also found it
compelling to say that all its drones “crossed” without being intercepted, as
planned, and struck their targets.
Missing from Hezbollah’s statement was any mention of the “strategic target”
that was the goal of the whole operation.
According to Israeli media, Hezbollah was trying to strike the headquarters of
the Mossad and the military intelligence of the Israeli Defense Forces, known as
Unit 8200. Perhaps, when the Lebanese militia realized that its plans had gone
sideways, it issued a statement in which it labeled the operation as “the first
stage” of avenging the killing of Shukr.
To make up for its failure, Hezbollah reverted to propaganda. Its chief, Hassan
Nasrallah, delivered a speech in which he spun information to depict his flop as
a victory. Hamas gave its ally a hand and described the failed attack as a “slap
on the face” of Israel.
With a gag order still in place, the amount of damage that Hezbollah inflicted
on Israel has yet to be assessed, even though it is unlikely that it was
significant.
What we know so far is that Israel’s intelligence and military prowess has
beaten Hezbollah one more time, denying it space to move rocket launchers and
strike as it had planned.
The inevitable war between the two should scare Hezbollah and make it reconsider
its position by accepting a ceasefire with Israel, even without a ceasefire in
Gaza. Hezbollah should then pull its fighters back from the border with Israel
to a distance that allows 110,000 Israelis to return to their homes and live
safely there.
If Hezbollah does not learn its lesson from Sunday’s attack, it might be in for
more Israeli surprises.
**Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense
of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, DC.
https://asiatimes.com/2024/08/prepared-israel-gives-hezbollah-yet-another-beating/
US hopeful that likelihood of wider conflict breaking
out between Israel and Hezbollah has reduced, officials say
Katie Bo Lillis, CNN/August 27, 2024
Days after Hezbollah and Israel exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fire
in years, US officials are tentatively hopeful that the threat of a larger
conflict between the two sides has, at least for now, been forestalled, though
they are still closely watching Iran to see whether it strikes Israeli targets.
The US assesses that Hezbollah, the most powerful, capable and independent of
Iran’s proxies across the region, does not want a full-scale war with Israel
now, according to current and former US officials, even as it has engaged in a
long-running series of relatively contained fire across the border.
Hezbollah felt it had to respond to the Israeli assassination of one of its most
senior commanders, Fu’ad Shukr, last month. But analysts say the targets
selected by Hezbollah were military targets, hinting at a clear effort by the
group to signal that its response was proportionate and to contain the risk of
escalation.
That’s not to say tensions in the Middle East are not high. Officials believe
that Iran may still respond to the Israeli killing of a top Hamas official in
Tehran — and that there may be further attacks from other Iranian-backed groups.
And uncertainty still hangs over the region as the conflict in Gaza grinds on,
with a mounting Palestinian death toll and the two men responsible for reaching
a resolution — Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu — still very far apart. But by Tuesday, Hezbollah had announced that
its retaliation was “over.” Talks over a possible ceasefire in Gaza are limping
along, moving from Cairo to Doha, Qatar, and Hezbollah and Israel’s exchanges
have returned to typical tit-for-tat strikes across the border. Concerns were
high last week that a major flare-up could trigger a wider war. On Saturday
night, Israel acted on intelligence to preemptively strike more than 40
Hezbollah launch sites that it said were poised to be used in a major attack.
Hezbollah quickly responded, firing what it said were both attack drones and
more than 300 rockets at Israel. US officials said the speed of the Hezbollah
response showed that it was prepared to launch a large-scale attack, and CNN has
previously reported the group had already selected targets. One US military
official said the original scope of the attack was expected to be roughly
equivalent to what Hezbollah ultimately fired — over 300 projectiles. The
Israeli military said the attack did “very little damage.” But almost
immediately, Hezbollah was using public language that appeared aimed at cooling
tensions. Officials and analysts say Hezbollah is well aware that a full-scale
war with Israel would be incredibly destructive and offer little opportunity for
strategic victory. The last time the two sides went to war, in 2006, hundreds of
thousands of people were forced to flee their homes, more than 1,000 Lebanese
people were killed, and civilian infrastructure and the Lebanese economy were
damaged — all without a clear “victory” or resolution. Now, analysts say,
Hezbollah likely knows that it lacks the domestic political support it would
need to engage in all-out war with Israel — at a time when Lebanon’s economy and
political system are already in shambles. “There’s long memories of 2006 and how
the population blamed Hezbollah and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah
personally for what came — and that was a time when the Lebanese economy and
political system was functioning,” said Jonathan Panikoff, a former US senior
intelligence analyst specializing in the region. “I think eventually there will
be a major war,” he added. “But I’m skeptical it’s going to happen [now], from
an intention perspective.”
Watching Iran closely
Although Washington officials have speculated that Iran and Hezbollah could
coordinate their responses to Israel for the assassination of the Hamas leader
and the Hezbollah commander, some analysts say the dynamics are distinct.
Hezbollah, officials said, has a far more direct stake in responding to Israel —
and indeed, for weeks, officials have told CNN that they were more concerned
about Hezbollah’s reaction than Iran’s. In April, Iran launched a massive salvo
of missiles and drones at Israel in response to the Israeli killing of a senior
Iranian commander in what Iran considered a diplomatic compound. But the killing
of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was different. The Iranian regime was
“embarrassed,” said one source familiar with US intelligence, because the
killing showed massive gaps in Iranian security — but ultimately, this person
and others said, Haniyeh was not Iranian. Although Iran may be coming under
pressure from some of its proxies to take a more aggressive stance against
Israel, US officials believe that it is still deciding how and whether to
respond — and that it is deeply reluctant to risk a possible regional war by
engaging in direct conflict with Israel. “The issue is about embarrassment and
restoring deterrence, but less about actual retribution,” Panikoff said.
“There’s more variables that might restrain Iran because of who Israel actually
killed.”Still, the US has not discounted the possibility that Iran may yet
launch an attack on Israel. “We have to assume that Iran remains postured and
prepared, should that be a decision that they make, which is why we continue to
maintain a very robust force posture in the region,” National Security Council
spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday when asked whether there was an
updated assessment on the likelihood that Tehran would strike Israel directly.
Gaza ceasefire talks
The worst may have been avoided for now, but US officials remain deeply
concerned that the possibility of a broader regional war is only growing without
a resolution to the conflict in Gaza. Officials have said publicly and privately
that the strikes over the weekend had little impact on the ceasefire talks
ongoing in Cairo. “No, there was not an impact on the talks in Cairo, and we’re
certainly glad to see that,” Kirby said, adding that “there continues to be
progress, and our team on the ground continues to describe the talks as
constructive.” But even if the events of the weekend didn’t damage the talks,
hopes are still dwindling that those discussions will yield peace — even as
Biden administration officials continue to express optimism. Kirby noted that
all sides, including Hamas, are represented in the talks and that the
discussions have been able to move on with more specificity as they work to
hammer out a deal. “I think it’s safe to say that the issues they’re going to be
talking about are of a much more detailed, specific nature than we’ve typically
been able to talk about,” he said. “For instance, one issue that will be for the
working groups to flesh out is the exchange of hostages and prisoners that
Israel’s holding.”Still, Israel has made it clear that following an initial
six-week pause in the fighting, a break may be just that — a break — and it is
not ready to agree to a permanent ceasefire.
After a failed attack, Hezbollah’s propaganda seeks to
prevent a wider war with Israel
David Daoud/MENASource/August 27/2024
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/hezbollah-shukur-israel-preemptive-strike/
For almost a month, the Middle East and the international community waited on
edge for Hezbollah’s retaliation for Israel’s assassination of its military
commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 31. Its promised vengeance finally
materialized on the morning of August 25. Hezbollah’s attack appears to have
largely been a failure, and it remains unclear if it will engage in follow-up
strikes. But what the group’s rockets failed to do, its propaganda organs will
fill, giving the image to Hezbollah’s base that it is capable of settling scores
with the Israelis.
The delay in Hezbollah’s retaliation for Shukr wasn’t caused by its relative
weakness to Israel or fear of Israel’s response alone. When the group began
attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, it intended to become a full “part of the
battle,” in Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s words, that erupted the day
prior when Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked southern Israel,
dubbed “Al-Aqsa Flood.” The purpose of this “support front,” laid out clearly by
Nasrallah on November 3, 2023, was to burden Israel—militarily, economically,
and societally—with a two-front war to slow its campaign in the Gaza Strip and
ensure that “the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, and Hamas, in particular,
emerge victorious.”
Committed as Hezbollah is to saving its Gaza-based allies, the group does not
currently want a full war with Israel. The conditions for Hezbollah and its
broader allies in the Iranian-led Resistance Axis are simply not optimal. On
October 8, 2023, as now, the group was burdened with navigating Lebanese
domestic woes: an economy and currency that collapsed almost five years ago,
Gulf and Western foreign backers cutting aid, a presidential vacuum, and the
resulting political stagnation. Compounding Lebanon’s problems with provoking a
war with Israel for the sake of Palestine—important as the cause may be for the
average Lebanese—risked a backlash that Hezbollah would prefer to avoid.
Launching the current war of attrition allowed the group to balance its
Resistance Axis obligations with domestic Lebanese considerations. Growing
international and American pressure on Israel generally, but specifically not to
open a full Lebanese front, enabled Hezbollah to control the tempo of this
conflict—reinforcing its pro-Palestine bona fides while being assured that the
fighting would remain contained.
But even the best-laid plans oft go awry. Already in April, Nasrallah’s deputy
Naim Qassem was complaining that Hezbollah “didn’t expect the war would last
this long.” But, having committed to fighting until Israel halted its Gaza
campaign, the group couldn’t unilaterally back down without appearing weak.
Stuck, and with fighting dragging on, the mutual attrition increasingly leaned
in Israel’s favor. Israel has killed more Hezbollah fighters, including senior
commanders, and destroyed more critical assets than the reverse. An estimated
ninety thousand to one hundred thousand south Lebanese have been displaced from
the fighting zone, burdening an already-bankrupt Lebanese state—one which will
have to absorb the south’s reconstruction costs but with far fewer resources
than Israel’s economy.
Hezbollah’s situation became more complicated after July 27, when an errant
rocket from the group struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights
and killed twelve children. The Israelis retaliated by assassinating Shukr in
Beirut and then claiming the attack. From that moment on, Hezbollah couldn’t
proceed as usual. Israel had publicly humiliated the group, whose silence on the
assassination would have made them look weak and helpless to their base. It also
allowed their Israeli adversaries to set the red lines of the conflict—both the
ongoing war of attrition and the broader conflict between the two adversaries.
“Rejoice and laugh a little, you will cry much,” Nasrallah threatened the
Israelis. “Our response is definitely coming… there is no debate on this, and
the days, nights, and battlefield will decide between us,” he said. A week
later, on August 7, he stressed that Hezbollah could not deal with Shukr’s
assassination “as an ordinary aggression” and that Hezbollah would respond as
necessary “no matter the consequences.”
In the intervening weeks, Hezbollah sought to distract its base from its silence
over Shukr. Conveniently for Hezbollah, Gaza ceasefire negotiations resumed just
in time to justify the delay. For so long as talks continued, the group could
claim that it was holding off retaliation not due to weakness or fear of war but
to avoid undermining the larger, primary goal of ending the war in Gaza.
Moreover, for so long as ceasefire talks continued, Hezbollah could claim that
the threat of its retaliatory attacks was inducing Western powers—averse to a
conflict in Lebanon—to pressure Israel into accepting a deal and the Israelis to
agree.
Meanwhile, it had reframed any delay as “part of the punishment,” an old
propaganda tactic deployed by Hezbollah whenever it was pressed to respond to an
Israeli provocation but incapable of doing so. The group also unveiled its Imad
4 underground tunnel facility—a revelation meant to shore up its image with its
supporters rather than expose a strategic, game-changing asset in the war with
Israel. The revelation, in fact, appears to have achieved its intended effect,
with pro-Hezbollah social media accounts—to the extent this is an accurate gauge
of popular opinion—celebrating the announcement and, in some instances, the
possibility that Hezbollah’s tunnels had already reached Tel Aviv.
Simultaneously, Hezbollah has intensified its attacks over the past few
weeks—albeit squarely within the “rules of the game” governing the conflict
since October 8, 2023.
But according to credible reporting—later confirmed by Nasrallah—by August 25,
Hezbollah felt it had waited enough, especially as it saw ceasefire talks and,
therefore, its cover for delaying revenge fraying. The coincidence with Arbaeen,
marking forty days from the commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein, added
the type of symbolism with which Hezbollah enjoys imbuing its actions. The
Israelis, seemingly fully prepared for the attack, launched a preemptive
strike—with a hundred fighter jets destroying an estimated 6,000 projectiles
belonging to Hezbollah, including drones aimed at the Gush Dan region in Central
Israel. The group, nevertheless, managed to launch a claimed 320 Katyusha
rockets—the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified a lower number of 210 rockets
and twenty drones—which it said “targeted Israeli barracks and positions [in
northern Israel] to facilitate the path of attack drones towards its intended
target in the depth of the Entity [i.e. Israel].”
Once again undeterred by reality, Hezbollah immediately spun the operation as a
“total success.” The group later followed up by claiming all drones had launched
and struck their targets, which its sources falsely told Al-Jadeed and Al-Araby
television were “two vital targets in northern Tel Aviv,” and denied that Israel
had launched a preemptive strike. Nasrallah drove the point home later in the
day, claiming that “our information confirms” the drones launched by Hezbollah
had struck their intended targets: Israeli Military Intelligence Unit 8200’s and
Mossad’s Headquarters in Glilot, in northern Tel Aviv. He also purported to pick
apart Israel’s “narrative of a preemptive strike.” The Israelis, he alleged,
only noticed Hezbollah’s movements at the last minute and ended up attacking
evacuated bases and positions, “a failure of Israeli intelligence and
preemption.”
Therefore, though Hezbollah opted for the riskiest retaliatory option—a massive
individual strike—it once again deployed its propaganda machine to bridge the
gap between reality and the image it wants to project to its followers and claim
success. It can thus tread the very fine line of settling the score for Shukr,
appearing strong before its base but not granting Israel sufficient
justification or legitimacy to initiate a full war.
Meanwhile, ceasefire talks are set to resume. If they succeed, Hezbollah can
then claim a double victory. The group can assert that its support front helped
coerce the hated Zionists to cave to Hamas’ demands and prematurely end their
war in Gaza without achieving their war aims of dismantling the Sunni terror
organization. Additionally, Hezbollah can boast of forcing tens of thousands to
flee from their homes and creating, for the first time in Israel’s history, a de
facto security zone inside Israeli territory—a situation that Israel failed to
reverse with its military might.
Shukr’s death, the group can then claim, was a necessary sacrifice to achieve
these two goals—particularly the latter, which it can spin as hastening the
destruction of Israel and liberation of Palestine “from the river to the sea.”
Hezbollah, as its statements suggest, could then still patiently plan yet
another attack to avenge Shukr. This could come in the form of a similar attack
to the one on August 25—either individually or alongside Iran and the rest of
the Resistance Axis. Or, perhaps, the group could act as they did after Israel
assassinated Imad Mughniyeh in 2008, waiting years to strike at an Israeli soft
underbelly target in a manner that will make the group’s intention clear.
Here, the group could target Israelis abroad or activate assets cultivated
within Israel to conduct an attack inside a major Israeli city. This past week,
a failed suicide bombing was attempted in Tel Aviv. While Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad took credit, Israeli Police and Shin Bet said the device’s
sophistication suggested Hezbollah’s potential involvement—recalling the March
2023 roadside bombing in northern Israel’s Megiddo. This could harm the Israelis
and send the proper message while giving Hezbollah enough plausible deniability
to avoid sparking a full war.
*David Daoud is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD),
focusing on Hezbollah, Israel, and Lebanon issues. Follow him on X: @DavidADaoud.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 27-28/2024
Israel rescues a hostage from an underground tunnel in Gaza
Melanie Lidman/JERUSALEM (AP)/August 27, 2024
Israel rescued a hostage from an underground tunnel in Gaza on Tuesday, freeing
one of the scores of people abducted during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that
ignited the war in Gaza. The rescue brought a rare moment of joy to Israelis
after 10 months of war but also served as a painful reminder that dozens of
hostages are still in captivity as international mediators try to broker a
cease-fire in which they would be released. The military said Qaid Farhan Alkadi
was rescued from a tunnel in a “complex operation” in the southern Gaza Strip,
but provided few other details. It was not immediately known if the rescue was
made under fire or if anyone was killed or wounded during the operation. Alkadi
was one of eight members of Israel’s Arab Bedouin minority who were abducted on
Oct. 7. He was working as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen, one of
several farming communities that came under attack. He has two wives and is the
father of 11 children. The 52-year-old is one of eight hostages to be rescued
alive, and was the first to be rescued from underground, the Israeli military
said. The Israeli military released footage showing Alkadi moments after the
rescue. Unshaven and wearing a white tank top, he is seen sitting and smiling
with soldiers before boarding a helicopter to a hospital where he was taken for
medical checks. He appeared gaunt but doctors described his condition as stable.
His large family and residents from around the Rahat area thronged the hospital
in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba to welcome him home. As Alkadi’s
family waited to see him in the hospital, one of his brothers held Alkadi’s
infant son, who was born while he was in captivity and had not yet met his
father, the brother said. “We’re so excited to hug him and see him and tell him
that we’re all here with him,” a family member who gave his name as Faez told
Channel 12. “I hope that every hostage will come home so the families can
experience this happiness.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the rescue operation was part of the
army's “daring and courageous activities conducted deep inside the Gaza Strip,”
adding that Israel is "committed to taking advantage of every opportunity to
return the hostages.”
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Alkadi was “rescued
from an underground tunnel following accurate intelligence.” Alkadi was held in
a number of locations, including in underground tunnels, during his 326 days in
captivity, Hagari said. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with
Alkadi by phone soon after he arrived at the hospital. He said that Israel would
rely on rescue operations and negotiations to bring the remaining hostages home.
“Both ways together require our military presence in the field, and unceasing
military pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu said. Hamas-led militants abducted some
250 people in the Oct. 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians,
were killed. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians,
according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants. It
has displaced 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes and caused heavy
destruction across the besieged territory. Israeli airstrikes continued on
Tuesday across the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian officials said at least 18
people, including eight children, were killed in the attacks. Israel believes
there are still 108 hostages in Gaza and that more than 40 of them are dead.
Most of the rest were freed during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange
for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Two previous Israeli
operations to free hostages killed scores of Palestinians. Hamas says several
hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and failed rescue attempts.
Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israelis who escaped captivity in
December. Mazen Abu Siam, a close family friend waiting at the hospital, said
the family was overjoyed to hear the news, but they were still praying for a
cease-fire.
“We are waiting for a deal for one year," Siam told The Associated Press. The
United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to negotiate an
agreement in which the remaining hostages would be freed in exchange for a
lasting cease-fire. Those talks are ongoing in Egypt this week, but there has
been no sign of any breakthrough. Netanyahu has faced intense criticism from
families of the hostages and much of the Israeli public for not yet reaching a
deal with Hamas to bring them home. Hamas hopes to trade the hostages for a
lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release
of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
Last week, after the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages in
southern Gaza, Israel’s military spokesperson, Hagari, said the army was working
to gather more intelligence for rescue operations. But he added that “we cannot
bring everyone back through rescue operations alone.” ___
*Julia Frankel contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 18, including 8
children, Palestinians say
AP/August 27, 2024
GAZA: Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip have
killed at least 18 people, including eight children. The Civil Defense, first
responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, said three children and
their mother were killed in an airstrike late Monday in the Tufah neighborhood
of Gaza City. It said three other people were missing after the strike. Another
strike late Monday hit a building in downtown Gaza City, killing a child, three
women and a man, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In southern Gaza, a
strike on a home early Tuesday killed five people, including a man, his three
children as young as 3 years old and a woman, according to a casualty list
provided by Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where the bodies were taken. Another
airstrike early Tuesday flattened a home west of Khan Younis, killing at least
four people, including a child, according to Nasser Hospital, where the dead
were taken. Footage shared online showed residents digging through the rubble. A
man carried a wounded child to an ambulance, while two others carried a dead
body wrapped in a blanket. Palestinian health officials do not say whether those
killed in Israeli strikes are civilians or fighters. Israel says it tries to
avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas of putting them in danger by fighting
in residential areas. But the military rarely comments on individual strikes,
which often kill women and children. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s
offensive has killed over 40,000 people in Gaza. The war began when Hamas-led
militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people,
mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people.
Saudi crown prince discusses situation in Gaza with
Palestinian president
Arab News/August 28, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the situation in Gaza
with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi
Press Agency said Tuesday. The Crown Prince stressed that the Kingdom will
continue its efforts to communicate with all international and regional parties
to stop the escalation in the war-torn territory. He also reiterated Saudi
Arabia’s contentious support for the Palestinian people to achieve their
legitimate rights to a decent life, fulfill their hopes and aspirations, and
achieve just and lasting peace. Saudi and Palestinian senior officials attended
the meeting.
Israel Battles Hamas in Gaza as Space for Displaced
Families Narrows
Asharq Al Awsat/August 27/2024
Palestinians displaced by fighting in the Gaza Strip crowded onto the seashore
as Israeli forces continued to battle Hamas fighters in central and southern
areas, with health officials reporting at least 17 people killed in strikes on
Tuesday.
Ceasefire talks were continuing in Cairo with little sign of a concrete
breakthrough over key issues separating the sides, including future control over
two corridors in the Gaza Strip once fighting ends. In recent days, Israel has
issued several evacuation orders across Gaza, the most since the beginning of
the 10-month war, prompting an outcry from Palestinians, the United Nations, and
relief officials over the reduction of humanitarian zones and the absence of
safe areas. Residents and displaced families in the southern city of Khan Younis
and Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, where most of the population is now
concentrated, said they have been pushed to live in tents now packed on the
beach. "Maybe they should bring ships, so next time they order people to leave
we can jump there, people are now on the beach near the seawater," said Aya, 30,
a displaced woman from Gaza City, who now lives with her family in western Deir
Al-Balah. "Every day they say talks are progressing, an agreement is close, then
all falls like dust. Do negotiators know that every day more families get wiped
out by Israeli bombardment? Does the world understand that every day more costs
us more lives?" she told Reuters via a chat app. Palestinian health officials
said Israeli strikes killed nine Palestinians in Bureij and Maghazi, two of
Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while another strike killed five people in
Khan Younis and a third killed three others in Rafah. More than 40,400
Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry.
The crowded enclave has been laid to waste and most of its 2.3 million people
have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and
medicine, humanitarian agencies say. The conflict was triggered after Hamas
fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7 killing 1,200 and taking more
than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
UN AID OPERATIONS HALTED
On Monday, United Nations aid operations in Gaza ground to a halt after Israel
issued new evacuation orders on Sunday for Deir Al-Balah, where the UN
operations center was located, a senior UN official said. The evacuation order
came as the UN has been preparing a campaign to vaccinate an estimated 640,000
children in Gaza against polio, after at least one case of the disease was
identified. As the fighting continued, negotiators in Cairo continued meetings
aimed at halting the fighting and bringing 109 Israeli and foreign hostages home
in an exchange deal for Palestinian prisoners.
Although there has been optimism from the United States, which is supporting the
talks along with Egypt and Qatar, Hamas and Israel have been trading blame for a
lack of progress. Among the main sticking points has been Israel's insistence on
maintaining control over the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the border with
Egypt, which Israel says has been used as one of the main routes for smuggling
weapons into Gaza. Israel has also insisted on checks on people moving from
southern and central Gaza into northern areas across the Netzarim corridor,
running across the center of the Gaza Strip, saying it needs to ensure armed
fighters cannot move north.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘not a friend of
peace,’ says Israeli analyst
RAY HANANIA/Arab News/August 27, 2024
CHICAGO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netaynahu is “not a friend of peace”
and is using his right-wing government coalition and the conflict with the
Palestinians to further delay his own corruption trial and avoid justice, a
leading Israeli analyst said this week.
Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa
Program at Chatham House in London, told the “Ray Hanania Radio Show” that
Netanyahu has been deliberately prolonging the war in Gaza to serve his own
interests, rather than the interests of the people on both sides.
An important change that is required from the international community if hopes
for a two-state solution are to be salvaged is an expansion of the peace process
to increase the role of other nations besides the US and help change the
discourse surrounding the conflict, he said, while Washington must consider what
is the best path forward for achieving its own goals. “What about the American
interest; where does the American interest lie?” asked Mekelberg, who is also a
columnist for Arab News. “(US Secretary of State Antony) Blinken, now on his
ninth visit to the region, is almost begging for a ceasefire.
“It’s (bad) enough that Netanyahu is delaying and delaying and adding new
conditions (to the peace negotiations), while (the conflict) is linked also to
the possibility or the threat and the danger of a regional war. This is where it
intersects with the American interest: the implications of a regional war for
American interests. So the discussion should also be what is good for America.
“I think the United States is crucial (to the process). What I don’t like,
sometimes, when it comes to this discussion with Europeans, whenever I have a
discussion (about the conflict) with officials from the European Union they say
it’s only the Americans (who have the power to end the conflict). I think the EU
can play a part. I think the (Arab) region can play a very important part. “So
just to look and say there is only one peace broker … that’s not right.
Especially when one side doesn’t really trust this peace broker. So, I think we
need a coalition of peace brokers.”Mekelberg said a key factor that continues to
fuel the conflict is Netanyahu’s partnership with far-right parties within his
coalition government.
Netanyahu was indicted on Nov. 21, 2019, on charges of breach of trust,
accepting bribes and fraud. A trial began in Israel on May 24, 2020, but has yet
to conclude, Mekelberg said, because of the efforts by Netanyahu’s right-wing
government to undermine judicial and legal processes in Israel.
“They say that every country gets the leader it deserves; I think in the case of
the Israeli government, the punishment is way bigger than the sin,” he added.
“So I think Israel deserves better leadership. You know, the only conclusion I
can reach is that Netanyahu is not interested in a peace-based, two-state
solution — which for all the faults and all the misgivings that one might have
about a two-state solution, it’s still the best alternative, the best option.”
Mekelberg believes part of Netanyahu’s approach to Hamas prior to the Oct. 7
attacks by Hamas on Israel last year, including the funneling of funding to the
group, was to maintain “the divisions among Palestinians, between Fatah and
Hamas, the West Bank and Gaza” with the aim of “derailing any hope of a
two-state solution.” He added: “So if this is the solution that can bring peace,
I don’t think Netanyahu is in any shape or form a supporter of it.
“At the end of the day, neither this government nor Netanyahu are friends of
peace … it’s more a government that (seeks) the annexation of the West Bank, and
some even talk about the occupation or reoccupation of Gaza and building
settlements there.” Mekelberg said the opposition from Netanyahu and his
government to a two-state solution plays into their own political interests, is
fueling the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and preventing peace.
He repeated that a two-state solution remains the best option but other
scenarios for peace that recognize the rights of both peoples should also be
considered, including a confederation of some form.“I think (we have seen) so
many final nails in the coffin of the two-state solution … it’s full of final
nails,” he said. “Now, the facts on the ground — (including) the expansion of
settlements, the settler population (of) more than 700,000 and the encircling of
Jerusalem with settlements — have made (peace) more difficult.”However,
Mekelberg added, peace can come in many forms. “One of the options is to look
into confederation,” he added. “You have two states but because of the size of
the territory, it doesn’t need hard borders; you need to think of an almost EU-style
(model) where people can move from one side to the other freely. Look at
Jerusalem as the capital of both but with no need for more walls. Actually,
walls should come down.” You can hear the full interview with Yossi Mekelberg on
Thursday, Aug. 29 at 5 p.m Eastern Standard Time and on Monday, Sept. 2 on WNZK
690 AM radio in Michigan, or at ArabNews.com/RayRadioShow.
White House’s Kirby says US would defend Israel in
Iranian attack
Reuters/August 27, 2024
JERUSALEM: The United States remains committed to defending Israel in the event
of an Iranian attack, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said
on Tuesday. Kirby told Israel’s Channel 12 that it was tough to predict the
chances of an attack but the White House takes Iranian rhetoric seriously. “We
believe that they are still postured and poised to launch an attack should they
want to do that, which is why we have that enhanced force posture in the
region,” he said. “Our messaging to Iran is consistent, has been and will stay
consistent. One, don’t do it. There’s no reason to escalate this. There’s no
reason to potentially start some sort of all out regional war. And number two,
we are going to be prepared to defend Israel if it comes to that.”
Top US General Says Risk of Broader War Eases a Bit after Israel-Hezbollah
Exchange
Asharq Al Awsat/August 27/2024
The near-term risk of a broader war in the Middle East has eased somewhat after
Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah exchanged fire without further escalation but
Iran still poses a significant danger as it weighs a strike on Israel, America's
top general said on Monday. Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, spoke to Reuters after emerging from a three-day trip to the
Middle East that saw him fly into Israel just hours after Hezbollah launched
hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, and Israel's military struck Lebanon
to thwart a larger attack. It was one of the biggest clashes in more than 10
months of border warfare, but it also ended with limited damage in Israel and
without immediate threats of more retaliation from either side. Brown noted
Hezbollah's strike was just one of two major threatened attacks against Israel
that emerged in recent weeks. Iran is also threatening an attack over the
killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month. Asked if the immediate risk of a
regional war had declined, Brown said: "Somewhat, yes." "You had two things you
knew were going to happen. One's already happened. Now it depends on how the
second is going to play out," Brown said while flying out of Israel. "How Iran
responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is
going to be a broader conflict or not." Brown also cautioned that there was also
the risk posed by Iran's militant allies in places such as Iraq, Syria and
Jordan who have attacked US troops as well as Yemen's Houthis, who have targeted
Red Sea shipping and even fired drones at Israel. "And do these others actually
go off and do things on their own because they're not satisfied - the Houthis in
particular," Brown said, calling the group the "wild card." Iran has vowed a
severe response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which took place
as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has
neither confirmed or denied its involvement. Brown said the US military was
better positioned to aid in the defense of Israel, and its own forces in the
Middle East, than it was on April 13, when Iran launched an unprecedented attack
on Israel, unleashing hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic
missiles. Still, Israel, the US and other allies managed to destroy almost all
of the weapons before they reached their targets. "We're better postured," Brown
said. He noted Sunday's decision to maintain two aircraft carrier strike groups
in the Middle East, as well as extra squadron of F-22 fighter jets. "We try to
improve upon what we did in April."Brown said whatever plans Iran's military
might have, it would be up to Iran's political leaders to make a decision. "They
want to do something that sends a message but they also, I think ... don't want
to do something that's going to create a broader conflict."
STRUGGLING WITH GAZA FALLOUT
US President Joe Biden's administration has been seeking to limit the fallout
from the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, now in its 11th month. The
conflict has leveled huge swathes of Gaza, triggered border clashes between
Israel and Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and drawn in Yemen's
Houthis. Brown traveled on Monday to the Israeli military's Northern Command,
where he was briefed on the threats along Israel's borders with Lebanon and
Syria. In Tel Aviv, he met Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and its Chief
of the General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi. Asked about Lebanese
Hezbollah's military might, particularly after the strikes by Israel, Brown
cautioned "they still have capability." The current war in the Gaza Strip began
on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing
around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli
tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has driven nearly all of the
Palestinian enclave's 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly
hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian
health authorities.
Moody's warns of significant ratings impact for Israel from
all-out conflict
Marc Jones and Steven Scheer/LONDON/JERUSALEM (Reuters)/ August 27, 2024
An all-out military conflict with Hezbollah or Iran could have significant
"credit consequences" for Israeli debt issuers, credit ratings agency Moody's
said on Tuesday. "We continue to assume that the ongoing tensions will not
escalate into an all-out military conflict between the two sides or extend to
involve Iran, thus limiting the immediate credit-negative impact on the region,"
the ratings agency said in a statement. "However, an all-out military conflict
with Hezbollah or Iran could have significant credit consequences for Israeli
debt issuers."Moody's in February downgraded Israel's credit rating to A2 with a
negative outlook, citing material political and fiscal risks for the country
from its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In a separate report,
S&P Global Market Intelligence - separate from its Global Ratings division -
said it was unlikely that the Israeli government, Hezbollah or Iran intends to
escalate this round of confrontation into a wider conflict. The "stance on both
sides, combined with the very limited number of Israeli casualties and apparent
lack of significant material damage from the attacks in Israel, are likely to
provide a sufficient off-ramp from additional escalation," it said.
Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel on Sunday, while
Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger
attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare.
S&P Global Ratings cut Israel's rating in April and Fitch followed suit in
August. The S&P report said that while Hezbollah is likely deterred from a
full-scale war, Iran was still likely to seek a military response to the
assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, but most likely it would
be limited in scope. "Iran’s leadership has, we assess, even more incentive than
Hezbollah to avoid a regional war that would be likely to involve direct Israeli
and US military strikes on Iran," it said. An Israeli-Hamas ceasefire deal that
would bring back Israeli hostages held in Gaza, it added, "would allow Iran’s
leadership to present it as a result of effective Iranian military pressure."
Iran's supreme leader opens door to negotiations with
United States over Tehran's nuclear program
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/August 27, 2024
Iran's supreme leader opened the door Tuesday to renewed negotiations with the
United States over his country's rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its
civilian government there was “no barrier" to engaging with its “enemy.”Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei's remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the
government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and renewed his warnings
that America wasn't to be trusted. But his comments mirror those around the time
of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran's nuclear
program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. “We
do not have to pin our hope to the enemy. For our plans, we should not wait for
approval by the enemies," Khamenei said in a video broadcast by state
television. “It is not contradictory to engage the same enemy in some places,
there's no barrier.” Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters,also
warned Pezeshkian's Cabinet, “Do not trust the enemy.”Khamenei, 85, has
occasionally urged talks or dismissed them with the U.S. after then-President
Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Opens Door to Negotiations with US
over Tehran’s Nuclear Program
Asharq Al Awsat/August 27/2024
Iran's supreme leader opened the door Tuesday to renewed negotiations with the
United States over his country's rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its
civilian government there was “no harm" in engaging with its “enemy.”Ali
Khamenei's remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the
government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and renewed his warnings
that Washington wasn't to be trusted. But his comments mirror those around the
time of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran's nuclear
program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Yet
it remains unclear just how much room Pezeshkian will have to maneuver,
particularly as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas
war and as the US prepares for a presidential election in November. “This does
not mean that we cannot interact with the same enemy in certain situations,”
Khamenei said, according to a transcript on his official website. "There is no
harm in that, but do not place your hopes in them.” Khamenei, who has the final
say on all state matters, also warned Pezeshkian's Cabinet, “Do not trust the
enemy.”Khamenei, 85, has occasionally urged talks or dismissed them with
Washington after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United
States from the deal in 2018. There have been indirect talks between Iran and
the US in recent years mediated by Oman and Qatar, two of the United States'
Middle East interlocutors when it comes to Iran. Khamenei's remarks came a day
after Qatar's prime minister visited the country. Asked for comment, the US
State Department told The Associated Press: “We will judge Iran’s leadership by
their actions, not their words.”
“We have long said that we ultimately view diplomacy as the best way to achieve
an effective, sustainable solution with regard to Iran’s nuclear program,” it
said. “However, we are far away from anything like that right now given Iran’s
escalations across the board, including its nuclear escalations and its failure
to cooperate" with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations
nuclear watchdog. “If Iran wants to demonstrate seriousness or a new approach,
they should stop nuclear escalations and start meaningfully cooperating with the
IAEA,” it said.
Since the deal's collapse, Iran has abandoned all limits that the deal put on
its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade
levels of 90%. Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted,
while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced
inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could
pursue atomic weapons. Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have hit a
new high during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Tehran launched an
unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel in April after years of a
shadow war between the two countries reached a climax with Israel’s apparent
attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals
and others. The assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh also
prompted Iran to threaten to retaliate against Israel.
Pezeshkian, a former lawmaker who won the presidency after a May helicopter
crash killed hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, campaigned in part on a promise
to reengage the West with negotiations. Khamenei's remarks as Iran's paramount
leader could provide him with the political cover to do so. Pezeshkian's new
foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was deeply involved in negotiations on the
2015 deal.
“After doing everything we can, a tactical retreat might sometimes be necessary,
but we should not abandon our goals or opinions at the first sign of
difficulty,” Khameini also said Tuesday, the second time in recent days he's
referred to a “tactical retreat” amid the tensions. However, it's not just Iran
that's facing a new presidency. The US will hold a presidential election on Nov.
5, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump as the leading candidates. Iran
has been concerned about Trump’s return to power. While the US engaged in
indirect talks with Iran under President Joe Biden, it remains unclear how that
would carry over to a possible Harris administration. Harris, in a speech to the
Democratic National Convention last week, said: “I will never hesitate to take
whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran
and Iran-backed terrorists.”The RANE Network, a risk-intelligence firm, said if
Harris wins, “the likelihood of a deal will rise as the Israel-Hamas war winds
down.” “Once negotiations begin, Iran will likely demand more protections
regarding a potential US withdrawal from a new deal after the United States
walked away from the previous deal in 2018,” RANE said in an analysis Tuesday.
“Because of concerns about the sustainability of any new deal, Iran is also less
likely to offer as many nuclear concessions, like the dismantling of more
advanced centrifuges, since Iran would want to be able to spin up its nuclear
program as fast as possible in the event of another US exit from the new deal.”
Tuesday's meeting between Khamenei and Pezeshkian's Cabinet included an
appearance by former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped Iran
reach the 2015 deal. After the meeting, Zarif said in an online message that he
would continue to serve as a vice president in Pezeshkian's administration after
earlier publicly resigning over the makeup of the Cabinet.
White House's Kirby says US would defend Israel in
Iranian attack
Reuters/ August 27, 2024
The United States remains committed to defending Israel in the event of an
Iranian attack, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on
Tuesday. Kirby told Israel's Channel 12 that it was tough to predict the chances
of an attack but the White House takes Iranian rhetoric seriously. "We believe
that they are still postured and poised to launch an attack should they want to
do that, which is why we have that enhanced force posture in the region," he
said. "Our messaging to Iran is consistent, has been and will stay consistent.
One, don't do it. There's no reason to escalate this. There's no reason to
potentially start some sort of all out regional war. And number two, we are
going to be prepared to defend Israel if it comes to that."
Moscow Points Out Supposedly 'Obvious Fact' About The West
And Kyiv's Incursion Amid Latest Warning
Kate Nicholson/HuffPost UK/ August 27, 2024
Russia is now claiming it is an “obvious fact” that the US aided Ukraine with
its surprise incursion earlier this month. According to Russian state news
outlet TASS, the deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov believes the States is
“becoming more and more defiant” in the face of Moscow’s warnings. Kyiv stunned
the international community when it sent troops across the southern border and
occupying 1,000 sq km of Russian land. However, the US has repeatedly claimed it
was not aware of the August 6 incursion in advance, and had no part in it.
Still, Moscow has renewed its threats to attack the West in response to the
shock incursion. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ryabkov said: “Washington’s
escalatory path is becoming more and more defiant.”He continued: “The impression
is that [US] colleagues have discarded the remnants of common sense and believe
that they can do anything. “Their clients in Kyiv have a similar approach. “The
consequences [for the US] could be much harsher than those they are already
experiencing, they know where and in what areas we are reacting in practical
terms.”He claimed that there would be “practical consequences of what is not an
accusation but an obvious fact are observed.”The Russian minister mysteriously
added: “And our American colleagues know what we are talking about.”Foreign
Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin had told TASS earlier that Moscow
does not believe Kyiv planned the offensive on its own, saying there is “no
trust in such statements”.
But immediately after the incursion, the White House said it had no prior
knowledge of Ukraine’s plan to attack. White House national security
spokesperson John Kirby said they had contacted Kyiv to “get a little better
understanding” of the Kursk offensive. British tanks and US rockets were used by
Ukrainian forces in its incursion into Kursk earlier this month, and Kyiv has
confirmed that it used American missiles to take out bridges in the region. The
New York Times has also reported that the US and the UK gave Ukraine satellite
imagery about Kursk after its troops managed to breach Russia’s borders for the
first time since World War 2. This information was intended to help Ukraine keep
watch over Russian reinforcements in case of attack, or cut off their eventual
withdrawal to Ukraine. The UK’s defence secretary John Healey also said the UK
should be “proud” British weapons were being used by Ukraine despite its
incursion. Writing in The Sunday Express two weeks ago, the minister said:
“Providing international law is followed, that does not rule out operations
inside Russia.”
Russia is signaling it could take out the West's internet and GPS. There's no
good backup plan.
Tom Porter/Business Insider/August 27, 2024
Russia is likely mapping underwater internet cables, a NATO official said.
It's also believed to be behind flight GPS interference.
It's signaling it could wreak havoc with the West's electronic infrastructure,
say experts. In June, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security
Council, issued a stark warning. The undersea cables that enable global
communications had become a legitimate target for Russia, he said. Medvedev
based his claim on the belief that the West had been involved in blowing up Nord
Stream 2, a pipeline transferring gas from Russia to Germany. "If we proceed
from the proven complicity of Western countries in blowing up the Nord Streams,
then we have no constraints - even moral - left to prevent us from destroying
the ocean floor cable communications of our enemies," Medvedev posted on
Telegram. Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has a long
history of making incendiary claims. According to analysts, however, this was
not just another idle threat.
A serious warning
The vast network of undersea fiber optic cables that transfer data between
continents is indeed vulnerable to hostile powers, including Russia, The Center
for Strategic and International Studies warned in a report this month. In May,
NATO's intelligence chief David Cattler warned that Russia may be planning to
target the cables in revenge for the West's support for Ukraine in its war
against Russia. It's a scenario that has NATO's planners increasingly worried.
If the cables are seriously damaged or disabled, swaths of the everyday internet
services we take for granted and which our economies rely on, including calls,
financial transactions, and streaming, would be wiped out. Carl-Oskar Bohlin,
Sweden's minister for civil defense, said damage to a telecommunications cable
running under the Baltic Sea in 2023 was the result of "external force or
tampering," though he did not provide details. And in June, NATO stepped up
aircraft patrols off the coast of Ireland amid concerns about Russian submarine
activity, reported The Sunday Times.
The threat to GPS
Security analysts say that the internet is not the only network that Russia is
probing for vulnerabilities. In recent months, Russia has been accused of
interfering with GPS navigation systems, causing havoc on commercial airline
routes. As a result, flights from Helsinki to Tartu, Estonia, ground to a halt
for a month in April. Melanie Garson, an international security expert at
University College London, said it was part of Russia's "gray zone" campaign
against the West, which involves covert actions that fall below the threshold of
open warfare. "Russia has long been developing this capability and it is
currently a cheap and effective way of malicious gray zone interference," said
Garson. "As we increase our reliance on connectivity and space data in
everything from agriculture to food delivery disrupting national and economic
security through interfering with subsea cables and GPS becomes increasingly
effective."
Russia puts the West 'on notice'
For decades, the world has depended on data carried on cables running for
thousands of miles underwater. In the early 20th century, the cables carried
telegraph signals, and later, telephone calls. Robert Dover, a professor of
international security at Hull University in the UK, said the cables have long
been seen as potential military targets, and both the US and USSR surveilled
them during the height of the Cold War. As the world has become more dependent
on the internet, the cables have become increasingly vital. The cables now span
around 745,000 miles and are responsible for transmitting 95% of international
data. "The growth in electronic communications has made the undersea cables —
vital for international communications, the internet, finance, and so on — a
point of vulnerability for nations who use them extensively and for those who
don't publicly have an obvious fall-back position," said Dover.
Similarly, GPS signals are increasingly vital to the airline industry. They are
used to safely guide planes to their destinations and land them. Planes do have
backup navigation systems in the event that GPS fails, but Baltic officials are
warning that disrupted GPS signals can still put planes in danger.
During its war with Ukraine, Russia has enhanced its already sophisticated
electronic warfare capability, enabling it to remotely scramble the GPS
coordinates used to guide missiles and drones. Those capabilities are now
impacting commercial aviation GPS in eastern and northern Europe. Some analysts
believe that may be an accidental result, but others believe that Russia is
sending a signal to the West. "The targeting of civil aviation GPS is a means by
which to undermine the surety of Western publics in aviation, in particular, and
shows the reliance on satellite platforms for ordinary citizens to navigate
around," said Dover. "It also puts governments on notice about the political
risks of mass transit accidents that have a plausibly deniable cause."
A backup plan is urgently needed, says expert
According to Foreign Policy in June, NATO has begun taking more action to
safeguard undersea cables, setting up a system that would automatically warn of
attempted interference. But Garson said it's not enough, and more government
fallback plans are needed in case the systems fail entirely. "Countries need to
not only take measures to protect but also to make sure that the communications
system is resilient, e.g., with robust alternatives," said Garson. She said
satellites transmitting GPS data often lack safeguards against attempted
interference, while the task of protecting undersea cables often falls on the
private companies that own and maintain them. "It's key to visualize these
strategic futures and have a clear resilience plan that accounts for potential
systemic risk and to keep countries operational if key comms infrastructure is
compromised," said Garson. In its report this month, the CSIS called for the US
to increase international cooperation to coordinate a response to a potential
attack on cables. It said that the current legal and international framework for
undersea-cable sabotage was "complex and fragmented, with different
international legal regimes determining responsibility and punishment." "When
cables are sabotaged in international waters, there is no regime to hold the
perpetrator accountable," it said.
Russia warns the United States of the risks of World War Three
Guy Faulconbridge and Vladimir Soldatkin/MOSCOW (Reuters)/August 27, 2024
- Russia said the West was playing with fire by considering allowing Ukraine to
strike deep into Russia with Western missiles and cautioned the United States on
Tuesday that World War Three would not be confined to Europe. Ukraine attacked
Russia's western Kursk region on Aug. 6 and has carved out a slice of territory
in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two. President Vladimir
Putin said there would be a worthy response from Russia to the attack. Sergei
Lavrov, who has served as Putin's foreign minister for more than 20 years, said
that the West was seeking to escalate the Ukraine war and was "asking for
trouble" by considering Ukrainian requests to loosen curbs on using
foreign-supplied weapons. Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has repeatedly
warned of the risk of a much broader war involving the world's biggest nuclear
powers, though he has said Russia does not want a conflict with the U.S.-led
NATO alliance. "We are now confirming once again that playing with fire - and
they are like small children playing with matches - is a very dangerous thing
for grown-up uncles and aunts who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or
another Western country," Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. "Americans
unequivocally associate conversations about Third World War as something that,
God forbid, if it happens, will affect Europe exclusively," Lavrov said. Lavrov
added that Russia was "clarifying" its nuclear doctrine. Russia's 2020 nuclear
doctrine sets out when its president would consider using a nuclear weapon:
broadly as a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass
destruction or conventional weapons "when the very existence of the state is put
under threat".
RUSSIA'S RESPONSE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this month that the assault
on Russia's Kursk region showed that Kremlin threats of retaliation were a
bluff. Zelenskiy said Ukraine, because of the restrictions imposed by allies,
could not use the weapons at its disposal to hit some Russian military targets.
He urged allies to be bolder in their decisions about how to help Kyiv in the
war. Russia has said that Western weaponry, including British tanks and U.S.
rocket systems, have been used by Ukraine in Kursk. Kyiv has confirmed using
U.S. HIMARS missiles to take out bridges in Kursk. Washington says it was not
informed about Ukraine's plans ahead of the surprise incursion into Kursk. The
United States has also said it did not take any part in the operation. Putin's
foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, said on Tuesday that Moscow did
not believe Western assertions that it had nothing to do with the Kursk attack.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the involvement of the
United States was "an obvious fact". The New York Times reported that the United
States and Britain provided Ukraine with satellite imagery and other information
about the Kursk region in the days after the Ukrainian attack. The Times said
that the intelligence was aimed at helping Ukraine keep better track of Russian
reinforcements.
UN Security Council considers sanctioning two RSF generals
in Sudan
Michelle Nichols/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)/August 27, 2024
A United Nations Security Council committee is considering sanctioning two
generals with Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for threatening
the country's peace, security, or stability, including through violence and
human rights abuses. If the men are designated it would be the first U.N.
sanctions imposed over the current war in Sudan, which erupted in mid-April last
year from a power struggle between the Sudanese army (SAF) and the paramilitary
Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. The United
States has formally proposed that an international travel ban and asset freeze
be imposed on RSF head of operations Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed and RSF West
Darfur Commander Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla, diplomats said. The Security
Council's 15-member Sudan sanctions committee operates by consensus. If no one
raises any objections to the proposal by Friday afternoon then the men will be
designated. Members can also ask for more time to consider the proposal, place
it in limbo by putting a hold on it, or simply block it. The war in Sudan has
produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. The RSF
denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors. The United
States says the warring parties have committed war crimes and the RSF and allied
militias have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The
U.N. says nearly 25 million people - half of Sudan's population - need
humanitarian aid, famine is looming and 10 million people have fled their homes.
More than 2.2 million of those people have left for other countries. The
Security Council created its targeted Sudan sanctions regime in 2005 in a bid to
help end a conflict in Darfur. There are currently three people on the sanctions
list, added in 2006. The council also imposed an arms embargo on Darfur in 2004.
In the early 2000s the U.N. estimates 300,000 people were killed in Darfur when
"Janjaweed" militias - from which the RSF formed - helped the army crush a
rebellion by mainly non-Arab groups. Former Sudanese leaders are wanted by the
International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on August 27-28/2024
Al Qaeda kills hundreds in Burkina Faso attack
Caleb Weiss/ FDD's Long War Journal/August 27/2024
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2024/08/analysis-al-qaeda-kills-hundreds-in-burkina-faso-attack.php
On Saturday, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al Qaeda’s
branch for West Africa, killed at least 200 people in a massive assault in
central Burkina Faso. The strike took place in the vicinity of Barsalogho, a
locale not far from the city of Kaya, a large bastion outside of Burkina’s
capital of Ouagadougou.According to survivors and security officials, an
unspecified number of JNIM fighters amassed on a military position near
Barsalogho, where dozens of civilians and members of Burkina’s Volunteers for
the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), a nationwide self-defense militia, were
helping the soldiers build defensive trenches and positions. The jihadis then
indiscriminately opened fire on everyone within the military position, with
survivors reporting to Al Jazeera that men, women, and even children were killed
in the attack. At least 200 people were killed, with another 300 wounded.
Reinforcements of Burkinabe troops and VDP personnel reportedly helped repel the
attack and prevented further casualties. The exact breakdown of killed civilians
and military personnel remains unclear, but Burkinabe security officials have
noted that large numbers of people from both categories were casualties. Radio
France Internationale reported that the casualties also included local
government officials. Voice of America, however, reported that the majority of
people killed were indeed civilians. Videos published on social media—seemingly
filmed by JNIM members themselves—appear to show mainly civilian bodies in the
trenches. Videos filmed by those responding to the scene also show many military
vehicles on fire and significant physical destruction of the base. JNIM was
relatively quick to claim responsibility for the event, though its official
statement was terse. Released through its Az-Zallaqa Media, JNIM simply stated
that its forces “took complete control over a Burkinabe militia headquarters in
Barsalogho in Kaya Province this morning.”The group has thus far not yet
released a more detailed statement nor any official photos as of this time of
publishing. However, it has claimed a series of operations inside northern
Burkina Faso in recent days, all of which included photographic evidence. Any
official media released by the group on the Barsalogho attack, if and when
published, will likely exclusively focus on military casualties, as this would
correspond with al Qaeda’s broad directive to avoid highlighting wanton civilian
deaths in official media releases. If civilians are shown, JNIM will likely
claim the bodies as VDP members, as this would fit within its twisted ideology
of who constitutes “acceptable” targets.
Deteriorating Burkina Faso
The ruling military junta in Ouagadougou is shakily struggling to combat the
ever-growing jihadi threat from both JNIM and its rival, the Islamic State Sahel
Province (ISSP)—though JNIM remains the bigger threat inside Burkina. According
to estimates from late last year, the al Qaeda branch controlled at least 40% of
Burkinabe territory. However, ISSP continues to strike inside Burkinabe as well.
This struggle includes trying to control the fighting inside Burkina Faso, as
well as trying to prevent the flow of jihadist violence out of Burkina’s borders
and into neighboring states like Benin, Togo, Ghana, and now, to a lesser
extent, Ivory Coast. Whereas Ivory Coast has seemingly been able to repel JNIM’s
advances on its territory, and Ghana remains officially silent on any reported
JNIM presence within its northern areas, Benin and Togo currently struggle to
fight back against JNIM. Though JNIM has been able to build bases in both
countries, much of the violence in those countries still emanates from Burkina
Faso. Under the current military regime of Ibrahim Traoré, the Burkinabe state
has increasingly turned to the VDP to try to stymie JNIM’s advance. Traoré’s
leadership has emphasized the self-defense militia, which has greatly expanded
and now essentially acts as another wing of Burkina’s formal military. As first
stated by Héni Nsaibia, the VDP under Traoré “became a central pillar of his
military approach” to JNIM. In response, JNIM has increasingly made VDP
positions and formations key targets in its rampage across much of Burkina. In
addition, though the use of ex-Wagner forces is not as conspicuous as in its
northern neighbor of Mali, Russian mercenaries are in Burkina assisting the
regime in various capacities. Russians are mainly currently used in a training
role for elite Burkinabe troops and regime protection in Ouagadougou. However,
the situation could change if Traoré requests more Russian mercenaries and the
Kremlin actually deploys them to Burkina. The role of ex-Wagner forces could
become similar to their deployment inside Mali, where they take a more offensive
part against the jihadists.
This weekend’s massacre in Barsalogho is a stark reminder of JNIM’s remaining
threat and capacity for violence inside Burkina Faso. In many ways, this
unfortunate attack also signals the continued deterioration of the Burkinabe
state and serves as a barometer of the Sahel as a whole.
Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD’s Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the
Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in
Central Africa.
Important New Poll Reveals Most Americans Know China Is
Funding the Fentanyl Murder of More than 100,000 Americans Each Year
Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute./August 27, 2024
In a recent national poll, more than half of responding Americans believe that
China is deliberately exporting fentanyl to the United States for the purpose of
harming, or even destabilizing our nation. Were that true, some might reasonably
describe that strategy as an act of war. For China, it would be historic payback
time. Having lost a generation, a nation, and an empire to opium introduced by
Imperial Britain during the 1800s, no one knows better than the Chinese that a
drug scourge can bring a country literally to its knees.
So, it should not surprise anyone that they have become a center of illicit
fentanyl manufacturing, with drug traffickers exporting the killing chemical to
the one nation China must strategically injure if they are to make good on their
intent to dominate the rest of the 21st Century: the United States. More than
simply turning a blind eye to those who are creating the drugs, the U.S. House
Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party reported this spring that China
is directly supporting the creation of fentanyl and other drugs by offering "tax
rebates and other financial benefits" to those manufacturers, as long as those
drugs are sold outside of China: "According to the report, Chinese officials
encourage production of precursor chemicals by giving 'monetary grants and
awards to companies openly trafficking illicit fentanyl materials.'"
One does not have to be a CIA analyst to appreciate the "why" behind such an
action. The cause and effect have not been lost on the American public. That
recent poll, undertaken by the nationally respected polling company McLaughlin &
Associates, revealed that a stunning 52.4 percent of Americans suspect that the
Chinese are exporting the deadly drug for the specific purpose of destabilizing
our society. Some 19.4% disagreed and 28.3% did not have an opinion.
When asked if our diplomatic relations with China should be dependent on Beijing
shutting down those fentanyl mills, 54.5 percent of those polled emphatically
said yes, while 21.3% said no and 24.2% did not know one way or the other.
The national survey also revealed that more than a third of Americans know
someone whose life has been harmed or taken by fentanyl. More than some dry
accountant's statistic, when approximately 100 million Americans know first-hand
how this drug is destroying lives, then it is time to recognize the extent of
the crisis. To underscore the threat, medical authorities say 2023 saw more than
112,000 fentanyl-related deaths in our nation. They warn that it has been more
pervasive than the crack and opioid epidemics of the past.
While our two major party presidential candidates currently address issues that
range from inflation to the border crisis, they need to be prepared to speak to
this calculated assault on our nation, our society, and our future. They need to
state what direct and affirmative action they will take if assuming occupancy of
the Oval Office to make it clear to China that more than tariffs, sanctions or
exports, our relationship with China will be judged by how and when they shut
down this flow of poison. Ironically, this poll is being released at a time when
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is in Beijing to try and improve
the contentious relationship between our two countries. There is no public
acknowledgement that China's fentanyl assault on the United States will be on
their agenda, but it needs to be. Few nations know better than China what drugs
can do to a society. They still reflect on what they describe as a "century of
humiliation" created by the introduction of opium into their empire.It is clear
they believe it is now America's turn.
*Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Another Coptic Christian Girl (Christina Karim Aziz) ‘Disappears’ in Egypt
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/August 27/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/08/133697/
Although initially kept quiet and suppressed, the ongoing cries of a Coptic
Christian family and supportive community concerning the latest Christian girl
to “disappear” recently made the rounds on Arabic social media.
Earlier this month, Christina Karim Aziz, a 20-year-old Christian girl,
disappeared off the streets of al-Fatah Center, in Assyut, where she had gone to
apply for a job. Her family immediately went to police to report the
disappearance; police responding with nothing. So her family has continued
crying out to whoever will hear them—including by imploring President Sisi
himself.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of this story is its recurring face. For those
following the plight of Christian women in Egypt, their “disappearance” is and
has been a very common occurrence. Not only do police seldom recover the missing
girls; the authorities themselves often collude in the abduction.
Consider, for example, the case of Irene Ibrahim Shehata, a 21-year-old
Christian who disappeared earlier this year under circumstances very similar to
Christina’s, and even in the same governate of Assyut. A college student, she
was on her way to take an exam at the Faculty of Medicine at Assyut National
University, when she disappeared and her phone was turned off. Frantic family
went to police, who were unresponsive. In the end, and as discussed in more
detail here, it became clear that State Security was complicit. By the time the
miserable family had made their (pointless) appeal to Sisi, they had learned
that her religious ID had been changed to Muslim, “of her own free will,” though
Security officials would not let the family meet with Irene to confirm these
claims.
Irene Ibrahim Shehata
During their independent search, Irene’s family and investigators had also
confirmed that a Muslim Brotherhood network—with a complicit State Security—is
behind the abduction of many Coptic girls, describing it as “an organized
terrorist group led by the Muslim Brotherhood to kidnap Christian girls in the
Middle East.” This entire phenomenon and process is well discussed in a 2020
report by Coptic Solidary (CS). Fifteen-pages long and titled “‘Jihad of the
Womb’: Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt,” it documents “the
widespread practice of abduction and trafficking” of Coptic girls. According to
the report: The capture and disappearance of Coptic women and minor girls is a
bane of the Coptic community in Egypt, yet little has been done to address this
scourge by the Egyptian or foreign governments, NGOs, or international bodies.
According to a priest in the Minya Governorate, at least 15 girls go missing
every year in his area alone. His own daughter was nearly kidnapped had he not
been able to intervene in time…. The rampant trafficking of Coptic women and
girls is a direct violation of their most basic rights to safety, freedom of
movement, and freedom of conscience and belief. The crimes committed against
these women must be urgently addressed by the Egyptian government, ending
impunity for kidnappers, their accomplices, and police who refuse to perform
their duties. Women who disappear and are never recovered must live an
unimaginable nightmare. The large majority of these women are never reunited
with their families or friends because police response in Egypt is dismissive
and corrupt. There are countless families who report that police have either
been complicit in the kidnapping or at the very least bribed into silence. If
there is any hope for Coptic women in Egypt to have a merely ‘primitive’ level
of equality, these incidents of trafficking must cease, and the perpetrators
must be held accountable by the judiciary.
Since the publication of that CS report in September 2020, matters have only
gotten worse. As a later report notes, “In Egypt, kidnappings and forced
marriages of Christian women and girls to their Muslim abductors has reached
record levels.”
In short, another front in the war of attrition has been launched against
Egypt’s beleaguered Christian minority: the abduction and Islamization of their
daughters—with what, by all counts, appears to be State help; and the numbers of
casualties keeps growing, with no end in sight.
Islamist delusions: Hidden truths behind the Arab-Israeli
conflict - opinion
Mohamed Saad/Jerusalem Post/August 27/2024
Islamic terrorist organizations and movements share the same approach, driven by
ideologies of hatred and hostility towards others.
Since the terrorist events of October 7, 2023, carried out by the Hamas militia,
the world has been experiencing an unprecedented wave of polarization. The
repercussions and consequences of these events have reached alarming levels in
some countries, making it feel as if these nations have geographically relocated
to the Middle East.
In light of what is happening, I feel a moral obligation to reveal all that is
hidden and unspoken regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. I plan to do this
through a series of articles, hoping that some might change their positions and
perspectives when they learn of the many hidden facts obscured behind the smoke
screens launched by Islamic movements allied with leftist parties and
organizations (to conceal the truth and information).
I will go back in time, starting from July 8, 1937, when the Peel Commission
Report was published. Officially known as the British Royal Commission, it was a
high-level royal investigative committee chaired by Earl Peel, a member of the
UK Privy Council and former British Secretary of State for India.
The commission was formed in 1936 following the outbreak of the Arab revolt in
the conflict zone. Its mission was to devise a final solution to the
"Arab-Jewish" conflict. The committee's work concluded with a proposal to
establish three regions: a British-mandated territory including Jerusalem,
Bethlehem, and a corridor to Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast; a Jewish state in
Galilee, with part of the western coastline; and the largest portion of the land
to merge with East Jordan to form an Arab state. (It is very important to note
that the proposed area for the Arab state was close to 25,000 square kilometers,
while the proposed area for the Jewish state was around 2,500 square kilometers.
Despite the historical right of the Jews to the land, they accepted the
committee's proposals, confirming their desire to live in peace and end the
conflict.)
Golda Meir wrote in her memoirs that she was sitting with David Ben-Gurion when
they learned of "the committee's proposals." Together, they went to consult with
Chaim Weizmann to get his opinion and reach a decision. Weizmann told them, "A
state is better than no state, and agreeing is better than refusing, and we hope
the Arab side rejects it."
Arabs refused to live in peace
Indeed, this is exactly what happened: the Arabs refused to live in peace
alongside the Jews.
Years later, there was the involvement of the Arab spearhead, Amin al-Husseini
(the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Supreme Muslim Council), in the
"Final Solution," the Nazi plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe.
Al-Husseini arrived in the German capital, Berlin, in the second week of
November 1941. He had come from Italy, where he had met with Mussolini,
Germany's strong ally. On November 28 of the same year, Hitler received al-Husseini
at the Reich Chancellery, describing him as "the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and
one of the most influential men in the Arab liberation movement."
Before he met with Hitler, al-Husseini met with Joachim von Ribbentrop, one of
the Nazi regime's leaders in Germany. Days later, al-Husseini was personally
escorted on a tour to observe the genocide in the gas chambers at Auschwitz
alongside Adolf Eichmann.
Al-Husseini commented on the visit, saying that there was consensus between them
and that Hitler told him, "The Jewish problem should be solved step by step."
Al-Husseini received a promise that once the Middle East was occupied,
"Germany's sole goal would be the extermination of the Jewish element residing
in the Arab region under British protection." Al-Husseini's visit to Germany was
engineered by his Lebanese secretary, Othman Kamal al-Haddad.
It is important to highlight a crucial point: all proposed solutions were always
rejected by the Arab side, and the idea of two states, one Arab and one Jewish,
was consistently discussed.
This confirms that there was never a state called Palestine in any historical
period. The Partition Plan itself, issued by the UN General Assembly under
Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947, stipulated two states, one Arab and one
Jewish. If the Palestinian state existed, why was it not explicitly included in
the resolution?
The Arabs' rejection of the Partition Plan "at that time" and the actions of
Amin al-Husseini, "the head of the Supreme Muslim Council," in his quest "to
eliminate the Jews from the face of the earth" all align with the mentality that
still persists today.
This mindset continues to reside in the minds of Yahya Sinwar, Hassan Nasrallah,
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, and all the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as
the destructive arms of Iran in the Middle East, such as Hamas, Hezbollah,
Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis.
These Islamic terrorist organizations and movements share the same approach,
driven by ideologies of hatred and hostility towards others. They embrace the
delusions and hallucinations of global supremacy and the establishment of a
supposed caliphate state.
**Mohamed Saad is a political analyst specializing in Middle East affairs and
Islamic movements, an opinion writer, and a member of the Swedish PEN
Association.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-816610
Opinion - Netanyahu is dragging the US down a dangerous
path on Iran
Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka, opinion contributors/The
Hill/August 27, 2024
Israeli ambassador says US posture in Middle East played role in ‘deterring’
The struggle in the Middle East is not between barbarians and freedom seekers,
nor between those who sanctify life and those who sanctify death, as Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted in his recent address to Congress.
Rather, it could be better characterized as a struggle between radical messianic
groups that are fighting in the name of God, and the majority who aspire to a
secure life of personal and national freedom.
The suffering and hatred produced by the Gaza war has blinded eyes on both
sides. That’s why this is the time for visionary statesmanship, not for hollow
speeches and political games.
Over the last 20 years, the Iranian nuclear threat has been the main driver of
Israel’s policy in the region, and of Netanyahu’s attempts to influence American
administrations. While hoping that the limited preemptive strike Israel’s air
force launched on Hezbollah targets early Sunday morning doesn’t trigger a
regional war, the Biden administration must not allow Netanyahu to sway U.S.
foreign policy decisions that relate to Iran. Doing so carries the risk of
American entanglement in a conflict with unpredictable consequences — even to
the point of dragging the U.S. into a destabilizing regional war that could
become a ruinous global conflict.
Netanyahu has been hawkish toward Iran for many years. He heads the most extreme
right-wing Israeli government ever, supported by religious-messianic groups that
are subject to international sanctions. This government has led the country to
its worst crises: the threat to Israel’s democratic nature through the “judicial
reform” it launched early last year, and the severe security threat exposed by
the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and the ensuing wars on multiple fronts.
Netanyahu’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama
administration resonated with certain factions in Washington. That opposition
led to the abandonment of the deal by the Trump administration and a policy
shift toward increased pressure upon and isolation of Iran. This in turn gave
Tehran an open path towards becoming a nuclear threshold state.
And now, for all intents and purposes, Netanyahu objects to President Biden’s
“Day After” outline for the war in Gaza, which combines a hostage release deal,
cessation of the Gaza war and a normalized Middle East with the Saudis as its
center. Even worse, Netanyahu is “once again sabotaging the talks” for the
release of the hostages, according to a source involved in the negotiations
quoted in Haaretz, reaffirming what many Israelis have suspected for a long
time.
The only path that could lead to more stability in the region is a regional
agreement comprising a security-based coalition of all moderate regional actors,
most importantly Saudi Arabia. Yet Netanyahu rejects such a path, because it
requires Israel to embark on a process that will eventually lead to a
Palestinian state. With his current extremist coalition, Netanyahu cannot agree
to such a course of action and still remain in power.
Netanyahu’s reckless policy, which aims to please his extreme right-wing
coalition partners rather than pursue a regional security coalition, not only
runs contrary to the policy and interests of the U.S., it also flies in the face
of the strong and unanimous recommendation of the Israeli security and defense
establishment. Netanyahu is acting as an autocratic ruler, ignoring that
establishment and jeopardizing Israel’s liberal and democratic foundations.
It should be obvious that Netanyahu’s political and personal interests should
not supersede those of the U.S. in shaping American foreign policy priorities.
And it should be just as obvious that Israel has no stronger or more important
ally than America.
For the second time in five months, the Biden administration is organizing
military and diplomatic coalitions to counter the threat of an Iranian attack on
Israel. It has announced that it is committed to Israel’s defense, and is
dispatching aircraft carriers, submarines and fighter jets to the region.
The Biden administration also coordinated the joint statement from leaders of
the U.S., the UK, France, Germany and Italy that called on Iran “to stand down
its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the
serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place.”
Now Biden is getting on the phone with Netanyahu to try to get a Gaza cease-fire
and hostage release deal, while also trying to deter Iran and Hezbollah from
conducting an attack on Israel.
Netanyahu must not be allowed to undermine these efforts. He also should not be
allowed to prevent a robust though nuanced approach towards Iran that has the
potential to de-escalate tensions with Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas
and the Houthis.
The true interest of the moderate forces lies in forming a regional coalition
prior to any escalation with Iran. That by itself is a delicate move, as the
people in Arab Muslim countries, even in Sunni states, have a positive view of
Iranian support for the Palestinians. A security-political alliance of the
moderate Arab states, with the implicit support of Israel, would produce
additional positive outcomes, including a cease-fire in Gaza, release of the
Israeli hostages and the initiation of a gradual political process between
Israel and the Palestinians.
Conversely, military escalation with Iran, in which the U.S. and Europe are
entangled without a stable regional coalition, will be perceived in the Arab
sphere as a crusade to save Israel, putting American regional interests at risk.
Events in the Middle East, Israel-U.S. relations and Netanyahu’s involvement in
American politics should be viewed through the lens of the Iranian nuclear issue
and terrorism. Dealing with the hostages and ending the war in Gaza without
shaping an arrangement comprising a moderate Sunni-Western alliance that
includes Israel would result in a victory for Hamas and the strengthening of the
radical axis led by Iran.
After Oct. 7, the Biden administration also realized that a process leading to a
political settlement with the Palestinians had become a necessary condition for
creating such an alliance — and, with it, a new Middle East.
At the same time, Israel is right to fear Iranian aggression through the
military attacks of its proxies, coupled with Tehran’s drive to achieve military
nuclear capabilities, while it strengthens its control from Yemen to Lebanon.
The U.S. should assist Israel in its quest to thwart Iran’s hegemonic,
anti-Israel ambitions, but it should do so in a way that enhances regional
stability.
The U.S. must not succumb to Netanyahu’s pressure seeking to sabotage movement
toward a sounder and stronger Middle East, motivated by his personal interests
and those of his right-wing coalition partners. That is the opposite of the
visionary statesmanship needed now.
*Adm. (Ret.) Ami Ayalon is a former director of the Israeli security agency Shin
Bet and commander of the Navy. Gilead Sher, a fellow at the Baker Institute,
chairs Sapir Academic College adjacent to the Gaza border. He is a former senior
peace negotiator and chief of staff to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Orni Petruschka, a social activist and philanthropist, is a former tech
entrepreneur.
*Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
As New Academic Year Begins, The PFLP-Affiliated Samidoun
Network – Which Promotes Hamas, Hizbullah, And Houthis – Continues Its Outreach
And Encourages, Trains, And Radicalizes Student Campus Protests And Encampment
Activities From New York To Amsterdam
Steven Stalinsky, Ph.D/MEMRI/August 27/2024
Samidoun, a Canadian federally registered nonprofit organization, bills itself
as the "Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network." The organization stages
rallies and marches, hangs banners, and engages with media and followers online.
It has a strong connection with the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist group. Samidoun was banned in Germany
in November 2023 – and should be banned in the U.S. – but continues to fundraise
there; for its U.S. fundraising, it is circumventing obstacles to its financial
services by funneling donations through a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization
based in Tucson, Arizona. Many are calling for the organization to be banned in
Canada as well. Since October 7, the organization has grown in stature, with a
presence at many pro-Palestinian protests – most recently in Chicago during the
Democratic National Convention. Counterterrorism agencies, and authorities at
any university where there are signs of Samidoun activity on campus, should be
on alert.
In the months after Hamas's October 7 attacks in Israel, Samidoun's many
chapters – the group operates in the U.S., Canada, and across Europe, with a
focus on activity at universities – promoted Hamas messages to organize and
radicalize university students. The organization itself has directly interviewed
Hamas and Houthi officials, providing simultaneous translation into English to
help spread their messages. As the new academic year begins, it will continue to
attempt to brainwash and incite students across the West.
The organization's international coordinator is the Canadian Charlotte Kates,
who is also the founder of the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with
Iran (CASI). She was arrested in Vancouver in May 2024 following her speech at a
rally there in which she expressed support for Hamas, the PFLP, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Lebanese Hizbullah and demanded that they all be removed
from Canada's terror list. She was released on condition that she not attend any
"protests, rallies or assemblies" for five months until an October 8, 2024 court
date. In 2022, Kates was banned from entering the EU.
Kates is married to Vancouver-based Palestinian activist Khaled Barakat, who
according to numerous sources is a senior PFLP member. Barakat also heads Masar
Badil, or the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, an
anti-Israel, pro- Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) NGO. He is barred from
entering the U.S. and Germany, and was barred from entering the EU for four
years starting in 2020 due to his support for terror organizations.
In August 2024, Kates traveled to Iran to accept the "Eighth Annual Islamic
Human Rights And Human Dignity Award," as one of six recipients. The awards were
presented in Tehran on August 4 by the secretary general of the High Council for
Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Samidoun published photos of the
event. Other honorees included Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad Nakhaleh,
slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, slain IRGC Qods Force commander Mohammed Reza
Zahedi, and Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who was killed in
May in a helicopter crash along with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi.
The following day in Tehran, she gave a detailed interview to Iran's Ofogh TV,
discussing her arrest. She said: "I spoke about the brave, heroic October 7
operation and the legitimacy of the resistance, and why I want to get the
resistance organizations off the so-called terrorist list." Noting that the
Canadian police seek to "pursue hate crime charges against me at the behest of
Zionist organizations and political officials," she attributed this to "the lie
of so-called Western democracy and concern for human rights." It is not clear
whether Kates is now based in Iran.
As an example of how Samidoun seeks to incite students, on May 29, Samidoun
released on its website a statement from the Student Frames Secretarial (SFS), a
Palestinian student movement in Gaza. In it, the SFS urged students worldwide to
launch an "escalation of the Global Student Intifada for Palestine" and
expressed its admiration for the encampment movement in Western countries, and
urged them to escalate further: "We call on you to besiege the White House in
Washington, and to surround the palaces, headquarters and ministries of Western
colonial governments and Zionist embassies, and the buildings and offices of the
corporations that finance the Zionist entity and arm its criminal army with all
kinds of bombs and means of death and destruction."
It should be noted that just weeks before Kates received her award in Iran, U.S.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines released a statement noting that
"In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically
take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza." It added: "We
have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online,
seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to
protesters." Samidoun is an organization that needs to be monitored.
The following report is an overview of some of Samidoun's activity on university
campuses in the U.S., Canada, France, Spain, and The Netherlands, in the wake of
the October 7 attacks and subsequent war in Gaza, with examples from the social
media accounts of its various branches and from its website.
Samidoun New York/New Jersey Chapter: Involvement In Protests At City University
Of New York (CUNY), City College Of New York (CCNY), Columbia University, Hunter
College
November 17, 2023: Promoting CUNY Student-Faculty Protest
The "Samidoun NY/NJ" chapter of the organization reposted content on X on
November 17, 2023 from the account "CUNY4Palestine" about a student-faculty
protest taking place in one of the City University of New York (CUNY) buildings.
The channel wrote: "Today CUNY students and workers staged a die-in and flooded
the windows of the iconic 5th avenue building with signs of solidarity, at the
same time as huge banners were dropped from the 6th story windows."
March 24, 2024: Samidoun At "Resistance 101" Event Hosted By Columbia University
Apartheid Divest That Led To Student Suspensions
Samidoun international coordinator Charlotte Kates and her husband, former PFLP
member Khaled Barakat, spoke at a March 24, 2024 online event titled "Resistance
101." She said during the event, which was hosted by Columbia University
Apartheid Divest: "There is nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, being a
leader of Hamas, being a fighter in Hamas." Students participating in the event
were later suspended by the university. The event was recorded and posted on X
by user Stu Smith.
April 26, 2024: Samidoun Promotes PFLP At Protest At CCNY
On the "Samidoun Network" X account on April 26, 2024, the organization posted a
photo of a Samidoun poster being displayed at a pro-Palestinian student
encampment at the City College of New York (CCNY). The channel wrote: "Paris,
NYC, Boston and everywhere. From Walid Daqqah at Emerson, Georges Abdallah in
Paris, Ahmad Sa'adat at CCNY Encampment in NYC today #Escalate4Gaza and free all
Palestinian prisoners, leaders of our international liberation struggle."
July 25, 2024: "Solidarity With The CUNY 27"
A statement of support for the "CUNY 27" was posted on the Samidoun website on
July 25. It was titled "Solidarity with the CUNY 27: Drop the charges now –
build the global intifada." "CUNY 27" refers to student protestors at the
encampment at City University of New York who were arrested in April; some face
felony burglary charges. Samidoun praised the students' actions and claimed that
they were innocent of the charges.
A July 25 statement on the Samidoun website announced a "New York City Week of
Rage" rally at Hunter College in Manhattan the following day, July 26. The rally
was a response to an episode of the TV program FBI: Most Wanted which had staged
a mock university protest and encampment at CUNY's Queens College for the
filming of an episode on a climate change protest. Samidoun decried the filming
as a "mockery of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment," and "an attempt to demonize
the Student Movement against the genocide in Gaza" and to profit from it. Rally
participants included Samidoun, multiple chapters of Students for Justice in
Palestine, and Within Our Lifetime
Gulf National Security Is a Need, Not a Choice
Yousef Al-DayniAsharq Al Awsat/August 27/2024
According to yesterday’s (Monday) important statements by the EU's Red Sea naval
mission "Aspides,” the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion is still in flames after
the Houthi attack. While it confirmed that there have been no clear signs of an
oil spill so far, the attack, along with previous incidents, raises questions
about the fluidity of tensions in the region and the international community
ignoring, despite all the demands of moderate countries led by Saudi Arabia, the
need to develop a holistic vision for solving all the region’s unresolved
issues. These issues include the Palestinian cause, Iranian expansionism, the
rise of militias, and the militarization of the region in Yemen, Lebanon, and
Iraq.
The international community’s neglect means that the region has entered the
furnace of sovereignty complications because of the tug-of-war between Israel on
one side and Iran and its allies on the other. The latter are exploiting the
Gaza issue for political ends and throwing slogans on the table, in an attempt
to mobilize people and threaten retaliation, exploiting the current exceptional
circumstances as we await the US presidential elections. These repeated attacks
and the international community’s position on them reveal an undeniable truth:
reaching a consensus regarding security in the Red Sea is impossible so long as
the ethical and political divide regarding the assault on Gaza remains. This
divide further deepens the impasse to any solution that seeks to broaden the
perspective and precipitate a shift from reactive measures to long-term
strategies and solutions that consider long-term repercussions rather than quick
results. Amid this state of affairs, we find another fact that we must contend
with: developing a strategy to solve the Red Sea security dilemma is primarily a
regional matter. The countries concerned, led by Saudi Arabia and other coastal
states, must play a fundamental role in shaping the approach to a solution.
This chaos, which the Israeli entity is aggravating with its brutal attacks on
Palestinians, is the result of global neglect, the declining significance of the
European Union, confusion in the US administration, this administration
abandoning rational voices in the region, and the reproduction of a militia
culture, which has become a troubling political reality undermining the national
security of regional countries, especially the Gulf states. As a result of the
lack of genuine pressure on Tel Aviv that could force it to end its assault,
militias, through these attacks on the Red Sea, have managed to take the guise
of political actors, even if it means destroying Yemen from within.
They also promote slogans calling for the region's militarization and
destructive solutions. Militias and armed groups, which are rejected and
destabilizing, are thereby turned into tools for exerting political pressure on
the international community and for undermining the stability of states.
Moreover, these attacks raise the specter of war, which becomes closer to
breaking out with every failed round of negotiations to end the war and reach
consensus solutions that account for the broader context in the Middle East.
The social implications of militias building strongholds in the countries within
Tehran’s sphere of influence are dangerous and long-lasting. Falling into the
embrace of militias and their rhetoric essentially means chaos and political
coercion, with these militias imposing their will on the masses, who long for a
better life. Indeed, human rights organizations have extensively reported on the
disruption of schools and the rise of child and adolescent recruitment in these
strongholds, making it clear that the problem is bigger than targeting ships or
launching drones.
There is a significant political vacuum, there can be no doubt about that. The
United States and the international community are largely responsible for it,
given their ability to influence and mobilize international political decisions.
Moreover, they have shown double standards by unequivocally supporting Israel
while hesitating to pressure it, while neglecting the consequences of the growth
of extremist and violent rhetoric, as well as all the implications of militias’
propaganda and slogans, which have left us on the brink of a "militia spring."
The situation is further exacerbated by the resurgence of ISIS, which is
exploiting this vacuum and the conflicts raging in the region, as many research
centers and reports have warned. In parallel, major powers have exploited
tragedies and done nothing to address them, merely raising slogans.
Maintaining states’ integrity is a difficult task that requires international
understanding and support. At the same time, it demands a deep comprehension of
the political actors, particularly the political parties involved in the
region’s conflicts and helping to shape the media’s discourse in the Arab world.
Arab outlets sometimes fall into the trap of supporting the Palestinian cause by
promoting the culture of militias and promoting their delusions about illusory
victories. This kind of reporting misleads their audience, who fail to recognize
that they would be the first to suffer if the state collapses and falls into the
grip of armed militias. Today, the Gulf states need to transform their approach
to national security, which is linked to developing their security agencies and
defense industries. Only by doing so can they develop "sustainable security
strategies" that are complemented by a media and cultural discourse that seeks
to navigate the minefield of extremism by taking steps consciously.