Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 11-12/2024
Ash Monday: A Holy Day For Repentance Prayers & Forgiveness/Elias Bejjani/February 12/2024
Fasting is prayer, contemplation, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God, oneself, and others/Elias Bejjani/February 10/2024
Patriarch Rai in a Mass at Hotel Dieu: Enough Violations of the Constitution, Fatal to the State, for Individual, Sectarian, Political, or Party Interests
Bishop Audi: Our Nation is a Gift from God for Us to Preserve, but for Decades We Have Seen Only Those Who Violate Its Sovereignty and Dignity, Assassinate Its Thinkers and Freemen, and Engage It in Wars Despite the Will of Most of Its Sons
Iran FM Reveals Mutual Messages with Washington on Gaza, Lebanon
1 dead, children wounded as Israel strikes outside Houla mosque
Iran's diplomatic signals: Messages to Americans from Beirut
Iran FM says Israel offensive on Lebanon would 'spell end' of Netanyahu
Lessons from past ceasefires with Israel: History of agreements, resolutions, and truces in Gaza and Lebanon
Baydoun: We cannot compromise Lebanon's sovereignty, and the goal of resistance is liberation
Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly condemns aggressive Israeli plans to invade Rafah, calls UN Security Council to make immediate decision to ceasefire
Building collapse in Choueifat: Families narrowly evade disaster
Lebanon's Traffic and Vehicles Management Authority unveils service schedule for next two months
Jumblatt says two-state solution a "huge lie", agrees to 1701 implementation in consensus between Hezbollah & various Lebanese forces through state,...

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 11-12/2024
Biden: Israel Shouldn't Press Into Rafah Without 'Credible' Plan to Protect Civilians
Netanyahu: 'Enough' Remaining Israeli Hostages Alive to Warrant Gaza War
Israel Deploys AI-Enabled Military Technology in Gaza Conflict
Palestinian president in Qatar to discuss ceasefire efforts
Israel's finance minister blasts Moody's downgrade of the the country's credit rating
Illegal Israeli settlers throw stones and tear gas Palestinians in the West Bank
Palestinian president in Qatar to discuss ceasefire efforts
Netanyahu promises 'safe passage' to Palestinians ahead of Rafah operation
Iran marks Islamic Revolution's 45th anniversary amid Mideast tensions
Iran anniversary marchers chant 'death to Israel' amid regional tensions over Gaza
Germany's foreign minister to travel to Israel next week
Iraq says US troop drawdown talks will go on 'as long as nothing disturbs the peace of the talks'
Three UAE soldiers killed in attack on military base in Somalia
Two Killed in Jordanian Military Aircraft Crash During Training
Saudi Arabia Strongly Condemns Terrorist Explosions in Mogadishu Military Base
Iraqi President: Factional Conflict with US Doesn’t Aid Gaza
Saudi Arabia sends $250 million in aid to Yemen
Ukrainian Army Says Russia Launches Drone Attacks on Kyiv, Southern Ukraine
Ethiopia's strategic move: Gaining access to the Red Sea through Somaliland
Trump to 'encourage' Russia to attack NATO members behind on payments
Frankly Speaking: Why Spain stands out in standing up for Palestine

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on February 11-12/2024
How to Understand the Enemy/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Syrian Documents In the Ethical, Practical Balance/Fayez Sara/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
No one is fooled by Iran and its proxies’ smoke-and-mirrors pantomime Baria Alamuddin/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/February 12, 2024
The power of small and smart states/Armen Sarkissian/Arab News/February 11, 2024
Return of Daesh adds to instability in the Middle East/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/February 11, 2024
How Middle East can turn the tide against chronic diseases/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 11, 2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 11-12/2024
Ash Monday: A Holy Day For Repentance Prayers & Forgiveness
Elias Bejjani/February 12/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/72716/elias-bejjani-what-is-the-ash-monday/
Before Christianity, The Jews used to scatter ashes on their heads and bodies while weeping and wailing over their sins, in order to purify their bodies from sins, and to remind themselves that they came from dust and to dust they will return.
The Jews used to practice this ritual before starting any fasting, in a bid to atone for their sins. Christians kept on performing this ritual, but the ashes used were taken from the olive branches burned on the Palm Sunday.
These ashes were used the next year on the first lent Monday to wipe the foreheads of the repentant fasting believers, with a cross symbol so that they begin the lent forty period with true repentance befitting their Christian faith …”Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return (genesis03/19)”.
Ash Monday is the first day of Lent ,and It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. On The Ash Monday the priest ceremonially marks with wet ashes on the worshippers’ foreheads a visible cross while saying: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return (genesis03/19)”.
Worshippers are reminded of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly, of their need to repent in time.
Ash Monday (Greek: Καθαρά Δευτέρα), is also known as Clean and Pure Monday. The common term for this day, refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods.
Our Maronite Catholic Church is notable amongst the Eastern rites employing the use of ashes on this day.
(In the Western Catholic Churches this day falls on Wednesday and accordingly it is called the “Ash Wednesday”).
Ash Monday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, contemplating of transgressions and repentance. It is a reminder that we should begin Lent with good intentions, and a desire to clean our spiritual house. It is a day of strict fasting including abstinence, not only from meat, but from eggs and dairy products as well. Liturgically, Ash Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday) night, at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as “Clean Week”, and it is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly. The Holy Bible stresses the conduct of humility and not bragging for not only during the fasting period, but every day and around the clock.
It is worth mentioning that Ashes were used in ancient times to express grief. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, “she sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying” (2 Samuel 13:19).
Examples of the Ash practices among Jews are found in several other books of the Bible, including Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Book of Esther 4:1, and Hebrews 9:13.
Jesus is quoted as speaking of the Ash practice in Matthew 11:21 and Luke 10:13: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
NB: This piece was first published in 2000, Republished today with numerous changes

Fasting is prayer, contemplation, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God, oneself, and others
Elias Bejjani/February 10/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/83444/elias-bejjani-cana-wedding-miracle-the-forgiveness-marfaa-sunday-%d8%a3%d8%ad%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b1%d9%81%d8%b9-%d9%88%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%88%d9%85/
Lent period starts with the Cana Holy Wedding Miracle and ends with the Holy Easter Day. Lent in the Maronite Church rite starts on the ASH Monday and ends on the Light Saturday.
The Sunday that comes before the beginning of the lent period is called  Ahad Al Marfah (أحد المرفع) or forgiveness Sunday (أحد الغفران).
Lent in principle is a Holy period that is ought to be utilized with God in genuine contemplation, self humility, repentance, penances, forgiveness, praying and conciliation with self and others. Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Jesus Who is the fountain of all love, forgiveness and mercy. Lent is a pilgrimage in which Jesus Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty while sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter.
The lent period is a spiritual battle that we chose to fight our own selves and all its bodily and earthly instinctual pleasures in a bid to abstain from all acts and thoughts of sin.
Lent is ought to strengthen our hope and faith in a bid to fight Satan and to keep away from his ways of sin and despair. Praying and contemplation teaches us that Almighty God is there to guard us and to lead our steps during the entire Lenten period.
When we fast and pray, we find time for God, to understand that his words will not pass away.
Through fasting and praying we can enter into that intimate communion with Jesus so that no one shall take from us the faith and hope that does not disappoint.
Fasting is a battle of spiritual engagement through which we seek to imitate Jesus Christ who fought Satan’s temptations while fasting in the wilderness. He triumphed over Satan, and we faithfully endeavour during the Lent period to tame and defeat our earthly instincts and make our hearts, conscience and thinking pure, immaculate and pious.
We fast and trust that the Lord is our loving Shepherd.
“Psalm 23:04: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and staff comfort me.”
Reading the Holy Bible and praying offers us God’s Word with particular abundance and empowers our souls and minds with His Word.
Mark 13:31: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”
By meditating and internalizing the Word Of God we learn precious and irreplaceable forms of prayer.
By attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism.
Prayers and fasting allow us to gain a new concept of time and directs our steps towards horizons of hope and joy that have no limits.

Patriarch Rai in a Mass at Hotel Dieu: Enough Violations of the Constitution, Fatal to the State, for Individual, Sectarian, Political, or Party Interests
NNA/February 11, 2024
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rai, assisted by Deputy Patriarch General Bishop Hanna Alwan, and Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Paul Abdel Sater, along with a group of priests, presided over the Divine Liturgy held in the lecture hall of Hotel Dieu de France Hospital on the occasion of the "32nd World Day of the Sick" and the beginning of Lent in Christian denominations. The event was attended by the President of Saint Joseph University, Professor Salim Daccache, the Director of Hotel Dieu de France Hospital, Dr. Nacib Nasr, MP Hagop Terzian, former Ambassador and President of the Maronite League Dr. Khalil Karam, members of the League, members of Beirut Municipality Council, as well as several nuns, monks, doctors, spiritual, academic, and social figures.
After the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Patriarch delivered a sermon titled "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness" (Matthew 9:35), stating that "the World Day of the Sick is not limited to prayer and celebrating the Divine Liturgy and anointing the foreheads of the sick with holy oil for their sanctification in their illnesses and pains, and for their healing, but it is also a day to demand from the officials in the Lebanese state their duties towards patients, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and centers for people with special needs. These officials cannot neglect their duties such as supporting medicine, fulfilling the debts owed to these institutions, improving the management of the National Social Security Fund, and getting the country out of its deadly crises starting with electing a president of the republic as the only gateway to resolving the political, economic, financial, social, and commercial crisis. Enough violations of the constitution that are fatal to the state, for individual, sectarian, political, or party interests, all of which are condemned and rejected. So, start by electing a president of the state so that all institutions can function properly. And since there is no authority outside the constitution that requires the parliament to elect a president and deputies, and since they deliberately violate the constitution, we appeal to their national conscience, president, and members, perhaps the prick of conscience will spur them. It is known that conscience is God's voice deep within humans whispering, "Do this and not that." The Patriarch concluded: "Our prayers to God to move these consciences, to please His holy will and secure the common good. To Him be praise and thanks, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen."

Bishop Audi: Our Nation is a Gift from God for Us to Preserve, but for Decades We Have Seen Only Those Who Violate Its Sovereignty and Dignity, Assassinate Its Thinkers and Freemen, and Engage It in Wars Despite the Will of Most of Its Sons
NNA/February 11, 2024
Metropolitan of Beirut and its environs for the Greek Orthodox Church, Bishop Elias Audi, led the Divine Liturgy at the Saint George Cathedral, in the presence of a crowd of believers. After the Gospel reading, he delivered a sermon in which he said:
"Our nation is a gift bestowed upon us by the Lord for us to preserve, nurture, develop its potentials, and open doors for work, investment, and creativity, and to make it a nation of justice, law, human rights, brotherhood, tolerance, and interaction. But for decades, we have seen only those who violate the sovereignty of the nation and make it a tool either for their ambitions or for parties that exploit it for their interests, until it became a bargaining chip in the hands of the powerful, who use it for their own benefit. We also see those who exploit the nation's resources for their own good, or those who violate the dignity of its people for various purposes, and those who assassinate its thinkers and freemen, and those who engage it in wars despite the will of most of its sons. Isn't this a burial of the gift given to us and a disregard for the will of the Lord, the giver of gifts?"
"The owner of the five talents symbolizes the believer who dedicates all his senses to his heavenly Lord, sanctifying them by using them in the service of his fellow humans. As for the owner of the two talents, he indicates the believer whose heart is filled with love for his brother in the Lord, in whom the two become one. Therefore, the Samaritan offered two denarii to the innkeeper as a sign of his love for the wounded, and the widow offered two small coins as a sign of her love for God and for her needy brethren. Likewise, there were angels found at Christ's tomb symbolizing the love that binds the heavenly beings with the earthly ones, so that all become one body in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. As for the owner of one talent, he represents every selfish and self-centered individual who buries love instead of sharing it with his fellow humans."
He added: "Our country contains many owners of talents, but either they bury their talents out of despair from the situation our country has reached, or they are placed in inappropriate positions for them, so they cannot utilize their talents and they wither, or they emigrate to invest their talents outside their homeland. Our country needs every talented person, and it needs to activate all talents so that we can lead the people out of the deep pit dug for them. However, those in power strive to crush talents and drive them to despair and spiritual death, after they have exerted their oppression and closed all doors and avenues for them. Therefore, we need a president who, along with his government, will build institutions and appoint competent individuals in leadership positions, without favoritism or nepotism, so that every official fulfills his duty for the public interest." He concluded: "Our call today is to thank the Lord for His gifts, both small and great, and to activate the talents given to us, each in his specialization and field, without encroaching on the domains of others, 'in purity... in love without hypocrisy, in the word of truth, in the power of God,' as we heard in the epistle. In this way, the structure harmonizes, because love becomes the basis of action, and the whole body moves in harmony, and each member performs its function accurately, so that we reach the desired salvation."

Iran FM Reveals Mutual Messages with Washington on Gaza, Lebanon
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/February 11/2024
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has revealed that Iran and the United States have been exchanging messages lately, including about the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Washington had asked Tehran to urge Hezbollah to avoid getting deeply involved in the war against Israel. The top Iranian diplomat stressed that Iran prefers a political solution in Gaza and warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that attacking Lebanon would be disastrous for him. Amir-Abdollahian made these statements after a two-day visit to Beirut, where he met with Lebanese officials and started by meeting Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. From Beirut, Amir-Abdollahian said that progress is being made towards a political solution in Gaza, emphasizing that neither Iran nor Lebanon wants to escalate the conflict. During a press conference alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, Amir-Abdollahian affirmed that neither Iran nor Lebanon sought to expand the war in the region, reiterating that war is not the solution. Bou Habib outlined a Lebanese perspective for a sustainable solution to restore calm to the South within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006. The Lebanese Foreign Minister emphasized the need for the comprehensive implementation of the resolution, cessation of Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, withdrawal from occupied territories, and the bolstering of the Lebanese Army. Regarding meetings with Lebanese officials, Amir-Abdollahian described them as positive. After holding talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, he simply stated that the meeting was good. Following his discussion with the acting Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, Amir-Abdollahian remarked that developments in Gaza are leaning towards a political solution, contrasting with Netanyahu’s belief in war as a means of self-preservation. Amir-Abdollahian emphasized Iran’s strong support for Lebanon’s stability and security. Hezbollah stated that Amir-Abdollahian met with Nasrallah to discuss regional developments, especially in Gaza and southern Lebanon, and the future situation in Lebanon and the region.

1 dead, children wounded as Israel strikes outside Houla mosque
Associated Press/February 11/2024
Israeli forces overnight shelled the southern Lebanese border village of Houla, killing one person and wounding nine as they left a mosque after prayers, state-run National News Agency reported. The agency said that in addition to the artillery shelling, a drone fired a missile toward the mosque. Children were among the wounded, the agency added. Israeli forces and Hezbollah have traded near-daily fire since war broke out on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
More than 200 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters.

Iran's diplomatic signals: Messages to Americans from Beirut
LBCI/February 11/2024
Political sources believe that Abdollahian chose Beirut to convey a message to the Americans. The essence of the message is that "his country does not want war in the region and is prepared to ensure that US and European ships in the Red Sea are not targeted." This article was originally published in, translated from online newspaper Al Anbaa. The sources told the online newspaper Al Anbaa, "Abdollahian's talk about a truce means that Iran is in the atmosphere of the ongoing negotiations to achieve it and that his visit to Lebanon also aims to reassure its allies that it will not abandon them."

Iran FM says Israel offensive on Lebanon would 'spell end' of Netanyahu
Agence France Presse/February 11/2024
Iran's top diplomat warned on Saturday that a full-blown attack on Lebanon would "spell the end" of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu during a Beirut trip, as cross-border tensions surge over the Gaza war. Israeli forces and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have traded near-daily fire following the outbreak of war on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip. "Any move by the Zionist regime (Israel) for a large-scale attack on Lebanon will spell the end of Netanyahu," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in Beirut. Amir-Abdollahian, whose country backs a number of armed groups in the region including Hezbollah and Palestinian factions including Hamas, was on his third visit to Beirut in over four months of hostilities. "Our assessment is that the Zionist regime will never be able to fight on two fronts," he added. "Netanyahu is struggling to get out of the Gaza quagmire." On Tuesday, France's top diplomat had warned officials in Beirut that Israel is threatening to wage war on Lebanon to return residents displaced by cross-border fire, Lebanon's foreign minister had said. Earlier Saturday, an Iranian foreign ministry statement quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying "the developments in Gaza are moving towards a political solution, but Netanyahu still sees the solution in war to save himself." "Everyone should try to find a political solution to end Israel's attacks and war crimes against Palestinians as soon as possible," the statement quoted him as saying. Amir-Abdollahian met top officials in Beirut including Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a powerful ally of the group. He also met Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, and deputy chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Jamil Mazhar, the statement said. "Only the Palestinian nation and Palestinian groups have the exclusive right to determine their own destiny," he said, adding that "other regional and international actors should refrain from imposing their plans."

Lessons from past ceasefires with Israel: History of agreements, resolutions, and truces in Gaza and Lebanon
LBCI/February 11/2024
When asked about the timing of any negotiations regarding the fate of the southern front, Hezbollah's response is clear: they await the outcome of the agreement between Hamas and Israel. They will abide if the agreement merely announces a truce, but negotiations will not commence. However, if the agreement leads to a calm return to the Gaza Strip, it stops the fighting and signals negotiators to resume talks. The world, along with Hezbollah, witnessed the outcome of the truce between the two sides from November 24 to 30. Since it did not yield real solutions, it collapsed once the prisoner exchange was completed. This should serve as a lesson to the world and Hezbollah about the difference between such a truce and the one Lebanon made with Israel in 1949. Back then, the goal was to halt Arab wars against Israel, prompting the UN Security Council to issue a resolution urging states not to resort to military force to settle the Palestinian cause. Based on this resolution, Lebanon signed it, which lasted for many years. This is the difference and the lesson. Today, negotiations are not aimed solely at achieving a ceasefire but at restoring calm to the Gaza Strip. The name of the agreement, which Israel rejects but Hamas insists on, is not necessary; what matters is that the war will stop with international guarantees, the most important of which is Washington's assurance. If this agreement is reached, should it be a reminder of something? It should be a reminder of the ceasefire that ended the July 2006 war with the announcement of Resolution 1701. It did not contain any mention of a ceasefire but referred to the cessation of hostile acts, which is even less than a ceasefire, and it has lasted for 17 years without any formal peace agreementز In conclusion, there are many terms that the Lebanese people have become familiar with in every confrontation with Israel, from ceasefire to the Syrian-Israeli disengagement in 1974, which was also based on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 338, to the ceasefire announced multiple times in the Israeli conflict with Palestinian factions.
The names may vary, but the result remains the same: no one has sought a final solution to the Palestinian cause; perhaps its name is the two-state solution.

Baydoun: We cannot compromise Lebanon's sovereignty, and the goal of resistance is liberation
LBCI/February 11/2024
Member of the Development and Liberation bloc, MP Ashraf Baydoun, affirmed that the bloc calls for the implementation of Resolution 1701, "but this implementation should not be taken selectively." He emphasized on LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show that the primary goal of this resolution is a permanent ceasefire and a lasting solution. He pointed out the existence of reports indicating more than a hundred Israeli violations in Lebanese airspace before October 7. He saw that the Israeli demand for implementing parts of Resolution 1701 is to evacuate the southern Lebanese region of its inhabitants and support Palestinians there. Baydoun said, "We understand the difficult economic situation that Lebanon is suffering from, and we are keen on the citizens who left their towns."He added, "But we cannot compromise Lebanon's sovereignty because the goal of resistance is liberation, not just for the sake of resistance."He clarified that the priority is to elect a president and that the "international five-party movement" is nothing more than a supportive element for the domestic situation. He also explained that the position of the Quintet committee was to support any name agreed upon domestically.
Baydoun pointed out that the legislation issue is an absolute right of the Parliament so that it does not "fail" in its duties. He confirmed that the bloc's presidential candidate is clear, "so we agree, in dialogue with others, and then we go afterward with more than one candidate to the Parliament."

Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly condemns aggressive Israeli plans to invade Rafah, calls UN Security Council to make immediate decision to ceasefire
LBCI/February 11/2024
The Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a statement, strongly condemned "the aggressive Israeli plans to invade the city of Rafah, as part of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, and the forced displacement of Palestinians." The ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to "fulfill its responsibilities by making an immediate decision to a ceasefire, providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians, and recognizing the Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, in accordance with relevant international legitimacy resolutions, in line with the principles of international law."

Building collapse in Choueifat: Families narrowly evade disaster
LBCI/February 11/2024
Talal Abdallah summarizes the minutes leading up to the collapse of the building where he and his family have been residing for years in the Sahra Choueifat area. The Abdallah family, along with six other Lebanese families and six Syrian families, miraculously escaped death when the building began to collapse, and its columns fell on Sunday morning within seconds. The Minister of Public Works and the Secretary-General of the Higher Relief Commission arrived at the collapse site. The area around the building was closed, and the debris removal process began. Since the earthquake in Turkey, the government made a decision to conduct a national survey of buildings at risk of collapse, especially considering Lebanon has many random, illegal, and even old, "unsupported" buildings. However, as usual, the process was not completed as it should be. This is one of hundreds of buildings at risk of collapsing in this region or other areas. The danger is that even if municipalities across Lebanon commit to conducting the required survey, where will the government find the funding for this operation, whether through the Higher Relief Commission or municipalities?

Lebanon's Traffic and Vehicles Management Authority unveils service schedule for next two months
LBCI/February 11/2024
Lebanon's Traffic and Vehicles Management Authority has announced in a statement the mechanism for welcoming citizens during the next two months to complete the services previously announced in its statements, in addition to providing new services.
The schedule for the main center in Dekwaneh is as follows:
Tuesdays: February 13, 20, 27, and March 5, 12, 19, 26, 2024
Wednesdays: February 21, 28, and March 6, 13, 20, 27, 2024
Citizens are required to book appointments on the authority's website.
Thursdays are dedicated to citizens with specific relations, and they are allowed to bring proxies, up to the second-degree relatives, with proper authorization. The schedule for this category is as follows:
February 15, March 7, and 28, 2024, for cars and new motorcycles/licenses, with numbers ending 0/1/3/2.
February 22 and March 14, 2024, for cars and new motorcycles/licenses, with numbers ending 4/6/5.
February 29 and March 21, 2024, for cars and new motorcycles/licenses, with numbers ending 7/8/9.
In other departments (Zahle, Sidon, Nabatieh, and Tripoli), work will continue on the mentioned dates:
Tuesdays for cars/licenses, with numbers ending 0/1/3/2.
Wednesdays for cars/licenses, with numbers ending 4/5/6.
Thursdays for cars/licenses, with numbers ending 7/8/9.
Citizens are reminded to check the services offered on the authority's website and the required documents for each service via https://tmo.gov.lb/web/landing.
The authority will announce new services on its website and social media accounts in the coming days.

Jumblatt says two-state solution a "huge lie", agrees to 1701 implementation in consensus between Hezbollah & various Lebanese forces through state,...
NNA/February 11/2024
In an interview with “Russia Today”, former Progressive Socialist Party Chief Walid Jumblatt highlighted some of the points he discussed with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, during his visit to Moscow, amongst which was the Palestinian issue where he described the two-state solution as being a “big lie”.“My position was clear and identical to Lavrov’s position. Where will this state be established, on the rubble of Gaza?” Jumblatt questioned, noting that there is a possibility of displacing its population after its complete destruction, so that only Rafah remains of Gaza. He added, “It seems that the Israelis will begin the systematic destruction of Rafah, thus forcing the Palestinians to migrate to the whole world and the West Bank, where there are 800 thousand settlers...Hence, where can this state be established? There is an impossibility...but it is just propaganda for some of the Arab world and Western public opinion to perhaps give the Palestinians their rights, but they will not give them their rights, for that is impossible....”Asked to comment on the Arab stance regarding the Palestinian issue, Jumblatt said: “I am not here to comment on the Arab position. I gave my opinion at a certain stage, and when we see the map of the Arab world there are positions that are okay, but I am not here to talk about the Arab stance...”“The war continues, and the Israeli strategic goal, which lies in forced or voluntary transfer and displacement, is a detail, while the pursuant goal is the complete Judaization of Gaza and Jerusalem,” he underlined. At the internal Lebanese level, Jumblatt said in response to a question: “We want and agree to implement Resolution 1701, but this implementation can only be through consensus between Hezbollah and the various Lebanese forces, and through the state, and strengthening the Lebanese army to fill the vacuum in this region, on the condition that we apply the same matters to Israel. I mention it here. The armistice agreement dictates that Lebanon and Israel have a certain neutral distance in northern Lebanon as well as Palestine. But implementing the armistice agreement from one side is not logical.”

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 11-12/2024
Biden: Israel Shouldn't Press Into Rafah Without 'Credible' Plan to Protect Civilians
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Israel shouldn’t go ahead with a military operation in the densely populated Gaza border town of Rafah without a “credible” plan to protect civilians, President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, the White House said. Biden's call with Netanyahu came days after the US leader told reporters that Israel's response in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza was "over the top."The call also focused on ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the White House said. Aid agencies say an assault on Rafah would be catastrophic. Over half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled to Rafah to escape fighting in other areas, and they are packed into sprawling tent camps and UN-run shelters near the border. Netanyahu told “Fox News Sunday” that there’s “plenty of room north of Rafah for them to go to” after Israel’s offensive elsewhere in Gaza, and said Israel would direct evacuees with “flyers, with cellphones and with safe corridors and other things.”

Netanyahu: 'Enough' Remaining Israeli Hostages Alive to Warrant Gaza War
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview aired on Sunday that "enough" of the 132 remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are alive to justify Israel's ongoing war in the region. Asked how many of the hostages are still alive, Netanyahu said "enough to warrant the kind of efforts that we're doing. "We're going to try to do our best to get all those who are alive back and, frankly, also the bodies of the dead," he said in the interview with ABC's "This Week" program. According to Reuters, Netanyahu also said that one Palestinian civilian has been killed for every Hamas fighter killed in Gaza. Health authorities in Gaza estimate about 28,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the region since the conflict began in October. Palestinian health authorities say around 70% of those killed are women or children under 18. The World Health Organization has described the Palestinian Health Ministry system for reporting casualties as "very good" and UN agencies regularly cite its death toll figures. Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 Israelis and took around 250 hostages back to Gaza in an Oct. 7 assault that triggered the conflict.

Israel Deploys AI-Enabled Military Technology in Gaza Conflict
Tel Aviv/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Israel's military has incorporated Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into combat operations in Gaza, marking the first deployment of such advanced weaponry in the months-long war. The move sparked concerns about the implications of autonomous weapons in modern warfare. A senior defense official revealed that the AI-enabled tech is primarily focused on neutralizing enemy drones and mapping Hamas's extensive tunnel network in Gaza. Israel's tech industry is currently facing challenges due to the war in Gaza. The sector, which accounted for 18 percent of GDP in 2022, has been affected by the conflict, with an estimated eight percent of its workforce called up for military service. "In general, the war in Gaza presents threats, but also opportunities to test emerging technologies in the field," said Avi Hasson, chief executive of Startup Nation Central, an Israeli tech incubator. "Both on the battlefield and in the hospitals, there are technologies that have been used in this war that have not been used in the past." But the rising civilian death toll shows that much greater oversight is needed over the use of new forms of defense tech, Mary Wareham, an arms expert at Human Rights Watch, told Agence France Presse. "Now we're facing the worst possible situation of death and suffering that we're seeing today -- some of that is being brought about by the new tech," she said. More than 150 countries in December backed a UN resolution identifying "serious challenges and concerns" in new military tech, including "artificial intelligence and autonomy in weapons systems."
'Angry Birds'
Hamas on October 7 launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Hamas also seized around 250 hostages, and Israel says some 132 remain in Gaza, including at least 29 believed to have been killed.  Israel's military response has killed nearly 28,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry. Like many other modern conflicts, the war has been shaped by a proliferation of inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, which have made attacks from the air easier and cheaper. Hamas used them to drop explosives on October 7, while Israel has turned to new tech to shoot them down. In a first, the army has used an AI-enabled optic sight, made by Israeli startup Smart Shooter, which is attached to weapons such as rifles and machine guns. "It helps our soldiers to intercept drones because Hamas uses a lot of drones," said the senior defense official. "It makes every regular soldier -- even a blind soldier -- a sniper." Another system to neutralize drones involves deploying a friendly drone with a net that it can throw around the enemy craft to neutralize it. "It's drone versus drone -- we call it Angry Birds," the official said. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the United States -- Israel's main international ally -- was training its own soldiers to shoot down drones using Smart Shooter's optic sights.
Hamas tunnels
Another development involves the use of AI-powered drones to map and navigate the extensive underground tunnel network in Gaza stretching over 500 kilometers. These tunnels are crucial hiding places and locations where hostages are held. To map the tunnels, the army has turned to drones that use AI to learn to detect humans and can operate underground. It is being used in Gaza "to enter into tunnels and to see as far as the communication lets you," the senior Israeli defense official said.

Palestinian president in Qatar to discuss ceasefire efforts
DOHA/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters)/February 11, 2024
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Doha on Sunday for talks on securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war with the Qatari emir, whose country has been at the heart of mediation efforts and hosts political leaders of militant group Hamas. Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas would meet emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, but did not say if he would also meet leaders of Hamas, a group that has long been at odds with Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah group. The Palestinian ambassador to Qatar, Munir Ghannam, told Voice of Palestine Radio on Sunday that Abbas and the emir would discuss efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire with Israel and ways to increase aid for the territory's 2.3 million people. "Qatar plays an important role in the international efforts and mediation to reach a ceasefire. Therefore, coordination with Qatar, also with Egypt, is of special importance, to bring an end to this aggression against our people," Ghannam said. Qatar hosts the head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, as well as another senior leader in the group, Khaled Meshaal, who handles diaspora affairs in the Hamas political office. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from Ramallah-based Abbas after a brief civil war with security forces that were loyal to the Palestinian president. Abbas' authority has largely been reduced to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is larger than Gaza but which is also fractured by Israeli settlements. Past attempts, mainly led by Egypt, to resolve disputes between Hamas and Fatah have so far failed to end the rifts, which analysts say weakens Palestinian efforts to secure a state of their own on land now occupied by Israel. Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel occupied in a 1967 Middle East war as illegal. Israel disputes this.

Israel's finance minister blasts Moody's downgrade of the the country's credit rating
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)/February 11, 2024
Israel's finance minister on Sunday slammed the decision by financial ratings agency Moody’s to downgrade Israel’s credit rating, saying the announcement is a “political manifesto” that “did not include serious economic claims.”Moody’s dropped the rating on Israel’s debt on Friday, warning that the ongoing war in Gaza and a possible war in the north with Hezbollah could adversely affect Israel’s economy. It is the first time Moody’s has lowered Israel’s credit rating, which is used by investors to measure the riskiness of investing in a global entity or government. Moody’s downgraded Israel from A1 to A2 and said the outlook for the country’s economy was “negative.” The A2 rating nonetheless continues to carry relatively low risk, according to Moody's. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich angrily dismissed the decision. The announcement “reflects a lack of confidence in Israel’s security and national strength, and also a lack of confidence in the righteousness of Israel’s path against its enemies,” he said in a statement from his office. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel’s economy was strong and “the downgrade is entirely due to the fact that we are at war.” He vowed that once the war ended, the rating would go up once again. Still, Israeli officials fear that the Moody’s downgrade could lead other major agencies also to downgrade Israel’s outlook.That could impact Israel's economy because it will make it harder for the government to raise money by selling bonds, said Michel Strawczynski, a professor of economics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the former director of the research department at the Bank of Israel. “If the war is long, it will have an impact, but if it’s not too long, the impact will be much less,” he said. Israel’s economy bounced back after previous wars with Hamas, but the current war is much longer than any of those. It has included huge military expenditures as well as massive callups of reservists, straining the economy by removing them from the work force. Bank of Israel Gov. Amir Yaron said on Sunday in response to Moody's announcement that the Israeli economy was resilient and already showing signs of recovery in November, the month after the war broke out. Even before then, though, Israel – an entrepreneurial dynamo with an economy rivaling countries in Western Europe — was struggling. Concerns about Israel’s governance, rising inflation and a worldwide slowdown in tech investments last year also weighed on the economy. Its coffers, once swollen by tech investments, were also hit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed judicial overhaul, which attempted to dilute the powers of the country’s courts. Moody's had raised concerns that the plan could weaken Israel's investment climate. The report released on Friday praised the “strong checks and balances” that led to the shelving of the judicial overhaul in January.

Illegal Israeli settlers throw stones and tear gas Palestinians in the West Bank
Feb. 11 (UPI)/February 11, 2024
Illegal Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinians in their cars in the West Bank on Sunday, before tear-gassing drivers, according to an Israeli human rights group. The news was reported by Al-Jazeera citing Yesh Din, a non-governmental organization based in Israel. The organization has been tracking incidents of violence committed by Israeli settlers illegally living in the West Bank against Palestinians. "The Israel government is coming out against the U.S. imposing sanctions on violent settlers but continues to do nothing to stop West Bank settler violence," Yesh Din said in a post on social media last week. The organization has also been calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, while noting that only 6.6% of all criminal investigations opened by Israel against Palestinians they have detained have led to a conviction. And less than 1% of complaints against Israeli soldiers led to indictments. Earlier this month, Joe Biden targeted violent settlers in the West Bank with sanctions -- a surprise move considering the president's long historical ties to Israel. "[The violence] has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel and the broader Middle East region," Biden said. "These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom."But critics have said the sanctions, which only named a handful of people, don't go far enough as Palestinians point to the hundreds of people killed by Israelis before Hamas attacked on October 7. In 2023 alone, 199 Palestinians living in the West Bank were killed up through October 6.

Palestinian president in Qatar to discuss ceasefire efforts
Reuters/February 11/2024
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Doha on Sunday for talks on securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war with the Qatari emir, whose country has been at the heart of mediation efforts and hosts political leaders of militant group Hamas. Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas would meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, but did not say if he would also meet leaders of Hamas, a group that has long been at odds with Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah group. The Palestinian ambassador to Qatar, Munir Ghannam, told Voice of Palestine Radio on Sunday that Abbas and the Emir would discuss efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire with Israel and ways to increase aid for the territory's 2.3 million people. "Qatar plays an important role in the international efforts and mediation to reach a ceasefire. Therefore, coordination with Qatar, also with Egypt, is of special importance, to bring an end to this aggression against our people," Ghannam said. Qatar hosts the head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, as well as another senior leader in the group, Khaled Meshaal, who handles diaspora affairs in the Hamas political office.

Netanyahu promises 'safe passage' to Palestinians ahead of Rafah operation
Agence France Presse/February 11/2024
The threat of an Israeli incursion into Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah persisted Sunday, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised "safe passage" to civilians displaced there.In an interview airing Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated his intention to extend Israel's military operation against Hamas into Rafah. Despite international alarm over the potential for carnage in a place crammed with more than half of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people, Netanyahu told ABC News: "We're going to do it". "We're going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave," he said, according to published extracts of the interview. It remains unclear however, where the large number of people pressed up against the border with Egypt and sheltering in makeshift tents can go. When asked, Netanyahu would only say they are "working out a detailed plan".
As Israeli forces have pushed steadily southwards, Rafah has become the last major population centre in Gaza that troops have yet to enter, even as it is bombarded by air strikes almost daily. "They said Rafah is safe, but it is not. All places are being targeted," Palestinian Mohammed Saydam said after an Israeli strike destroyed a police vehicle in the city on Saturday. The Israeli premier, who contends "victory" over Hamas cannot be achieved without clearing battalions in Rafah, directed his military on Friday to prepare for the operation. His announcement set off a chorus of concern from world leaders and aid groups.
"The people in Gaza cannot disappear into thin air," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on social media platform X, adding that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would be a "humanitarian catastrophe in the making." Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry warned Saturday of "very serious repercussions of storming and targeting" Rafah and called for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting, while UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he is "deeply concerned" about the prospective offensive. "The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out," he wrote.
Sharpening US rebuke -
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which allegedly resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly "civilians", according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza that the territory's health ministry says has killed at least 28,064 people, mostly women and children. Militants also seized 250 hostages, 132 of whom are still in Gaza, although 29 are presumed dead, Israel has said. Netanyahu announced the plan for a ground operation in Rafah only days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel seeking a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange. Netanyahu has rejected the proposed truce after what he called "bizarre demands" from Hamas. But Israel's plans for Rafah have drawn sharp rebuke from main ally and military backer Washington, with the State Department warning that if not properly planned, such an operation risks "disaster." In unusually sharp criticism, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called Israel's retaliatory campaign "over the top". Gaza's Hamas rulers warned on Saturday that a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah could cause "tens of thousands" of casualties. The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the move "threatens security and peace in the region and the world" and is "a blatant violation of all red lines". The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said on Sunday that 94 people were killed in overnight bombardments across Gaza, including in Rafah. The Israeli military said it killed two "senior Hamas operatives" in a strike on Rafah Saturday. It was part of a wider bombardment that killed at least 25 people in the city, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
UNRWA under pressure -
To the north in Gaza City, Israel's military claimed that its troops uncovered a Hamas tunnel under the evacuated headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for its head, Philippe Lazzarini, to quit. Lazzarini said the agency had not operated from the compound since October 12 when staff evacuated it under instruction from Israeli forces. Already under pressure after Israel claimed 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack, he called for an independent investigation into the latest Israeli accusations. An AFP photographer was among a number of journalists taken to the compound and tunnel by the Israeli military on Thursday. UN premises are considered "inviolable" in international law and immune from "search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference". Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli accusations that it has dug a network of tunnels under schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as cover for its activities. On Sunday, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy called UNRWA "a Hamas front". Public fury The war, now in its fifth month, has spawned intensifying public fury in Israel. Protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand the release of the hostages, Netanyahu step down and fresh elections be called.
"It's clear Netanyahu is dragging out the war, he has no idea what to do on the day after," Israeli protester Gil Gordon said.

Iran marks Islamic Revolution's 45th anniversary amid Mideast tensions
AP/February 11, 2024
Iran marked Sunday the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” written on them. Some burned U.S. and Israeli flags, a common practice in pro-government rallies. Processions started out from several points, converging at Azadi Square. State TV showed crowds in many cities and towns, claiming that “millions participated in the rallies” across the country. The military displayed a range of its missiles, including the Qassem Soleimani and Sejjil ballistic missiles, and the Simorgh satellite carrier at the square where people took selfies with them. During the celebrations, a paratrooper jumped from a plane while displaying a Palestinian flag.
Heavy security presence
There was a heavy security presence in the major cities across the country. The anniversary came a month after a deadly attack by the extremist Islamic State group in the central city of Kerman that left at least 95 people dead during the commemoration for prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani whom the U.S. killed in a 2020 drone strike.

Iran anniversary marchers chant 'death to Israel' amid regional tensions over Gaza
DUBAI (Reuters)/ February 11, 2024
Hundreds of thousands of people chanted "Death to Israel" in rallies across Iran to mark the Islamic Revolution's 45th anniversary on Sunday, with some burning U.S. and Israeli flags amid the ongoing war between Israel and Tehran-backed Hamas. President Ebrahim Raisi, in a televised speech, accused Tehran's arch-foe the United States and some Western countries of backing "the Zionist regime's (Israel) crimes against humanity in Gaza". State TV said millions had turned out at rallies and it showed large crowds chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America!”, a common practice during state-organised rallies on the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed monarch. State media published a picture of some marchers hanging an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a noose. Israel's four-month-old war on Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza has rippled across the Middle East, with groups backed by Iran mounting attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets. Earlier this month, U.S. forces carried out strikes against Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. troops at a remote outpost in Jordan. Backing the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic since the revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed shah, and a way for the Shi'ite-dominated country to fashion itself as a leader of the Muslim world. Hamas is part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance", a regional alliance that includes Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, Shi'ite militia groups in Iraq and the Houthis who control a large part of Yemen. Iran, which says all members of the alliance make their own decisions independently, has repeatedly declared that Tehran will not directly intervene in Gaza-related hostilities unless it is itself attacked by Israel or the United States. The revolution anniversary marchers on Sunday included soldiers, students, clerics and senior political and military officials. Black-clad women with small children were among those flocking streets across the country, many carrying portraits of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Germany's foreign minister to travel to Israel next week
Reuters/February 11/2024
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Israel in the middle of next week, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday, a trip in which she said she plans to urge for a ceasefire as Israel prepares to advance on Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government is preparing an evacuation plan for the more than one million Palestinians penned into Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt. Many have already been displaced at least once and have nowhere left to flee in the crowded enclave. "The distress in Rafah is already beyond belief. 1.3 million people are seeking protection from the fighting in the most limited of space. An offensive by the Israeli army on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe," Baerbock wrote in a post on X on Saturday. "Israel must defend itself against Hamas terror but at the same time alleviate the suffering of civilians as much as possible. That is why another pause in fighting is needed - also in order for hostages can finally be released. I will discuss ways towards that in Israel again next week," she added in a second post. Baerbock's visit next week will be her fifth since the outbreak of the war.

Iraq says US troop drawdown talks will go on 'as long as nothing disturbs the peace of the talks'
WASHINGTON (AP)/February 11, 2024
The Iraqi government met again with the U.S. government Sunday on how to draw down American troops who have been deployed there for years combating the Islamic State. The two governments had held their first, long-awaited meeting Jan. 27, but those meetings had been put on pause after Iran-backed militants struck a base in Jordan the very next day with a drone that killed three U.S. service members. In the weeks since, the U.S. has launched multiple retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria including a strike last week that killed a high-ranking commander of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia who the U.S. said is responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks” on American troops in the region. Both Iraq and the U.S. had agreed last August to enter into talks to transition U.S. forces from their long-standing role in assisting Iraq in combating IS. There are approximately 2,500 troops in the country, and their departure will take into account the security situation on the ground, and the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces, the Iraq government said in a statement Sunday posted to X, formerly Twitter. The resumed meetings will continue to chart a path to a new bilateral relationship “as long as nothing disturbs the peace of the talks," Iraq said in its statement. Iraq has long struggled to balance its ties with the U.S. and Iran, both allies of the Iraqi government but regional archenemies. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks, Iran-aligned groups have struck at U.S. facilities in Iraq, Syria and Jordan 170 times, prompting retaliatory airstrikes by the U.S., which blames Kataib Hezbollah for a string of those attacks. The Iraqi government has angrily condemned U.S. airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces. The Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, are state-sanctioned, mainly Shiite militias, which have grown into a powerful political faction estimated to have the most seats in the Iraqi parliament. But the deaths of three U.S. service members at Tower 22 in Jordan was a red line for the U.S. and in the days following the deadly strike, Iran disavowed any knowledge or connection to the attack, and Kataib Hezbollah said it would cease launching attacks in order to not embarrass the Iraqi government. Notably, there have been no additional strikes against U.S. bases in Iraq since Feb. 4.

Three UAE soldiers killed in attack on military base in Somalia
Heather Chen, Hamdi Alkhshali and Alex Stambaugh, CNN/February 11, 2024
Three soldiers from the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces and an officer from the Bahrain Defense Force were killed in an attack at a military base in Somalia’s capital, the UAE’s defense ministry said Sunday. The attack took place at the General Gordon military base in Mogadishu on Saturday night, the ministry said. UAE personnel had been training soldiers from the Somali Armed Forces as part of an agreement between the UAE and Somalia, the ministry said. Two others were injured during the attack, it added. An army officer told Reuters that the gunman was a newly trained Somali soldier. “The soldier opened fire on UAE trainers and Somali military officials when they started praying,” the official said. Reuters reported the al Qaeda-linked terror group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack via a statement on its Radio al Andalus. “We understand the soldier had defected from al-Shabaab before he was recruited as a soldier by Somalia and UAE,” the army official said. Al-Shabaab was designated as a terrorist group by the US in 2008 and by a UN Security Council committee in 2010. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the attack and instructed Somalia’s security agencies to conduct a “thorough and urgent investigation.” The UAE said it would cooperate with the Somali government in investigating what it called a terrorist attack, and reiterated its resolve to combat terrorism and maintain peace and stability in the region. Correction: This story has been updated to remove an errant description of the army officer who spoke to Reuters.

Two Killed in Jordanian Military Aircraft Crash During Training
Amman/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Two Jordanian military pilots were killed when their aircraft crashed during a training exercise, a military statement said on Sunday. Major Pilot Omar Atta Abadi and Captain Pilot Muhammad Abdullah Khudair were killed during a routine training mission at the King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, it said. It added that both pilots were promptly transported to the Hussein Medical Center following the crash, where they were pronounced dead.

Saudi Arabia Strongly Condemns Terrorist Explosions in Mogadishu Military Base
Riyadh/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned and denounced the terrorist attack on a military base in Mogadishu in Somalia. “This heinous act resulted in the tragic loss of lives, including several Somali military forces as well as personnel from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Bahrain,” the Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its deep sorrow and stands firmly against such acts of terrorism,” said the statement.The Ministry reiterated the Kingdom's unwavering stance in denouncing violence, terrorism, and extremism in any form. It also expressed full solidarity and support for Somalia, the UAE, and Bahrain in this tragic incident and extended heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the governments and people of the affected countries.

Iraqi President: Factional Conflict with US Doesn’t Aid Gaza
Baghdad: Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid has presented an internal memo to the ruling coalition, comprising Shiite, Kurdish, and Sunni factions united under the “State Administration” alliance. The memo addressed the risks posed by confrontations between armed groups and the US and their impact on events in Palestine. In this memo, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, concerns were raised about the stability of Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani’s government, which faces significant pressure from various factions. The memo was part of a meeting held by the president with members of the State Administration alliance on Feb. 4 to discuss the repercussions of US attacks on targets associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) as well as armed factions’ assaults on US bases in Syria and Iraq.
Factions Fail to Serve Palestinians
Rashid proposed a plan to improve relations between Baghdad and Washington. He also sent the memo to Iraqi political leaders, urging for decisive decisions on security ties with the US. The president stressed that recent clashes between Iraqi armed groups and US forces have not helped Palestinians or impacted events in Gaza. He warned that the government alone should bear the responsibility of deciding on Baghdad-Washington relations, emphasizing the need for transparency with the Iraqi people. Rashid suggested forming a high-level delegation to negotiate the future of this relationship. Rashid’s vision aligns with Al-Sudani’s stance, who faces pressure from some allies of armed factions, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. All leaders of the government coalition oppose escalating tensions with the US and prefer maintaining good relations, they added. Tensions have risen further in Iraq after a recent US airstrike targeted a leader of the Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group. The Iraqi government warned against retaliatory attacks against Americans, indicating that the situation may worsen.

Saudi Arabia sends $250 million in aid to Yemen
AFP/February 11/2024
Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it had disbursed $250 million in aid to the internationally-recognized government in Yemen. The money follows an initial payment of the same amount announced in August when Riyadh committed to providing a total of $1.2 billion to ease the government's budget deficit and pay salaries for civil servants. "The second batch of the grant to support addressing the budget deficit for the Yemeni government was transferred to the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden, amounting to $250 million to support salaries, wages, and expenses," Mohammed al-Jaber, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, said on social media. The Yemeni government relocated to Aden, a port city on the southern coast after the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. A UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022 brought a sharp reduction in hostilities. The truce officially expired six months later, though fighting has largely remained on hold. The United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said last year that "economic warfare" between the warring parties had compounded the country's problems.

Ukrainian Army Says Russia Launches Drone Attacks on Kyiv, Southern Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
Russia launched drone attacks overnight on Kyiv and southern Ukraine, injuring at least one civilian and damaging a gas pipeline and residential buildings in the river and sea port of Mykolaiv, Ukraine's military said on Sunday. Ukraine's Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that its air defence systems destroyed 40 out of 45 Russia-launched Shahed attack drones overnight, Reuters reported. "The air alert in the capital lasted almost two hours," Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Telegram. He added that over Kyiv all the drones were downed on their approach. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties nor destruction in or near the capital. Skies over Kyiv were declared clear soon before 4 a.m. (0200 GMT). Ukraine's southern military command said on Telegram that its air defense systems were engaged for more than five hours and destroyed 26 Russia-launched Shahed drones over several southern regions, chiefly over the Mykolaiv region near the Black Sea.At least one civilian was injured in the southern Ukraine attack, the military said. "The priority for the enemy was again the coastal strip of infrastructure and agro-industrial facilities," the military said. Falling debris from a downed drone and the blast wave damaged residential buildings and a gas pipeline in Mykolaiv, the military command said. Four drones downed over the Black Sea port of Odesa, the military said.

Ethiopia's strategic move: Gaining access to the Red Sea through Somaliland
LBCI/February 11/2024
Waterways have been both the cause of wars and the catalysts for economic development. When seas suddenly narrow, they become known as straits, or as some call them, "chokepoints."A new hotspot in the Horn of Africa, overlooking critical gateways: the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea, is on the brink of explosion as Ethiopia signs an agreement with the internationally unrecognized "Republic of Somaliland." Flocked with no direct access to the sea, Ethiopia sees a renewed aspiration to reach the Red Sea. Finding a pathway through Somaliland has been the key to its dream, as the agreement grants Ethiopia a seaport through a port in Somaliland. Why is Ethiopia pursuing this old-new dream that could potentially ignite tensions in the Horn of Africa? Ethiopia views the Horn of Africa as a region of regional influence, aiming to assert its dominance and expand its influence to become one of the African continent's poles. It believes securing a sovereign maritime outlet to the Red Sea is one of the most critical means to achieve this goal. Since Ethiopia became landlocked in 1993 after Eritrea's secession, it has sought access to the sea, paving the way for the construction of a military base and the development of the Berbera Port on the Red Sea, a move that serves Addis Ababa's interests. Ethiopia's maritime outlet puts it under international scrutiny, especially after its relations with the West deteriorated due to the recent Ethiopian war in the Tigray region in the north. The diversification of Ethiopia's strategic options gains international attention, rather than relying solely on the Djibouti port, the only port where it has power. The agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland grants Ethiopia a 20-kilometer area of the Berbera Port, overlooking the Gulf of Aden and the southern entrance to the Red Sea, for 50 years. In return, Somaliland receives recognition and a share in Ethiopian Airlines. The deal has sparked angry reactions from Somalia, neighboring countries, European countries, the United States, and particularly Cairo, which sees a looming confrontation with Ethiopia. Why does Cairo fear Addis Ababa's access to the Red Sea? Egypt, embroiled in a longstanding dispute with Ethiopia over the construction of the Renaissance Dam on the Nile River, sees Ethiopia's move as provocative and a development that could turn it into a new naval power in the Red Sea. This gives Ethiopia additional leverage in the negotiations over the Renaissance Dam. Moreover, Egypt fears the presence of a new foreign military base in the Red Sea that may compromise its national security, mainly concerning the Suez Canal, the only northern gateway to the Red Sea, amid rising tensions between the two countries.

Trump to 'encourage' Russia to attack NATO members behind on payments
Agence France Presse/February 11/2024
White House hopeful Donald Trump said he would "encourage" Russia to attack members of NATO who had not met their financial obligations, his most extreme broadside against the military alliance he has long expressed skepticism about.
With U.S. lawmakers debating new aid for Ukraine ahead of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion, the former president has repeatedly said it was unfair to commit the United States to defending NATO's 30 other member nations. Speaking at a campaign rally in South Carolina Saturday, Trump described a conversation with a fellow head of state at an unspecified NATO meeting. "One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, 'Well, sir, if we don't pay, and we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us?' I said, 'You didn't pay, you're delinquent?'""No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills."Trump's remark comes after Senate Republicans on Wednesday rejected a bipartisan bill that would have included sorely needed new funding for Ukraine, plus aid for ally Israel, along with reforms to address the U.S.-Mexico border crisis. The White House hit back at Trump's assertions, touting President Joe Biden's efforts to bolster alliances around the globe. "Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Saturday night. "Rather than calling for wars and promoting deranged chaos, President Biden will continue to bolster American leadership," Bates added.
'Deportation operation'
The Senate bill's death highlighted Trump's iron grip on the Republican Party, as its lawmakers acceded to the former president's calls to torpedo any deal in order to deny Biden a win on immigration ahead of November's election. At the rally Saturday, Trump celebrated the collapse of the legislation, vowing that, if reelected, he would carry out a massive "deportation operation" on his first day in office. "Let's not forget that this week we also had another massive victory that every conservative should celebrate. We crushed crooked Joe Biden's disastrous open borders bill," Trump declared at a rally in South Carolina. "The whole group did a great job in Congress." Trump -- whose first presidential campaign featured a central plank of building a "big, beautiful wall" on the U.S.-Mexico border -- on Saturday declared that deporting migrants would be one of his first tasks. "On day one I will terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration and we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. We have no choice."The Senate is now considering a foreign aid package that decouples the aid from the border issue entirely. The $95 billion package set to be debated next week includes funding for Israel's fight against Hamas militants and for key strategic ally Taiwan. The lion's share, however, would help Ukraine restock depleted ammunition supplies, weapons and other crucial needs as it enters a third year of war.
Haley's husband
At the South Carolina rally, Trump needled Nikki Haley, his former UN ambassador who is also seeking the Republican Party's nomination, though her bid is almost certainly doomed as she badly trails her ex-boss in the race. Addressing voters in Haley's home state, Trump questioned the whereabouts of her husband Michael, who has not been seen on the campaign trail as he is on a year-long military deployment to the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti. "Where's her husband? Oh, he's away. He's away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband," he said, raising his voice for dramatic effect. Haley clapped back on social media platform X. "Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about. Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief," she said. And Michael Haley had his own message for Trump, tagging the candidate in a post on X that was accompanied by a close-up photo of a wolf overlaid with the text: "The difference between humans and animals? Animals would never let the dumbest ones lead the pack."

Frankly Speaking: Why Spain stands out in standing up for Palestine
Arab News/February 11, 2024
DUBAI: Spain’s minister of foreign affairs has indicated that if Europe continues to waver in its support for the Palestinians, “as a sovereign country” Spain would “take its own decisions.”
Jose Manuel Albares also said that peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through the creation of a Palestinian state, linking Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Spanish diplomat, who has been serving as minister of foreign affairs, European Union and cooperation since 2021, made the remarks during an appearance on the Arab News current affairs show “Frankly Speaking.”
According to Albares, while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace” in the Middle East, there were “nuances” in the way they saw this materializing.
For Spain, however, the position is “very clear:” It wants to see an immediate halt to the Israel-Hamas conflict, unrestricted humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, and the implementation of the “two-state solution.”
“We’re calling for a permanent ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages, the immediate access of humanitarian aid, and for a peace conference that will be the framework (for the) implementation of the two-state solution,” Albares said.
“In the end, we all know that as long as the Palestinian people do not have a state, there will be no stable Middle East.
“And we all know the real solution for this situation in the Middle East and for a definitive peace is a state with the West Bank and Gaza under one single Palestinian authority that is connected by a corridor with an exit to the sea and with the capital in East Jerusalem.”
Appearing on “Frankly Speaking,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace” in the region, there were “nuances” in the way they saw this materializing. (AN photo)
Describing the solution as “fair and just” for the Palestinian people, Albares said the two-state model offered Israel the “best guarantee” of achieving domestic security and of avoiding a wider regional conflagration.
However, in his role coordinating Spain’s engagement with the European Union, Albares acknowledged that the proposal was still in the “dialogue” stage, as the bloc sought a way to move forward as a collective unit.
He also noted the “growing concern” in the Global South — a term often used to denote the world’s developing economies — over the bloc’s dithering response to the crisis in Gaza compared to its firm alignment on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“That’s why it’s so important, and I always explain it to my European colleagues, that we maintain the same position: To follow the UN Charter and its principles, whether it’s Ukraine, on which we have a clear position, a very clear position,” Albares told Katie Jensen, the host of “Frankly Speaking.” “Any country has the right to defend itself from a terrorist attack, Israel as well, but you must do it in compliance with international humanitarian law. “There must be a difference between terrorist targets and bombing hospitals, schools, places of prayer, UN headquarters. Refugees are the same. It doesn’t matter the color of their skin, their religion, their sex, they are all the same and they all deserve our protection.”
Speaking to Arab News from Riyadh, during an official tour of three Gulf countries, Albares said Spain shared the opinion of his Arab hosts, with discussions having inevitably turned to the conflict in Gaza and its wider regional ramifications.
Albares praised his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, for his “incredible role” in working towards peace in the region.
“We needed a great moment of Euro-Arab unity and we have discussed joining forces to make sure definitive peace comes back to the Middle East,” he said.
“This is what we are calling for and we will not stop calling for that. And my tour in the region, in Riyadh, in the Emirates, it’s carrying this message and in the medium and long term we need the state of Palestine.”
In the interim, Albares said the most pressing need for Gazans is an increase in the amount of humanitarian aid permitted to enter the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“We are not going to stop calling for a permanent ceasefire. A permanent ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages and immediate access of humanitarian aid is what we need in the very short term,” he said. Aid deliveries, already reduced to a trickle by onerous Israeli border checks, have been further hampered by recent allegations lodged against staff working for the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, which caters for Palestinian refugees.
According to evidence shared with the UN by Israeli intelligence, 12 members of UNRWA staff in Gaza actively participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,200 and the kidnap of 240, sparking the current conflict. In response to the allegations, the US and other major UNRWA donors suspended their funding for the agency, which could be forced to halt its operations throughout the region by the end of the month unless donations are restored.
Asked whether he believed the allegations were true, or whether the funding suspensions were justified, Albares said that 12 people out of 30,000 staff, none of whom had any connection to UNRWA’s leadership, was a “very small number.”
“There are allegations against 12 people and we take this very seriously and we are looking at the conclusion of the inquiry,” he said, referring to the UN agency’s own internal investigation. “But UNRWA is indispensable. There is no substitute for UNRWA. They are taking care of millions of refugees in Gaza. And in many other places — Lebanon, in Jordan, the West Bank — and what they do in Gaza is absolutely fundamental.” Palestinians walk past a UNRWA worker in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on February 5, 2024. (REUTERS) Given the essential role played by UNRWA, Albares said millions of people who depend on its support would go unfed unless funding is restored. That is why Spain intends to up its UNRWA contribution to help stave off the agency’s collapse. “They give food and emergency aid to refugees, so, if they fail, if they are not sufficiently funded from one day to the other, they will not be able to feed those people,” Albares said.
“This is why we have decided to increase our contribution to around 3.5 million euros, to make sure that UNRWA will be able to function, and this is what I am explaining to all of my European colleagues.”
Spain is not alone among European nations in bolstering its support for UNRWA. Ireland and Norway have likewise renewed their commitment to the agency.
However, these nations alone cannot make up for the huge shortfall created by the suspension of US funding, which had contributed $300-400 million annually. Without this funding, Albares said the region was “heading toward a real humanitarian catastrophe.”
“We are already there. Almost 30,000 Palestinians, civilians, dead. It’s a catastrophe. But here we are talking about something unthinkable — hunger in Gaza,” he said.
“And we can avoid it if we continue giving sufficient funding. That’s why we are increasing. We are showing commitment to the Palestinian refugees in Gaza.”
Appearing on “Frankly Speaking,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace” in the region, there were “nuances” in the way they saw this materializing. (AN photo)
Mindful of the potential misuse of donations, Albares said Spain has a “very tough screening” process for any country to which it is sending aid, adding that the money going to Palestine is “well used.”
He implored countries to restore their donations, pointing out that UNRWA and the UN have not tried to “hide anything.”
“They have their own investigation and they’ve also called for an independent investigation, so, I think they are showing goodwill. Let’s wait until those investigations are carried out,” he said.
“Meanwhile, let’s follow what the secretary-general of the UN, Antonio Guterres, has made an appeal for. Let’s continue funding UNRWA.”

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 11-12/2024
How to Understand the Enemy
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
The Godfather has a famous quote that applies to politics and is worth keeping in mind. "Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment." This quote is particularly relevant to our thinking on how to deal with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as any enemy in the region.
Netanyahu is intent on storming Rafah, under the pretext of eliminating Hamas brigades, in search of a political and military victory - an attack could give rise to a "bloodbath," as our newspaper’s headline warned yesterday. The announcement comes amid contradictory reports regarding the negotiations and mediation efforts. Netanyahu wants to do that amid Hamas's fears regarding the results of mediation. Meanwhile, Washington, London, and Paris are declaring that they will recognize the Palestinian state, and there has been talk of the "grand prize," and that is peace with Saudi Arabia. Well, how to understand the situation with a cool mind? For Netanyahu, the matter is clear. Peace and US pressure are not his concern. What he cares about is his political survival, avoiding prosecution and prison, and not going down in history as the politician who squandered the security of Israel and tore the country apart.
To those ends, he is extending the war and trying to break Hamas, which changed the rules of the game. Instead of another limited war in Gaza, we have a grand "adventure." The last thing Netanyahu cares about now is pressure from the US administration, especially since Biden has gone into election mode early as he vies to defeat Trump.
Netanyahu wants to stay in power and avoid a prison sentence, besides being condemned by the investigations into the security failures on October 7th. On the other hand, we have Yahya Sinwar, who does not want to leave the tunnel until he sees a light at the end of it, that is, until he believes he can survive and Hamas can maintain power. Iran, in the midst of all of these developments, has been silent and flustered, despite the strikes targeting Iranian militias across the region. Indeed, we recently heard the Iranian Foreign Minister announce from Lebanon, where Hezbollah is receiving blows, that Iran does not want to expand the war because Tehran knows that we are on the brink of the abyss. What is happening now reflects what I have been saying since the beginning of the crisis. Both sides, Netanyahu, and Sinwar, are well aware that this is a battle that will be difficult to come back from. It is a battle of no return, and there must be a victor and a loser. Indeed, this is a fateful battle for the leaders personally, as well as their blind ideological premises.
Now, to the question about the prospect of peace, is it real? Regarding Saudi Arabia, it is extremely serious about its desire for peace, and it is pursuing the objectives it has laid out publicly. The Kingdom is not a country that expresses its true intentions behind closed doors, and the recent Saudi statement clearly outlined Riyadh's conditions for peace. Riyadh, always and forever, as the recent statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry on the conditions of peace confirmed, is the real guarantor of Palestinian security and the Palestinian cause. As my colleague Mustapha Fahs put it, it is the one genuinely protecting the Palestinians and working to bring about their long-awaited state. Thus, Saudi Arabia cannot throw the political cards in its hands for a politician’s electoral prospects or to help them fulfill their electoral promises. It seeks to prevent bloodshed and to embark on a peace process that comes within a clear framework for the emergence of a Palestinian state. Accordingly, we are looking at a battle for survival being fought on the edge of an abyss. It has no room for sentiment and there has been no concern for avoiding bloodshed. All the options are difficult.

Syrian Documents In the Ethical, Practical Balance
Fayez Sara/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 11/2024
As of early 2024, there were million and three hundred thousand documents tied to the Syrian struggle. Although this is a massive number, it could be considered small given the significance and scale of what has happened in Syria and all the foreign interventions it has witnessed over the past thirteen years, which have hurt all Syrians, regardless of their positions and roles.
The assertion that the number of documents is small is supported by two factors we can add to these reasons. First, the developments in Syria coincided with the most significant shift in communication and information technology seen in human history, providing simple, multipurpose technologies that not only allow for documenting developments and preserving this documentation in optimal conditions but also allow every person affected by the events to do so.
In addition to these factors, the developments and events in Syria have attracted many international, regional, and local organizations and entities. They include missions by security, diplomatic, and other agencies. Moreover, the role played by research centers and media institutions, visual, auditory, and written, as well as social media, cannot be overlooked. An expert on Facebook has claimed that those who run it deleted about half a million posts related to the Syrian revolution, some of which were documentation, in a single year.
The point of this extensive introduction to Syrian documentation is to convey that there has been extensive, almost comprehensive, documentation of everything that has happened in and around Syria, in visual, written, and auditory materials. However, it will take time and the right conditions to reveal all of this documentation, as was the case with the infamous chemical weapons massacres and the Caesar photos, which no one had expected would be disclosed.
The documentation also covers the actions of ISIS and the extremist groups affiliated with it. The documentation of their action, especially their crimes, was intended to suggest extremist groups opposing the regime -and this documentation has been extensive - to demonstrate that these groups do not differ from the regime and share many of its policies and practices. The footage of ISIS and the Jaysh Al-Islam forcing captives into iron cages as a public spectacle that was shared with a live audience and online, is particularly revealing.
Certainly, there has been documentation of atrocious behavior in the Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria and the northwest of the country controlled by several factions, as well. In both regions, there have been human rights violations and policies have harmed the populace, which the authorities of these regions claim as their own. These policies conflict with the interests of the majority of the population, as the facts show. These actions include the persecution of the parties of the Kurdish National Council under the pretext that they are loyal to Türkiye, as well as treating the Arabs in the area like they are all ISIS members. The documentation of the abuses by the de facto authorities in northwest Syria is even more extensive.
We could discuss at length the documentation of the actions of Russia, Iran, Türkiye, the United States, and Arab countries that played a role, but it is beyond the scope of this article. Nonetheless, that does not undermine the assertion that the documentation of crimes in Syria is significant in both its volume and themes. Documentation related to the suffering of victims, which has allowed it to become part of the collective memory, is particularly important. It safeguards the rights of the victims and prevents the emergence of a similar regime in the future.
The question that documentation raises pertains to its utility, particularly its practical and political benefits. These benefits are multifaceted, and foremost among them is that they can be used in the service of Syria and Syrians both in the present and the future, not merely to remove the current regime that has wreaked havoc on the country and given rise to disasters that have broadly been meticulously documented, but also to shape the next regime. It can help us choose individuals and political structures that differ from those we have come to know over the past thirteen years, as they have failed to lead Syrians and to resolve the Syrian crisis, whether in times of war or peace.
By taking this approach to Syrian documentation, it can be leveraged on several fronts. It can help push for the unconditional release of detainees and the release of information regarding the fact of those who will not return to their homes and families. Additionally, documentation can be used to facilitate the return of refugees and displaced individuals to their country and homes, as well as affirming their ownership of real estate and agricultural land, which have been taken from them in some instances. This documentation can also be used to pursue and prosecute everyone who has committed crimes against Syrians. Doing so is not only necessary to ensure accountability for past actions; it is also a necessary response to action currently being taken in areas under the control of the various de facto authorities, and it is crucial for preventing further human rights violations and crimes against Syrians.
The final issue regarding this documentation that requires our attention is the general approach taken by some opposition forces, individual opponents, and activists within human rights organizations. Their efforts have not been up to par given the objectives and goals that could have been achieved for the use of documentation. If opposition groups have failed to correct paths or formulate alternative policies as a result of scrutinizing what occurred, the same is true for the coalitions, political and armed groups, and civil society organizations, as well as many of the activists and figures who took part in the negotiations in Geneva, talks for the release of detainees, constitutional committee discussions, or the negotiations in Astana. They have all been stark failures and squandered opportunities, preventing this documentation from achieving any political gains beyond the moral significance of documenting the crimes, destruction, and suffering inflicted upon the Syrian people, which is so immense that documentation fails to capture it.

No one is fooled by Iran and its proxies’ smoke-and-mirrors pantomime Baria Alamuddin
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/February 12, 2024
During yet another of his incessant trips to Beirut, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian declared last week: “War is not the solution, and we absolutely never sought to expand it.”
Nevertheless, through a multitude of Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese and Yemeni paramilitaries, expanding the conflict is exactly what Tehran has been doing over the past four months. Iran lies so brazenly, but it can’t help boasting about the control it wields through these proxy armies. “A large-scale attack on Lebanon will spell the end of Netanyahu,” Abdollahian boldly asserted. This was a stupid thing to say on two levels: first, because it would also entail the end of Lebanon as we know it; and second because politically Netanyahu is already a dead man walking. “Our assessment is that the Zionist regime will never be able to fight on two fronts,” Abdollahian said — as if such frivolous speculation were not gambling with the lives of millions in Lebanon and nearby states, with negligible immediate cost to Iran itself.
This exemplifies the disregardful manner in which Tehran treats Arab states as cards to be used and incinerated in the cause of scoring cheap political points. The ayatollahs treat everybody like fools in denying their culpability in mobilizing region-wide armies of proxies, as if nobody would guess the country of origin of the drones and missiles being fired off indiscriminately across the Middle East.
Iran lies so brazenly, but it can’t help boasting about the control it wields through these proxy armies.
Alharq Al-Awsat quoted Hashd Al-Shaabi politicians in Iraq recalling how they were given their marching orders by senior Iranian officials soon after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel: “They told us that we are part of Iran and its power in the region. You are the striking hand to protect Shiism, and it is time not only to liberate Al-Aqsa, but to rule the countries of the region.” In apparent reference to these meetings, Kata’ib Hezbollah’s Abu Fadak Al-Muhammadawi said: “The sensitive regional context and what will transpire depends mainly upon our commitment to what we agreed upon.”
Iraq’s paramilitary Hashd Al-Shaabi and its Quds Force masters have years of experience of playing games of smoke and mirrors behind counterfeit identities, seeking to establish a veneer of separation between the array of “Islamic resistance” factions who have been engaged in attacking US targets, while Hashd groupings present themselves as legitimate politicians in a clumsy good cop, bad cop routine.
“Resistance” factions such as Hezbollah Al-Nujaba have little to lose politically, since they have no parliamentary seats. They have therefore been the most gung-ho elements in attacking the Americans, even ridiculing other Hashd components for their lack of battle readiness. Like the Houthis in Yemen, these forces have scattered far and wide in small mobile cells, so that retaliatory Western strikes inflict negligible losses.
Kata’ib Hezbollah has one foot in and one foot out of Iraq’s parliament. Its political figurehead Hossein Moanes anticipated “a long war of attrition against the enemy which will last for years.” Meanwhile its “resistance” wing was blamed for last month’s attack that killed three Americans, triggering widespread reprisals, including the killing of a Kata’ib Hezbollah commander, Abu Baqr Al-Saeedi.
The group's subsequent hurried announcement that it would temporarily cease attacking the US, and strenuous denials of Iranian involvement, were presumably intended to short-circuit US-Israeli pressure to target “the head of the snake” and strike Tehran directly. Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, meanwhile, despite its long history of deadly attacks on US assets, has mostly stayed out of the latest bouts of attacks — focusing on the Hashd’s political and economic priorities in a complex but well coordinated division of labor.
The Hashd’s confluence of economic, political, military and social agendas highlights why these factions have become so hazardous for Iraq’s continued existence, particularly under a government so heavily dominated by these entities that it has doled out prime economic concessions worth billions of dollars in revenue, over and above the $3 billion this 240,000-strong force receives annually from the state purse.
Kata’ib Hezbollah has one foot in and one foot out of Iraq’s parliament. Its political figurehead Hossein Moanes anticipated “a long war of attrition against the enemy which will last for years.”
All the while, smaller “resistance” factions have a free hand to tenaciously pursue Iran’s longstanding goal of evicting the Americans. As Hezbollah Al-Nujaba’s Akram Al-Kaabi said: “It has become a duty for everyone to declare war on America and remove it, humiliated, from Iraq.” This comes at a time when US-Iraqi talks on the future status of foreign troops in Iraq continue. We should expect this to be the subject of fiery political grandstanding in the coming days. although many within Iraq’s administration fear how rapidly things could fall apart — yet again — if the Americans depart. Hilariously, after Iran and its proxies had gone to enormous trouble to establish phantom entities such as“Ashab Al-Kahf” or “Saraya Awliya Al-Dam” to claim responsibility for attacks on US forces, megalomaniac faction leaders such as Akram al-Kaabi and Kata’ib Hezbollah’s Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi were unable to restrain themselves from boasting about their own prowess in staging these assaults. As the Hashd researcher Michael Knights astutely noted: “The facade strategy requires a sacrifice of ego, which is not something they can keep up for very long.” These cloak-and-dagger identities never stopped the US military targeting Kata’ib Hezbollah and Hezbollah Al-Nujaba directly — albeit too little, too late.
These factions are solely accountable to the Quds Force, whose personnel are embedded within the Shoura Council of Kata’ib Hezbollah and other factions, pulling their strings behind the scenes. In the event of further escalation, it’s unlikely that Iran’s leaders and paramilitary officials wearing political suits can distance themselves from the oncoming storm. Unfortunately, such callous stupidity is likely to cost countless Arab lives and region-wide devastation, along with the lives of untold numbers of innocent Iranian civilians when the miscalculations and mishaps of these ignoramuses ultimately bring the battle to the gates of Tehran.
The ayatollahs hubristically believe they’ve been enormously clever in such farcical lies and professions of non-involvement. But the identity of the puppet masters mobilizing these proxy armies and inflaming the regional battlefield on all fronts is hidden to nobody.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

The power of small and smart states
Armen Sarkissian/Arab News/February 11, 2024
The publication of my book, The Small States Club: How Small Smart States Can Save the World, has provoked a much-needed discussion on small states. In the course of my lives as a scientist and diplomat, businessman and politician, I have unceasingly marveled at the tenacity of small states. Their survival has always been predicated on overcoming insuperable odds.
When the modern state came into existence with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, there were 400 small states. Hundreds of them were extinguished by the antecedents of today’s great and middle powers. Today, there are roughly 150 small states — a sevenfold increase since the establishment of the postwar order in 1945. But their survival can scarcely be taken for granted in an increasingly multipolar world whose order, institutions and norms are being torpedoed by the velocity of political, geopolitical, social and technological transformation.
If there is an overwhelming priority or a paramount preoccupation common to all small states, it is survival. The world has never been structured to facilitate the survival of small states and treating small states as disposable has been the norm through most of recent history. Survival, therefore, has largely depended on the will and skill of small states themselves.
To preserve themselves, small states must be agile, adaptable and adroit. Internally, as Aristotle said of the city-states of the 4th century B.C., they must train their populations to be jacks of all trades. Externally, they must exert themselves to mobilize an international order reinforced by institutions and equipped with the means to uphold its rules. In short, small states must also be smart states.
In international relations, as the Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye argues, there are three kinds of power: hard power, which involves coercion; soft power, which flows from a nation’s cultural output; and what I would call “smart power.” The last of these amalgamates components of both hard and soft power but also, crucially, makes an effort to bolster itself by leveraging technology intelligently.
Unlike conventional approaches, smart power actively embraces and harnesses emerging tools such as artificial intelligence, aiming not only to adapt but also to derive significant advantages from these innovations. The essence of smart power lies in its ability to synergize traditional sources of influence with cutting-edge technologies, positioning itself strategically to navigate and capitalize on the ever-evolving landscape of power dynamics.
In the course of my career, I have seen the improbable rise of small states that were born in impossible conditions and written off before they could learn to crawl. The UAE, for instance, was dismissed even before its visionary founder, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, had unified the dusty emirates that made up the Trucial States. Today, more than five decades after its inauguration in 1971, the UAE is not only an international cultural hub and a center of commerce, it is also home to the world’s unlikeliest green city. Meanwhile, Qatar, capitalizing on its gas reserves and the strategic American airbase it hosts, contributes uniquely to global diplomacy by serving as both a mediator and a negotiator.
The future of Singapore was similarly in grave doubt once Britain withdrew its forces in 1971, exposing it to the whims of the great and middle powers surrounding it. Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state’s father, reacted to this crisis by aggressively superintending Singapore’s transformation into an economic force in the world and a diplomatic troubleshooter in the region.
At its independence in 1966, Botswana had exactly 8 miles (12 km) of tarred road in the entire country. Its land was shrouded with sand and its people scraped a living from agriculture. Today, Botswana is a model of economic prudence and efficient governance in Africa. With a population under 2 million, its low taxes, high income (at $6,000, its per capita income is larger than Malaysia’s), excellent healthcare and openness to foreign talent have made it the envy of others.
Today, the UAE is not only an international cultural hub and a center of commerce, it is also home to the world’s unlikeliest green city.
We inhabit a world in which, for the first time, long-marginalized voices have acquired the capability to amplify themselves and be heard. An individual with a smartphone is possessed with the power to break news and shape trends. A small, tech-savvy state can compete with large states. Technology has eroded the capacity of large powers to remain the predominant centers of progress and achievement.
Eight of the top 10 nations on the Bloomberg Innovation Index are small states. Singapore, a consistently high-ranking state on the index, is a world leader in medical innovation. Despite being home to the equivalent of only 7 percent of Germany’s population, it accounts for more patents in healthcare than its European counterpart. It has converted its curses — its location and limited resources — into opportunities to become one of the most prosperous countries in the world.
Sweden, home to fewer than 11 million citizens, has emerged as a captain in the fields of technology, research and development and innovation. It has more technology hubs per capita than any part of the world save Silicon Valley. Even the stars are no longer beyond the reach of small states. In 2021, the UAE, home to just over 9 million people, successfully orbited its rover around Mars — catapulting itself into an exclusive league once occupied by great powers.
Stability, constancy, the rule of law, peace and predictability are imperative for the success of small states. And a club of such states would help smaller nations exert greater influence in cultivating the climate essential for global security, progress and prosperity. In doing so, it would also temper the aggression and destructive impulses of large powers.
“The Small States Club” tells the compelling story of eight small countries that dot Europe, Asia and Africa that would qualify as founding members of such a club. There are, of course, others that merit attention, but I selected these states because I have studied them closely and their travails and successes, individually and collectively, carry indispensable lessons for small (and even large) states operating in a world in flux.
Often, I have interacted extensively with the leaders and key figures in these nations. Not every country I have examined features every virtue prized by every society. But despite their shortcomings, they can teach us something valuable about surviving and succeeding in an inhospitable world.
As an Armenian diplomat and later as president, I often reflected on the need for a consortium of smaller states, a collective that might be nimbler and more effective than the sluggish giants that currently dominate international relations. This “S20,” as one might call it, would be a club of nations — from Singapore to Switzerland and Botswana to Arab states — unburdened by the weight of empires, ready to learn from past errors and earnestly seek to arbitrate conflicts with fairness and foresight.
Small states live on the knife-edge of survival; peace is not a luxury for them but the precondition of their existence. This is why small states tend for the most part to be averse to conflict: war imposes a disproportionate toll on them. There will always be exceptions to the rule, but small states generally tend to promote peace — or at least strive to create conditions to avert the outbreak of fighting. Therefore, minimizing, if not altogether eliminating, bloody conflict is not a noble ideal for them — it is a necessity.
Even though a club of small states would take responsibility for their fates and help foster peace through collective action and mutual support, the idea of such a collaborative body has met with resistance from the larger states, whose preeminence depends on the status quo. They look upon any new institution that might affect the scales of influence with suspicion and skepticism.
But I am pleased to note that the publication of The Small States Club has stirred a discussion. Representatives of key small states have shared their enthusiasm for a so-called S20 grouping. There is much work to be done, but the idea is catching on. If peace and progress are to be more than impossible dreams, we must reduce if not cease our dependence on big powers and obsolete institutions and instead harness the survival instinct of small states to create a body that values dialogue over discord and collaboration and peace over conquest and perpetual conflict.
• Armen Sarkissian is the former President of Armenia and author of “The Small States Club: How Small Smart States Can Save the World.” X: @ArmSarkissian

Return of Daesh adds to instability in the Middle East
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/February 11, 2024
The ongoing Gaza crisis has added fuel to the Middle Eastern fire and the prospects are not bright for an early end. Israel bids higher than it can afford. It relies on American support, but there are limits and the American public may, at some stage, say that enough is enough.
The international community has done little to stop the clashes between the Palestinians and Israel. Middle Eastern countries, including Turkiye, have been generous in giving advice but reserved in extending concrete support to the Palestinians.
The US has not deviated from its blind support for Israel, both in UN forums and by sending to the Middle East its two most powerful aircraft carriers, USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. There are many other American battleships in the region, with at least seven in the Eastern Mediterranean and 12 in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.
The US warships have so far shot down 38 drones. Fourteen of them were heading toward Israel. When there are that many battleships in a region, there may be accidental clashes as well.
There is now a new phenomenon. Daesh, which had stayed largely dormant for a while, has now started to raise its head in various places around the world, beginning with the Middle East, but also in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.
The region is far from being cleared of the remnants of Daesh. On the contrary, an increase has been noticed in its activities in many places. The US does not seem to be discontent with its activities. On the contrary, it uses Daesh’s activities as an excuse to keep its military presence in Syria and Iraq. Washington believes that its forces are necessary to keep a check on the activities of this terrorist organization.
Iraqi President Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has announced that a commission will be set up to put an end to the Global Coalition Against Daesh in Iraq because the group has ceased to constitute a threat to Iraqi security. Therefore, there is no need to keep the US forces in Iraq. A similar attitude has been adopted by Syria, as Daesh has been cornered in the northwestern province of Idlib, fighting for its survival. Iran is even more opposed to Daesh because the Shiite regime in Tehran is in an ideological fight against the group.
Preliminary signs indicate that the Turkish security forces have gained the upper hand over Daesh in the country.
Daesh’s activities in Turkiye have followed a different path. Ankara has been able to penetrate several Daesh cells. When the terror organization decided to restructure its format, it reduced its “Turkiye Province” to battalion level and attached it to Daesh-Khorasan Province, which stretches over Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan. The archives of the Turkish province of Daesh were decoded in Syria in 2021 and Kasim Guler, a Turkish citizen and the leader of the Syrian branch of Daesh, was arrested in April of that year. While in court, he provided a mountain of information about Daesh. At the same time, an organization that was providing support to the families of Daesh martyrs and prisoners was disbanded. It is unclear whether there is a correlation between the Al-Aqsa Flood operation and the increased Daesh activities in Turkiye. The preliminary signs indicate that the Turkish security forces have gained the upper hand over Daesh terrorists in the country. If this trend continues, Daesh’s efficiency may further diminish there.
In the early 2010s, the Turkish government was doing everything it could to weaken the Syrian government. In 2015, a group of conservatives organized a public prayer in a meadow near Istanbul and praised radicalism in front of the television cameras. At that time, Turkiye was regarded as a motorway to Syria for those Daesh fighters who came from various parts of the world. In most cases, they landed in Istanbul, were hosted for a few days in this city by Turks who were part of the terrorist organization, then escorted on a 1,100-km journey to Antakya at the Syrian border and helped to cross in cooperation with Syrian opposition fighters. At that time, many Turkish and foreign correspondents published interviews with these Daesh adherents. There was a widespread perception that many Turkish citizens were in touch with Daesh fighters one way or another. Several dormant Daesh cells were discovered even after the Turkish security authorities started to tighten their measures. In later years, when the Turkish authorities became aware of the importance of the threat, they took significant measures. They detained more than 20,000 suspected Daesh members and 6,000 of them were convicted. At present, there are 1,154 Daesh members in various Turkish prisons. Many others have been expelled from Turkiye. A new category of terrorists now seems to have been added. In the past, most Daesh extremists were Turkish citizens recruited in Turkiye, with only a few exceptions from abroad. Now, they are recruited abroad and brought to Turkiye, kept undercover and, when the day comes, asked to commit to the task they have been assigned.
Two weeks ago, one such act of terror was organized in the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul. One person was killed and the perpetrators were arrested soon after. Of all nationalities, the perpetrators turned out to be a Russian and a Tajik. They entered Turkiye legally and their residence permits were valid. The car that they used in the attack was registered in Poland. It was used by another person a week earlier. All this indicates that there were several people involved in the incident.
Daesh is likely to remain a headache for the international community for years to come.
• Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkiye and founding member of the ruling AK Party. X: @yakis_yasar

How Middle East can turn the tide against chronic diseases
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 11, 2024
Life expectancy in Arab countries has been steadily on the rise, which is a significant achievement for the region. However, amid the celebrations of longer life, an insidious epidemic is making its presence felt — a surge in chronic diseases. From cardiovascular diseases to diabetes, cancer and respiratory illnesses, the Middle East and North Africa region finds itself grappling with a growing health crisis that demands urgent attention.
The World Health Organization recently delivered a sobering message, revealing that noncommunicable diseases are responsible for a staggering 70 percent of deaths in the region. This statistic is more than just a number; it means that seven out of every 10 lives are being claimed by illnesses that are, to a large extent, preventable. Generally speaking, this is not merely a health issue, it is a societal challenge that impacts economies, strains healthcare systems and undermines the overall well-being of the MENA region.
In the context of healthcare dynamics within the Arab world, notable progress has been observed in certain countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. These nations have demonstrated commendable advancements in enhancing their healthcare systems and proactively addressing the surge in chronic diseases. Their concerted efforts reflect a commitment to mitigating the impact of these health challenges. However, it is essential to acknowledge that the health landscape across the region is not uniform. While some countries are making significant strides, others face challenges and may lag behind in effectively responding to the burgeoning health crisis associated with chronic diseases.
Each country needs its leaders to oversee a collective effort to address the root causes of these chronic diseases and implement strategies that focus not only on treatment but, more importantly, on prevention. So, what is fueling this health upheaval? It is not solely a matter of genetics or inevitable fate, it is about lifestyle choices, environmental factors and a lack of targeted healthcare initiatives. The region must confront this issue head-on and implement strategies that move beyond merely treating symptoms to actively preventing these diseases in the first place.
The first step to address this issue requires a paradigm shift in public health initiatives. The emphasis needs to transition from reactive healthcare to proactive measures that actively prevent the onset of chronic diseases.
For example, picture a world where doctors are not just healers but partners in promoting healthier lifestyles. Envision a society where preventive healthcare is as routine as your morning coffee. It is not an idealistic dream; it is a necessity. The “2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics” report, published by the American Heart Association, delineates the progress achieved in diminishing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, as exemplified by the reduction in cigarette smoking. However, despite substantial advancements in strategies for preventing heart disease and strokes, the benefits have not been fully realized, according to Dr. Seth Martin, a cardiologist affiliated with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
From the perils of a sedentary lifestyle to the consequences of a poor diet, knowledge is the first line of defense.
Martin, who also serves as chair of the 43-member group responsible for the report, emphasized the disparities in translating effective interventions into everyday medical practice. He stressed the imperative for innovative approaches in implementation to bridge these gaps, emphasizing the need for transformative strategies to maximize positive outcomes for patients.
One important issue to focus on is the fact that prevention starts with awareness. This means that governments and health organizations must launch widespread campaigns to educate the public about the risk factors associated with chronic diseases. From the perils of a sedentary lifestyle to the consequences of a poor diet, knowledge is the first line of defense.
Nevertheless, awareness alone is not enough. We need policies that support and encourage healthier choices. This means creating environments that make it easier for people to choose healthier lifestyles. Parks and recreational areas, bike lanes and accessible gym facilities — these are not just luxuries, they are investments in the long-term health of the population.
Furthermore, workplaces, where most of us spend a significant portion of our waking hours, must also play a pivotal role. It is time for companies to prioritize employee health by offering wellness programs, providing ergonomic workspaces and fostering a culture that values both physical and mental well-being.
Now, let us address the elephant in the room — diet. The MENA region boasts a rich culinary heritage, but the modern diet has veered into dangerous territory. Fast food, sugary drinks and processed snacks have become dietary staples, leading to an alarming increase in obesity and related diseases. As a result, it is time to rediscover the balance between tradition and modernity, creating a fusion that not only tantalizes tastebuds but also nourishes the body.
Last but not least, healthcare interventions are critical in the battle against chronic diseases. Regular health checkups, early detection and the effective management of conditions can significantly reduce the burden on healthcare systems and improve the quality of life for individuals. Investing in state-of-the-art medical facilities and training healthcare professionals to address the specific challenges posed by noncommunicable diseases should be a top priority.
In conclusion, while certain nations, notably the Gulf states, have made substantial progress, others have lagged behind. And, while life expectancy in the MENA region is increasing, we can also turn the tide against chronic diseases and pave the way for a healthier, more vibrant future through targeted public health initiatives, preventive measures, lifestyle changes and improved healthcare interventions. It is not just a matter of living longer; it is about living better. The choice is ours to make and the path forward is clear. Addressing the root causes of chronic diseases creates a future where longer life is accompanied by a higher quality of life. It may be a challenge, but this is a challenge we must embrace for the well-being of generations to come.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh