Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 13-14/2024
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
Etienne Saqr - Abu Arz: The Iranian Octopus and its Four Arms in Baghdad, Beirut, Sana'a, and Damascus/February 13, 2024
France Proposes Hezbollah Withdrawal, Border Talks for Israel-Lebanon Truce
Lebanon: A Return to the Pre-October 7 Status Quo/Rami al-Rayes/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
Cyprus says Lebanon blocked return of 116 Syrian migrants
Israel-Hezbollah border clashes: Latest developments
Mikati hits out at those 'excluding themselves' from Cabinet meetings
Report: Abdollahian urged allies in Lebanon to show restraint
Hezbollah strikes Israeli military gathering near Marj site
Kataeb: Abdollahian's statements from Beirut are a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and independence
Grand Mufti commemorates martyr Rafic Hariri's legacy in Beirut
Hariri meets US ambassador, Grand Mufti Daryan in Beirut
Sayyed Nasrallah: Hezbollah Will Expand War Zone If ‘Israel’ Does, Settlers Won’t Return to the North

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 13-14/2024
US, UK carry out fresh strikes on Houthi-controlled Hodeidah province in Yemen
IDF has CCTV footage of Hamas leader Sinwar in tunnel under Khan Younis, Israeli official says
CIA, Mossad chiefs, Qatar PM meet Egyptians on Gaza truce
Egypt Committed to ‘Peace Treaty’ with Israel, Says Smotrich’s Comments ‘Provocative’
UN warns Israel: Rafah invasion could ‘lead to slaughter’
US reviewing reports of civilian harm by Israel, State Dept says
Biden, Jordan King Discuss Need for Stability in the Region
Abbas, Qatari Emir Discuss ‘Day After Gaza War’
UN Chief Cites ‘Devastating Consequences’ of an Israeli Offensive in Gaza’s Rafah
Truce Talks Open in Cairo as Gazans Brace for Israeli Assault on Rafah
Arab League Secretary-General Warns Israel Against Forcefully Displacing Palestinians
Palestinian health officials said on Tuesday Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank.
Senate Democrat accuses Israel of ‘textbook war crime’ in Gaza
NDP pushing Liberals to recognize state of Palestine as U.K., U.S. signal openness
Iraqi Interior Minister: Border Security Is ‘at its Best’
Russia can keep bleeding tanks and other equipment like it has been in Ukraine for at least anther 2 to 3 more years, war analysts say
Four Armenian soldiers killed in new Azerbaijan border flare-up
A former US Army general says Trump wants the US to abandon NATO because he's a 'mafia type' that 'hates alliances'
Chinese and Indian companies are about to be hit by sanctions because of their ties to Russia, reports say
Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday. (Tunisian media)
Spanish FM's Visit to Algeria Postponed
China Calls on Israel to Halt Military Operations in Gaza as Soon as Possible

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on February 13-14/2024
China's Infiltrators: 'They Are Coming Here to Kill Us'/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/February 13, 2024
‘Shut Up and Wash Some Feet!’ Super Bowl Commercial Promotes Doormat Christianity/Raymond Ibrahim/February 13/2024
A Palestinian Authority that rewards terrorism has no place in Gaza/Natalie Ecanow/Washington Examiner/February 13/2024
Our World and Democracy… What Democracy!?/Eyad Abu ShakraAsharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
Headline-grabbing climate protests can be good for democracy/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/February 13/2024
US minorities grapple with how to see Israeli-Palestinian conflict/Kerry Boyd Anderson/Arab News/February 13/2024
Rafah offensive threatens to break fragile Biden-Netanyahu ties/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/February 13/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 13-14/2024
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.

Etienne Saqr - Abu Arz: The Iranian Octopus and its Four Arms in Baghdad, Beirut, Sana'a, and Damascus
Statement issued by the Guardians Of The Cedars Party - Lebanese National Movement
February 13, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/127024/127024/
Events unfolding in the world now make it evident that the majority of conflicts and wars engulfing the Middle East are orchestrated by the Iranian regime through its proxies. These actions include arming, training, and strategic planning under the pretext of "liberating Palestine," while serving its expansionist agenda at the expense of the sovereignty and security of the region's nations.
Moreover, it is widely recognized that the Iranian regime is symbolized by a vast octopus with four arms: the first in Baghdad, the second in Damascus, the third in Beirut, and the fourth in Sana'a, with its head in Tehran. These arms operate solely in accordance with instructions from the head.
It is common knowledge that striking the arms alone, without addressing the head, does not eliminate the octopus, particularly as it possesses the unique ability to regenerate new arms whenever one is severed. Therefore, the ongoing conflicts led by the West against the Iranian axis are unlikely to achieve their intended objectives, but rather may result in temporary truces followed by subsequent wars.
The question arises: why does the West, led by America, refrain from directly targeting the Iranian regime, settling instead for striking its arms? Could there be an undisclosed agreement between them, concealing their publicly declared animosity?
It is evident that time plays into the hands of the Iranian regime, which employs the strategies of "biting the wound" or "strategic patience," as evidenced by its historical expertise in diplomacy, akin to the intricate weaving of carpets. This patience is awaiting fruition with the acquisition of nuclear capabilities, enabling Iran to join the nuclear club and assert its influence in determining the fate of nations.
A further question arises concerning America's counterterrorism policy, which purportedly seeks to combat and pursue any entity supporting or funding terrorism. Paradoxically, America has allocated billions of dollars in funding to the terrorist Iranian regime in exchange for concessions such as the release of detainees or agreements limiting its nuclear ambitions.
Hence, these questions linger unanswered, while the afflicted Middle East continues to languish in its suffering until the West reevaluates its stance and rectifies its political approach towards the Iranian regime before it is too late.
Long Live Lebanon,
Etienne Saqr. Abu Arz
NB/(Free Translation from Arabic to English by Elias Bejjani)

France Proposes Hezbollah Withdrawal, Border Talks for Israel-Lebanon Truce
Asharq Al Awsat/13 February 2024
France has delivered a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities with Israel and settling the disputed Lebanon-Israel frontier, according to a document seen by Reuters that calls for fighters including Hezbollah's elite unit to withdraw 10 km (6 miles) from the border.
The plan aims to end fighting between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel at the border. The hostilities have run in parallel to the Gaza war and are fueling concern of a ruinous, all-out confrontation.
The document, the first written proposal brought to Beirut during weeks of Western mediation, was delivered to top Lebanese state officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne last week, four senior Lebanese and three French officials said.
It declares the aim of preventing a conflict "that risks spiraling out of control" and enforcing "a potential ceasefire, when the conditions are right" and ultimately envisions negotiations on delineation of the contentious land border between Lebanon and Israel.
Hezbollah rejects formally negotiating a de-escalation until the war in Gaza ends, a position reiterated by a Hezbollah politician in response to questions for this story.
While some details of similar mediation efforts by US Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein have been circulating in recent weeks, the full details of the French written proposal delivered to Lebanon have not previously been reported.
The three-step plan envisages a 10-day process of de-escalation ending with the border negotiations.
One French diplomatic source said the proposal had been put to the governments of Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah.
France has historical ties with Lebanon. It has 20,000 citizens in the country and some 800 troops as part of a UN peacekeeping force.
"We made proposals. We are in contact with the Americans and it's important that we bring together all initiatives and build peace," Sejourne told a news conference on Monday.
The plan proposes Lebanese armed groups and Israel would cease military operations against each other, including Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon.
Several non-state groups, including Palestinian factions, have mounted attacks on Israel from south Lebanon during the latest hostilities, though Hezbollah is the dominant power in the area with a fighting force widely seen to outgun the Lebanese army.
The Lebanese armed groups would dismantle all premises and facilities close to the frontier, and withdraw combat forces - including Hezbollah's elite Radwan fighters and military capabilities such as antitank systems - at least 10 km north of the frontier, the document proposes.
Any such withdrawal could still leave Hezbollah fighters much closer to the border than the 30 km (19 mile) withdrawal to Lebanon's Litani River, stipulated in a UN resolution that ended a war with Israel in 2006.
The shorter withdrawal would help ensure rockets did not reach villages in northern Israel that have been targeted with anti-tank missiles and was a compromise seen as more palatable to Hezbollah than a retreat to the Litani, one Western diplomat with knowledge of the two-page proposal said.
Up to 15,000 Lebanese army troops would be deployed in the border region of south Lebanon, a Hezbollah political stronghold where the group's fighters have long melted into society at times of calm.
Asked about the proposal, senior Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that the group would not discuss "any matter related to the situation in the south before the halt of the aggression on Gaza".
"The enemy is not in the position to impose conditions," added Fadlallah, declining to comment on details of the proposal or whether Hezbollah had received it.
One of the Lebanese officials said the document brings together ideas discussed in contacts with Western envoys and had been passed on to Hezbollah. French officials told the Lebanese it was not a final paper, after Beirut raised objections to parts of it, the Lebanese official said.
An Israeli official said such a proposal had been received and was being discussed by the government.
Reuters reported last month that Hezbollah had rebuffed ideas suggested by Hochstein, who has been at the heart of the efforts, but that it had also kept the door ajar to diplomacy.
Asked for comment for this story, a State Department spokesperson said the United States "continues to explore all diplomatic options with our Israeli and Lebanese counterparts to restore calm and avoid escalation." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Lebanese official said several elements prompted concern in Beirut, including the demand armed groups dismantle premises and facilities close to the border, which the official said was vaguely worded and could be used to demand moves against Hezbollah-affiliated civilian institutions.
'UNCLEAR' ELEMENTS
Tens of thousands of people have fled homes on both sides of the border since the fighting began on Oct. 8.
Israeli strikes have killed nearly 200 people in Lebanon, 170 of them Hezbollah fighters. Attacks from Lebanon have killed 10 soldiers and five civilians in Israel.
But the strikes have mostly been contained to areas near the border and both sides have said they want to avoid all-out war.
Numerous Western envoys have visited Beirut to discuss ways to de-escalate the fighting, mostly meeting with Lebanese state officials rather than Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
One of the Lebanese officials said a French technical delegation returned to Beirut two days after Sejourne's visit to discuss details, following the Lebanese objections.
Another of the Lebanese officials said Beirut had not responded to the proposal, adding that it was neither signed nor dated and was therefore not deemed official enough to warrant a response.
THREE-STEP APPROACH
The proposal recalls a ceasefire which ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel in 1996, and also UN Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war.
It maps out three steps over 10 days.
The two sides would cease military operations in step one. Within three days, step two would see Lebanese armed groups withdrawing combat forces at least 10 km north of the frontier and Lebanon would initiate the deployment of soldiers in the south. Israel would cease overflights into Lebanese territory.
As the third step, within 10 days, Lebanon and Israel would resume negotiations on delimiting the land border "in a gradual way" and with the support of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL.
They would also engage in negotiations on a roadmap to ensure the establishment of an area free of any non-state armed groups between the border and the Litani river.
Hezbollah has previously signaled it could support the state negotiating a deal with Israel to settle the status of disputed areas at the border to Lebanon's benefit.
One of the issues to address is financing for the Lebanese army, severely weakened by a severe financial crisis in Lebanon.
The proposal calls for an international effort to support the deployment of the Lebanese army with "financing, equipment, training". It also called for "the socio-economic development of southern Lebanon".

Lebanon: A Return to the Pre-October 7 Status Quo
Rami al-Rayes/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
The Lebanese are in between two dramatically different states: a restrained war is raging on the southern front, while things are normal in other areas of the country. We see the villages on the border paying dearly on behalf of the entire country. The residents are being killed and their homes and infrastructure are being destroyed, bringing to mind the scenes we had seen before the Lebanese Civil War (1975 - 1990), when Israel assaulted South Lebanon at will, creating a very perilous situation.
The difference is that the Lebanese parties (with Hezbollah at the forefront, naturally) now have the capacity to retaliate and create damage across the many settlements scattered in the north of the occupied territories. They pose enough of a threat that the inhabitants of these settlements, who had been living in peace and stability have had to flee the territory that has been occupied since the 1948 Nakba. These residents have exerted significant pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do something so that they can return to "their homes."
We cannot allow the Israeli occupation forces to continue violating Arab territory like they have been violating Palestinian territory since the Nakba and the establishment of the Israeli state, hosting settlers from across the globe at the expense of the native population. In this regard, successive Israeli governments have refused to drop the country’s grandiose schemes and continue to seek political or military opportunities to achieve this objective. The plan to deport Palestinians from Gaza that was put forward at the beginning of the war is just one "manifestation" of this dangerous project that will remain in force so long as the Israeli government does not abandon its old-new expansionist projects.
We have heard calls on Lebanon to adhere to UN Resolution 1701, which was issued in 2006 following the 33-day July War that devastated the country but failed to achieve Tel Aviv’s declared objectives. Although the war destroyed much in Lebanon, including bridges, infrastructure, power grids, and more, it failed to eliminate Hezbollah. The same is true for this war in the Gaza Strip, which has been almost completely destroyed. The goal of eliminating Hamas has not and will not be achieved, despite the massive destruction and killing that has left accusations of genocide leveled at Israel by the UN’s highest judicial authority, the International Court of Justice.
In light of the current circumstances, more than three months into Israel’s war on Gaza, the best course of action for Lebanon might be a return to UN Resolution 1701 and its implementation in full. That would restore the status quo that had been in place before October 7, 2023 and that allowed stability and relative calm to prevail for years. Indeed, it was only interrupted by Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, territory, and waters, which were only suspended for brief periods over the past few decades.
If there is a "consensus" in Lebanon that starting a wide-scale war with the Israeli occupation forces does not align with our national interest - not because of opposition to solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people, but because Lebanon cannot bear its grave repercussions - it should also apply to Israeli attacks and bombardments in Lebanon. These assaults cannot be stopped without significant American pressure on Israel. US pressure has already succeeded in preventing the expansion of the war in several directions, primarily from the Lebanese side.
In these difficult and critical times, anything can happen in the miserable domestic Lebanese scene, with the stagnation that has paralyzed the country for over a year and a half is likely to continue after the country failed to fill the presidential vacuum since President Michel Aoun's term ended on October 31, 2022.
It is incumbent on all Lebanese parties to set aside their differences and agree on electing a credible and respectable president who enjoys the local and international backing needed to help the country overcome its aggravating crises. The challenges to electing a president are not insurmountable and everyone bears some responsibility for this failure: both the parties insisting on a single candidate and excluding all others and the parties that have yet to propose a serious alternative, content with the "intersection" around a particular candidate at an earlier stage, which is probably behind us at this point. Amid the intransigence of both sides, the presidential vacuum will remain, as will the country's crises.

Cyprus says Lebanon blocked return of 116 Syrian migrants
Arab News/February 14, 2024
NICOSIA: Cyprus said on Tuesday it was in discussions with Lebanon over the return of 116 Syrian migrants rescued off its coast after Beirut refused to accept them back. The migrants were rescued in international waters 30 nautical miles off Cyprus at the weekend after departing Lebanon by boat, Cypriot officials said. Cyprus, the European Union’s easternmost member, has for years had an agreement in place with Lebanon for the return of irregular migrants. Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees who leave Lebanon by boat are generally seeking a better life in Europe, and often head for the Mediterranean island, less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) away. Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the rescue of the 116 migrants from war-torn Syria was launched on Sunday after the Lebanese authorities raised the alarm. The following day, three Cypriot police and national guard vessels escorted them back to Lebanon, but they were denied entry, said Ioannou.“Unfortunately, the authorities of Lebanon did not accept the return of those on board the Lebanese vessel,” he said. The minister said “Lebanon has a very big problem” with migration and stressed the issue would be handled politically.
Cypriot authorities did not immediately confirm where the migrants were now. Ioannou said he did not know why the migrants were not allowed to disembark, adding however that there was “continuous communication” with the authorities of Lebanon. Last year, the UN refugee agency expressed concern over the return of more than 100 Syrian migrants to Lebanon, saying they had not been screened to assess whether they needed legal protection, or might be deported to their homeland. Nicosia — which has seen an influx of irregular Syrian migrants arriving from Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October — insists the returns are legal under the bilateral agreement with Beirut. Cyprus said the war, which has triggered a flare-up on the Israel-Lebanon border, weakened the efforts of Beirut to monitor its territorial waters and prevent the departure of migrant vessels. “The situation in Lebanon itself is difficult at the moment,” said Ioannou. Cyprus is a “frontline country” on the eastern Mediterranean migrant route, with asylum-seekers comprising over five percent of the 915,000 population in the government-controlled parts of the island — a record figure across the EU.

Israel-Hezbollah border clashes: Latest developments
Naharnet/February 13/2024
Hezbollah said Tuesday it has targeted several Israeli posts and seized an Israeli Skylark drone. In successive statements, Hezbollah said it has successfully attacked groups of soldiers in the Mattat barracks, al-Marj post and the Hunin fortress near Margaliot. The group also targeted surveillance equipment in Hadb Yarin and a police building in Kiryat Shmona. Israeli soldiers fired in the morning heavy-caliber machineguns at al-Labbouneh, al-Naqoura and Alma al-Shaab. Later during the day, the Israeli army bombed Ramia, Yarin, Yaroun, Shihin, Jabal Blat, Markaba, Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun, and Houla. Israeli warplanes and artillery had overnight struck and shelled with flare bombs several southern towns along the border, killing at least two Hezbollah fighters and two fighters from Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad whose fighters are present in Lebanon. Hezbollah announced the death of two fighters from the town of Tallouseh, about four kilometers from the border. The group said they died "on the road to Jerusalem" -- the phrase the group has been using to refer to militants killed by Israeli fire since hostilities began.
In Tayr Harfa, further west of Bint Jbeil where an Israeli air strike on Monday seriously wounded a local Hezbollah official, two people were seriously wounded in a strike on a house. Al-Quds Brigades said later that two of its members were killed "at the border with occupied Palestine." Israel's military said it struck "military structures and a military site" there and in Maroun El Ras. Hezbollah for its part launched seven attacks on Monday against Israeli border positions. On Tuesday the group said it has targeted northern Israel 1020 times since October 8. Cross-border fire since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza has killed at least 238 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including around 30 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, nine soldiers and six civilians have been killed in clashes with Lebanese-based fighters, according to the Israeli army.

Mikati hits out at those 'excluding themselves' from Cabinet meetings
Naharnet/February 13/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday snapped back at the Free Patriotic Movement over the issue of the powers of the caretaker Cabinet during the ongoing presidential vacuum. “Those excluding themselves and eliminating their presence have no right to pin blame on those facilitating the affairs of the country and its citizens,” Mikati said. He accordingly called on “everyone” to “return to Cabinet’s table, without tensions or campaigns.”“Let all topics be put to a calm, scientific discussion, away from political campaigns and the useless stances of which people have grown tired in light of how much they have been repeated without any truth to them,” Mikati added.

Report: Abdollahian urged allies in Lebanon to show restraint
Naharnet/February 13/2024
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to Lebanon was aimed at “informing his allies in Lebanon that Tehran is engaged in the international and Arab efforts to find a solution that would start by the halt of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip,” a media report said. Abdollahian called for “giving a chance for a settlement based on halting the Israeli aggression against Gaza, revealing that contacts between Tehran and Washington have not stopped but have rather been intensified to prevent an expansion of the war,” a prominent parliamentary source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. “The Sultanate of Oman is sponsoring the talks, in which Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran and officials from the State of Qatar are sometimes participating,” the source said. Abdollahian called for “restraint in order not to give a chance to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is insisting on escalation in the South to send a message to the countries that are pressing him not to expand the war on the northern front,” Asharq al-Awsat said. It also added that Abdollahian called for implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah strikes Israeli military gathering near Marj site
LBCI/February 13/2024
In a recent development, Hezbollah fighters successfully targeted on Tuesday an Israeli military gathering near the Marj site using rocket weapons, resulting in direct hits.

Kataeb: Abdollahian's statements from Beirut are a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and independence
LBCI/February 13/2024
The Kataeb Political Bureau loaded "the remnants of power with the responsibility of completely relinquishing their responsibility in negotiating on behalf of Lebanon and the Lebanese people without others, and assigning it to the project of unity of the squares and its spokespersons who gradually converge, threatening, maneuvering, and appeasing from the platforms of official headquarters." The Kataeb Political Bureau stated, after its meeting chaired by the party's leader, MP Sami Gemayel, that the recent visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian violated all acceptable norms and his rounds where he discussed the strategy of war and the conditions of peace. He declared blatantly that Lebanon's security is Iran's security, constitutes the most significant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, and a blatant challenge to the will of the Lebanese people who refuse to be dragged into any axis and to be involved in wars that do not concern them. On the eve of the 19th anniversary of the assassination of the martyr President Rafic Hariri, the Kataeb Political Bureau emphasized that justice remains elusive and truth is lacking, as the murderer roams free and his backers on their path do not hesitate to unleash the killing machine or defamation against every free voice that refuses to lay hands on Lebanon and confiscate its decision. The Kataeb considered that the most dangerous aspect of all this is that the internationally condemned party now holds the reins of settlements with an excess of power and speaks in the name of the Lebanese with the authority of arms, negotiating on the borders of a country whose sovereignty it has violated in the service of an external project. The Kataeb Political Bureau affirmed that justice, however long it may take, must prevail and that freedom and Lebanon are inseparable. We have made this covenant to all our martyrs and will remain committed to it.

Grand Mufti commemorates martyr Rafic Hariri's legacy in Beirut
LBCI/February 13/2024
The Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, visited the tomb of the martyr President Rafic Hariri in downtown Beirut at the head of a delegation of muftis, members of the Supreme Islamic Sharia Council, and scholars. After reciting the "Fatiha" for his soul and the souls of his righteous companions, the Grand Mufti said: "The martyr Rafic Hariri was not just one more addition to the number of prime ministers in Lebanon. He came on the ruins of a state destroyed by a civil war that lasted for several years, burning everything in its path, destroying the state and its institutions, and creating divisions among the people of one nation. "He worked to rebuild the state anew as a human society and institutionally. He also worked to rebuild its capital once again to become a shining beacon in our Arab world," he continued. He pointed out that working in public affairs requires confronting natural and artificial obstacles, considering that "overcoming these obstacles and hurdles in a diverse society, and in a region of greater complexity, is not easy.""The responsible individual may encounter many challenges that hinder their work, but that does not deprive them of intentions for reform and righteousness," the Grand Mufti added. He said: "On the anniversary of the great martyr Rafic Hariri, we, along with our Lebanese society, look to his message bearer, Saad Hariri, entrusted with continuing the journey, the journey of righteousness and reform, the journey of construction and reconstruction, the journey of national welfare."After visiting the tomb, Mufti Derian visited former Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Grand Serail and held a private meeting with him for half an hour, during which Islamic and national affairs were discussed. Then, an extensive meeting was held between Hariri, Mufti Derian, regional muftis, Supreme Islamic Sharia Council members, and scholars, where the memory of the martyr President Rafic Hariri and the sacrifices he made at all levels were remembered.

Hariri meets US ambassador, Grand Mufti Daryan in Beirut
Naharnet/February 13/2024
Ex-PM and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri met Tuesday at the Center House in Beirut with American Ambassador Lisa Johnson and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan. Johnson told reporters as she left the Center House that the meeting with Hariri was "excellent". Hariri, who had withdrawn from political life two years ago, arrived Sunday night in Beirut to prepare for the 19th anniversary of the martyrdom of his father Rafik Hariri and his companions on February 14. Hariri had resigned as prime minister after unprecedented nationwide protests broke out in 2019 to demand the wholesale overhaul of Lebanon's political class. He was designated the following year to form a technocratic government that would implement much-anticipated reforms, but he failed to broker a consensus and threw in the towel. Media reports said Hariri will also meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who will seek to bring him together with ex-PSP chief Walid Jumblat.

Sayyed Nasrallah: Hezbollah Will Expand War Zone If ‘Israel’ Does, Settlers Won’t Return to the North
Al-Manar English Website/Mohammad Salami/February 13, 2024
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah will continue its border offensive against the Israeli occupation sites near Lebanon border till the Zionist barbaric war on Gaza ends. “When the aggression on Gaza stops fire will be ceased in South Lebanon,” Sayyed Nasrallah said. Sayyed Nasrallah made his remarks while addressing Hezbollah ceremony held to mark the anniversary of the Birth of Imam Hussein (A.S.), Imam Sajjad (A.S.) and Abu Fadl Al-Abbas on Shaaban 4 and 5 and honor the prisoners and wounded fighters of the Islamic Resistance. Hezbollah Secretary General commented on the recent threats made by the Zionist defense minister Yoav Gallant who said that the IOF will not stop aggression on South Lebanon even after Gaza ceasefire, stressing that, then, Hezbollah will continue its offensive. “When the war on Gaza ends, we will stop our offensive. If the enemy resumes its hostilities, we will, act in light of the rules and the formulas.”
It is Hezbollah duty and responsibility to deter the enemy and prevent the assault on Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed, adding that the Resistance responses will be proportionate, yet effective and productive. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the hundreds of thousands of settlers already displaced from the North will not be able to return to their homes in case of escalation. ‘Israel’ must prepare shelters, basements, hotels and schools to house 2 million settlers who will be displaced from northern Palestine if it expands the war zone, Sayyed Nasrallah warned.
If the Israeli enemy expands its war zone against Lebanon, Hezbollah will do too, Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized. Hezbollah Resistance is more powerful, certain and determined than ever, Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed, stressing that the outcome of the ongoing battle will be the defeat of the Zionist enemy. Hezbollah Leader emphasized that the border offensive being carried out by the Resistance has maintained the deterrence formula between Lebanon and the Zionist entity, adding that the foreign delegations are visiting Beirut, thanks to the battle. Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the Israeli enemy takes into consideration numerous factors when it mulls any attack on Lebanon for fear of Hezbollah. All the foreign delegations coming to Lebanon from US, UK, EU and some Arab countries have one goal: protecting Israel’s security, according to Sayyed Nasrallah.
All the foreign mediators ask the Lebanese officials and Hezbollah to restore ceasefire on Lebanon border in order to let the Zionist settlers displaced from northern Palestine to return to their homes, Sayyed Nasrallah added. Sayyed Nasrallah maintained that the foreign mediators adopt all the Zionist demands regardless of all the Lebanese interests and considerations, adding that they procrastinate when the discussion tackles Gaza ceasefire and the liberation of Lebanon’s territories occupied by the Zionist enemy. His eminence highlighted that Hezbollah coordinates the responses to the foreign delegations’ offers with the Lebanese officials hosting them, including mainly House Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker premier Najib Mikati. Sayyed Nasrallah noted that, regardless of the actual Zionist plans, the foreign delegations have been intimidating the Lebanese officials by conveying false Israeli threats.
One month ago, one mediator said that the Israeli enemy would launch an all-out war on Lebanon within two days if Hezbollah does not cease fire on the border, Sayyed Nasrallah said, reiterating that these threats will fail to oblige Hezbollah to halt the border battle. Sayyed Nasrallah addressed the foreign mediators and some Lebanese parties offering Hezbollah a battle end under certain conditions, stressing that ‘Israel’ is not powerful enough to impose its terms and Lebanon is not weak to make concessions. It is the Israeli army which failed during four months to defeat the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, Sayyed Nasrallah said, calling on the Lebanese officials to include more Lebanese items and terms in the implementation of the UN Resolution 1701. “It is easier to move Litani River forward to the borders than pushing back Hezbollah fighters from the borders to the Litani River,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.
Sayyed Nasrallah warned that some Lebanese parties are involved in promoting and exaggerating the Israeli threats in order to intimidate the pro-Resistance citizens, reporting some phone calls which impersonate Israeli characters in order to convey fake threats. Those base acts must be tried by the judicial authorities on charges of betrayal, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed.
Hezbollah Chief also warned against the misuse of the mobile phones and all the technological devices, including the surveillance cameras, connected to the internet, stressing that it is a spy gadget that provides the enemy will all the needed data without needing a real traitor on ground.
It is religiously prohibited to use such devices in a way that endangers the Resistance, nation and dignity, his eminence noted. Regarding the local debate in Lebanon about Hezbollah border offensive, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that some parties are deaf, dumb and blind. Sayyed Nasrallah said that some Lebanese parties have prejudices and accordingly reject the logic of resistance without any plausible argument, adding that disputes among the Lebanese pertaining the resistance issue have been ongoing since 1948 and must not be given a sectarian aspect. Those parties will never acknowledge the rightfulness of the resistance path despite all the achievements, yet falsely rely on the international community’s role in protecting Lebanon, his eminence said. Sayyed Nasrallah called on the Resistance supporters to avoid engaging in debates with those parties, underlining the importance of addressing those who may accept the logical arguments. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the Lebanese southerners are bearing the main burden of the border confrontation with the Zionist enemy, adding that most of the Resistance martyrs in this battle descend from the border towns.
The majority of the dwellers of border villages have always witnessed that the Resistance defends them, so they have embraced it with all the challenges of the battles and military confrontations which leave martyrs, injuries and massive destruction, Sayyed Nasrallah said, highlighting that the destroyed houses in the ongoing battle will be rebuilt to be better than it was. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah border offensive springs from the religious and moral duty and responsibility of supporting Gaza against the Zionist aggression despite all the stances which blame the Resistance Party for this escalation. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that ‘Israel’ has failed over 130 days to achieve any target in Gaza war, except the monstrous attacks on the civilians.
Concerning the Zionist war on Gaza, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that he will address more details about during a speech he is scheduled to deliver on Friday (February 16) the anniversary of Hezbollah Martyr Commanders. Sayyed Nasrallah felicitated Hezbollah wounded fighters and prisoners as well as their families on their day, stressing that their sacrifices have earthly and divine merits. It is our responsibility to preserve the achievements made by the sacrifices of the prisoners and the wounded, Sayyed Nasrallah maintained. All our prisoners have been liberated, thanks to the sacrifices of resistance, Sayyed Nasrallah said. Sayyed Nasrallah also indicated that Iran has chosen Imam Hussein (A.S.) Birthday as the Revolutionary Guard Day, congratulating the IRGC and highlighting that how the axis of resistance has benefited from the blessings of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 13-14/2024
US, UK carry out fresh strikes on Houthi-controlled Hodeidah province in Yemen
SAEED AL-BATATI/Arab News/February 13, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: The US and UK launched strikes on Houthi-controlled Hodeidah province in Yemen on Tuesday, as rights organizations and government officials accused the militia group of exploiting the Gaza conflict to recruit minors to their own cause.The Houthis’ official news agency, Saba, said the attacks targeted military installations, missile and drone launchers, and ammo stores in At Tuhayta District in the west of the province. The strikes came as US Central Command said on Tuesday that the Houthis launched two missiles at Bab Al-Mandab from areas under their control on Monday morning. The attacks hit the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship and the Greek-owned MV Star Iris. The Houthis said on Monday that the Star Iris, which was transporting corn from Brazil to Iran, was an American vessel and was targeted in revenge for the bombardment of Yemeni land by the US and UK. Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship and launched dozens of missiles and drones at vessels traveling through the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden, preventing Israel-linked ships from passing through commerce lanes off Yemen. The group claims the strikes are intended to push Israel to break its siege of Gaza. This is the first time the Houthis have attacked a ship destined for Iran, the group’s primary patron. According to a regional security source cited by Reuters, the Houthis told Iran before targeting the ship and said the attack was intended to convey a message that Iran has no control over the Houthis and that they are acting independently. Meanwhile, international rights organizations and the government have accused the Houthis of using the war in Gaza and global outcry at the mass killing of Palestinians to recruit minors and send them to the battlefields of Yemen. Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch said: “The Houthis are exploiting the Palestinian cause to recruit more children for their domestic fight in Yemen. “The Houthis should be investing resources in providing the basic needs of children in their territories, like good education, food and water, rather than replacing their childhood with conflict.”Yemeni activists told Human Rights Watch that hundreds, possibly thousands, of children had joined the Houthis since Oct. 7 after being convinced to fight Israelis in Palestine. But instead of sending them to Gaza, the Houthis sent them to fight Yemeni government troops. “The Houthis make children believe that they will fight to liberate Palestine, but they end up sending them to (the front lines in) Marib and Taiz. Indeed, the Houthis’ Gaza is Marib,” an activist who manages a rights group said. Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani has called for a list of Houthi leaders involved in the recruitment of children so they can be sanctioned. The militia group had “mercilessly” dragged tens of thousands of children into the battlefields and used them as fuel for their war, he said. “The Houthi militia has transformed schools under its control into war camps, and classrooms into halls to teach youngsters to disassemble and use light and medium weaponry, as well as indoctrinate them with hard-line sectarian ideologies and hostile slogans acquired from Iran,” Al-Eryani said on X.

IDF has CCTV footage of Hamas leader Sinwar in tunnel under Khan Younis, Israeli official says
Lauren Izso and Vasco Cotovio, CNN/February 13, 2024
The Israeli military has obtained CCTV footage showing the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar inside a tunnel below the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, with his wife, children and another unidentified man, an Israeli security official told CNN on Tuesday. Israel has publicly accused Sinwar of being the “mastermind” behind Hamas’ terror attack against Israel on October 7 – though experts say he is likely one of several – making him one of the key targets of its war in Gaza. It was unclear when the video was recorded, when it was obtained, and what condition Sinwar was in. CNN has not seen the video, but has asked the IDF for comment. Sinwar has been described as Israel’s most-wanted man in Gaza. The Israeli military has declared him a “dead man walking,” nicknaming him in one profile as “the Butcher from Khan Younis” for his alleged role in planning the October 7 attack. In December, the IDF surrounded Sinwar’s house but did not find him, saying then that he was believed to be hiding underground. An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said subsequently that it was “only a matter of time before we get him.” However, he has remained elusive, despite an intensive Israeli assault on Khan Younis, his hometown. On February 6, the IDF said it was still pursuing Sinwar’s whereabouts – and those of other leaders of the militant group in Gaza, with Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfuss, the commander of the IDF’s 98th Division, saying he was confident his troops would “get them.” At the time, he did not respond when asked whether he could say with confidence that Sinwar was still in Gaza.
Longtime Hamas figure
A longtime figure in the Islamist Palestinian group, Sinwar was responsible for assembling Hamas’ military wing before forming important new ties with regional Arab powers as the group’s civilian and political leader. He was elected to Hamas’ main decision-making body, the Politburo, in 2017 as the political leader of Hamas in Gaza branch. However, he has since become the Politburo’s de facto leader, according to research by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). He has been designated a global terrorist by the US Department of State since 2015, and has been recently sanctioned by the United Kingdom and France. The IDF have intensified attacks on central and southern Gaza in recent weeks, including in Khan Younis – an area to which the Israeli military had previously urged large numbers of civilians to flee in the early days of the war, when northern Gaza was the focus of Israel’s operations. Israeli military has long claimed Khan Younis is a major Hamas stronghold, alleging that a tunnel network underneath civilian buildings in the city was likely where Hamas planned the October 7 attacks.
Hamas has denied hiding in hospitals and other civilian structures. CNN cannot independently verify either claim. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after the Hamas attack on October 7, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and over 240 taken hostage. Netanyahu has previously said the campaign is needed to “destroy Hamas’ capabilities.” Since then, Israel’s bombardment and besiegement of the enclave has razed entire neighborhoods, diminished critical supplies and left some 2.2 million Palestinians exposed to high levels of acute food insecurity or worse, dehydration and deadly disease. At least 1.7 million people have been forcibly displaced, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Israeli attacks on the enclave have killed at least 28,340 people and injured at least 67,984, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza.

CIA, Mossad chiefs, Qatar PM meet Egyptians on Gaza truce
Agence France Presse/February 13/2024
CIA director William Burns, Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met Egyptian officials in Cairo Tuesday "to discuss a truce in Gaza", Egyptian media reported. Al-Qahera News, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, reported the "quartet meeting" as international pressure grows for a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Israeli spy agency said Tuesday it was evaluating Hamas's response to a proposed deal to halt fighting in the Gaza Strip, where health officials say more than 28,000 people have been killed. Washington sources familiar with developments confirmed Monday that Burns is expected in Cairo for talks on a Qatari-brokered truce proposal, after Israel rejected the initial response last week from Gaza rulers Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep up Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas by sending troops into Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people have sought shelter. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday that the US does "not support a full-scale military operation" without a "credible plan" for civilians in Rafah. Miller's remarks came hours after Israeli forces rescued two hostages held in Gaza in an operation accompanied by blistering air strikes which killed around 100 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Hamas has said multiple hostages have been killed in recent Israeli air strikes on Gaza, a claim AFP is unable to independently verify. Militants took around 250 people captive during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which sparked the war. Following a November truce, around 130 remain in Gaza, of whom 29 are presumed dead, according to Israeli officials. The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. At least 28,340 people, mostly women and children, have died in Israel's relentless bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry.

Egypt Committed to ‘Peace Treaty’ with Israel, Says Smotrich’s Comments ‘Provocative’
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
In a first comment on reports that Egypt may suspend the peace treaty with Israel, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Monday his country has upheld its peace treaty with Israel for the past 40 years, serving as the foundation for diplomatic relations between the two nations. “There is a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, which has been in effect for the past 40 years and will continue to be. We are actively dealing with this matter at this stage,” Shoukry said during a press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Tanja Fajon in the capital Ljubljana.
Shoukry added that Egypt would adhere to the 1979 peace treaty as long as it remains reciprocal. “Therefore, I will rule out any comments that have been made on this matter,” he said. The FM also affirmed that Cairo will continue its efforts with both parties to reach an agreement that leads to the release of hostages and prisoners and ensuring the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip. He reiterated Egypt’s rejection of forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands, warning against the Israel planned assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Smotrich’s Comments
In a related development, Egypt's foreign ministry on Monday condemned as “unacceptable” and “provocative” comments by Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who claimed Cairo has “considerable responsibility” for Hamas's October 7 attack. Smotrich said during a Monday meeting of his Religious Zionist Party that “the Egyptians bear considerable responsibility for October 7,” also claiming that “much of Hamas's armaments pass through Egypt,” which shares a border with Gaza and has been a key mediator in efforts to end the fighting. In a statement, Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said it was “unfortunate and disgraceful” for the Israeli minister to “continue releasing irresponsible and inflammatory statements.”“Egypt fully controls its territory, and does not allow any party to involve Egypt's name in failed attempts to justify its own shortcomings,” he said.
Tensed Relations
Moreover, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman told MBC Masr on Monday there is “tension” in relations between Egypt and Israel after Cairo confirmed its categorical rejection of a possible Israeli ground military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.Cairo is "ready for any scenario and has many cards to use when the time comes,” Abu Zeid said. On Sunday, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat told The Associated Press that Egypt may suspend the peace treaty if Israeli troops invade Rafah. Netanyahu says Rafah is Hamas' last remaining stronghold after more than four months of war and that sending in ground troops is essential to defeat the group. Also, the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal had reported on Saturday that Egyptian officials warned the decades-long peace treaty between Egypt and Israel could be suspended if Israeli troops enter Rafah, or if any of Rafah’s refugees are forced southward into the Sinai Peninsula.

UN warns Israel: Rafah invasion could ‘lead to slaughter’
REUTERS/February 13, 2024
NEW YORK: The United Nations on Tuesday warned against an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, saying an offensive could “lead to a slaughter” in the southern region of the Palestinian enclave where more than 1 million people are sheltering. Israel says it wants to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there, and is making plans to evacuate trapped Palestinian civilians. “Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths. “We lack the safety guarantees, the aid supplies and the staff capacity to keep this operation afloat. “The international community has been warning against the dangerous consequences of any ground invasion in Rafah. The Government of Israel cannot continue to ignore these calls,” he said in a statement. Talks involving the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a Gaza truce ended without a breakthrough on Tuesday as calls grew for Israel to hold back on its planned Rafah assault. “My sincere hope is that negotiations for the release of hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities to be successful to avoid an all-out offensive over Rafah,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Tuesday. “That would have devastating consequences,” he said. The war in Hamas-run Gaza began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In retaliation, Israel launched a military assault on Gaza that health authorities say has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians with thousands more bodies feared lost amid the ruins. More than half Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering in Rafah, many of them penned up against the border fence with Egypt and living in makeshift tents. Griffiths said they are “staring death in the face.”“They have little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, nowhere to sleep, nowhere safe to go,” he said. “I have said for weeks now that our humanitarian response is in tatters.”

US reviewing reports of civilian harm by Israel, State Dept says
Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis/Reuters/February 13, 2024
WASHINGTON-The United States is reviewing reports that Israel has harmed civilians in its war in Gaza under a set of guidelines aimed at ensuring countries receiving U.S. arms conduct military operations in line with international humanitarian law, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday. The Biden administration has faced criticism for continuing to supply arms to Israel as allegations pile up that American-made weapons have been used in strikes that have killed or injured civilians. "We do seek to thoroughly assess reports of civilian harm by authorized recipients of U.S.-provided defense articles around the world," Miller said at a press briefing, adding that a process under the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG) was assessing incidents in the current conflict. CHIRG was established in August last year, just weeks before Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages during a raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli figures. Israel's ensuing assault on Gaza has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 68,000, according to Gaza health officials. The guidance sets out a process by which State Department officials investigate specific incidents where civilians may have been harmed by U.S. weapons. Miller did not specify when the CHIRG process was initiated or say how many incidents were being reviewed. But a source familiar with the process said the department was looking at least 50 reported incidents of civilian harm."That process is not intended to function as a rapid response mechanism," Miller said. "Rather, it is designed to systematically assess civilian harm incidents and develop appropriate policy responses to reduce the risk of such incidents recurring in the future and to drive partners to conduct military operations in accordance with international humanitarian law."The process is separate from assessments the State Department sometimes undertakes to determine whether atrocities, including crimes against humanity or even genocide, have been committed in a conflict.
Reuters previously reported that Washington had set up a channel to get answers from Israel about incidents in which civilians have been killed or injured or where civilian facilities have been targeted. To date, Washington has not said whether such incidents could trigger restrictions on U.S. assistance, or any other action, if Israel were to be found at fault. President Joe Biden last week issued a new national security memorandum that requires countries receiving U.S. security assistance to provide assurances that they will comply with international law and not restrict aid access in conflicts. The memorandum also requires the departments of State and Defense to report to Congress on whether U.S.-funded weapons have been used in a way inconsistent with international law or inconsistent with established best practices for preventing civilian harm.

Biden, Jordan King Discuss Need for Stability in the Region
Asharq Al Awsat/13 February 2024
Declaring that "every innocent life lost in Gaza is a tragedy,” President Joe Biden welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah II to the White House Monday for talks on how to end the months-long war and plan for what comes afterward.
The meeting with Abdullah comes as Biden and his aides are working to broker another pause in Israel's war against Hamas in order to send humanitarian aid and supplies into the region and get hostages out. The White House faces growing criticism from Arab Americans over the administration's continued support for Israel in the face of rising casualties in Gaza since Hamas launched its Oct 7 attack on Israel, The Associated Press said. “The key elements of the deal are on the table,” Biden said alongside the king, though "there are gaps that remain.” He said the US would do “everything possible” to make an agreement happen: a pause to fighting for at least six weeks and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. A senior US administration official said Sunday that after weeks of shuttle diplomacy and phone conversations, a framework was essentially in place for a deal. The official said Israeli military pressure on Hamas in Khan Younis over the last several weeks has helped bring the group closer to accepting an agreement. Abdullah said Biden's leadership was “key to addressing this conflict,” as he raised the plight of the tens of thousands of civilians killed and wounded in the fighting. “We need a lasting cease-fire now," the king said. “This war must end.” Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have eschewed public support for long-term planning over what happens next, arguing that the fighting must end before such discussions can begin. They have been demanding a cease-fire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket. Biden's stance marks a subtle but notable break for the president, who has continued to oppose a permanent cease-fire. His administration has insisted that Hamas not retain political or military control over Gaza after the war — a key objective of the Israeli operation to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and saw about 250 taken hostage. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians in the territory, displaced over 80% of the population and set off a massive humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, has said the majority of those killed are women and children. Israel claims to have killed about 10,000 Hamas fighters but has not provided evidence. Biden repeated his warning that Israel must not launch a full-scale attack on Rafah, the last major holdout of Hamas where more than 1.3 million people are sheltering unless it devises plans to safeguard the civilians there from harm's way. Earlier Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged there were “legitimate military targets” for Israel in Rafah, but said the Israelis must ensure their operations are designed to protect the lives of innocent civilians. Officials have said the US is not sure there is a feasible plan to relocate civilians out of Rafah to allow military operations to take place.
Biden, who has held out hope for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, added that he and the king discussed the need for the Palestinian Authority, which has some control over parts of the West Bank, to “urgently reform” to be ready to assume some authorities in Gaza if Hamas is removed from power. Abdullah insisted that “Separation of the West Bank and Gaza cannot be accepted.”Earlier Monday, Biden, joined by his wife, Jill, welcomed the king, Queen Rania, and crown prince Hussein at the White House before the leaders met.
It was the first meeting between the allies since three American troops were killed last month in a drone strike against a US base in Jordan. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the deaths, the first for the US after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Biden had planned to visit Jordan during his trip to Israel in October shortly after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, but the trip was scrapped. On his way home from Israel, Biden announced he'd helped broker the first deal to pause fighting temporarily and to open the crossing in Rafah to humanitarian aid. In the months since, members of his administration have made repeated trips to the region to engage with leaders there.

Abbas, Qatari Emir Discuss ‘Day After Gaza War’
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and for holding an international peace conference with international guarantees and a specific timetable to end the Israeli occupation, and the establishment of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 border.Abbas discussed his proposals with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha. Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the Qatari Emir, who had earlier telephoned Abbas twice, is pushing for an internal Palestinian consensus on the day after the Gaza war. According to the sources, Qatar wants to reach a Palestinian agreement that would extend the influence of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, provided it receives the approval of the Hamas movement. In the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Hamas had refused to discuss with Israel any plans for post-war Gaza, insisting that the issue remains an internal Palestinian concern. The sources confirmed that Hamas has a vision for the day after the war on Gaza. “The Movement suggests that the Strip be governed by a consensus government with the mission of rebuilding Gaza and of holding subsequent general elections,” they said. Therefore, Qatar seeks an internal Palestinian agreement on Gaza while Abbas links his handover of the Strip to an international agreement and guarantees on a political path to establish a Palestinian State, the sources said. They added that the Palestinian President also demands guarantees related to the governance, control, security and reconstruction of Gaza. Hamas has long been at odds with Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah group. On Monday, Abbas and Sheikh Tamim held two meetings in Doha, a general and then a closed one. The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said the two men discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, and the efforts made to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to a war of extermination from the Israeli killing machine.
They also touched on the persistent Arab efforts seeking to stop the aggression and pave the way for a political solution based on international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein Al Sheikh, who is accompanying Abbas to Qatar, said the discussions touched on the latest developments in the region and the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people, and the Arab-international dynamic to end the war in the Strip. Israel and the US appear to be on a collision course on who to govern the Gaza Strip after the war ends. On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of attempting to remove the PA from the Gaza Strip by seizing clearing funds, closing all crossings leading to the Gaza Strip, and preventing the delivery of any aid from the West Bank and Jerusalem. At the beginning of the weekly Cabinet session held in Ramallah, he said, “Israel is practicing economic and financial destruction of the PA.”

UN Chief Cites ‘Devastating Consequences’ of an Israeli Offensive in Gaza’s Rafah
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
The United Nations chief says public order has broken down in Gaza and an Israeli military offensive in Rafah, the southern city where some 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge, would have “devastating consequences.”Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also told reporters Tuesday that Israel has imposed restrictions that are limiting the distribution of desperately needed humanitarian aid. He said the current mechanisms for protecting humanitarian workers distributing aid in Gaza “are not effective.”“My sincere hope is that negotiations for the release of hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities to be successful to avoid an all-out offensive over Rafah,” Guterres said. Guterres has spent months calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. In recent days he has expressed fear over what could happen to the displaced Palestinians who have crowded into Rafah if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes ahead with his announced military offensive in the southern city. The secretary-general said “the core” of the UN humanitarian system is located in Rafah and an Israeli offensive there “would have devastating consequences.”

Truce Talks Open in Cairo as Gazans Brace for Israeli Assault on Rafah
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
Officials from the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar met in Cairo on Tuesday in another bid to agree a Gaza truce as calls grew for Israel to hold back on a planned assault on the enclave's southernmost city, crammed with over a million displaced people. Rafah, whose pre-war population was about 300,000, is heaving with homeless people living in tent camps and makeshift shelters who fled there from Israeli bombardments in areas of Gaza further north during more than four months of war. Israel says it wants to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there, and is making plans to evacuate trapped Palestinian civilians. But no plan has been forthcoming and aid agencies say the displaced have nowhere else to go in the shattered territory. Israeli tanks shelled the eastern sector of Rafah overnight, causing waves of panic, residents said. They said displaced people - dozens so far - had begun to leave Rafah after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days. "I fled Al-Maghazi, came to Rafah, and here I am, returning to Al-Maghazi," said Nahla Jarwan, referring to the coastal refugee camp from which she fled earlier in the conflict. "Last night in Rafah was very tough. We're going back to Al-Maghazi out of fear - displaced from one area to another. Hopefully Al-Maghazi area will be safe, God willing." But she added: "Wherever we go, there is no safety."Gaza health officials announced 133 new Palestinian deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 28,473 killed and 68,146 wounded since Oct. 7, when 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas rampage across the border into Israel, triggering the war. Many other people are believed to be buried under rubble of destroyed buildings across the densely populated Gaza Strip, much of which is in ruins. Supplies of food, water and other essentials are running out and diseases are spreading. About half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now squeezed into Rafah."Since Israel said they are invading Rafah soon..., we read our last prayers every night. Every night we say farewell to one another and to relatives outside Rafah," said Aya, 30, who is living in a tent with her mother, grandmother and five siblings.
CEASEFIRE AND HOSTAGES
In Cairo, renewed efforts were underway to secure a truce in a war whose impact has rippled across the Middle East. Egypt's state-linked Al Qahera News said talks had begun involving US, Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials. "The sides are looking for a formula that will be acceptable to Hamas, who says it is only possible to sign a deal once it is based on an Israeli commitment to ending its war and pulling out its forces from Gaza," a Palestinian official told Reuters. The official said Hamas had told the participants it does not trust Israel not to renew the war if the Israeli hostages being held by Palestinian militants are released. The hostages were seized in Hamas' raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Securing their return is a priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as well as wiping out Hamas, which governs the small coastal territory. A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, blamed Israel for the lack of progress in peace efforts so far. There has been one truce to date, lasting a week at the end of November. There was no comment from Israel on the status of the talks. It says it tries to minimize civilian deaths and that Hamas fighters hide among civilians, something the group denies.
'PRETTY MUCH UNLIVABLE'
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who will visit Israel on Wednesday, said with respect to Rafah that Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism, but this did not mean expelling the population. South Africa asked the World Court on Tuesday to consider whether Israel's plan to extend its offensive into Rafah required additional emergency measures to safeguard the rights of Palestinians. In a case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice last month ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel denies it is committing genocide and had asked the court to reject the case outright. Pretoria's government voiced concern that an offensive would result in further large-scale killing, harm and destruction. Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said it had not been informed of any Israeli evacuation plan for Rafah and was not part of it. "Where are you going to evacuate people to, as no place is safe across the Gaza Strip, the north is shattered, riddled with unexploded weapons, it's pretty much unlivable," she said. The UN humanitarian office also said it would not participate in any forced evacuation. US President Joe Biden said on Monday Washington was working on a hostage deal to bring "immediate and sustained" calm to Gaza for at least six weeks. Biden has urged Israel to refrain from a Rafah offensive without a viable plan to protect civilians. In the latest bloodshed, Israel's military said its forces had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in clashes in southern and central Gaza over the last 24 hours. Gaza health officials said an Israeli strike on a house in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed 16 Palestinians overnight. They said another air strike on a car in Gaza City later on Tuesday killed six people including children.

Arab League Secretary-General Warns Israel Against Forcefully Displacing Palestinians
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
The secretary-general of the Arab League has warned on Tuesday Israel against policies he described as forcefully displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Ahmed Aboul Gheit decried what he called an “Israeli mentality” to try and seize land the Palestinians want for their future state. He warned any seizure of the Gaza Strip or the West Bank by Israel would mean “a confrontation for the next thousand years.” “The United States must order Israel to stop these policies or otherwise the Middle East will explode in an unprecedented way,” he said at the World Government Summit in Dubai. He also called on Israel to “empty the settlements” in Palestinian land as well.

Palestinian health officials said on Tuesday Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank.
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as 20-year-old Mohammed Sherif Hassan Selmi and said he was shot in his chest, shoulders and head. The Israeli military said Tuesday that forces were operating in the West Bank city of Qalqilya when the man allegedly attempted to run over soldiers, who opened fired and killed the man. The military said it was not aware of whether any soldiers were wounded. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed offshoot of the secular Fatah party, said its fighters clashed with the Israeli forces but did not claim Selmi as a member. The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out in October. The Health Ministry says more than 380 Palestinians have been killed during that time. The Israeli military says it has arrested more than 3,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began.

Senate Democrat accuses Israel of ‘textbook war crime’ in Gaza
Tara Suter/The Hill./February 13, 2024
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) accused Israel of a “textbook war crime” in remarks on the Senate floor Monday. Van Hollen spoke about a recent analysis from the World Food Program and the United Nations Children’s Fund detailing a lack of access to food in Gaza amid Israel’s retaliatory siege against Hamas on the territory. “Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food,” Van Hollen said in the remarks, highlighted by Mediaite. “In addition to the horror of that news, one other thing is true. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals.”Van Hollen has been critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza throughout its war with Hamas. He has also been critical of President Biden’s handling of the war, once saying that the president should “speak out more clearly” about civilian casualties in Gaza. “I don’t know if it’s hurting the president with fellow Democrats. I do think it’s important that the president speak out more clearly on this issue,” Van Hollen said in November. The president should “take action in response” to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Van Hollen said in his Monday remarks. He also said Biden “must demand” that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “immediately allow more food and water and other life-saving supplies into Gaza.”“And make sure it reaches the children and other people who are starving,” Van Hollen continued. Van Hollen is also the lead sponsor of a proposed amendment that would tie aid to Israel with humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza. “American taxpayer dollars should be used in line with our values and our interests,” Van Hollen said.

NDP pushing Liberals to recognize state of Palestine as U.K., U.S. signal openness
The Canadian Press/Tue, February 13, 202
OTTAWA — New Democrats are calling on the Liberal government to have Canada formally recognize Palestine as a state, saying it would help advance peace in the Middle East. "It's time for Canada to do more, to build a peaceful resolution for the people of Palestine and the people of Israel," NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said Tuesday. McPherson will table a private member's motion in the House of Commons that would recognize Palestinian territories as a sovereign state. The motion should appear in parliamentary documents Wednesday but is unlikely to come up for a vote anytime soon. Still, McPherson is asking MPs to endorse it and pressure the federal government to follow through. The British and U.S. governments have both recently said they're considering fully recognizing Palestine once the Israel-Hamas war ends, she noted. Neither Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly's office nor the Opposition Conservatives responded right away when asked if they would endorse the motion. McPherson announced her motion on Parliament Hill, flanked by a handful of fellow caucus members. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was not present, though his office said he and all caucus members endorse the motion. For decades, the Canadian government has endorsed the eventual creation of a Palestinian country that exists in peace alongside Israel — the essence of what's known as the two-state solution. Canada currently recognizes the Palestinian territories as entities separate from Israel, but not as a state unto themselves. Similarly, Palestine has a diplomatic delegation and ambassador that is fully recognized by Ottawa but not as a country, similar to the European Union ambassador in Ottawa. "I've never understood how the Liberals or the Conservatives can say that they believe in a two-state solution and not recognize two states," McPherson said with a shrug. Doing so would be a necessary step in order to push back against Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing efforts to thwart such an outcome, she said. "From that position, then you can start having peaceful conversations, then you can start looking at what the state of Palestine would look like."Much of Asia and Africa already recognizes Palestine as a state. Mona Abuamara, the Palestinian ambassador to Canada, has been saying for months that Ottawa should do the same. South Africa joined those calls following a January ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered Israel to prevent a genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Iraqi Interior Minister: Border Security Is ‘at its Best’
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
Iraqi Minister of Interior Abdul Amir al-Shammari announced on Monday a plan to buy back weapons from citizens, describing security control on the borders, especially in the central and southern regions of the country, as “at its best.”Speaking on Monday during the inauguration of the North Basra Police Directorate, Shammari underscored the success in securing borders with neighboring countries compared to recent years. The minister’s statements come about two weeks after the inauguration a 160-kilometer-long concrete insulating wall on the country’s western border with Syria.
Iraq has been suffering for years from security instability on its borders, whether with Iran in the east, with Syria in the west, or in the north with Türkiye. The instability increased the smuggling of drugs and allowed the infiltration of terrorists, members of militias and “jihadists” across the border. Al-Shammari pointed to efforts by the Directorate of Drug Affairs in Basra to curb drug operations, by arresting traffickers from neighboring countries and Iraqi dealers, in addition to tightening control on the borders. He added that that authorities plan to meet with local judges, tribal elders, and community groups to further strengthen cooperation. The minister revealed that the authorities have developed a buyback program that would allow gun owners to register light weapons on the “Ur” e-government platform and hand them in at local police stations. Another part of the plan would have the state allocate one billion dinars to each governorate across the country to purchase medium and heavy weapons from owners, he explained, stressing that initiative would continue through the end of 2024 in an effort to eliminate the possession of arms. Official figures showed that more than 7 million light, medium and heavy weapons are in possession of the citizens. In 2022, tribal conflicts erupted in the governorates of Basra, Maysan, and Dhi Qar, which saw the use of heavy weapons, such as mortars, and medium weapons, such as anti-armor launchers.

Russia can keep bleeding tanks and other equipment like it has been in Ukraine for at least anther 2 to 3 more years, war analysts say
Ella Sherman/Business Insider/February 13, 2024
Russia can sustain its current equipment loss rates with what it is making and has in storage for at least 2 to 3 more years, a new analysis says. Some of what Russia has in storage is outdated and not necessarily of the same quality as the systems lost in battle.Ukraine has kept up its arsenal, but it's struggling to field new units with sufficient equipment. Russia is making enough new tanks, fighting vehicles, and other equipment and has enough in storage to sustain its losses in Ukraine, which have been horrendous, for 2 to 3 more years, maybe even longer, according to a new analysis. "Despite losing hundreds of armoured vehicles and artillery pieces per month on average, Russia has been able to keep its active inventory numbers stable," the International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded in a Monday report. Using aerial imagery, the London-based think tank determined that Russia has at least 12 artillery storage bases, 10 central tank reserve bases, and at least 37 mixed equipment and armaments storage bases. The exact number of weapons stored that require restoration and activation for use is unclear though. The new report said that Russia is capable of efficiently replacing its losses through production and its storage and reserve capacity. "Equipment replenishments were roughly keeping pace with battlefield attrition," IISS said, pointing to conclusions that it arrived at in an assessment last year. The UK Ministry of Defense reported that Russia was capable of producing 100 new tanks a month, but experts recently told Business Insider that the new tanks being manufactured were likely older models. Russia has lost thousands of armored vehicles since last February, and it suffered immense losses on the front lines around Avdiivka in fall 2023. The country has been replenishing equipment losses, as well as manpower losses, but in this war, it has at times resorted to using older armored vehicles, such as T-62s and even T-55s. The situation for Ukraine is a bit murky, IISS acknowledged, but the country's arsenal of main battle tanks is believed to be around pre-war levels while Western provisions have increased the availability of some other armored vehicles.Additionally, the country has been able to use a many of the Russian tanks it has captured. But Ukraine's efforts to put additional combat elements in the field have been hindered by insufficient supplies, IISS reported, noting that these problems have been "leaving some units lacking equipment to be even close to full strength." US aid for Ukraine has been stalled in Congress for weeks, and if the support continues to be withheld, greater strain could end up being placed on the Ukrainian military.

Four Armenian soldiers killed in new Azerbaijan border flare-up
Paul Kirby in London & Konul Khalilova in Baku - BBC News/February 13, 2024
Armenia says four soldiers have been killed and a fifth wounded, in the first flare-up of violence on the border with Azerbaijan since the two neighbours began talks on a peace deal. Azerbaijan said it had destroyed an Armenian combat post in the south in retaliation for an earlier incident. Last year Azerbaijan recaptured its Nagorno-Karabakh region held for decades by ethnic Armenians. Armenia has now accused its neighbour of trying to escalate tensions. The attack in Armenia's south-eastern Syunik province also comes days after Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev won a fifth term in office, and local commentators have raised concerns that he may be considering further military action to seize Armenian territory. The defence ministry in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, said its attack on the Armenian position near Nerkin Hand came after an Azerbaijani soldier had been wounded few kilometres away on Monday. It also highlighted a separate border incident hundreds of kilometres north, denied by Armenia. Only recently Azerbaijan's top officials said relations between the two neighbours had become calmer in the past six months. The foreign ministry in Baku said the "provocation" by Armenia's military and political leaders was a serious blow to the peace process in light of recent stability. It said that because the first shooting took place in areas overseen by the European Union's mission in Armenia, the incident raised "serious concerns about the aims and purposes of this mission".More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Azerbaijan's military conquest of Karabakh last September. The South Caucasus territory, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, had been recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan but had been in Armenian hands for more than 30 years. The latest flare-up has revived suggestions that an emboldened Azerbaijan, backed by Russia, may be trying to force Armenia to open a rail and road route known as the Zangezur corridor through Armenian territory to its exclave of Nakhchivan and possibly Turkey too, before any peace agreement is signed. Neighbouring Iran is also concerned by Baku's plans to link Turkey to Azerbaijan through Armenia. Russia has urged the two neighbours to exercise restraint. It has peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh who are due to leave the region next year but the Kremlin is keen to maintain presence in the area. Armenia has recently distanced itself from its former Russian ally after it failed to prevent Azerbaijan's military recapture of Karabakh. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this month that Moscow could no longer be considered Armenia's primary defence partner and Yerevan now sees France and India as two of its biggest arms suppliers. Removing Russia's influence could prove to be a challenging task for Armenia. A significant portion of Armenia's infrastructure, including railroads, gas, and electricity are under Russian control. There is a Russian military base on Armenian territory, and Armenia is a member of both Putin's military and political blocs. Russia's presence extends to the protection of Armenia's borders with Turkey and Iran through Russian border guards - who also operate at the international airport in Armenia's capital, Yerevan. Armenia has also been discussing constitutional changes, demanded by Azerbaijan as part of the proposed peace deal, to remove references to the goal of unification with Nagorno-Karabakh from its main law. Baku sees this as a continued legal claim to Azerbaijani territory. Tens of thousands of Armenians have signed a petition objecting to the constitutional change and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's popularity has declined in Armenia since the military defeat, Pro-government commentators in Azerbaijan have blamed the flare-up in violence on Armenian opposition voices, rather than the prime minister, suggesting they have influence over some sections of the Armenian armed forces.

A former US Army general says Trump wants the US to abandon NATO because he's a 'mafia type' that 'hates alliances'
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan/Business Insider/February 13, 2024
Donald Trump wants the US to abandon NATO because he "hates alliances," a former Army general says. Ben Hodges said Trump was a "mafia type" who "doesn't want anybody restricting his options.""He couldn't care less about moral obligations," Hodges said. A former US Army general says Donald Trump's animosity toward NATO has nothing to do with its members not spending enough on their own defense. "Trump hates alliances. He hates an obligation where he'd have to live up to something," retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of US Army Europe, told the British newspaper The Times in a story published Monday. "Mafia type that he is, he doesn't want anybody restricting his options. He couldn't care less about moral obligations. He's willing to chuck the whole thing away," the retired lieutenant general added. On Saturday, Trump said at a rally in South Carolina that he'd encourage Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to NATO members who weren't meeting their spending obligations. The former president has received backlash for his remarks on the military alliance. On Saturday night, the White House slammed Trump's comments, calling them "appalling and unhinged."While some Republican Party officials have downplayed Trump's remarks as a negotiating tactic, Hodges told The Times that he believed Trump was "absolutely prepared" to abandon Europe if he was elected president again. "We would be foolish not to take at face value exactly what he says," Hodges told the newspaper. "In his last term, he did have people around him who were able to moderate certain things, at least for a period of time.""He won't make that mistake again," Hodges said. Hodges isn't the first person to have likened Trump to the mafia. Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, told The Washington Post in June 2022 that his ex-boss was like a "mob boss."Cohen made the remarks after the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot alleged that Trump's allies had intimidated witnesses. "Donald Trump never changes his playbook. He behaves like a mob boss, and these messages are fashioned in that style," Cohen told the Post. "Giving an order without giving the order. No fingerprints attached."Representatives for Trump and Hodges didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Chinese and Indian companies are about to be hit by sanctions because of their ties to Russia, reports say
George Glover/Business Insider/February 13, 2024
The European Union wants to sanction three Chinese companies for supporting Russia, according to reports.It's also sizing up firms based in Hong Kong, India, Serbia, and Turkey, per Bloomberg and the FT. This would mark the first time the bloc has sanctioned Chinese and Indian businesses since the invasion of Ukraine.The European Union wants to sanction three Chinese companies due to their ties to Russia, according to reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times. It’s also sizing up a business based in India and firms from Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Thailand, the outlets said, citing a draft proposal that hasn’t been made public yet. The EU reportedly wants to ban companies from doing business with the listed parties, which it believes could be aiding the Kremlin in its war in Ukraine. Member states voting through the plan would mark the first time that the trading bloc has imposed restrictions on Chinese and Indian businesses since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. In the aftermath of that attack, the EU, the US, and other Western countries rushed to sanction Moscow, by cutting Russia’s banks out of the SWIFT payments system and capping oil prices. The EU alone has imposed 12 sanctions packages over the past two years. Meanwhile, China and India are yet to roll out similar restrictions and have instead stepped up their purchases of Russian crude. In April 2023, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Beijing to warn China’s leader Xi Jinping not to support Russia’s war efforts. "This visit is taking place in a challenging and increasingly volatile context, in particular because of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," she said in a press conference. "China's position on this is crucial for the European Union.""We also count on China not to provide any military equipment, directly or indirectly, to Russia. Because we all know, arming the aggressor would be against international law. And it would significantly harm our relationship," von der Leyen added.

Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday. (Tunisian media)
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday to denounce their one-year detention without formal charges or trial. The detainees, held on charges of incitement and "plotting against state security", released a statement asking for their immediate release. They also demanded authorities to terminate the security and judicial prosecutions of all politicians and civil society activists who also suffer injustice. In the statement, the six detainees demanded that the authorities cease meddling in judicial affairs, “stop threatening judges and intimidating defense lawyers held for expressing freedom of speech.”
The detainees include politician Khayam Turki, dissident and politician Abdelhamid Jlassi, Secretary-General of the Republican Party, lawyer Issam Chebbi, former Secretary-General of the Tayyar Party, lawyer Ghazi Chaouachi and lawyer Ridha Belhadj. They also include leading member of the National Salvation Front and law professor Jaouhar Ben Mbarek. Ben Mbarek’s sister, Dalida, who is a lawyer and member of the detainees' defense team, said: “The detainees consider themselves prisoners and hostages in the Mornaguia Prison as they have been detained for 356 days without a committing a crime. To date, there has been no evidence that any of the detainees had committed a crime.”The opposition accuses President Kais Saied, who overhauled the political system in 2021 “to rectify the course of the revolution and combat corruption”, of fabricating charges against political dissidents and pressuring the judiciary.

Spanish FM's Visit to Algeria Postponed
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
Hours before his arrival to Algeria, the visit of Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares was postponed to a later date at the host country's request, citing failure to resolve some issues scheduled for discussion, according to Algerian media sources. The Spanish official's visit was scheduled to normalize bilateral relations after months of political and trade rupture following Algiers' protest at a Spanish decision to support the Moroccan Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara. Algeria withdrew its ambassador and suspended the Friendship Treaty signed in 2002. The sources said the date of the visit "had been confirmed until Sunday evening," noting that a Spanish government delegation visited Algeria to discuss the issues that Albares was supposed to address with his counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, and other officials he was scheduled to meet, including Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui. They highlighted that the visit was postponed after the two sides failed to reach a consensus on some of the issues scheduled to be discussed without further details. Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front, wanted an explicit Spanish announcement on its return to neutrality in the Sahara issue in exchange for lifting the ban on trade exchanges. It is likely that the Algerians were hoping Albares would make statements that could be interpreted as "Madrid does not support Moroccan Autonomy, but rather prefers that the conflict be left to the United Nations as the only body authorized to resolve it."Spanish newspaper El País stated on Sunday that the visit had been postponed "for reasons related to an Algerian agenda" without further elaborating. It quoted Albares as asserting that Algeria is a friendly country to Spain, which has always extended its hand for solid relations based on good neighborliness. It also referred to the resumption of trade exchanges in some sectors last month, which was an indication of the return of relations to normal, according to the minister. Ahead of the visit, Algerian sources announced that several issues scheduled for discussion between Albares and Attaf included the resumption of intra-regional trade, the Sahara issue, the situation in Mali, and the Israeli war on Gaza. The two countries share several positions regarding the Gaza war, namely the need for an immediate halt to Israeli aggression and the entry of aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip. Signs of a breakthrough in ties between the two countries appeared last November, with the return of the Algerian ambassador to Madrid 20 months after his withdrawal. Last December, Air Algerie, the national carrier, resumed its flights to major Spanish cities after several months of halt.

China Calls on Israel to Halt Military Operations in Gaza as Soon as Possible
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
China on Tuesday called on Israel to halt military operations in Gaza as soon as possible, a day after Israeli forces rescued two hostages from the Gaza Strip in a dramatic operation that also killed at least 74 Palestinians, according to Palestinian hospital officials. The raid took place in Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where 1.4 million Palestinians have fled to escape fighting elsewhere in the Israel-Hamas war. Women and children were among those killed in the airstrikes, Palestinian officials said. China's Foreign Ministry added in a brief statement on Tuesday that Israel should “do everything possible to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and prevent a more devastating humanitarian disaster in Rafah.”The Palestinian death toll from the war has surpassed 28,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. A quarter of Gaza’s residents are starving. The war began with Hamas’ assault into Israel on Oct. 7, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Israel says about 100 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, while Hamas is holding the remains of roughly 30 others who were either killed on Oct. 7 or died in captivity. Three hostages were mistakenly killed by the army after escaping their captors in December.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 13-14/2024
China's Infiltrators: 'They Are Coming Here to Kill Us'
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/February 13, 2024
China's Communist Party is at this moment putting in place the infrastructure in America to attack America.
[I]n Reedley, California, near Fresno, authorities found a secret Chinese biological weapons lab with at least 20 pathogens, including the one for Ebola, and almost a thousand mice that had been genetically engineered to spread disease.
Chinese agents, in addition to hobbling Americans with disease and gunning them down, could bomb power stations, attack military bases, start wildfires, poison reservoirs, or create terror in dozens of ways.
These tactics come straight out of Unrestricted Warfare, a 1999 book written by two Chinese air force colonels and first published by the PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House in Beijing. The colonels argued that China can and should employ any tactic in attacking a militarily superior United States. Now, Americans can see how Beijing is operationalizing the suggestions in this how-to manual.
Chinese attackers are already in America, more are arriving by the day, and they are armed./
Videos posted to X (Twitter) show Chinese migrants firing pistols. One video is of a Chinese female with a sniper rifle.
There is no Second Amendment in China, and Chinese citizens are not permitted to possess firearms. So is it possible that the shooters in the videos are merely taking advantage of a new-found freedom in their new home country ?
Unlikely.
One of the migrants videoed was in America for only three weeks and arrived in the country with no money and no identification.
If you had just landed somewhere as a migrant with nothing to your name, you would undoubtedly be preoccupied with finding your next meal, getting a place to live, making a livelihood.
You would not, within weeks of entering your new homeland, be sharpening your skills to kill.
You would not be thinking of killing unless... that is what you came to do.
The videos posted on X depict a sandy location. Blaine Holt, a retired Air Force general living in Idaho, knows Chinese migrants are taking target practice in his state as well.
"Tens of thousands of military-age men have come across our border and are now in America, organized by group and nationality" Holt told Gatestone this month. "Among them are terrorist and state actors, in particular, members of the People's Liberation Army of China. As we speak, these actors are training, making plans and obtaining weapons, watching our patterns, and learning our vulnerabilities."
"We are vulnerable to attack," Holt added. "Our enemies eagerly wait."
War correspondent Michael Yon and the Rubin brothers of Muckraker.com have documented the presence of dangerous-looking elements — from China, Iran, Syria and Venezuela — among the hordes of migrants traveling up from Central America. Yon and the Rubins have noticed, among other things, that Chinese males of military age are traveling in packs of five to fifteen, are unaccompanied by family members, and are pretending not to speak English. Some of them, on their way to America, have performed Chinese military rituals.
Federal agents have periodically apprehended border-crossers with terrorist connections, but the surge in migrants from China is taxing law enforcement resources. U.S. Border Patrol chiefs testified last year before the House Homeland Security Committee that they are worried that, due to sheer numbers, migrants with links to the Chinese military and those who are members of the Chinese Communist Party are slipping through background checks.
Despite warning signs, the Biden administration is not keeping tabs on dangerous-looking elements once they have crossed into America.
China's Communist Party is at this moment putting in place the infrastructure in America to attack America. For instance, in Reedley, California, near Fresno, authorities found a secret Chinese biological weapons lab with at least 20 pathogens, including the one for Ebola, and almost a thousand mice that had been genetically engineered to spread disease.
There are no benign explanations for such a facility.
Moreover, it is unlikely that the Chinese regime has only one such lab in America.
It appears that the People's Liberation Army is planning to spread disease by having its agents transport the mice around the United States with its now many operatives already in place.
Chinese agents, in addition to hobbling Americans with disease and gunning them down, could bomb power stations, attack military bases, start wildfires, poison reservoirs, or create terror in dozens of ways.
These tactics come straight out of Unrestricted Warfare, a 1999 book written by two Chinese air force colonels and first published by the PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House in Beijing. The colonels argued that China can and should employ any tactic in attacking a militarily superior United States. Now, Americans can see how Beijing is operationalizing the suggestions in this how-to manual.
"What are these guys doing here?" Holt asked, referring to the Chinese migrants honing their shooting skills. "They are coming here to kill us."
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

‘Shut Up and Wash Some Feet!’ Super Bowl Commercial Promotes Doormat Christianity
Raymond Ibrahim/February 13/2024
Once again, Christians are being reminded that their sole and exclusive function in life is to be doormats for all and sundry. One of Super Bowl Sunday’s ads, titled “Foot Washing,” consists of several consecutive images of people washing the feet of other people.
As might be expected, the ad was infused with a very not so subtle political element: the majority of those washing feet were white or seemed to fit an “American” profile, while an inordinate amount of those getting their feet washed did not. Images included a white woman washing the feet of a recently arrived and annoyed looking Hispanic migrant; a white woman washing the feet of a Muslim woman in hijab; a white man washing the feet of an American Indian; and a white male Christian clergyman washing the feet of a black “trans” man/woman.
At the very end, the point of the commercial was made clear by the following words: “Jesus Didn’t Teach Hate. He Washed Feet.”
So he did. But he also taught so many other things—including that people must repent of their sins or face the fires of Gehenna—and even engaged in violence, as when he flipped tables over and whipped money changers out of the temple.
As such, and seeing that Jesus said and did many things, why is it that Christians are always and only reminded of feet washing and cheek turning?
Could it be because those sponsoring such messages actually dislike and seek to paralyze Christians and their impact on society?
For example, one of the commercial’s images depicted a woman washing the feet of another woman who had apparently just performed an abortion at a “Family Planning Clinic.” The message is clear: the true Christian doesn’t protest on behalf of the unborn outside abortion clinics; the true Christian shuts up and does whatever to accommodate those choosing to “abort” their progeny.
Stripped of its pious veneer, such messaging is tantamount to saying true Christians do not resist but rather accommodate sin. After all, and to be clear, the claim that Christians—anybody for that matter—should not “hate” is a complete smokescreen. Christians do not protest at abortion clinics, or against illegal migration, or against Islam, because they are haters, but because they oppose the killing of the unborn as well as the subversion and making insecure of their nation. Big difference.
And surely the commercial is not saying that opposition is always inherently wrong? For if so, no one would have the right to oppose even a Hitler, but would rather, under the logic of the commercial, be required to wash Nazi feet!
At any rate, such is the diabolical genius: because Christianity is, indeed, a religion of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness, its enemies—including not a few wolves-in-sheeps’-clothing—have learned to exploit and manipulate Christian virtue as a way to paralyze the religion.
Their success is predicated on the fact that so many Christians are ignorant of the complete teachings of their own faith. Put differently, if passivity was all there was to Christianity—foot washing and cheek turning—it would have been overwhelmed and swallowed up by evil a long time ago. A quote from President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt comes to mind:
Christianity was saved in Europe solely because the peoples of Europe fought. If the peoples of Europe in the seventh and eighth centuries, and on up to and including the seventeenth century, had not possessed a military equality with, and gradually a growing superiority over the Mohammedans who invaded Europe, Europe would at this moment be Mohammedan and the Christian religion would be exterminated. Wherever the Mohammedans have had complete sway, wherever the Christians have been unable to resist them by the sword, Christianity has ultimately disappeared.
Such an assertion is, of course, demonstrably true.
But because so many overly comfortable Western Christians are naïve of the perennially embattled nature of their religion, their guard has been systematically brought down—even as all of their traditional enemies continue to make inroads, bringing to mind yet another quote, from Winston Churchill:
[I]f you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

A Palestinian Authority that rewards terrorism has no place in Gaza
Natalie Ecanow/Washington Examiner/February 13/2024
The Biden administration wants a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority to take responsibility for postwar Gaza. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh just announced a plan to launch that revitalization.
Rooting out the PA’s entrenched corruption and inefficiency will be hard enough, but all talk of revival will be hollow unless the PA stops spending hundreds of millions of dollars per year on welfare for terrorists. Yet for now, the PA is actually planning to add more terrorists to the welfare rolls.
Pursuant to PA law, Ramallah offers monthly salaries and other benefits to Palestinians who are, or were, imprisoned in Israel for “participating in the struggle against the occupation.” Families of prisoners and “martyrs” are also eligible for reward, as is any Palestinian who is expelled “by force from his usual place of residence [to locations] inside or outside Palestine.” Critics of the program label it “pay-to-slay.”
Prisoners receive a base salary of approximately $375 per month but can expect a higher payout the longer they remain imprisoned. Hence, the worse the crime, the greater the reward for the perpetrator.
The average daily wage in Gaza is just $15, so pay-to-slay payments may equal or exceed earned income. The average wage in the West Bank is better: $37 per day. But according to the U.S. State Department, nearly one-third of private sector employees in the West Bank earn less than the minimum wage of $570 per month.
Before Oct. 7, the PA spent approximately $13.4 million every month on salaries for Palestinians currently or formerly incarcerated in Israel. However, the PA expanded its pay-to-slay roster in January to include 3,550 new prisoners Israel captured in the current war, increasing Ramallah’s monthly expenditure by at least $1.3 million.
Ramallah will also compensate the families of over 23,000 “martyrs” killed in Gaza during the war. The list of martyrs is drawn from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. This means the families of terrorists killed in Gaza could benefit from their crimes. According to the Israel Defense Forces, approximately 10,000 Hamas fighters have been killed in Gaza during the war.
Ramallah’s annual pay-to-slay expenses are more than $300 million, which is nearly 10% of the PA’s budget. This year, that number will likely grow.
Over the years, the United States and Israel have put mechanisms in place that constrain the PA’s ability to finance pay-to-slay. In 2018, Congress passed the Taylor Force Act, named for an American victim of Palestinian terrorism, which conditions “certain economic assistance” to the PA on the cessation of pay-to-slay. Additionally, Israel withholds over $100 million each year in funds earmarked for Ramallah to offset the money the PA spends on terror salaries.
Unsurprisingly, Israel is less enthused than the U.S. about bringing the PA back to Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he “will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism.”It is a mistake for Washington to place its hopes for a more peaceful Middle East with the PA so long as the pay-to-slay spigot remains open. To be sure, that is not the only reform necessary for the PA to qualify as revitalized. PA President Mahmoud Abbas is serving his 19th year of a four-year term. Economic mismanagement has left the Palestinian economy in decay. Civic institutions need to be overhauled.
Shtayyeh says the PA is ready to address “judicial, security, administrative, and financial” reforms. Even so, the Biden administration should not lower the bar to justify the PA’s return to Gaza. Only after the PA proves it has changed should it be welcome in Gaza. That includes ending pay-to-slay.
*Natalie Ecanow is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan research institute in Washington, D.C., focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow FDD on X: @FDD.

Our World and Democracy… What Democracy!?
Eyad Abu ShakraAsharq Al-Awsat/February 13/2024
The late British leader Winston Churchill made one of the most eloquent political claims of the contemporary era when he said that "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
If this iconic leader of the so-called "free world" and Western democracy has such a view of the political principle that democracies have sought to promote - or rather, impose - across the world, can some of us in the "Third World" that is accused of being backward not be excused for being less naively fascinated with the ideals of democracy as they are manifesting themselves today??
Here, I reference another example of critique, of the Soviet Union, attributed to an American journalist during the Cold War. The journalist asked a Soviet politician about the lack of democracy in the USSR. I am, of course, paraphrasing the conversation:
- Democracy means holding elections and having political parties, and you do not have that in the Soviet Union.
- We do have a party, and we have elections at various party levels. We elect officials, from local councils to the Presidium...
- But you have only one party. What options do citizens actually have?
- It is true, we have one party. But the difference between us is marginal, as you have only two parties in America. You don’t have much broader options than us!
This dialogue may seem somewhat absurd. It could indeed be seen as totally illogical under normal circumstances, but if we were to brush over the historical developments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we would find the following:
First, absolute choices are available to voters under normal circumstances, during times of peace and a desire for coexistence. However, the electorate is often denied such choices under other circumstances, when the authorities are facing an external threat or senses a domestic threat.
For example, despite being a democracy, the US did not hesitate to detain innocent Japanese nationals after Pearl Harbor in early 1941. Most Republicans saw nothing wrong with Donald Trump refusing to acknowledge the presidential election results in the fall of 2020, although those elections were held during his term. Moreover, the majority of Republicans continued to support him after he incited an attack on the Capitol building (the heart of US democracy) on January 6, 2021.
Second, democratic systems (under normal circumstances as well) are broadly tolerant of the "radicalism" of marginal forces, nihilistic factions, or anarchic groups. However, what is known as "establishment" parties share ideological assumptions and are usually governed by networks of higher interests that often go beyond diverse political choices. Thus, when these higher interests impose themselves, effective alternatives essentially disappear.
For instance, in Britain, "anti-Semitism" (as Israel defines it) accusations have become a sword yielded against anyone who objects to the violence in the Gaza Strip, which even President Joe Biden called "over the top." The two major British parties, the Conservatives and Labour - the right and the left - have a "shared interest" in rejecting the characterization of what is happening in the Gaza Strip as a "genocide," despite the fact that 30,000 people, most of them civilians, have died since the attack on October 7.
Remarkably, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is not the only one that insists on using "soft" terms to obscure who is behind the violence. "Bombardments" become "battles;" and victims "die," they are not "killed." In fact, Israeli newspapers like Haaretz appear more objective and bold in their coverage, characterization, and analysis of the events there than serious British newspapers.
Third, the societies that have experimented with "electoral" democracy are gradually staying further away from the spirit of democracy. They are veering away from its foundations of coexistence and tolerance, which guarantee the right to choices, hold those in positions of power accountable, and the independence of the judiciary.
Thus, we see some "electoral" democracies are in crisis, either as a result of the spread of ethnic, religious, and sectarian populism, as in the case of India, Hungary, Italy, and even the United States, or because they have made "hysterical" bets on any option that had not been tested as they seek an escape from reality, as is the case in Argentina today... and as had been the case in Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro.
Fourth, the future of coexistence and international and global compromise seems threatened not only by the distortion of democracy as a principle, practice, and conviction, but also by two major emerging threats:
- The "demographic bomb," with all its deadly implications for migration, asylum, desertification, and scarcity of resources.
- And the "technological bomb" of "artificial intelligence" after the "communication revolution" and the rise of "information technology" diminished the role of humans in cultural interactions and limited cultural fusion.
Today, humanity is gradually transforming, in the best case, into consumers and spectators. In the worst case, we are becoming mute and deaf puppets on which higher volition that we are unable to - or even unaware that is in our interest to - resist.
We are now prisoners of a world we were told we have been subjected to our free will. We now find ourselves incapable of electing a town president or a village mayor or getting news that is not fabricated or finding information that is not falsified!

Headline-grabbing climate protests can be good for democracy
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/February 13/2024
Yes, environmental activists can be irritating when they make a nuisance of themselves and overplay their self-righteousness. There is a trend among them — that is growing in both numbers and influence — that has reached the conclusion, whether strategically or out of despair, probably both, that only shock tactics and disruptive antics will shake up a complacent society when it comes to the looming climate change catastrophe.
In response to such actions, it has been the Conservative administration in the UK that has led the pack of governments enacting antidemocratic legislation to deter people from joining the ranks of these environmental protesters. These activists are now more likely to be stopped and harassed by police and, on occasion, even muzzled by the courts, regardless of whether their protests are peaceful or not. As a result, there is a real danger of conflating the irritating with the illegal.
There are several legitimate questions that can be raised regarding how protests are generally conducted and how they are perceived by the wider public. Their legality is an important consideration and cannot just be dismissed by protesters in the name of saving the planet. On the other hand, trivializing the climate change discourse could lead people, especially the younger generation, to conclude that their concerns on an issue that determines their future are being ignored and, hence, they gradually blur the lines between what is legal and what is not.
For a minority of them, the legitimacy of their cause, combined with a sense of urgency, leads them to believe that it justifies breaking the law, or at least stretching it. But this risks backfiring and driving away the very people they would like to attract to their ranks.
For those activists who are highly invested in the issue and believe that the end of planet Earth is just around the corner, the somewhat relaxed attitude of the wider public is terrifying and the need to change this has become a burning desire. The fact that many of them are young, sometimes very young — take, for instance, Greta Thunberg and her environmental warriors — means that there is plenty of unarticulated energy waiting to explode. The names of some of these organizations are also telling regarding their cataclysmic implications, such as Extinction Rebellion and Last Generation. Their vision of where the current situation is leading does not greatly differ from what most scientists predict.
Admittedly, many of us feel quite uncomfortable when we see protesters throwing soup at the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre in Paris, even if we sympathize with their call for “healthy and sustainable food” and are aware that, for many years, this much-targeted classic painting has been protected by bulletproof glass and a sophisticated alarm system. Others are irritated when road traffic is halted by activists, flights are delayed by protesters gluing their hands to the runway or the entrance to the headquarters of an energy industry giant is occupied by a chanting crowd.
Yet, a democracy should be able to tolerate these protests, within reason, and cherish the fact that people care about the future well-being of their societies without imposing draconian legislation or police practices that compromise the very basic rights of freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
Sometimes, police in the UK and their political masters have been too eager to act. This month, Thunberg and four other environmental activists, who were charged with public order offenses over a protest in London, were cleared after a judge ruled that they had no case to answer. It was an obvious case of police officers using neither judgment nor common sense when applying Section 14 of the 1986 Public Order Act. This is a very dangerous piece of legislation that can curtail protests almost entirely on the whim of any police officer.
It was not surprising, then, that Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, last month warned that, despite our planet’s triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, we are seeing “severe crackdowns on environmental defenders in the United Kingdom, including in relation to the exercise of the right to peaceful protest.” It is inconceivable and very worrying that peaceful protesters in the UK could be jailed for up to 10 years for the criminal offense of being a “public nuisance.”
In December, a climate protester who participated in a slow march along a public road for about half an hour was sentenced to six months in prison under the Public Order Act 2023. Again, this protester was probably a nuisance, but half a year’s incarceration for being a nuisance raises the possibility of a huge spate of imprisonments — and not only of climate change protesters.
What also prompted Forst’s scathing criticism was a judge who prevented peaceful environmental protesters from explaining the context of their actions and outlining their motivations to the jury in their case, including mentioning the climate crisis, fuel poverty or even the history of civil disobedience as a valid democratic tool against arbitrary decisions by government.
As with all issues that have a significant impact on the nature and future of our societies — let alone, in this case, our very existence — there is a need for an inclusive global dialogue among all those affected by environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity. This is especially the case as there is a massive difference between how these issues affect people’s health, livelihoods, shelter and life expectancy in different parts of the world, along with their resources and ability to respond to these challenges.
The fact that many activists are young means that there is plenty of unarticulated energy waiting to explode.
The UK, as other countries, has a long tradition of nonviolent political activity and protest that has led to positive change, such as universal suffrage, improvements in workers’ rights and legislation for race and gender equality. In recent decades, however, there have been general complaints about political apathy, especially among the youth. Perhaps young people once thought that there was no cause worth fighting for, but climate change has changed this.
The test of a democracy is for us to be able to hear things that make us uncomfortable, to see things that upset us and sometimes to have our lives disrupted without these activities being criminalized. Fighting climate change can sometimes divide our societies, but it is also an opportunity to galvanize citizens around a common cause, which in the process could also make our democratic system more robust.
**Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at international affairs think tank Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg

US minorities grapple with how to see Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Kerry Boyd Anderson/Arab News/February 13/2024
The war in Gaza has highlighted shifting perspectives within the American public toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The brutality of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the extreme scale of the devastation and death in Gaza have put new pressure on activists, politicians and community leaders to take a public stand on the war. For some racial and ethnic communities, this has led to complicated discussions and challenged traditional alliances.
Polling shows that there are strong generational and partisan differences. Younger Americans are far more likely than older Americans to sympathize with the Palestinians and oppose sending more economic and military aid to Israel. Democrats are also much more likely than Republicans to sympathize with the Palestinians.
The racial and ethnic differences in views toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are less distinct than the generational and partisan differences, but they do exist. In recent polling from The New York Times and Siena College, white Americans were much more likely than Americans of color to sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians. The survey found that 56 percent of white respondents sympathized more with Israel, compared to 28 percent of Black Americans, 36 percent of Hispanic Americans and 34 percent who identified as “other.”
However, responses to other questions about President Joe Biden’s policies toward Israel painted a complicated picture. In the poll, the only racial group in which a plurality sympathized more with Palestinians were Black Americans — 28 percent sympathized more with Israel and 34 percent with the Palestinians. However, a majority (52 percent) of Black Americans supported sending more aid to Israel, while Hispanics and other nonwhite Americans were more likely to oppose it. Black Americans were split on whether they supported Biden’s handling of the conflict.
These results reflect a deeper debate within the Black American community. Black Americans have a long history of identifying with the plight of Jews. Black slaves identified with the Exodus story in the Bible, which depicts the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt. Many Jewish activists and leaders played an important role in supporting the civil rights movement. Churches play an important role in Black communities and many of their leaders built interfaith relationships with Jewish leaders.
There are also historical links between some Black activists and pro-Palestinian activists, though they were often on the fringes of the civil rights movement. In recent years, those links have expanded and became more mainstream. One important driver was the role of Palestinian Americans in supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which created new connections between activists from different communities who increasingly saw commonalities between their causes.
As many younger Americans from all racial and ethnic groups increasingly adopted an interest in social justice, many saw similarities between the experiences of Palestinians and Black Americans. The availability of smartphones allowed both Black Americans and Palestinians to take videos of abuses and show them to the world, with social media making it easier for both groups to share their experiences, including with each other.
Some Black leaders are struggling to decide how to respond. They want to maintain long-standing relationships with Jewish communities while also recognizing the suffering of Palestinians, but that is an increasingly precarious balance. A growing number of Black activists argue that they must embrace solidarity with all persecuted peoples, including Palestinians. Some of them also see the current Israeli government as expressing and enacting a form of racial superiority that feels similar to how white supremacists have acted against Black people in the US. On the other hand, some Black leaders reject comparisons between Palestinians’ and Black Americans’ experiences. Some worry that expressing support for the Palestinians would lead to accusations of antisemitism and would damage relationships with Jewish organizations.
Hispanic communities in the US are very diverse and that diversity is reflected in their views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the Times/Siena poll, 36 percent of Hispanics sympathized more with Israel, compared to 27 percent with Palestinians, but respondents were split on whether to support more aid to Israel. Some trends among Hispanics suggest a tendency to favor Israel, including a strong evangelical Christian movement that embraces Israel, a Jewish Latino diaspora and a history of support from Jewish activists on issues related to Hispanic civil rights and immigration. However, some Hispanics also embrace a social justice approach that tends to be sympathetic to the Palestinians.
Many younger Americans have seen similarities between the experiences of Palestinians and Black Americans.
The Times/Siena poll found that 34 percent of respondents who identified as “other” (not white, Black or Hispanic) sympathized more with Israel, compared to 22 percent with the Palestinians. However, that same group was the most strongly opposed to sending more aid to Israel (58 percent opposed).
A recent AAPI poll found that Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans tend to see US policy as favoring Israel too much. A strong majority of Arab Americans sympathize with the Palestinians. Native Americans often see commonalities with their experience of displacement and dispossession and that of the Palestinians. Within the US population as a whole and within specific racial and ethnic groups, younger people and Democrats are significantly more likely to sympathize with the Palestinians. Age and party identification are stronger factors than race in shaping views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, as some racial and ethnic communities grapple with how to view the conflict, the war in Gaza is shaking up some old alliances and posing difficult questions to American equality and social justice activists.
**Kerry Boyd Anderson is a professional analyst of international security issues and Middle East political and business risk. X: @KBAresearch

Rafah offensive threatens to break fragile Biden-Netanyahu ties
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/February 13/2024
Israel’s plan to launch a ground offensive into the heavily populated enclave of Rafah, nestled close to the Egyptian border in the Gaza Strip, could bring relations between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a tipping point. Netanyahu has angered the White House by ignoring US warnings regarding the planned incursion into Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge and are living under horrendous conditions.
Already, Biden has changed his tone on Israel’s four-month war on Gaza by calling the Israeli response “over the top,” in reference to the killing of more than 28,000 Palestinians so far and the vast destruction of at least 60 percent of civilian infrastructure, rendering more than 1.8 million people homeless and displaced. Privately, Biden is reported to have used foul language to describe Netanyahu’s rebuff of US attempts to conclude a negotiated, lengthy truce coupled with the release of captives. Instead, Netanyahu rejected what he called Hamas’ “delusional demands,” which included a conditional ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and vowed to push into Rafah to secure a decisive victory.
Israel’s announcement that it plans to launch a ground operation in Rafah has been rejected by the EU, the UK and the UN, as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. All have warned that such an incursion will result in a horrific human toll. Rafah has become a tent city, where tens of thousands of Gazans have fled from Gaza City, Jabalia, Bureij and other refugee camps, as well as Khan Younis, where Israel has said it dismantled Hamas’ main operational headquarters and killed thousands of its fighters. It now says it needs to enter and clear Rafah of the last four battalions belonging to Hamas. It also believes most of the Israeli captives are being held there.
In response to the fact that Rafah is now home to over a million Gazans, Netanyahu has ordered his army to prepare an evacuation plan, without offering much detail. He suggested that Rafah residents head to the northern part of the Strip, but the UN and other aid agencies warned that much of the north has become a wasteland with no access to humanitarian aid. The logistics of moving such vast numbers of civilians, already suffering from malnutrition and disease, debunks Netanyahu’s suggestion that his army has the safety of civilians as a priority. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military as they fled to so-called safe areas in the recent past.
But it is not only the fear of a bloodbath straining Biden’s relationship with Netanyahu. To balance his unequivocal support of Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Biden has promised to open a clear path toward the fulfillment of a two-state solution, i.e., the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu has flatly rejected Biden’s premise and vowed that Israel will have absolute control over all the territories west of the River Jordan.
Added to this, he has also brushed off Biden’s suggestion that Gaza is part of the future Palestinian state and that the Palestinian Authority must take over once Hamas is defeated. Netanyahu has affirmed that Israel will have complete and indefinite security control over Gaza. His far-right coalition government has also been carrying out security operations in the West Bank, killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians and destroying infrastructure and allowing Jewish settlers to go on the rampage, terrorizing Arab residents.
Extremist ministers in his Cabinet have been taking steps to weaken and defund the PA. At the same time, Netanyahu himself has said that he will not repeat the historical mistake of Oslo that created the PA.
Biden faces pressure from America’s Arab allies. For Egypt, a Rafah offensive will almost certainly push tens of thousands of fleeing Palestinians across the border and into Sinai. So worried is Cairo that it has deployed tanks and air defense systems close to the border. Egypt has also told Israel that it taking control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor will not be tolerated. Its most recent warning to Israel hinted that any breach could lead to the suspension of the peace treaty between the two.
The Biden administration had hoped to entice Netanyahu by reviving normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel. But Riyadh dampened Washington’s hopes by stressing that Israel must first end the war in Gaza and commit to a clear path toward a Palestinian state before such talks can commence.
America’s Arab allies now believe that the Biden administration has no leverage over Netanyahu, whose defiance has humiliated and frustrated the US administration. They want to see regional de-escalation taking place, especially as Israeli crimes in Gaza have inflamed popular sentiments and heightened tensions in south Lebanon, the Red Sea, Iraq and Syria.
But for Biden, Israel’s war has also become a domestic issue in a decisive election year. Polls show that young Democratic voters are overwhelmingly opposed to his support of Israel and are in favor of an immediate ceasefire. Polls also show that Biden is at risk of losing the Arab American and Muslim American votes in November because of the war in Gaza.
On another front, the International Court of Justice’s initial ruling last month has dealt a heavy blow to Israel’s closest allies, especially the US. The court concluded that at least some of the acts Israel is alleged by South Africa to have committed could fall within the provisions of the Genocide Convention. The court asked Israel to take measures to protect civilians in Gaza and adhere to international law. It also called on Israel to present a report by Feb. 23 showing that such measures have been taken.
But Israel’s conduct in Gaza has not changed since the court’s ruling. Thousands of civilians have since been killed due to indiscriminate bombing, snipers targeting civilians and the blowing up of residential buildings, as well as schools, mosques, shelters and hospitals. The delivery of life-saving aid has also been hindered.
Netanyahu has flatly rejected Biden’s premise and vowed that Israel will have absolute control over all the territories.
In an attempt to put pressure on Netanyahu, the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on radical Jewish settlers in the West Bank. And it last week issued a directive attaching human rights conditions to the use of US military aid. The directive authorizes a swift cutoff of military assistance to countries that violate international protections of civilians.
But despite all this, Netanyahu remains defiant and indifferent to Biden’s qualms, with his eyes focused solely on the local Israeli scene, where his political survival is now tethered to the outcome of the war on Gaza. A total victory, regardless of the political and economic cost, is his only concern, even if that means a breach with the Biden White House and severe damage to Israel’s ties with its Western allies, not to mention a possible indictment by the International Criminal Court.
Netanyahu is betting that a vulnerable Biden will blink first and that Israel’s allies in Congress will come to his rescue, even if the US president takes off the gloves and challenges the rogue Israeli premier. His gambit appears to be working.
Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010