Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 18-19/2024
The leper’s faith teaches us that God always listens and responds to our requests when we approach Him with pure hearts/Elias Bejjani/February 18/2024
Iran warns Hezbollah: 'Don't give Netanyahu an excuse for a wider war'
Israeli airstrikes and shells target several southern towns
French Source to Asharq Al-Awsat: Chances of Comprehensive War in Lebanon Are Very High
Maronite Patriarch: Heroism lies in avoiding war, not in waging itLebanon News
Leadership vacuum: Metropolitan Audi questions Lebanon's future
Hariri Left Lebanon
Derian after meeting with Hariri: Dar al-Fatwa is keen on preserving all the Lebanese
French escalating concern over 'comprehensive war' in Lebanon
Exploring Zero Coupon Bonds in Lebanon's Financial Crisis
New Measures Regarding the Exchange Rate of the Dollar in Lebanon
Netanyahu refused to discuss policy on Lebanon in Cabinet: Reports'

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 18-19/2024
Pope Francis appeals for an end to Sudan's civil war
US conducted five self-defense strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, military says
Houthis will always threaten Red Sea even if Gaza war ends, says Al-Alimi
Gaza Health Ministry: 28986 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct.'
Brazilian president accuses Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza, compares it to Hitler's regime
Macron, El Sisi confirm their “firm opposition” to an Israeli attack on Rafah
Prospects for Ceasefire Dim as Israel Rejects Calls to Spare Rafah
Israel opposes 'unilateral' imposition of Palestinian state
UN court to weigh consequences of Israel occupation
Yoav Gallant claims Hamas is looking for a successor to Sinwar
Israel strikes across Gaza as US says will block another UN truce resolution
Fighting, Fuel Shortages Knock Out Gaza’s Second-Largest Hospital
Egypt Reiterates Rejection of Plots to ‘Displace Palestinians’
Jordanian Army Says 5 Drug Dealers Killed on Border with Syria
Russia to host Palestinian factions for reconciliation talks in Moscow
Putin says Ukraine matter of life and death for Russia
What continued drone strikes on Russian oil refineries could mean for war with Ukraine
Denmark to send its 'entire artillery' to Ukraine, the country's prime minister says
US says will veto Algerian resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on February 18-19/2024
And the Winner Is — Hamas!/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/February 18, 2024
My Father Would Weep for America/Patti Davis/The New York Times/February 18/2024
Artificial Intelligence: For Sustainability or Destruction?/Najib Saab/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
The Crisis of Confidence in International Organizations is Real/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
A new wave in Turkish-Egyptian relations/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/February 18, 2024
The urgent need for regime change in Iran/ERFAN FARD/JNS/February 18, 2024
The war in Gaza was caused by Islamic messianism/DR. ARNOLD SLYPER/JNS/February 18, 2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 18-19/2024
The leper’s faith teaches us that God always listens and responds to our requests when we approach Him with pure hearts
Elias Bejjani/February 18/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/52983/elias-bejjani-the-lepers-solid-faith-cured-him/
Don’t you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to obedience, his servants you are whom you obey?
Christ, the Son of God, is always ready and willing to help the sinners who seek forgiveness and repentance. When we are remorseful and ask Him for exoneration, He never gives up on us no matter what we did or said. As a loving Father, He always comes to our rescue when we get ourselves into trouble. He grants us all kinds of graces to safeguard us from falling into the treacherous traps of Satan’s sinful temptations.
Jesus the only Son Of God willingly endured all kinds of humiliation, pain, torture and accepted death on the cross for our sake and salvation. Through His crucifixion He absolved us from the original sin that our first parents Adam and Eve committed. He showed us the righteous ways through which we can return with Him on the Day Of Judgment to His Father’s Heavenly kingdom.
Jesus made his call to the needy, persecuted, sick and sinners loud and clear: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) The outcast leper believed in Jesus’ call and came to Him asking for cleansing. Jesus took his hand, touched him with love, and responded to his request.
The leper knew deep in his heart that Jesus could cure him from his devastating and shameful leprosy if He is willing to do so. Against all odds he took the hard and right decision to seek out at once Jesus’ mercy.
With solid faith, courage and perseverance the leper approached Jesus and begging him, kneeling down to him, and says to him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.” When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was made clean. Jesus extended His hand and touched him with great passion and strictly warned him, “See you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” But the leper went out, began to proclaim it much, and spread about the matter so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places: and they came to him from everywhere. (Mark 1/40-45)
We sinners, all of us, ought to learn from the leper’s great example of faith. Like him we need to endeavour for sincere repentance with heartfelt prayer, begging Almighty God for absolution from all our sins. Honest pursuit of salvation and repentance requires a great deal of humility, honesty, love, transparency and perseverance. Like the leper we must trust in God’s mercy and unwaveringly go after it.
The faithful leper sensed deep inside his conscience that Jesus could cleanse him, but was not sure if he is worth Jesus’ attention and mercy.
His faith and great trust in God made him break all the laws that prohibited a leper from getting close to or touching anybody. He tossed himself at Jesus’ feet scared and trembling. With great love, confidence, meekness and passion he spoke to Jesus saying “If you will, you can make me clean.” He did not mean if you are in a good mood at present. He meant, rather, if it is not out of line with the purpose of God, and if it is not violating some cosmic program God is working out then you can make me clean.
Lepers in the old days were outcasts forced to live in isolation far away from the public. They were not allowed to continue living in their own communities or families. They were looked upon as dead people and forbidden from even entering the synagogues to worship. They were harshly persecuted, deprived of all their basic rights and dealt with as sinners. But in God’s eyes these sick lepers were His children whom He dearly loves and cares for. “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. Matthew(5/11-12)
The leper trusted in God’s parenthood and did not have any doubts about Jesus’ divinity and power to cleanse and cure him. Without any hesitation, and with a pure heart, he put himself with full submission into Jesus’ hands and will knowing that God our Father cannot but have mercy on His children. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. (Matthew5/8)
We need to take the leper as a role model in our lives. His strong and steadfast faith cured him and put him back into society. We are to know God can do whatever He wants and to trust Him. If He is willing, He will. We just have to trust in the goodness and mercy of God and keep on praying and asking, and He surely will respond in His own way even though many times our limited minds can not grasp His help.
Praying on regular basis as Jesus instructed us to is an extremely comforting ritual: “Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions” (Mark 11/24-26)
The leper’s faith teaches us that God always listens and always responds to our requests when we approach Him with pure hearts, trust, confidence and humbleness. Almighty God is a loving father who loves us all , we His children and all what we have to do to get His attention is to make our requests through praying. “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened”. (Matthew 7/8 -9)
N.B: The above piece was first published in year 2014/It is republished with Minor changes

Iran warns Hezbollah: 'Don't give Netanyahu an excuse for a wider war'
Ynetnews/February 18/2024
Tehran warns of retaliation while urging its Middle East proxies to avoid escalation, believing the 'axis of resistance' holds a victorious stance, having focused attention on Palestinians and hindered regional normalization efforts. Iran, keen on destabilizing U.S. and Israeli interests in the Middle East while avoiding direct confrontation, is urging Hezbollah and its other proxy groups to exercise restraint against U.S. forces, The Washington Post reported on Sunday. The recent escalation of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has further fueled tensions between the United States and Iran's proxy forces on multiple fronts. As a cease-fire remains elusive, Iran may soon face a critical test of its ability to control these allied militias. This month, Iranian officials convened with Hezbollah members in Lebanon, where one Hezbollah representative outlined Tehran's stance: Iran is not inclined to provide Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any reason to launch a wider war on Lebanon or anywhere else. Emphasizing the strength of the resistance axis, Iranian officials conveyed to Hezbollah leaders that recent events, particularly the war in Gaza, have refocused global attention on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, complicating efforts by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to normalize relations with Israel. However, Iranian officials cautioned that these gains could be jeopardized if Israel initiates another front in Lebanon. Echoing this sentiment, the Hezbollah representative summarized the message: Netanyahu finds himself in a precarious position. We must not offer him an escape route. Allowing him to instigate a broader war would only elevate his standing as a victor. In addition, Iranian officials didn't just urge Hezbollah to refrain from escalating into warfare but also advised restraint regarding their activities in Iraq. Tehran warned the U.S. against any threats and emphasized its readiness to respond to any attacks against its interests. Additionally, Tehran requested caution from militias in Iraq, shortly after they attacked the American base in Erbil, resulting in three dead.

Israeli airstrikes and shells target several southern towns
Naharnet/February 18/2024
Israeli warplanes on Sunday carried out a strike on the Abou al-Laban neighborhood in the southern border town of Aita al-Shaab, the National News Agency said. Warplanes also targeted two houses in the southern town of Yaroun, causing no casualties, NNA said. Israeli artillery shelling meanwhile targeted the Beit Leef valley. The Israeli army for its part said it targeted "Hezbollah infrastructure" in Yaroun and "eliminated threats" with artillery shelling on Alma al-Shaab and Dhayra. Hezbollah had on Saturday attacked six Israeli posts in northern Israel and the occupied Shebaa Farms. Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. The cross-border exchanges have killed at least 268 people on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also 40 civilians. On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army. The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly warned that it might use force against Hezbollah to secure its residents' return amid ongoing indirect negotiations over a political solution.

French Source to Asharq Al-Awsat: Chances of Comprehensive War in Lebanon Are Very High
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
The international community is still seeking to come up with the groundwork to ease the tensions in southern Lebanon and kick off negotiations, or any form of action, that would avert a comprehensive war with Israel. A French diplomatic source warned that the chances of such a war happening are “very high.” Amos Hochstein, top aide to US President Joe Biden, stressed that Washington is seeking to keep the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon at the “lowest level”. He underlined the importance of the return of residents of the South and of northern Israel to their homes. A French diplomat, meanwhile, said Paris was still holding on to the possibility of achieving some form of breakthrough in de-escalating the tensions in the South and averting a war. The official added that these efforts are not biased towards Israel, noting that French officials have lately been taking firm stances with the Israelis against settlers in the West Bank. They stressed the need to respect international law and human rights. The diplomat acknowledged that at the beginning of the Gaza war, France was biased towards Israel given how horrific the attack on October 7 was and that 42 French nationals were killed that day. The situation has since changed with France clearly making a shift in its stance. Moreover, the diplomat said the situation in Lebanon was “very dangerous. The chances of a comprehensive war grow with every day that passes. So, we can’t just wait for the war in Gaza to end to restore calm on the Lebanese border.”
He added that the initiative made by France has not yet been presented to the mediators, explaining that current efforts are focused on consultations to secure the ground for launching negotiations.
Hochstein
Meanwhile, Hochstein told CNBC that the situation on the border between Lebanon and Israel has changed since October 7. “It was the responsibility of the United States to further support the Lebanese army and the economy in southern Lebanon, which would also require international support from Europe and the Gulf states.”The US official met with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Munich Security Conference on Friday. The officials discussed the ongoing tensions on the Lebanese southern border and the need for a lasting diplomatic solution that would help achieve permanent stability and return the displaced to their homes. Mikati met with several officials in Munich on Saturday to underscore the need to end the war. He met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. They stressed the need to end the Israeli war on Gaza and reach a ceasefire. Efforts could then be kicked off to reach a lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Mikati also met with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, praising his support for the need to implement the two-state solution to the conflict.
Quintet searches options
Meanwhile, a French diplomatic source revealed that French presidential envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian is currently coordinating on the regional level to determine the direction that will be taken by the “Quintet for Lebanon”. The group includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States, Egypt and France. The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the quintet was focusing on three main points, including holding a conference in Lebanon that includes all Lebanese parties to tackle the election of a new president. The source made it a point to avoid describing the conference as dialogue, stressing the need for the meeting to be inclusive. The second point focuses on whether the quintet will name a presidential candidate after holding consultations with the Lebanese parties. The third point focuses on whether to impose sanctions on parties that are impeding the elections. Supporters of this point cite how the quintet has exhausted all options to convince the Lebanese leaderships of the need to reach a solution that would end the vacuum in the presidency that started in November 2022. Bickering between political parties has led to the current deadlock. The source said Le Drian was working on coming up with a unified position to deliver a message to the Lebanese parties that stresses the need for them to assume their responsibilities. It says that the quintet and Lebanon’s friends cannot substitute for the Lebanese leaderships in choosing a president. It questions how the Lebanese political class is completely relying on foreign intervention to end the presidential impasse and how it is convinced that this intervention alone will resolve their problems. They have completely surrendered to this idea and have not taken any serious steps towards ending the deadlock, opting instead to await what foreign powers will do. The source added that Lebanon was not suffering from a constitutional crisis. The constitution is clear about the mechanism to elect a president. It is up to the Lebanese parties to assume their responsibilities towards this end. Le Drian will deliver the message and make it clear to Lebanese officials that their country cannot remain without a president given pressing internal and external factors that obligate them to end the deadlock. On the internal scene, Lebanon is suffering a stifling economic and financial crisis and needs its institutions to resume normal functioning. On the external scene, major developments are taking place in the region and the Lebanese need to remain abreast of them. When the time comes for a regional conference, it would be unacceptable for Lebanon’s seat to remain vacant. If there won’t be anyone who will speak for Lebanon, then someone will speak on its behalf.

Maronite Patriarch: Heroism lies in avoiding war, not in waging itLebanon News
LBCI/February 18, 2024
Maronite Patriarch: Heroism lies in avoiding war, not in waging it
The Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over Sunday Mass in Bkerké. During this Mass, Caritas Lebanon launched its annual campaign under the slogan "From Your Hand to the Door of Heaven."
In his sermon, al-Rahi emphasized that true heroism lies in avoiding war, not in waging it. He stressed that the current state of division and mistrust, which hinders the functioning of the state, cannot continue. Al-Rahi said, "Let everyone put above all else the goal of building national unity through new means and a new language, especially loyalty to our ultimate homeland, Lebanon."

Leadership vacuum: Metropolitan Audi questions Lebanon's future
LBCI/February 18, 2024
In the Sunday sermon, Metropolitan Elias Audi, the head of Beirut and its Suburbs Greek Orthodox Church, lamented the regression of Lebanon, attributing it to the erosion of democratic principles and a descent into chaos and authoritarianism. Addressing the congregation, Audi posed probing questions about the nation's state, emphasizing the absence of effective leadership under the constitution, the weakening of the military, and the rampant instability fueled by unchecked power dynamics. "Can a nation truly flourish without a guiding leader adhering to constitutional principles? How can our armed forces stand strong when institutions are weakened, decisions are manipulated, and citizens suffer daily consequences?" Audi questioned. Drawing attention to the plight of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of political turmoil, Audi highlighted the exploitation of state resources and the unequal distribution of rights and responsibilities among citizens.

Hariri Left Lebanon
NNA/February 18, 2024
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri left Beirut this evening, expressing his appreciation and gratitude to “the tens of thousands of loyal people who came from various Lebanese regions and from the capital, Beirut, to participate in commemorating the anniversary of the assassination of martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his companions.”He renewed his call to “everyone, especially the people of loyalty, to preserve the country,” and said: “As we were together, so we will remain, and I will be by your side wherever I may be...”While regretting not being able to meet with all the delegations due to time constraints, Hariri expressed his hope to "meet with everyone in the near future."

Derian after meeting with Hariri: Dar al-Fatwa is keen on preserving all the Lebanese
NNA/February 18, 2024
Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul-Latif Derian, received on Sunday former Prime Minister Saad Hariri at Dar al-Fatwa, with talks touching on the prevailing conditions and ways of boosting national unity in the country. In an issued statement by the Dar al-Fatwa media office, it indicated that the meeting between Mufti Derian and PM Hariri focused on the situation of Sunni Muslims, their mobilization, and strengthening national unity among the Lebanese. In this context, Mufti Derian affirmed that Dar al-Fatwa is keen on preserving all its sons, Muslims and all Lebanese, and saving the homeland from collapse, reducing chaos, and working together to achieve the hopes and aspirations of the Lebanese who are suffering from the aggravation of crises one after another, until the election of an inclusive president of the republic and the formation of an effective and capable government that gains the confidence of the parliamentarians, representatives of the people. Derian also stressed that “Lebanon can only advance through cooperation and solidarity among all its components and the help of brothers and friends,” adding that “the efforts and endeavors undertaken by the Five-Year Committee to break the stalemate at the presidential level are recognized despite all the difficulties it faces from within the divided Lebanese nation.”He deemed the expansion of the Zionist aggression against Gaza and southern Lebanon as a “described crime” and “proof of the failure of the enemy government to achieve its goals,” as it continues with more massacres and crimes that are unprecedented in the modern era.

French escalating concern over 'comprehensive war' in Lebanon
LBCI/February 18, 2024
A French diplomatic source warned that the possibility of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah has become "very high," while Amos Hochstein, an advisor to the US president, affirmed that his country seeks to keep the conflict in southern Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel at the lowest possible level. This article was originally published in and translated from the Arab outlet Asharq Al-Awsat. Hochstein emphasized the "importance of the return of the residents of the southern towns to their homes, as well as the residents on the northern border of Israel." A senior French diplomat said his country still holds onto the possibility of achieving a breakthrough regarding tension reduction and war prevention. The diplomat insists that French efforts to stop the fighting at the Lebanese border "are not one-sided," meaning they are not biased towards the Israeli side. He also emphasized that recent French officials' positions "have been strict with Israelis regarding settlers in the West Bank, and the necessity to respect international law and human rights."The French diplomat indicated that the situation in Lebanon has reached a high level of danger. He said, "Every day that passes in this situation increases the chances of a full-scale war; therefore, we cannot wait for the cessation of the war in Gaza to achieve calm on the Lebanese border." Moreover, the French diplomat clarified that the initiative taken by the French side has not yet entered the mediation stage, indicating that the current situation is a stage of presenting proposals for consultation and building on them towards securing the infrastructure for launching negotiations.

Exploring Zero Coupon Bonds in Lebanon's Financial Crisis
LBCI/February 18, 2024
Let's say you have $150,000 stuck in the bank. In the previous segment, we saw how the new government plan aims to refund you a maximum of $100,000 in installments, financed by both banks and the Central Bank of Lebanon. But what about the remaining $50,000?
One of the proposed solutions is zero coupon bonds So, what's the deal with them? The plan suggests that the Central Bank of Lebanon and the banks will purchase bonds from foreign countries or international banks, worth the remaining $50,000, for a long period, up to 30 years, but at your own risk.
These bonds are zero coupon bonds, meaning they won't pay you anything throughout the 30 years. Therefore, their current price is relatively cheap. When the term ends, you'll receive the full value of the $50,000.
Lebanese education crisis: Catholic schools in Lebanon surprise parents with tuition hikes mid-year. In other words, if you're 50 years old or older, you'll have to live until you're 80 or older to get your money back... or pass it on to your children!
The problem is, which external entity will engage in such a project with Lebanon given the current situation, and guarantee these $50,000? And who knows what their value will be worth after all these years?
Many questions arise about this plan...Once again, the state is avoiding its responsibilities, leaving us in a crisis that the people are paying its price, as always.

New Measures Regarding the Exchange Rate of the Dollar in Lebanon
LBCI/February 18, 2024
In general, the official exchange rate of the dollar in Lebanon was 15,000 Lebanese pounds, with a withdrawal limit of $1,600 per month, equivalent to around 24 million Lebanese pounds. Initial information suggests that the Ministry of Finance will initially raise the official exchange rate of the dollar to 25,000 Lebanese pounds, while the withdrawal limit may remain at $1,600 per month, equivalent to 40 million Lebanese pounds. This decision was made by the Ministry of Finance after it became apparent that depositors needed liquidity in Lebanese pounds, as banks were not providing dollars at the market rate, which stands at 89,500 Lebanese pounds.The government consulted the Central Bank on this matter, but the Central Bank reiterated its rejection of multiple exchange rates for the dollar, considering that there is a unified market rate. Additionally, the Central Bank refused to have a role in setting the withdrawal limit for the official exchange rate of the dollar.
World Bank report: Lebanon 'In the grip of a new crisis' The Central Bank of Lebanon is not concerned that this decision will lead to a significant increase in the money supply in Lebanese pounds because the number of depositors who will withdraw the official exchange rate of the dollar may not be large, as most of them are waiting for the dollar's rate to increase further, thus reducing the haircut ratio. The Central Bank of Lebanon states that the volume of the money supply in Lebanese pounds in the market ranges between 53 to 54 trillion Lebanese pounds, or about $600 million, a figure under the full control of the Central Bank, which increased its reserves from the end of July until today by $900 million, bringing the reserve volume to $9.458 billion.

Netanyahu refused to discuss policy on Lebanon in Cabinet: Reports'
NNA/February 18, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly refused to discuss the Israeli occupation's policy regarding Lebanon during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, as reported by the Israeli Walla! news site. Netanyahu said he refused to engage in such discussions within the cabinet as he sees it as a "forum plagued by leaks," sources familiar with the matter said. During the cabinet session, several ministers raised the issue of Lebanon, posing questions about the Israeli occupation forces' response policy. Energy Minister Eli Cohen initiated the discussion by asserting that "a stricter response should be taken against Hezbollah."
Netanyahu responded by saying, "As long as there is no war in the north, the issue of Lebanon is only discussed in the war cabinet, because everything said here is leaked." However, even within the War Cabinet, Netanyahu does not have much trust in his subordinates, for a December report by Israeli Channel 13 said Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi was searched before entering a War Cabinet meeting. As Halevi attempted to enter the hall, a security guard from the Prime Minister's office insisted on inspecting Halevi's belongings to ensure that he did not have any recording devices on his person, the channel's political affairs correspondent reported. The incident unfolded at "al-Bir," located in the Security Ministry in "Tel Aviv". Displeased with the situation, Halevi proceeded to enter the meeting hall. Once inside, he addressed those present, expressing his frustration with the security check. Among the attendees was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military secretary, who bore witness to Halevi's discontent.
SEARCH, PROBE EVERYONE
Earlier reports detailed how employees in the Prime Minister's office were conducting inspections on officers who had participated in the War Cabinet meetings, requesting confirmation that they were not carrying any recording devices.
A more recent report highlighted that the growing disagreements among war cabinet members in the Israeli occupation government have become a prominent topic addressed by Israeli media ever since the Israeli occupation forces began their genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. Israeli channel Makan reported that the cabinet rift deepened after an exchange of accusations among Israeli cabinet members in the last session. The rift indicated that more and more disagreements are surfacing especially after the no-show intention of two ministers of the Israeli occupation's Benny Gantz-led "National Unity" alliance in the upcoming war cabinet meeting later today. According to Israeli media, the two members who will refrain from joining this week's war cabinet meeting are Gadi Eisenkot and Hailey Tropper. Israeli media further stressed that their decision came after the last session's verbal row.
The Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, according to The Times of Israel, that anyone entering the war cabinet meetings and any discussions of "national security" matters, both members of cabinet and high-ranking officials, "must be compelled to undergo lie detector tests."
According to Netanyahu, this comes in light of the leaks regarding a meeting in January, as well as those that preceded it where significant information was leaked to the press. "We have a plague of leaks and I am not willing to continue like this, which is why I directed the promotion of a law that everyone who sits in cabinets and security discussions, including the political and professional ranks — will undergo a polygraph," Channel 12 quoted Netanyahu as saying during the cabinet meeting. ----

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 18-19/2024
Pope Francis appeals for an end to Sudan's civil war
VATICAN CITY (Reuters)/February 18, 2024
Pope Francis appealed on Sunday to Sudan's warring factions to put an end to a 10-month conflict that has seen millions displaced and prompted warnings of famine. "I ask again the warring parties to stop this war, which causes so much damage to the people and the future of the country", Francis said during his Angelus message. "Let's pray so that avenues of peace will soon be found for the future of beloved Sudan", he added. Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the civil war in Sudan that pits the country's armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In his traditional Sunday address, the pope also mentioned conflicts in Mozambique, Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Wherever there is fighting populations are exhausted, they are tired of war, which is always useless, inconclusive and will only bring death and destruction and will never lead to a solution to the problem," Francis said.

US conducted five self-defense strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, military says
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/February 18, 2024
The United States conducted five self-defense strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, U.S. Central Command said on Sunday. It said it struck three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel on Saturday. "This is the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began in Oct. 23," CENTCOM said in a post on X. Central Command said it had determined the missiles and vessels presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant ships in the area. The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea area have been one sign of spreading conflict in the Middle East since war erupted between Israel and Hamas after the militant Palestinian group's deadly assault on Israel on Oct.7. The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel strikes Gaza. But the U.S. and its allies characterize them as indiscriminate and a menace to global trade. Faced with mounting Red Sea violence, major shipping lines have largely abandoned the critical trade route for longer routes around Africa. This has increased costs, feeding worries about global inflation while sapping Egypt of crucial foreign revenue from shippers sailing the Suez Canal to or from the Red Sea.

Houthis will always threaten Red Sea even if Gaza war ends, says Al-Alimi
SAEED AL-BATATI/Arab News/February 18, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia would continue to ensure conflict in the Red Sea even if the Israel-Hamas war ended, according to the chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Rashad Al-Alimi said the only way to remove the danger was through military operations. He said current strikes by the US and UK would not deter Houthi threats, but vowed to defeat the organization and end its attacks if his government received international backing and Iran was pressured to end its military support. “To put an end to this Houthi piracy, we must address the threat’s origins and source; this can only be accomplished by restoring state institutions, putting an end to the coup and applying maximum pressure on the Iranian regime,” the Yemeni leader said. Since the Houthis began the Red Sea strikes in November, Yemen’s government has sought international assistance to evict them from Yemeni territories under their control. Al-Alimi warned that if they were not destroyed, they would use the Red Sea as a negotiating chip. He blamed Iran for financing the Houthi assaults as well as Yemen’s instability. “As long as Iran continues to back this militia and provide weapons to it, it will continue to pose a danger to Red Sea shipping and may blackmail other regions in the future,” said the Yemeni leader. The Houthis have launched hundreds of drones and missiles against commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab, and the Gulf of Aden over the past four months. The organization claims to exclusively strike ships linked to or destined for Israel, forcing the country to allow humanitarian supplies to reach the besieged Gaza Strip. In response to the assaults the US, supported by several partners, has carried out dozens of strikes on military installations, drone and missile launchers, and other sites in Houthi-controlled Yemen. Similarly, Yemen’s information minister, Moammar Al-Eryani, said he had sent letters to the CEOs of key social media firms requesting that accounts for Houthi officials and the militia’s media propaganda material be deleted from their platforms. Posting on X, the Yemeni minister sent letters bearing his stamp and signature to the platform’s leaders, as well as those of Facebook, TikTok, Telegram and Instagram, urging them to comply with the US designation of the Houthis as terrorists. “We confirmed that Houthi militia pages on social media platforms, whether official or affiliated with individuals (leaders, media figures, activists), are spreading terrorist ideas, promoting hate speech, inciting violence and murder and brainwashing children and recruiting them,” Al-Eryani said.  Meanwhile, Yemen’s embassy in Cairo said on Sunday that Brigadier General Hassan Farhan Al-Obeidi, the head of the Yemen army’s military production department, had been discovered dead from stab wounds. Egyptian officials are investigating. Baligh Al-Mekhlafi, information counselor, told Arab News the embassy had received an alert about Al-Obeidi’s death shortly before 2 a.m. The Yemeni officer had arrived in Cairo 20 days earlier, traveling to Turkiye before returning to Egypt a week ago. “We will share any fresh information that we get on the case,” Al-Mekhlafi said. Al-Obeidi has been regarded as a military specialist in the production of local armored vehicles and weaponry since the days of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. When the Houthis seized power in late 2014, he joined anti-Houthi forces and participated in military action against them in Marib, his home province.

Gaza Health Ministry: 28986 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct.'
Reuters/February 18, 2024
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a statement on Sunday that 28985 Palestinians have been killed and 68883 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian sector since Oct. 7. The ministry added that at least 127 Palestinians were killed and 205 others injured in the past twenty-four hours. ---

Brazilian president accuses Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza, compares it to Hitler's regime
NNA/February 18, 2024
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, likening what the Hebrew state was doing to the Holocaust during World War II, according to the Palestinian news agency “Wafa.”Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the African Union Summit, “What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is genocide,” adding, “What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not happened at any other stage in history. In fact, it had already happened when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”

Macron, El Sisi confirm their “firm opposition” to an Israeli attack on Rafah
NNA/February 18, 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El Sisi expressed their “firm opposition” to the attack that Israel threatens to launch on Rafah, as well as “any forced displacement of the population” towards Egypt, which would constitute “a violation of international humanitarian law,” according to a statement issued by the Elysee and reported by Agence France-Presse. The two presidents, who spoke by phone on Saturday, expressed their “firm opposition to an Israeli attack on Rafah, which would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe on a new scale, as well as any forced displacement of the population towards Egyptian territory, which would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law and represent an additional risk of regional escalation. Macron and Sisi also expressed their "deep concern about the deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the obstacles hindering the delivery of aid."They stressed "the urgent need to significantly increase the introduction of aid to the residents of Gaza," underlining "the necessity of maintaining the Rafah crossing, opening the port of Ashdod, and a direct land route from Jordan, as well as all crossing points."The two presidents also stressed "the necessity of reaching a ceasefire and releasing the hostages," calling on the UN Security Council to "play its role in this regard." They also pointed out "the necessity of working to end the crisis and relaunch the political process in a decisive and irreversible manner, with the aim of effectively implementing the two-state solution."

Prospects for Ceasefire Dim as Israel Rejects Calls to Spare Rafah
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
Prospects for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire dimmed Sunday after the United States signaled it would veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution and mediator Qatar acknowledged that truce talks on the other diplomatic front have hit an impasse. The languishing efforts to pause the four-month-old war come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Saturday to reject international appeals to spare Gaza's southernmost city Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million people have sought refuge, AFP said. Israel's relentless campaign to root out every Hamas battalion has edged closer to the city, with overnight attacks killing at least 10 Gazans there and in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, according to a tally by official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Hamas also took about 250 people hostage, 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 who are presumed dead, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 28,858 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Neighbouring Egypt has grown increasingly wary that an Israeli invasion of Rafah could force the Gazans trapped there across the border. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday reiterated Egypt's opposition to any forced displacement into the Sinai desert.
In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, both leaders agreed instead on the "necessity of the swift advancement of a ceasefire," according to a summary. Even if a temporary truce deal is struck at the talks in Cairo, Netanyahu said his troops' ground invasion of Rafah will go ahead.
"Even if we achieve it, we will enter Rafah," he said at a televised news conference Saturday. Countries urging Israel otherwise are effectively saying "lose the war", he said. Netanyahu spoke as thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, the latest public call for an immediate election by demonstrators who also accuse the government of abandoning hostages.
'Not very promising'
Next week's possible United Nations Security Council vote appears unlikely to advance the ceasefire effort with Washington already voicing opposition. "The United States does not support action on this draft resolution," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement. "Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted." Algeria's draft resolution seeks an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, but Thomas-Greenfield said the United States instead supports a truce-for-hostages deal that would pause fighting for six weeks.US President Joe Biden had "multiple calls" with Netanyahu as well as Egyptian and Qatari leaders this week "to push this deal forward", she said. Hamas has threatened to suspend its involvement in the talks unless relief supplies reach the north, where aid agencies have warned of looming famine. "Negotiations cannot be held while hunger is ravaging the Palestinian people," a senior source in the Palestinian Hamas group told AFP, asking not to be identified as he is not authorized to speak on the issue.
Fears for patients after raid
Earlier, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh reiterated the group's demands, which Netanyahu called "ludicrous". They include a complete pause in fighting, the release of Hamas prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Netanyahu has also rejected pressure from some Western governments for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Israel said Saturday it has detained 100 people from one of Gaza's few operating hospitals after troops raided the complex. At least 120 patients and five medical teams are stuck without water, food and electricity in Nasser Hospital in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israel has for weeks concentrated its military operations in Khan Yunis, the hometown of Hamas's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israel accuses of masterminding the October 7 attack. Intense fighting has raged around Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military said troops entered the hospital on Thursday, acting on what it said was "credible intelligence" that hostages had been held there. It later acknowledged it found no firm evidence that they had.
'We need food now'
The power was cut and the generators stopped after the raid, leading to the deaths of six patients due to a lack of oxygen, according to Gaza's health ministry. A witness, who declined to be named for safety reasons, told AFP the Israeli forces had shot "at anyone who moved inside the hospital". In northern Gaza, many are so desperate for food they are grinding up animal feed. As a much-needed delivery of supplies arrived in southern Gaza Saturday, the UN again warned that Gazans are close to famine. The deliveries are also complicated by Palestinians in Rafah so hungry that they are stopping aid trucks to take whatever they can manage, according to the UN.

Israel opposes 'unilateral' imposition of Palestinian state
Reuters/February 18, 2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought the "declaratory decision" to a vote in cabinet, which unanimously approved the measure, according to a statement. Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly meeting that the move comes after "recent talk in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally impose on Israel a Palestinian state." The war in Gaza that has raged since Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage through Israeli communities is the latest in a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that has rumbled on for seven decades and destabilised the Middle East. Efforts to achieve a two-state solution - a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel - have been stalled since 2014. U.S. President Joe Biden has been trying to clinch an even broader deal in the Middle East, that would include Saudi Arabia and other Arab states normalizing ties with Israel, as well as the creation of a Palestinian state. The formal Israeli statement, according to Netanyahu's office, reflects the fact that: "Israel rejects outright international dictates regarding a permanent accord with the Palestinians. An accord, should it be reached, will only come through direct negotiations between the sides, without preconditions." "Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre will grant a huge, unprecedented reward to terrorism and prevent any future peace accord," it said.

UN court to weigh consequences of Israel occupation
Agence France Presse/February 18, 2024
The U.N.'s top court will from Monday hold hearings on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, with an unprecedented 52 countries expected to give evidence. Nations including the United States, Russia, and China will address judges in a week-long session at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In December 2022, the U.N. General Assembly asked the ICJ for a non-binding "advisory opinion" on the "legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem." While any ICJ opinion would be non-binding, it comes amid mounting international legal pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza sparked by the brutal October 7 Hamas attacks. The hearings are separate from a high-profile case brought by South Africa arguing that Israel is committing genocidal acts during the current Gaza offensive. The ICJ ruled in that case in January that Israel must do everything in its power to prevent genocide and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. On Friday, it rejected South Africa's bid to impose additional measures on Israel, but reiterated the need to carry out the ruling in full.
'Prolonged occupation' -
The General Assembly has asked the ICJ to consider two questions.
Firstly, the court should examine the legal consequences of what the U.N. called "the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."This relates to the "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967" and "measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem."In June 1967, Israel crushed some of its Arab neighbours in a six-day war, seizing the West Bank including east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. Israel then began to settle the 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles) of seized Arab territory. The UN later declared the occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. Cairo regained Sinai under its 1979 peace deal with Israel. The ICJ has also been asked to look into the consequences of what it described as Israel's "adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures." Secondly, the ICJ should advise on how Israel's actions "affect the legal status of the occupation" and what are the consequences for the U.N. and other countries. The court will rule "urgently" on the affair, probably by the end of the year.
'Despicable' -
The ICJ rules in disputes between states and its judgements are binding although it has little means to enforce them. However, in this case, the opinion it issues will be non-binding. In the court's own words: "The requesting organ, agency or organization remains free to give effect to the opinion by any means open to it, or not to do so." But most advisory opinions are in fact acted upon. The ICJ has previously issued advisory opinions on the legality of Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and apartheid South Africa's occupation of Namibia. It also handed down an opinion in 2004 declaring that parts of the wall erected by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory were illegal and should be torn down. Israel is not participating in the hearings and reacted angrily to the 2022 U.N. request, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it "despicable" and "disgraceful". The week after the U.N. resolution, Israel announced a series of sanctions against the Palestinian Authority to make it "pay the price" for pushing for it. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that while advisory opinions are non-binding, "they can carry great moral and legal authority" and can eventually be inscribed in international law. The hearings should "highlight the grave abuses Israeli authorities are committing against Palestinians, including the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution," said Clive Baldwin, HRW senior legal adviser.

Yoav Gallant claims Hamas is looking for a successor to Sinwar
Adam Schrader/UPI/February 18, 2024
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant alleged Sunday that Hamas is looking for a possible successor to Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Palestinian militia.
"IDF forces continue the activity in Khan Yunis and deepen the rift in Hamas, the Khan Yunis Brigade has been defeated and no longer functions as a military entity," Gallant claimed in a post on social media. "Hamas is looking for a replacement for Sinwar, the Hamas Gaza station does not answer and has ceased to function."Sinwar, 61, has led the Iran-supported militia since 2017. Israeli forces backed by the United States have been trying to track him down since Hamas led its attack against Israel on October 7. The IDF has been unable to pinpoint Sinwar's precise location, believing he is likely in an underground bunker in Khan Younis. The militia leader was born in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, then under Egyptian rule, to parents who were forced out of their homes by Jewish settlers during the 1948 war when Israel declared its independence. The expulsion of around 750,000 Palestinians from their homes came in a campaign known as the Nakba, in which at least a dozen women were raped by Israeli forces and 15,000 other people were killed during a series of massacres. The United States, which has declared Sinwar to be a terrorist, supported the fledgling Israel at the time and has remained its closest ally.
Over the years, Sinwar was one of many Palestinians arrested by Israel for supporting a free Palestine. His rise to power in Gaza began in the 1980s, when he earned a reputation for killing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. Sinwar allegedly planned the abduction of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians suspected of cooperating with Israel in 1988 during a series of protests and riots against Israeli occupation, known as the First Intifada. He was arrested again and sentenced to four life sentences in 1989. He served 22 years in prison but was released in 2011 in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier who had been captured by Hamas. By 2017, he had risen in the ranks and won a secret election to replace Ismail Haniyeh, who remains a senior political leader of Hamas from Qatar. Over the years, Hamas has fought multiple wars against Israeli forces occupying Gaza where it remains popular for its stances of Palestinian sovereignty. Hamas has been condemned over the years as a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States. Israel has accused Sinwar of organizing the attack on October 7, which many have characterized as a terror attack. Hamas has blamed the attack on the killing of hundreds of Palestinians and arrest of many more by Israel in the months before the war broke out. Israel had also raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam's holiest sites.

Israel strikes across Gaza as US says will block another UN truce resolution
Associated Press/February 18, 2024
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 18 people overnight and into Sunday, according to medics and witnesses, as the United States said it would veto another draft U.N. cease-fire resolution. The U.S., Israel's top ally, instead hopes to broker a cease-fire agreement and hostage release between Israel and Hamas, and envisions a wider resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed back, calling Hamas' demands "delusional" and rejecting U.S. and international calls for a pathway to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until "total victory" over Hamas and to expand it to Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah, where more than half the enclave's population of 2.3 million Palestinians has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. The head of the World Health Organization, meanwhile, said Nasser Hospital, the main medical center serving southern Gaza, "is not functional anymore" after Israeli forces raided the facility in the southern city of Khan Younis last week. An airstrike in Rafah overnight killed six people, including a woman and three children, and another strike killed five men in Khan Younis, the main target of the offensive over the past two months. Associated Press journalists saw the bodies arrive at a hospital in Rafah. In Gaza City, which was isolated, largely evacuated and suffered widespread destruction in the initial weeks of the war, an airstrike flattened a family home, killing seven people, including three women, according to Sayed al-Afifi, a relative of the deceased. The Israeli military rarely comments on individual strikes and blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militants operate in dense residential areas.
U.N. SAYS RAIDED HOSPITAL NO LONGER FUNCTIONING
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the U.N. health agency, said a WHO team was not allowed to enter Nasser Hospital on Friday or Saturday "to assess the conditions of the patients and critical medical needs, despite reaching the hospital compound to deliver fuel alongside partners."
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said there are still about 200 patients in the hospital, including 20 who need urgent referrals to other hospitals. Israel says it has arrested 70 suspected militants, including 20 who it says participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, without providing evidence. The military says it is looking for the remains of hostages inside the facility and does not target doctors or patients. The war erupted after Hamas burst through Israel's defenses and allegedly killed some 1,200 Israelis while taking around 250 hostage. Militants still hold around 130 hostages, a fourth of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the others were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November. The war has killed at least 28,985 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The toll includes 127 bodies brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, it said Sunday. Around 80% of Gaza's population have been driven from their homes and a quarter face starvation. David Satterfield, the U.S. Middle East envoy for humanitarian issues, said Friday that Israeli strikes on Hamas-run police guarding aid convoys had caused them to halt the escorts, making it "virtually impossible" to deliver desperately-needed aid because of the threat of criminal gangs. He also said Israel has not presented specific evidence for its claims that Hamas is diverting U.N. aid.
U.S. OPPOSES ANOTHER CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION
Algeria, the Arab representative on the U.N. Security Council, has circulated a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as rejecting the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement late Saturday that the draft resolution runs counter to Washington's own efforts to end the fighting and "will not be adopted.""It is critical that other parties give this process the best odds of succeeding, rather than push measures that put it — and the opportunity for an enduring resolution of hostilities — in jeopardy," she said. The U.S. has used its veto on similar previous resolutions with wide international support, and President Joe Biden has bypassed Congress to rush arms to Israel while urging it to take greater measures to spare civilians and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The U.S., Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to broker a cease-fire and hostage release, but there's a wide gap between Israel and Hamas' demands and Qatar said Saturday that the talks "have not been progressing as expected." Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without Israel ending the war and withdrawing from Gaza. It is also demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including top militants. Netanyahu has publicly rejected both demands and any scenario in which Hamas would be able to rebuild its military and governing capabilities. He said he sent a delegation to cease-fire talks in Cairo last week at Biden's request but doesn't see the point in sending them again. In an interview with Israel's Kan public broadcaster on Saturday, Netanyahu's national security adviser said that military pressure and sticking to a strict line in the negotiations could lead Hamas to drop its "absurd demands that nobody could accept."Tzachi Hanegbi said the U.S. supports Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas' capabilities and has not pressured Israel to end the war or withdraw troops from Gaza. Netanyahu has pushed back against international concern about a planned Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, saying residents will be evacuated to safer areas. Where they will go in largely devastated Gaza is not clear. The Israeli leader is also opposed to Palestinian statehood, which the U.S. says is a key element in its broader vision for normalization of relations between Israel and regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, as well as Arab investment in Gaza's postwar reconstruction and governance.

Fighting, Fuel Shortages Knock Out Gaza’s Second-Largest Hospital
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
Fighting, fuel shortages and Israeli raids put the Gaza Strip's second-largest hospital completely out of service on Sunday, local and UN health officials said, as Israel battled Hamas militants in the devastated Palestinian enclave. The Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis still sheltered scores of patients suffering from war wounds and Gaza's worsening health crisis, but there was no power and not enough staff to treat them all, health officials said. "It's gone completely out of service," Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told Reuters. "There are only four medical teams - 25 staff - currently caring for patients inside the facility," he said. Gaza's hospitals have been a focal point of the four-month-old war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the besieged territory. Most have been put out of action by fighting and lack of fuel, leaving a population of 2.3 million without proper healthcare while tens of thousands have been wounded by airstrikes and many others suffer from chronic illness and, increasingly, starvation. Israel has raided medical facilities alleging that Hamas keeps weapons and hostages in hospitals. Hamas denies this. The international community says hospitals, which are protected under international law, must be protected. The World Health Organization (WHO) urged Israel to grant its staff access to the hospital, where it said a week-long siege and raids by Israeli forces searching for Hamas militants had stopped them from helping patients. "Both yesterday and the day before, the @WHO team was not permitted to enter the hospital to assess the conditions of the patients and critical medical needs, despite reaching the hospital compound to deliver fuel," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X. The Israeli military said its special forces were operating in and around Nasser Hospital, and had killed dozens of Palestinian militants and seized a large amount of weapons in fighting across Gaza over the past day. "Dozens of terrorists were eliminated and large quantities of weapons were seized," it said in a statement. The military said this week it was hunting for militants in Nasser and had arrested at least 100 suspects on the premises, killed gunmen near the hospital and found weapons inside it. Hamas has denied allegations that its fighters use medical facilities for cover. Israel's air and ground offensive has devastated much of Gaza and forced nearly all of its inhabitants from their homes. Palestinian health authorities say 28,985 people, mostly civilians, have been killed. The war began when Hamas sent fighters into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies

Egypt Reiterates Rejection of Plots to ‘Displace Palestinians’
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
Egypt reiterated on several occasions in the past two days its rejection of plots to forcibly displace the Palestinians, warning of the dangers of any Israeli invasion of Palestinian Rafah. In a series of meetings held on the sidelines of his participation in the Munich Security Conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed his country’s rejection of forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands. On Friday, Egypt had categorically denied allegations of participating in any process involving the displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip into the Sinai Peninsula, the country's State Information Service (SIS) said. “Egypt's decisive stance since the beginning of the aggression ... is to completely reject any forced or voluntary displacement of Palestinian brothers from the Gaza Strip, especially to Egyptian territory,” Diaa Rashwan, the chairperson of the Egyptian State Information Service stated. He added that such a scenario would entail “a definite liquidation of the Palestinian cause and a direct threat to Egyptian sovereignty and national security.”This is “a red line and Cairo has the means to deal with it immediately and effectively,” Rashwan stressed. Also, he said that “Egypt, with its declared and frank position, cannot take any actions on its territory that contradict this stance and give the impression – [that could be] falsely promoted by some - that it is participating in the crime of displacement advocated for by some Israeli parties.”The SIS chief asserted that Egypt views forced displacement as a grave war crime condemned by international humanitarian law and “Egypt will never be part of it. On the contrary, it will do everything that must be done to stop it and prevent those who seek to commit it from carrying it out.” Later during a meeting with Lieutenant General Hanen Ould Sidi, the Mauritanian Defense Minister, Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt's firm position calling for the need to avoid risks related to expanding the circle of conflict, and warned of the dangers of any Israeli invasion of Palestinian Rafah, which would have extremely negative repercussions at all levels. On Friday night, Shoukry and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Abdullah Ali Alyahya, had exchanged assessments regarding the increasing tension in the region and the situation in the Gaza Strip, as they agreed on the necessity of continuing the necessary action and communication with various parties to prevent the expansion of the cycle of violence and conflict in the region. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said the two sides also agreed to intensify coordination and joint action during the coming period to curb the crisis in the Gaza Strip and contain its repercussions, as well as to consolidate joint Arab action mechanisms in order to support the pillars of regional security and stability.

Jordanian Army Says 5 Drug Dealers Killed on Border with Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
Five drug dealers were killed on Sunday during a foiled attempt to smuggle large quantities of drugs into Jordan from Syria, an army statement said. Four other smugglers were injured in the dawn attempt to cross the northern border with Syria and large quantities of drugs were seized, the statement said. Since the start of the year there has been an escalation in clashes with drug dealers that Jordan says have direct links to pro-Iranian militias and are carrying narcotics, arms and explosives over the border from Syria.

Russia to host Palestinian factions for reconciliation talks in Moscow
RFI/February 18, 2024
The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Shtayyeh, has revealed that Russia has invited Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow on 26 February, adding that the administration in the West Bank is ready to engage with Hamas. Addressing the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, Shtayyeh said: "We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not, then that's a different story. We need Palestinian unity," adding that to be part of that unity Hamas needed to meet certain prerequisites. Set up as part of the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that raised hopes of Palestinian statehood, the PA has seen its legitimacy steadily undermined by Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank. Many Palestinians now regard it as corrupt, undemocratic and out of touch. The militant Islamist group Hamas has ruled in the Gaza Strip for 17 years after ousting the PA loyalist security services from the enclave. Western and some Arab states have made it clear that they want to see a revitalised Palestinian Authority – which President Mahmoud Abbas has run since 2005 – take charge in Gaza once the conflict is over, unifying its administration with the West Bank. "Palestine is ready. We have the institutions, capabilities, but our serious problem is we are under occupation," Shtayyeh said. "We are under Israeli occupation and we need it to end."

Putin says Ukraine matter of life and death for Russia
Agence France Presse/February 18, 2024
Events on the battlefield in Ukraine are a matter of "life and death" for Russia that could determine its fate, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired Sunday. The Kremlin has repeatedly framed the almost two-year conflict as a battle for Russia's survival in a bid to rally patriotic sentiment among its population, many apathetic toward the offensive. "I think it is still important for us ourselves, and even more so for our listeners and viewers abroad, to understand our way of thinking," Putin said in an interview with state TV. "Everything that is happening on the Ukraine front: For them it is an improvement of their tactical position, but for us it is our fate, it is a matter of life and death," he said. Putin was responding to a question about a two-hour long interview he gave to U.S. talk show host Tucker Carlson, which the Kremlin used to promote its narratives on the conflict. In that interview, Putin talked at length about Russian history and continuously questioned Ukraine's statehood, drawing ire in both Kyiv and the West. "For the Western listener, the viewer, it was not easy. Even more so for Americans," Putin said when asked about his long, historical musings in the Carlson interview. "The history of the United States is 300-odd years, and I started in 862. So I think it was not easy for American audiences to understand," he said.

What continued drone strikes on Russian oil refineries could mean for war with Ukraine
CBC/February 18, 2024
Hostile drones have been winding their way across the Russian landscape this winter, striking refineries and related oil and gas infrastructure all the way from the Baltic Sea in the northwest to the Black Sea in the southwest.
Drones attacked both the Ilsky and Afipsky refineries in Russia's Krasnodar region, east of occupied Crimea, on Feb. 9, less than a week after another refinery in Volgograd, the largest in southern Russia, was hit. Further attacks have struck other refineries and oil depots near the Ukrainian border, as well as much deeper into Russian territory. Though Ukraine does not typically confirm its actions outside its borders and Russia has not officially acknowledged drones were the cause of these incidents, media reports have identified Kyiv's hand in the attacks occurring with regularity as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine nears the two-year mark. Analysts say the drone attacks are demonstrating that oil and gas targets of economic significance are not out of reach, even far from the front lines of the war. "This is where strikes are intended to hurt," said Sergey Radchenko, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He sees a distinction between these types of targets versus strikes that have drawn attention but had less strategic impact. He says Ukraine has gradually been able to send drones "further and further inside Russia," and in doing so, may be aiming to make Russia think twice about its actions on the other side of the border.
Russia, oil and revenues
Late U.S. Senator John McCain once derisively described Russia as being "a gas station masquerading as a country" — a jibe underlining the critical importance of oil and gas products to Moscow. Indeed, Russia draws heavily on its resource reserves to support the state. The International Energy Agency says Russia's oil and gas export revenues accounted for 45 per cent of its federal budget in 2021. Over the course of the war, as the West capped the price of Russia's oil, it turned instead to China, India and other markets. As Radchenko points out, these exports contribute "significantly" to Russia's earnings, allowing it to use those funds to import goods and support the war effort. A January attack on a Novatek facility in Ust-Luga halted gas processing operations there for several weeks. The plant processes gas condensate into various fuel products that are exported to customers in Turkey and Asia, according to Reuters.
Sergey Vakulenko, a former strategy executive at Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of the larger Russian energy firm, believes the Ust-Luga episode may illustrate a bigger problem for Russia than a temporary disruption to production at a single facility.
In a recent analysis published online, Vakulenko reasoned that if small drones can get all the way to Ust-Luga, which is hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border, there are some 18 Russian refineries at risk of being targeted, and they account for more than half the country's refinery production. He's not the only analyst noticing this concern for Russia's refineries. And while the drones being used in these attacks may be small, they can still cause problems. "With a bit of luck, they can damage not just pipelines, but also compressors, valves, control units, and other pieces of equipment that are tricky to replace because of sanctions," Vakulenko wrote in the analysis. The Russian government has taken steps to deal with the problem. Maxim Starchak, an independent expert on the Russian defence and nuclear industry, says regulations have been put in place to restrict drones from flying close to "the most significant fuel and energy sector facilities" and operators are using electronic warfare systems to defend against drone threats. But Starchak said Russian energy firms must foot the bill for expenses related to defence of their facilities. "Moscow will not specifically help," he said, noting Russian authorities may hold firms accountable for not putting measures in place to protect their facilities.
A familiar threat for Ukraine
On the other side of the border, Ukraine has seen the deadly impact drone strikes can have — including in Kharkiv last weekend. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least 10 incoming drones were involved in the assault, with eight of the devices shot down — but one hit an oil depot, which then caused a fuel leak. The ensuing fire burned down 15 homes and killed at least seven people. Ukraine has faced attacks on various forms of infrastructure since the launch of the Russian invasion, including its energy grid, port facilities and railway stations. As Ukraine continues to fight to repel Russian forces from its lands, its military leaders have signalled drones and related technology will be needed to win the war that seems to have no end in sight. "Only changes and constant improvement of the means and methods of warfare will make it possible to achieve success on this path," said Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the newly minted Ukrainian army chief, in a recent Telegram post.

Denmark to send its 'entire artillery' to Ukraine, the country's prime minister says
Nathan Rennolds/Business Insider/February 18, 2024
Denmark to send its 'entire artillery' to Ukraine, the country's prime minister says
Denmark is sending all of its artillery to Ukraine, the Danish prime minister has said.
Mette Frederiksen made the announcement while speaking at the Munich Security Conference. It comes as Ukraine faces severe munitions shortages. Denmark is sending its "entire artillery" to Ukraine, the Danish prime minister has said. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Mette Frederiksen appealed to other European nations to do more to help Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin's invading forces. "They are asking us for ammunition now. Artillery now. From the Danish side, we decided to donate our entire artillery," she said. "I'm sorry to say, friends, there are still ammunition in stock in Europe," she continued. "This is not only a question about production, because we have weapons, we have ammunition, we have air defense that we don't have to use ourself at the moment, that we should deliver to Ukraine." It comes as Ukrainian forces withdrew from the key eastern town of Avdiivka amid severe munitions shortages. The Danish announcement will come as particularly welcome news in Ukraine as its military has been starved of artillery shells, forcing it to scale back some operations, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi told Reuters in December.
"There's a problem with ammunition, especially post-Soviet (shells) - that's 122 mm, 152 mm. And today, these problems exist across the entire front line," he said. Meanwhile, in more positive news to alleviate the ammo famine, the Czech Republic says it could supply 800,000 shells to the Ukrainian military.
Czech President Petr Pavel said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference on 17 February that it had a stockpile of about half a million 155 mm and 300,000 122 mm shells, which can be on the Ukraine frontline in a few weeks "if funding is found quickly."
Denmark is a key supporter of Ukraine
Denmark has been a key supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the Nordic country's military aid commitments increased by 3.5 billion euros, or around $3.8 billion, since November — making it one of the biggest military donors by percentage of GDP, the institute says. Denmark has pledged 8.4 billion euros, around $9 billion, in military aid. With a crucial $60 billion US aid package stalled in Congress, European support is becoming ever more important for Ukraine.
Earlier this year, the European Union agreed to a new 50 billion euro, or around $53.9 billion, aid package for Ukraine. "This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine. The EU is taking leadership and responsibility in support for Ukraine; we know what is at stake," President of the European Council Charles Michel said at the time, per Reuters.

US says will veto Algerian resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire
EPHREM KOSSAIFY/February 18, 2024
NEW YORK: The US has said it will veto an Algerian resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as it could jeopardize Washington’s diplomatic efforts aimed at brokering an end to hostilities. Algeria had over two weeks ago put forward a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The text, seen by Arab News, rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians and demands full, rapid and unfettered flow of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza. Algeria, which occupies the Arab seat at the UNSC, has requested a vote on the draft on Tuesday. But Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US representative to the UN, issued a statement reiterating that Washington “does not support action on this draft resolution,” which therefore “will not be adopted.”Since the start of the war, the US has twice vetoed ceasefire resolutions that were backed by an overwhelming majority of countries, and has abstained from two others, allowing the council to call for increasing aid convoys into Gaza. UNSC resolutions need at least nine votes in favor and no negative votes by the five permanent members — the US, UK, France, China and Russia — to be adopted. Thomas-Greenfield said the US has been intensifying efforts toward a sustainable resolution of the Gaza conflict, and in pursuit of this goal, is actively engaged in negotiations for a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, designed to bring about an immediate period of calm for at least six weeks. This ceasefire would provide a window of opportunity to lay the groundwork for a more enduring peace, she added. Thomas-Greenfield pointed to US President Joe Biden’s personal interventions over the past week, holding multiple discussions with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari leaders. While significant gaps persist, key elements of the deal are under negotiation, she said, adding that it is critical for all parties to give this process “the best odds of succeeding, rather than push measures that put it, and the opportunity for an enduring resolution of hostilities, in jeopardy.” The Algerian resolution “would not achieve these outcomes, and indeed, may run counter to them,” she said, adding that the UNSC “has the obligation to ensure that any action we take in the coming days increases pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal on the table.”

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 18-19/2024
And the Winner Is — Hamas!
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/February 18, 2024
What will happen if Hamas is allowed to win this war? If Hamas is permitted to accomplish what it intended by its mass murders, kidnappings and rapes? If the victims of these atrocities — the people of Israel and all countries fighting terrorism — lose? If the prospects for peace in the region and the Free World are seriously damaged? If the relationship between the US and Israel, and the loss of faith in the US as the guarantor of freedom, continues to be fractured?
Instead, the Biden administration may be rewarding Palestinian terrorists by unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian State, which will, of course, soon become militarized.
The anti-Israel left-wingers are not going to vote for Trump, who is more pro-Israel than Biden. Nor are they likely to stay home on Election Day and help Trump. Centrist voters, on the other hand, are likely to vote against Biden if they think he is beholden to the Squad or other anti-American woke extremists.
As important as are the domestic electoral implications of Biden's weakening support for Israel, the international implications are far more consequential. The world will be a far less safe place if Israel is prevented from defeating Hamas and dismantling its military capabilities.
Israel is doing everything reasonable to decrease civilian casualties, while Hamas tries to increase them on both sides. American policy should be to help Israel defeat Hamas and prevent the recurrence and spread of its terrorism against civilians, rather than to help Hamas secure a victory by tying Israel's hands.
So, unless the Biden administration changes course and encourages Israel to achieve its legitimate military goal of defeating Hamas, terrorism will win and civilization will lose. What will happen if Hamas is allowed to win this war? If Hamas is permitted to accomplish what it intended by its mass murders, kidnappings and rapes?
What will happen if Hamas is allowed to win this war? If Hamas is permitted to accomplish what it intended by its mass murders, kidnappings and rapes? If the victims of these atrocities — the people of Israel and all countries fighting terrorism — lose? If the prospects for peace in the region and the Free World are seriously damaged? If the relationship between the US and Israel, and the loss of faith in the US as the guarantor of freedom, continues to be fractured?
Instead, the Biden administration may be rewarding Palestinian terrorists by unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state, which will, of course, soon become militarized. The failures of UNIFIL to keep peace in South Lebanon and UNRWA to counter terrorism in Gaza should suggest caution.
If these are the outcomes of the current war, Hamas will be encouraged to repeat — as it promised it would "time and again"— its barbarisms of October 7, not only in Israel but in other Western nations, including our own. Why not? If a crime pays, it will be repeated. That is one reason why we punish crimes. President Joe Biden has said as much with regard to the Russian crimes against Ukraine. He has correctly warned that if Putin is allowed to benefit from his attack on Ukraine, he will be encouraged to attack other nations. Biden is right about that. Why hasn't he said the same thing about Hamas? Why is he trying to prevent Israel from defeating Hamas? Is it his fear of losing votes from hard-left anti-Israel Democrats?
Biden is ignoring — and properly so — pro-Putin voters but listening to anti-Israel voters. Why is he capitulating to the threats from hard-left elements within the Democratic Party? Doing so is not only wrong morally and diplomatically; it is foolish politically. These extremist anti-Israel zealots are not going to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Centrist voters, such as the ones who recently elected Thomas Souzzi to Congress, will. And centrist voters support Israel over Hamas.
The anti-Israel left-wingers are not going to vote for Trump, who is more pro-Israel than Biden. Nor are they likely to stay home on Election Day and help Trump. Centrist voters, on the other hand, are likely to vote against Biden if they think he is beholden to the Squad or other anti-American woke extremists.
As important as are the domestic electoral implications of Biden's weakening support for Israel, the international implications are far more consequential. The world will be a far less safe place if Israel is prevented from defeating Hamas and dismantling its military capabilities. The double standard Biden seems to be applying to a Russian victory, which he correctly says is unacceptable, and to a Hamas victory, which he seems to be willing to tolerate, is inexplicable as a matter of rational US policy and basic decency.
Biden must be as dedicated to preventing a Hamas victory as he is to preventing a Russian victory. That, however, is not his current approach. Instead, he is focusing on the death rate among Gazan civilians. We also have no idea how many innocent civilians, as compared with terrorists and those who assist them, are among the dead. We also have no idea how many of the dead were used as human shields by Hamas or were killed by misfired rockets from Gaza. We cannot simply accept the biased figures released by the propaganda agents of Hamas, who already discredited themselves by issuing false information, and were found shooting at their own citizens to prevent them from seeking safety in southern Gaza as the Israelis had urged them to do. Israel is doing everything reasonable to decrease civilian casualties, while Hamas tries to increase them on both sides. American policy should be to help Israel defeat Hamas and prevent the recurrence and spread of its terrorism against civilians, rather than to help Hamas secure a victory by tying Israel's hands.
The tragic reality is that Hamas is winning the war – at least by its own definition of winning. It has turned world opinion against Israel, especially among the young. It has caused a rupture in Israel's relations with America. It has gotten the International Court of Justice and the United Nations involved. It has damaged the prospects of peace with Saudi Arabia. It has hurt relationships between Israel and its neighbors. And it has strengthened support for Hamas among Palestinians on the West Bank.
The costs have been high, but most have been borne by Palestinian civilians and by Israelis. Hamas could not care less about Palestinian deaths, as evidenced by the fact that it has never provided shelter for civilians, while building vast tunnels to protect its own fighters. The world may see the harm inflicted on Gazans as a cost of Hamas's victory, but Hamas does not see it that way.
So, unless the Biden administration changes course and encourages Israel to achieve its legitimate military goal of defeating Hamas, terrorism will win and civilization will lose.
**Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.
© 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.

My Father Would Weep for America
Patti Davis/The New York Times/February 18/2024
The night before my father, Ronald Reagan, died, I listened to his breathing — ragged, thin. Nothing like that of the athletic man who rode horses, built fences at the ranch, constructed jumps from old phone poles, cut back shrubs along riding trails. Or of the man who lifted his voice to the overcast sky and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”Time and history folded over themselves inside me, distant memories somersaulting with more recent realities — the 10 years of his journey into the murky world of Alzheimer’s and my determination to abandon the well-worn trail of childhood complaints and forge a new path. To be blunt, I had resolved to grow the hell up. I can still remember how it felt to be his child, though, and how the attention he paid to America and its issues made me jealous.
Long before my father ran for office, politics sat between us at the dinner table. The conversations were predictable: Big government was the problem, the demon, the thing America had to be wary of. I hated those conversations. I wanted to talk about the boy who bullied me on the school bus, not government overreach. In time I came to resent this country for claiming so much of him. Yet today, it’s his love for America that I miss most. His eyes often welled with tears when “America the Beautiful” was played, but it wasn’t just sentiment. He knew how fragile democracy is, how easily it can be destroyed. He used to tell me about how Germany slid into dictatorship, the biggest form of government of all.
I wish so deeply that I could ask him about the edge we are teetering on now, and how America might move out of its quagmire of anger, its explosions of hatred. How do we break the cycle of violence, both actual and verbal? How do we cross the muddy divides that separate us, overcome the partisan rancor that drives elected officials to heckle the president in his State of the Union address? When my father was shot, Tip O’Neill, then speaker of the House and always one of his most devoted political opponents, came into his hospital room and knelt down to pray with him. Today a gesture like that seems impossible.
So what would my father say about the decline of civility and the ominous future of our democracy? I don’t think he would address his party’s front-runner at all. I think he would focus on the people who cheer at that candidate’s rallies. He would point out to them that dictatorships aren’t created by one person; they’re created by all the people who fall in line and say yes.
In 1967, after my father was sworn in as governor of California, we went to the governor’s mansion, a creaky old house on a busy street. I was 15, unhappy at being a governor’s daughter; I felt helpless and scared. So I sneaked away from everyone and climbed two flights of stairs to the building’s cupola, where I looked down from one of the windows at a crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk. They looked blessedly small from that distance. Suddenly one of them noticed me up there, and strangers started waving. I remember backing up quickly, sitting down on the dusty floor and crying my eyes out.
Thirty-seven years later, I watched another crowd of strangers pressed together along sidewalks and gathered on freeway overpasses as we drove by in the motorcade that carried my father’s coffin. This time I felt comforted by their presence. America and I have had a rocky relationship, but the way the country paused for those few days was a balm on the messiest parts of my grief. This is how we end up whispering to people who are gone, wishing we could tell them that we’ve grown and learned and changed. My father believed in a realm beyond this earthly one, so maybe he hears my whispers. Maybe he sees the sad chaos in the country he loved so much. And maybe some of the tears I shed for America are his.

Artificial Intelligence: For Sustainability or Destruction?
Najib Saab/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
Governments, businesses, industries and financial institutions, as well as universities and research centers that do not keep pace with developments in artificial intelligence (AI) put themselves out of the competition. This has become an established fact, as demonstrated by the discussions at the latest sessions of the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Riyadh Economic Forum, among others. AI was also a major focus of the World Government Summit (WGS) this week in Dubai, which brought together some of the world’s top industry leaders, strategic planners and decision-makers. Resource management and environmental protection to achieve sustainability are not outside this scope, as AI can shift development paths in multiple and opposing directions, from enhancing the balance of natural resources to depleting them.
Artificial intelligence is not an entirely new discovery, but rather a revolutionary development in the functions of the first calculator and the first computer. But while previous tasks were limited to carrying out specific single operations, such as calculating numbers, collecting data, and classifying it according to a specific program, AI takes quick steps to collect, link, compare and analyze data from different sources, with research going on to enable it to simulate the way the human brain works in complex analytics and making decisions. But this remains governed by the availability of accurate and reliable data, as artificial intelligence programs do not create data and information, but rather collect what is openly available.
The mission, however, cannot be achieved by collecting whatever data is available, but should start from generating data in the first place, in the field as well as laboratories and research centers. Examples of the enormous gaps in the generation of reliable data in the domain of environment and nature are many, from measuring the quality of air, soil, water and oceans, and deposits of toxic fertilizers and pesticides in food products and forests, to information related to climate change. The lack of accurate data in most Arab countries in these areas is due to the fact that they have not been generated in the first place, and what little does exist is often subject to restrictions that limit its dissemination.
Hence, the outcome of applying artificial intelligence in planning programs for resource management, environmental protection and sustainable development in general, remains dependent on the accuracy of the available data. Only with comprehensive and accurate data can AI properly accelerate tasks. Collecting and analyzing satellite images of vast areas, after linking them to data generated on the ground through fixed monitoring stations as well as field and lab work, provides a solid basis for knowing the status of bodies of water, vegetation, oceans, and land uses, including agriculture, industry, housing and transportation networks. Without advanced satellite imagery technologies and digital analysis systems, it would not have been possible to timely implement ambitious strategies such as “Saudi Green Initiative,” which includes converting 30 percent of the country’s area into protected reserves by 2030, amounting to 700,000 square kilometers. Needless to say that designing and implementing programs, within a limited time frame, to manage territory more than twice the size of Germany, cannot be accomplished by traditional means.
Artificial intelligence capabilities contribute to studying the potential environmental impacts of any project and proposing alternatives that result in less risk. They also include monitoring and adjusting emissions to control climate change. Managing the production and distribution of energy and water and regulating road traffic are among the most important areas of using artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency and reduce waste and emissions.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Technology was the subject of a report presented by the International Advisory Group (IAG) at the World Government Summit. While the report confirmed that those who lag behind in artificial intelligence will be excluded from the competition, not only in governance, but also in health, education, urban planning, financial markets, energy, water and climate change, among others, it found that the Arab region has achieved remarkable advancements on the path to digital transformation, with a large variation among countries. In this regard, internet users increased from 29 to 70 percent in 10 years between 2012 and 2022, which created a valid basis for introducing AI into the services provided by the public and private sectors. The report showed the ability of artificial intelligence to enhance economic growth in Arab countries by an additional $320 billion by 2030.
The report gave Saudi Vision 2030 as an example of the national commitment to modernization and expanding the use of artificial intelligence technologies to promote innovation, development and environmental protection. It also highlighted the establishment of a ministry dedicated to artificial intelligence in the UAE, the Qatar Center for Artificial Intelligence (QCAI) and the AI Academy in Bahrain, as models of transformation in GCC countries. Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia also launched national programs and strategies for artificial intelligence, including education, research, health, and sustainability, in addition to government services.
It remains that success in keeping pace with artificial intelligence depends on the success in building national capabilities and skills that lead this transformation, as well as in supporting scientific research to generate accurate data that will be the basis for the work of artificial intelligence. Otherwise, we turn into consumers of ready-made knowledge and technologies that are controlled by other parties, who are capable of using them to their advantage and interests, especially since a limited number of companies are trying to monopolize this sector. This threatens the formation of a hidden global authority that controls the fate of humanity. Also, excessive reliance on ready-made artificial intelligence systems carries the risk of reducing the urge to be educated, while we need more and better education, learning, research, and innovation to control these systems.
In the absence of scientific foundations and ethical controls for the use of AI, its advantage in collecting, linking, and analyzing data at breakneck speed may turn into accelerating the discovery of limited resources by monopolies, to exhaust them fast and reap greater profits, or altering basic data to manipulate the results according to the interests of the programmers. On the other hand, building a solid scientific and human foundation for new technology opens up limitless horizons, such as using satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to accelerate environmental and climate action and sustainability measures, from natural resource management to climate modeling and forecasting. I was asked at the Summit if it would be better to transfer decision-making powers entirely to artificial intelligence programs, in order to ensure the absence of bias and prevent private interest from prevailing over the decisions of government officials. I answered that this hypothesis remains theoretical, because AI lacks any accountability, and has its limitations based on human-made data, controls, and software.
If the use of artificial intelligence is necessary to keep pace with the times, then the responsibility for major decisions in development policies remains with humans, which requires strengthening accountability in public administration not weakening it.

The Crisis of Confidence in International Organizations is Real
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/February 18/2024
There is a real crisis of confidence in international organizations, especially in our region, whether they are research and thought centers, or legal organizations whose status and power stem from international laws. It is a deep crisis of confidence, and it increases over the course of days and events.
Here is a striking example. Last October, a journalistic investigation carried out by Iran International and the American Semaphore revealed that Iran had penetrated some think tanks and political decision-making centers in Washington through a group of analysts affiliated with Tehran.
The analysts, whose mission was to improve Tehran’s image and confuse its critics in Washington, were able to reach prominent positions, and formed the Iran Experts Plan team, or the Youth Network, amid American leniency, especially from the Democrats, at the time of the start of the nuclear negotiations.
Today, five months later, a new investigation conducted by Iran International and Semaphore showed that the Iranian government formed a secret alliance with the International Crisis Group during the presidency of Barack Obama, and used this prominent research center to pressure the American government on the nuclear file. Iran International obtained thousands of emails from Iranian diplomats that showed that Tehran’s cooperation with the Crisis Group took place through the Center for Political and International Studies of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
According to Iran International, the documents, in addition to conversations with experts who participated in the nuclear negotiations, prove that during the talks between Iran and world powers in 2014 and 2015, International Crisis Group analysts promoted Iran’s stance.
The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016, but it was never announced. The documents reveal that the MoU between the Iranian Foreign Ministry Research Center and the International Crisis Group provided a framework for “scientific and academic interactions” with the aim of “promoting and strengthening friendship and mutual understanding.”
As a result, for a decade, the International Crisis Group played an important role in negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, lifting sanctions on Iran, and providing recommendations regarding Tehran to the administrations of Obama, Trump, and Biden and Congress.
Despite all this, the International Crisis Group never announced that it had concluded an agreement with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, “and its analysts never mentioned their close relations with Iranian officials.”
Add to all of the above the inaction of some international organizations towards Iranian militias in the region, for example, the story of the UN vehicles used by the Houthis in Yemen, and the way the United States and Britain are currently dealing with the militias.
Recent events, after the Gaza War, showed that the US and British forces notified the militias before carrying out air strikes, which weakened the impact of those attacks. It is enough to remember that the dates of the strikes are specified and announced in advance!
As for the Iranian penetration of international organizations, and under the watchful eyes of the previous Obama administration, or now Biden, we must remember that this overlooking is taking place over the most dangerous file - the Iranian nuclear file, which threatens the entire region, as well as the chances of reaching the awaited Palestinian state.
Therefore, there is a crisis of confidence, especially in moments of international uncertainty, specifically regarding our region. A crisis of confidence towards the West, specifically Washington, and a crisis of confidence in international organizations, their motives, and their credibility. The examples are many and would fill books, not newspapers.

A new wave in Turkish-Egyptian relations
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/February 18, 2024
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a well-advertised visit to Cairo on Feb. 14 and met his counterpart, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The agenda included a range of items touching on defense, energy, trade, culture, tourism, education, LNG, nuclear and renewable energy. Egypt has made huge investments in the defense industry and if the two countries can avoid unnecessary duplications, they will save huge sums of money. The meeting became a stock-taking of missed opportunities as well. However, a new beginning is always full of expectations and new prospects.
The two leaders vowed to increase their bilateral trade volume to $15 billion. The potential effectively exists, but it will require the determination of both countries’ business communities in order to achieve the goal.
Last year, 22,000 Egyptian students registered for courses in Turkish. At the same time, the number of Turkish students who are interested in learning Arabic has reached thousands.
Turkiye is eager to play a positive role in the solution to the Gaza crisis; however, countries such as Qatar and the UAE are achieving more concrete results.
Turkish-Egyptian relations have had both good and bad patches. When I was serving as Turkish ambassador in Cairo between 1988 and 1992, our relations were not cordial. Thanks, however, to excellent personal relations with my counterparts in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our relations were conducted on a friendly level. Turkiye’s then-conservative government led by Necmettin Erbakan did not encourage relations with Israel, while the Turkish military, on the contrary, wanted to promote relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv. Turkish-Egyptian relations were negatively affected by these opposing policies. The leaders signed a joint communique to restructure the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
Relations on the people-to-people level have been stable for centuries. When Ahmed ibn Tulun was made governor of Egypt in 868 by the Abbasid Caliphate, he accepted this task only on the condition that he would be authorized to establish his army. When the Caliphate agreed to his condition, he formed an army that included tens of thousands of Kipchak Turks. These Turks, together with other Turks that joined later, are now part and parcel of the Egyptian people. After the addition of Egypt to the Ottoman Empire in 1517, the mixing of Turkish and Egyptian peoples continued for another four centuries. The old Egyptian printing house, Boulac in Cairo, is full of manuscripts written in the Kipchak dialect of the Turkish language.
There have been some unpleasant moments in relations between the two countries, but even when political relations were strained, economic relations continued to increase. They will probably revive soon after political relations return to a more normal state.
Egypt is Turkiye’s biggest trade partner in Africa. The trade volume is likely to become bigger after the present warming of the relations.
The recent Gaza crisis was a major item on the two leaders’ agenda and Gaza has remained so for years. After the US, it is Egypt that acts as a game-maker in the Gaza crisis. Settling the Gazans near the border with Egypt is one of the most sensitive issues and Egypt will not allow a policy that goes against its preferences. Turkish and Egyptian positions may not be identical on the Gaza issue. The forming of an axis by Turkiye and Egypt is unlikely because these two countries have interests that are at odds with one another. The US will try to encourage Turkiye and Egypt to settle their divergent positions on this issue.
The Turkish media has always supported Gaza against Israel and tried to promote peace in the Middle East. It is also closely involved in humanitarian assistance and the evacuation of Gazans through Egypt.
In addition to bilateral relations, the Turkish and Egyptian leaders also raised the question of the eastern Mediterranean, Syria and other multilateral problems. When the tension in the Middle East is running high they cannot turn away from such critical issues.
The Libyan problem was also an important item in the talks between the leaders. Their positions vary widely from each other’s. Turkiye cooperates with the Government of National Unity, which operates from Tripoli and is recognized by the UN, while Egypt supports Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army. Ankara endeavors to minimize the difference between these two parties.
The subject of the eastern Mediterranean conflict was also raised by the leaders. Turkiye and Egypt are the two countries with the longest coastlines in the eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, their cooperation is important. The agreement for the delineation of the exclusive maritime zones signed between Turkiye and Libya created a sizable maritime jurisdiction area that is shared between the two countries. If a similar agreement could be signed between Turkiye and Egypt, both countries would acquire additional maritime jurisdiction areas.
Washington is carefully following the development of Turkish-Egyptian relations because the impact of these relations will affect the power balance in the Middle East. Both Turkiye and Egypt need to clarify their positions in light of the recent Gaza crisis. The US will not let the situation get out of its control but at the same time, there are dissenting voices within the US.
Defense is a critical issue, because after the ousting of Russian military experts from Egypt by Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1955, the Egyptian army became Americanized to a large extent, and in July of 1972, a surprise decision by then-President Anwar Sadat saw the the Russian “experts” expelled from Egypt.
Turkiye has proposed selling unmanned drones to Egypt. If the cooperation remains at that stage, the US may not intervene because many countries sell drones to each other. However, the US will not be happy with Turkiye selling other critical defense materials to Egypt.
Egypt is Turkiye’s biggest trade partner in Africa. The trade volume is likely to become bigger after the present warming of the relations, but the reticence may remain because of the background of relations between them.
• Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkiye and founding member of the ruling AK Party.
X: @yakis_yasar

The urgent need for regime change in Iran
ERFAN FARD/JNS/February 18, 2024
The Islamic Republic of Iran finds itself at a pivotal juncture, increasingly alienated from the global movement towards democracy and human rights. For over four decades, this outlaw regime has steadfastly chosen ideological rigidity, sidelining the welfare and ambitions of its citizens. Its governance, characterized by repressive domestic measures and aggressive foreign policies, not only suppresses its people’s voices but also escalates threats to regional tranquility and international security. Furthermore, Iran’s reluctance to engage in meaningful reforms exacerbates its isolation, straining its relationship with the international community. All this has resulted in severe economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation, which have plunged the Iranian people into economic hardship and social unrest. This underscores a clear and present need for change, especially given the regime’s relentless pursuit of nuclear capabilities, coupled with its support for proxy militias across the Middle East. Regime change in Iran would be a major victory for fundamental human rights and dignity. The international community’s pursuit of such a victory must be calibrated and multifaceted, aiming not only to dismantle the oppressive structures of the regime but also to pave the way for a democratic and peaceful Iran. This involves economic sanctions that target the regime’s lifelines, diplomatic endeavors to isolate it further on the international stage, and robust support for a unified and democratic opposition.
The path to regime change is certainly fraught with complexities. It demands a nuanced understanding of Iran’s political landscape, a commitment to non-interventionist principles, and a concerted effort to empower the Iranian people. The goal should not be to impose a new order from the outside but to support the Iranian populace in their quest for a government that reflects their aspirations, respects human rights, and adheres to democratic principles.
The narrative surrounding regime change must be reframed. It is not a call for military intervention but a plea for the international community to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people. It is a challenge to global powers to rethink their strategies, ensuring that their actions do not exacerbate the suffering of the Iranian people but instead contribute to a peaceful transition of power. Saudi Arabia and Israel have made attempts to engage with high-ranking Iranian military officials and ministers, seeking to shift the balance of power internally. However, these efforts have been systematically rebuffed by the regime, an example of the many challenges involved in influencing Iran’s tightly controlled political structure. Restoring relations between Iran and the United States following regime change would be very much to Israel’s and the U.S.’s strategic advantage. It should be remembered that, before the 1979 Iranian revolution, the U.S. and Iran maintained a close alliance that facilitated regional stability, advanced mutual economic interests—particularly in oil supplies—and provided a counterbalance to Soviet influence. For Israel, a détente between the U.S. and a post-regime Iran could herald a new era of diplomatic possibilities and security dynamics. A normalization of ties could result in an Iran that distances itself from anti-Israeli groups, reduces security threats to Israel, and engages in dialogue or indirect cooperation on shared regional concerns. For the U.S., reestablished relations with Iran could unlock significant economic opportunities, enhance energy security, and contribute to a more stable Middle East, benefiting U.S. strategic interests and allies, including Israel. Moreover, such a change might facilitate a broader regional realignment, with Iran potentially rejoining the international community as a constructive actor, contributing to counter-terrorism efforts and stabilizing regional flashpoints. This scenario would not only benefit U.S. and Israeli strategic interests but also offer a pathway to resolving long-standing regional conflicts and fostering a more secure and prosperous Middle East.
The necessity of regime change in Iran is, therefore, evident. It transcends political ideologies and represents a fundamental aspiration for freedom, dignity, and peace. The international community, guided by a principled approach and commitment to the Iranian people’s aspirations, must play a supportive role in fostering such a historic transformation. It is a cause worth championing. For the United States in particular, the insidious spread of the Iranian regime’s influence, which threatens global stability, demands decisive action. America’s failure to take such action thus far mirrors its 1979 inability to perceive the threat posed by Iran’s theocrats. Today, American inaction risks further nuclear proliferation across a volatile region.
There is an urgent need for an American strategic pivot on Iran in order to safeguard global peace. America must shift from passive observation to active countermeasures, prioritizing global security over historical complacency.

The war in Gaza was caused by Islamic messianism
DR. ARNOLD SLYPER/JNS/February 18, 2024
Dr. Arnold Slyper is the author of the newly-released book The Struggle for Utopia:
Much of the world is clamoring for the creation of a Palestinian state, including the U.K., France, the E.U., and Israel’s ally the U.S.
The assumption underlying this proposal is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political. If the Palestinians are provided with a political horizon, it is believed, the conflict will come to an end.
This is incorrect. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is primarily religious, not political. Admittedly, the Palestinians and their supporters have successfully persuaded much of the world that this is a political conflict, to the extent that many non-Muslims feel that the Oct. 7 massacre was justified, but the claim remains untrue.Unfortunately, we Jews have failed to stress the religious nature of this struggle. I think the reason is that most Jews are unfamiliar with the messianic goals of Islamic fundamentalism and the extent to which many Muslims support them.
The genocidal goals of fundamentalist Islam were first expressed in then-Palestine by the Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini, who in 1920 organized the first Arab riots against Jewish immigration to British Mandatory Palestine. Before this time, Jews under Muslim rule were second-class citizens but had protected (dhimmi) status. Husseini was not a Palestinian nationalist. He was one of the founding members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supported the group’s goal of a global Islamic caliphate. As the Nazis’ spokesman to the Muslim world, Husseini was instrumental in organizing the planned genocide of the Palestinian Jews. This massacre was only prevented by the defeat of Germany’s Afrika Korps at the Battle of El Alamein. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran’s majority Shiite sect’s messianic vision is that of the Twelvers. It holds that the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, will remain hidden until the End of Days. His presence will be revealed when Allah decides to reveal it. Iran and its protégés Hezbollah and the Houthis are seeking to bring about this reappearance.
Israel’s existence is a challenge to this messianic ideology. Muslims believe that Judaism and Christianity are inferior to Islam. Thus, Muslim domination of “Palestine” would confirm the superiority of Islam over Judaism. For Hamas, it might also be a prelude to the Day of Judgement.
A particularly odious hadith is used to justify this genocidal hate. It is often attributed to Sahih Bukhari, a collection of sayings and actions of Muhammad, and is quoted in Hamas’s 1988 Covenant: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews when the Jews will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, “O Muslims, O Abdullah [servant of Allah], there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
A short time ago, a 14-year-old Muslim from a nearby Palestinian Authority-ruled town attempted to stab a security guard at the entrance to my city of Ma’ale Adumim in Judea. The attacker was “neutralized.” It was the pointless death of a young man. But many Muslims might not see it that way. The young man, they believe, will now have an honored place in the World to Come. Palestinian religious education has inculcated this message in its students.
The difference between the religious views of Hamas, whose primary goal is the destruction of Israel, and the P.A. is between “active messianism” involving jihad or holy war and what one might call “patient messianism.” The latter does not promote jihad as a policy but pursues it by other means. The P.A.’s “pay-for-slay” policy is an example. It rewards terrorists and their families with payments according to the severity of their atrocities, thus supporting jihad without publicly advocating it.
This “patient messianism” is the reason the P.A. has consistently refused statehood during peace negotiations with Israel. Agreeing to a two-state solution would demand acceptance of Israel as a legitimate and permanent fixture in the Middle East.
Iran actively supports Hamas and the Palestinian cause in general because of its Shiite messianism. This fact is consistently suppressed by Hamas’s supporters in the West, for good reason. The goal of a tyrannical worldwide Islamic caliphate likely wouldn’t go down well with Western audiences.
This Islamic messianic vision is, of course, a pipe dream. Nevertheless, the pursuit of it has caused and will cause considerable damage. Iran is on the verge of a nuclear breakout and has forged alliances with Russia and China, both of which are determined to challenge Western power in the Middle East. The Houthis now threaten the entire global economy. Hamas and Iran also seek to open up another front against Israel in Judea and Samaria.
Israel, the U.S., the West and indeed any nation threatened by Islamic violence cannot afford to ignore the religious implications of the war in Gaza. It is only one expression of a genocidal messianic vision that threatens all who do not subscribe to it. This fact should be first and foremost in Israel’s and the West’s strategic thinking.