Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 02-03/2024
Hamas deputy head Saleh al-Arouri killed by drone strike in Beirut's southern suburbs
Hezbollah says killing of Arouri in Dahieh 'will not go unanswered'
After Dahieh strike, Israeli army says focused on Hamas but ready 'for any scenario'
NNA: Death toll in Beirut southern suburbs explosion rises to six
Al-Aqsa TV affiliated with Hamas: Al-Qassam Brigades commanders Samir Fandi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqra Abu Ammar killed in Israeli attack in Beirut
Israel to send Gaza troops to northern front as it prepares for war with Lebanon
Israeli strikes hit Syrian army unit 'that also housed members of Hezbollah'
Hezbollah targets Israeli command center near Safed with suicide drone
Mikati warns Dahieh attack aims to draw Lebanon further into Gaza war
Berri denies proposing 'president-for-1701' deal
French minister warns UNIFIL mission 'very dangerous' as border tensions boil
Hezbollah’s hostile operations reach deep northeast of Safed
Lebanon prepared if border situation worsens, says minister

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 02-03/2024
Profile: Who was Hamas’ Saleh Al-Arouri?
After Dahieh strike, Israeli army says focused on Hamas but ready 'for any scenario'
Top Hamas official Saleh Arouri, who headed West Bank operations, killed in Beirut blast
Hamas blames Israel for 'cowardly assassination' of deputy leader Saleh al Arouri
Israeli drone kills deputy Hamas chief in Beirut -security sources
Palestinian Authority premier condemns killing of Hamas deputy leader
Israeli soldiers kill five Palestinian gunmen in West Bank, military says
Gaza conflict's ripple effect: Will diplomacy prevail or lead to wider conflict in border villages?
Yedioth Ahronoth, quoting Israeli officials: Saleh al-Arouri's assassination was a 'high-quality operation'
More strikes on Gaza after Israel warns war will last through 2024
Israel's top court overturns Netanyahu's legal overhaul
Malta-flagged container ship reported seeing 3 explosions towards its port quarter off Yemen -Ambrey
US slams Israeli ministers' statements on resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza
UK's Blair denies link to role in 'resettlement' of Gazans
Child among 8 killed in Syria clashes: monitor
Explosive drone shot down at Iraqi Kurdistan airbase
Turkey detains 33 people accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad
What is behind Turkey's staunch support for Hamas in Gaza?
Turkey blocks Royal Navy minehunters going to Ukraine
Iran’s Red Sea Power Play Raises Fears of Trade Disruption
Iran hangs nine convicted drug traffickers: state media
Singh urges solidarity, respect amid heightened fear in Jewish and Muslim
At least 48 dead after monster Japan quake
US quietly reaches agreement with Qatar to keep operating largest military base in Middle East

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on January 02-03/2024
Why Christian Leaders Ignore Attacks on Their Community/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./January 02, 2024
Zvi Zamir, head of Mossad who led Operation Wrath of God, the hunt for the perpetrators of the Munich massacre – obituary/Telegraph Obituaries/The Telegraph/January 2, 2024
How Latin America’s Indigenous groups are showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza/Eduardo Campos Lima/Arab News/January 02, 2024
Gaza… The Mindset of the 'Mural and the Wall'/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 02/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 01-02/2024
Hamas deputy head Saleh al-Arouri killed by drone strike in Beirut's southern suburbs
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/January 02, 2024
Israel's war against Palestinian militants reached into the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, where an Israeli strike killed Hamas' deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, the group and security officials in Lebanon said. Lebanese state media said the assassination came in an Israeli drone strike that killed a total of six people. The attack marked an escalation of the nearly three-month war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. Arouri, one of Hamas' principal military strategists, is the first senior official of the movement killed during the war, and his death came in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since hostilities began. There have been regular cross-border exchanges of fire over Lebanon's southern border between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had recently vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.
Asked about the Beirut suburbs strike, the Israeli military said it "does not comment on foreign media reports."A high-level security official in Lebanon told AFP that Arouri was killed along with his bodyguards. Another security official confirmed the same information, adding that two floors of the targeted building and one car were damaged. Hamas later confirmed the death on its official TV channel, saying Arouri was killed in a "treacherous Zionist strike."The movement's media said the strike killed two other members of its armed wing.
'Drone' -
A Lebanese security official told AFP that Samir Fandi, another Hamas official, was among the dead. Lebanese state media said "a hostile Israeli drone targeted a Hamas office in al-Msharrafiyeh," in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Palestinian factions were meeting, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said. An AFP photographer said two floors of the building, on a busy street, had been blown out in a blast which sent debris into cars and buildings up to about 100 meters away. Onlookers filled the street and red and blue emergency lights flashed. Arouri is accused by Israel of masterminding numerous attacks. He was elected deputy to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in 2017, before being officially named the group's number two. After spending nearly two decades in Israeli prisons, Arouri was freed in 2010 on the condition he went into exile. Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement that Arouri's killing will not "undermine the continued brave resistance" in Gaza and "proves once more the utter failure" of Israel's goals there. Islamic Jihad, another armed group fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, reacted similarly to the assassination of Arouri and his comrades.
In a statement, the group said the killing is an attempt to "drag the entire region into war, to escape from its failure in the military field in the Gaza Strip and the political deadlock which the entire government is experiencing." Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing which he said "aims to draw Lebanon" further into the Israel-Hamas war, according to a statement from his office.

Hezbollah says killing of Arouri in Dahieh 'will not go unanswered'
Agence France Presse/January 02, 2024
Hezbollah has warned that Israel's killing Tuesday of the deputy Hamas leader in a Beirut southern suburb "will not go unanswered or unpunished." Hezbollah called it "a serious assault on Lebanon." "We, Hezbollah, affirm that this crime will not go unanswered or unpunished," the movement said in a statement that called it "a serious assault on Lebanon... and a dangerous development in the course of the war," the statement added. An Israeli strike killed Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas movement, in a southern Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah, two security officials told AFP. Hamas, at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip for almost three months, later confirmed Arouri's death which Lebanese state media said came in an Israeli drone strike that killed a total of six people. Hezbollah has engaged in near-daily cross-border clashes with Israel since Israel's war with Hamas began in October. Last month, Iranian state media said an Israeli missile strike killed Razi Moussavi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, near the Syrian capital Damascus. Moussavi was the most senior Quds Force commander to be killed outside Iran in four years. Hezbollah said the strike that killed Arouri was "in continuation with... the assassination of commander Razi Moussavi." Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was set to give a televised speech on Wednesday but media reports said that it has been postponed to Friday. He had recently warned that the killing of any Palestinian official in Lebanon would not go unpunished.

After Dahieh strike, Israeli army says focused on Hamas but ready 'for any scenario'
Associated Press/January 02, 2024
Israel’s military spokesman on Tuesday said the army remains focused on fighting Hamas after an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs that killed Saleh al-Arouri, a senior leader of the Islamic militant group. The attack, blamed on Israel, has raised concerns that Lebanon’s Hezbollah could strike back in revenge. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, speaking to media Tuesday, made no direct mention of the death of Arouri. “We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas,” he said. But he added, “We are on high readiness for any scenario.”

NNA: Death toll in Beirut southern suburbs explosion rises to six
LBCI/January 02, 2024
The National News Agency announced that the death toll in the southern suburbs of Beirut explosion has risen to six.

Al-Aqsa TV affiliated with Hamas: Al-Qassam Brigades commanders Samir Fandi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqra Abu Ammar killed in Israeli attack in Beirut
LBCI/January 02, 2024
In a recent Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Al-Qassam Brigades commanders Samir Fandi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqra Abu Ammar were killed, according to Al-Aqsa TV, affiliated with Hamas.

Israel to send Gaza troops to northern front as it prepares for war with Lebanon
Naharnet/January 02, 2024
As several thousand Israeli troops will be taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks, a senior Israeli official said Israel will be preparing for a war with Lebanon. The official told Reuters that not all troops who will return from Gaza will go home, as some would be prepared for rotation to the northern border with Lebanon."The situation on the Lebanese front will not be allowed to continue. This coming six-month period is a critical moment," the official said, as he revealed that Israel would convey a similar message to a U.S. envoy conducting shuttle missions to Beirut.

Israeli strikes hit Syrian army unit 'that also housed members of Hezbollah'
Agence France Presse/January 02, 2024
Israel launched pre-dawn air strikes near the Syrian capital on Tuesday, state media said citing a military source, at a time of heightened regional tensions over the Gaza war. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel had targeted a military position that also housed members of Lebanon's Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, near the town of Kanaker. Syria's official news agency SANA said that around 4:35 am local time (0135 GMT) "the Israeli enemy carried out air strikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of sites in the Damascus countryside". It cited an unnamed military source as saying the strikes caused only "material damage", without specifying the target. Israel rarely comments on individual strikes targeting Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow arch foe Iran, which backs President Bashar al-Assad's government, to expand its presence there. The reported Israeli strikes were the year's first in Syria, where it has intensified attacks in the wake of its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces as well as Syrian army positions. Recent months have seen regular cross-border exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, in southern Lebanon. Tehran in December accused Israel of a strike in Syria that killed Razi Moussavi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Hezbollah targets Israeli command center near Safed with suicide drone
Naharnet/January 02, 2024
The Israeli artillery shelled Tuesday the outskirts of Kfarshouba, al-Dhayra, Tayr Harfa and al-Naqoura, while Israeli warplanes struck Maroun al-Rass in south Lebanon. The Israeli army said the strike was on Hezbollah infrastructure and that the army was responding to missiles launched from Lebanon towards the Shlomi settlement.An Israeli drone later targeted a cemetery in the town of Yaroun with two missiles. Hezbollah for its part said it has targeted a group of soldiers in the Zar'it barracks, "inflicting casualties." The group later attacked with a suicide drone a "new command center" in Illit, near Safed. On Monday, five soldiers were wounded in the Western Galilee from missiles launched from Lebanon, as Hezbollah targeted the Hadb al-Bustan post and a group of soldiers in Ya'ara. The Israel-Lebanon border has been rocked by escalating exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. Since the hostilities began, more than 160 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including more than 20 civilians, three of them journalists. Hezbollah has claimed daily attacks on Israeli troops and positions, saying its actions are in support of Gaza. On the Israeli side, at least five civilians and nine soldiers have been killed, according to the military.

Mikati warns Dahieh attack aims to draw Lebanon further into Gaza war
Agence France Presse/January 02, 2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Israel's killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, saying the attack "aims to draw Lebanon" further into the Israel-Hamas war. "Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the explosion in the southern suburbs of Beirut that killed and injured many," his office said in a statement. The attack "aims to draw Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations" with Israel, the statement said, at a time when Hamas ally Hezbollah has been exchanging daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Berri denies proposing 'president-for-1701' deal
Naharnet/January 02, 2024
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has dismissed reports alleging that he had proposed Hezbollah’s “implementation of Resolution 1701” in return for the election of a pro-Hezbollah president. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Tuesday, Berri also snapped back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. “We do not give up a single meter of the land of the south or Lebanese territory in return for obtaining the highest state posts,” he stressed. Berri also revealed that former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea had told him during her farewell visit that U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein would return to Beirut in mid-January to mediate between Lebanon and Israel over the land border and the implementation of Resolution 1701. “We are ready to implement it as of today, but Israel is the one obstructing its implementation ever since it was issued by the U.N. Security Council,” the Speaker lamented. He added that “its implementation should begin by Tel Aviv’s withdrawal from the B-1 point that lies in Ras al-Naqoura, which it had occupied prior to its pullout from Lebanon in the year 2000.”Berri also expressed concern over “the Israeli enemy’s continued targeting of safe villages and its attempt to drag the resistance into an open war,” while emphasizing that “Lebanon will not be dragged into it.”

French minister warns UNIFIL mission 'very dangerous' as border tensions boil
Naharnet/January 02, 2024
French army minister Sebastien Lecornu has said that the UNIFIL's mission might become "very dangerous" as he visited a French UNIFIL contingent in Deir Kifa. Lecornu met with Army chief Joseph Aoun on Monday and discussed with him the U.N. mission and how to protect Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers amid rising border tensions in south Lebanon. "Our time here will be strewn with uncertainty in the weeks and days to come. I would be a bad minister if I did not warn you that the mission will continue to be, if not uncomfortable, potentially very dangerous," Lecornu said. France is one of the main contributors to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, where it has deployed nearly 700 troops. Since October 8, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating cross-border fire, between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, which says it is acting in support of Gaza. The U.N. force has itself been hit by Israeli fire several times, without causing any deaths among peacekeepers. "War is avoidable, and both sides have no interest in war," Lecornu told Aoun. Lecornu will meet Aoun again on Tuesday to discuss the planned delivery of dozens of armored vehicles to the Lebanese Army.

Hezbollah’s hostile operations reach deep northeast of Safed
Arab News/January 02, 2024
BEIRUT: Hezbollah launched an attack on Tuesday using an explosive-laden drone on the headquarters of the 91st Division of the Israeli army in Illit, northeast of Safed, for the first time reaching a target this deep into Israel since the start of hostilities on the southern Lebanese front between Hezbollah and the Israeli army 87 days ago. This attack coincided with a funeral Hezbollah held for three of its members who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday evening in a house targeted by an Israeli drone in the town of Kafrkela. The funeral of the members — namely Hussein Ahmed Yahya, Mousa Hassan Sheet, and Jihad Mousa Sheet — took place in the same border town. Meanwhile, the funeral of a fourth member, Abdul Jalil Ali Hamza, whose body was later recovered from under the rubble of the house, was held in his hometown, Khodor, in the Bekaa. The Israeli army had encircled the town of Kafrkela with an artillery barrage and raids, which a Lebanese security source described to Arab News as “aiming to empty the border villages of any remaining civilians” so as to better target Hezbollah fighters and hinder their movement.
HIGHLIGHT
Israeli aircraft raided the area between the border city of Bint Jbeil and the town of Maroun Al-Ras, launching four air-to-surface missiles at the targeted area. The Israeli army also targeted the town of Mays Al-Jabal with an artillery shell that landed between residential neighborhoods. The Israeli raids on the central sector included the towns of Markaba and Mays Al-Jabal, where a shell fell in the parking lot of the town’s hospital, its flying fragments causing material damage.
In its hostile operations on Tuesday, the Israeli army targeted residential homes in villages facing its positions on the other side of the border. It carried out several raids via drone in the vicinity of cemeteries in the town of Yaroun. It launched artillery shelling in the area between Alma Al-Shaab and Al-Dhaira and in the Ain Al-Zarqa area on the outskirts of Tayr Harfa. Israeli artillery also targeted the heights of Jabal Sadana between Kfarchouba and Shebaa with several shells and struck two houses on the outskirts of the town of Blida. Israeli aircraft raided the area between the border city of Bint Jbeil and the town of Maroun Al-Ras, launching four air-to-surface missiles at the targeted area. The Israeli army also targeted the town of Mays Al-Jabal with an artillery shell that landed between residential neighborhoods. In response to events in the south, Hezbollah expanded the range of Israeli sites and settlements it targets by over 10 km. Israeli media said: “An anti-tank missile was launched from Lebanon toward the Shlomi settlement in the Western Galilee.”Israeli Channel 12 reported that “several missiles were launched from Lebanon toward Shlomi in the Western Galilee, without causing any casualties.” The channel mentioned that “a house was damaged.”The Israeli army announced on Monday night that it “struck a series of targets in Lebanon, including military sites where Hezbollah was active.”It said earlier that “five soldiers were injured as a result of firing from Lebanon.” In the morning, Hezbollah targeted “a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the Zar’it barracks,” confirming in a statement that “the soldiers were killed and wounded.” It also targeted the Israeli military site of Birkat Risha and the Israeli Al-Marj site. On Tuesday, Gen. Joseph Aoun, commander of the Lebanese army, met with French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu. They discussed the aid offered by France to the Lebanese army, including the provision of multiple armored vehicles. Aoun inspected the command of the Fifth Intervention Regiment in the town of Kfardounine, one of the border villages of Bint Jbeil District, on New Year’s Eve. The Army Orientation Directorate said that Aoun reviewed the tasks carried out in the context of developments at the southern border. He said that “the steadfastness of the members of the regiment and other units deployed in the south in the face of the current challenges is important for the people of the region.” The army commander then moved to the headquarters of the UNIFIL commander’s reserve unit in Deir Kifa and again met with Lecornu, who inspected his country’s unit within UNIFIL on the occasion of the holidays. The discussions focused on how to “continue UNIFIL’s mission in light of deteriorating conditions and how to protect the Lebanese army and UNIFIL members in their missions.”
Aoun stressed “the importance of cooperation between the army and UNIFIL within the framework of Resolution 1701, especially during the current exceptional circumstances.”Lecornu confirmed before 700 French soldiers with whom he shared a New Year’s dinner in a tent at the base about 10 km from the border that “this mission could become very dangerous and our path will be strewn with doubts in the coming weeks and days.”

Lebanon prepared if border situation worsens, says minister
Arab News/January 01/2024
Sirens sound in northern Israeli settlements, reconnaissance aircraft fly over Hermel
BEIRUT: Tensions rose on the Lebanese southern front following a short period of cautious calm lasting until the early hours of Monday in many border villages. Lebanon’s caretaker social affairs minister, Hector Hajjar, on Monday visited the border region and toured several towns to assess the situation of people forced to leave their homes. The number of displaced people has reached 72,436 due to escalating conflicts in previously less affected areas. Religious leader, Elias Kfoury, told the minister during the reconnaissance tour in Jdeidet Marjayoun that “the movement is completely paralyzed in the region after the closure of schools in the Marjayoun area and the transfer of official transactions and security offices to Nabatieh governorate.” Additionally, Kfoury said that the Marjayoun-Khardali-Nabatieh road was now at risk due to recent bombings by Israeli drones.
FASTFACT
Lebanon’s caretaker social affairs minister, Hector Hajjar, on Monday visited the border region and toured several towns to assess the situation of people forced to leave their homes. Hajjar visited the towns of Rmeish, Ain Ebel, and Hanin, and ended his tour in Tyre, where he visited the new shelter at the Tyre National School. He promised to “make necessary preparations in case the security situation deteriorated, to support the Lebanese people leaving unsafe areas.”On Monday afternoon, sirens sounded in seven Israeli settlements in the Upper Galilee amid fears of drone infiltration from Lebanon. Many Israeli outposts and settlements opposite the Lebanese border region were targeted, while several Lebanese southern villages were subject to Israeli air and ground bombing and missile strikes. Sirens sounded in Avivim, Bar’am, Dishon, Dalton, Yiftah, Yir’on, Kerem Ben Zamra, and Malkia in the Upper Galilee. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that an anti-armor missile was launched from Lebanese territory toward Metula in the Upper Galilee. The Israeli army launched a spy balloon over the outskirts of Dhahira opposite a Lebanese army post. Hezbollah announced that it had resumed targeting Israeli military outposts, including “directly hitting the Hadb Al-Bustan outpost.”An Israeli drone fired two rockets on the border village of Kfarkila. Direct artillery shelling reached the outskirts of Bint Jbeil, the Maroun Al-Ras village, and the outskirts of Tayr Harfa village. Israel continues to threaten Hezbollah that “if it does not retreat behind the borders, a full-scale war is likely to happen in Lebanon.”An Israeli official told Reuters that some of the troops pulled out of Gaza in the south would be prepared for rotation to the northern border with Lebanon.
He added the situation on the Lebanese front would not be allowed to continue. The coming six-month period is critical, and Israel will convey a similar message to US envoy, Amos Hochstein, who is conducting shuttle missions to Beirut, the official said. Israeli reconnaissance planes were seen flying intensively over southern villages. They also conducted surveillance flights at medium altitudes over villages and towns in the Hasbaya district. Israeli planes flew nonstop over the villages in the western and central sectors, extending to the coast and above Tyre city. During these flights, flare bombs were dropped over the border villages near the Blue Line, from Naqoura to Ramiya, Al-Quzah, Dibal, Ain Ebel, and Aita Al-Shaab. Israeli warplanes flew at a high altitude over the city of Hermel and the villages in the northeastern region of Lebanon. Israeli fighter jets conducted airstrikes in the early hours of Sunday morning near the towns of Al-Dhahirah and Al-Jabeen, without causing any human casualties. On New Year’s eve, most residents in the Arqoub and Hasbaya areas stayed home due to concerns about potential attacks on their villages. This fear was heightened by the presence of army and security forces in the region, who were actively patrolling the area.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 02-03/2024
Profile: Who was Hamas’ Saleh Al-Arouri?
Arab News/January 02, 2024
BEIRUT: One of Hamas’ most senior officials was killed on Tuesday night when an Israeli drone reportedly targeted the militant group’s offices in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut. Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, was a prominent name on Israel’s hit list and the highest-ranking member of the group to have been killed so far. As well as being deputy to Ismail Haniyeh since 2017, Al-Arouri was a founding commander of Hamas’ military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He was also on the US Treasury’s sanctions list for allegedly being a financier for the group and facilitating weapon transfers since 1987 when Hamas was formed during the first Palestinian uprising against Israel. The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Al-Arouri’s death came a day before Iran commemorates the anniversary of losing its top general, Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 3, 2020. Al-Arouri had been a member of Hamas’ Politburo since 2010 but rose to prominence in August 2014 when he told a conference in Turkiye that the militant group was responsible for the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers from a West Bank settlement. Israel and the US also believe he was involved in the funding and training of the Hamas fighters who carried out the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which saw 1,200 people killed and 240 taken hostage. Israel responded by launching a military campaign against the Gaza Strip, which has so far seen the deaths of at least 22,000 Palestinians. In October, Al-Arouri’s family home in the West Bank town of Aroura, near Ramallah, was demolished by the Israeli army. The demolition order was signed by Yehuda Fox, head of the Israel Defense Force Central Command.

After Dahieh strike, Israeli army says focused on Hamas but ready 'for any scenario'
Associated Press/January 2, 2024
Israel’s military spokesman on Tuesday said the army remains focused on fighting Hamas after an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs that killed Saleh al-Arouri, a senior leader of the Islamic militant group. The attack, blamed on Israel, has raised concerns that Lebanon’s Hezbollah could strike back in revenge. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, speaking to media Tuesday, made no direct mention of the death of Arouri.“We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas,” he said. But he added, “We are on high readiness for any scenario.”

Top Hamas official Saleh Arouri, who headed West Bank operations, killed in Beirut blast
BEIRUT (AP)/January 2, 2024
An explosion in Beirut on Tuesday killed Saleh Arouri, a top official with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and three others, officials with Hamas and the Lebanese group Hezbollah said. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the blast killed four people and was carried out by an Israeli drone. Israeli officials declined to comment. If Israel is behind the attack it could mark a major escalation in the Middle East conflict. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to retaliate against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.
Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed to The Associated Press that Arouri was killed in the blast. A Hezbollah official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations also said Arouri was killed. Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, had headed the group's presence in the West Bank. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israel war began on Oct. 7. The explosion shook Musharafieh, one of the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, which are a stronghold of the militant Hezbollah group, which is an ally of Hamas. The explosion caused fire in Hadi Nasrallah street south of Beirut. The explosion came during more than two months of heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern border. Since the fighting began on Oct. 8, the fighting has been concentrated a few miles (kilometers) from the border but on several occasions Israel’s air force hit Hezbollah targets deeper in Lebanon. Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said its fighters carried out several attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border targeting Israeli military posts.

Hamas blames Israel for 'cowardly assassination' of deputy leader Saleh al Arouri
Sky News/January 2, 2024
Hamas has said one of its top officials, Saleh al Arouri, has been killed in an explosion in Beirut - blaming the "cowardly assassination" on Israel. Al Arouri was one of the founders of Hamas's military wing and the deputy leader of the group's political bureau. He also headed Hamas's presence in the West Bank.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the blast killed four people and was carried out by an Israeli drone. Three security sources told Reuters the strike hit Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh. Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, has said al Arouri was killed in a "cowardly assassination" by Israel, adding such attacks "will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people, or undermining the continuation of their valiant resistance".He added: "It proves once again the abject failure of this enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip." Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon, earlier vowed to retaliate against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in the country. Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said the "martyr's blood will undoubtedly ignite another surge in the veins of resistance and motivation to fight" against Israel. Mr Kanaani also condemned the violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill al Arouri even before the Hamas-Israel war began on 7 October 2023. Hamas official Bassem Naim has confirmed al Arouri was killed in the blast. A Hezbollah official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations also said al Arouri was killed. Israeli officials declined to comment. An explosion shook the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs on Tuesday evening causing chaos in Hezbollah's stronghold, but the nature of the blast was not immediately known. It was not clear if the explosion inflicted any casualties in the Beirut suburb but videos circulating on social media showed serious damage and fire. The explosion came during more than two months of heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border. Since the fighting began it has been concentrated a few miles from the border but on several occasions Israel's air force hit Hezbollah targets deeper in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said its fighters carried out several attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border targeting Israeli military posts.

Israeli drone kills deputy Hamas chief in Beirut -security sources
BEIRUT (Reuters)/January 2, 2024
Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday night in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of the allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, three security sources told Reuters. In response to questions from Reuters, the Israeli military said it does not respond to reports in the foreign media. Lebanon's national news agency said six people were killed when the drone struck a Hamas office. Two security sources said the strike had targeted a meeting and that another Palestinian militant commander was among them, but there were no details on the additional four casualties. Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told MSNBC that Israel had not taken responsibility for this attack, but "whoever did it, it must be clear: That this was not an attack on the Lebanese state." "Whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership," Regev said in the interview. Arouri was deputy head of Hamas's politburo and a founder of its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, which carried out a deadly assault in Israeli territory on Oct. 7. He had spent time recently in both Lebanon and Qatar, which has mediated talks between Hamas and Israel including on hostages Hamas took in its Oct. 7 assault. The U.S., which brands Hamas a terrorist group, had last year offered $5 million for information on Arouri. Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa radio confirmed Arouri's killing. Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Sharq called it a "cowardly assassination." Islamic Jihad vowed revenge in a statement, saying: "This crime will not go unpunished and the resistance will continue until the occupation is removed.” Iran said the killing would further galvanize the fight against Israel, while Yemen's Houthi movement expressed condolences.
In Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, hundreds took to the streets to urge retaliation, shouting "Revenge, revenge, Qassam."
'NEW CRIME'
A Reuters witness in Dahiyeh saw firefighters and paramedics gathered around a multi-storey building with a gaping hole in what appeared to be the third floor. Limbs and other pieces of flesh could be seen on the roadside. Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati called the strike a "new Israeli crime" and said it was an attempt to pull Lebanon into war. His office said he asked Lebanon's foreign minister to file a complaint to the United Nations Security Council. Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah plans an address on Wednesday to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the killing of Iranian Quds Force chief Qassem Suleimani in a U.S. drone strike on Baghdad. In a televised speech in August, Nasrallah had cautioned Israel against carrying out any assassinations on Lebanese soil, vowing a "severe reaction." Hezbollah controls security in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh. In 2019, two Israeli drones crashed in the district. Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israel across Lebanon's southern frontier since Hamas carried out the Oct. 7 attack. Israeli air strikes and shelling have killed more than 100 Hezbollah fighters and nearly two dozen civilians since then, including children, elderly and several journalists. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage on Oct. 7, and Israel has responded with a nearly three-month-old offensive in Hamas-run Gaza where Palestinian health officials say the death toll has surpassed 22,000.

Palestinian Authority premier condemns killing of Hamas deputy leader
Agence France Presse/January 2, 2024
Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Tuesday condemned the assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a Beirut suburb, in a strike attributed to Israel. Shtayyeh called the killing a "crime perpetrated by known criminals" and warned about the "risks and consequences that could follow," according to a statement issued by his office. Two security officials in Lebanon said Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike that killed a total of six people in a southern Beirut stronghold of Hamas ally Hezbollah.

Israeli soldiers kill five Palestinian gunmen in West Bank, military says
JERUSALEM, Jan 2 (Reuters)/January 2, 2024
Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinian militants in exchanges of fire in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the military said. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. A statement from the military said that soldiers on a counter-terrorism operation killed four armed militants who had fired at them from within a house in the Palestinian village Azzun and one Israeli soldier was wounded in the fire exchange. In Qalqilya, soldiers shot and killed a gunman who opened fire at them while they were on a raid to seize weapons, the military said. Israeli security forces have stepped up raids across the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive now raging in the Gaza Strip. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Gaza conflict's ripple effect: Will diplomacy prevail or lead to wider conflict in border villages?
LBCI/January 2, 2024
"This mission could become very dangerous," and "our path will be filled with uncertainty in the coming weeks and days," said France's minister of the armed forces, Sébastien Lecornu, addressing the French battalion members participating in the international forces in the South on Monday. This statement did not surprise observers on the ground. The sources indicate increasing tension in the coming days on the Lebanese-Israeli border, manifesting in intensified Israeli fires and powerful strikes targeting homes and neighborhoods in the area. With the transition to the third stage of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and leaks about an alleged shift to the northern front, the Israeli focus on using its destructive aerial capabilities has become evident, rather than relying on drone attacks and artillery shelling. This was apparent in the targeting of several homes in Bint Jbeil, which remained somewhat shielded from direct shelling, and in neighborhoods in Kfarkela resembling a "fire belt." Additionally, strikes hit homes and cars, leading to the fall of several martyrs mourned by Hezbollah. Observers in the field consider the escalating tension as an attempt to exert pressure to improve negotiation conditions on the Israeli side. Simultaneously, international diplomatic efforts intensify, pressuring Lebanon to push Hezbollah away from the border beyond the Litani River and implement Resolution 1701. This is happening while the [Israeli] occupation is also under pressure due to the majority of northern settlers evacuating towards Haifa and central Israel. Israel's escalation is met with a response from Hezbollah according to the same principle. The party launches its rockets toward Israeli settlements, targeting concentrations of soldiers and command and control centers kilometers deep into the front line. Will the tension remain at this level, and will diplomacy succeed in setting the groundwork to de-escalate the confrontation? Or will both parties engage in a wider conflict, with the first stage causing destruction in border villages?

Yedioth Ahronoth, quoting Israeli officials: Saleh al-Arouri's assassination was a 'high-quality operation'
LBCI/January 2, 2024
Yedioth Ahronoth, quoting Israeli officials, reported that the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri was a "high-quality operation, and the fate of all Hamas leaders is death."

More strikes on Gaza after Israel warns war will last through 2024
Agence France Presse/January 2, 2024
Shelling and missile strikes rocked the length of the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday, after Israel's army warned its war against the territory's Hamas rulers will last through 2024. Nearly three months of conflict have claimed almost 22,000 lives in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated much of the besieged territory. Despite relentless global demands for a ceasefire, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Monday the army was preparing for "prolonged fighting" expected to last "throughout this year". On Monday night into Tuesday morning, eyewitnesses reported missiles fired towards the city of Rafah in the south and shelling around the Jabalia refugee camp in the north. Fighting was also reported around the central areas of Maghazi and Bureij, as well as the main southern city of Khan Yunis. "It's the worst year of our lives," Gaza resident Sami Hamouda, 64, told AFP of 2023. "Every new day is like the previous one: bombings, death and mass killings."The war was triggered by Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The militants also took around 250 people hostage that day, more than half of whom remain in Gaza, according to Israeli officials. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, launching an offensive that has reduced vast areas of Gaza to a ruined wasteland and killed at least 21,978 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
The Israeli army says 173 soldiers have been killed inside Gaza in the battle against Hamas, which Israel, the United States and European Union have designated a terrorist organisation.
'Hopeless' conditions -
Witnesses in northern Gaza told AFP on Monday that they had seen Israeli forces leaving several areas in and around Gaza City, likely suggesting redeployment rather than permanent withdrawal. Hagari said the Israeli army was "adapting the planning of the force deployment in Gaza", including for reserve soldiers, as "the fighting will continue and they will still be required". Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, said residents of some towns and villages near the Gaza border -- many of which have been evacuated since the October 7 attacks -- "will soon be able to return home". Since Israel imposed a siege at the outset of the war, Gazans have been facing dire shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine -- eased only by aid trucks, about 120 of which entered on Sunday. The UN says that 85 percent of the territory's population has been displaced since the start of the war. In the southern border town of Rafah, 43-year-old Mostafa Shennar, from Gaza City, told AFP that "living conditions... are just hopeless". Barber Tamer al-Shaer, whose shop in Rafah now stands amid rubble, said a strike had hit the area, but "I tried to clear out the salon, and it's OK. I make a living for myself and my family."Blades are hard to find and for electricity, Shaer has "a small solar panel", he said, adding: "May God find us a solution as soon as possible."
Hostage deal proposed
Days after a Hamas delegation visited Egypt to offer feedback on a new ceasefire plan, US news outlet Axios, citing unnamed Israeli sources, reported that the group had presented Israel with a proposal on Sunday for a new hostage exchange deal via Qatari and Egyptian mediators. One official said the proposal included three phases, each linked to a pause in fighting of more than a month, in return for the release of some hostages. It would also involve the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory, with the final phase of the plan putting an end to war. The official told Axios the proposal had been discussed by the Israeli war cabinet and deemed unacceptable, but suggested progress could be made towards a more amenable plan going forward. Violence has also surged in the occupied West Bank, where more than 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since October. Israel carried out raids around several occupied West Bank cities overnight, including Ramallah, Jericho, Jenin and Qalqilya, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported early Tuesday. According to Wafa, one young man was wounded by Israeli gunfire in Qalqilya, and another was injured by shrapnel in Jenin. Israeli watchdog Yesh Din on Monday said 2023 was the "most violent" year on record for settler attacks in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967, "in both the number of incidents and their severity".

Israel's top court overturns Netanyahu's legal overhaul
Associated Press/January 2, 2024
Israel's Supreme Court struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul Monday, delivering a landmark decision that could reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the country's ongoing war against Hamas. The planned overhaul sparked months of mass protests, threatened to trigger a constitutional crisis between the judicial and legislative branches of government, and rattled the cohesion of Israel's powerful military. Those divisions were largely put aside after Hamas militants carried out a bloody cross-border attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, triggering a war that has raged in Gaza for nearly three months. But Monday's court decision could reignite those tensions even while the country remains at war. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu ally and the architect of the overhaul, lambasted the court's decision, saying it demonstrated "the opposite of the spirit of unity required these days for the success of our soldiers on the front." The ruling "will not discourage us," Levin said without indicating whether the government would try to revive his plan in the short term. "As the campaigns are continuing on different fronts, we will continue to act with restraint and responsibility," he said. In Monday's decision, the court narrowly voted to overturn a law passed in July that prevents judges from striking down government decisions they deem "unreasonable." Opponents had argued that Netanyahu's efforts to remove the standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption and improper appointments of unqualified cronies to important positions. The law was the first in a planned overhaul of the Israeli justice system. The overhaul was put on hold after Hamas militants carried out their Oct. 7 attack, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 others. Israel immediately declared war, and is pressing forward with an offensive that Palestinian health officials say has killed nearly 22,000 people in Gaza.
In an 8-7 decision, the Supreme Court justices struck down the law because of the "severe and unprecedented harm to the core character of the State of Israel as a democratic country." The justices also ruled 12-3 that they had the authority to overturn so-called "Basic Laws," major pieces of legislation that serve as a sort of constitution for Israel. It was a significant blow to Netanyahu and his hard-line allies, who claimed the national legislature, not the high court, should have the final word over the legality of legislation and other key decisions. The justices said the Knesset, or parliament, does not have "omnipotent" power. Netanyahu's government could decide to ignore Monday's ruling, setting the stage for a constitutional showdown over which branch of government has ultimate authority. The court issued its decision because its outgoing president, Esther Hayut, is retiring, and Monday was her last day on the job. Netanyahu and his allies announced their sweeping plan to reshape the judiciary shortly after taking office a year ago. It calls for curbing the power of the judges, including by limiting the Supreme Court's ability to review parliamentary decisions and changing the way judges are appointed. Supporters said the changes aim to strengthen democracy by circumscribing the authority of unelected judges and turning over more powers to elected officials. But opponents see the overhaul as a power grab by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and an assault on a key watchdog. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good-government group that opposed the legislation, called the Supreme Court's ruling "a tremendous public victory for those who seek democracy."
"Only an unreasonable government, one that acts unreasonably, that makes unreasonable moves, abolishes the reasonablility standard," the group's chairman, Eliad Shraga, said. Before the Israel-Hamas war, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in weekly protests against the government. Among the demonstrators were military reservists, including fighter pilots and members of other elite units, who said they would stop reporting for duty if the overhaul was passed. Reservists make up the backbone of the Israeli military. While the reservists quickly returned to duty after the Oct. 7 attacks in a show of unity, it remains unclear what would happen if the overhaul efforts were revived. A resumption of the protests could undermine national unity and affect the military's readiness if soldiers refused to report for duty.
Under the Israeli system, the prime minister governs through a majority coalition in parliament — in effect, giving him control over the executive and legislative branches of government. As a result, the Supreme Court plays a critical oversight role. Critics say that by seeking to weaken the judiciary, Netanyahu and his allies are trying to erode the country's checks and balances and consolidate power over the third, independent branch of government. Netanyahu's allies include an array of ultranationalist and religious parties with a list of grievances against the court.
His allies have called for increased West Bank settlement construction, annexation of the occupied territory, perpetuating military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, and limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ people and Palestinians.
The U.S. had previously urged Netanyahu to put the plans on hold and seek a broad consensus across the political spectrum.

Malta-flagged container ship reported seeing 3 explosions towards its port quarter off Yemen -Ambrey
CAIRO, Jan 2 (Reuters)/January 2, 2024
British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Tuesday that a Malta-flagged container ship reported seeing three explosions towards its port quarter, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Yemen's Mocha. The vessel master was heard over VHF, calling a coalition warship, the firm added. Ambrey said it understood that three missiles had been fired from the direction of Yemen's Taiz Governorate. A nearby vessel reported seeing a small boat, about 50 metres (160 feet) in length, and with two lights, within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the incident location soon afterwards, the firm added. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militants, who control much of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel's war in Gaza. "It was assessed this particular vessel was not Israel-affiliated, but other vessels in the operator's fleet had regularly called Israel, and this affiliation might have been sufficient for her to be targeted," Ambrey said.Several shipping lines have suspended operations through the Red Sea in response to the attacks, instead taking the longer journey around Africa. The Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza, and warned that it would attack U.S. warships if the militia group itself was targeted.

US slams Israeli ministers' statements on resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza
Kanishka Singh/January 2, 2024
By Kanishka Singh/WASHINGTON (Reuters)
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday slammed recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir that advocated for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, calling the rhetoric "inflammatory and irresponsible."
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The comments from the ministers appeared to underscore fears in much of the Arab world that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of land where they want to build a future state, repeating the mass dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948. Finance Minister Smotrich, one of the senior figures in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, called on Sunday for Palestinian residents of Gaza to leave the besieged enclave. National Security Minister Ben-Gvir also said the war in Gaza presented an "opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza."
KEY QUOTES
"This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible. We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government," the State Department said in a statement, saying such statements should "stop immediately.""We have been clear, consistent, and unequivocal that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel."
CONTEXT
Smotrich's hard-right Religious Zionism Party draws support from Israel's settler community and helped Netanyahu secure the majority he needed to become prime minister for the sixth time a year ago. Remarks previously from Ben-Gvir have also irked U.S. President Joe Biden, who said in December the Israeli minister and his allies want to have "retribution" against all Palestinians. Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 22,000 people, according to the local health ministry.

UK's Blair denies link to role in 'resettlement' of Gazans
Agence France Presse/January 2, 2024
Britain's former prime minister Tony Blair has strongly denied an Israeli media report linking him to talks last week about the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza in other countries. Channel 12 claimed on Sunday that Blair, who left office in 2007 and served as a Middle East envoy charged with building up Palestinian institutions, was in Israel last week. The news channel said he held meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war cabinet member Benny Gantz about a mediation role after the war with Hamas. He could also act as a go-between with moderate Arab states about the "voluntary resettlement" of Gazans, it added. Expelling civilians during a conflict or creating unlivable conditions which force them to leave is a war crime. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a non-profit organisation he set up in 2016, said the report was "a lie". "The story was published without any contact with Tony Blair or his team. No such discussion has taken place," it said in a statement on Monday night. "Nor would Tony Blair have such a discussion. The idea is wrong in principle. Gazans should be able to stay and live in Gaza."
'Unwelcome person'
The Palestinian presidency in Ramallah lashed out at the report. The presidency said it would demand that the British government "not allow this meddling with the fate and future of the Palestinian people". "We also consider Tony Blair to be an unwelcome person in the Palestinian territories," it said, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Channel 12 report came after two far-right Israeli government ministers called for Jewish settlers to return to the Gaza Strip after the war with Hamas, and said Palestinians should be encouraged to emigrate. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party, told Israeli army radio: "To control the territory militarily for a long time, we need a civilian presence."He said Israel should "encourage" Palestinians to leave. And on Monday, Israel's firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said: "We must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza's residents." UN chief Antonio Guterres and the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, are among those who have spoken out against the possible forced transfer of Gazans. The Israeli ministers' comments drew condemnation from Hamas, the militant group whose October 7 attack from Gaza killed some 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Israel's relentless military response has killed more than 22,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. UN agencies have voiced alarm over a spiralling humanitarian crisis facing Gaza's 2.4 million people, who remain under siege and bombardment, most of them displaced and huddling in shelters and tents, amid dire food shortages.

Child among 8 killed in Syria clashes: monitor
AFP/January 02, 2024
BEIRUT: Eight civilians, including a child, were killed Monday during exchanges of fire between the army and rebels in northwestern Syria, with 19 others wounded, a war monitor said. The fighting pitted the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad against Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch. “An elderly man, a woman and her young daughter were killed and 10 other civilians were wounded in a bombardment by the HTS on the villages of Nubul and Zahraa, in a part of Aleppo province controlled by the Syrian regime,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. HTS and other groups control swathes of Idlib province and parts of neighboring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces. The Syrian army retaliated by bombing residential areas of Darat Izza town in Aleppo, killing three civilians and wounding nine others, the Observatory said. The Britain-based war monitor, which has a network of sources inside Syria, said the bombardments struck a bakery, a mosque, a power plant and a popular market. Army artillery fire killed two other civilians in the Aleppo village of Burj Haidar, the Observatory said. A brutal Syrian government crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests that erupted in 2011 spiralled into a devastating war involving foreign armies, militias and jihadists. More than half a million people have been killed in the conflict. Last week, Russian air strikes on Idlib province, killed five civilians from the same family, including three children, according to rescuers and the Observatory. Moscow is one of Assad’s key backers, providing him with military, political and economic support in the country’s civil war. Russia’s intervention in the war since 2015 has helped forces loyal to Assad claw back much of the territory they lost in the conflict. A cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkiye was declared in Idlib after a Syrian government offensive in March 2020, but it has been repeatedly violated.

Explosive drone shot down at Iraqi Kurdistan airbase
Agence France Presse/January 02, 2024
An explosive drone targeting the U.S.-led anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq was shot down at Arbil airport on Tuesday, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan said. The attack was claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza war.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, there has been a surge in attacks on U.S. forces and their allies in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.Counter-terrorism authorities in the autonomous region of northern Iraq said the drone was launched by an "outlawed group" and was shot down.
Washington has counted 115 attacks launched against U.S. targets in Syria and Iraq since mid-October, according to a military official speaking on condition of anonymity. The U.S. military has responded by launching air strikes targeting sites used by Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq and Syria. The United States has around 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of a multinational coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

Turkey detains 33 people accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad
France 24/January 2, 2024
Turkey on Tuesday detained 33 people suspected of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence service, Turkish media reported, without specifying the nationalities of those detained. The suspects were rounded up in raids across eight provinces around Istanbul, the private DHA and state-run Anadolu news agencies reported, adding that their mission included conducting abductions and carrying out reconnaissance work. Turkish security services were still looking for 13 more suspects accused of engaging "international espionage" on Israel's behalf, the reports said. Relations between Turkey and Israel deteriorated sharply following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned into one of the world's harshest critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he compared to Adolf Hitler last week. The Gaza war ended a gradual improvement in Turkish-Israeli relations, which were effectively frozen for most of the past decade.

What is behind Turkey's staunch support for Hamas in Gaza?
Ece Goksedef - BBC News/January 2, 2024
Tens of thousands of participants gathered in mosques for morning prayers and march for Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, on 1 January 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey Tens of thousands of Turks held a pro-Palestinian demonstration on 1 January. On the first day of the year, tens of thousands of Turks poured on to the streets of Istanbul, chanting "Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine". It was not the first massive pro-Palestinian rally in Turkey since the start of Israel-Gaza war on 7 October. But Monday's mass protest followed incendiary remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Since he first came to power more than 20 years ago, Turkey has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, including Hamas. But even by Mr Erdogan's standards, the rhetoric was extreme. What Israel's prime minister was doing in Gaza, he said, "is not any less than what Hitler did". Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hit back, saying "Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his rule, is the last person who can preach morality to us". Mr Erdogan has made comparisons with Nazi Germany in the past, but the current war of words has put into sharp focus just how bitter Turkish-Israeli relations have become, just months after a significant upturn.
Why are Israel and Hamas fighting in Gaza?
In the latest broadside against Israel, Turkey announced on Tuesday that it had detained 33 people suspected of working for Israeli intelligence service Mossad in raids across eight provinces. The operation, carried out with Turkey's MIT intelligence agency, followed reports that Israel intended to hunt down members of Hamas abroad, including in Turkey. Turkey has stepped up support for Gaza since 7 October, for example bringing dozens of patients from Gaza to Turkey for treatment. Turkey's health minister himself accompanied the casualties en route from Egypt. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians. When Hamas attacked Israel, Mr Erdogan used relatively measured language, urging both sides to remain calm. But as Israel's military response intensified, his rhetoric became increasingly fierce, calling Hamas "freedom fighters" and Israel's actions "genocide". This hostility to Israel plays to President Erdogan's support base in Turkey, says Helin Sari Ertem, Associate Professor of International Relations at Istanbul Medeniyet University. "Palestine has long been a cause for Turkey and the Turkish people, covering almost all political tendencies," she says. "Consequently, it is not possible for Turkish governments to consider the Palestine-Israeli conflict only as a foreign policy issue; as it definitely is a game-changer in domestic politics."
Warming to Hamas
In the second half of the 20th Century, Israel and Turkey enjoyed close economic and strategic relationships. Turkey was also the first country in the region to formally recognise Israel after it was founded. But it was not long after Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to office in 2002 that relations with Israel deteriorated while those with Hamas improved. In 2006, then-Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal visited Turkey following an invitation from Mr Erdogan. Hamas had by then been designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US and the EU, amongst others. The first diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey played out before a world audience when in 2009, Mr Erdogan stormed out of a meeting during the World Economic Forum in Davos after a clash with Israel's then-President Shimon Peres over Israeli air strikes in Gaza. The Turkish leader vowed to never go back to Davos - and he has not returned since. But just a year later tensions reached breaking point when a ship, the Mavi Marmara, sailed from Istanbul to Gaza with volunteers and humanitarian aid to challenge Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip. When the Mavi Marmara refused to halt, Israeli commandos raided it in international waters and 10 Turkish citizens on board were killed in ensuing clashes. The incident led Turkey to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel for several years. According to Ms Sari Ertem, Turkey's pivot away from Israel and towards the Palestinians is due to the conservative and pro-Islamic grassroots of Mr Erdogan's AKP party. While Mr Erdogan's support for the Palestinians is sincere, she says it also aimed at calming down the conservative-nationalist political groups, which did not see sufficient reaction from the AKP in the first days of the war.
The head of the main opposition Republican People's Party in Turkey, Ozgur Ozel, called on the international community to act for Gaza, and the leader of the second biggest opposition party, Meral Aksener, has branded the Israeli prime minister a "terrorist". However, this support for Hamas has come at a cost for Turkey. Turkey's frayed relationship with Israel was restored only last year and then, within months of both countries reappointing their ambassadors, the war erupted. Turkey recalled its ambassador, and Israel's envoy returned out of security concerns. Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy, says President Erdogan is unlikely to change path. "He has his domestic supporters and constituents, and he can't ignore such pressure coming from within Turkey and his base," Mr Cafiero argues. He also says the president cannot ignore his desire to be considered as a strong Muslim leader. "Erdogan is a respected head of state throughout the wider Islamic world, and he has regional and international supporters, too." Despite the rupture between the two countries, Ms Sarı Ertem believes it will not be too damaging. "The anti-Israeli discourse, which becomes very much visible especially at times of serious civilian casualties caused by Israel on the Palestinian side, rarely disrupts the traditional Turkish foreign policy approach, which favours a balancing act," she says. "It has always continued its relations with Israel at least economically, if not politically. Turkish-Israeli relations have proved to be quite resilient despite all the ups and downs during history."

Turkey blocks Royal Navy minehunters going to Ukraine
Timothy Sigsworth/The Telegraph/January 2, 2024
Turkey has refused to allow Royal Navy minehunters donated to Ukraine to pass through its waters, blocking them from reaching the Black Sea. The two ships were pledged to Kyiv in December to help its navy in the battle against Russia. But on Tuesday, the office of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the transfer would violate the 1936 Montreux Convention which stops warships passing through its Bosphorus and Gallipoli straits during conflicts. The straits are the only sea route to the Black Sea and Nato member Turkey insists it has implemented the ban impartially since the war in Ukraine began.
Russia has no need to use the straits to access the Ukrainian coast. “Our pertinent allies have been duly apprised that the minehunting ships donated to Ukraine by the United Kingdom will not be allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues,” Turkey said in a statement posted on Twitter. Britain is yet to comment.
The two ships were the leading parts of a new naval coalition formed with Norway to strengthen Ukraine’s capabilities in the mine-ridden Black Sea. The Maritime Capability Coalition aimed to counter the threat of Russian sea explosives to help restore Ukraine’s grain exports and make importing supplies easier. The Telegraph understands that the Ministry of Defence expected the ships to be banned from passing through Turkish waters when it donated them. It is understood the vessels are part of a longer-term British commitment to Ukraine’s naval presence in the Black Sea that extends beyond the war with Russia. Ukrainian troops can still be trained on the vessels. The blockage of the two minehunters, which use sonar to scour the depths for explosives and sea drones to destroy them, is set to be a serious setback. “These minehunters will deliver vital capability to Ukraine which will help save lives at sea and open up vital export routes, which have been severely limited since Putin launched his illegal full-scale invasion,” Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, said at the time. Turkey has struck a delicate balance between Ukraine and Russia during the war, maintaining good ties with both. Britain has previously accused Russia of considering laying sea mines in the humanitarian corridor established in the Black Sea to facilitate grain exports. On Wednesday last week, a cargo ship hit a Russian mine on its way to a port on the river Danube, injuring two crew members. Ukraine has previously said that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure have increased since mid-July when Moscow quit a United Nations-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian grain shipments to pass safely through the Black Sea. Kyiv has since established an alternative route which hugs the western shores of the Black Sea. It says Russian forces have been repeatedly laying mines in the vicinity of the new route. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.

Iran’s Red Sea Power Play Raises Fears of Trade Disruption
Ben Bartenstein and Sam Dagher/(Bloomberg)/January 2, 2024
Iran’s dispatch of a warship to the Red Sea is its most audacious move yet to challenge US forces in the key trade route, emboldening Houthi militants whose missiles have disrupted shipping over the past two months. Tehran is unlikely to want direct confrontation — its old frigate being no match for the US-led maritime task force patrolling the waters off Yemen — but it takes the projection of Iranian power in the region to another level. That’s raising tensions after the Houthis started attacking vessels they claimed were headed to or owned by firms in Israel in a bid to end the military assault on Gaza. Iran has rejected calls from Western powers to pressure the Houthis to end their attacks in the Red Sea. Some of the latest ships targeted by the rebels don’t have clear links to Israel, according to Kevjn Lim, a Tel Aviv-based analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. That includes an attack on an AP Moller-Maersk A/S container ship, after Denmark said it was joining the task force. “They aren’t showing a willingness to deescalate, so we’re likely to see further targeting of commercial assets and US maritime ships going forward,” Lim said.
In response to the Houthi attacks, some of the world’s biggest shipping firms have refused to transit through the Suez Canal, complicating flows between Europe and Asia and forcing some vessels to take the more costly route around the Cape of Good Hope. Copenhagen-based Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG said on Tuesday they were extending their pause on passing through the Red Sea. The tensions have also prompted jitters in the oil markets, with crude climbing more than 2% as New Year trading opened. “There is a real risk of escalation here and we’ve already seen some of that unfold in the last few days,” said Dina Esfandiary, a London-based senior adviser for the Middle East at the International Crisis Group, referring to the death of 10 Houthi fighters in an exchange with the US Navy Sunday. “The Houthis have made it clear they are not afraid to follow through on their threats.” On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian blasted what he called the West’s double standards on Gaza, accusing the US and its allies of caring more about disruptions to global trade than civilians being killed in Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian enclave. Israel says its aim is to destroy Hamas, which attacked on Oct. 7 and is designated a terrorist group by the US. Amirabdollahian’s comments followed a meeting with Mohammed Abdulsalam, one of the most senior figures in the Houthi movement, and talks on Sunday with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who told him Tehran had to rein in the rebels. “Iran will continue to support the will and desire of the Yemeni people,” Amirabdollahian said. Joel Rayburn, a former US diplomat and military commander, said the Iranian leadership has chosen to take bold steps against Israel and the US, including in the Red Sea, as part of a strategy to project its own power in the region. Still, Iran may be reluctant to enter into a direct war with the US, not least after Washington’s loose implementation of sanctions allowed Tehran to boost oil exports. “This Iranian destroyer is just for media consumption, targeting a domestic and regional audience — displaying Iran as a regional power capable of deploying naval assets to challenge the US,” said Riad Kahwaji, the Dubai-based head of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “But it is unlikely that this destroyer will confront the Western warships in the area because Tehran does not want to get in a war with the US.”Iran’s moves in the Red Sea offer reminders of another vital chokepoint that Tehran has long threatened to disrupt if its interests are imperiled: the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Persian Gulf with international oil markets. That would pose a bigger threat, traders say. A hypothetical Hormuz closure could see crude prices surge 20% within a month and potentially higher thereafter, according to Callum Bruce, a London-based analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That scenario appears unlikely, though, as it would probably prompt a more forceful global response, he said. Even so, the Houthis feel emboldened, benefiting from greater popular Arab support since the Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to Esfandiary. “If the tit-for-tats get out of control and each side refuses to abide by the other’s red lines, then we have a real powder keg here,” she said.
--With assistance from Arsalan Shahla and Christian Wienberg.

Iran hangs nine convicted drug traffickers: state media
AFP/January 02/2024
TEHRAN: Iran has hanged nine convicted drug traffickers in recent days, state media reported Tuesday, as it keeps up one of the world’s highest rates of execution. Three were hanged at a prison in the northwestern province of Ardabil on charges of “buying and transporting heroin and opium,” the official IRNA news agency said. The other six were executed separately on charges of trafficking “methamphetamine, heroin and cannabis,” it added. Iran lies on a major opium-smuggling route between Afghanistan and Europe and has one of the world’s highest rates of domestic opiate use.
Figures cited by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2021 suggest 2.8 million people have a drug problem in Iran. Iranian authorities have launched multiple campaigns to fight drug abuse and trafficking, and regularly announce large seizures of opiates smuggled from neighboring Afghanistan. In June, Amnesty International reported that Iranian authorities had executed at least 173 people convicted of drug-related offenses during the first five months of 2023. The figure made up around two thirds of all executions in Iran during that period, it added. Iran says executions are carried out only after exhaustive legal proceedings and are a necessary deterrent against drug trafficking. It executes more people per year than any other nation except China, according to Amnesty. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said in November that the Islamic republic had executed more than 700 people in 2023, the highest figure in eight years.

Singh urges solidarity, respect amid heightened fear in Jewish and Muslim
OTTAWA/January 2, 2024
Canadians can and must do better as hate crimes increase during the Israel-Hamas war, federal New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh says, calling back to his own experiences of being targeted for his identity. There has to be space for people to express their fears, worries and political opinions without provoking hateful conduct, Singh said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press. "I think we can be better as a country," the NDP leader said in a phone call from Toronto. "We need to come to a place of respect for each other, a place where we can be who we are, and we can be celebrated for our identity and not be afraid." Singh said he recently spoke to Jewish and Muslim Canadians who have expressed concerns about their safety amid an uptick in hate-motivated violence and are worried about wearing religious symbols that are part of their identity. "They're afraid (for their kids) to wear anything that identifies them as Jewish. They're nervous to wear their yamaka or Star of David. These symbols are part of their identity, and they're afraid of that," he said. He added that he heard from members of the Muslim community that "it's a reminder of post-9/11," a time of significant "suspicion and negativity."
Again in the current climate, he said, "if a woman wears a hijab she's even more nervous to be in public."It's a familiar concern for Singh, who wears a turban — a symbol of his Sikh faith. "I grew up being picked on, having my turban ripped off my head and having to fight back," Singh said.
"I remember what that's like, being afraid to be yourself and the courage it takes to still do it."The heightened fear comes after Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7 and took about 240 more hostage, provoking an Israeli military response that local authorities said has killed almost 22,000 people in the Gaza Strip.In Canada, protesters have been clashing on streets and on university campuses. And police are reporting significant spikes in hate crimes. "That is a real scary thing, and it's happening in a real shocking way. I'm seeing a massive rise," Singh said. Last month, Toronto police said reports of hate crimes increased by more than 104 per cent between Oct. 7 and Dec. 17 compared to the same time period last year. That included 56 antisemitic hate crimes, and 20 anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian or anti-Arab hate crimes. Police also said they were investigating an exchange between a demonstrator and another person during a pro-Palestine protest at a downtown mall.
Toronto is not an outlier.
In Montreal, Jewish schools have been shot at, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a building belonging to the Jewish Community Council of Montreal and anti-Muslim graffiti was spray-painted near an Islamic centre. In November, Calgary police said they charged a man who allegedly used antisemitic language at a protest. His charges were later stayed. And last month, RCMP announced that it arrested and charged a teen in Ottawa with terrorism-related offences that allegedly targeted Jewish people. Police warned of a troubling trend in violent extremism among Canadian youth. In the face of all this, Singh said he believes Canadians can do better when it comes to making each other feel safe. "We need to come to a place of respect for each other, a place where we can be who we are," he said. "And we can be celebrated for our identity and not be afraid."

At least 48 dead after monster Japan quake
Associated Press/January 02, 2024
A series of powerful earthquakes hit western Japan, leaving at least 48 people dead and damaging thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats, with officials warning people in some areas on Tuesday to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes. Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area on Monday afternoon. Forty-eight people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa, officials said. Sixteen others were seriously injured, while damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed, they said. Japanese media reports said tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. Government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi said 17 people were seriously injured and gave a slightly lower death tally, while saying he was aware of the prefecture's tally. Water, power and cellphone service were still down in some areas, and residents expressed sorrow about their destroyed homes and uncertain futures. "It's not just that it's a mess. The wall has collapsed, and you can see through to the next room. I don't think we can live here anymore," Miki Kobayashi, an Ishikawa resident, said as she swept around her house. Their house was also damaged in a 2007 quake, she said. Japan's military dispatched 1,000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday. "Saving lives is our priority and we are fighting a battle against time," he said. "It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately."A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook the Ishikawa area as he was speaking. Firefighters were able to bring a fire under control in Wajima city which had reddened the sky with embers and smoke.
Nuclear regulators said several nuclear plants in the region were operating normally. A major quake and tsunami in March 2011 caused three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation at a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan. News videos showed rows of collapsed houses. Some wooden structures were flattened and cars were overturned. Half-sunken ships floated in bays where tsunami waves had rolled in, leaving a muddied coastline. On Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, as well as for the northern island of Hokkaido. The warning was downgraded several hours later, and all tsunami warnings were lifted as of early Tuesday. Waves measuring more than one meter (3 feet) hit some places. The agency warned that more major quakes could hit the area over the next few days. People who were evacuated from their houses huddled in auditoriums, schools and community centers. Bullet trains in the region were halted, but service was mostly restored by Tuesday afternoon. Sections of highways were closed. Weather forecasters predicted rain, setting off worries about already crumbling buildings and infrastructure. The region includes tourist spots famous for lacquerware and other traditional crafts, along with designated cultural heritage sites. U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that his administration was "ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Japanese people."Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. Over the last day, the nation has experienced about a hundred aftershocks.

US quietly reaches agreement with Qatar to keep operating largest military base in Middle East
Alex Marquardt and Natasha Bertrand, CNN/January 2, 2024
The United States has quietly reached an agreement that extends its military presence at a sprawling base in Qatar for another 10 years, three US defense officials and another official familiar with the agreement told CNN. The deal, which has not been announced publicly, highlights Washington’s reliance on the tiny Gulf country that has recently played a central role in mediating the release of Americans from captivity in Gaza and Venezuela. The Al Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, is the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and can house more than 10,000 American troops. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Al Udeid last month where he thanked Qatar for their increased spending on the base. But he made no mention of the renewal and the Biden administration has not publicized it – at a time when Qatar has come under growing scrutiny for hosting senior Hamas leaders. Qatari officials have countered that it was only after a US request during the Obama administration that Hamas was allowed to open a political office in Doha. The base has been a pivotal hub for the US Central Command’s air operations in or around Afghanistan, Iran and across the Middle East. The Qatari and British Air Forces also operate from the base. The extension comes as the US has bolstered its presence in the region amid escalating threats from Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
After Hamas kidnapped some 240 hostages from Israel on October 7, Qatar has been the primary go-between with Hamas to broker the initial release of scores of the Israeli and international hostages. It continues to be central in the talks to try to revive hostage negotiations, coordinating with the CIA and Israel’s Mossad, as well as Egypt. Their part in the months of negotiations over Americans detained by Venezuela was less public but came to light after President Nicolas Maduro released 10 Americans last month in exchange for a close ally accused by the US of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars.
Qatar’s involvement in both sets of negotiations has been seen as an extension of the mediating role the country has taken on with other US enemies, including Iran and the Taliban. Its vast oil and natural gas wealth, coupled with ability to act as a facilitator, allow Qatar to punch above its weight, analysts say.
While their hosting of Hamas leadership was no secret, the brutality of the October 7 massacre in Israel has ignited criticism of Qatar and calls for them to expel Hamas. President Joe Biden has spoken about his conversations with Qatar’s emir but at times hasn’t given them the credit they feel they deserve. Biden did not mention Qatar in a November op-ed in The Washington Post, while Egypt and other Middle East allies were referenced. Nor did Biden highlight Qatar’s part in the release of the detainees in Venezuela in his official statement. The Pentagon also declined CNN’s request for comment Tuesday.
Thousands of Afghans were flown from Kabul to Al Udeid during the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. US military personnel struggled to provide for the massive influx of refugees from what Biden called “one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history.” Qatar has committed billions of its own funds upgrade the facilities for US Airmen at the base. Al Udeid became CENTCOM’s main air base in 2003, shifting forces and assets from the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where the presence of a large number of American military personnel was more sensitive and controversial. While Austin didn’t announce the extension of the Al Udeid agreement during his visit at the base last month, he did say that the US and Qatar “will formally take steps forward to expand and reinforce our bilateral defense relationship.”“We’ll do this through Qatar’s commitment to contribute significant resources to increase capabilities here at Al Udeid Air Base, and that will support both of our forces for years to come,” Austin added.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 02-03/2024
Why Christian Leaders Ignore Attacks on Their Community
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./January 02, 2024
As of this writing, no Christian leader had anything to say about Hezbollah's missile attack on a church.
When Muslims commit such crimes against Christians in the Gaza Strip, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and other countries, no one, including the Western media, takes notice. Why? It is not about Israel. No Jews are at fault.
Where were the pope and other Christian organizations, one wonders, when Christians living under the terrorist group Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, were being systematically targeted and persecuted?
How ironic, then, that the latest attempt to label Israel as a country that targets Christians coincided with the massacre in Nigeria perpetrated against Christians celebrating Christmas. More than 160 Christians were murdered in coordinated attacks by Islamist militant groups that took place between December 23-25. Nigeria has been a hotbed for Christian persecution in recent years, with the country, in 2022, leading the world in Christians killed for their faith. When such atrocities are committed, we rarely hear the voices of those who claim to care about the well-being and safety of Christians around the world.
Worse, those who are ignoring the attacks on Christians are giving a green light to Hamas, Hezbollah and other Islamists to destroy Christian holy sites and murder Christians.
On December 26, Hezbollah hit St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church in Iqrit, Israel, with two anti-tank guided missiles, wounding ten people. As of this writing, no Christian leader had anything to say about Hezbollah's missile attack on a church. Pictured: St. Mary's, photographed on December 19, 2020. (Image source: Bukvoed/Wikimedia Commons)
On December 26, Iran's Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah attacked St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church in Iqrit, northern Israel. An anti-tank guided missile fired from Lebanon directly hit the church, severely wounding an 85-year-old civilian. Nine Israeli soldiers who rushed to rescue the churchgoer were then wounded by a second missile strike. Hezbollah boasted about the attack and posted a video of its missiles hitting the church.
The attack did not elicit any response from any major Christian organization in the West. By contrast, the pope was quick to denounce the killing of two Christian women in the Gaza Strip, falsely insinuating, however, that Israel was responsible.
Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter, Samar Kamal Anton, were reportedly killed in a shooting incident at the compound of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in the Gaza Strip. The pope claimed that the two women "were killed, and others were wounded by the shooters while they were going to the bathroom." Although he did not name the alleged shooters, the pope, in the article , echoing false claims by Hamas and other terrorist groups, was clearly pointing the finger of blame at Israel:
"At the Angelus prayer, the Pope said he continues to receive troubling news from Gaza, where unarmed civilians are the targets of bombings and gunfire."
As of this writing, no Christian leader had anything to say about Hezbollah's missile attack on a church.
When Muslims commit such crimes against Christians in the Gaza Strip, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and other countries, no one, including the Western media, takes notice. Why? It is not about Israel. No Jews are at fault.
It is just as likely that the Christian women were killed by Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists. In recent years, there has been increased evidence that Hamas not only uses mosques to launch attacks against Israel; Archbishop Alexis, a prominent Christian leader in the Gaza Strip revealed that during one of the recent rounds of fighting, Hamas terrorists used the church compound to launch rockets into Israel.
These are the same terrorists, by the way, who fired a rocket that struck a hospital in the Gaza Strip and rushed to falsely accuse Israel. After examining images of the damage at the point of impact at the Al-Ahli Hospital, a European military source ruled out the hypothesis that the attack was an air-to-ground strike by an Israeli fighter jet. The source, as well as the US government, assessed that the explosion was caused by a Gazan rocket that had misfired on its way toward Israel. The source, in addition, questioned the death toll quickly announced by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, saying it was unlikely that 471 people died in the explosion; US intelligence estimated far fewer.
Earlier, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem had directly accused Israel, without any evidence, of killing the Christian mother and daughter. "They were shot in cold blood," the patriarchate claimed in a statement.
The Israeli military, however, refuted the claim that its troops had targeted the Greek Orthodox church in the Gaza Strip. Stressing that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "do not target civilians, no matter their religion," the army said it had been contacted by church representatives about an incident in the Holy Family Parish, but "no reports of a hit on the church, nor civilians being injured or killed, were raised. A review of the IDF's operational findings support this."
Later, the army said its initial review found that "Hamas terrorists launched a rocket-propelled grenade at IDF troops from the vicinity of the church." The troops identified three people in the vicinity who were operating as "spotters" for Hamas and "guiding their attacks," and fired at the spotters, hitting them.
"While this incident occurred in the area where the two women were reportedly killed," it said, "the reports received [of the two women killed] do not match the conclusion of our initial review, which found that the IDF troops were targeting spotters in enemy lookouts."
The IDF said it was continuing its "examination of the incident," adding:
"The IDF takes claims of strikes on sensitive sites very seriously, especially churches that are the holy sites for the Christian faith. The IDF directs its operations against the Hamas terrorist organization and not against civilians, regardless of their religious affiliation. The IDF takes many measures to mitigate harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip. These efforts stand in contrast to Hamas that does everything in its power to endanger civilians and exploits them, as well as religious sites, as human shields for their terrorist activities."
By pointing an accusatory finger at Israel, the pope and the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem are actually buying into the false claims made by Iran's Palestinian proxy, Hamas. The pope and the patriarchate were quick to make a judgement against Israel, largely on the basis of a false claim made by Hamas, whose terrorists invaded Israel on October 7 and murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and wounded thousands of others. The pope and the patriarchate did not even bother to wait for the Israeli army's investigation into the Gaza church incident. Instead, they, like many in the mainstream media in the West, chose to parrot the false claims made by Hamas and other terrorists.
Like many in the mainstream media in the West, they also chose to ignore the Hezbollah attack on the church in northern Israel. They probably see no reason why they should respond to an attack that cannot be blamed on Israel.
Where were the pope and other Christian organizations, one wonders, when Christians living under the terrorist group Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, were being systematically targeted and persecuted?
During the volatile period of 2006-2008 in the Gaza Strip, Islamist terrorists murdered Rami Ayyad, a Palestinian Christian activist who served as manager of the only Christian bookstore there. The bookstore had been the target of several attacks in the past, including bombings and arson. Ayyad was known to have received death threats over the years.
On October 6, 2007, as Ayyad was locking up the bookstore, he was forced into a car by a group of masked men and driven away. The next day his body was found in a field near the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City. He had been severely beaten, and a note found near his body accused him of being a "missionary" and warned others not to engage in similar activities.
"Since the election of the Hamas government in 2006, and the coup by which Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007, religious tension has only intensified," wrote the late international human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner, who extensively researched human rights abuses against Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Hamas has enacted policies that are turning the [Palestinian-controlled areas] into an Islamic theocracy, and the Christian religion and its followers are consistently discriminated against. Muslim groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a culture of hatred upon the age-old foundations of Islamic society. In 2008, Muslim militants bombed the Gaza City Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), and a bomb went off in a Christian school."
In Weiner's view, the crimes committed against Christian Arabs result from a way of thinking that dates back to the earliest days of Islam:
"Traditionally, Christians and Jews are given an inferior social status known as dhimmitude in Islam. The dhimma is a legal contract of submission that was imposed upon the indigenous non-Muslim populations in regions conquered by the spread of Islam. Although Jews and Christians were not forced to convert to Islam, they were not treated as the equals of Muslims. As dhimmis, Jews and Christians were subjected to both legal and cultural restrictions under Islamic law. For example, Muslims could rise horses, whereas Christians and Jews were limited to donkeys. Or, Muslims were permitted to wear garments of fine cloth, while Christians and Jews were only allowed to wear clothing made from coarse fabric."
Weiner went on to note:
"In Palestinian society Christian Arabs have no voice and no protection. It is no wonder they have been leaving. Because of emigration – some of its dating back to or three generations – seventy percent of Christian Arabs who originally resided in the West Bank and Gaza now live abroad."
How ironic, then, that the latest attempt to label Israel as a country that targets Christians coincided with the massacre in Nigeria perpetrated against Christians celebrating Christmas. More than 160 Christians were murdered in coordinated attacks by Islamist militant groups that took place between December 23-25. Nigeria has been a hotbed for Christian persecution in recent years, with the country, in 2022, leading the world in Christians killed for their faith. When such atrocities are committed, we rarely hear the voices of those who claim to care about the well-being and safety of Christians around the world.
The top 10 state persecutors of Christians, according to Open Doors, an organization that supports persecuted Christians, are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Sudan. Other notable countries who made the list include India, China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Egypt, Mexico, Turkey and Nicaragua.
In Israel, meanwhile, the Christian community grew by 1.4 percent in 2020 and numbered some 182,000 people. Eighty-four percent of the Christians said they were satisfied with life in Israel: 24% said they were "very satisfied" and 60% "satisfied." Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Christians feel secure and where their numbers are growing. By contrast, in 2022 about 1,100 Christians lived in the Gaza Strip -- down from more than 1,300 in 2014.
Christian leaders who turn their backs on the plight of the Christians in the Gaza Strip, or anywhere, while continuing to obsess about Israel are doing immense harm to their flocks: away from the public's attention, Christians will be targeted more fiercely than ever. Worse, those who are ignoring the attacks on Christians are giving a green light to Hamas, Hezbollah and other Islamists to destroy Christian holy sites and murder Christians.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 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.

Zvi Zamir, head of Mossad who led Operation Wrath of God, the hunt for the perpetrators of the Munich massacre – obituary
Telegraph Obituaries/The Telegraph/January 2, 2024
Zvi Zamir, who has died aged 98, was a general in the Israeli Defence Forces before becoming Director of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, in 1968; in this capacity he led Operation Wrath of God to hunt and kill those responsible for the Munich Massacre.
On September 5 1972, eight heavily armed militants from Black September, a faction of the PLO, stormed the building housing the Israeli delegation to the Munich Olympic Games, killing two athletes and taking nine hostages; they demanded the release of 236 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The Golda Meir government declined to cave in and the Prime Minister handed responsibility for the crisis to her trusted Mossad chief.
Zamir rushed to Munich, where he pleaded with West German officials to permit Sayeret Matkal, at that time one of the few military units trained in hostage rescue and counter-terrorism, to rescue the Israeli athletes. But as the German constitution prohibited foreigners from carrying out military operations on German soil, his request was rejected.
The hijackers demanded two helicopters to fly them and their hostages to the nearby Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, and a special plane to take them from there to an Arab country. The Germans agreed and planned to use snipers to shoot the hijackers when they transferred from the helicopters to the plane.
Zamir, who was flown to Fürstenfeldbruck just ahead of the terrorists and their hostages, watched with growing frustration as the Germans prepared themselves for the showdown. “The Germans were useless… useless all the way,” he recalled.
It was pitch black at the airport, and the artificial light was patently inadequate for a sniping operation. Worse, only five snipers were allocated the task of tackling eight terrorists; several of the snipers’ guns were not fitted with telescopic sights, and the snipers, deployed approximately 100 metres away from their commanders, were not issued with means of communication to co-ordinate their firing.
When the snipers opened fire they failed to kill all the hijackers in the first volley and a gunfight ensued. The three remaining terrorists tossed hand grenades into one of the helicopters; the explosion ignited the fuel tank and the handcuffed Israelis still sitting inside were burnt alive. Another hijacker sprayed the Israelis in the other helicopter with bullets.
Zamir, witnessing the disaster from the control tower, insisted on getting out to the balcony to negotiate with the terrorists. Taking with him an Arabic speaking aide he used a megaphone to shout: “Stop firing… the plane is ready for you… STOP FIRING”. But, as he recalled, “Their reply was clear… they opened fire at us on the balcony.”
Back at the Olympic Village, Zamir telephoned Prime Minister Meir at home in Israel. “Golda, I’ve got bad news,” he said, “I’m just back from the airport... not one of the Israelis has survived.” In a later interview Zamir said: “To see this happen on German soil was a terrible sight.”
Zvi Zamir was born Zvicka Zarzevsky on March 3 1925 in Poland. When he was seven months old, the Zarzevskys settled in Palestine, then under British Mandate.
In 1942, he joined the Palmach, the elite strike force of Haganah, the clandestine military organisation of the Jewish community in Palestine. In 1946 the British arrested Zamir for his involvement in bringing illegal immigrants to Palestine and imprisoned him at the Latrun jail. On his release a year later he was made commander of the 6th Palmach battalion and took part in battles against Arabs in and around Jerusalem.
In 1950 Zamir was made commander of the Givati Brigade, and in 1953 he attended the Staff College at Camberley. On his return to Israel he was appointed commander of the infantry school, and during the 1956 Sinai campaign he served as a brigade commander.
In 1957 he took leave and enrolled as a student of geography at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Upon completing his studies he was promoted to brigadier, and after a stint as IDF’s training branch commander, in 1962 he was made OC Southern Command in charge of the Israeli-Egyptian front, which during his tenure was relatively quiet. On July 15 1966, Zamir was appointed military attaché in London, which meant that he missed the June 1967 Six Day war.
Zamir’s appointment to head the Mossad surprised many and it took him two years before he began to feel and understand the real dimensions of his job. As Director of Mossad, Zamir had a hands-on style of leadership. His reports were voluminous; he never concealed anything from the government and he took responsibility for both successes and failures, typically taking the latter much to heart. Prime Minister Meir would often console him with the words: “When trees are felled, the chips will fly.”
After Munich, as Zamir recalled, “Golda wanted very much, that the terrorists [responsible for Munich] will be brought to trial. But she realised that this is impossible.” Instead, Zamir asked her for permission to kill them.
She instructed him to draw up a list of targets: they did not have to be involved in Munich or even be members of Black September to make the cut, as the objective was to wipe out the entire terrorist network in Europe. A special secret committee, “Committee X”, chaired by the Prime Minister, went through Zamir’s list and approved what became known as Operation Wrath of God.
The first to die was Abdel Wael Zwaiter, officially a translator at the Libyan Embassy in Italy but, according to Mossad, a Black September terrorist; he was shot 12 times by Zamir’s hit team on October 16 1972 in Rome.
Zamir would often fly to Europe to supervise operations and be with his people. “I spoke to [the hit team] before the mission, during the mission and afterwards too, and I knew them all,” he said in an interview.
Not all went well. At 10:40 on July 21 1973, Zamir’s assassins, tracking a man they believed to be the mastermind of Munich, Ali Hassan Salameh, killed an innocent Moroccan waiter in the town of Lillehammer in Norway. Norwegian police managed to apprehend six of the back-up team, interrogated them and put them on trial.
The “Lillehammer Affair” was an embarrassing failure and Zamir accepted full responsibility; but when he offered his resignation, Golda Meir asked him to stay on: her trust in him was absolute. Over a period of 20 years, even after Zamir’s retirement from Mossad, Israeli agents continued executing Wrath of God, killing dozens of Palestinians, including two of the three terrorists who survived Munich.
This campaign was depicted in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film Munich, which Zamir hated, describing it as a “cowboy movie” and a “fairy tale… based on the director’s fertile imagination”. He was played by the Israeli actor Ami Weinberg.
Zvi Zamir, who has died aged 98, was a general in the Israeli Defence Forces before becoming Director of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, in 1968; in this capacity he led Operation Wrath of God to hunt and kill those responsible for the Munich Massacre.
On September 5 1972, eight heavily armed militants from Black September, a faction of the PLO, stormed the building housing the Israeli delegation to the Munich Olympic Games, killing two athletes and taking nine hostages; they demanded the release of 236 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The Golda Meir government declined to cave in and the Prime Minister handed responsibility for the crisis to her trusted Mossad chief.
Zamir rushed to Munich, where he pleaded with West German officials to permit Sayeret Matkal, at that time one of the few military units trained in hostage rescue and counter-terrorism, to rescue the Israeli athletes. But as the German constitution prohibited foreigners from carrying out military operations on German soil, his request was rejected.
The hijackers demanded two helicopters to fly them and their hostages to the nearby Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, and a special plane to take them from there to an Arab country. The Germans agreed and planned to use snipers to shoot the hijackers when they transferred from the helicopters to the plane.
Zamir, who was flown to Fürstenfeldbruck just ahead of the terrorists and their hostages, watched with growing frustration as the Germans prepared themselves for the showdown. “The Germans were useless… useless all the way,” he recalled.
It was pitch black at the airport, and the artificial light was patently inadequate for a sniping operation. Worse, only five snipers were allocated the task of tackling eight terrorists; several of the snipers’ guns were not fitted with telescopic sights, and the snipers, deployed approximately 100 metres away from their commanders, were not issued with means of communication to co-ordinate their firing.
When the snipers opened fire they failed to kill all the hijackers in the first volley and a gunfight ensued. The three remaining terrorists tossed hand grenades into one of the helicopters; the explosion ignited the fuel tank and the handcuffed Israelis still sitting inside were burnt alive. Another hijacker sprayed the Israelis in the other helicopter with bullets.
Zamir, witnessing the disaster from the control tower, insisted on getting out to the balcony to negotiate with the terrorists. Taking with him an Arabic speaking aide he used a megaphone to shout: “Stop firing… the plane is ready for you… STOP FIRING”. But, as he recalled, “Their reply was clear… they opened fire at us on the balcony.”
German police take up position outside the apartments where Israeli athletes and coaches were being held hostage at the 1972 Munich Olympics
German police take up position outside the apartments where Israeli athletes and coaches were being held hostage at the 1972 Munich Olympics - Bettmann
Back at the Olympic Village, Zamir telephoned Prime Minister Meir at home in Israel. “Golda, I’ve got bad news,” he said, “I’m just back from the airport... not one of the Israelis has survived.” In a later interview Zamir said: “To see this happen on German soil was a terrible sight.”
Zvi Zamir was born Zvicka Zarzevsky on March 3 1925 in Poland. When he was seven months old, the Zarzevskys settled in Palestine, then under British Mandate.
In 1942, he joined the Palmach, the elite strike force of Haganah, the clandestine military organisation of the Jewish community in Palestine. In 1946 the British arrested Zamir for his involvement in bringing illegal immigrants to Palestine and imprisoned him at the Latrun jail. On his release a year later he was made commander of the 6th Palmach battalion and took part in battles against Arabs in and around Jerusalem.
In 1950 Zamir was made commander of the Givati Brigade, and in 1953 he attended the Staff College at Camberley. On his return to Israel he was appointed commander of the infantry school, and during the 1956 Sinai campaign he served as a brigade commander.
In 1957 he took leave and enrolled as a student of geography at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Upon completing his studies he was promoted to brigadier, and after a stint as IDF’s training branch commander, in 1962 he was made OC Southern Command in charge of the Israeli-Egyptian front, which during his tenure was relatively quiet. On July 15 1966, Zamir was appointed military attaché in London, which meant that he missed the June 1967 Six Day war.
Zamir’s appointment to head the Mossad surprised many and it took him two years before he began to feel and understand the real dimensions of his job. As Director of Mossad, Zamir had a hands-on style of leadership. His reports were voluminous; he never concealed anything from the government and he took responsibility for both successes and failures, typically taking the latter much to heart. Prime Minister Meir would often console him with the words: “When trees are felled, the chips will fly.”
After Munich, as Zamir recalled, “Golda wanted very much, that the terrorists [responsible for Munich] will be brought to trial. But she realised that this is impossible.” Instead, Zamir asked her for permission to kill them.
She instructed him to draw up a list of targets: they did not have to be involved in Munich or even be members of Black September to make the cut, as the objective was to wipe out the entire terrorist network in Europe. A special secret committee, “Committee X”, chaired by the Prime Minister, went through Zamir’s list and approved what became known as Operation Wrath of God.
The first to die was Abdel Wael Zwaiter, officially a translator at the Libyan Embassy in Italy but, according to Mossad, a Black September terrorist; he was shot 12 times by Zamir’s hit team on October 16 1972 in Rome.
Zamir would often fly to Europe to supervise operations and be with his people. “I spoke to [the hit team] before the mission, during the mission and afterwards too, and I knew them all,” he said in an interview.
Not all went well. At 10:40 on July 21 1973, Zamir’s assassins, tracking a man they believed to be the mastermind of Munich, Ali Hassan Salameh, killed an innocent Moroccan waiter in the town of Lillehammer in Norway. Norwegian police managed to apprehend six of the back-up team, interrogated them and put them on trial.
The “Lillehammer Affair” was an embarrassing failure and Zamir accepted full responsibility; but when he offered his resignation, Golda Meir asked him to stay on: her trust in him was absolute. Over a period of 20 years, even after Zamir’s retirement from Mossad, Israeli agents continued executing Wrath of God, killing dozens of Palestinians, including two of the three terrorists who survived Munich.
This campaign was depicted in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film Munich, which Zamir hated, describing it as a “cowboy movie” and a “fairy tale… based on the director’s fertile imagination”. He was played by the Israeli actor Ami Weinberg.
In October 1973, Zamir’s attention shifted to preparations by Egypt and Syria to attack Israel. While Military Intelligence dismissed Arab mobilisation as a false alarm, Zamir – typically – took the threat seriously and warned of the possibility of all-out war.
In London on October 5, Zamir met Israel’s most senior spy, Ashraf Marwan, the son-in-law of the Egyptian former president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Marwan warned Zamir that “war would break out tomorrow” and provided him with maps and documents. This was too short a timescale to enable Israel to fully mobilise her forces, but it did provide the Israelis with some extra time to take measures to contain the imminent Arab attack.
The Agranat Commission of inquiry into the circumstances leading to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War praised Zamir for bringing the message from London. Zamir later said: “The greatest achievement of Mossad during my time in charge was to provide the warning about the looming war.”
When he retired in 1978, Zamir became director-general and chairman of National Oil Refineries, a post he held for 15 years. In 1995 he was appointed a member of the Shamgar Commission set up to investigate the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
For some Zamir was “colourless”, but for others he was a model of discipline – honest, sincere and straightforward.
He and his wife Rina had three children.
Zvi Zamir, born March 3 1925, died January 2 2024

How Latin America’s Indigenous groups are showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza
Eduardo Campos Lima/Arab News/January 02, 2024
SAO PAULO: Demonstrations have taken place in several of Latin America’s biggest cities against Israel’s ongoing military operation in Gaza since the war broke out in the Palestinian enclave in October. Indigenous peoples have been among the protesters, with many of them issuing public letters in support of the Palestinian people. In Bogota, Palestinian organizations and Colombians have staged a number of demonstrations that have included Embera Indigenous activists.
Inhabitants of the Choco region in northern Colombia and adjacent areas since time immemorial, the Embera have been displaced by the armed conflict between left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups and the army.
They have called on the government to ensure a safe territory for them in their region. At some marches, Embera activists have walked side by side with supporters of the Palestinian cause and have carried Palestinian flags.
Other Indigenous nations have also expressed solidarity with Palestine, such as the signatories of a public letter of support to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who since the start of the Gaza conflict has sided with the Palestinians, leading to fierce criticism from his opponents. The letter was published in November by the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca — known by the Spanish acronym CRIC — which gathers eight Indigenous groups in southwest Colombia.
On Dec. 4, CRIC published another letter that read: “We want to express our total and deepest solidarity to the Palestinian people, who have been suffering for 56 days a true genocide at the hands of the Zionist State of Israel.”
The letter added that Israel is using the conflict with Hamas as an excuse to kill Palestinian civilians, especially women and children, in violation of international law. It accused the UN, especially the Security Council, of ignoring the crisis.
“The struggle and resistance of the Palestinian people is the struggle of all Indigenous peoples,” the letter read.
“As Indigenous peoples, we fully identify with the suffering of the Palestinian people, because it reminds us of the genocide that we ourselves have experienced.”
Israel mounted its military campaign in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapping 240 others.
In Bogota, Palestinian organizations and Colombians have staged a number of demonstrations. (Supplied)
Although Israel enjoyed initial sympathy from the international community, its response in Gaza, which has resulted in more than 21,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, has seen public opinion swing in favor of the Palestinians.
Many critics of Israel have argued that its treatment of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, the continued illegal occupation of Palestinian land by Jewish settlers, and the failure to create an independent Palestinian state provoked the Hamas attack. Some have even accused Israel of using the conflict to drive the Palestinian people out of Gaza altogether so that Israelis can settle the land in their stead — a narrative all too familiar to Latin America’s Indigenous communities.
Israel itself has denied these accusations, insisting it does not intend to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and merely seeks to eliminate the threat posed to its security by Hamas and to rescue the hostages.
Jhoe Sauca Gurrute, a member of the Kokonuko people and one of CRIC’s leaders, told Arab News that many Indigenous groups have collaborated to gather donations and send them to Palestine in recent weeks.
“Israel is trying to exterminate the Palestinians. That’s not only a physical attack, but also a spiritual and cultural one. They want to erase the Palestinian identity,” he said, adding that the Colombian media portrays Palestinians as the villains.
“The far right uses the media to attack President Petro as well due to his support for Palestine.”Organized Indigenous groups have also been taking part in protests. (Supplied) Sauca said many Indigenous nations still struggle for their traditional territories in Colombia. “There are 115 different peoples in our country, and many of them are only now recovering their identity after decades of forced silence. The fight for Indigenous territories is continuous,” he added.
Organized Indigenous groups have also been taking part in protests against Israel’s attacks in Mexico’s capital and other cities.
Soledad Ortiz Vasquez, a municipal agent in the city of Santa Maria Yosoyua in the southern state of Oaxaca, is one of the Indigenous leaders who have been promoting the participation of such groups in pro-Palestine marches.
A member of the Mixtec people, she is a feminist leader and one of the heads of the Observatory of the Peoples’ Human Rights, an international organization founded in Mexico that monitors and denounces human rights violations of Indigenous groups.
“For Indigenous peoples, territory is something sacred. Our rivers, mountains, woods and lands are sacred,” Ortiz told Arab News.
“That’s why our struggle is the same struggle of several peoples in the world, including the Palestinians.”She said “genocide” is being committed in Gaza, and Mexico’s Indigenous peoples repudiate the indiscriminate killing of civilians by Israel. “For years, they’ve been limiting Palestinian lands with walls and fences. It’s like apartheid. And now the Israelis want them to go away. That’s not fair,” Ortiz added. In Mexico, the Mixtec and many other Indigenous nations live in communal lands, but such territories have for decades suffered pressure from mining and agribusiness interests, leading several groups to organize resistance.
“For many years, past administrations have conceded licenses for gold, silver and coal mining endeavors in our territories. Some of them caused irrecoverable damage to Indigenous lands,” Ortiz said.
That is the case in Magdalena Ocotlan, a city in Oaxaca where a Canadian mining company polluted nearby rivers and groundwater, she added.
“In other regions, paramilitary groups have taken control over large areas and expelled the Indigenous villagers. We’ve always needed to struggle for our territories. We’d give our lives for them,” she said.
In Brazil, various Indigenous groups have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, such as the Guarani Kaiowa from Mato Grosso do Sul state, who released a video in which activists salute Gazans in their original Guarani language.
“They (the Palestinians) have the same right to struggle that we, the Guarani Kaiowa, have. Long live Palestine,” they say in the video.
In Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul state where a large Palestinian community lives, protests against Israel have been promoted almost every week since October. Members of the Kaingang Indigenous people have been present at every march. “The situation in Gaza became unbearable. Obviously people would react. That’s what happened,” said Odirlei Fidelis, an activist who lives in the Kaingang village of Van Ka, located in the rural area of Porto Alegre.
The identification of Brazilian Indigenous groups with the plight of the Palestinians is natural, he added. “We face the same kind of discrimination that they face every day. We’re confined inside our territories and there are no policies to help us. Our rights and our sovereignty are violated all the time,” he said, adding that like the Palestinians, the Brazilian Indigenous peoples have to “ask the oppressor’s authorization to do anything they need.” Even the insufficient lands granted to the Kaingang have been coveted by big landowners, who at times manage to persuade Indigenous leaders to occupy part of them, weakening the collective organization and creating divisions among the villagers. Last week, Fidelis recalled, the Brazilian Congress annulled the vetoes that had been imposed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a bill concerning land grants for Indigenous peoples. Indigenous nations have also expressed solidarity with Palestine. (Supplied)
The bill establishes that only the Indigenous groups that occupied their traditional territories in 1988, when the Constitution was promulgated, have the right to be granted their lands now by the government.
Lula tried to impede the bill’s approval, but the agribusiness bloc in Congress was stronger and formed the majority. Critics of the bill say it contradicts the dispositions of the Constitution and ignores the fact that many Indigenous peoples were violently displaced from their territories, so they could not occupy their traditional lands as they wished to. “We’ve been defeated. Although Lula defends our interests, we felt that his administration failed to fight for us as much as possible in that case,” Fidelis said. Many Kaingang groups have been living in roadside camps, waiting for a land grant. “We’re peaceful, but we’ll keep fighting for our rights. We’re oppressed every day. We feel like Palestinians, surrounded by Israelis. We’ll resist like them,” Fidelis said.

Gaza… The Mindset of the 'Mural and the Wall'
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 02/2024
In London’s Imperial War Museum, there stands a mural of the late Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein towering over a model of the Dome of the Rock and holding a rifle in one hand. It is among his most recognizable images - one that played a significant role in crafting his image in the Iraqi and Arab imagination.
The mural, which the museum documents say was brought from the entrance of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, encapsulates the crucial role that the Palestinian cause has played in both legitimizing Arab leadership, its political discourse, and its propaganda, through its capacity for mobilizing and rallying the masses, and in engineering political plots against adversaries. Saddam's mural brings to mind the exploitation of the Palestinian narrative we are seeing from Iran today, which justifies its actions in the name of Jerusalem, liberation, Islamic solidarity, and resistance to injustice, at a time when the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza is intensifying to an extent that reminds us of the worst tragedies seen in the wars of the 20th century.
There is nothing to suggest that Iran’s propaganda and its hubris will have a different fate represented than that of Saddam’s mural, which has become a mere piece in a museum that offers a grim reminder of what comes of hollow rhetoric and empty slogans. It's a painful testament to our repeated failure to learn from experience.
The developments in Gaza reaffirm the fact that the propagandistic investment in the Palestinian cause rarely translates into tangible benefits for Palestinians. Instead, it has perpetuated cyclic violence and solidified Palestinians’ status as beneficial victims for those using Palestinian flesh and blood to get ahead in the struggle for power, influence, and leadership in the Middle East. The mural of Saddam towering over Jerusalem embodies this disconnect between grandiose rhetoric and the grim reality on the ground.
Given that this hatred, on both the Arab-Palestinian side and the Israeli side, fuels this endless cycle of violence, we must move beyond the hubris about resistance and victory found in some corners of Arab-Islamic politics, as well as the crudeness of the military-security approach to dealing with Palestinians adopted by the extreme Israeli right.
The clash in Gaza is being fought between the mystical mind led by Iran and the Jihadist of political Islam, which is founded on the belief that extreme sacrifice offers a gateway toward absolute justice and the mind of Israeli artificial intelligence that believes in absolute technical superiority and making decisions based solely on data. Between absolute justice that leaves no room for the rights of the other and absolute technical superiority that leaves no room for the existence of the other, we find a glaring lack of even a minimal level of empathy on both sides. Only empathy can allow us to move beyond the mystic aspirations of the faithful and the cold, calculated logic of artificial intelligence.
The Palestinian militants, driven by their hostility to 'the Jewish other' and armed with a legitimacy supposedly granted to them by God, see nothing but in the victims of October 7th but people who deserve to die. Even more dangerous is the collective refusal to acknowledge the horrors committed on that day, including murder and worse. Similarly, the Israelis view the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian casualties as mere collateral damage, refusing to acknowledge the responsibility of their superior military, with its advanced technologies and equipment, blaming either the victims themselves or those who hid behind them!Given this mutual denial of the other's humanity, mutual empathy between Palestinians and Israelis has become a dire need. It can pave the way for a dialogue that allows for understanding and the integration of the emotional and spiritual experiences of both sides. These dimensions are often neglected in governance models dominated by data or the unwavering convictions of the religious mind. In politics and conflict resolution, empathy goes beyond mere understanding and sharing the feelings of the other. It has the capacity to change divergent perspectives and free them from the binary narratives of good and evil, oppressor and victim. This is what Palestinians and Israelis need most to move forward in the post-October 7th world.
If we want to draw a definitive line between the era between the pre and post October 7th eras, nothing could be better than elevating empathy and rendering it the enlightened virtue to separating these two periods.
Empathy does not negate the need for strong security measures on the Israeli side, nor does it undermine the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians for self-determination. Instead, it is a call for balancing rational self-interest, among both Palestinians and Israelis, with concerns for the other's welfare, dignity, and right to life, giving rise to joint mechanisms for cooperation and facilitating mutual understanding.
Saddam's mural is a visual embodiment of solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and it also serves as tangible proof that hubris and propaganda alone cannot achieve justice for the Palestinians. In turn, the high-tech barrier separating Gaza and its surroundings, with its cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies, embodies the failure of technology alone to protect the population from the ramifications of the injustices committed against the Palestinians in their name.
These hard truths should compel us to recognize the need to harness the power of empathy, which would allow us to forge new paths to peace and bridge the gap between Palestinian national aspirations and Israeli security concerns. This approach would provide a way forward rooted in our shared humanity that transcends the mentality of the “mural and the wall.”