Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 02-03/2024
Southern Border: Israel Breaks Sound Barrier in Multiple Regions
Southern Front: One Killed in Israeli Strike Amid Renewed Threats
Zaki Addresses Political Crisis with Opposition MPs
Zaki’s Statement on Hezbollah: Misstep or Concealed Message?
Official Exams: Halabi Clarifies Chemistry Test Issue
A $10 Million Cooperation Memorandum Signed Between Lebanon and KSA
Parolin’s Visit: The Ultimate Effort to Save Lebanon/Philippe Abi-Akl/This is Beirut/June 02/2024
Hezbollah’s deputy leader says group would stop fighting with Israel after Gaza cease-fire
Lebanese authorities charge US Embassy shooter with affiliation to militant Islamic State group
Israel miscalculating costs of war with Hezbollah, former US official says
LACC Calls for the Implementation of UNSC Resolutions

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 02-03/2024
Netanyahu rejects report citing top Israeli generals as wanting a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas still in power
UN aid coordinator’s ‘deep concern’ over new Gaza evacuation order; 1.9m people already displaced
12 Biden Administration Resignees Blast 'Intransigent' Gaza Policy
Family killed as Israel evacuation order triggers panicked flight from Gaza's second-largest city
Turkiye closes Syria border after violence flares in both countries
Minister highlights Egypt’s support for peace in Gaza, Sudan, Libya, Syria
Carrier strike group commander who oversaw 'unprecedented' Red Sea battle says the US Navy needs to make sure it's ready for a drone fight
Prosecutors ask France's highest court to rule on validity of arrest warrant for Syria's president
UN experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter
Reporter Reveals 'Real Anger' From Biden White House Aides After Debate
Austin: US Will Provide $2.3 Billion More in Military Aid to Ukraine

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 02-03/2024
In the Second Half of 2024/Jumah Boukleb/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/July 2, 2024
To Our Teachers in the West: What’s the Next Lesson You Want to Give Us?/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/July 2, 2024
Trump is Advancing... Please Fasten Your Seatbelts/Ghassan Charbel//Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/July 2, 2024
As the world focuses on Gaza, Israel is annexing the West Bank/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News//June 02/2024
Netanyahu’s ‘fingers’ in Gaza a reminder of past Israeli failures/Dr. Ramzy/Arab News//June 02/2024
Houthi shipping attacks pose complex diplomatic challenge to next UK government/RUAA AMERI/June 02/2024
Electoral turmoil in US and France threatens twilight of the West/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News//June 02/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 02-03/2024
Southern Border: Israel Breaks Sound Barrier in Multiple Regions
This Is Beirut/June 02/2024
The tit-for-tat strikes over the southern border resumed on Tuesday morning.
An Israeli drone fired three missiles on the town of Taybeh, without any reported injuries. One of the missiles was reported to have targeted the transformer in the Taybeh project. However, according to information gathered by This is Beirut, the Taybeh power transformer was not targeted by a missile, but by a malfunction causing and explosion and a short-circuit in the high-voltage lines. Additionally, at approximately 10:35 AM, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier twice over the regions of Nabatieh and Iqlim al-Tuffah at low altitude, causing a thunder-like noise. The warplanes also broke the sound barrier over Jezzine, Shouf, and Marjayoun. Moreover, Israeli warplanes flew over the Shebaa Farms and the Arkoub area in Hasbaya, also breaking the sound barrier at low altitude, causing fear among the citizens.

Southern Front: One Killed in Israeli Strike Amid Renewed Threats
This Is Beirut/June 02/2024
Israeli warplanes attacked the outskirts of the towns of Al-Boustan and Al-Zaloutiyeh in South Lebanon’s western sector on Tuesday afternoon, killing one person, according to preliminary reports. No further details were provided about the victim’s identity. Meanwhile, the Civil Defense reported that a person was injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a house in Al-Zaloutiyeh. Earlier, an Israeli drone fired three missiles at the town of Taybeh. One of the missiles reportedly targeted the power transformer in the Taybeh project. However, according to information gathered by This is Beirut, the missile did not hit the transformer. Still, a malfunction caused an explosion and a short circuit in the high-voltage lines. The public power provider, Electricité du Liban (EDL), dispatched a team to repair the damage. In the morning, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier twice over the regions of Nabatieh and Iqlim al-Tuffah at low altitudes. The warplanes also broke the sound barrier over Jezzine, Shouf, Marjayoun, Shebaa and the Arkoub area in Hasbaya, sending panic waves among residents. The Israeli army reiterated on Tuesday its threats against Lebanon, stating, “We are reinforcing war preparations on the northern front against Hezbollah.”Israel expressed its determination to continue the fight until war goals are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, securing the release of hostages, and ensuring the safe return of residents to the north after they have been displaced by Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks.

Zaki Addresses Political Crisis with Opposition MPs
This Is Beirut/June 02/2024
The Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Hossam Zaki, took advantage of his visit to Beirut to address Lebanon’s failure to fund one of the League’s institutions. He took up the issue with caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati. Zaki also met with several opposition MPs, out of the spotlight. Sources in the opposition revealed that the MPs who met with Zaki conveyed their perspective on the crisis and its dimensions. They indicated that the presidential election has become linked to the war in Gaza and the confrontations in the south, stating that no president will be elected before the ceasefire in Gaza, despite Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah denying any connection between the election and Gaza. After Zaki’s departure from Lebanon, the opposition MPs gathered and launched, from Parliament, a four-point “initiative” focused on mobilizing the legislative council to stop the war on Lebanon.

Zaki’s Statement on Hezbollah: Misstep or Concealed Message?
This is Beirut/June 02/2024
Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki’s statement on Hezbollah’s status, made on Saturday, stirred reactions and questions within both local and Arab circles. During a televised interview on Cairo’s news channel, Zaki announced that the Arab League no longer classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. He then asserted that the organization “does not maintain an official list of terrorists” and clarified that making such “designations” falls outside the Arab League’s jurisdiction. Following Zaki’s visit to Beirut, these statements, asserting one thing and its opposite, sparked surprise. An MP from the anti-Hezbollah camp told This is Beirut that he preferred “not to comment on what he considers to be a non-decision.” The Lebanese Forces (LF) party pointed out that the statement came from Hossam Zaki and did not constitute an official decision of the Arab League. In a statement issued on Monday, the LF said that “such televised declarations are often aimed at sending targeted messages,” urging Zaki to clarify his position.
The deputy secretary clarified on Monday that his comment was misinterpreted and taken out of context. In a press statement, Zaki meticulously clarified that his earlier words “did not imply the disappearance of the numerous reservations and objections regarding Hezbollah’s behavior, policies, actions, and stances, not only locally (in Lebanon) but also regionally.”It is worth noting that in March 2016, the Arab League designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, urging it to “stop spreading extremism and sectarianism.”Zaki mentioned a League resolution on “upholding Arab national security and countering terrorism,” which stipulated the importance of refraining from providing any form of explicit or implicit support to entities or individuals involved in terrorist activities. For his part, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Ghait stressed that his deputy “has always been committed to fully implementing the Arab States’ resolutions on all issues.”Aboul Ghait also added that he had instructed Zaki “to visit Lebanon as a personal envoy to communicate with the Lebanese political forces.”A commentary was published on social networks, in which an official Saudi source suspected the League’s Secretary General and his deputy of working to benefit their individual political interests, without consulting with the member States, and without respect for the League’s political line. This message was deleted, probably following the press briefing by the two concerned personalities.

Official Exams: Halabi Clarifies Chemistry Test Issue
This Is Beirut/June 02/2024
Caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi considered on Tuesday that “the greatest achievement has been the completion of the official exams” especially in the circumstances the country is going through. “We will continue our work, and this year we have changed the method of presenting questions,” he said. In an interview on the local radio station “Voice of Lebanon,” Halabi confirmed that there was no exam question leakage. He pointed out that what happened with the chemistry test is under ongoing administrative investigation. “A report will be issued, and I will make decisions based on its findings,” he added. Halabi reiterated that there was no leak before the distribution of the exams, assuring that the matter will be subject to legal prosecution. “We are working in impossible times, and fairness has been ensured through the inclusion of optional questions,” he said. He also mentioned that he had authorized the head of the examination committees, Imad Ashqar, to travel to the United States, and that his absence did not affect the official exams. Halabi revealed that the ministry is in the process of revising the curricula, hoping to complete the process within a year. Of note, the official exams started on June 24, 2024, and will end on July 5.

A $10 Million Cooperation Memorandum Signed Between Lebanon and KSA
This Is Beirut/June 02/2024
A cooperation memorandum was signed on Tuesday between the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and the Lebanese Higher Relief Committee, under which Saudi Arabia contributed $10 million to Lebanon to implement approximately 28 projects in various Lebanese regions. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati highlighted the occasion which he said, “clearly reflects the commitment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the King and the Crown Prince, to Lebanon and its stability, and its support in all fields.”“The Kingdom has been and will remain Lebanon’s older brother, striving in all Arab and international forums to maintain its security, stability, safety, and the unity of its people,” Mikati declared following the signing of the memorandum. The PM assured that the ties between the two countries “have deepened and solidified” over the years. “The Kingdom has always stood by Lebanon, providing support and acting as a safety valve that preserved the unity of the Lebanese, regardless of their sect, religion, or political affiliation,” he added. Mikati stated that “these fundamental principles have been translated into actions through the ‘Taif Agreement,’ which we insist on fully implementing and which remains the appropriate framework for managing the country’s affairs.”He talked about the meetings with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who always supported Lebanon on the condition of implementing the necessary structural reforms and for Lebanese institutions to fully play their role, especially in electing a new president for Lebanon. “This responsibility undoubtedly lies with us, the Lebanese, and it is required of us, first and foremost, to fulfill our duties with the support of friendly countries, foremost among them the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Mikati added. For his part, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari announced that the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will provide a financial contribution of 10 million dollars through the King Salman Center.”“This comes to support humanitarian and relief work and achieve stability and development in the Lebanese Republic with the highest standards of transparency and accountability,” he added. The ambassador pointed out that “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has implemented 129 relief, humanitarian, and developmental projects for Lebanon, distributed across more than one sector.”

Parolin’s Visit: The Ultimate Effort to Save Lebanon
Philippe Abi-Akl/This is Beirut/June 02/2024
As the region hovered on the edge of a serious escalation between Hezbollah and Israel that could set the whole Middle East ablaze, international efforts are intensifying to prevent such a potential disastrous conflict. The visit of the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Lebanon last week was dubbed the “ultimate attempt to save Lebanon.” Nonetheless, his mission was ultimately thwarted by entrenched power struggles and (official) Lebanon’s alignment with the so-called “Resistance” axis, also known as the Moumana’a.
In 2021, Pope Francis failed to stop in Lebanon after a historic visit to Iraq, but today, his Secretary of State made the trip. Invited by the Order of Malta for a spiritual visit, Parolin chose to address Lebanon’s challenges personally. He emphasized that “the Vatican stands firmly with Lebanon, a country of great significance for the Pope.” This commitment is rooted in Lebanon’s embodiment of the Document on Human Fraternity and World Peace signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyib, in the UAE in 2019. The Vatican believes that Lebanon is “a beacon of coexistence between Islam and Christianity, a model for inter-cultural dialogue, and an example of religious tolerance.”
Parolin’s visit came at a time when the region is witnessing deep changes amid the absence of a key element in the Middle East — the Christians. This is compounded by the absence of the only Christian president in the region, which also sidelines Lebanon, triggering fears that the marginalization of Christians may be intentional, at the detriment of Lebanon and its Christian community. Two issues of concern should be highlighted during Parolin’s visit to the seat of the Maronite Church in Bkerke: the Shiite community’s boycott of Patriarch Beshara al-Rai’s “national gathering” and the absence of Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea and Kataeb Party leader Sami Gemayel, who both sent representatives. The Free Patriotic Movement’s (FPM) leader, Gebran Bassil, and Marada Movement leader, Suleiman Frangieh, on the other hand, attended the meeting.
The absence of Geagea and Gemayel underscores the deep divisions within the Christian community, whereas the Shiite community’s boycott, following al-Rai’s remarks about “terrorist operations in the south,” was seen as a clear message to the Vatican: “We are the ones in control of Lebanon.”
Political sources within the pro-Hezbollah March 8 alliance argue that “the presidential election is a minor detail within the broader regional solution,” despite the party’s claim that the election is not linked to the war in Gaza or the military operations in the south. LF sources viewed Geagea’s absence from Bkerke’s meeting as a message to Parolin, suggesting that the responsibility for failing to elect a president lies with the Shiite duo and not the Christians.
The presidential dossier is interwoven with regional agendas that Hezbollah adheres to, despite its claims of the contrary. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s insistence on having a pre-election and Hezbollah’s backing of Suleiman Frangieh as the sole candidate are hindering the electoral process. The Shiite duo is well aware that Christian parties are against the dialogue and insist on following the constitutional process, a matter that was underscored by Parolin, who stated: “There is a constitutional framework for the presidential election process that must be respected.”
It has been a year and a half since the 12th and last presidential election session took place on June 14, 2023. Parliament has since failed to convene due to a lack of consensus on a candidate. An LF source contended that agreeing on the president, even under a consensus-based system, undermines the constitution, which calls for election rather than consensus. He further explained that “while consensus may be achieved during the session, it should, however, not be a precondition for parliament to convene and elect a president.”
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki, who visited Lebanon last Saturday, stated that “backing Lebanon is a priority for the Arab world” and warned of the danger of a war that could devastate Lebanon, Israel, and the entire region. However, what truly stood out during Zaki’s visit was his declaration that “the League has removed Hezbollah from its list of terrorist organizations,” referring to its perceived role in Lebanon’s future.
These developments come amidst escalating military tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border, as Israel seeks to push Hezbollah away from the border through military means rather than diplomatic channels. Consequently, some foreign countries have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.
Meanwhile, Washington has stepped up efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, increasing pressure on Lebanon and Israel to stick to the rules of engagement.
With the US presidential election campaign gaining momentum, there is no sign of an imminent solution or an inevitable war. Informed sources draw the line between unrestrained warfare and a controlled military escalation. “A major war is improbable due to its exorbitant cost and the potential devastation it would bring to Lebanon and Israel, potentially embroiling the United States in a conflict alongside Israel and jeopardizing its regional interests,” per a Western military expert.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader says group would stop fighting with Israel after Gaza cease-fire
Abby Sewell And Sarah El Deeb/BEIRUT (AP)/July 2, 2024
The deputy leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday the only sure path to a cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border is a full cease-fire in Gaza.
“If there is a cease-fire in Gaza, we will stop without any discussion,” Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, said in an interview with The Associated Press at the group’s political office in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Hezbollah's participation in the Israel-Hamas war has been as a “support front” for its ally, Hamas, Kassem said, and “if the war stops, this military support will no longer exist.”But, he said, if Israel scales back its military operations without a formal cease-fire agreement and full withdrawal from Gaza, the implications for the Lebanon-Israel border conflict are less clear.
“If what happens in Gaza is a mix between cease-fire and no cease-fire, war and no war, we can’t answer (how we would react) now, because we don’t know its shape, its results, its impacts,” Kassem said during a 40-minute interview. The war began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 — mostly civilians — and kidnapping roughly 250. Israel responded with an air and ground assault that has caused widespread devastation and killed more than 37,900 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Talks of a cease-fire in Gaza have faltered in recent weeks, raising fears of an escalation on the Lebanon-Israel front. Hezbollah has traded near-daily strikes with Israeli forces along their border over the past nine months.The low-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed; in Lebanon, more than 450 people — mostly fighters but also dozens of civilians — have been killed. Hamas has demanded an end to the war in Gaza, and not just a pause in fighting, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to make such a commitment until Israel realizes its goals of destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and brings home the roughly 120 hostages still held by Hamas. Last month, the Israeli army said it had “approved and validated” plans for an offensive in Lebanon if no diplomatic solution was reached to the ongoing clashes. Any decision to launch such an operation would have to come from the country’s political leadership. Some Israeli officials have said they are seeking a diplomatic solution to the standoff and hope to avoid war. At the same time, they have warned that the scenes of destruction seen in Gaza will be repeated in Lebanon if war breaks out.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, is far more powerful than Hamas and believed to have a vast arsenal of rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
Kassem said he doesn't believe that Israel currently has the ability — or has made a decision — to launch a full-blown war with Hezbollah. He warned that even if Israel intends to launch a limited operation in Lebanon that stops short of a full-scale war, it should not expect the fighting to remain limited. “Israel can decide what it wants: limited war, total war, partial war,” he said. “But it should expect that our response and our resistance will not be within a ceiling and rules of engagement set by Israel… If Israel wages the war, it means it doesn’t control its extent or who enters into it.”
The latter was an apparent reference to Hezbollah’s allies in the Iran-backed so-called “axis of resistance” in the region. Armed groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere — and, potentially, Iran itself — could enter the fray in the event of a full-scale war in Lebanon, which might also pull in Israel’s strongest ally, the United States. U,S. and European diplomats have made a circuit between Lebanon and Israel for months in an attempt to ward off a wider conflict. Kassem said he met on Saturday with Germany's deputy chief of intelligence, Ole Dieh, in Beirut. U.S. officials do not meet directly with Hezbollah because Washington has designated it a terrorist group, but they regularly send messages via intermediaries. Kassem said White House envoy Amos Hochstein had recently requested via intermediaries that Hezbollah apply pressure on Hamas to accept a cease-fire and hostage-exchange proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden. He said Hezbollah had rejected the request. “Hamas is the one that makes its decisions and whoever wants to ask for something should talk to it directly,” he said. Kassem criticized U.S. efforts to find a resolution to the war in Gaza, saying it has backed Israel’s plans to end Hamas’ presence in Gaza. A constructive deal, he said, would aim to end the war, get Israel to withdraw from Gaza, and ensure the release of hostages. Once a cease-fire is reached, then a political track can determine the arrangements inside Gaza and on the front with Lebanon, he added.

Lebanese authorities charge US Embassy shooter with affiliation to militant Islamic State group
Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press/July 2, 2024
A judge at Lebanon's military court on Tuesday charged the gunman who opened fire at the U.S. embassy near Beirut with being affiliated to the militant Islamic State group, security and judicial officials said. Lebanese soldiers shot and arrested the gunman in early June, later identified as Kaiss Farraj from Syria, after a shootout that lasted almost 30 minutes and injured an embassy security guard. The Islamic State group has not claimed responsibility for the attack, nor has any other group. The attack took place as tensions simmered in the tiny Mediterranean country, where fighting between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops has displaced thousands along the border, following years of political deadlock and economic hardship. Lebanese media published photos that appear to show a bloodied attacker wearing a black vest with the words “Islamic State” written in Arabic and the English initials “I” and “S.”Judicial and security officials familiar with the investigation previously told The Associated Press that Farraj initially appeared to be a lone wolf and not linked to any extremist group. The Lebanese Army soon after the shootout raided the eastern Lebanese towns of Majdal Anjar and nearby Suweiri, where it arrested three relatives of the suspect and two other people believed to be associated with him. The two officials added that Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki also charged two others who sold weapons to the gunman with selling unlicensed firearms. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The officials said that Farraj, who was shot three times in the shootout, is in poor health and remains unconscious. In 1983, a deadly bombing attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut killed 63 people. U.S. officials blame the attack on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Following that attack, the embassy was moved from central Beirut to the Christian suburb of Aukar, north of the capital. Another bomb attack struck the new location on Sept. 20, 1984.In September 2023, Lebanese security forces detained a Lebanese man who opened fire outside the U.S. Embassy. There were no casualties in that attack. In October 2023, hundreds of protesters clashed with Lebanese security forces in demonstrations near the U.S. Embassy in support of Gaza’s people and the militant group Hamas in its war with Israel.

Israel miscalculating costs of war with Hezbollah, former US official says
ARAB NEWS/July 02, 2024
LONDON: Israel has miscalculated the costs of a potential new war with Hezbollah, a former US military intelligence analyst warned on Tuesday, noting that it could result in significant civilian casualties in both Lebanon and Israel. Harrison Mann, a major in the Defense Intelligence Agency and the highest-ranking US military officer to resign over the Gaza conflict, expressed his concerns in an interview with The Guardian. Mann underscored the high risk of Israel engaging in a war on its northern border for internal political reasons, primarily driven by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s hold on power and his insulation from corruption charges are seen as reliant on maintaining a state of war.“I don’t know how realistic their assessments are of the destruction that Israel would incur, and I’m pretty sure they don’t have a realistic idea of how successful they would be against Hezbollah,” the former army officer and intelligence analyst said. He said that the Israeli military was aware it could not decisively strike Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal, which is entrenched in the Lebanese mountains. Instead, Mann suggested the IDF would target Hezbollah leaders and Shia residential areas to demoralize the group’s support base, a tactic referred to as the Dahiya doctrine, after the Beirut district was heavily bombed in the 2006 war. “It’s not like an actual written doctrine, but I think we can be very comfortable assessing that bombing civilian centers as a way to compel the enemy is clearly an accepted and shared belief in the IDF and Israeli leadership. We’ve just seen them do it in Gaza for the past nine months,” Mann said, but he said that such a plan would backfire. Mann told the Guardian that he expected Hezbollah would respond to any existential threat with a massive rocket and missile assault. “They probably have the ability to at least partially overwhelm Israel’s air defenses, strike civilian infrastructure around the country, and inflict a level of destruction on Israel that I’m not sure Israel has really ever experienced in its history — certainly not in its recent history,” Mann said.
With Hezbollah’s arsenal seemingly out of reach from air strikes, Mann suggested that the IDF would initiate a ground offensive into southern Lebanon, which would come at a high cost in Israeli casualties. He warned that sustained shelling of Israeli cities could compel the administration of US President Joe Biden, especially during an election period, to accede to Netanyahu’s calls for greater US involvement. “Our least escalatory participation will be possibly striking supply lines or associated targets in Iraq and Syria to help cut off lines of communication and armaments flowing to Hezbollah,” Mann said. “But that on its own is risky, because if we start doing that, some of the people that we hit could be Hezbollah, but they could be IRGC (Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps).”While Mann believes the Biden administration would aim to avoid direct conflict with Iran, he acknowledged that the risk of such an escalation remained. “We know specifically that the Israeli prime minister must continue to be a wartime leader if he wants to prolong his political career and stay out of court, so that motivation is there,” Mann said, adding that any Israeli government would also be pressured by the displacement of tens of thousands of Israelis due to Hezbollah attacks. Mann also pointed out the Israeli military establishment’s belief that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah must be confronted as it continues to grow in strength. Mann’s resignation, submitted in November and effective from June, was accompanied by a public letter on LinkedIn in May. In the letter, he condemned US support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, stating it had “enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”As a descendant of European Jews, Mann wrote: “I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing.”He said that his resignation was met with a largely positive response from former colleagues, with many expressing similar sentiments. “A lot of people I worked with reached out to me, a lot of people I didn’t work with as well, and expressed that they felt the same way,” he said. “It’s not just a generational thing. There’s quite senior people who feel the same way.”

LACC Calls for the Implementation of UNSC Resolutions
LACC.July 02/2024
In the context of the dire situation in Lebanon and the rising fears of a full-scale war in Lebanon, and based on its continuous communication with the U.S. administration and the active Lebanese diaspora in the United States and around the world, the Lebanese-American Coordinating Committee (LACC) emphasizes the following:
Lebanon is experiencing a critical moment amidst the escalating confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah, with rising fears of an expansion of the war, which poses catastrophic and destructive risks to the Lebanese people. This necessitates intensifying diplomatic efforts to stop the war, foremost among them the efforts exerted by the U.S. administration in this context.
The escalating fears of an expansion of the war find their roots in the lack of a sustainable solution to the outstanding border issues between Lebanon and Israel, which continues to occupy Lebanese territories, in addition to the failure to implement the provisions of Resolution 1701, which has been widely violated since 2006. This necessitates pushing towards a full operational commitment to its stipulations, as well as its annexes in Resolution 2650, which was approved by all members of the UN Security Council.
Resolution 1701 is closely linked to Resolutions 1680 and 1559, all of which stem from the spirit of the Lebanese constitution and the Taif Agreement, affirming the Lebanese state’s right to exercise exclusive sovereignty over all its territories. This requires the Lebanese authorities to adhere to the constitution and international resolutions and to empower the legitimate armed forces with the necessary equipment and personnel to perform their duties in this context in coordination with UNIFIL forces, while simultaneously initiating a process to neutralize Lebanon from regional and international conflicts.
The ongoing vacancy in the presidency indicates a deliberate intent to alter the foundations of the Lebanese parliamentary democratic system, threatening the Lebanese national pact of partnership in governance and coexistence and undermining proper order and governance in constitutional institutions. This necessitates opening the doors of the parliament without delay for successive sessions until a unifying, sovereign, reformist, and rescuing president is elected to restore Lebanon’s active role and renew the Lebanese people’s hope in preserving their nation’s cultural identity.
The exacerbation of the Syrian displacement crisis since 2011 requires a different approach from the international community and the United Nations, urgently pushing for the facilitation of the return of displaced persons to Syria. Thus, the implementation of Resolution 2254, which is related to the political solution in Syria, forms a crucial entry point in this regard. It is essential to emphasize that all forms of illegal presence on Lebanese territory must be terminated, the official border crossings regulated, and the illegal ones closed. Additionally, the displacement status should be removed from groups that, by their constant movement to Syria, demonstrate their ability to return to their homeland, thereby alleviating the burden on Lebanon. Practically, it is imperative to implement the memorandum of understanding previously signed by the UNHCR with the General Directorate of General Security on 09/09/2003, ratified by the Lebanese government through Decree 1162 on 30/10/2003, in which the UNHCR acknowledged that Lebanon is not a country of asylum but merely a transit country, and committed to precise mechanisms with the Lebanese authorities for the deportation or resettlement of refugees in a third country. This applies to Syrian displaced persons who can return to Syria, now 90% secure, or be resettled in a third country.
*The Lebanese-American Coordinating Committee (LACC) reaffirms its commitment to continue striving to strengthen Lebanese-American relations based on the values of freedom, democracy, and justice. It also pledges to continue supporting the legitimate causes of the Lebanese people.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 02-03/2024
Netanyahu rejects report citing top Israeli generals as wanting a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas still in power
Amy Cassidy, CNN, and Eugenia Yosef/Tue, July 2, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of starting a ceasefire in Gaza while Hamas remains in power, after The New York Times published an article citing six current and former security officials who said a truce would give Israeli troops time to prepare for a potential land war with Hezbollah. The officials, most of whom spoke anonymously to “discuss sensitive security matters,” also said a truce would be the most effective way to secure the release of the Israeli hostages. Former Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata, who according to the Times maintains regular communication with “senior miliary officials,” spoke on the record, saying, “The military is in full support of a hostage deal and a ceasefire … They believe that they can always go back and engage Hamas militarily in the future.” Faced with a “forever war” scenario, four of the officials interviewed by the Times agreed with Hulata that “keeping Hamas in power for now in exchange for getting the hostages back seems like the least worst option for Israel.” But in a statement, Netanyahu said, “I do not know who these anonymous sources are, but I am here to make it unequivocally clear: This will not happen. The war will end once Israel achieves all of its objectives, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of all of our hostages.” “The government directed the IDF to achieve these war objectives and the IDF has all the means to achieve them. We will not capitulate to the winds of defeatism, neither in The New York Times nor anywhere else. We are inspired by the spirit of victory.” The report was published as the situation in Israel’s north remains extremely tense, with the Israeli military and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah ramping up cross-border attacks, which risk boiling over into a full-scale war. “They (the IDF) understand that a pause in Gaza makes de-escalation more likely in Lebanon,” Hulata told the Times. “And they have less munitions, less spare parts, less energy than they did before — so they also think a pause in Gaza gives us more time to prepare in case a bigger war does break out with Hezbollah,” he is quoted as saying. When asked by the Times if it supported a truce, the IDF released a statement that didn’t answer the question directly. “The IDF is determined to continue fighting to achieve the goals of the war to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, the return of the hostages and the safe return of the residents in the north and south to their homes.” “So far, significant achievements have been made in fighting in Gaza, the IDF will continue to fight Hamas everywhere in the Gaza Strip, along with continuing to promote war readiness in the north and a defense effort at all borders,” it added.

UN aid coordinator’s ‘deep concern’ over new Gaza evacuation order; 1.9m people already displaced
EPHREM KOSSAIFY/Arab News/July 02, 2024
NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, told Arab News on Tuesday that a ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages would be a “significant game changer” for efforts to address the dire humanitarian situation in the war-torn enclave.
Although political intentions and commitments are important, she added, “the shift and change on the ground (is) the only metric, at the end of the day, that matters.”Kaag was speaking in New York following a meeting of the Security Council convened by Russia, which holds the presidency of the council this month, to discuss the ongoing, catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. She told council members that 1.9 million people are now displaced within the territory, and expressed “deep concern” about a new evacuation order issued yesterday for Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Yunis. The UN estimates up to 250,000 Palestinians will be affected by this latest directive. “Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been plunged into an abyss of suffering, their home life shattered, their lives upended,” Kaag said. “The war has not merely created the most profound of humanitarian crises, it has unleashed a maelstrom of human misery.”It is still the case that not enough aid is reaching the people of Gaza, she added as she underscored the necessity of opening new border crossings, particularly in southern Gaza, to help avert a humanitarian disaster. Kaag in particular called for the reopening of the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt, and urged the international community to do more to fund relief efforts. “Political will” is paramount if humanitarian mechanisms are to work properly, she said. Asked by Arab News whether during her meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu she sensed political will on his part to address the humanitarian plight of Gazans, Kaag said that while she is not in the habit of “giving personal comments on attitudes or of others, I care about the correct and constructive meeting that I have in a professional engagement. “And ultimately — which I’ve said to the council — commitments and intentions are good (but) what matters is the shift and the change on the ground, what we can see and what we can measure; that’s the only metric, at the end of the day, that matters.”Slovenia’s representative to the Security Council, Samuel Zbogar, told members: “The main goal of accelerating the safe delivery of aid to every corner of Gaza is not in sight. We are missing the main ingredient for the mechanism’s success, which is a ceasefire.” Kaag told Arab News that “the international community, the (UN) secretary-general, the (Security) Council have been asking earlier for a ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and that of course would be a significant game changer when we talk about conditions on the ground (and) the ability of the United Nations and all the other international NGOs (nongovermental organizations) and local NGOs to reach people and to actually do their work.”

12 Biden Administration Resignees Blast 'Intransigent' Gaza Policy
Akbar Shahid Ahmed/HuffPost/July 2, 2024
The Cost of Biden’s Israel SupportScroll back up to restore default view.
President Joe Biden’s policy on Gaza is “a failure and a threat to U.S. national security” that “dehumanizes both Palestinians and Jews” and should be immediately overhauled, 12 former U.S. government officials who quit their posts over Biden’s controversial approach argued in their first joint public statement, which they exclusively shared with HuffPost. The statement outlines steps that the former officials — four from the State Department, three from the military, one from the U.S. Agency for International Development and four from Biden’s political staff — recommend for a change in course. It suggests they will keep challenging the administration on public platforms, increasing pressure on Biden’s team to demonstrate progress in winding down the U.S.-backed Israeli offensive and addressing the humanitarian crisis it has created. And it underscores how dissatisfaction with the administration’s Gaza policy, already widespread within the government, may continue to grow. The statement urges officials who remain in government to challenge their leaders “to not be complicit,” and its signatories include a previously unknown resignee: Anna Del Castillo, the first known White House official to leave the administration over Gaza. Del Castillo was a deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget before her departure in April. “Each of us has sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and as our nation celebrates its Independence Day, each of us are reminded that we resigned from government not to terminate that oath but to continue to abide by it; not to end our commitment to service, but to extend it,” the statement reads. “This failed policy has not achieved its stated objectives — it has not made Israelis any safer, it has emboldened extremists while it has been devastating for the Palestinian people, ensuring a vicious cycle of poverty and hopelessness, with all the implications of that cycle, for generations to come. As a group of dedicated Americans in service of our country, we insist that there is another way.”
Spokespeople for the White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.
Outside pressure is the only thing that’s going to move the ball on this.
Harrison Mann, former Army major who quit over Gaza policy
In interviews before the statement’s release, its signatories cast themselves as a multiethnic, multifaith “microcosm of the U.S. government,” in the words of Josh Paul, the first official to resign in a development HuffPost revealed in October. The signatories described how, over the months of the war — which began after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a shock attack within Israel last October — they lost hope that Biden would recalibrate his strategy, leading them to view his administration as “intransigent,” a word the statement uses repeatedly. Harrison Mann, a Jewish 13-year U.S. Army veteran who left the military last month, spoke of multiple moments when he believed clear danger and excesses might spur Washington to reconsider full-tilt support for Israel. From his then-perch at the Middle East bureau of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Mann was struck early in the campaign by the U.S. government’s failure to “really investigate anything that looked like the Israelis killing lots of civilians.” (The U.S. and Israel say the Israeli military takes measures to shield civilians, though Biden has personally said Israel has deployed “indiscriminate bombing,” which violates the laws of war.) In January, Mann thought the “extremely predictable” killing of three U.S. soldiers at a base in Jordan — which Biden blamed on militias linked to Iran and sympathetic to Hamas — might force reflection. Several weeks later, the Israeli military’s killing of aid workers with the World Central Kitchen nonprofit could have forced a change in U.S. policy, given the pattern of Israeli attacks on medical personnel, Mann said, as could the Israeli invasion of the town of Rafah, which Biden had warned against. “There have been a lot of moments where I felt, against reason, quite hopeful that we could see a change, and I think what we all understood – some of them faster than me – is that outside pressure is the only thing that’s going to move the ball on this,” Mann said. Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American whom Biden appointed to the Department of Education and who quit in January, said he never envisioned “bucking the Democratic Party,” given his belief that, in current U.S. politics, it was the political faction “that recognizes humanity and racial equity” — but he felt he had no choice as Biden enabled Palestinian suffering abroad and attacks against Palestinians within the U.S. The former officials described to HuffPost what they saw as the alarming implications of Biden’s Gaza policy and their view that his team’s refusal to alter it has disrupted the normal process of important deliberations over U.S. policy. “The threat of this becoming a wider war is not getting enough attention,” said Annelle Sheline, a former State Department official who resigned in March, speaking specifically of fears within the government and among outside national security experts that Israel will decide it can count on U.S. support to launch a war in Lebanon against the Hamas-linked militia Hezbollah. Such a fight could quickly entangle the two sides’ powerful allies, the U.S. and Iran, with far-reaching consequences.
The threat of this becoming a wider war is not getting enough attention.
Annelle Sheline, former State Department official
Hala Rharrit, a professional diplomat who quit the State Department in April, said she had “never witnessed this level of silencing and self-censorship on any policy” among government officials. “Our nation’s political and economic interests across the region have also been significantly harmed, while U.S. credibility has been deeply undermined worldwide at a time we need it most, when the world is characterized by a new era of strategic competition,” the statement reads, echoing language Biden’s team uses when describing its stated goals, like strengthening U.S. influence relative to China, Russia and other nations.
“Who does not now laugh when Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken describes the ‘rules-based international order’ while simultaneously undermining it in favor of Israel?” the statement continues, while also arguing that Biden’s government failed domestically in shielding the free speech rights of students opposed to the Gaza war. The resignees want the Biden administration to refocus on the overall question of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They envision steps like applying U.S. laws that bar military aid for foreign forces responsible for human rights abuses — which the U.S., Israel’s top military supplier, has never done in the case of Israeli forces — and doing more to show that the U.S. supports Palestinian self-determination and opposes Israeli settlements in regions that would be a key to a future Palestinian state, specifically the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.Simultaneously, the signatories seek greater safeguards to prevent future U.S. presidents from allowing what they see as damaging impunity for a foreign partner and making the U.S. complicit in possible war crimes, such as “killings and forced starvation” in Gaza. “There is an urgent need for change in the organizational cultures and structures that have enabled the current U.S. approach,” their statement reads. “This includes the strengthening of oversight and accountability mechanisms within the Executive Branch, greater transparency regarding arms transfers and legal deliberations, an end to the silencing and sidelining of critical voices, and statutory change via the legislative process.”Pegged to July 4 and released as Democrats question Biden’s capacity to lead, the statement is nonpartisan but presents a dark picture of his presidency and an impetus for radical change. “Both our individual and common experiences demonstrate an Administration that has prioritized politics over just and fair policymaking; profit over national security; falsehoods over facts; directives over debate; ideology over experience, and special interest over the equal enforcement of the law,” the resignees wrote. “May we all have the moral courage to speak and push for a better world, for a better America.”

Family killed as Israel evacuation order triggers panicked flight from Gaza's second-largest city
Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy And Lee Keath/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/Tue, July 2, 2024
The Hamdan family — around a dozen people from three generations — fled their home in the middle of the night after the Israeli military ordered an evacuation from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. They found refuge with extended relatives in a building further north, inside an Israeli-declared safe zone. But hours after they arrived, an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday afternoon hit the building in the town of Deir al-Balah, killing nine members of the family and three others. In all, five children and three women were among the dead, according to hospital records and a relative who survived. Israel’s order on Monday for people to leave the eastern half of Khan Younis — the territory's second-largest city — has triggered the third mass flight of Palestinians in as many months, throwing the population deeper into confusion, chaos and misery as they scramble once again to find safety.About 250,000 people live in the area covered by the order, according to the United Nations. Many of them had just returned to their homes there after fleeing Israel’s invasion of Khan Younis earlier this year — or had just taken refuge there after escaping Israel's offensive in the city of Rafah, further south. The order also prompted a panicked evacuation from European General Hospital, one of the main medical facilities still operating in the Gaza Strip. Videos circulating on social media shows people wheeling a hospital bed down a street from the hospital. The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that the hospital could no longer function because so many of its staff had evacuated. Hours after issuing the initial evacuation orders, the military said the facility itself was not included, though it is located within the zone. On Tuesday, cars loaded with personal belongings streamed out of eastern Khan Younis, though the number of those fleeing was not immediately known. The new exodus comes on top of the 1 million people who fled Rafah since May, as well as tens of thousands who were displaced the past week from a new Israeli offensive in the Shijaiyah district of northern Gaza. “We left everything behind,” said Munir Hamza, a father of three children who on Monday night fled his home in an eastern district of Khan Younis for the second time. “We are tired of moving and displacement. "Once we settle in a place and start to cope,'' the Israeli military “forces people to move again,” he said. "This is unbearable.”
Nowhere safe
Up to 15 members of the Hamdan family fled their Khan Younis home and arrived late on Monday at their extended family’s building in Deir al-Balah, said Asmaa Salim, a relative who lived in the building. The building was located inside the extended humanitarian zone that the Israeli military had declared when it began its offensive in Rafah in May, telling Palestinians to evacuate there for safety. The strike came around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Associated Press video shows an entire floor of the building gutted. “Almost everyone inside was martyred, only two or three survived,” Salim told the AP.
A list of the dead posted at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said those killed included the family patriarch, 62-year-old dermatologist Hossam Hamdan, as well as his wife and their adult son and daughter. Four of their grandchildren, aged 3 to 5, and the mother of two of the children were also killed. A man and his 5-year-old son who lived in the building and a man on the street outside were also killed in the strike, which wounded 10 other people, including several children. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the strike.
Flight from Khan Younis
Monday’s evacuation order suggested Israel would launch a new ground assault into Khan Younis, though there was no immediate sign of troops moving in. Israeli forces waged a months-long offensive there earlier this year, battling Hamas militants and leaving large swaths of the southern city destroyed or heavily damaged. Israel has repeatedly moved back into parts of the Gaza Strip it previously invaded to root out militants it said had regrouped — a sign of Hamas’ continued capabilities even after nearly nine-months of war in Gaza. Overnight, another Israeli strike in the evacuation zone killed at least nine people, including three children and two women, according to hospital records. The military said it launched retaliatory strikes after Palestinian militants fired a barrage of some 20 projectiles into Israel from Khan Younis on Monday. There were no reports of casualties or damage from the rocket attack.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 37,900 Palestinians, the majority women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish combatants among its count. Israel launched its campaign after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which militants killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took around 250 others hostage. The Israeli military said Tuesday it estimates that some 1.8 million Palestinians are now in the humanitarian zone it declared, covering a stretch along Gaza’s coast running about 14 kilometers (8.6 miles). Much of that area is now blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities with limited access to aid, U.N. and aid groups say. Families live amid mountains of trash and streams of water contaminated by sewage. The amount of food and other supplies getting into Gaza has plunged since the Rafah offensive began. The U.N. says fighting, Israeli military restrictions and general chaos — including looting of trucks by criminal gangs in Gaza — make it near impossible for it to pick up truckloads of goods that Israel has let in. As a result, cargo is stacked up uncollected just inside Gaza at the main Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, near Rafah. The Norwegian Refugee Council said last week that it surveyed nearly 1,100 families who fled Rafah and 83% of them reported having no access to food and more than half had no access to safe water.On Tuesday, more families fleeing Khan Younis were trying to find space in the zone. Um Abdel-Rahman said she and her family of four children — the youngest 3 years old — walked for hours during the night to reach the zone only to find no place to stay. “There is no room for anyone,” she said. “We are waiting and have nothing to do but wait.”Some crowded into empty lots around a largely destroyed housing complex in the western part of Khan Younis that lies within the “humanitarian zone.”Among them was Noha al-Bana, who has been displaced four times since fleeing Gaza City in the north early in the war. “We have been humiliated,” she said. “No proper food, no proper water, no proper bathrooms, no proper place for sleep. … Fear, fear, fear. There is no safety. No safety at home, no safety in the tents.”

Turkiye closes Syria border after violence flares in both countries
Reuters/July 02, 2024
AMMAN/ISTANBUL: Turkiye closed its main border crossings into northwest Syria on Tuesday after Turkish troops came under fire from Syrians angered by violence against their compatriots in Turkiye, a Syrian opposition source and residents said. In Turkiye, police detained 474 people involved in attacks targeting the Syrian community across the country overnight, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, in spreading unrest that began late on Sunday. Properties and vehicles owned by Syrians were vandalized and set on fire in the central city of Kayseri, stoked by social media reports that a Syrian man had sexually abused a female child relative. Yerlikaya said the incident was being investigated. The violence spread to the provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Konya, Bursa and an Istanbul district, Turkiye’s MIT intelligence agency said in a statement. There were social media reports of some injuries among Syrians. Subsequently, hundreds of angry Syrians took to the streets in several towns in the rebel-held northwest Syria, an area where Turkiye maintains thousands of troops and has carved out a sphere of influence that has stopped Syrian President Bashar Assad from regaining control. Late on Monday, Turkiye responded to the unrest by closing until further notice the Bab al Hawa border crossing, a main trade and passenger conduit for more than 3 million inhabitants, along with Bab al Salam and other smaller crossings, a border official told Reuters. The Syrian border city of Afrin was the scene of the most violent clashes, with at least four people killed in an exchange of fire between armed protesters and Turkish troops. Elsewhere, there were skirmishes and armed clashes, with civilians hurling stones at Turkish convoys in several towns, and tearing down the Turkish flag on some offices. Several Turkish officials described the unrest in Syria as “provocations,” with the Foreign Ministry saying: “It is wrong to use the sad events that took place in Kayseri ... as the basis for some provocations beyond our borders.” In a speech on Tuesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan blamed the “chaos plan” on groups associated with terrorist organizations, and vowed to reveal the “dirty hands” behind the recent incidents. “We know who is playing in these games staged with the remnants of the terrorist organization. Neither us, nor our Syrian brothers, will fall into this sly trap...we will not give in to racist vandalism,” Erdogan said following the cabinet meeting.
Erdogan said more than 670,000 people have returned to areas in northern Syria, where Turkiye has been operating to create safe zones over the past decade. He added, the refugee issue will be solved humanely and morally in line with the economic realities of Turkiye, which is hosting more than 3 million Syrian war refugees. Erdogan said last Friday a meeting with Assad was possible to help restore bilateral relations. Turkiye severed ties with Syria after the 2011 Syrian civil war and supported rebels looking to oust Assad.

Minister highlights Egypt’s support for peace in Gaza, Sudan, Libya, Syria
GOBRAN MOHAMED/Arab News/July 02, 2024
CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and International Crisis Group President Comfort Ero discussed the Israel-Hamas war and developments in Sudan and Libya at the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development on Tuesday.
Shoukry said he appreciated Ero’s participation in the forum, which brings together senior representatives of international and regional organizations and members of the academic community to exchange views on conflict resolution and peacebuilding across the African continent. Shoukry said civilian casualties among women and children as a result of the war in Gaza far exceeded the humanitarian repercussions of similar conflicts over the past decades. The situation, he said, “constitutes a real human catastrophe as nearly eight months have passed since the outbreak of the war.”He stressed it was incumbent on Israel to halt the war. He also underlined Egypt’s mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas, in conjunction with partners in the US and Qatar. He talked about an action plan to pursue a serious peace process that guaranteed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the vision of the two-state solution. The minister also expressed Egypt’s deep concern over Sudan’s spiraling into a similar humanitarian catastrophe as a result of continued fighting. “It requires an immediate and sustainable cessation of military operations to preserve the lives and property of the Sudanese people,” he said, stressing the importance of protecting state institutions. Any genuine political solution, he added, must be founded on an exclusively Sudanese vision without pressure from any external parties. As regards Libya, Shoukry said Egypt would continue its efforts to converge views among the relevant parties in a way that contributed to strengthening a solution and respected the elected state institutions, leading to simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections. He emphasized the need for foreign forces and mercenaries to depart Libya within a specific timeframe in order to preserve its unity, sovereignty and stability. In a separate meeting, Shoukry received Abdallah Al-Dardari, director of the regional bureau for Arab states of the UN Development Programme, on the forum’s sidelines. Al-Dardari highlighted the presence of UNDP teams inside the Gaza Strip and their efforts to provide sewage networks and develop an early recovery plan, inviting Egyptian companies and expertise to join their efforts.

Carrier strike group commander who oversaw 'unprecedented' Red Sea battle says the US Navy needs to make sure it's ready for a drone fight
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/July 2, 2024
The US Navy has drawn many lessons from its monthslong counter-Houthi mission.
A former strike group commander who oversaw combat credited training for the warships' successes in battle. But he said future deployments would benefit from more drone training. American warships have been battling dangerous and unprecedented threats in volatile Middle Eastern waters for months, and the experience has been a valuable lesson for the US Navy. The threat posed to commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels persists, showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. Thus, the US Navy's fight goes on.
Among the lessons the sea service has learned from its engagements off Yemen is that the Navy needs more work on defeating drones, Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, a former carrier strike group commander who oversaw nearly the entirety of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group's twice-extended deployment, wrote this week. The strike group — which consists of the aircraft carrier Ike and several other warships — spent more than seven months intercepting Houthi missiles and drones and conducting preemptive strikes against the rebels in Yemen in defense of major shipping lanes before its recent departure. Reflecting on the counter-Houthi operations and offering some lessons for future Navy combat, Miguez said the Eisenhower carrier strike group's deployment to the Middle East "has been unprecedented in every sense of the word.""Our operations in the Red Sea have included a long list of 'firsts,' and while we are still learning and iterating, with every missile and unmanned system we engage and destroy, we are gaining important combat experience that will help inform future conflicts," Miguez wrote in commentary for the US Naval Institute.
More drone training. Miguez said there were several important attributes that helped support the Navy in its fight against what he described as "an unpredictable adversary." One of these elements was the intense training that the strike group received ahead of time.
"Take it seriously," he wrote. "Different adversaries require different tactics. The IKE CSG trained to be agile, flexible, and lethal." "I attribute our success in the Red Sea to the pre-deployment training we received, especially the innovative approach to combat readiness," Miguez continued. However, he acknowledged that "future deployers would benefit from incorporating more unmanned (air, surface, underwater) scenarios in the training continuum."Along with missiles, the Houthis have consistently launched airborne drones throughout their campaign and have found recent success using surface drones, also known as drone boats, in their attacks. The rebels have tried, in a few instances, to deploy underwater drones, according to the US military. Drones are an emerging threat in naval warfare, as Ukraine has demonstrated by using a fleet of drone boats to inflict severe damage on Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
These conflicts present new training and defensive considerations for the US Navy as it looks ahead toward future warfighting and the evolving drone threat. But the lessons for the US Navy extend beyond drones. In this photo released by the French military, the MV Tutor sinks in the Red Sea after it was struck by a Houthi drone boat. In this photo released by the French military, the MV Tutor sinks in the Red Sea in June after it was struck by a Houthi drone boat.Etat-Major des Armées/France via AP. "The threats we are combating in the Red Sea are not unique to the Houthis," Miguez said. "Lessons from this historic deployment will be used to address anti-ship capabilities across the fleet, including against pacing threats identified by the Department of Defense."That's why, he added, "for every engagement we prosecute, every missile we detect, and every UAV we see flying, we send that data to the experts ashore, so they can analyze and make improvements for the next deployers."This has been the case with the Houthis' anti-ship ballistic missiles, weapons that hadn't been used in combat until this conflict. Miguez told Business Insider during a visit to the Ike in the Red Sea earlier this year that the Navy has learned a lot from engaging these deadly threats. Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh took over for Miguez as the commander of the Eisenhower strike group just days before it finally left the Red Sea on June 22 to head home, putting a lid on a restless deployment. The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group will soon take over the Eisenhower's responsibilities in the Middle East. Until it arrives, the Navy will not have an aircraft carrier in the region for the first time in a while. The shuffling of America's naval assets comes on the heels of an active few weeks for the Houthis, who hit several commercial vessels in June and have stepped up their attacks with explosive-laden drone boats.

Prosecutors ask France's highest court to rule on validity of arrest warrant for Syria's president
Barbara Surk/NICE, France (AP) /July 2, 2024
French prosecutors have requested the country's highest court to rule on the validity of the international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar Assad for alleged complicity in war crimes during Syria’s civil war, according to a statement on Tuesday. Judges at the Court of Appeal last week ruled that the arrest warrant issued by France for Assad in November is valid and remains in place, rejecting the prosecutors' argument that he has absolute immunity as a serving head of state. The lawyers for the victims said that ruling was the first time that a national court recognized that personal immunity of a serving head of state is not absolute. They hailed it as a historic judgment and a “giant step forward in the fight against impunity.”However, the prosecutors filed an appeal in the Court of Cassation, describing it as "necessary from a legal point of view” asking that the highest court examine the issue of personal immunity for a serving head of state as it relates to allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the statement from the prosecutors' office said. Lawyers representing the victims and non-governmental organizations who filed the complaint against the Syrian president in France are arguing that the prosecutors' appeal is “unjustified."“The challenge at France's supreme court by the Public Prosecutor's Office threatens once more the victims' relentless efforts to see Bashar Assad finally tried before an independent court,” the lawyers at the Paris Bar, Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt, said in a statement sent to the The Associated Press. Along with an international arrest warrant for Assad, France's judiciary also issued last November warrants for his brother Maher Assad, the commander of the 4th Armored Division; and two Syrian generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The crimes include a 2013 chemical attack on then opposition-held Damascus suburbs. Victims of the attack said France’s decision to issue the warrants serves as a reminder of the horrors of Syria’s civil war. The arrest warrants for president's brother and the two generals are not affected by the appeal. The four men — the two Assad brothers and the two generals — can be arrested and brought to France for questioning while the investigation into the 2013 attacks in Eastern Ghouta and Douma continues, the lawyers said.
While President Assad is unlikely to face trial in France, international warrants for a serving world leader are very rare and send a strong message about his leadership at a time when some, especially Arab countries, have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold. More than 1,000 people were killed and thousands were injured in the August 2013 attacks on Douma and Eastern Ghouta. The investigation into the attacks — conducted under universal jurisdiction in France by a special unit of the Paris Judicial Court — was opened in 2021, in response to a case filed by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression on behalf of the survivors. Assad’s government was widely deemed by the international community to be responsible for the sarin gas attack in the then-opposition-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. The Syrian government and its allies have denied responsibility and said the attack was carried out by opposition forces trying to push for foreign military intervention. The United States threatened military retaliation in the aftermath of the attack, with then-President Barack Obama saying use of chemical weapons by Assad would be Washington’s “red line.” However, the U.S. public and Congress were wary of a new war, as invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq had turned into quagmires. Washington settled for a deal with Moscow for Syria to give up its chemical weapons stockpile. Syria says it eliminated its chemical arsenal under the 2013 agreement. However, watchdog groups have continued to allege chemical attacks by Syrian government forces since then. In addition to France, complaints relating to the chemical attacks in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shaykhun in 2017 were submitted to authorities in Germany in 2020 and in Sweden in 2021, based on witness testimonies, visual evidence and information about the chain of command of the entities suspected of carrying out the attacks.

UN experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter
Jamey Keaten/GENEVA (AP) /July 2, 2024
U.N. human rights experts say Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.” The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, made up of independent experts convened by the U.N.’s top human rights body, said there was a “striking lack of any factual or legal substantiation” for spying charges leveled against Gershkovich, 32. The five-member group said Gershkovich’s U.S. nationality has been a factor in his detention, and as a result the case against him was “discriminatory.”Matthew Gillett, the working group’s chair, said its opinion was grounded in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was adopted in 1966 and nearly all U.N. member countries have ratified. “The covenant is something that Russia has freely signed up to and accepted the obligations under, and therefore as a matter of international law, it is obliged to implement the provisions of the covenant,” he said in an interview. Gillett said Russia should provide Gershkovich “proper reparations” for holding him for over a year in detention without a legitimate basis. Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on Wednesday in the Russian city Yekaterinburg, where he was arrested on March 29 last year while on a reporting trip on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The U.N. group said in its findings that because the detention of Gershkovich was arbitrary, no trial should take place. The group cannot compel any response from Russia, and is mandated to look into cases in which countries violate international commitments that they make. "Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Gershkovich immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law," the UN group said. Almar Latour, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, commended the U.N. panel and said: “Evan’s wrongful detention is a flagrant violation of his fundamental human rights."“As the U.N. working group recognizes, Russia is violating international law by imprisoning Evan for his journalism, silencing critical reporting, and depriving him of due process and other rights,” Latour said, calling on the U.S. and world leaders "to do everything they can to bring Evan home now.”Gershkovich, the U.S.-born son of immigrants from the USSR, is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Russian authorities, without presenting evidence, claimed he was gathering secret information for the United States. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, which is almost a certainty since Russian courts convict more than 99% of the defendants who come before them. The State Department has declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” thereby committing the government to assertively seek his release. Russia has signaled the possibility of a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, but it says a verdict — which could take months — would have to come first.

Reporter Reveals 'Real Anger' From Biden White House Aides After Debate
Lee Moran/HuffPost/July 2, 2024
There was fury and surprise among Biden White House aides following President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week, Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson revealed on CNN.
Biden aides were “just as shocked as many other Democrats on the Hill at what they were seeing,” Thompson said on Monday. The president’s fumbling has prompted many prominent newspapers and political figures to urge him to drop out of the race. Last week, Thompson penned a story on how Biden has been shielded by close aides since the start of his presidency. “There was real anger and there was sadness because they felt like this may hurt them in the election, there was anger that they felt they had not been told the truth by their bosses and a lot of them still feel like they are not getting clear answers as to what happened in that debate,” Thompson said aides told him. White House aides wanted to know if this was “the first time that Joe Biden acted like that, that blank-face stare, the mouth agape, not being able to put sentences together,” he said. “There was this feeling that there is no way that this was not the first time this has happened and there’s a feeling it’s not going to be the last time it happens,” Thompson added. “So there is not just discord in the Democratic Party writ large but discord in the White House, within the Biden campaign as well.” Thompson earlier noted how “really only about 20 people” interact with Biden “on a day-to-day basis, in a sort of intimate way,” with many other aides who are only “one or two clicks outside that inner circle” only seeing him every so often. “They noticed little gaffes, you can call them brain farts, but they were always in ways that you could sort of rationalize them,” he said.

Austin: US Will Provide $2.3 Billion More in Military Aid to Ukraine
Asharq Al Awsat/July 02/2024
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that the US will soon announce an additional $2.3 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, to include anti-tank weapons, interceptors and munitions for Patriot and other air defense systems. The announcement came as Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov met with Austin at the Pentagon. And it marks a strong response to pleas from Kyiv for help in battling Russian forces in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia had dropped more than 800 powerful glide bombs in Ukraine in the last week alone. And he urged national leaders to relax restrictions on the use of Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. In particular, he said Ukraine needs the “necessary means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, including Russian combat aircraft, wherever they are.” Ukraine is expected to get "good news" in its quest for more air defence systems at a NATO summit in Washington next week, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday. "We hope we'll be able to get to the summit and make some new announcements on air defense," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "You've heard that the Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems. And I think we'll have some additional good news for them on that front." Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow's 2022 invasion.

Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 02-03/2024
In the Second Half of 2024
Jumah Boukleb/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/July 2, 2024
The first half of 2024 bid us farewell a few days ago. If I could, I would have thrown seven stones behind it, as Libyans used to do after intolerable guests left their homes, in the hope that they would never return. Now, our world is beginning to tread towards the second half. The year 2024 has not brought us what we love or hate. That is the truth. Upon its arrival, it found that the previous years had left it a series of crises and wars. We were already aware of this, and may God save us from the surprises that await.
As with the first, the second and final half of this year will witness significant changes in two major countries: France and Britain. This week, specifically next Friday, Britain will welcome a new government, as Keir Starmer’s Labour Party will surely win the elections. I am not really sure if we should rejoice at this change or not. What can Starmer and the Labour Party do to address all of the problems and crises, accumulated under their predecessors, awaiting them? Nonetheless, it is a change. There is a Libyan proverb that asserts that "changing saddles brings comfort." However, the question is: comfort for whom exactly? France is also preparing for a change, but no one can bet that it will be positive. What had been a far-fetched prospect just a few years ago is not becoming likely. The change being anticipated will not result from a military coup that sees tanks and armored vehicles roaming France’s streets and squares. It will happen peacefully, with the consent and support of the French people. They are the ones who will cast their votes in the second round of the parliamentary elections next Sunday and decide who takes the reins of the next government. However, the fact remains that they will hand the administration of their country to a woman campaigning under a political banner they are not unfamiliar with. She is demanding the adoption and implementation of policies they once despised. Marine Le Pen is not an obscure figure. The French people are well aware of her and her father’s political history. He founded the far-right National Front party, which she renamed the National Rally in 2011 after implementing the cosmetic changes needed to grant it an acceptable humane facade.
On another level, and on the other side of the Atlantic, the nations, peoples, and states of the world understood that the current US President and Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, will leave the White House. June had not ended before we all understood that he would be replaced by the former president and Republican candidate, Donald Trump. This became clear last Thursday, during the live broadcast of their first debate in Atlanta, where the Republican candidate managed to humiliate his opponent and win the debate by technical knockout.
Trump was not particularly convincing in the debate, not that we expected him to be. Indeed, he has not changed one bit. However, clearly burdened by the weight of the eighty years behind him, his opponent could not keep up with him in the ring, meaning that we will see a second Trump term. That is, the second half of the year will be no less grim than the first.
Moreover, Trump’s return to the White House is bad news for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the leadership of NATO, and the leaders of the European Union. At the same time, it is good news in other countries and capitals, like Moscow, for example. I cannot pinpoint the ramifications that these changes will have on the genocidal war in Gaza that Israel is waging against the Palestinians. It is likely that the Israeli Prime Minister and his right-wing coalition will not grieve over the departure of the current US President. Regarding the ongoing conflict in Sudan- where famine, displacement, and migration are the dominant concerns of the officials running international relief organizations and human rights organizations- the political screen seems blurred. Despite Sudan's geographical significance and its natural resources, the tragedies of this war, which has been raging for over a year, have remained off the radar of major state actors, who are preoccupied with their elections at home. The war has not shrunk in scale. Instead, it is expanding daily. The number of casualties, migrants, and displaced persons continues to rise. Yet, there seems to be no end in sight for the humanitarian suffering, nor an end to the war between Sudan’s generals. Meanwhile, the UEFA Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany captivates the world's people and nations. The Olympics will follow immediately after it ends. Thus, the hungry, sick, displaced, and migrant children of Sudan must wait, if they can.

To Our Teachers in the West: What’s the Next Lesson You Want to Give Us?
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/July 2, 2024
One of the finest comments I read about the presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was a tweet that said: "Watching Trump and Biden is like following the final years of the Roman Empire!"
This is an eloquent tweet. Indeed, the United States rose to heights unprecedented in Western history; many even argue that its might is historically unprecedented. The world had never known an empire that dominated the entire globe’s land, sea, skies, space, and cyberspace, as the United States does today.
American fleets roam the seas and oceans, the US has military bases in every continent and most of their territorial waters, its ballistic missiles can strike any target on earth, and its satellites and cyber technologies monitor our every move in real-time.
Moreover, this powerful nation is home to thousands of institutions of higher learning and research centers, among them universities whose endowments are larger than the budgets of entire countries, or the pensions of their own state.
As for the US political system, both friend and foe recognize that it is among the most refined inventions conjured up by the human mind, successfully ensuring proper and balanced popular representation among the various components of the country. The "Founding Fathers" and their successors were keen on striking a balance between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, ensuring a separation of powers that prevented any of them from overwhelming the others.
In sum, the superpower is an exceptional political experiment before being an economic Eden, an oasis of freedom, a war machine... and, of course, also a laboratory of science, research, invention, and development.
Nonetheless, tens of millions worldwide followed a debate that I claim does not represent the best of what the US has to offer. It is difficult to wrap our heads around how a democratic political system, theoretically based on free choice, has failed to produce better options than Biden and Trump. It is inconceivable that this nation is so barren that it could not find a Democratic candidate in better cognitive and physical condition than Biden, or a Republican who behaves better and has a clear record than Trump! It is impossible. In this vast, vibrant country that has a passion for fitness and sports, not to find radiating youths ready to confidently carry the party torch, introduce fresh blood, and propose visionary and creative ideas that go beyond electoral bribes (especially tax cuts), empty promises, sectarian bickering, and populist bidding wars. It is difficult to fathom how new ranks have not risen to address the collapse of logic in how the Democrats have dealt with questions of "gender" and how the shame around racial questions has collapsed among Republicans.
Some Democratic politicians- with a degree of hypocrisy, I’d argue- have "publicly" expressed their astonishment at Biden's poor performance. However, this "astonishment" is itself what should astonish us, given what we've seen from the president in recent years. Despite this, and despite the significant procedural complexities involved, I would personally not rule out the possibility of Democrats working behind the scenes to find a dignified way out that allows Biden to maintain what remains of his reputation.
I believe that most Democrats- both politicians and voters- have now realized that choosing to "charge ahead" has become suicidal. Thus, they must come up with a sensible formula for choosing a "horse" that can win the race- a formula for sidelining the very disappointing Vice President, Kamala Harris, without angering the party's black supporters. On the Republican side, Biden's poor performance could fuel Trump's arrogance and bolster his supporters' confidence, pushing them to take their confrontational and negationist populist policies further. Trump’s presidency has taught us that he does not distinguish between friend and foe, recognize principles and rules, or adhere to customs and follow regulations... And the world is on a perilous path towards extremism everywhere. Even the bastions of institutional democracy in Western Europe are no longer immune to populist thuggery, blatant racism, and brazen fanaticism...
France, which has just had its first round of elections, could be the first fruit to fall if the extremists of the National Rally win the legislative elections. In the UK and Germany- where democracy is more robust and less "personalized"- the political climate is undermining the moderate forces on both the right and left, and this follows the "displacement war" on Gaza that has stripped them of any credibility.
In the UK, far-right voters no longer feel the need to hide under the cloak of the Conservative Party. Brexit has shattered "sanctity" and the shame around racism. Racists and "neo-fascists" are now flocking to the Reform Party, which polls suggest will receive as many votes as the Conservatives in next week's elections. In the other camp, despite the Labour Party being expected to make significant progress, many of its members are dismayed by the current leadership’s opposition to the left. They may either abstain from voting, retaliate, or tactically vote for the Liberal Democrats (centrist) and the Greens (environmentalists). In Germany, the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfD), whose rhetoric stirs "neo-Nazi" sentiments, has become a force to be reckoned with. It seems that the Christian Democrats (center-right) are unable to curb its rise. Conversely, the credibility of other leftist and liberal forces is rapidly diminishing, most notably the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which leads the ruling center-left coalition currently in power.
This state of affairs will become far worse and more dangerous after the US elections in November if things remain as they are.

Trump is Advancing... Please Fasten Your Seatbelts
Ghassan Charbel//Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/July 2, 2024
Joe Biden left the duel with Donald Trump, wounded. Age has betrayed him, as it usually does. It’s a betrayal at the peak moment and in front of tens of millions of spectators. Biden failed to play the role of the scorer and that of the defender. He failed to prove the goalkeeper’s adeptness. The lights turn a setback into a catastrophe. Public opinion is strict and spiteful, and one impression is enough to turn the page of a man, whoever he may be. There is no leniency, nor mercy.
Social media is full of cruel, slanderous, and wolfish people. Nothing helps the weak in this world, especially if the man was seeking an extension of his stay in the White House. The keys to the world and the leadership of the fleet cannot be handed over to a person with a failing memory.
Biden appeared to be a deeply broken horse before the final round. The New York Times advised him to exit the race. This advice is not simple at all and was followed by similar recommendations. Members of the Democratic Party did not hide their conviction of the necessity of replacing him to avoid an evident defeat. Replacing him at this moment of the battle is not easy. The process itself is complicated, especially if he insists on continuing the journey.
But the replacement option is not impossible, especially if it’s the only means to keep the Trump poison away from America and the rest of the world. Many are betting that Mrs. Jill Biden, the president’s wife, will undertake the task of saving him and perhaps rescuing the party and the country from the victory of a disturbing boxer named Trump. Others are expecting Barack Obama to encourage Biden to make this hard decision.
How difficult it is to convince an addicted politician to retire! It is as if you were asking him to accept defeat under the falling autumn leaves. The difficulty increases when the man has spent decades in institutions and positions, culminating in the presidency, and is accustomed to residing in the palace in the company of seals. How cruel it is for a politician to acknowledge that his role is over and that his time is running out! Power is the mother of feasts, only a “sick” ascetic can easily abandon it. I remember that one day I went to visit a wise politician who was stepping into his eighties. I told him: “Your Excellency, you do not have the right to keep your rich experience out of the hands of readers.” He said the time was not appropriate. I insisted and he replied: “I agree and we will hold several sessions.” I asked him where and he said: “In the Presidential Palace.” The answer shocked me, and I knew that the palace road was full of traps and was regulated by twists and turns. I saw the “curse of the palace” in his words.
The debate that the world followed on screens is strange because its results affect its security, stability, and prosperity. In the era of successive technological revolutions and artificial intelligence, America has not been able to push a young man into the race for the White House.
The debate promises Americans nothing but deeper divisions. It guarantees nothing but more turmoil in the international jungle. No one is advising America to have a man like Rishi Sunak, who is leading the Conservative Party into a kind of retirement in few days. Nor a president like Macron, who squandered the prestige of the Republic of De Gaulle, Mitterrand and Chirac, with his initiatives and improvisations. Nor a man like the one who is occupying Merkel’s office. Some people believe that the West’s health is similar to Biden’s. That it is no longer able to run the world and refuses to acknowledge the new economic, military and political realities. The task of any new American president will be more complex than ever before. Russia has changed, as have China and Europe, as well as the regional powers that believe that their role lies in infiltrating the maps of their neighbors.
At the conclusion of the debate, the world found itself facing a difficult and perhaps costly reality. Trump appeared as if he were an American and international fait accompli that would be impossible to avoid. It is not simple for the master of the White House to be a man whose directions are unpredictable and whose pillow is difficult to rest on. This worries enemies and allies alike. Trump is not a son of institutions, in contrast to Biden. The world has discovered that in the upcoming elections, the Americans may throw a large stone into the international lake that has become increasingly turbulent. Concern includes European rulers, NATO generals, and Zelensky. Will Trump force the Ukrainian president to go to peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin, who cannot return from his Ukrainian trip as a loser?
Calming the Tsar with a piece of Ukrainian flesh prompts Europeans to warn against repeating the same story of appeasing Hitler, despite the lack of similarity between the two men and the two stages. Trump’s feeling that he is the man of the
“deal” does not reassure the Old Continent, which discovered that the sanctity of its international borders had fallen on Ukrainian soil.
Trump’s statements confirm that he does not seriously understand what the Europeans call the “Russian threat.” He believes that the real danger to the US comes from the “factory of the world,” that is, from China. Can the world tolerate American policies based on obstructing Chinese exports, and will this policy push Beijing to engage in a borderless alliance with Russia that officially announces a return to the world of the two camps? Can Europe, worried about Russia and the rise of the extreme right, bear the burdens of a world of this kind?
What about the Middle East, which is boiling over the fire of open massacre in Gaza and a potential expanded war on the Lebanese front? What about the “Palestinian state,” which may constitute the only way out to ensure that the “Flood” and accompanying wars are not repeated? What about the nuclear dispute with Iran, in which officials may find it hard to conclude any agreement with the man who ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani?
The debate was exciting. Trump is advancing, please fasten your seatbelts.

As the world focuses on Gaza, Israel is annexing the West Bank
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News//June 02/2024
Israel is stepping up its annexation of the West Bank by legalizing settlement outposts, authorizing the building of thousands of units and defunding the Palestinian Authority and stripping it of administrative powers, most recently in the so-called Area B. But what is more dangerous is the plan by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to transfer legal authority over the West Bank from the military to a civilian entity led by Jewish settlers.
Last week, the Israeli government signed off on a proposal to recognize five outposts — there are dozens of them — as settlements and impose punitive new measures on the PA, including withdrawing some of its civilian authority in Area B of the West Bank. Under the Oslo Accords, that area is run jointly by the PA and the Israeli army. But in recent years, Jewish settlers have been seizing private Palestinian land in Area B for cultivation and settlement in a clear violation of the Oslo Accords.
The PA has exclusive administrative control of Area A, which makes up about 18 percent of the total territory of the West Bank. Area B makes up about 22 percent. Together, they are home to some 2.8 million Palestinians.
Even before Benjamin Netanyahu formed his far-right government in December 2022, previous governments under him had approved plans for expanding the building of settlements in Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank, including the entire Jordan Valley and land along the so-called Green Line. It is home to about 300,000 Palestinians. But under this government, the ultranationalist Smotrich has launched plans to annex the entirety of Area C by transferring powers to a civilian administration, which is run by the settlers. In a taped speech to settlers that was leaked last month, Smotrich spoke explicitly of his plan to annex the West Bank. “I’m telling you, it’s mega-dramatic,” Smotrich said. “Such changes change a system’s DNA.”
This is being done without much fanfare and it will make the complete annexation of the West Bank a fait accompli
The plan was launched 18 months ago and parts have been incrementally implemented. To deflect international scrutiny, the government has allowed the Defense Ministry to remain involved in the process, according to Smotrich, so that it appears that the military is still at the heart of West Bank governance.
This is being done without much fanfare and it will make the complete annexation of the West Bank a fait accompli. Already, Jewish settlers have managed to displace hundreds of Palestinian families in Area C through a government-backed campaign of terror. The UN humanitarian affairs office recorded 650 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank between Oct. 7 and March. At least nine Palestinians have been killed by the settlers, while Israeli occupation forces have killed more than 400 throughout the West Bank.
According to Israel’s B’Tselem human rights organization, Israeli settlers and their organizations control some 42 percent of West Bank land. In comparison, 21 percent of the settlements’ built-up areas lie on private Palestinian land. In the year to March, the government approved the building of more than 20,000 additional units in the occupied West Bank. According to UN figures, about 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Smotrich hopes to raise that number to more than a million within months. As of January, there were 146 Israeli settlements in the West Bank and 12 in East Jerusalem — all are illegal under international law. There are also at least 160 outposts that Smotrich is pushing the government to recognize.
Smotrich’s plan seeks to dismantle the PA or reduce it to an administrative body responsible for providing municipal services to Palestinians in enclaves or cantons that are encircled by settlements. These settlements are under Israeli law and are connected by a Jews-only road network.
For Smotrich, the de facto annexation will ensure that no Palestinian state will ever be created. Netanyahu supports the final objective, with minor disagreements over the tactics. In return for recognizing the five illegal outposts last week, Smotrich agreed to release some funds owed to the PA. But he is clear about his plan to strangle the Palestinian banking system and strip the PA of all authority over Area B.
Aside from the usual condemnations, no pressure is being applied on Israel to stop its slow encroachment
With the world’s attention focused on the war in Gaza, Smotrich is carrying out his war on the West Bank. Aside from the usual condemnations from the international community, no pressure is being applied on Israel to stop its slow encroachment of Palestinian territory.
Apart from fragmenting the West Bank through patchy settlement expansion, the application of Israeli law to settlers and settlements creates a de facto extension of Israeli sovereignty. Although, officially, the West Bank is not annexed, settlers now live under Israeli civilian law rather than military law, which applies only to Palestinians.
The war on West Bank Palestinians includes usurping natural resources. Control over resources like water and land is often shifted toward settlements, reinforcing their permanence and making it harder to dismantle them.
The continued expansion of these illegal settlements makes it impossible to implement a two-state solution, as it fragments the territory earmarked for a future Palestinian state and complicates the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state. This de facto annexation is a result of the gradual absorption of the West Bank into Israel through the establishment and expansion of settlements and it now hinders the possibility of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Further integrating the settlements into the broader Israeli political, economic and security framework makes the eventual return of the West Bank to exclusive Palestinian control more challenging, if not impossible.
However, the de facto annexation creates additional challenges for Israel, which is already described as an apartheid state. It will continue to rule over 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, leaving it to deal with perpetual occupation and all the diplomatic, security and economic costs and challenges that entails, both domestically and abroad. But more alarming is the call by the Israeli far right to execute a plan of voluntary or forced transfer of Palestinians through economic and social pressures, terror, or both. The demographic challenge for Israel will not go away, with more than 7 million Palestinians remaining in historical Palestine.
The two-state solution today is a chimera. Open-ended occupation, economic strangulation, settler terrorism, confiscation of land and the dehumanization of Palestinians are the only realities. But Israel must not be allowed to carry out this ethnic cleansing of Palestinians with impunity.
With the two-state solution dead and buried — literally by Israeli bulldozers — the only viable alternative is a one-state reality and, for this to happen, change must happen in Israel itself. The war on Gaza may trigger such change sometime in the future, as Israelis begin to accept responsibility for the catastrophe they have inflicted on the Palestinians.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010

Netanyahu’s ‘fingers’ in Gaza a reminder of past Israeli failures
Dr. Ramzy/Arab News//June 02/2024
Israel never learns from its mistakes. What Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to implement in Gaza is a poor copy of previous strategies used by other Israeli leaders. If these strategies had succeeded, Israel would not be in this position.
The main reason for Netanyahu’s lack of clarity about his real objectives in Gaza is that neither he nor his generals can determine the outcome of their futile war on the Strip — a war that has already killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians.
And no matter how hard he tries, Netanyahu will not be able to reproduce the past.
Following the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in June 1967, Israeli politicians and generals saw eye to eye on many things. The government wanted to translate its astounding military victory against Arab armies into a permanent occupation. The army wanted to use the newly acquired territories to create “buffer zones,” “security corridors” and the like to strangulate the Palestinians even further.
Both the government and the military found the establishment of new colonies to be the perfect answer to their shared vision. Indeed, today’s illegal settlements were originally planned as part of two massive security corridors projected by then-Labor Minister Yigal Allon. The Allon Plan was predicated on several elements. Among other ideas and designs, it called for the building of one security corridor along the Jordan River and another along the so-called Green Line, Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The new demarcations were meant to expand Israel’s borders — which were never defined to begin with — thus providing Israel with greater strategic depth. This plan was the original annexation scheme; it was resurrected by Netanyahu in 2019 and is now being advanced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Netanyahu is sorting through the archives in the hope of finding a solution to his disastrous war in Gaza
Netanyahu is also sorting through previous governments’ archives in the hope of finding a solution to his disastrous war in Gaza. Here, too, the Allon Plan is relevant.
In 1971, Israeli general Ariel Sharon attempted to implement Allon’s idea regarding complete control over Gaza, but with his own unique touch. He invented what became known as Sharon’s “five fingers.” This was a reference to the military zones and colonies that were meant to divide the Gaza Strip into sections and to separate the southern city of Rafah from the Sinai region.
To achieve this, thousands of Palestinian homes were destroyed throughout Gaza, particularly in the north. As for the south, thousands of Palestinian families, mostly Bedouin tribespeople, were ethnically cleansed to the Sinai desert.
Sharon’s plan, which was an extension of Allon’s, was never fully implemented, though many aspects of it were carried out at the expense of the Palestinians, whose resistance continued for many years. It is that resistance, expressed through the collective defiance of the population of the Strip, which later forced Sharon, then the prime minister, to abandon Gaza altogether. He called his 2005 military redeployment and subsequent siege on Gaza the “disengagement plan.”
The relatively new plan, which Netanyahu rejected at the time but is now trying to revive, seemed to be the rational answer to Israel’s unsuccessful occupation of Gaza. After 38 years of military occupation, the experienced Israeli general, known to Palestinians as “the bulldozer,” realized that Gaza simply cannot be subdued, let alone governed. Instead of learning from Sharon’s experience, Netanyahu appears to be repeating the original mistake. Though Netanyahu has revealed few details about his future plan for Gaza, he has spoken often of retaining “security control” over the Strip, as well as the West Bank. Israel will “maintain operational freedom of action in the entire Gaza Strip,” he said in February.
The circumstances of the 1967 Israeli occupation of Gaza were entirely different to what is taking place now
Since then, his army has been constructing what seems set to be a long-term military presence in central Gaza, known as the Netzarim Corridor — a large “finger” of military routes and encampments that splits Gaza into two. Netzarim, named after a former settlement southwest of Gaza City that was evacuated in 2005, also gives Israel control of the area’s two main highways, Salah Al-Din Road and the coastal Al-Rashid Street.
The Philadelphi Corridor, located between Rafah and the Egyptian border, was occupied by Israel on May 7. It is meant to be another “finger.” Additional “buffer zones” already exist in all of Gaza’s border regions, with the aim of fully suffocating Gaza and giving Israel total control over aid.
However, Netanyahu’s plan is doomed to fail.
The circumstances of the 1967 Israeli occupation of Gaza were entirely different to what is taking place now. The former was an outcome of a major Arab defeat, while the latter is an outcome of Israel’s military and intelligence failures.
Moreover, the regional circumstances are working in Palestine’s favor and the global knowledge of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza makes a permanent war nearly impossible. Another important point to keep in mind is that the current generation of Gazans is empowered and fearless. Its ongoing resistance is a reflection of a popular reawakening throughout Palestine. Finally, the Israeli unity that followed the 1967 war is nowhere to be found, as Israel is today divided along many fault lines.
It behooves Netanyahu to revisit his foolish decision to maintain a permanent presence in Gaza, as defeating Gaza is proving to be an impossible task, even for the far superior military of his country.
*Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and author. He is editor of The Palestine Chronicle and nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.” X: @RamzyBaroud

Houthi shipping attacks pose complex diplomatic challenge to next UK government
RUAA AMERI/June 02/2024
LONDON: Whichever political party forms the next UK government after this week’s general election will face major domestic and international challenges, including the crises in Gaza and the Red Sea.
Experts who spoke to Arab News emphasized the need for diplomatic solutions and support for Palestinian statehood to address these challenges, as disruption to Red Sea trade routes has increased shipping costs and delayed supplies, impacting UK businesses. Escalating tensions in the region have already prompted British military action. How the next prime minister chooses to respond will shape international relations and have significant implications for domestic economic stability and public opinion.
While polling suggests a potential Labour majority, ending more than a decade of Conservative rule under five successive prime ministers, including incumbent Rishi Sunak, the political landscape remains complex.
The Labour Party has gained ground in many areas and reclaimed councils it has not held in decades, but has also faced setbacks in key constituencies with large student and Muslim communities.
These traditionally loyal demographics have voiced a distinct reason for this shift — namely Labour leader Keir Starmer’s response to the Gaza issue.
Desire for a ceasefire is high in Britain. A recent YouGov poll in May found that 69 percent think that Israel should stop and call a ceasefire — about the same as the 66 percent who said so in February. And yet the main political parties have been muted on the issue. Britain’s Arab citizens have been urged by the Arab Voice campaign to support candidates who best serve Arab and Muslim communities, focusing on those who stand with Gaza. “The situations in Gaza and Yemen have significantly influenced my decision on whom to vote for in the upcoming election,” Randa Al-Harazi, a British-Yemeni political activist, told Arab News. “The current government’s departure from British values and principles that uphold human rights has been a pivotal factor. Britain’s strong commitment to human rights was a major reason why I chose to migrate to and settle in this country.”
A woman stands holding a child surrounded by the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on June 23, 2024.
Escalating international pressure for a Gaza ceasefire has led to huge protests across the UK, notably mobilized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
While the general election campaigns of the main parties have primarily focused on domestic issues, the incoming prime minister will have to address the escalating tensions in the Middle East, exacerbated by the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Electoral turmoil in US and France threatens twilight of the West
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News//June 02/2024
Over the past few days in France I have spoken to many people who profoundly fear for the future of Western democracy.
Influential cultural figures and intellectuals spoke eloquently about their trepidation over France’s very identity amid the malign rise of extremes. Second-generation citizens worry that their European nationality could come under threat. Everyone I spoke to was determined to make their votes count.
President Emmanuel Macron warned that France risked being plunged into civil war if either of his “extreme” opponents won a parliamentary majority. The far-right National Rally looks set to emerge as parliament’s largest party after next week’s second round of high-risk snap elections called by Macron after the right’s dominant performance in the European Parliament elections. The left-wing New Popular Front also looks set to perform strongly, auguring an implosion of Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance.
As one French academic put it, if Macron’s snap elections gamble pays off, “he’ll go down as a brilliant strategist.” If not, he’ll “go down in history as somebody who essentially exploded the traditional party system in France and … took a grenade to the institutions of the Fifth Republic.” Far-right leader Marine Le Pen threatened to reduce France’s support for Ukraine and Macron’s ability to control defense policy. While Macron has been one of Ukraine’s fiercest supporters in Europe, Le Pen has a long record of flirtation with Putin. Macron accused her of being on the Kremlin’s payroll.
Financial markets have been spooked at outlandish economic proposals by both left and right, and the campaign has been distinguished by rabid antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and anti-immigrant incitement. Whether the outcome is far-right or far-left government, or a hung parliament, few doubt that France — a keystone state of the EU — is hurtling toward a new phase of dysfunction and polarization. Few European nations have not been rocked by extreme-right ascendancy. Populist-right leaders in Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic launched the "Patriots for Europe" parliamentary bloc, with an anti-immigrant, anti-European integration and anti-Ukraine agenda. Britain is a rare nation bucking this trend, with the election on Thursday set to deliver in a center-left majority.
Ahead of NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, nervous Europeans are gazing across the Atlantic with increasing certainty that Donald Trump is returning to the presidency. Why worry? Because a Trump presidency would spell disaster for Ukraine, given his unabashed affinity for Putin. Trump’s notorious ambivalence to democratic governance norms would furthermore offer succor to autocrats and fascists worldwide. We may be aghast at the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza conflict, but at least Israel has been gently pressed to allow some aid in. Is there anybody who believes that Trump would lose any sleep if Palestinians were left to starve, or were expelled from their homeland altogether?
No less than the future of the Western world is at stake as progressive and freedom loving people embark on this decisive fight to protect their cherished way of life.
During his first presidency Trump’s worst impulses were constrained by heavy-hitting ministerial appointments, and even famously hawkish figures such as John Bolton curbed potentially disastrous policy lurches. It was Trump, before Biden, who ordered a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan, while seeking to end other American overseas commitments. In the incoming Trump presidency, those appointed would be MAGA yes-men. NATO nations fear the alliance may not survive a further term of Trump unleashed.
The blustering Trump and stumbling Biden in the latest presidential debate did more to discredit Western democracy than Moscow, Tehran or Beijing could ever hope to — a debate so disastrous that many Biden allies are pleading for him to withdraw. If Biden were to step down he would be remembered as a leader who put his nation first: staying and losing would entail historical ignominy as a disastrous president who imperilled US democracy for his own ego.
In another highly significant election contest, “reformist” candidate Masoud Pezeshkian will go up against hardliner Saeed Jalili in the second Iranian presidential election round. Perhaps the decision has been made that an unthreatening candidate — a cardiac surgeon indeed — is less likely to put Tehran in the US’s crosshairs, given the possibility of an impulsive Trump holding the nuclear trigger. The regime’s escalatory language nevertheless persists, with Iran’s UN mission last week warning of “an obliterating war” if Israel embarked on “military aggression” in Lebanon. “A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz retorted, in no less provocative language.
Macron has warned of the dangers for Europe of an “unreliable America” under Trump’s sway; calling for a “more independent, more sovereign Europe able to defend itself and survive against all threats.” However, at the moment when a new Trump presidency looks imminent, the National Rally’s surge threatens to cut away Macron’s powers to push for European military integration. Nearly 200 French diplomats made a public appeal that “our adversaries will view the victory of the extreme right as a weakening of France” and encouragement “to aggression against Europe.”
As the French cornerstone of the EU and NATO faces collapse, with Germany also grappling with economic weakness and an ascendant far right, and with Britain having already quit the EU altogether, European freedoms and democracy have scarcely ever looked in more peril. Macron warned this year: “Our Europe is mortal … it can die, and whether it does depends entirely on our choices.”
My recent days in Europe served as a reminder that, compared with the US, this is a highly educated, cosmopolitan and cultured continent, populated by sizable demographics who are well aware of the menace posed by all-pervasive xenophobic right-wing autocracy. No less than the future of the Western world is at stake as progressive and freedom loving people embark on this decisive fight to protect their cherished way of life.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.