Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July10-11/2024
Lebanon awaits outcome of peace negotiations as Israeli airstrikes continue
Hezbollah targets Golan in response to overnight Bekaa strike
Israeli Raids on Lebanon: Hezbollah Sites Targeted
Israeli Warplanes Break Sound Barrier Over Beirut and the South
Report: Hochstein seeking deal allowing both sides to claim victory
'Mask has fallen': Geagea accuses rivals of rejecting dialogue
IDF targets Hezbollah terror infrastructure used for attacks on Golan Heights
Pagers and drones: How Hezbollah aims to counter Israel's high-tech surveillance
Nasrallah: We won't tolerate any attack should there be a ceasefire in Gaza
Lebanon's Hezbollah chief: Hamas negotiates on behalf of the entire Axis of Resistance
Nasrallah exhausted, desperate: Hezbollah's options after nine months of war – opinion
Lebanon's bloodthirsty leadership impacts a population not keen on war - opinion
Presidential Election: Opposition MPs Discuss Proposals with Various Blocs
What’s Happening Inside the FPM?
TikTok Pedophile Case: Latest Updates and Judicial Proceedings

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July10-11/2024
Israel Orders All Palestinians to Leave Gaza City
IDF has killed 60% of Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Gallant tells Knesset
Israeli military orders the evacuation of Gaza City, an early target of its war with Hamas
Israel cites aid backlog in Gaza; UN says: 'We're doing what we can'
The Latest | Israel orders all Palestinians to leave Gaza's largest city
Pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill's downtown Montreal campus being dismantled
NATO Allies Commit to Sending Dozens of Air Defense Systems to Ukraine, Including Four Patriots
Actor George Clooney Asks Biden to Leave Presidential Race
Yemen's Houthi rebels target a US-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July10-11/2024
The Normalization of Terrorism and Jew-Hate/Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/July 10, 2024
Iranian Officials Acknowledge Iran's Role In Planning And Executing October 7 Hamas Invasion And Massacres In Southern Israel/MEMRI/July 10/2024
Why Has Canada Become the Epicenter of Arson Attacks on Churches?/Raymond Ibrahim/ LifeSiteNews/July 10/2024
Why Doesn’t Biden Want to Quit?/Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 10/2024
For Syrians and Anyone Else… Everything But Education/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 10/2024
A Perpetual State of War... Not One War/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 10/2024
Nationalism for Me And Not For Thee/Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez*/MEMRI Daily Brief No. 621/July 10/2024
Biden-Trump: What Are the Differences?/Rami Rayess/This is Beirut/July 10/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July10-11/2024
Lebanon awaits outcome of peace negotiations as Israeli airstrikes continue
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/July 10, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon is waiting for the outcome of the Doha negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of the army from its southern front. Israel has renewed its threats of a wide-scale war in Lebanon, which have hindered negotiations. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi warned of the dangers of the war expanding in Lebanon. Abdel Atty warned during a joint press conference with Safadi in Cairo of “the dangers of escalation that could destabilize Lebanon and lead the region into an all-out war.” Safadi emphasized the importance of “preserving Lebanon, its security, stability, and preventing the war from spreading there.” Military operations in southern Lebanon did not stop on Wednesday. Artillery shelling in the town of Markaba and the outskirts of Hunin caused a fire in a house. While the Islamic Health Organization’s firefighting teams affiliated with Hezbollah were working to extinguish the flames, an Israeli warplane dropped a bomb in the vicinity, injuring one person. Israeli warplanes targeted an uninhabited house in the town of Tair Harfa. Later, Israeli Channel 14 said that “about 20 missiles were detected coming from Lebanon toward Upper Galilee. Sirens sounded in Dan Dafna HaGoshrim Snir and Sha’ar Yashuv in the Finger of the Galilee.”Al-Manar TV channel, affiliated with Hezbollah, reported that “fires broke out in the northern slopes of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights after missiles fell on the enemy’s artillery site in Zaoura.”
Israeli airstrikes intensified at dawn on the border town of Kafr Kila. There were five raids in less than an hour. The Israeli army announced that it targeted “two Hezbollah sites used by air defense systems in Jinta in the Lebanese interior and Baraachit in the south, without recording any casualties.” Five Israeli airstrikes on the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet in the Baalbek region on Tuesday night resulted in civilian casualties. Al-Arabiya TV channel reported that an Israeli security source said: “The Israeli army is ready for a ground operation on several fronts.”
The source said: “Israel has detected thousands of militia members affiliated with Iran on Syrian territory, and we expect difficult fighting days on the Lebanon and Syrian fronts.” The source added: “Three additional teams of Israeli ground forces are ready in the Northern Command, and the Israeli General Staff is ready with the air and naval arms.” Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, said in a statement: “The Israeli aggression would not have lasted nine months had America not supported it with everything at the military, media, cultural, and political levels, and international sponsorship and pressure on the UN Security Council.” Qassem added: “Currently, there is talk about the possibility of an agreement, but if America continues to act in the same way, Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli premier) will not respond because he believes that the Americans are not applying enough pressure on him.” He said that if the Americans applied “real pressure,” Netanyahu would have to end the war. “Currently, they are making it easier for him to commit atrocities by killing children and women in Gaza. The Gaza experience is before us. The Israelis initially planned to destroy Gaza in three months, but it’s been nine months now and they haven’t succeeded. If they continue, they won’t succeed, and Israel shouldn’t expect the Palestinians to give up.”Addressing “some major countries looking for a solution,” Qassem said: “The solution begins with a ceasefire, and any other option will not lead to a solution. Either the fighting continues or there is a ceasefire. As for us in Lebanon, if they stop in Gaza, we will stop, and if they continue, we will continue.”

Hezbollah targets Golan in response to overnight Bekaa strike
Naharnet/July 10/2024
Hezbollah targeted Wednesday Israeli artillery positions in the occupied Golan Heights with dozens of Katyusha rockets, in response to an overnight strike on a village in al Bekaa. The group said in a statement it has targeted artillery positions in al-Zaoura, as Israeli warplanes struck a house in the southern border town of Tayr Harfa. The Israeli army earlier claimed it raided overnight Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon, including "air defense infrastructure" and a weapon depot. Warplanes struck Janta, a village in Bekaa, and the southern towns of Baraashit and Kfarkila, while Israeli artillery shelled Yaroun.A drone also struck overnight the southern town of Hadatha. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Tuesday evening that Hezbollah will continue its war against Israel and that nothing will force the group to stop supporting Gaza, as he blamed other Arabs and Muslims for not doing enough to support the Palestinian people. Hezbollah since October has traded almost daily cross-border fire from Lebanon with the Israeli army in support of Gaza, with Israel targeting operatives from the group in both Lebanon and neighboring Syria. In Lebanon, the cross-border violence since October 7 has killed nearly 500 people, mostly fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, at least 29 people have been killed, the majority of them soldiers, according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli Raids on Lebanon: Hezbollah Sites Targeted
This is Beirut/July 10/2024
The Israeli army claimed that it had targeted two infrastructure sites of Hezbollah’s aerial defense in the areas of Janta, in the Bekaa region and in Baraashit, in the South. No injuries were reported. The Israeli army also reported striking a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Kfar Kila. Additionally, Israeli planes attacked with 5 missiles the outskirts of the town of Nabi Shit in Baalbeck causing minor civilian injuries. Also at dawn, Israeli warplanes launched two missiles on the outskirts of the town of Markaba. Preliminary reports indicate that a fire broke out in one of the houses, but no injuries were sustained.

Israeli Raids on Lebanon: Hezbollah Sites Targeted
Israeli raids intensified during the night and into the early hours of Wednesday. The Israeli army claimed that it had targeted two infrastructure sites of Hezbollah’s aerial defense in the areas of Janta, in the Bekaa region and in Baraashit, in the South. No injuries were reported.The Israeli army also reported striking a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Kfar Kila. Additionally, Israeli planes attacked with 5 missiles the outskirts of the town of Nabi Shit in Baalbeck causing minor civilian injuries. Also at dawn, Israeli warplanes launched two missiles on the outskirts of the town of Markaba. Preliminary reports indicate that a fire broke out in one of the houses, but no injuries were sustained.

Israeli Warplanes Break Sound Barrier Over Beirut and the South
This is Beirut/July 10/2024
The Lebanese were once again panic-stricken by Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier over Beirut, Jezzine, Nabatiyeh, Iqlim al-Kharroub and Iqlim al-Tuffah on Wednesday afternoon. Store and house windows were smashed in several villages in southern Lebanon as a result. Israeli bombardments also continued, targeting an uninhabited house in Tayr Harfa, as well as Taybé and Aita al-Shaab. For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli artillery base in Zaoura, in the Golan Heights. Israeli Channel 12 reported a salvo of some thirty rockets fired from Lebanon towards Galilee.

Report: Hochstein seeking deal allowing both sides to claim victory
Naharnet/July 10/2024
U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein is seeking an agreement through which both the Lebanese and Israeli sides can “appear victorious,” an informed source said in remarks to Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper, quoting Western diplomats. “One of the exits that he is looking for would be a balanced, mutual retreat from both sides of the border by Hezbollah’s fighters and the Israeli army with U.S. guarantees and an active role for the U.N. forces,” the daily said. Hezbollah since October has traded almost daily cross-border fire from Lebanon with the Israeli army in support of Palestinian ally Hamas. The cross-border violence since October 8 has killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, at least 29 people have been killed, the majority of them soldiers, according to Israeli authorities.

'Mask has fallen': Geagea accuses rivals of rejecting dialogue
Naharnet/July 10/2024
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday accused the rival Hezbollah-led camp of rejecting dialogue over the presidential file, a day after the opposition proposed two suggestions for resolving the crisis. “The mask has finally fallen, albeit after two years,” Geagea said in a statement. “For two years, the groups of the Axis of Resistance have been calling for dialogue, dialogue, dialogue under the excuse of finalizing the presidential juncture. Their lying and hypocrisy have become evident to all Lebanese,” the LF leader added. “Once the opposition unanimously proposed yesterday two serious suggestions for finalizing the presidential juncture, they raised their voices left and right to reject, condemn and deplore. Are you truly the same people who have been calling for dialogue for the past two years?” Geagea wondered.
He added that those who want true dialogue should “immediately embrace the opposition’s suggestions, especially that these suggestions are pro-dialogue par excellence and constitutional par excellence.”
The opposition lawmakers had on Tuesday announced two suggestions aimed at facilitating the election of a new president and ending the country’s long-running presidential vacuum. “MPs would meet in parliament and hold consultations, without an official invitation, institutionalization or any specific framework, out of keenness on respecting the rules related to the election of presidents stipulated by the Lebanese constitution,” the opposition proposed. “Consultations would not exceed a period of 48 hours, after which MPs would go -- regardless of the consultations’ outcome -- to an open-ended electoral session with successive rounds until a president is elected, as per the constitution,” the opposition added. Another suggestion would be for Speaker Nabih Berri to “call for a presidential election session under his chairmanship,” the opposition said. “Should no election take place in the first round, the session would remain open and MPs and blocs would hold consultations outside parliament’s hall for a period not exceeding 48 hours, after which they would return to the hall for voting in successive rounds not exceeding four rounds daily … until the election of a president,” the opposition added. “All parties would commit to attending the rounds and securing quorum,” it said.

IDF targets Hezbollah terror infrastructure used for attacks on Golan Heights
Jerusalem Post/July 10/2024
Fighter jets destroyed Hezbollah terror infrastructure that had been used earlier to attack the Golan Heights - where a 2 people were killed earlier in the day after their car was hit by a rocket. The IDF announced on Tuesday night that fighter jets destroyed terror infrastructure used by Hezbollah to target the Golan Heights area. Earlier in the day, the IDF also attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in the Kabriha area in Lebanon, which the terror group was also using to target the Golan Heights. The attacks on the Golan Heights area had killed a man and a woman, according to Maariv. A Hezbollah rocket hit their car and both were killed. Other strikes targeting Hezbollah Fighter jets also targeted Hezbollah military structures in ​​Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon. Lebanese media reports claimed that Israel also conducted strikes deep within the country, according to Ynet. The reports claim strikes in Nabi Shit.

Pagers and drones: How Hezbollah aims to counter Israel's high-tech surveillance
Maya Gebeily and Laila Bassam/BEIRUT (Reuters)/July 09/2024
Coded messages. Landline phones. Pagers. Following the killing of senior commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, has been using some low-tech strategies to try to evade its foe's sophisticated surveillance technology, informed sources told Reuters. It has also been using its own tech – drones – to study and attack Israel's intelligence gathering capabilities in what Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has described as a strategy of "blinding" Israel. The sides have been trading fire since Hezbollah's Palestinian ally in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, went to war with Israel in October. While the fighting on Lebanon's southern border has remained relatively contained, stepped-up attacks in recent weeks have intensified concern it could spiral into a full-scale war. Tens of thousands of people have fled both sides of the border. Israeli strikes have killed more than 330 Hezbollah fighters and around 90 civilians in Lebanon, according to Reuters tallies. Israel says attacks from Lebanon have killed 21 soldiers and 10 civilians. Many of Hezbollah's casualties were killed while participating in the near-daily hostilities, including launching rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel. Hezbollah has also confirmed the deaths of more than 20 operatives - including three top commanders, members of its elite Radwan special forces unit and intelligence operatives - in targeted strikes away from the frontlines. Israel's military said it was responding to an unprovoked attack from Hezbollah, which began firing at Israeli targets the day after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement to Reuters that they were striking military targets and taking "feasible precautions in order to mitigate harm to civilians."
"The success of these efforts hinges on the IDF's ability to gather thorough and precise intelligence on Hezbollah's forces, its leaders, the organization's terrorist infrastructure, their whereabouts and operations," the statement said. The IDF did not answer questions about its intelligence gathering and Hezbollah's countermeasures, citing "reasons of intelligence security". As domestic pressure builds in Israel over Hezbollah's barrages, the IDF has highlighted its ability to hit the group's operatives across the border. On a tour of Israel’s Northern Command, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant pointed to pictures of what he said were slain Hezbollah commanders and said 320 “terrorists” had been killed as of May 29, including senior operatives. Electronic surveillance technology plays a vital role in these strikes. The IDF has said it has security cameras and remote sensing systems trained on areas where Hezbollah operates, and it regularly sends surveillance drones over the border to spy on its adversary. Israel's electronic eavesdropping - including hacking into cell phones and computers - is also widely regarded as among the world's most sophisticated.
Hezbollah has learned from its losses and adapted its tactics in response, six sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters. Cell phones, which can be used to track a user's location, have been banned from the battlefield in favour of more old-fashioned communication means, including pagers and couriers who deliver verbal messages in person, two of the sources said. Hezbollah has also been using a private, fixed-line telecommunications network dating back to the early 2000s, three sources said.
In case conversations are overheard, code words are used for weapons and meeting sites, according to another source familiar with the group's logistics. These are updated nearly daily and delivered to units via couriers, the source said.
"We're facing a battle in which information and technology are essential parts," said Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah. "But when you face certain technological advances, you need to go back to the old methods - the phones, the in-person communications … whatever method allows you to circumvent the technology."
Hezbollah's media office said it had no comment on the sources' assertions.
LOW-TECH COUNTERMEASURES
Security experts say some low-tech countermeasures can be quite effective against high-tech spying. One of the ways that al Qaeda's late leader, Osama bin Laden, evaded capture for nearly a decade was by disconnecting from the internet and phone services, and using couriers instead. "The simple act of using a VPN (virtual private network), or better yet, not using a cell phone at all, can make it much harder to find and fix a target," said Emily Harding, a former CIA analyst now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. "But these countermeasures also make Hezbollah's leadership far less effective at communicating rapidly with their troops."
Hezbollah and Lebanese security officials believe Israel has also been tapping local informants as it zeroes in on targets. Lebanon's economic crisis and rivalries between political factions have created opportunities for Israeli recruiters, but not all informants realize who they are speaking with, three sources said. On Nov. 22, a woman from south Lebanon received a call on her cell phone from a person claiming to be a local official, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the incident. Speaking in flawless Arabic, the caller asked whether the family was home, the sources said. No, the woman replied, explaining they had travelled to eastern Lebanon. Minutes later, a missile slammed into the woman's home in the village of Beit Yahoun, killing five Hezbollah fighters including Abbas Raad, the son of a senior Hezbollah lawmaker and a Radwan member, the sources said.
Hezbollah believes Israel had tracked the fighters to the location and placed the call to confirm whether there were civilians present before launching the strike, they told Reuters without disclosing further details. Israel's military said at the time that it struck a number of Hezbollah targets that day, including a "terrorist cell". Within weeks, Hezbollah was publicly warning supporters via the affiliated Al-Nour radio station not to trust cold callers claiming to be local officials or aid workers, saying Israelis were impersonating them to identify houses being used by Hezbollah. It was the first of a series of strikes targetting key Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. Others killed include Wissam al-Tawil, Taleb Abdallah and Mohammed Nasser, commanders who played leading roles directing Hezbollah's operations in the south. Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas, was also killed while attending a meeting in the capital, Beirut. Hezbollah began suspecting that Israel was targeting its fighters by tracking their cell phones and monitoring video feeds from security cameras installed on buildings in border communities, two sources familiar with the group's thinking and a Lebanese intelligence official told Reuters. On Dec. 28, Hezbollah urged southern residents in a statement distributed via its Telegram channel to disconnect any security cameras they own from the internet. By early February, another directive had been issued to Hezbollah's fighters: no mobile phones anywhere near the battlefield.
"Today, if anyone is found with their phone on the front, he is kicked out of Hezbollah," said a senior Lebanese source familiar with the group’s operations.
Three other sources confirmed the order. Fighters began leaving their phones behind when they carried out operations, one told Reuters. Another, the Lebanese intelligence official, said Hezbollah would sometimes perform surprise checks on field units to see if members had phones on them. Even in Beirut, senior Hezbollah politicians avoid bringing phones with them to meetings, two other sources said. In a televised speech on Feb. 13, Nasrallah warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break, bury or lock them in an iron box. Hezbollah has also taken steps to secure its private telephone network following a suspected breach by Israel, according to a former Lebanese security official and two other sources familiar with Hezbollah's operations. The vast network, allegedly financed by Iran, was set up around two decades ago with fibre optic cables extending from Hezbollah's strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs to towns in south Lebanon and east into the Bekaa Valley, according to government officials at the time. The sources declined to say when or how it had been penetrated. But they said Hezbollah telecommunications specialists were breaking it into smaller networks to limit the damage if it is breached again. "We often change our landline networks and switch them up, so that we can outrun the hacking and infiltration," the senior source told Reuters.
DRONE SURVEILLANCE
The group has also been touting its ability to collect its own intelligence on enemy targets and attack Israel's surveillance installations using its arsenal of small, homemade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). On June 18, Hezbollah published a nine-minute excerpt of what it said was video gathered by its surveillance aircraft over the Israeli city of Haifa, including military installations and port facilities. The Israeli Air Force said air defense systems had detected the drone, but a decision was made not to intercept it because it had no offensive capabilities, and doing so could endanger residents. Another video released by Hezbollah included aerial pictures it said it had collected of a massive Israeli observation balloon known as Sky Dew on the day before it was hit in a May 15 drone attack. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the images. But IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at the time that the airship, used to detect incoming rockets, was hit while on the ground at a military base in northern Israel. He said there were no casualties and no impact on the military’s "aerial situational awareness capability" in the area. Hezbollah says it has also shot down or taken control of half a dozen Israeli surveillance drones, including Hermes 450, Hermes 900 and SkyLark UAVs. Hezbollah operatives disassemble the drones to study their components, according to two of the sources. Israel has confirmed that five air force drones were downed by surface-to-air missiles while operating over Lebanon. However, the IDF said Hezbollah's declarations "should be noted with reservation," saying the group aims to instil fear in Israelis. Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based security consultant who has written a history of Hezbollah, said the group's "awareness and wariness" of security breaches was at an all-time high. "Hezbollah has had to tighten up its security far more than it needed to do in earlier conflicts," he told Reuters. Israel retains a technological advantage, however, Blanford said. On the afternoon of July 3, a car driving through a Lebanese coastal village more than 20 km (12 miles) north of the Israeli border burst into flames, witnesses said. The Israeli military said it had eliminated Nasser, who it said commanded a unit that is attacking Israel from southwestern Lebanon. His death came less than a month after the strike that killed Abdallah, who commanded operations in the central region of the southern border strip. Hezbollah acknowledging both killings and in response launched some of its biggest barrages to date into northern Israel.

Nasrallah: We won't tolerate any attack should there be a ceasefire in Gaza
Naharnet /July 10, 2024
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday said that his group “will not tolerate any attack in Lebanon should there be a ceasefire in Gaza.”“Should there be a ceasefire agreement, which we hope for, our front will undoubtedly cease fire, as happened during the previous truce,” Nasrallah announced in a televised speech commemorating slain Hezbollah commander Mohammad Nasser. “Hamas is negotiating on behalf of the Palestinians and the entire Axis of Resistance and we would accept whatever it would accept,” Nasrallah noted. Pointing out that “the Israelis are no longer speaking of a major war on Hezbollah or Lebanon,” Nasrallah said “Israel has lowered the ceiling of its objectives regarding Lebanon.”“World powers are now telling the Israelis that ceasing fire in Gaza would lead to a ceasefire in Lebanon,” Nasrallah said. Commenting on Israeli threats against Lebanon, Hezbollah’s leader said “the resistance that fires hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones in one day (in response to an assassination) does not fear war.”Hezbollah since October has traded almost daily cross-border fire from Lebanon with the Israeli army in support of Palestinian ally Hamas.The cross-border violence since October 8 has killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, at least 29 people have been killed, the majority of them soldiers, according to Israeli authorities.

Lebanon's Hezbollah chief: Hamas negotiates on behalf of the entire Axis of Resistance
Laila Bassam and Timour Azhari/BEIRUT (Reuters)/July 10, 2024
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Hamas was conducting Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel on behalf of the entire "Axis of Resistance" and, if a deal was reached, Hezbollah would stop its operations with no need for separate talks.
At the same time, Nasrallah warned that Hezbollah was ready for and did not fear a war and pointed to the ever-larger salvos of rockets and drones the group has fired at Israel as evidence. The Axis of Resistance is an alliance built up over years of Iranian support against Israel and U.S. influence in the Middle East. It includes the Yemen's Houthis and Shi'ite armed groups in Iraq. "Hamas is negotiating on its own behalf and on behalf of the Palestinian factions, and also on behalf of the entire Axis of Resistance. What Hamas accepts, we all accept," Nasrallah said, speaking in a televised address to mourn the recent killing of a senior Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah began firing at Israeli targets on the border in support of Palestinians after its ally Hamas launched the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that precipitated the war in Gaza. It has repeatedly labeled its attacks as a "support front" aimed at drawing Israeli military resources away from Gaza and supporting Palestinians. Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have been forced to evacuate from the area around the border between the two countries and international observers have warned in recent weeks of the growing risk of a wider conflict. The U.S. and France have spearheaded diplomatic efforts to try to secure a deal that would prevent the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah expanding. Nasrallah said that, for Hezbollah, a Gaza ceasefire would be enough to do that. "If there is a ceasefire in Gaza then our front will also cease fire without discussion, irrespective of any other agreement or mechanisms or negotiations."

Nasrallah exhausted, desperate: Hezbollah's options after nine months of war – opinion
Prof. Amatsia Baram/Jerusalem Post/July 10/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/131593/
Khamenei and Nasrallah were embarrassed by Sinwar's surprise attack on Oct. 7, and the Hezbollah joined out of a lack of choice.
On June 19, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened that if Israel starts an all-out war against it, Hezbollah will conquer the Galilee, flatten the rest of Israel, and attack Cyprus. On June 29, Iran threatened that if Israel escalates the situation, "a war of extermination will begin."
These threats do not indicate self-confidence but rather hysteria. Even nine months after the start of the war, Tehran still estimates that in an all-out war, Israel will deal a fatal blow to Hezbollah, its most important ally. But no less important than that, in several months, there has been a dramatic change in Iran's position towards the war, and to understand where Iran and Hezbollah stand today, it is necessary to return to the beginning.
The massacre on October 7 was initiated by Yahya Sinwar without coordination with Beirut and Tehran. Khamenei and Nasrallah financed, trained, and armed Hamas, but that morning, they were as surprised as Israel. Sinwar decided to attack without coordination because he knew they would forbid him. First, because Israel was still too firm, and it could eliminate Hamas and Hezbollah. Second, as long as Israel did not attack the Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran was not eager to endanger Hezbollah.
Sinwar nevertheless ordered the attack based on the assumption that the promise of public support his men received in Beirut in March 2023 would force Nasrallah to enter the conflict. Khamenei and Nasrallah were embarrassed, and the latter joined out of lack of choice.
Tehran praised the middle path chosen by Nasrallah: aid to Hamas by attacking Israeli forces and driving Israeli civilians out of their homes in the upper Galilee, but without getting involved in an all-out war. While in his speeches, Nasrallah pledged to be engaged in attacks on Israel as long as the war in Gaza continues, Hezbollah's restraint has raised criticism in the Muslim world of Iran and Hezbollah and made the whole event extremely embarrassing.
That is why Tehran made repeated desperate requests from the world to pressure the United States to force an end to the war.
Nasrallah longs for ceasefire agreement
In recent months, Tehran has no longer demanded this. Instead, Iran proudly notes the contribution of Hezbollah and the Houthis to the depletion of Israel, and I understand that they want the continuation of the war. They believe that Israel is losing the support of the West, that the IDF is exhausted, that Israeli society is crumbling, the port of Eilat is paralyzed, and the economy is crashing.
On the other hand, for Nasrallah, every additional day of fighting is a tremendous burden. He longs for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, even if Israel alone announces the end of the massive war and stays in Gaza. But Iran will try to force him to continue.
If there is a general ceasefire agreement, Nasrallah will comply. There is even a chance that he will agree to retreat 15 kilometers and possibly to the Litani River to avoid a war.
This, however, could only materialize if a joint Israeli-American position is reached. Israel would announce that if Hezbollah does not withdraw, it will start an all-out war, and the United States will undertake to support it with weapons, intelligence, and support in the Security Council. Israel will have to concentrate very large forces in the North to convince Nasrallah of the sincerity of its intentions.
If Nasrallah and Tehran are convinced, he will likely withdraw on the assumption that his people will be able to infiltrate back as soon as possible, just as they did in 2006. Therefore, Israel and the United States must reach an early agreement allowing Israel to be the executor of Security Council Resolution 1701.
Displaced Israeli civilians will be allowed to return to the North, this time with large numbers of IDF troops permanently on the border. But every Israeli prime minister will be personally and legally responsible for preventing Hezbollah from returning to the border, even if this leads to war. Only in this way will the feeling of security in the North be renewed.
The article's author, Amatzia Baram, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Haifa.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-808944

Lebanon's bloodthirsty leadership impacts a population not keen on war - opinion
Gadi Ezra/Jerusalem Post/July 10/2024
Contrary to Hezbollah’s parades that claim to convey uniformity in Lebanon, what used to be a broad support base for the Shi’ite terror organization is now divided.
The drums of war have sounded louder in the past few weeks on the Israeli-Lebanese border. While Hezbollah, an Iranian-sponsored terror organization, had officially joined the war against Israel as soon as October 8, the last few months introduced a worrying dynamic of escalation.
According to the Alma Research and Education Centre, May and June were characterized by a significant increase in the number of attacks on Israel (320 and 288, as opposed to 229 in April, for example); each may include numerous rockets or drones.
Several countries have warned their citizens against traveling to Lebanon, among them the US, Russia, and Kuwait, while others even called on their citizens to leave the country, including Germany and Canada. There have been constant threats, launched directly by Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah. One was delivered in his June 19 speech.
The arch-terrorist’s remarks revealed nothing new. He threatened Israel yet again and stated Hezbollah’s readiness for war on both land, air, and sea. Israel, in reply, had stressed its preparedness and obligation, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, “to ensure the safe return of our citizens to their homes.” THERE’S ONE thing Nasrallah did find essential to highlight in that speech, which reveals a less-talked about aspect in this endless saga: the Lebanese population. It’s a critical component that should be considered when trying to assess the likelihood, incentives, and inhibitors of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.
This broad group of people, over five million, supports the continuation of Hezbollah’s fight with Israel, according to Nasrallah, for the sake of Gaza. The question is, why was it so crucial for him to stress this point?
There’s one thing such a statement reveals. It is not that Nasrallah necessarily describes reality as it is, but that Hezbollah, also a political party, craves internal legitimacy. The Lebanese people are a genuine concern for Hezbollah and represent one reason it refrains from thoroughly exhausting its military power, which will undoubtedly drag Lebanon into a complete disaster.
What is Outbrain
Contrary to Hezbollah’s parades and pompous statements that claim to convey uniformity in Lebanon, what used to be a broad support base for the Shi’ite terror organization today looks more like a common presidential debate: divided and full of disputes.
Lebanese population object to war
Why? More and more Lebanese understand the outcomes of subordinating their future to Iran’s radical aspirations. That does not imply that the Lebanese people support Israel but it does mean they know the reality of war.
Take, for example, the words of former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad al-Seniora in Al-Arabia on June 29: “Lebanon will not be able to bear the consequences. It is true that if the war expands, Hezbollah will cause Israel many losses, but no one is asking what will happen to Lebanon. Anyone who has anything to do with this matter must address these matters.” In the same interview, responding to a report that the Arab League has removed Hezbollah from a terror list (which was later denied), he said, “We must stop giving [them] free gifts.”
Another interesting statement was recently given by Walid Jumblatt, a Lebanese-Druze political leader, following Nasrallah’s threats on Cyprus, should it assist Israel in the event of war with Lebanon. Jumblatt pointed out that Cyprus served as a haven for the Lebanese during the Cold War (and for decades later) and publicly objected to Nasrallah’s threats on the EU country.
Similar criticism, condemning Nasrallah’s audacity to threaten not just Israel but the EU, NATO, and the US – while solely relying on Iran for protection – was openly made by Lebanese journalists.
Such criticism – either direct or implicit – does not come in a vacuum and represents a growing call on Nasrallah to avoid war with Israel. This, in turn, indicates not only the understanding there that Israel can destroy southern Lebanon but also the low political support that Nasrallah has in the country now.
Some of those disputes even infiltrated the alleged “home base” of Shi’ite people, who understand that in the eyes of Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s blood is redder than the blood of other Shi’ites, such as Amal. Take, for example, a comment on X by Dr. Ali Khalife, a founder of Tahrir, a Shi’ite opposition movement on X: “...the reckless and miscalculated behavior of Hezbollah, Iran’s military arm in Lebanon, undoubtedly multiplies the tragedy of Lebanon and the losses of the Lebanese.”
These examples do not necessarily indicate that Hezbollah is about to face an inner Lebanese rebellion tomorrow morning. And, of course, the Lebanese people are not becoming pro-Israel suddenly (far from it). But they are symptomatic of something more profound and indicate that a substantial portion of the population, on unprecedented scales these days, understands the consequences of a war, and objects to it. This, despite Nasrallah’s claims that they stand behind him.
When geopolitically analyzing this fragile region and its complex circumstances, not only rockets, missiles, and drones should be taken into the equation of deterrence, but also the inner Lebanese front and the political calculations it forces Nasrallah to take.
Indeed, this is the tragedy of the Middle East. Just like with Iran, also in Lebanon, it seems that Israel finds itself in a clash not against the people necessarily but with a bloodthirsty leadership. And the people themselves? While they don’t necessarily dream of having hummus in Tel Aviv, they are certainly not keen on war.
**The writer is a former director of the Israel National Public Diplomacy Unit, in the Prime Minister’s Office, and author of 11 Days in Gaza (Yedioth Books, Hebrew).
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-809641

Presidential Election: Opposition MPs Discuss Proposals with Various Blocs
This is Beirut/July 10/2024
Following the announcement of their initiative to break the presidential stalemate that has persisted since October 31, 2022, opposition MPs submitted on Wednesday “their two proposals” to various parliamentary blocs that they met successively.
Opposition MPs Elias Hankach, Ghassan Hasbani, Fouad Makhzoumi, and Michel Doueihi began their meetings with the Democratic Gathering (PSP) parliamentary group, composed of Hadi Abou el-Hosn, Marwan Hamade, Wael Abou Faour, and Bilal Abdallah. Following the meeting, MP Abou Faour stated that even though his bloc considered the initiative “positive,” more flexibility from all parties is needed to reach a solution. However, his bloc expressed reservations about the opposition MPs’ initiative, considering that it “did not bring new ideas that could lead to the election of a president.” He added that “it is not correct to say that the dialogue raises concerns,” referring to the dialogue proposed by the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, to unlock the presidential issue. Abou Faour wished “that this initiative be crowned with success,” assuring that “he does not want to discredit this movement.”The opposition MPs then met with a delegation from the Moderation parliamentary bloc, grouping MPs Sajih Attiye, Ahmed Kheir, Neemat Frem, and Nabil Badr. This meeting was described as “more positive” by MP Ahmed Kheir, who also emphasized that “everyone is convinced that consultation is the necessary step to elect a president.”The Moderation bloc, which had put forward its own initiative in that regard in February 2024, considered the new formula proposed by the opposition “complementary to theirs and other initiatives, contrary to what some may think.”“The opposition has taken a step forward by accepting the idea of consultation, whether it is after or before the session,” added Kheir. He expressed confidence that “integrating these diverse initiatives can ultimately lead to the convergence of all Lebanese and end the presidential vacancy.”Following the third meeting with the MPs of Change and Independents, MP Firas Hamdan stated, “We are, of course, in favor of any initiative that complies with the Constitution, and on the other hand, we support a solution to the obstruction of the election of a president.”“We have welcomed all initiatives that respect the Lebanese Constitution, and at this historic moment, we are receptive and ready to open the door to discussions within the strict framework of the Constitution,” Hamdan argued. However, he emphasized that the call “for dialogue is a pretext for not electing a president,” also referring to Berri’s repeatedly proposed initiative. For his part, MP Melhem Khalaf stressed that “there is a quasi agreement on having consultations, but in return for that, there cannot be successive sessions; there must be an open session with consecutive rounds, per the provisions of the Constitution.”

What’s Happening Inside the FPM?
This is Beirut/July 10/2024
Opposition within the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) against party leader MP Gebran Bassil is increasingly taking shape, with many members reportedly boycotting party meetings. The dissidents have many remarks regarding Bassil’s political positions, especially a recent stance which suggests that he is “longing” to return to Hezbollah’s lap by concluding a deal with Hassan Nasrallah that would include the presidential election. According to information received by This is Beirut, once a ceasefire is concluded in Gaza, Hezbollah will turn its attention to the presidential election. Sources close to Hezbollah spoke about a potential deal between Bassil and the “Shiite duo,” Amal and Hezbollah, under which the latter would drop Marada Party chief Sleiman Frangieh as their presidential candidate in exchange for the FPM’s support of another candidate of the duo, on condition that Bassil has a say in his nomination. The aim is to introduce the candidate as a representative of the Christians, and to excise the Lebanese Forces by denying them access to the political authority and keeping them in the opposition ranks. By excluding the LF from the government, Bassil and Frangieh would then represent the Christians in the government, institutions and authority. However, sources within the FPM reveal that if Bassil shifts to the duo’s side, he will lose a large number of his party’s MP’s who reject his choice. In the meantime, former president Michel Aoun, the FPM’s founder, is trying to address the matter and mend fences within party ranks.

TikTok Pedophile Case: Latest Updates and Judicial Proceedings
This is Beirut/July 10/2024
Mount Lebanon’s first investigating judge, Nicolas Mansour, has rejected the formal defenses of five detainees, who waived their right to appeal. Moreover, according to MTV, Judge Mansour interrogated the TikToker at the center of the issue, Gigi Ghanoui, and two minors, in sessions lasting several hours. A judicial source revealed that the detainees “deny the charges” adding that “through questioning, discrepancies and contradictions among their statements become apparent,” adding that “the case will not be concluded soon.” The source also indicated that new complaints have surfaced, bringing the total number of detainees to 14, with many more suspects still at large, with absentee warrants filed against them. Judge Mansour is also in possession of a new file regarding a young man’s suicide allegedly caused by the gang. Those involved may now face additional charges of murder, compounding existing charges such as money laundering, rape of a minor and drug use.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 09-10/2024
Israel Orders All Palestinians to Leave Gaza City
Asharq Al Awsat/10 July 2024
The Israeli military urged all Palestinians to leave Gaza City and head south Wednesday, pressing ahead with a fresh offensive across the north, south and center of the embattled territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours.
In a visit Wednesday to central Gaza, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said forces were operating in different ways, in multiple parts of the territory “to carry out a very important mission: pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.”Israel informed people in Gaza of the evacuation order by dropping leaflets urging “all those in Gaza City” to take two “safe routes” south to the area around the central town of Deir al-Balah. Gaza City, it said, will “remain a dangerous combat zone.” Months ago, Israel ordered residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to flee south, and much of the population left earlier in the war. Large parts of Gaza City and urban areas around it have been flattened or left a shattered landscape by previous Israeli assaults. The United Nations says about 200,000 Palestinians have remained in the hard-hit north, and many say they have nowhere safe to go. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crammed into squalid tent camps in central and southern Gaza. Israeli ground troops have pushed into parts of Gaza City in recent days, triggering the flight of thousands of Palestinians trying to escape shelling and airstrikes. This past week, the military ordered Palestinians to evacuate from eastern and central parts of the city. There was no immediate mass exodus out of the city following Wednesday's order. Many Palestinians have concluded that there is no refuge in war-stricken Gaza. The evacuation order came after a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of the territory. Israeli bombardment early Wednesday hit four houses in Deir al-Balah and the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 20 Palestinians. Among the dead were six children and three women, according to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies. The house hit in Deir al-Balah was inside the “humanitarian safe zone” where Israel has told Palestinians to flee for refuge. The overnight bombardment came hours after Israeli warplanes struck the entrance of a school sheltering displaced families outside the southern city of Khan Younis. The toll from the strike rose to 31 people killed, including eight children, and more than 50 wounded, officials at the nearby Nasser Hospital said Wednesday. In nine months of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 38,200 people and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Nearly the entire population has been driven from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times.

IDF has killed 60% of Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Gallant tells Knesset
Reuters/Jerusalem Post/July 10/2024
Speaking at the Knesset, he also said that Israel had broken up the majority of the 24 battalions that Hamas's military wing had at the start of the war. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that 60% of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip have been killed or wounded as a result of Israel's operation in Gaza. Speaking at the Knesset, he also said that Israel had broken up the majority of the 24 battalions that Hamas's military wing had at the start of the war.
'IDF has killed 14,000 terrorists'
"The action of the IDF that has so far led to the elimination of over 14,000 terrorists and the collapse of the military frameworks of Hamas is, in fact, the testimony of what I am saying - everything will be done in accordance with the law and in accordance with the operational need."According to KAN news, Gallant also stated that "international legitimacy" was a significant condition for the continuation of the operation. Gallant also said on Wednesday that draft notices would be delivered in the next few weeks to some ultra-Orthodox Jews who had previously been exempt from serving in the Israeli military. Israel's Supreme Court ruled last month that the defense ministry must end the longstanding exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews from mandatory military service. Speaking in the Israeli parliament, Gallant said the plan was to send out thousands of draft notices, though not all given such notices would end up serving. The fractious coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies on two ultra-Orthodox parties who oppose the end of the exemption. However, the IDF says they need more recruits to keep Israel safe and sustain the war against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

Israeli military orders the evacuation of Gaza City, an early target of its war with Hamas
Wafaa Shurafa And Samy Magdy/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) /July 10, 2024
The Israeli military urged all Palestinians to leave Gaza City and head south Wednesday, pressing ahead with a fresh offensive across the north, south and center of the embattled territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours.
The stepped-up military activity came as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators were meeting with Israeli officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks seeking a long-elusive cease-fire deal with Gaza’s Hamas militant group. Israel says it is pursuing Hamas fighters regrouping in various parts of Gaza nine months into the war. But heavy strikes in recent days along the length of the territory also could be aimed at hiking up pressure on Hamas in the cease-fire talks. In a visit Wednesday to central Gaza, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said forces were operating in different ways, in multiple parts of the territory “to carry out a very important mission: pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.”Israel informed people in Gaza of the evacuation order by dropping leaflets urging “all those in Gaza City” to take two “safe routes” south to the area around the central town of Deir al-Balah. Gaza City, it said, will “remain a dangerous combat zone.”Months ago, Israel ordered residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to flee south, and much of the population left earlier in the war. Large parts of Gaza City and urban areas around it have been flattened or left a shattered landscape by previous Israeli assaults. The United Nations says about 200,000 Palestinians have remained in the hard-hit north, and many say they have nowhere safe to go. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crammed into squalid tent camps in central and southern Gaza. Israeli ground troops have pushed into parts of Gaza City in recent days, triggering the flight of thousands of Palestinians trying to escape shelling and airstrikes. This past week, the military ordered Palestinians to evacuate from eastern and central parts of the city. There was no immediate mass exodus out of the city following Wednesday's order. Many Palestinians have concluded that there is no refuge in war-stricken Gaza. The evacuation order came after a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of the territory. Israeli bombardment early Wednesday hit four houses in Deir al-Balah and the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 20 Palestinians. Among the dead were six children and three women, according to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies. The house hit in Deir al-Balah was inside the “humanitarian safe zone” where Israel has told Palestinians to flee for refuge.
The overnight bombardment came hours after Israeli warplanes struck the entrance of a school sheltering displaced families outside the southern city of Khan Younis. The toll from the strike rose to 31 people killed, including eight children, and more than 50 wounded, officials at the nearby Nasser Hospital said Wednesday. Footage aired by Al Jazeera television showed kids playing soccer in the school’s yard when a sudden boom shook the area, prompting shouts of “a strike, a strike!”
The Israeli army said the airstrike near the school and reports of civilian casualties were under review. It claimed it was targeting a Hamas militant who took part in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, though it provided no immediate evidence. The military blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, urban areas. But the army rarely comments on what it is targeting in individual strikes, which often kill women and children. In nine months of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 38,200 people and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Nearly the entire population has been driven from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times. During the Oct. 7 raid, militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The militants took roughly 250 people hostage. About 120 are still in captivity, with about a third said to be dead. Israel’s new ground assault in Gaza’s largest city has prompted what the U.N called a “dangerously chaotic” exodus of people scattering in multiple directions, unsure where to go. Some have fled to other parts of the north. The new Israeli military leaflets encouraged a mass movement south to the purported “humanitarian zone,” promising that people leaving Gaza City on the defined routes would not be stopped at Israeli checkpoints. Many Palestinians fear arrest or humiliation by troops at the checkpoints.
After Israel on Monday called for an evacuation from eastern and central parts of Gaza City, staff at two hospitals — Al-Ahli and the Patients Friends Association Hospital — rushed to move patients and shut down, the United Nations said. Hospitals in Gaza have often evacuated preemptively at any sign of possible Israeli military action, fearing raids. In the past nine months, Israeli troops have attacked at least eight hospitals, causing the deaths of patients and medical workers along with massive destruction to facilities and equipment. Israel has claimed Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes, though it has provided only limited evidence. Only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning, and those only partially, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian office.Amid the ongoing violence, international mediators were making a new concerted effort to push through a proposed deal for a cease-fire and release of hostages. Israel and Hamas had appeared to narrow the gaps in recent days, but obstacles remain, even after Hamas agreed to relent on its key demand that Israel commit to ending the war as part of any agreement. Hamas still wants mediators to guarantee that negotiations conclude with a permanent cease-fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted he will not sign any deal forcing Israel to stop its campaign in Gaza without eliminating Hamas. Hamas on Monday accused Netanyahu of “putting more obstacles in the way of negotiations,” including the operations in Gaza City. An Egyptian official said the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, went to Doha to join discussions over the deal. The official said U.S. and Israeli officials were also attending. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press on the meetings. A day earlier, CIA Director William Burns, who has led the American mediation, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo.

Israel cites aid backlog in Gaza; UN says: 'We're doing what we can'
Michelle Nichols/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)/July 10, 2024
A backlog of 1,150 truckloads of humanitarian aid is waiting to be collected from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel said on Wednesday, prompting the United Nations to say: "We're doing what we can."
COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry agency tasked with coordinating aid deliveries into Palestinian territories, said another 50 aid trucks are also awaiting collecting from the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing in northern Gaza. The United Nations said it is struggling to distribute aid within the enclave of 2.3 million people as the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas enters its tenth month and law and order has broken down. "Yes the aid is being dropped off. But on the other side of that you have utter lawlessness, plus you have continuing conflict," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. "We are continuing to do our best to get that to those people who need it. Our colleagues in Gaza are not sitting on their hands." He said that the U.N. trucks that manage to pick up aid "are doing it often at great cost, because they are being either looted or attacked by criminal elements," adding that: "Some aid is getting through, but very little." The United Nations has long complained of dangers and obstacles to getting aid into Gaza - Israel inspects and approves all aid trucks - and distributing it within the enclave, where a global hunger monitor last month said there is a high risk of famine. The top U.N. aid official for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, briefed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday - a day after visiting Gaza - Dujarric said. Hadi entered and exited through the Kerem Shalom crossing. "He saw groups of men with sticks waiting for trucks to leave the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. All the trucks that he passed were badly damaged, with broken windshields, mirrors and hoods," Dujarric told reporters. Hadi also saw bags of fortified flour from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA scattered alongside the road from Kerem Shalom into Gaza, Dujarric said. In northern Gaza, WFP said military activity was limiting its operations. Israeli forces continued to press their offensive in north and central Gaza on Wednesday, dropping leaflets urging the evacuation of Gaza City. WFP has not delivered any food from the West Erez crossing for a couple of days, said WFP spokesperson Shaza Moghraby. "Distribution sites have been evacuated and shut down, terrified people are being displaced again and every time this happens it makes it more difficult for us to reach them so there is a major impact on our operations," she said.

The Latest | Israel orders all Palestinians to leave Gaza's largest city
The Associated Press/Wed, July 10, 2024
Israel is ordering all Palestinians to leave Gaza's largest city as bombardment appears to escalate throughout the besieged territory. Israel says it is pursuing Hamas fighters who are regrouping in parts of the strip that had been targeted early in the war.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has caused massive devastation and displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Israeli restrictions, fighting and the breakdown of law and order have limited humanitarian aid efforts, causing widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine. The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to take steps to protect Palestinians as it examines genocide allegations against Israeli leaders. Israel denies the charge.
Currently:
— Israeli strikes in central Gaza have killed 20 Palestinians as mediators make a new push on cease-fire deal.
— The U.S.-built pier will be put back in Gaza for several days to move aid before being permanently removed.
— A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targets a ship transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
— Iran encourages Gaza war protests in the U.S. to stoke outrage and distrust, intelligence chief says.
— A university student who yelled ‘Free Palestine’ is reportedly deported as the UAE weighs the Israel-Hamas war.
— Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
Israel orders all Palestinians from Gaza City
The Israeli military has dropped leaflets ordering all Palestinians from Gaza City, the largest city in the besieged territory.
Israel has been fighting in several outlying neighborhoods in recent days, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing. Hamas militants have been regrouping in areas that Israel targeted in the earliest weeks of the war.
But heavy Israeli bombardment throughout the territory could be aimed at increasing pressure on Hamas during negotiations for a cease-fire. U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators are meeting with Israeli officials in Qatar for talks trying to push through a deal.
USAID leader will meet with Israeli officials about security of aid workers in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel — A United States official says the head of the agency overseeing American foreign humanitarian and development aid will visit Israel on Thursday to address security concerns around aid workers and aid distribution in Gaza.
U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power will meet with Israeli officials to discuss improving communication and coordination to protect humanitarian workers in the ongoing Gaza war. She was last in the region in March, when she visited Israel, Jordan, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The United Nations chief has said “total lawlessness” and chaos in Gaza prevents the distribution of desperately needed humanitarian aid in the enclave. Humanitarian conditions are dire as many families are displaced multiple times. According to the U.N., more than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
Ahead of Power's visit, the Israeli military asserted that the U.N. must step up its ability to receive and distribute aid in Gaza. “Even if we will bring 1,000 trucks today, there’s nowhere to put it on the Palestinian side, that’s the main problem,” said Col. Elad Goren, the head of the civilian department at the Israeli defense body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, during a press conference.
USAID has said thousands of tons of food, medicine and other aid are piled up uncollected on a beach near the U.S.-built pier because of the lawlessness on the ground.

Pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill's downtown Montreal campus being dismantled
Joe Bongiorno/The Canadian Press/July 10, 2024
MONTREAL — Dozens of police in riot gear patrolled the gates of McGill University's downtown Montreal campus on Wednesday as security forces began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on the school's lower field since late April. Protesters, some wearing black-and-while checkered kaffiyeh scarves around their heads, could be seen being escorted from what the university's president called "a heavily fortified focal point for intimidation and violence, organized largely by individuals who are not part of our university community."In a statement, McGill president Deep Saini said the operation to clear the site began at about 4:45 a.m., when campers were warned that they would be removed from campus if they did not leave voluntarily. The university was dismantling the camp in "close collaboration" with the city and police, and through the "engagement of a qualified security firm."
"This camp was not a peaceful protest," Saini said. A Montreal police spokesman said one person was arrested on Wednesday for assault on a security agent. Security escorted the person outside the campus gates where Montreal police officers made the arrest. McGill says it hired private security firm Sirco to dismantle the encampment, adding that the decision to clear the lower field was made after consulting lawyers. "The owner of a property has every right to request individuals who are occupying its property without authorization to leave," the school said. Police, some dressed in riot gear, cordoned off streets leading to the site of the encampment at the university's lower field, blocking access, while a crowd of demonstrators gathered by the police line, waving Palestinian flags. A group of protesters stood in front of the encampment, facing construction equipment that had been brought in to remove them. As of mid-morning, a construction crane and bulldozer could be seen on site. Campus protesters have demanded the university end its investments connected to Israel's military and cut ties with Israeli institutions over the offensive in Gaza. Several protesters on Wednesday vowed to keep fighting, despite the dismantlement of the camp. "The students are steadfast in their struggle," said Zeyad Abisaab, a Concordia University student, who looked on from the street and said he had previously been part of a student-led Palestinian solidarity group. Zaina Karim, a McGill student and encampment spokesperson, was one of the protesters voicing their anger at the school Wednesday morning. She said there were still about a dozen people inside the site who were refusing to move until "their demands are met." Karim, who wasn't inside the camp when the dismantlement began, said protesters will persist until the university discloses and cuts its ties with Israel. "This is not the end at all. Students are more motivated than ever to keep fighting," Karim said. McGill said classes typically held on campus would be moved online as it advised students and faculty to stay away. Libraries and campus daycares were also closed. In its statement, the school said an investigation had uncovered what it described as "serious health and safety risks" inside the camp, including two overdoses, fire risks and a rat infestation. Karim, for her part, denied Saini's accusations. "These are all lies," she said. The McGill encampment was erected in late April as part of a wave of North American campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war. In June, protesters barricaded themselves in a McGill administration building a few metres from the encampment, and 15 were arrested. Last week, police said a 66-year-old man was arrested for breaking the windows of a McGill building and assaulting a campus security guard. A pro-Palestinian encampment in the heart of Montreal's financial district was dismantled by police last week.

NATO Allies Commit to Sending Dozens of Air Defense Systems to Ukraine, Including Four Patriots
Asharq Al Awsat/10 July 2024
The US and an array of other NATO allies will send Ukraine dozens of air defense systems in the coming months, including at least four of the powerful Patriot systems that Kyiv has been desperately seeking to help fight off Russian advances in the war, according to a new joint agreement. “Today I’m announcing a historic donation of air defense equipment for Ukraine,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday at the opening of the NATO summit in Washington. “The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with the equipment for five additional strategic air defense systems.”In addition, he said that in the coming months the United States and others will provide dozens of other tactical air defense systems and hundreds of munitions for them. The announcement was made with much fanfare as the summit opened at the Mellon Auditorium, where the North Atlantic Treaty was first signed in 1949, establishing NATO. There both Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke urgently about the importance of the alliance and the need to stand together in support of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants nothing less than to “wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said. “And we know Putin won’t stop in Ukraine. But make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop Putin.”According to the joint statement released Tuesday, the US, Germany and Romania will send Ukraine additional Patriot batteries, while the Netherlands and others will provide Patriot components to make up one more battery. Italy will provide a SAMP-T air defense system. Other allies, including Canada, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, will provide a number of other systems that will help Ukraine expand its coverage. Those systems include NASAMS, HAWKs, IRIS T-SLM, IRIS T-SLS and Gepards. And other nations have agreed to provide munitions for those systems.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a social media post on Tuesday, made it clear that air defense is still his country's key request, and he has repeatedly asked for more Patriot systems. “We are fighting for more air defense systems for Ukraine, and I’m confident we will succeed,” he said. “We are also striving to secure more aircraft, including F-16s. Additionally, we are pushing for enhanced security guarantees for Ukraine, including weapons, financial aid, and political support.” Earlier this year, he said Ukraine urgently needs seven more Patriot batteries to fend off Russian strikes against the power grid, the military and civilian areas using destructive glide bombs. The Patriot systems, he said, would help prevent Russian aircraft from flying close enough to drop the glide bombs on civilians and critical infrastructure. He said Russia had been firing 3,000 bombs into his country each month. The commitment for new air defense systems comes as Russia continues its relentless bombardment of Ukraine, including a massive barrage that struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday and killed at least 42 people. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy urged “decisive actions” from the US and Europe to strengthen his troops and vowed to do everything possible to defeat Russia. The United States has already sent Ukraine two Patriot missile systems — one late last year and, according to US officials, another last month. And Romania’s top defense body said late last month that the country would donate a Patriot missile system to neighboring Ukraine. A number of European allies have been reluctant to part with their air defense systems, as they worry about possible threats from Russia as well. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin two years ago set up a coalition of more than 50 countries to help gather and coordinate contributions of weapons and training to Ukraine.

Actor George Clooney Asks Biden to Leave Presidential Race
Asharq Al Awsat/10 July 2024
Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney added his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race on Wednesday. Clooney said in a New York Times opinion piece that he loves Biden, but the party would lose the presidential race as well as any control in Congress with him as the nominee. “This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private,” wrote Clooney. He's hosted several high-dollar Hollywood fundraisers, including for Biden last month. Clooney argued the party should pick a new nominee at its convention next month, saying the process would be “messy” but “wake up” voters in the party’s favor. Biden has refused to end his reelection bid after his weak debate performance against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Yemen's Houthi rebels target a US-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden
Michael Wakin/DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/July 10, 2024
Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted United States-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, officials said, the latest assault by the group on the crucial maritime trade route. The captain of the ship reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel off the coast of Nishtun, Yemen, close to the country's border with Oman, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The Joint Maritime Information Center, which is overseen by the U.S. Navy, identified the ship as the Maersk Sentosa. The explosion took place in the farthest reaches of the waterway earlier targeted by the rebels, the center said. It did not elaborate on what caused the explosion, though the Houthis have been known to use drones and missiles as well as bomb-carrying drone boats. Late Tuesday night, the Houthis issued a broad claim of responsibility for three attacks, which included the Maersk Sentosa. Maersk, a Danish firm which is the world's biggest shipping company, did not immediately respond for comment. Since the latest assault, shipping or military authorities have not acknowledged any additional attacks in the region. The last reported Houthi attack in the region took place June 28. The rebels have targeted more than 70 vessels by firing missiles and drones in their campaign that has killed a total of four sailors. They seized one vessel and sank two since November. In June, the number of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels increased to levels not seen since December, according to the JMIC. U.S.-led airstrikes have targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes on May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say. The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain as part of rebel support for the militant group Hamas in its war against Israel in the Gaza Strip. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the Israel-Hamas war — including some bound for Iran. On June 28, five missiles landed near a Liberian-flagged tanker, Delinox, as it traveled off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, according to the JMIC. The following day, Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for two attacks on ships in the Red Sea, but it wasn't immediately clear which ship was the one reported by the information center. The Houthis also said they used a drone boat in a June 27 attack on a Malta-flagged bulk carrier, Seajoy. Meanwhile on Tuesday, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over 13 U.N. staffers and other aid workers who remain detained by the Houthi rebels and called for their immediate release. “We remain extremely worried about the well-being of 13 U.N. staff and a number of NGO employees who have been detained for over a month now by the ‘Ansar Allah’ de facto authorities in Yemen. We continue to be refused access to them," the office said in a statement. Of the 13 employees, the U.N. has said six work for the U.N.'s human rights agency. Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command issued a statement that its forces destroyed an uncrewed Houthi aerial vehicle in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July10-11/2024
The Normalization of Terrorism and Jew-Hate
Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/July 10, 2024
It apparently never occurred to either the heads of the UN or the EU to consider that if you are a terrorist organization that commits war crimes, you do not get to choose how a war that you started is waged against you.
If you do not want a "bloodbath," do not take hostages, hide them among civilians, try to prevent a rescue, then if they are rescued, profess shock at the fallout that you yourself have teed up.
BBC news asked with a straight face if, to spare the lives of the Gazan "civilians" who were keeping the hostages locked up in their homes, Israel had given prior warning before launching its rescue operation. The Israeli spokesman, also keeping a straight face, politely answered that a warning might have endangered the hostages and made the rescue more difficult.
The irony of all this seems completely lost on the political and media elites, who kept insisting that the Israeli rescue operation was somehow immoral. By condemning Israel's rescue operation, they suggest that massacring and kidnapping 240 people is moral, and an act that should not require a military response.
The new purported Hamas agreement to a ceasefire apparently comes with "a major hurdle: The Iran-backed terror group is now demanding 'written guarantees' that mediators will continue to negotiate a permanent truce, once the first phase of the plan goes into effect, the Hamas rep said."
Essentially, this demand means that Hamas and its handlers, Iran and Qatar, would like to start wars and then have someone else stop them when they do not like how they are going.
In contravention of the Geneva conventions, Hamas has refused to allow the Red Cross to check on the welfare of the hostages. One can imagine why.
To this day, there seems little-to-no interest in the fate or condition of the hostages still in Gaza. Instead, there is denial that the October 7 atrocities even took place, compared to an almost obsessive regard for the safety of, and humanitarian aid for Gazans. When the UN is unable to deliver the aid, Israel, not the UN, is blamed.
The Hamas murders, rapes, burning alive of babies and abductions – all the reasons why Israel was forced to go to war with Hamas to begin with -- have retreated into the background.
What seems to matter instead to those who set the political and media agendas is to use the Hamas war once again to demonize the Jews as the world's most inhuman people for wanting to live peacefully on their historical land without daily massacres from Iran and its proxies -- Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and the Houthis -- which apparently plan to encircle them in a "Ring of Fire" -- "six fronts of aggression against Israel" -- as part of Iran's attempt at hegemony in the Middle East.
Western elites seem happy to assist them in that fight.
It apparently never occurred to either the heads of the UN or the EU to consider that if you are a terrorist organization that commits war crimes, you do not get to choose how a war that you started is waged against you. If you do not want a "bloodbath," do not take hostages, hide them among civilians, try to prevent a rescue, then if they are rescued, profess shock at the fallout that you yourself have teed up. Pictured: Naama Levy, an Israeli woman abducted and taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, when she was 19 years old. She is still being held hostage by Hamas. (Image source: Hamas)
Nine months after the Iranian-orchestrated October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians, 116 hostages remain in Gaza, including at least 42 whom Israeli officials estimate were murdered by Hamas, after suffering unfathomable mental, physical and sexual abuse.
On June 8, Israel rescued four hostages in a heroic mission, in which Israeli special forces entered the private Gazan homes where four Israeli hostages -- three men and one young woman -- were held by "ordinary" Gazan civilians, one an Al-Jazeera "journalist."
What should have been hailed worldwide as an amazing rescue operation that finally brought some hostages back from their daily torture was instead condemned as "disproportionate" -- further proof of how normalized Jew-hatred and support for terrorism have become when political and media elites root for terrorist organizations instead of hostages. The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell even called Israel's rescue operation of people who had been kidnapped a "bloodbath."
"Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are appalling. We condemn this in the strongest terms," Borrell said on X. "The bloodbath must end immediately."
If you do not want a "bloodbath," do not take hostages, hide them among civilians, try to prevent a rescue, then if they are rescued, profess shock at the fallout that you yourself have teed up.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres voiced his "condemnation" for what he claimed were the deaths of "hundreds of Palestinian civilians" -- as usual unquestioningly parroting whatever figures Hamas tossed out.
General Onno Eichelsheim, Chief of Defense of the Dutch Armed Forces, said that Israel, "in its operation to rescue the hostages," had used "disproportionate force to achieve its objectives." The comment drew immediate criticism from Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom. Wilders, on X, called the comments "incomprehensible, inappropriate, incorrect."
As is usual for Hamas, which uses its civilians as human shields, the rescued Israeli hostages had been held in family homes in high-rise buildings in a densely populated part of Gaza. It apparently never occurred to either the heads of the UN or the EU to consider that if you are a terrorist organization that commits war crimes, you do not get to choose how a war that you started is waged against you.
There were even some who suggested that Israel should be put on trial for rescuing its own citizens. "The international criminal court should investigate Israel's hostage rescue raid," wrote former executive director of Human Rights Watch and currently visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs, Kenneth Roth, reportedly the owner of an "immoral anti-Israel obsession."
There were also "questions about its necessity," Roth added. Oh, so, according to him, it is not "necessary" to rescue Jews who are being raped, starved and tortured for nearly a year. Good to know. Estimates are that a third of the 120 hostages who remain in Gaza are no longer even alive.
BBC news asked with a straight face if, to spare the lives of the Gazan "civilians" who were keeping the hostages locked up in their homes, Israel had given prior warning before launching its rescue operation. The Israeli spokesman, also keeping a straight face, politely answered that a warning might have endangered the hostages and made the rescue more difficult.
The irony of all this seems completely lost on the political and media elites, who kept insisting that the Israeli rescue operation was somehow immoral. By condemning Israel's rescue operation, they suggest that massacring and kidnapping 240 people is moral, and an act that should not require a military response.
Meanwhile, the hostages that have returned to Israel -- those who were freed in an agreement with Hamas and those that were rescued -- spoke of starvation, beatings, rape, slavery and unfathomable torture. In contravention of the Geneva conventions, Hamas has refused to allow the Red Cross to check on the welfare of the hostages. One can imagine why.
To this day, there seems little-to-no interest in the fate or condition of the hostages still in Gaza. Instead, there is denial that the October 7 atrocities even took place, compared to an almost obsessive regard for the safety of, and humanitarian aid for Gazans. When the UN is unable to deliver the aid, Israel, not the UN, is blamed.
Meanwhile, the main condition set by Hamas, Iran and Qatar to free the hostages -- apart from releasing an infinite number of terrorists, whom they get to choose, from Israeli prisons -- has been a "permanent ceasefire" and "permanent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza." The new purported Hamas agreement to a ceasefire apparently comes with "a major hurdle: The Iran-backed terror group is now demanding 'written guarantees' that mediators will continue to negotiate a permanent truce, once the first phase of the plan goes into effect, the Hamas rep said."
Essentially, this demand means that Hamas and its handlers, Iran and Qatar, would like to start wars and then have someone else stop them when they do not like how they are going.
The UN, with main inciter-in-chief Guterres at the helm, has made it clear that Israel deserved the slaughter and had it coming, The October 7 massacres "did not happen in a vacuum," he said, thereby justifying them.
The Red Cross, which has not sought to gain access to the hostages since their abduction, presumably could not care less about their fate, and are being sued for neglect by families of the abducted.
The Hamas murders, rapes, burning alive of babies and abductions – all the reasons why Israel was forced to go to war with Hamas to begin with -- have retreated into the background. The October 7 atrocities have been squeezed into a small parenthesis, left largely unmentioned for months by mainstream media outlets and Western elites. What seems to matter instead to those who set the political and media agendas is to use the Hamas war once again to demonize the Jews as the world's most inhuman people for wanting to live peacefully on their historical land without daily massacres from Iran and its proxies -- Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and the Houthis -- which apparently plan to encircle them in a "Ring of Fire" -- "six fronts of aggression against Israel" -- as part of Iran's attempt at hegemony in the Middle East.
"Israel is a country that has no place on our land," said Ghazi Hamad, a leading Hamas terrorist, in an interview with Lebanese TV channel LBC.
"We must remove that country, because it constitutes a security, military, and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nation, and must be finished. We are not ashamed to say this, with full force. We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again. The Al-Aqsa Flood is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight."
Recently, a former senior member of the PFLP, Khaled Barakat, wrote in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, "The extinction of the Zionist project is only a matter of time thanks to armed struggle, Jihad in Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen."
Western elites seem happy to assist them in that fight.
*Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Iranian Officials Acknowledge Iran's Role In Planning And Executing October 7 Hamas Invasion And Massacres In Southern Israel
MEMRI/July 10/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/131604/
On several occasions, Iranian officials have revealed that the Iranian regime was involved in the planning and execution of Hamas's "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood," the October 7, 2023 invasion and massacres in southern Israel in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed and over 240 were taken hostage. Statements by these officials contradict the regime's official stance, as expressed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on October 10, 2023, that Iran was not involved in the attack.[1]
Below are recent statements by Iranian regime officials and mouthpieces acknowledging the Iranian regime's involvement in the October 7 attacks.
Coalition Council Of Islamic Revolution Forces: Zahedi "Played A Strategic Role" In "The Planning And Execution Of Al-Aqsa Flood"
On April 3, 2024, the Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces, which is affiliated with the conservative ideological faction in Iran, published a notice of mourning and appreciation for Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the IRGC Qods Force commander in Syria and Lebanon, along with his deputy Mohammad Hadi Rahimi and five other senior Qods Force officials, who were all killed in the April 1 airstrike in the Iranian consulate complex in Damascus that has been attributed to Israel.
The Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces is headed by Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, who is advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as well as the father-in-law of Khamenei's son Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei. He is also a member of the Expediency Council, and a former Majlis speaker.
The April 3 announcement clearly indicates that Gen. Zahedi was involved in the planning and execution of the October 7 attack. It stated: "The strategic role of the martyr Zahedi in consolidating and strengthening the resistance front, and in the planning and execution of Al-Aqsa Flood, are part of the great pride that will transform the quiet efforts of this great commander into the eternal history of the struggle against the occupation by the Zionist regime."[2]
In a May 12, 2024 interview with Iran's Tasnim News Agency, IRGC Qods Force deputy operations chief General Mohsen Chizari said that Qods Force Deputy Commander in Syria and Lebanon Hajj Rahimi, one of the officers killed in the April 1 airstrike in Damascus, had been responsible for training resistance axis members, and that his command and efforts had "resulted" in the Al-Aqsa Flood.
General Chizari elaborated: "The honorable [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] is the commander of the resistance axis, and he alone directs, leads and commands it. At one point, the command in the area was in the hands of Hajj Qassem [Soleimani], who worked under Khamenei. Under this command, other commanders [including Hajj Rahimi] successfully advanced the resistance front to a certain place, the result of which was Operation Al-Aqsa Flood [on October 7, 2023]."[3]
IRGC Spokesman Ramazan Sharif: October 7 Was "One Of The Resistance Axis's Acts Of Vengeance Against The Zionists For The Killing Of [Qassem] Soleimani"
Marking the third anniversary of the January 3, 2020 killing of the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Force, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. air strike, along with the December 25, 2023 killing of senior IRGC officer Gen. Razi Moussavi in Damascus in an Israeli air strike, IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said that the Hamas massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023 was "one of the resistance axis's acts of vengeance against the Zionists for the killing of [IRGC Qods Force commander Gen. Qassim] Soleimani."[4] Several hours after Fars News published Sharif's statements on its website, his sentence stating that the October 7 Hamas operation was revenge for Soleimani's killing was removed.
Iranian Regime Mouthpiece Kayhan: Iran Is The Mind And Hands Behind Hamas; Operation Al-Aqsa Flood Was Planned And Orchestrated By Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani Before He Was Killed; Khamenei Hinted In August 2022, August 2023 At "The Complete Conquest" Of Israel
In an October 10, 2023 article titled "[Operation] Al-Aqsa Flood Is the Beginning Of The End Of [Israel's] 75-Year Occupation," the Iranian regime mouthpiece Kayhan stated that a plan for Israel's destruction, formulated and organized by Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani and dictated by him to the commanders of the resistance organizations just before his assassination by the U.S. in January 2020, has begun to be implemented. Kayhan in fact clarified that Khamenei was party to the plan and hinted twice that a great victory was on the horizon. Kayhan also wrote that Khamenei had hinted at victory in August 2022 and in August 2023 had suggested that a major operation would take place soon, indicating that Khamenei had clearly known about Iranian plans for the attack. The article stated:
"Today it emerges that his powers of planning and operational strategy were boundless. In the last meeting he held before he was martyred, Soleimani spent [seven hours], from 8:00 until 15:00, outlining the future plan for all the resistance factions and the way they would interact with one another. What the resistance factions found unusual in that meeting was that Hajj Qassem [Soleimani] stressed that everybody had to write down [what he said]. 'Write down what I say, [he insisted]. I am outlining the charter for the next five years!' The unity of the resistance factions based on this five-year charter is the fruit of Soleimani's martyrdom and part of the resistance factions' harsh revenge…
"The significance is that, last year, the Leader [Khamenei] gave 'the promise of the imminent conquest,' and this year he gave 'the announcement of the complete conquest,' and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is part of this imminent conquest."[5]
Iranian Armed Forces Commander Ali Bagheri: The Entire World Is Witnessing How The "Sapling" Planted By Soleimani Has Become A Strong And Stable Tree Waging Resistance That Will Destroy The Zionists
Iranian armed forces commander Ali Bagheri said on November 21, 2023 at the tomb of slain IRGC Qods Force commander Qassim Soleimani, killed in a U.S. airstrike in January 2020:
"These are the days when the entire world is witnessing how the sapling planted by the lord of the martyrs of the resistance front, [Qassem] Soleimani, and his colleagues has become a strong and stable tree that is waging resistance and that will destroy the Zionists. We in [Iran's] armed forces, along with all the young people who join the army, see Hajj Qassem Soleimani as a role model whose footsteps must be followed and whom we must try to imitate."[6]
For more details, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1729, Iranian Regime Officials Praise Iran's Proxies In The Palestinian Resistance And The October 7 Massacres, Call For Eradication Of Israel, December 1, 2023.
Exclusive Report By Iranian News Agency Tasnim: 'The "Mighty Pillar" Maneuvers Were The Resistance [Organizations'] Planning For An Attack On Israel; [They Constituted] Four Years Of Training The Palestinians For 'Al-Aqsa Flood'
The Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), published, on October 15, 2023, an exclusive report titled "The 'Mighty Pillar' Maneuvers Were The Resistance [Organizations'] Planning For An Attack On Israel; [They Constituted] Four Years Of Training The Palestinians For 'Al-Aqsa Flood.'" The report extensively reviewed documentation of Hamas members' training in maneuvers held in the past four years in advance of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The report stressed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had declared that the operation's name would be "Al-Aqsa Flood" many years before its execution, and that he had ordered the establishment of a joint command and control center – commanded by Iran – for the resistance groups, with Iran providing weapons and training under the command of IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani, and later by his successor Esmail Qaani.
For more details, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10889, Exclusive Report By Iranian News Agency Tasnim: 'The "Mighty Pillar" Maneuvers Were The Resistance [Organizations'] Planning For An Attack On Israel; [They Constituted] Four Years Of Training The Palestinians For 'Al-Aqsa Flood', October 19, 2023.
[1] Khamenei.ir, October 10, 2023. It should be noted that on the following day, an editorial published by Aser-i Iran (Iran) called on Iranian regime officials – and specifically the ideologically radical ones – to not say anything about Iran's ties to the "Hamas-Israel conflict," since this may harm Iran's national interests. The article, titled "Beware Of A Own Goal In The Hamas-Israel Conflict," said that Iranian officials should not deviate from the official stance voiced by Khamenei, which says that Iran is proud of the Palestinian resistance that carried out the attack and encourages its continuation, but is not involved in it. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10860, Iranian Website Asr-e Iran Calls On Iranians Not To Speak Out On Iranian Involvement In 'The Hamas-Israel Conflict' – For Fear Of Harming Iranian Interests And International Status, October 13, 2023.

Why Has Canada Become the Epicenter of Arson Attacks on Churches?
Raymond Ibrahim/ LifeSiteNews/July 10/2024
On Sunday, June 9, 2024, the historic St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto, and its many artifacts and precious paintings, were “completely destroyed” in a blaze, to quote Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop. The torched church’s pastor, Rev. Don Beyers, added that the congregation is “greatly devastated”:
I’m crushed, I feel for my people. You can’t imagine what this is like for a church community to come on Sunday morning to find that everything you worked so hard for and done so much for [is] gone in the matter of an hour.
Authorities said “The fire has not been deemed criminal in nature yet,” thereby implying no foul play.
This may seem to be a reasonable conclusion, at least for those unaware that Canada—not Egypt or Nigeria—has fast become the world’s epicenter of arson attacks on churches. Over the last two-and-a-half years, over 100 churches have been vandalized, torched, or desecrated in the “Great North” (mapped and listed here).
This phenomenon received a bit of media attention after the first 30 or so churches were torched in the summer of 2021. Since then, and much more quietly—meaning with as little media attention as possible—that number has continued to grow to over 100, with the authorities doing little, aside from offering implicit approval for these anti-Christian terror attacks.
Background: According to Canadian “mainstream” media—all of which are left of Left—unmarked graves of natives were discovered in residential boarding schools, and the Catholic Church is being accused of sadistically killing its young scholars and trying to cover it up.
The problem, however, is that this widely shared narrative is inherently false (see here and here). These graves were once marked and therefore known, and most of those presumably buried in them died of natural causes. The deaths, moreover, took place primarily in the early 1800s. Apparently some plague—epidemics were especially common back then—broke out in these church-sponsored boarding schools for natives, in part due to the lack of hygiene and proper medical treatment (in comparison to modern standards and technology). As Jeff Fynn-Paul, author of Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in the New World, writes,
Recent claims of ‘hundreds’ of graves found at Indigenous schools in Canada—claims that were propagated by the board of the Canadian Historical Association no less—have proven to be almost entirely unfounded… [T]he notion that these schools were set up for maleficent ends has been debunked roundly for anyone who cares to look into it.
But since when did those who hate Christianity care to examine facts when a good pretext is handy? They much prefer to run with claims of innocent young natives being tortured, murdered, and secretly buried by dastardly clerics. As one report states, “In response to these announcements [of mass graves], far-left radicals have used this opportunity as an excuse to terrorize Catholic and other Christian communities by targeting churches.”
If “far-left radicals” have been the foot soldiers, far-left politicians—that is, the Canadian ruling elite—have provided them with cover.
On June 30, 2021, after the first two dozen churches were torched, Harsha Walia, the then head of British Colombia’s Civil Liberties Association—which claims to “promote, defend, sustain, and extend civil liberties and human rights”—tweeted in regards to the churches: “Burn it all down.” (So much for her championing the “civil liberties and human rights” of Canadians; apparently they only apply to some people, not others.)
A Punjabi born and raised in Bahrain, it made sense for Walia to respond in this manner. Not only are church burnings routine in the Muslim world, but Pakistan and India are so anti-Christian that they are currently ranked as the seventh and eleventh worst persecutors of Christians in the entire world. In India alone, 2,228 churches were attacked or torched in 2023 (and 160 Christians slaughtered).
As usual, however, Islamic/Indian hate for Christianity finds an ally in the “Left.” Prominent Newfoundland lawyer, Caitlin Urquhart, merely parroted Walia—“Burn it all down.” Heidi Mathews of Harvard Law School described the vandalization and torching of churches as “the right of resistance to extreme and systemic injustice.” Gerald Butts, a close confidant of the Canadian prime minister, said the attacks were “understandable.”
As for the fearless leader of Canada himself, after offering the usual lip service and saying that ongoing church attacks are “unacceptable,” Justin Trudeau said:
I understand the anger that’s out there … against institutions like the Catholic Church. It is real, and it is fully understandable given the shameful history that we’re all becoming more and more aware of.
Got that? Attacks on Christian churches are “unacceptable”—but they’re also “understandable.” Considering that these two words cancel each other out, Trudeau’s was a call for no action—hence why some 60 more churches have been attacked since he spoke. As Ezra Levant said on July 7, 2021,
He [Trudeau] introduced an anti-hate crime bill in parliament that’s targeting mean tweets and Facebook posts, but literally you have church after church being torched by Antifa-style terrorists and he’s almost silent on the matter, and his right hand man [Gerald Butts] finds it understandable.
The denial has only continued. After stating that four churches were torched in the days leading up to this last Christmas, 2023, a report states that, “as it turns out, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have — so far — zero evidence that any of the church arsons have any link to anti-Christian animus.” “None of the, of the files we’ve solved, showed any particular affinity against the churches whatsoever,” Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, a RCMP spokesman, was quoted as saying, before emphasizing that there’s no evidence that the fires are linked or part of any “concerted effort” against churches.
Sounds very similar to the authorities’ response—that is, denial—to the most recent church torching of June 9, 2024, doesn’t it? “The fire has not been deemed criminal in nature yet.”
That all of these ongoing attacks on churches in Canada are motivated first and foremost by a hate for Christianity is amply demonstrated by the fact that non-Catholic churches—such as the most recent to be torched, St. Anne’s Anglican Church—are among the many to be attacked or destroyed, even though the official pretext is anger at the Catholic Church. Indeed, even a Coptic church was in 2021 torched to the ground in Canada—with the authorities, once again, apparently failing to do their duty properly.
The question begs itself: What on earth do the non-European Copts, Egypt’s native Christians—who began migrating to Canada over a century after these graves were first dug, primarily to escape religious persecution—have to do with this issue? Nothing, they just happen to be Christian—their church boasted a crucifix atop its steeple—and that’s all that matters, all that warrants hate crimes and indifference for them in Leftist Canada. Evil, after all, never needs an excuse to manifest itself, though a pretext always offers good cover.
And so, what was once the preserve of the Islamic world—hostility for and attacks on churches—is now a regular and acceptable feature of Canada. Considering that radical Leftists and radical Muslims believe in the exact opposite things, when it comes to torching churches, they are, rather tellingly, close allies. This speaks volumes about what truly animates them both, and what is—and always has been—at the core of their belief systems.
https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2024/07/10/why-has-canada-become-the-epicenter-of-arson-attacks-on-churches/

Why Doesn’t Biden Want to Quit?
Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 10/2024
Biden and his Democratic opponents are going through a period of discovering the other for who he really is. The first did not expect that they would be so unfaithful and ready to sacrifice and attack him, and they did not imagine that he would cling to power to this degree.
The media tried to compliment Biden, but they were shocked by the debate, which revealed that they were betting on a losing horse and wanted to get rid of him. However, they were disturbed by his stubbornness and refusal to quit his seat. On the other hand, he thought that their violent attacks would be directed at his opponent, but he woke up with their knives stuck in his back, while they ignored in one moment, all of his achievements, which they had promoted over the past three and a half years.
One of the strangest scenes these days is seeing Biden assuming the same role that Trump played previously. That is, he challenges the political institution, the media and intellectual elites who want to overthrow him. He insists on remaining in office and wants to prove them wrong. They were outright enemies of Trump; but in Biden’s case, the situation is more difficult because they were his friends and turned against him just because of a “bad night,” as he justifies himself.
But those who think that Biden will withdraw easily are mistaken, and this is evident in his recent stances. In his last interview, not only was he non hesitant to present himself as the most fit to rule and defeat Trump, but he indirectly and deliberately belittled the importance of competitors, including his own deputy. For him, he is the most capable and worthy, and no one else is.
Biden is like any other politician. He clings to power and does not want to leave it, even if he is eighty years old, and doubts surround his mental abilities. Why couldn’t he just give up his seat easily?
His biography and personality say it all. He spent many years in political circles dreaming of this position, which he attained in the autumn of life. It is not easy for him to abandon it now. Biden feels that he has worked a long time to get his chance after being ignored for many decades, and that he has proven over the past years that he is a successful president despite everything that has been said about him.
It is known that his relationship with Obama was damaged after the latter nominated Hillary Clinton instead of him to confront Trump in 2015. He felt that his former boss underestimated his value and did not see him as possessing the competency required for the position of president. On a personal level, he seems full of strong emotions, as he talks about the death of his wife and child in a car accident, and his son years later with cancer, but he is not Nelson Mandela.
The Afghanistan envoy, Richard Holbrooke, reveals a lowly, unprincipled person demanding a complete and immediate departure from Afghanistan. When he disagreed with him on the grounds that he would endanger the lives of thousands of Afghan women and children, he shouted: Screw that! What’s important is that we do not lose the 2012 elections. This is what he did later when he was president, when he decided to withdraw despite knowing that the Taliban would return to power and that women would face a difficult fate.
But he decided to do so because it was in his best interest to run for a second term.
The reality is that he is not an opportunist, but rather a professional and trained politician, who uses the story of his family’s tragedy to achieve his goals, and rejects any personal principles or morals that come against the interests of his party or the vision of his administration.
At one time, he seemed brave, saying what he believed in without hesitation, such as his correct statement decades ago that the problems of the black community were the absence of fathers, not racism. But this speech was used by his opponents, and even his current deputy, to take revenge on him, turning it into a “taboo” that is forbidden to talk about in recent years, and only racists dare to say it.
That’s why he seemed broken and humiliated, despite the soundness of his argument every time this topic was raised. He apologizes for what is morally and mentally right so that he is allowed to stay in office. For all these reasons, uprooting him is not easy. He will remain in his seat and use all his cards and skills until the last minute!

For Syrians and Anyone Else… Everything But Education
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 10/2024
Every country has the right to set laws for everyone residing on its territory, including refugees. Even European countries have complained about this matter. However, can our region address the refugee question in isolation of reality or the bigger regional picture? I doubt it!
Why this introduction? Let me explain. Mr. Samir Geagea recently addressed the Lebanese Minister of Education in a post on X: "Your excellency, by the academic year of 2024-2025, the law must be reinstated in schools, all its schools and at every level.”
He then goes on to add: “In other words, just as every student applying for admission to a public or private school must submit their identification papers, I ask you to issue a circular to all schools, informing them that they must not accept any foreign students, Syrian or otherwise, who do not have a valid residency issued by the General Security Directorate. This is the only valid legal residence document in the eyes of the law, and the Ministry of Education must be at the forefront of ensuring compliance with the law."
As I mentioned earlier, every country has the right to regulate the status of residents on its territory in principle. However, our region, particularly Lebanon, is different, and it requires a divergent approach. I don't have to remind you that Hezbollah is responsible for the displacement of millions of Syrians. Lebanon must bear the consequences.
This is not a question of political debate but a more profound and dangerous issue. I believe Samir Geagea is not oblivious to this fact. This is a question of fear for the future. Every official and intellectual must account for this, and stand against anything that could deepen the crisis in the region.
The deterioration and inaccessibility of education are among the most severe crises the region must contend with. This is a dangerous problem that has been engendered by the political, economic, and ideological problems in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Gaza, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia. Each of these countries has its own, more complicated story. Indeed, with the onset of crises and wars in these countries, the wheels of education were brought to a halt, meaning that in just four years, we will be faced with millions of ten-year-old children who have never had a real education!
This means that an entire generation, millions of future adults, are at risk of being denied entry into the workforce and falling into the abyss of backwardness, extremism, and organized crime, smuggling drugs to human trafficking, and worse. Is this what we want?
No one can tolerate chaos, and I am not advocating for it. However, it is time to solve our crises in creative ways that ensure they do not aggravate or persist. We will not fix anything by running away from the problem, only by finding effective solutions.
After the Taliban came to power following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, girls were banned from continuing their education. At the time I wrote here arguing that remote education must be provided to them because we cannot allow them to become ignorant mothers who raise another generation plagued by extremism and terrorism. And now, I demand and urge others to propose solutions. An educational fund must be established. Arab states and the international community must provide the money needed to ensure that children can receive an education, especially in war-torn areas. This can be achieved through remote learning or other means, ensuring that children are taught curricula of life, not lies and slogans.
Let us argue about everything but education... We are dealing with enough problems already.

A Perpetual State of War... Not One War
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 10/2024
Despite the importance of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and southern Lebanon, and of that happening sooner rather than later, not many have argued that such a development would open the door to a conclusive peace. The fact is that the fighters themselves, in all of the conflict’s many fronts, do not see a ceasefire as anything more than a brief pause on a long and winding journey. Even if we set aside their grand retrograde objectives, as they have been articulated by the various fighters themselves, a ceasefire cannot absorb or eliminate the direct ramifications of this war. The complications around Gaza's future and the nature of "the day after," or Benjamin Netanyahu's redundant highhanded vows to "totally annihilate" Hamas, are nothing but miniature representations of the destructive potentialities that could await us. That much can be said before we even get into the speculation about Israel’s war on Lebanon expanding once its war in Gaza winds down. As we know, Israel can itself expect intense clashes between its prime minister and his many opponents, including the army’s top brass. It is widely believed, though this is not inevitably how things will play out, that these clashes will be fought in the political arena. However, a political resolution immediately becomes less likely whenever the two sides of a clash are the military establishment, which is backed by secular groups, and religious forces. For its part, Hamas- and this is no longer a secret- might find itself confronted with an array of internal difficulties, be it quarrels between its leaders in Gaza and those who are abroad, increased tensions with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah, or most consequently, strains in the relationship between its fighters and the people of Gaza, whom the Israelis have subjected to a criminal genocidal campaign due to the October 7 operation, which could at best be called idiotic.
However, doesn't this assessment apply to the entire region that has participated and continues to participate in the fighting? Regardless of how the conflict between Israel and Hamas develops, there is almost no chance of a political process resolving the conflicts and potential conflicts of the Arab countries concerned. Naturally, the survival of the Houthi movement in Yemen, which was born of the country’s civil war and consolidated its authority through that war, and has received lavish support from Iran because of it, hinges on the persistence of violence and tension. Since the Gaza war broke out, the scope of the Houthis’ military operations has stretched beyond Yemen, with its function expanding to encompass maritime routes and global trade. Thus, if peace were to come to Yemen as a result of an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire or anything else, it is valid to speculate that the Houthis would be harmed by losing this role. As for Syria, despite not being directly involved in the war, the territory it gifted to the militias that are taking part in the fighting has become part of a landscape divided among numerous occupying forces. Syria is also home to many areas that have "special status," from Sweida in the south to Idlib in the north, as well as Hasakah and its surroundings in the northeast. Genuine peace in Syria, regardless of the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire, would certainly bring down the ecosystem that had arisen around the ongoing civil war as it is embodied by the Assad regime.
While it is true that we do not find forces ready to fight Hezbollah or the Popular Mobilization Forces in Lebanon and Iraq, politics hardly plays any role in diluting the bellicose antagonism that defines inter-communal relations in either country. We are looking at two countries where the majority of the population- irrespective of the war in Gaza, and this had been the case even before it began- believe that these armed militias, which depend on support from Iran, are locking the country in a perpetual civil and sectarian war. In fact, the Gaza war itself presents these militias with a compelling pretext to ramp up their wars against their own people and societies, and to consolidate their control. A quick overview of Hezbollah’s statements is enough to confirm that it promises the Lebanese society nothing but perpetual war and subjugation.
Moreover, Iran itself would not be comforted by stability if it is not a partner in creating it. And it is inherently unlikely for Iran to become a partner in ensuring stability or to be invited to join such a partnership, even after a figure labeled a moderate reformist was chosen for the presidency, which yields little influence. This highlights a dimension of the conflict that is often overlooked in explanations of the Gaza war: the profoundly belligerent nature of the warring forces and their collective need for war. Everything Gaza has undergone and continues to undergo does not represent a rupture with a way of life. This war may, on the other hand, represent the culmination of this way of life. Thus, this is not a question of a major war that minor wars must be silenced for, so that the demands of the "principle contradiction" can be addressed. Along these same lines, ending the war does not galvanize the forces of peace, liberation, and stability that war had marginalized, as is typically said of wars and their capacity for disrupting "normal life." The lords of "minor wars" require the "major war" to the same extent that lords of the "major war" require the "minor wars." These two types of war, if we accept the assumption that they are two distinct types, are both required by a region whose forces insist on turning it into a barren wasteland.

Nationalism for Me And Not For Thee
By Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez*/MEMRI Daily Brief No. 621/July 10/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/131609/
It is usually a good sign when a nation's leader praises a legislator for her devotion to the interests of the nation. But in this case, the country's leader was former Somali prime minister Ali Hassan Khaire, and the legislator he praised was Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Khaire couldn't have been clearer: "Ilhan's interests aren't those of Minnesota or the American people but those of Somalia." He then called on Somali-Americans to support the Minneapolis incumbent in the 2024 Democratic primary. While Republican activists have launched an ethics complaint about the incident, an Omar spokesman pushed back at the "far-right" complaint, noting that Omar had had no role in arranging or soliciting the visit of the Somali politician.[1]
The word "nationalism," especially with the qualifier "Christian nationalism," has become one of the trigger words of the Western leftist commentariat. There it exists with other threatening adjectives such as "far-right" and "populist." If not condemned outright, nationalism is contrasted in our age, of course, with patriotism. The supposed difference being that the latter is supposedly less toxic – a patriot loves his country – while a nationalist loves his country to the detriment of other countries. Yet it is the older word, "patriotism" that Dr. Johnson described as "the last refuge of a scoundrel."[2] Johnson's biographer clarified that "he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak of self-interest."
Just as the two words are sometimes contrasted, and at other times used interchangeably, so it seems that there are two types of nationalism in our age – the type that is considered alarming and the type that finds indifference and even acceptance in the West. The "bad" kind seems to be the love of country of the nations of the West, as individual states or as a wider collective, as in Western Civilization or Western Culture. This is the civilization that long flourished in Europe and its direct offspring (North and South America, Australia) worldwide, that draws on the ancient heritage of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome.
Reading the mainstream media, you would think that the danger is from those who are too much in favor of America or specific European countries. And some of those who raise the alarm about Christian Nationalism seem to be actually talking about any Christian presence in the public square that differs from elite liberal opinion.[3] The "good" kind of nationalism seems to be that which comes from non-Western countries, often bitterly opposed to the West, and transmitted through the rapid growth of diaspora immigrant, often Muslim, populations in the West. The West is awash in nationalism today, but the one that is coddled and treated with a collective shrug is the nationalism of the "anti-West."[4]
Not all nationalisms seem to be created equal. In Europe today, citizens or residents with ties to resolutely chauvinistic states in Turkey, Algeria, Pakistan, and Egypt can be seen to be proudly waving their national symbols at not only sporting events but political ones. Sometimes the two are combined. In early July 2024, Turkish soccer fans not only waved the Turkish flag and made the nationalist Grey Wolf sign at a game in Berlin, they also chanted against (mostly Syrian Arab Muslim) asylum seekers in... Turkey.[5] Leftist political rallies during the most recent French electoral period in June and July of 2024 were awash in foreign flags from Muslim states with a scattering of communist banners; the Tricolour of the French Republic was nowhere to be seen.
But over most of the past year, one nationalism has reigned supreme on the streets of the West, from Los Angeles to Berlin. Its symbols are the Palestinian flag and the Arab keffiyeh headscarf, both symbols of Arab and Palestinian nationalism par excellence. The same symbols which once meant revolution and war in the streets of Amman and Beirut in the 1970s now have a wider appeal. Palestinian nationalism, what one writer has dubbed "the Global Empire of Palestine," is having its moment.[6] Activists in New York City and Philadelphia, carrying the Palestinian banner and with faces hidden by the keffiyeh or a KN95 mask, even burned the American flag on Independence Day. They were "flooding Manhattan," recalling the Hamas terror operation of October 7, the "Al-Aqsa Flood."[7] Wherever they are, pro-Palestine protests are awash in violent antisemitic rhetoric, often coupled with anti-host country (anti-U.S., anti-France, etc.) and anti-police narratives. The rallies have even featured activists for North Korea.[8] And the violence is not limited to words, but often spills over into deeds.[9] Palestine is only one constituent part of that promised Revolution.[10]
If manifestations of Palestinian nationalism are prominent, its rival in Jewish or Israeli nationalism, also known as Zionism, is under unprecedented assault in the West. The irony is rich. In the U.S., pro-Israel demonstrations often feature both the Israeli and American flags. The pro-Palestinian rallies only have American flags in order to burn them. In Britain, the ancient Cross of Saint George is derided as a provocative nationalist symbol regarded with suspicion, while an American flag created by Washington in 1775 receives similar opprobrium.[11] Flags from Hamas or Hezbollah get a pass.
Today it seems that actually everyone is a type of nationalist or ideologue – just not the usual suspect with a Western flag or a Christian or Jewish religious symbol. The fifth column nationalism and religious chauvinism of the anti-West, inside the West, has become routinized and protected. The questions for the rest of us are: Will we stand up for ourselves and our own symbols? And: Do we even know who "we" are?
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.

Biden-Trump: What Are the Differences?
Rami Rayess/This is Beirut/July 10/2024
Whether US President Joe Biden continues his presidential race towards the White House or not – due to the political and public pressures following a presidential debate in which he did not perform well – it is clear that unprecedented turning points have emerged in the presidential battle. Although President Biden addressed many topics in the debate and focused on what he achieved during his first term, what stuck in the viewers’ minds were his repeated stumbles and complete lack of focus in his speech, along with his weak voice and inability to find the necessary words and phrases to express his political stance. All this has put the US Democratic Party in an unprecedented predicament, as changing the “horse” a few months before the presidential race is a risky adventure. Besides, it would set a precedent by excluding a sitting US president from seeking a second term at the peak of his electoral campaign.
The bigger problem is that the Democratic Party faces a fierce competitor from the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump. He differs in approach, style and political ethics from the overall American political establishment, which is based on certain constants and foundations rarely breached from outside its ranks. Yet, Trump succeeded in doing so, although this does not necessarily mean it is a good or a bad thing. Some say there are certain “constants” in US politics that any sitting president goes by, regardless of their affiliation. These “constants” include foreign relations and general strategies towards the world, and even in several domestic policies and hot issues related to social security, healthcare, job opportunities, the role of major corporations in the economy and other topics.
But it is clear that Trump “tampered” with all those constants. Indeed, he adopted non-traditional approaches in many vital foreign policy issues, such as meeting with North Korean President Kim Jong Un and crossing the “red line” by going into North Korean territory, an unprecedented move. The fact that Trump built “acceptable” relations outside traditional frameworks with both Moscow and Beijing is unprecedented. He boasted about the relationships in question, while simultaneously keeping the commercial competition with China alive in many areas where the two countries compete for global economic leadership. Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and his unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Tehran caused significant confusion among his European allies, who he often viewed disdainfully. He considered that Europe owes its security and stability to Washington. Evidently, Biden turned back the clock on most of those issues and restored warmth to US-European relations.
The world will not be the same if Trump returns to the White House, whether regarding Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, or relations with Russia, China, India and Europe. Tension will also reignite US-Iran relations, given Trump’s determination to completely exclude diplomacy from this issue.
The world is closely watching the developments of the US presidential campaign. Firstly, due to the return of a former president whose proposals and projects spark controversy. Secondly, because the opposing candidate is suffering from health and mental decline, reflected daily in unintended slips of the tongue that cast doubt on his mental and physical abilities to hold the most important leadership position in the world.
All in all, America is America. Some consider it the home of the free, while others view it as the leader of imperialism.