Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 20-21/2024
Katz threatens the party: All-out war has become very imminent and the way to prevent it is to put pressure on Iran
Lebanon state media says civilians injured in Israeli strike
Hezbollah ammunition depot hit by Israeli strikes, causing massive explosions: Reuters sources confirm
Israeli airstrike hits southern Lebanon's Aadloun - El Zahrani, successive explosions
Al-Qassam Brigades Target Shomera from South Lebanon
Berri rules out Israeli war, urges '7 to 10 days' of dialogue
Drone strike targets empty SUV in Burj Al-Muluk, injures several Syrians
Israeli warplanes strike Houla, South Lebanon; ambulances rush to scene
AFP photographer, Lebanon's Christina Assi, to carry Olympic Flame in honor of fallen journalists
Hezbollah's Naval Capabilities: A Strategic Overview from the July 2006 War to Present
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry highlights advisory opinion of ICJ: Affirms necessity of establishing independent Palestinian state
Dialogue Advocates Decline Opposition Meeting
Geagea Refuses to Consecrate the “Dialogue Table” Tradition

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 20-21/2024
Israeli warplanes pound Houthi-held Hodeidah
Al Hudaydah burns as Israel prepares for Houthi retaliation
Saudi Arabia says no involvement with strikes targetting Hodeidah
Israeli military: No security incident in city of Eilat
Biden's ability to win back skeptical Democrats is tested at a perilous moment for his campaign
Trump campaign releases letter on his injury, treatment after last week's assassination attempt
Israel kills dozens as it steps up Gaza bombardment
Blinken says Gaza hostages release, ceasefire deal near 'goal line'
Netanyahu's Stance on Hostage Deal Sparks Tensions and Protests in Israel
13 Palestinians killed in central Gaza strikes as cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas grind on
UN approves more transparent procedures for people and entities to get off its sanctions lists
French police clash with water demonstrators after port blockade

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 20-21/2024
European Union Is Funding Iranian Aggression/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/July 20, 2024
Humankind must take responsibility for the planet’s critical situation/Ranvir S. Nayar/Arab News/July 20, 2024
The world does not need to be fixed by a 20-year-old/Arnab Neil Sengupta/Arab News/July 20, 2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 20-21/2024
Katz threatens the party: All-out war has become very imminent and the way to prevent it is to put pressure on Iran
Agencies"/July 20/2024
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed that Israel will not accept calm in exchange for calm, doubting the possibility of convincing Hezbollah to withdraw its forces. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he considered that the ceasefire in Gaza and the hostage agreement would not prevent war with Hezbollah in the north. Katz said: “We do not want war because we do not want anything in Lebanon, but if it breaks out, it will not be like in Gaza.” But he pointed out that Hezbollah’s withdrawal of its forces will happen either through an Israeli military response or if Iran orders it to withdraw. He added: “80% of Our air power is not being used, and if Iran does not pull Hezbollah from the brink of the abyss, we will use it,” he said, warning that all-out war has become very imminent and the way to prevent it is to put pressure on Iran.

Lebanon state media says civilians injured in Israeli strike
AFP/July 20, 2024
BEIRUT: An Israeli air strike in Lebanon about 30 kilometers from the border injured civilians on Saturday, Lebanese state media said, after Hezbollah and its Palestinian ally Hamas fired rockets and explosive-laden drones at Israeli positions.Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli enemy launched a raid on the town of Adloun” in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said, adding that “a number of civilians have been injured” and traffic on the highway interrupted in both directions. Videos circulating online showed several big explosions in the coastal town. “Shrapnel from the explosions flew to surrounding villages,” the NNA said. Earlier Saturday, NNA said Syrian nationals, including children, had been injured after an “enemy drone targeted an empty four-wheel drive” near their tent, close to the border. Doctor Mouenes Kalakesh, who heads the Marjayoun government hospital, said a woman and her three children, two of them minors, had been admitted for shrapnel injuries after the strike outside Burj Al-Muluk.
Among them was an 11-year-old boy in critical condition after he sustained shrapnel injuries and a head wound, Kalakesh told AFP. Hezbollah said it launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” on Dafna, an area in Israel’s north that the group said it was targeting for the first time, “in response to the attack on civilians.” Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said they also fired a rocket salvo from south Lebanon toward an Israeli military position in the Upper Galilee “in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”Later on Saturday, the Iran-backed Hezbollah said it also had launched “explosive-laden drones” targeting “artillery and missile positions” and Israeli troops at a site in the Golan Heights as well as Iron Dome platforms. Before the drone attack, the Israeli army said a total of 45 “projectiles” had been fired from Lebanon Saturday afternoon, toward the occupied Golan Heights and the Galilee, reporting no casualties. The army said it struck “the launcher in southern Lebanon from which the projectiles were launched toward the Golan Heights,” also targeting “an additional Hezbollah launcher.”Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had warned that his Iran-backed group would hit new targets in Israel if more civilians were killed in Israeli strikes. Israeli strikes on Thursday killed at least five people in Lebanon, including the commander of a Hamas-allied group, a security source and militant groups said. The violence since October has killed at least 515 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally.
Most of the dead have been fighters, but they have included at least 104 civilians. On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

Hezbollah ammunition depot hit by Israeli strikes, causing massive explosions: Reuters sources confirm
Reuters/July 20, 2024
Israeli strikes late on Saturday targeted a depot storing ammunition belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, three security sources told Reuters. The strikes on the town of Adloun, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Lebanon's border with Israel, set off a string of loud explosions heard by witnesses across the south of Lebanon. At least four civilians in Adloun were wounded in the strikes, a medical source and a security source told Reuters.

Israeli airstrike hits southern Lebanon's Aadloun - El Zahrani, successive explosions
LBCI/July 20, 2024
On Saturday evening, an Israeli airstrike targeted the area of Aadloun - El Zahrani, south of Sidon, in Lebanon's southern region.Additionally, reports suggest that successive explosions were heard throughout the area. Following the strike, the Sidon-Tyre Highway was completely closed to traffic, and the traffic was diverted into villages and towns in the area.Additionally, Israeli aircraft conducted flights over the Tyre district and the coastal area. Meanwhile, the National News Agency reported that an airstrike targeted the outskirts of Chehabiyeh and Mjadel in the Tyre district.

Al-Qassam Brigades Target Shomera from South Lebanon
This Is Beirut/July 20, 2024
Saturday was marked by an attack by the Al-Qassam brigades on Shomera, in the Upper Galilee, carried out from Lebanese territory. In a statement published on Saturday, the armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for firing a salvo of rockets at the command of the 300 brigade command post.
In addition, an Israeli raid targeted a building in the Abu al-Assouad – Adloun region, causing a fire and explosions, the intensity of which suggested that it was a missile and weapons depot. The Lebanese Army forces blocked the roads leading to Adloun.
In the afternoon, an Israeli drone targeted an empty vehicle on the outskirts of Bourj el-Moulouk (Marjayoun district), in the Khiam valley, on the road leading to Khiam-Wazzani. Several Syrians were slightly injured by missile shrapnel, including children in a nearby tent. Phosphorus shells were also fired at forest areas in Markaba and Houla, causing fires. This firing continued in Houla throughout the afternoon. Israeli bombardment intensified in the early evening, hitting the outskirts of Tallouseh, Deir Syriane, Kfarhamam, Chihine, Oum el-Tout and Aitaroun. In the morning, an Israeli raid targeted two homes in Houla, causing no injuries, while missiles were intercepted in the skies over Mays al-Jabal, triggering explosions. For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had bombarded the Dafna settlement for the first time with dozens of Katyusha rockets for the first time, in retaliation for the attack on civilians in Bourj el-Moulouk. It also claimed responsibility for an attack on a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Manara site, as well as a salvo of 30 rockets fired towards the Galilee panhandle and the northern Golan Heights, and a missile strike on the Zebdine site. For its part, the Israeli army announced that it had targeted Hezbollah military buildings in Houla, and that it had intercepted a suspicious aerial object in the Lebanese sky.

Berri rules out Israeli war, urges '7 to 10 days' of dialogue
Naharnet/July 20, 2024
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has ruled out a broad Israeli war on Lebanon while stressing the need to “stop the genocidal war that Israel is waging on the Palestinian people.”In an interview with the Milan-based Avvenire newspaper, which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, Berri added that “Lebanon does not need new agreements to restore calm and stability in the (southern) border area,” noting that “there is a resolution issued by the U.N. Security Council carrying the number 1701 and Lebanon is committed to all its stipulations.”“The international community must press Israel to halt its violation of the terms of this resolution,” the Speaker said. As for the presidential vacuum crisis, Berri said: “Give me 10 days of dialogue among all parliamentary blocs and take a finalization of this juncture.” “Dialogue among the blocs would be aimed at reaching an agreement on one, two, three or four candidates within seven to 10 days, in order to go to parliament’s hall and finalize the election with a parliamentary, constitutional and national quorum,” the Speaker added.

Drone strike targets empty SUV in Burj Al-Muluk, injures several Syrians
LBCI/July 20, 2024
According to the state-run National News Agency, a drone targeted an empty SUV on the outskirts of Burj Al-Muluk in Nabatieh, near the Housh intersection. The attack on Saturday resulted in several Syrians, including children, being injured by the rocket shrapnel while they were near a tent they were living in.

Israeli warplanes strike Houla, South Lebanon; ambulances rush to scene
LBCI/July 20, 2024
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike on the village of Houla, in southern Lebanon, on Saturday. Meanwhile, ambulances have headed to the targeted location, the state-run National News Agency confirmed.

AFP photographer, Lebanon's Christina Assi, to carry Olympic Flame in honor of fallen journalists
LBCI/July 20, 2024
Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer, Lebanese Christina Assi, will carry the Olympic Flame on Sunday, July 21, in Vincennes, France, in order "to pay tribute to those who have fallen," while doing their job as journalists, a press release confirmed. Christina Assi, 29, was harshly injured in South Lebanon after being hit by a tank shell on October 13, 2023, while documenting clashes between the Israeli army and armed groups in the southern region. According to a thorough investigation conducted by AFP, the shell fired by an Israeli tank killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and also injured six other journalists, including Christina, who had her right leg amputated. Her colleague, Dylan Collins, who will also be by her side on Sunday, was injured that day. "When AFP was asked to carry the Olympic Flame, we thought of Christina, whose courage and tenacity are admired by everyone at the Agency," Pierre Galy, AFP's Head of Sport, expressed. "Having her carry this symbol of peace sends a powerful message for her and all journalists affected in the line of duty," Galy added. "Carrying the Olympic Flame is an emotional experience, particularly after surviving a targeted attack while I was on assignment," declared Christina Assi."By bearing this torch, we honor the sacrifice of those who have fallen and draw attention to the urgent need to protect those who continue to report despite the mental and physical toll," the Lebanese photographer continued. In turn, videographer Dylan Collins, who was injured in July 2023 in a drone attack in Ukraine, remarked: "It is an honor to carry the Olympic Flame alongside my colleague Christina Assi, nearly a year after we were targeted by the Israeli army at the Lebanese border. It’s a miracle that we are still alive." "We are carrying the Flame to pay tribute to all the friends and colleagues we have lost this past year, to all the journalists killed or wounded while simply doing their job," the American journalist noted.

Hezbollah's Naval Capabilities: A Strategic Overview from the July 2006 War to Present
LBCI/July 20, 2024
During the July 2006 war, Hezbollah destroyed a warship off the Lebanese coast. That moment marked a turning point in the development of Hezbollah's naval capabilities, which began testing in 1987.Over the years, Hezbollah has developed this capability, which was expressed by Hezbollah's Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, since 2010 when he said that all military, civilian, and commercial ships are within the range of the resistance's missiles if Israel launches a war on Lebanon. According to insiders, Hezbollah is building its naval capabilities based on the threat posed by the Israeli naval forces. Israel possesses various generations and types of warships and submarines that carry out offensive and combat operations. Nasrallah speaks of surprises, but the development of his naval capabilities was revealed by Israeli media and the Alma Center for Israeli research. According to the Israeli newspaper Calcalist, Israeli officials confirm that the party possesses hundreds of anti-ship missiles with a range of up to 300 km and capable of carrying explosives weighing 300 kg. In addition, it has naval commando forces with small, fast boats that gather information, and unmanned submarines. Hezbollah usually does not confirm or deny such information, while political researcher Wasim Bazi told LBCI that the party's naval capabilities allow it to close all Israeli ports on the Mediterranean and reach the Red Sea.Thus, between Israel and Hezbollah, there is a war in which naval capabilities are balanced in terms of disruption, destruction, and imposing blockades. The decisive factor remains in intelligence work, the element of surprise, and Israel's technological capabilities.

Lebanon's Foreign Ministry highlights advisory opinion of ICJ: Affirms necessity of establishing independent Palestinian state
LBCI/July 20, 2024
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants highlighted the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on the 19th of this month regarding the legal consequences of Israel's settlement policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that "this advisory opinion confirms the illegality of Israel's settlement policies and its occupation of Palestinian territories, supports the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, and underscores the necessity of establishing an independent, sovereign, and viable Palestinian state."The Ministry called on the international community and concerned countries to "take advantage of this legal basis to pressure Israel to end its aggressions, violations, and displacement policies, compel it to immediately cease all settlement activities, evacuate all settlers, and end the occupation of Palestinian territories.''It added, ''This should pave the way for launching a serious political process towards the two-state solution, based on relevant international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative launched at the 2002 Beirut Summit."

Dialogue Advocates Decline Opposition Meeting
Bassam Abou Zeid/This Is Beirut/July 20/2024
Opposition circles were puzzled by Hezbollah and Amal Movement MPs postponing the scheduled Friday meeting with opposition MPs to discuss ideas for completing the presidential election, without providing reasons for the delay.An opposition MP said: “How can Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah call for dialogue on the presidential election while refusing to consult with the opposition on this very issue? This reveals that they want a dialogue solely to ensure their preferred outcome—installing Sleiman Frangieh, the leader of the Marada Movement, as president”.Opposition sources are seeking clarification from Hezbollah and Amal Movement on whether a new meeting date can be set, after the originally scheduled Friday meeting was undermined. They questioned the reason for the postponement, wondering if it is related to the opposition’s long-established political limits, which should not justify a boycott if a genuine solution is truly sought. The opposition has not hesitated to engage in consultation with the resistance forces regardless of their stances, so why the refusal from the Shiite duo?Opposition sources emphasized that their parliamentary delegation, or some members of it, has met with most political forces, including Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab in a low-profile meeting and the Tashnag Party. They are also planning further meetings with figures such as MP Jamil al-Sayyed and MP Jihad al-Samad, highlighting their openness to engaging with all political forces, including those aligned with Hezbollah.Opposition sources believe that any consultations with the Shiite duo (Amal/Hezbollah) will unlikely yield different results than the current status quo. They view it as impossible to break through the proposals of this tandem, which remains firmly committed to a conditional dialogue led by Speaker Nabih Berri. This approach will not lead to the election of a president unless it is Sleiman Frangieh. The opposition’s aim in engaging with Hezbollah and its allies is to further demonstrate that they are only interested in electing a president according to their own agenda and timing.

Geagea Refuses to Consecrate the “Dialogue Table” Tradition
This Is Beirut/July 20, 2024
Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea reaffirmed in a statement that “the simplest, safest and most constitutional way to elect a President of the Republic was and remains the immediate and definitive convening of an open session with consecutive sessions”. This came in light of his criticism of Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, whom he accuses of obstructing the constitutional process leading to the election of a President of the Republic by “inventing new norms”, notably that of promoting dialogue. Geagea referred to the example of the elections held in the French National Assembly: consecutive sessions led to the election of a President of the Assembly, “despite the fact that the French Parliament is today in a state of fragmentation that far exceeds that of the Lebanese Parliament”, according to the LF leader.He also rejected, once again, Berri’s attempt to establish a tradition of a “dialogue table” prior to the election of a President of the Republic. He stressed that the meeting held in Doha had been organized “to deal with a military and security crisis caused by Hezbollah following its invasion of the capital Beirut, and not to resolve the issue of presidential elections”, adding that “this dialogue table did not lead to the election of the President of the Republic, but rather it was the parallel bilateral and trilateral consultations that made this possible”. Geagea criticized the ongoing “constitutional deviations” and insisted on the need “for President Berri and his Al Moumanaa bloc to respect the Constitution and stop obstructing and inventing new norms”. He affirmed that the Lebanese Forces (LF) do not reject anyone’s candidacy, but categorically refuse to disrupt the constitutional process to impose any particular candidate. In conclusion, he said, “President Berri, save yourself and the Lebanese time and trouble, especially in these difficult and fateful circumstances, and call for a serious presidential election session with consecutive sessions that end only with the election of a new president.”

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 20-21/2024
Israeli warplanes pound Houthi-held Hodeidah
SAEED AL-BATATI/Arab News/July 20, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: Israeli warplanes struck the Houthi-held western Yemeni city of Hodeidah on Saturday, apparently in retaliation for the Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv earlier this week.Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israeli planes hit a power plant and a gasoline storage facility, killing and injuring several people. Images circulating on social media showed a massive ball of fire and thick fog billowing from the targets.Mohammed Abdul Sallam, the Houthi chief negotiator based in Muscat, said the airstrikes targeted “civilian” facilities to “pressure them to stop supporting Gaza,” vowing to continue attacks on ships and Israel itself until Israel ends its war in the enclave. “We emphasize that this brutal aggression will only strengthen the determination and steadfastness of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces in their support for Gaza,” he said in a post on X. Other Houthi officials vowed to retaliate. “We will respond more violently and harshly to this Zionist-American orgy,” Abdul Sallam Jahaf, a member of the Houthi Shura Council. On Friday, the Houthis launched an explosive-laden drone into a Tel Aviv residential area, killing one person and injuring at least 10. Critics of the militia argue the Houthis will use the bombings to legitimize their rule and crush dissidents in regions under their control. “An Israeli airstrike is precisely what the #Houthis have long sought to legitimize their power consolidation. This event offers a pretext for increased repression of the population & violence in #Yemen and beyond. The Houthis excel at inviting conflict to sustain their authority,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. said on X.

Al Hudaydah burns as Israel prepares for Houthi retaliation
Itamar Eichner, Yoav Zitun, Lior Ben /Yenet/July 20/2024
Arab news outlets reported late Saturday that the Israeli attack in Houthi-controlled Al Hudaydah has effectively rendered the significant seaport non-operational, causing dozens of injuries and casualties. Israeli authorities clarified the targeted port serves as a "significant economic source for Houthi terrorism," due to the goods and weaponry passing through it, as well as the energy infrastructure that was also targeted.Lebanese network Al Mayadeen claimed that the number of injured stands at least 80, some of whom are suffering from severe burns caused by the fire that broke out after the massive explosions. The IDF confirmed this evening that this is the furthest target ever attacked by the Israeli Air Force, 1,800 kilometers away from the country. The Al Hudaydah port isn’t only used for terrorist activities but also for the delivery of civilian goods, including humanitarian aid to Yemen and the famine-stricken Houthi-controlled areas. In practice, however, the Houthis also use it for terrorist purposes, and the city itself serves as a major supply line for Iranian weapons arriving in the country. The strike also hit a power plant and oil facilities, causing widespread panic in Sana'a and Al Hudaydah, reflected in massive queues at gas stations after the attack. Official Houthi spokespersons said that the Israeli attack would answered for and that they "won’t stop supporting the Gaza Strip." srael doesn’t underestimate the Houthi threats, and officials said they’re calculating a possible response from Yemen and are therefore preparing to deliver a "stronger blow" to the Houthis in such an event. Meanwhile, air defense systems have been reinforced, and the Transportation Ministry held an unusual situation assessment meeting led by Transportation Minister Miri Regev and senior officials from the railway, ports and aviation sectors in preparation for a possible Houthi attack against civilian infrastructure.Israel is also preparing for a battle on the diplomatic front. Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed Israeli ambassadors worldwide to "demand increased sanctions on Iran, designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization, and divert international aid from Al Hudaydah port to Aden port."He also asked ambassadors to support the U.S., UK, and France's request to convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council on July 22, alongside the pre-scheduled session on July 23. The ambassadors were also instructed to demand condemnation of Houthi activities, alongside support for Israel's right to defend itself. Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes at Al Hudaydah port, saying, "The Yemeni people are paying the price for their courageous support of Palestinian women and children." They also warned of further escalation in the Middle East, saying that "Israel and its supporters, including the U.S., bear responsibility for the dangerous consequences of this attack."

Saudi Arabia says no involvement with strikes targetting Hodeidah
ARAB NEWS/July 21, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday said it had nothing to do with the Israeli air strikes on Yemen's city of Hodeidah and that it will not allow anyone to use the Kingdom's airspace for offensive purposes.“The Kingdom has no relation or involvement in the targeting of Hodeidah, and the Kingdom will not allow any entity to violate its airspace,” Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Defense, said in a statement on the X social media app.Israeli warplanes struck the Houthi-held western Yemeni city on Saturday in an apparent reprisal for the Houthi drone strike on a Tel Aviv apartment building before dawn Friday, killing one civilian.Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the airstrike was meant to send a message to the Houthis that their attacks would not be left unanswered. The Iran-backed Houthi militia, which controls a large part of Yemen, had been attacking commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea and the Bab-Al-Mandab straight in a sympathy action for the Palestinians in Gaza amid Israeli attacks. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that the Israeli strikes hit a power plant and a gasoline storage facility, killing three and wounding 87 people. Unfazed by the swift Israeli response, Houthi officials threatened to continue attacking ships doing commerce with Israel and on Israel itself. “We emphasize that this brutal aggression will only strengthen the determination and steadfastness of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces in their support for Gaza,” Mohammed Abdul Sallam, the Houthi chief negotiator based in Muscat, posted on X. Houthi Shura Council member Abdul Sallam Jahaf said: “We will respond more violently and harshly to this Zionist-American orgy.”

Israeli military: No security incident in city of Eilat
REUTERS/July 21, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said on Saturday there was no indication of a security incident in the Red Sea port city of Eilat after reports of explosions were heard there.
“A short while ago, reports were received regarding explosions heard in the area of Eilat. It was found that no projectiles were fired toward the area of the city and no interceptor was launched. There is no indication of a security incident,” the military said.

Biden's ability to win back skeptical Democrats is tested at a perilous moment for his campaign
Lisa Mascaro And Zeke Miller/WASHINGTON (AP)/July 20, 2024
Despite a week of campaign stops, interviews and insistence that he is the best candidate to confront Republican Donald Trump, President Joe Biden hasn't softened the push for him to exit the 2024 race. Biden has weighty options before him this weekend that could set the direction of the country and his party as the nation heads toward the November election with an energized GOP after the Republican nominating convention to send Trump back to the White House. Rep. Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, on Saturday, added his name to the list of nearly three dozen Democrats in Congress who say it's time for Biden to leave the race. The Californian called on Biden to “pass the torch,” to Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris, meanwhile, earned backing from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who told MSNBC on Saturday that the vice president is “ready to step up” to unite the party and take on Trump should Biden decide to bow out. Warren said knowing that “gives me a lot of hope right now.”More lawmakers are expected to speak out in the days ahead. Donors have raised concerns. And an organization calling on Biden to “Pass the Torch” planned a rally Saturday outside the White House. Biden has insisted that he's all in. “There is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November,” said Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the Democrats urging Biden's exit from the race. “But the stakes of this election are too high and we can’t risk the focus of the campaign being anything other than Donald Trump.”The standoff has become increasingly untenable for the party and its leaders, a month from the Democratic National Convention that should be a unifying moment to nominate their incumbent president to confront Trump. Instead, the party is at a crossroads unseen in generations. It's creating a stark juxtaposition with Republicans who, after years of bitter and chaotic infighting over Trump, have essentially embraced the former president's far-right takeover of the GOP, despite his criminal conviction in a hush money case and pending federal criminal indictment for trying to overturn the 2020 election before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
From his beach home in Delaware, Biden, 81, is isolating after announcing a COVID infection, but also politically with a small circle of family and close advisers. White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said Saturday that the president's symptoms were improving, but that he was still plagued by a dry cough and hoarseness. The president's team insisted he’s ready to return to the campaign this coming week to counter what he called a “dark vision” laid out by Trump. “Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”
But outside the Rehoboth enclave, the debate and passions are intensifying.
A donor call with some 300 people Friday was described as a waste of time by one participant, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation. While the person was complimentary of Harris, who spoke for five minutes, the rest of the time was filled by others who brushed aside donor concerns, according to the participant. Not only are Democrats split over what Biden should do, but they also lack consensus about how to choose a successor. Democrats who are agitating for Biden to leave do not appear to have coalesced around a plan for what would happen next, for now. Very few of the lawmakers have mentioned Harris in their statements, and some have said they favor an open nominating process that would throw the party’s endorsement behind a new candidate. Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Peter Welch of Vermont have both called for Biden to exit the race and said they would favor an open nominating process at the convention. “Having it be open would strengthen whoever is the ultimate nominee,” Welch said in an interview with The Associated Press. Some House Democrats agreed on an open nominating process. A person familiar with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi's thinking said that while she is a friend and admirer of the vice president, she believes that anybody who wants to be president is better served by such a process, believing that whomever emerges as the candidate at the convention would be strengthened to win the election. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to characterize Pelosi's thought process. Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a Pelosi ally who on Friday called on Biden to step aside, said Friday on MSNBC that some kind of “mini-primary” that would include Harris makes sense. Other Democrats say it would be politically unthinkable to move past Harris, the nation's first female vice president, who is Black and Southeast Asian, and logistically unworkable with a virtual nominating vote being planned for early next month, before the Democratic convention opens in Chicago on Aug. 19. Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, who has called on Biden to step aside, explicitly endorsed Harris as a replacement. “To give Democrats a strong, viable path to winning the White House, I am calling upon President Biden to release his delegates and empower Vice-President Harris to step forward to become the Democratic nominee for President,” McCollum said in her statement. It's unclear what else, if anything, the president could do to reverse course and win back lawmakers and Democratic voters, who are wary of his ability to defeat Trump and serve another term after his halting debate performance last month. Biden, who sent a defiant letter to Democrats in Congress vowing to stay in the race, has yet to visit Capitol Hill to shore up support, an absence noticed by senators and representatives. The president did conduct a round of virtual conversations with various caucuses in the past week — some of which ended poorly. During a call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, one Democrat, Rep. Mike Levin of California, told Biden he should step aside. During another with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Biden became defensive when Rep. Jared Huffman of California asked him to consider meeting with top party leaders about the path forward. Huffman was one of four Democratic lawmakers who called Friday for Biden to step aside. At the same time, Biden still has strong backers. He picked up support Friday from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' campaign arm, and has backing from leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Trump campaign releases letter on his injury, treatment after last week's assassination attempt
Jill Colvin/NEW YORK (AP)/July 20, 2024
Donald Trump's campaign released an update on the former president's health Saturday, one week after he survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.The memo, from Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump's White House physician, offers new details on the nature of the GOP nominee's injuries and the treatment he received in the immediate aftermath of the attack. According to Jackson, Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered riffle that came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear.”The bullet track, he said, “produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear.”While the swelling has since resolved and the wound “is beginning to granulate and heal properly,” he said Trump is still experiencing intermittent bleeding, requiring the dressing that was on display at last week's Republican National Convention. At Saturday's rally, the white gauze on Trump's ear was replaced by a skin-colored bandage.“Given the broad and blunt nature of the wound itself, no sutures were required,” Jackson wrote.Trump was initially treated by medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital. According to Jackson, doctors “provided a thorough evaluation for additional injuries that included a CT of his head.”Trump, he said, “will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician, as directed by the doctors that initially evaluated him," he wrote. “In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon," he added. The letter is the first official update about the former president's condition since the night of the shooting. Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter, said in the letter that, as Trump's former doctor, he was deeply concerned about the former president's wellbeing in the aftermath of the attack and met him in Bedminster, New Jersey, late Saturday after Trump returned from Pennsylvania “to personally check on him, and offer my assistance in any way possible.”He said he has been with Trump since that time, evaluating and treating his wound daily. That includes traveling with him Saturday to Michigan, where the former president will hold his first rally since the shooting, joined by his newly named running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Jackson appears to be licensed to practice medicine in Florida, according to a state health department database. Records from the American Board of Emergency Medicine also show that Jackson has a certification in Emergency Medicine, valid through the end of 2025. A spokesperson for the congressman did not immediately provide a response and Trump campaign's did not immediately respond to questions.Last year, Trump's campaign released a letter on President Joe Biden's 81st birthday from Dr. Bruce A. Aronwald, a New Jersey physician, who said he had been the former president's doctor since 2021.

Israel kills dozens as it steps up Gaza bombardment
Nidal al-Mughrabi/CAIRO (Reuters)/July 20, 2024
Israeli forces pounded several areas across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 30 Palestinians, according to health officials, as tanks advanced deeper into western and northern Rafah. Among those killed on Saturday were local journalist Mohammad Abu Jasser, his wife, and two children, in an Israeli strike on their house in the northern Gaza Strip, a medic said. Gaza's Hamas-run government media office said Abu Jasser's death raised to 161 the number of Palestinian media personnel killed by Israeli fire since Oct 7. Israeli military strikes across Gaza killed 37 Palestinians in the past 24 hours and destroyed several houses. In Al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, an air strike on a multi-floor building, wounded several people, including two local journalists, rescue workers said. In Rafah, where Israel said it aimed to dismantle the last battalions of Hamas' armed wing, residents said tanks advanced deeper into northern areas of the city and took control of a hilltop in the west, amid fierce gun battles with Hamas-led fighters. The army said troops continued operations in Rafah, eliminating many gunmen over the past day in the area of Tel Al-Sultan on the western side of the city. In Central Gaza, the military said it conducted raids on militants' infrastructure. The military also said it hit a structure used by Palestinian militants in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, saying gunmen were operating from a humanitarian area, and accused Gaza militants of exploiting civilian structure and population for military purposes, an allegation Hamas and other groups reject as false to justify such attacks. A ceasefire effort led by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States has so far failed due to disputes between the combatants, who blame each other for the impasse. Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its fighters killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage in an Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies. At least 38,919 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities say. On Tuesday, Israel said it had eliminated half the leadership of Hamas' military wing and killed or captured about 14,000 fighters since the start of the war. Israel says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.Hamas does not release casualty figures and said Israel exaggerates its reports to give the impression of a "fake victory".

Blinken says Gaza hostages release, ceasefire deal near 'goal line'
Agence France Presse/July 20, 2024
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of remaining hostages by Hamas is near the "goal line.""I believe we're inside the 10 yard line and driving toward the goal line" on an "agreement that would produce a ceasefire, get the hostages home, and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability," Blinken said at a forum in Colorado.

Netanyahu's Stance on Hostage Deal Sparks Tensions and Protests in Israel
LBCI/July 20, 2024
Efforts in Israel to formulate a revised proposal for the hostages exchange deal failed before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's departure to Washington on Sunday evening, following his refusal to make changes to some of the deal's clauses. Netanyahu's firm stance faces not only increased demands for the immediate approval of the deal but also the unification of all security agencies under this demand due to public pressure that led these agencies to backtrack on their previous objections related to security arrangements. The mediators had asked the Israeli delegation to secure the officials' approval of the revised proposal after it was formulated in the latest negotiating sessions in Cairo, and they confirmed that negotiations would not resume without this approval. The amendments that Netanyahu rejects are related to his insistence on the army's control over the Philadelphi Route and his refusal to amend the proposal according to a new mechanism for Philadelphi and Rafah. Netanyahu also refuses to amend the clause concerning the return of Gazans to the northern part of the Strip and the cessation of an inspection mechanism not involving the army, insisting on his country's right to veto Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences who are included in the deal. Netanyahu's rejection is related to his fear of his government collapsing after ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich threatened to withdraw from it. Meanwhile, Israelis are using the last hours until Sunday evening to pressure Netanyahu, with Saturday witnessing a new escalation in protests accompanied by an attempt to dismantle the government. On the ground, the army is intensifying its fighting in several areas of the Gaza Strip while the military institution seeks to secure three interests in the negotiations until the complete withdrawal of the army from the Strip.
These interests include maintaining field intelligence control and the ability to gather information about the presence of Hamas leaders and fighters, ensuring intelligence superiority to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities, and guaranteeing current and future coordination with Egypt to prevent the smuggling of weapons and raw materials for weapon production, as well as preventing the exit and entry of Gazans who train abroad, particularly in Iran, as claimed by the Israeli army.

13 Palestinians killed in central Gaza strikes as cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas grind on
Wafaa Shurafa And Jack Jeffery/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) /July 20, 2024
At least 13 people were killed in three Israeli airstrikes that hit refugee camps in central Gaza overnight into Saturday, according to Palestinians health officials, as cease-fire talks in Cairo appear to make progress.
Among the dead in Nuseirat Refugee Camp and Bureij Refugee Camp were three children and one woman, according to Palestinian ambulance teams that transported the bodies to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. The 13 corpses were counted by AP journalists at the hospital. The latest casualties follow a rare moment of hope in war ravaged Gaza, after a medical teams recovered a live baby from a heavily pregnant Palestinian mother killed in an airstrike that hit her home in Nuseirat late Thursday evening. Heavily pregnant Ola al-Kurd, 25, was killed along with six others in the blast, but was quickly rushed by emergency workers to Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza in the hope of saving the unborn child. Hours later, doctors told The Associated Press that a baby boy had been delivered. The still-unnamed newborn is stable but has suffered from a shortage of oxygen and has been placed in an incubator, said Dr. Khalil Dajran. The baby boy's father was wounded in the same strike, but survived. The war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has created a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal Palestinian territory, displaced most of its 2.3 million population and triggered widespread hunger. Hamas’ October attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and militants took about 250 hostage. About 120 remain in captivity, with about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.The Israel-Hamas war has left thousands of women and children dead, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip. In April, a premature Palestinian baby was rescued from her dead mother's womb but died days later.
In Cairo, international mediators, including the United States, are continuing to push Israel and Hamas toward a phased deal that would halt the fighting and free about 120 hostages in Gaza. On Friday, the U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel that will release Israeli hostages captive by the group in Gaza are “inside the 10-yard line,” but added "we know that anything in the last 10 yards are the hardest.”Fruitless stop-and-start negotiations between the warring sides have been underway since November’s one-week cease-fire, with both Hamas and Israel repeatdly accusing each other of scuppering the effort as it approaches a deal.

UN approves more transparent procedures for people and entities to get off its sanctions lists
Edith M. Lederer/UNITED NATIONS (AP)/July 20, 2024
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved more transparent procedures Friday for the hundreds of individuals, companies and other entities who are subject to U.N. sanctions and want to get off the blacklists.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Malta and the United States, also authorizes the establishment of a new informal working group by the Security Council to examine ways to improve the effectiveness of U.N. sanctions. Malta’s U.N. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier told the council before the vote that the resolution is a “clear signal of this council’s commitment towards due process.” It authorizes a new “focal point” to directly engage with those seeking to get off sanctions lists and gather information from a variety of sources to share with the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions, which makes the decisions on delisting, she said. And it requires the reason for the committee’s decision to be given to the petitioner.After the vote, U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood called the council’s unanimous approval “a historic moment,” saying delisting procedures haven't changed for 18 years.“The international community is demonstrating its commitment to values such as transparency and fairness in U.N. sanctions processes,” he said. “Security Council sanctions are an important tool to deter an array of threats to peace and security, ranging from the proliferation of arms and weapons of mass destruction, to countering terrorism and preventing human rights abuses,” Wood said. But he stressed that to be effective, sanctions must be targeted and there must be “robust and fair procedures for delisting when warranted.” The United States is against indefinite and punitive sanctions, and supports delisting and easing sanctions when warranted, Wood said. “But we are concerned by a growing tendency to prematurely lift sanctions, when the threats that prompted their imposition in the first place still persist.”He didn’t give any examples but the U.S. and its allies including South Korea and Japan have vehemently opposed Russian and Chinese proposals to ease sanctions on North Korea, which violates U.N. sanctions regularly with its ballistic missile tests and nuclear developments. Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow proceeds from the premise that Security Council sanctions “are one of the most stringent and robust responses to threats to peace. Therefore, they should be applied in an exceedingly cautious way.”“They need to be irreproachable, be substantiated, and they need to be nuanced,” he said. “The use of such sanctions as a punitive tool is unacceptable.” Polyansky stressed that sanctions need to reflect the real situation in a country and “help facilitate a political process.”But he said the Security Council doesn’t always follow this approach, and blamed the West for increasingly encouraging the use of sanctions in recent years.

French police clash with water demonstrators after port blockade
AFP/July 21, 2024
LA ROCHELLE, France: Protesters clashed with police in France’s western port of La Rochelle Saturday, as conservationists and small farmers mobilized against massive irrigation reservoirs under construction. Local government officials had banned demonstrations in the city, which is a popular tourist site in summer. A 2,000-strong march, one of two through the city, was charged by police at around 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT).Running battles erupted around barricades and burning rubbish bins as some protesters threw projectiles and police fired tear gas grenades. “We were in the demo, they started blocking ahead and behind,” said Lilia, a 25-year-old who declined to give her full name. “They isolated us off to one side to charge everyone else.” Police said around 500 participants in the march were so-called “black bloc” far-left radicals.
Prosecutors in La Rochelle said four members of the police and five demonstrators received medical care for minor injuries. Several shops were damaged or looted, along with bus shelters and advertising hoardings. A building site was ransacked for cinder blocks and wood to construct barricades.
Police arrested seven people, mostly for trespassing. The second, more peaceful march, made up of around 3,000 people family groups, moved from the city center toward the commercial port. Many wore costume disguises.Some used kayaks or inflatable boats to approach the La Pallice agricultural export terminal, singled out by organizers as the target for the demonstrations. The two marches joined up mid-afternoon along the waterfront before turning back and dispersing calmly.Police had used tear gas earlier Saturday to clear around 200 people who entered the terminal at dawn, including farmers with old tractors.
That confrontation broke up mostly peacefully. The protests in the city on France’s Atlantic coast were intended to show that new “reservoirs aren’t being built to grow food locally, but to feed international markets,” said Julien Le Guet, a spokesman for the “Reservoirs, No Thanks” movement. Activists say the reservoirs, set to be filled from aquifers in winter to provide summer irrigation, benefit only large farmers at the expense of smaller operations and the environment. Several dozen are under construction in western France, their supporters arguing that without them farms risk vanishing as they suffer through repeated droughts. Last year, clashes between thousands of demonstrators and police in Sainte-Soline, around 90 kilometers (56 miles) inland from La Rochelle, left two protesters in a coma and injured 30 officers. Further scuffles broke out Saturday as demonstrators returned to La Rochelle’s center from the agricultural port, some launching fireworks at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. “Cease fire, there are children in the march,” Le Guet shouted. “Don’t make the same mistake as at Sainte-Soline.” Fears of clashes had been high all week. More than 3,000 police deployed around a “Water Village” protest camp in Melle, a few kilometers from Sainte-Soline, as authorities warned of a risk of “great violence.”The prefecture banned the demonstrations in popular summer tourist destination La Rochelle, but organizers went ahead with them.On Saturday, “our aim wasn’t to clash with law enforcement, it’s often law enforcement who aim to clash with us,” said Juliette Riviere, an SLT member. Prosecutors said that six people had been taken into custody by mid-afternoon Saturday.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 20-21/2024
European Union Is Funding Iranian Aggression
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/July 20, 2024
The continued funding of Iran's regime by the EU is crucial in bolstering Iran's ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis -- and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program. The regime's actions appear part of a broader strategy aimed at ultimately annihilating not only Israel but also oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. While the EU loves to portray itself as a front-runner in human rights, often lecturing the world about those values and global security, its actions -- all mercenary, all the time -- tell a very different story. The continued funding of Iran's regime by the European Union is crucial in bolstering Iran's ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis -- and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program. The Iranian regime, largely thanks to the backing of a powerful ally, the European Union, has managed to sustain and even increase its revenue streams. The continued funding of Iran's regime by the EU is crucial in bolstering Iran's ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis -- and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program. Support from the EU has enabled Iran to continue its regional and international militaristic endeavors without the looming threat of financial insolvency.
The EU continues to engage, shamelessly it seems, in business transactions with Iran, which simply uses the revenues to further its expansionist ambitions, such as launching an aggressive war against Israel and firing on US troops in the region more than 170 times just since October, close off maritime shipping in the area, and bring its nuclear weapons program to near completion. The regime's actions appear part of a broader strategy aimed at ultimately annihilating not only Israel but also oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This ongoing relationship raises serious ethical and political questions about the EU's stance on global security and its commitment to standing against a regime that threaten peace and stability in the region.
Iran's regime, since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has also extended significant support to Russia, both diplomatically and militarily. Iran has also consistently voted against United Nations resolutions condemning Russia's actions, and has actively contributed to the Russian military effort by supplying weapons, including advanced attack drones such as the Shahed 131 and Shahed 136. Iran's unwavering support for Russia underscores its broader geopolitical strategy and its alignment with other authoritarian nations that desire to disrupt the existing international order.
Some countries within the EU have actually increased their trade with Iran. There has been a substantial growth of imports from Iran by several EU member states. Iran's state-controlled outlet Mehr News even boasted regarding January's trade figures:
"Greece's imports from Iran tripled and reached €2.3 million. Dutch imports from Iran have also almost doubled, from €3.5 million in January 2023 to €6.8 million in January this year. Romania's imports from Iran also increased by 47 percent to €3.4 million, and Italy's imports by two percent to €12.2 million."
Iran's top trading partner in Europe continues to be Germany, followed closely by Italy and the Netherlands as the second and third-biggest European trade partners of the Iranian regime.
To maintain its trade relations with Iran, the EU has apparently thought nothing of offering condolences for the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, a mass murderer, known as the "Butcher of Tehran." He was a key figure on the "Death Committee" in Iran, responsible for the execution of tens of thousands of people, including pregnant women and children. This gesture by the EU, ostensibly to avoid disrupting its trade with Iran, once again underscores a willingness to overlook human rights violations for economic gains.
By continuing to do business with Iran, European countries knowingly fuel Russia's attacks on Ukraine, and even potentially on themselves, as Russia extends its aggressive ambitions across the continent.
Europe's trade relationships with Iran also provide the regime with the financial means to further its hostile actions against its neighbors, arm its proxies, further the regime's legitimacy on the international stage; intensify its repression of domestic dissent, and complete its nuclear weapons.
Instead of engaging in business with a country ruled by a predatory and rogue regime, the EU would do itself and everyone else an existential favor: instead of financing Iran's regime and its military, to curb Iran's destabilizing activities. The EU should immediately halt all trade with Iran, designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, and sever diplomatic ties with Iran. While the EU loves to portray itself as a front-runner in human rights, often lecturing the world about those values and global security, its actions -- all mercenary, all the time -- tell a very different story.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 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.

Humankind must take responsibility for the planet’s critical situation
Ranvir S. Nayar/Arab News/July 20, 2024
Spread over an area of about 170,000 sq. km, the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland, stretches across Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay and has a rich biodiversity. It is home to one of the world’s biggest populations of jaguars and it has many vulnerable and endangered species, including giant river otters, giant armadillos and hyacinth macaws.
More than 7,600 sq. km of the Brazilian Pantanal has already burned in 2024, as fires have surged to their highest levels since 2020, the worst year on record, The Guardian reported last week. From January to July, blazes increased by 1,500 percent compared with the same period last year.
While, mercifully, there have been few human casualties, unfortunately the same cannot be said of other forms of life. As the region is home to hundreds of millions of animals of thousands of species, the fires have killed a vast number of animals, especially smaller ones.
Many experts believe that the current year could be one of the most devastating in living memory. In 2020, 30 percent of the area caught fire and more than 17 million vertebrates were killed. The number of other species lost is impossible to calculate, but their losses will be felt in the ecosystem for decades to come.Many of the fires are started by humans, as 90 percent of the Pantanal is privately owned and ranchers start fires to clear the area for their cattle. But due to climate change, the land has become dry and much of the water in the wetlands has evaporated, meaning the fires become uncontrollable.
Unfortunately, the Pantanal is not the only region where animals are bearing the brunt of fires and neither are the increasing number of severe fires the only impact of human activity, whether direct or indirect, on forests and animals.
Floods are an equally big threat and are increasing in frequency and intensity with each passing year, impacting almost every part of the world. Floods also lead to thousands of animals perishing and many of these are from endangered or highly vulnerable species. Moreover, floods can lead to the large-scale destruction of vegetation and, in the dry season, this dead vegetation becomes fodder to feed the fires, thus creating a vicious circle.
The world operates in a perfectly calibrated manner and each living being has a very useful role in preserving the natural balance.
Various other parts of the world face the same fate, as climate change and rising human activity in ecologically fragile areas lead to the large-scale destruction of biodiversity and killing thousands, if not millions, of animals each year.
The increasing frequency and spread of catastrophic events has brought about a change in perception. While for some of us this has become an issue of major concern, for others, including much of the media, so frequent and so widespread are these extreme events that there has been a degree of “normalization” of them and the severe threat they pose. But they do pose a threat to the survival of not just plants or animals, but life on the planet as a whole, with only those directly involved in these incidents perceiving the devastation that extreme weather is causing and where that will lead.
On the ground, the situation and its impact on animals continues to worsen. According to one study, almost 92 percent of terrestrial mammal communities in the Caatinga, another region in Brazil, located in the northeast of the country, will lose species by 2060 and 87 percent will lose habitat if the temperature in the region increases by 2 degrees Celsius.
Even though, for most of us, these declining populations will remain a distant, almost invisible phenomenon, it would be a monumental error to believe that their impact will not be felt everywhere sooner rather than later.
The world operates in a perfectly calibrated manner and each living being, whether plant, animal or even bacteria, has a very useful role in preserving the natural balance, which of late has become extremely tenuous and fragile, mainly due to human greed and the wanton destruction of the planet.
If the loss of forests and the living beings within them — alongside other ecosystems, notably marine — continues unabated for even a few more years, it is bound to set off a cataclysmic series of events that will have a severe impact on humanity.
Moreover, the mindless destruction that leads to reductions in the populations of various animals or even their extinction has a catastrophic impact on human health, such as through the emergence of new diseases or much more potent forms of existing illnesses.
Other equally harmful impacts on our well-being are far too many to mention here. The onus of doing something to prevent such a catastrophic scenario from becoming a reality falls on humans. Unless we wake up to the critical situation in which the world finds itself today and take responsibility, the fires and floods will continue to take their toll and, in the not-too-distant future, they will kill many more humans, directly or indirectly, than what we have witnessed so far.
**Ranvir S. Nayar is the managing editor of Media India Group and founder-director of the Europe India Foundation for Excellence.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

The world does not need to be fixed by a 20-year-old
Arnab Neil Sengupta/Arab News/July 20, 2024
People who have lived in both the internet and pre-internet eras may have a slightly better appreciation of the World Wide Web than the generations who have grown up glued to screens since infancy, but what neither can complain of is a lack of access to information. Unfortunately, as the late futurist John Naisbitt observed: “We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.”
This question arises because of the apparent absence of a clear ideological motive behind a young American man’s failed attempt to kill Donald Trump. If history is any guide, investigators will explain the assassination attempt away as the actions of a loner or an emotionally disturbed man. But for all we know, it was the handiwork of an impressionable mind unhinged by overconsumption of conflicting and depressing domestic political narratives circulating in cyberspace.
Young Americans such as Thomas Matthew Crooks are constantly goaded by political leaders (not least Trump himself), professors, preachers, partisan journalists and social media influencers to subscribe to a particular ideology or school of thought. Instead, ideally, they should be told that the world is not black and white but rather many shades of gray, and that they should see nuances instead of absolutes. But such advice falls on the deaf ears of young men such as Crooks, for whom the desire to spill blood and achieve notoriety becomes irresistible because, to quote the American journalist Elle Reeve, they are convinced that “the present reality is corrupt and dying.”
The odd thing is that this male affinity for sour, disappointed misanthropy is growing at a time when breakthroughs in science and engineering, information technology, astronomy, medicine, psychology and archaeology are pushing the limits of knowledge and human understanding, empowering women and girls, increasing life expectancy and boosting prosperity. Far from being the worst of times, ours are in fact the best of times: the age of wisdom, the season of light and the spring of hope all rolled into one.
The present age is in fact the best of times: the age of wisdom, the season of light and the spring of hope all rolled into one
A skyscraper that took up to five years to build a decade ago now materializes in industrially advanced countries in the space of just one year. People with a specific vision flaw once had to wear special bifocal lenses to enable them to see objects both near and far away, but multifocal progressive lenses now allow distance vision and reading at the same time.
LASIK surgery can free people who can afford it from dependence on eyewear altogether. Many treatments that once could not be done without painful invasive surgery now belong in medical history’s dustbin. Scientific progress and the convergence of technologies are leading to advances in space exploration, while advances in space exploration are resulting in the development of new technologies and applications.
From 1900 to 1950, households in America benefited from many of the biggest technological advances of any generation in history. The inventions of that era — radios, refrigerators, washing machines, irons, electric power, indoor toilets and air conditioning — are now taken for granted even by citizens of low-income countries.
Meanwhile, a mere tap on a smartphone screen is all that is needed to view images of stars, planets and galaxies billions of light-years away, transmitted to Earth by distant space telescopes. For all the talk of a Second Cold War and the return of history, the World Economic Forum says the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in common with previous industrial revolutions, has the potential to improve the quality of life for populations across the globe, ensuring economic growth and structural transformation.
All things considered, there is incontestable evidence that the present age is the most memorable since the discovery of fire or the invention of the wheel. Of course, not everything is perfect and many intractable problems will be left behind for future generations to tackle. But that has been the story of mankind down the ages. The idea that the past was a better time, when all thinkers were like Socrates and all leaders were like Alexander the Great, is nothing but a comforting delusion.
Put simply, a dysfunctional and fractious political landscape can coexist with a strong economy, rapid technological progress and rising consumer materialism. There is no need for anyone, certainly not a 20-year-old, to kill or be killed trying to fix the world.
• Arnab Neil Sengupta is a senior editor at Arab News. X: @arnabnsg