Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 23-24/2024
Saint Charbel Makhlouf's priesthood ordination anniversary
Hezbollah in revenge mission following fatal drone attack
Israeli Warplanes Break Sound Barrier over Beirut
Israeli Drone Targets Pickup Truck Near Chaqra
Hezbollah attacks Israeli bases after 'assassination' in Shaqra
South Lebanon: Hezb Fighter Killed
Report: Israel, Hezbollah tell mediators they're ready for talks
Lebanon's rating unaffected by Fitch's decision, confirms Acting BDL Governor to LBCI
Fitch Ratings confirms Lebanon's 'Restricted Default' status and withdraws ratings
Lebanon slams Israeli decision to classify UNRWA as terrorist organization
Lebanon's FM Bou Habib meets UN envoy, discusses UNIFIL mandate renewal and Resolution 1701
Lebanese Forces leader Geagea discusses Resolution 1701 with UN envoy
Kataeb slams Hezbollah for 'storing weapons near houses'
Report: Berri proposes package deal over presidency, PM, govt.
Raad: Israeli state weak, internally decaying
Marada Movement leader pays tribute to late Frangieh: My country is always right
FPM fails to convince PSP and Moderation bloc to unify presidential efforts
Iraqi President receives Minister Mawlawi at Baghdad palace
Why Hezbollah Views a Second Airport as Provocative
Lebanon is 'not tank country' and an Israeli armored assault there exposes it to Hezbollah's firepower

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 23-24/2024
Israeli Tanks Advance Deeper in Southern Gaza as More Ceasefire Talks Expected
At the request of Bibi': Trump and Netanyahu to meet Friday in Florida
Israel's Netanyahu Says Deal Could Be Near for Hostages in Gaza
150,000 have fled Gaza's Khan Younis since Monday, UN says
'Hamas on its knees, in need of lifeline': Analyst explains Palestinian unity agreement
Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian factions agree to end divisions, form unity gov't after China talks
Houthis vow retaliation after Israeli strikes on Hodeidah
UN envoy to Yemen warns of a ‘devastating’ regional escalation, but points to glimmer of hope
Kamala Harris Has a Hit New Presidential Anthem, Thanks to Beyoncé's Blessing
Secret Service director steps down after assassination attempt against ex-President Trump at rally
Biden to Meet with Families of US Hostages held in Gaza, US Official Says
Harris attacks Trump at energetic 1st presidential rally in Milwaukee
Trump may regret choosing JD Vance as his running mate, political scientists say
Egypt's Sisi Checks on Trump after Assassination Attempt
Assad praises Russia and Iran for support, highlights anti-western alliance and cooperation
Iraq Bans Kurdish PKK and Strengthens Its Cooperation with Türkiye

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 23-24/2024
After Hamas is gone, how will Israel deradicalize Palestinians in Gaza?/Megan Eckstein & Enia Krivine/The Jerusalem Post/July 23/ 2024
Hamas and Genocide in Israel/Dawid Bunikowski/Gatestone Institute./July 23, 2024
Sleeping Secret Service/Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute/July 23, 2024
The Houthis in Tel Aviv/Nadim Koteich'/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
Reaganite America… Is Struggling With the Post-Trumpian Era/Eyad Abu Shakra'/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
Is Yemen on the Brink of a Renewed Civil War?/Cian ward/This Is Beirut/July 23/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 23-24/2024
Saint Charbel Makhlouf's priesthood ordination anniversary
Saint Of The Day site/July 23/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/120181/
Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer. Then he followed his two hermit uncles in the hermitage of the St Antonious Kozhaya monastery and was converted to monastic and hermetical life.
In 1851, he left his family village and headed for the Our Lady of Maifouk monastery to spend his first monastic year, and then he went to the St Maron monastery in Annaya, where he entered the Maronite Order, carrying the name Charbel, a name of one of the Antioch church martyrs of the second century. On November 1st. 1853, he exposed his ceremonial vows in St Maron's monastery - Annaya. Then he completed his theological studies in the St Kobrianous and Justina monastery in Kfifan, Batroun. He was ordained a priest in Bkerky, the Maronite Patriarchate, on July 23rd, 1859. He lived 16 years in the St Maron's monastery - Annaya. From there, he entered, on February 15th, 1875, the St Peter & Paul hermitage, which belongs to the monastery. He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshipping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice. St Charbel lived in the hermitage for 23 years. On December 16th, 1898 he was struck with an illness while performing the holy mass. He died on Christmas' eve, December 24th, 1898, and was buried in the St Maron monastery cemetery in Annaya. Few months later, dazzling lights were seen around the grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces.
In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint's intercession. Prodigies reached beyond the Lebanese borders. This unique phenomenon caused a moral revolution, the return to faith and the reviving of the virtues of the soul.

Hezbollah in revenge mission following fatal drone attack
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/July 23, 2024
BEIRUT: A Lebanese man was killed and another injured on Tuesday while in a pickup truck used for selling candy and snacks in the southern villages of Lebanon. The fatality occurred when an Israeli military drone targeted the vehicle on the outskirts of Shaqra. The victim was identified as Sadek Atawi, a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israeli strikes also targeted the outskirts of Naqoura, Markab, Hula, Talusah, and Aita Al-Shaab with shells and incendiary bombs. Against the backdrop of the attack, alarm sirens sounded in several towns in Upper Galilee, with reports of rockets falling in that area and the region of Western Galilee. Israeli media outlets reported that “most of the alarm sirens sounded in settlements where residents were not evacuated.” Sirens were heard in the areas of Jabal Al-Jarmaq, Meron, Netua, Basuta, Shomera, Even Menachem, Kiryat Shmona, and Beit Hillel, along with neighboring towns. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said that “several drones originating from Lebanon detonated in the vicinity of Mount Meron, while rockets were detected in the areas of Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot.” Hezbollah said in a statement that it had conducted “an aerial attack using a squadron of drones on the Mount Neria base, in retaliation for the assassination carried out by the enemy in the town of Shaqra.”
Israeli fighter jets once again flew at low altitude over Beirut and its surrounding areas, including Khaldeh, Hadath, Aramoun, Damour, Jiyeh, and Iqlim Al-Kharroub, and traveled all the way to Keserwan and the Jezzine District, causing loud sonic booms as they broke the sound barrier. Hezbollah targeted on Monday night, for the first time, the Tsurial settlement in Western Galilee with dozens of Katyusha rockets. The group said that the strike was in retaliation for “the attack that targeted civilians in the town of Hanin,” resulting in injuries. Two Israelis were injured by missiles during the attack on the Tsurial settlement, according to reports in Israel. Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee, in a post on X, said: “The locations targeted by the Israeli army included a Hezbollah weapons depot and infrastructure in Aita Al-Shaab.”Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Education Yoav Kisch said on Tuesday that “the next school year will not start in the north due to security complications in this region.” According to Israeli media, Kisch has urged the prime minister and heads of the security apparatus to “act now and with force against the state of Lebanon. Deciding to carry out war with utmost force against Lebanon is inevitable to restore calm and stability for the residents of the north, and (for) the future of the state of Israel.”On the subject of the future of the conflict, Israel’s Alma Research and Education Center, which specializes in military affairs, has published a report warning of “the ability of Hezbollah’s Radwan force to invade the Galilee.”It added: “Despite months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, this force can execute plans to take over lands in Israel, just like Hamas did. “The Radwan force can operate independently, without constant instructions or external logistical assistance. “Division commanders are significantly independent when making quick tactical decisions on the ground, while the force is equipped with all the infantry and commando weapons currently available on the arms market.”

Israeli Warplanes Break Sound Barrier over Beirut
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut and other areas of Lebanon on Tuesday, Lebanese security sources and media reported, rattling nerves as the conflict between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel grinds on at the border. The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has been fought in parallel to the Gaza war for nine months. Though the hostilities have been largely contained to areas near the border, the conflict has raised fears of a wider war, said Reuters. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said hostile warplanes had broken the sound barrier at low altitude over Beirut and its suburbs and other parts of Lebanon. In Beirut, residents felt two booms. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is the worst since they fought  a full-scale war in 2006.

Israeli Drone Targets Pickup Truck Near Chaqra
This Is Beirut/July 23/2024 
An Israeli drone targeted a candy pickup truck on the outskirts of the town of Chaqra towards Wadi Al-Salouki. Ambulance teams quickly rushed to the scene, reporting one dead and one wounded. On Tuesday morning, Israeli warplanes intensified their operations, breaking the sound barrier at low altitudes over Beirut and its suburbs, including Khaldeh, Hadath, Aramoun, Damour, Jiyeh, up to Iqlim al-Kharoub, Keserwan and the Jezzine area. Throughout the night and into the early morning hours, the Israeli army fired flares over border villages adjacent to the Blue Line. Reconnaissance aircraft were observed flying over the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts, indicating heightened surveillance and military activity. Also, Israeli warplanes conducted a raid on the town of Aita al-Shaab, while the Israeli army opened heavy machine gun fire towards the Jabal al-Labouna and al-Alam mountains in the western sector. These actions followed the announcement by Hezbollah, on Monday evening, that it had included the settlement of Tsurial in its firing schedule, subsequently shelling it with dozens of Katyusha rockets. Israeli media reported that two Israelis were injured when rockets landed in Tsurial, northern Israel. The Israeli Walla website confirmed that rockets from Lebanon reached Tsurial, resulting in damage to a building caused by Hezbollah rockets. Additionally, an airstrike by Israeli warplanes targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot in the Aita al-Shaab area, causing significant destruction. Structures in Hula and Aita al-Shaab were also bombed.

Hezbollah attacks Israeli bases after 'assassination' in Shaqra
Naharnet/July 23/2024  
An Israeli drone targeted Tuesday a pickup vehicle in the southern town of Shaqra near the border, killing at least one person. Another person was injured in the strike, local media outlets said. Warplanes broke earlier on Tuesday the sound barrier over Beirut and several other regions including Khaldeh, al-Hadath, Aramoun, Damour, Jiyeh, Jezzine and Keserwan. Warplanes later raided the southern town of Tallousa in the Marjeyoun District and artillery shelled the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab. The Israeli army said that several drones exploded Tuesday over Meron and rockets hit Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot. Hezbollah said it has attacked a command center in Mount Meria near Meron with an array of suicide drones and another command center in the Ramim barracks with heavy artillery shells, in response to the "assassination" in Shaqra. The group later attacked the al-Marj post with a Burkan rocket, also in retaliation to the strike on Shaqra. Hezbollah also targeted Tuesday a command center in Beit Hellel with Falaq rockets, in response to the attacks on civilians in south Lebanon, "especially in Shihine."Hezbollah had carried out Monday seven attacks on Israeli positions and settlements, targeting al-Malkia with a suicide drone and the Tzuriel settlement in north Israel, for the first time since the war broke out, in response to an Israeli strike on a family in Hanine in south Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had vowed that the group would hit new targets in Israel when civilians are targeted in Lebanon. Israeli warplanes raided overnight the southern border town of Aita al-Shaab and flare bombs hit villages along the border. Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip. The violence since October has killed at least 518 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.

South Lebanon: Hezb Fighter Killed
This Is Beirut/July 23/2024 
Continuous fire exchange prevailed on the southern border on Tuesday. Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, Sadiq Atef Atwi. Atwi was killed earlier in the day in an Israeli drone attack on a delivery van passing in the locality of Shaqra, heading to Wadi Saluki. Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of Khiam, Hula and Aita al-Shaab, in addition to seven other localities in the district of Marjayoun. A fire broke out after intense phosphorous shelling on the Markaba forest. A house on the outskirts of Kfarchouba was hit by two shells and the shelling towards Kfar Hammam damaged the electricity network in one part of the town. Moreover, the Israeli army targeted olive groves in Blida with heavy machine gun rounds, causing a fire, as warplanes raided the village of Tallouseh. For its part, Hezbollah announced “targeting Kiryat Shmona with dozens of Katyusha missiles,” and “the headquarters of al-Sahel battalion in the Beit Hillel barracks with Falaq rockets.” The pro-Iranian group also launched an air attack with a squadron of drones on Mount Neria base, “a headquarters currently occupied by Golani Brigade forces.” The Hezb claimed “achieving direct hits and causing injuries.”In this context, the Israeli fire service affirmed that eight teams had been assigned to extinguish fires that broke out in the Galilee, caused by rockets and missiles launched from Lebanon.

Report: Israel, Hezbollah tell mediators they're ready for talks
Naharnet/July 23/2024 
Hezbollah has repeatedly said that it will stop its attacks if Israel halts its war with Hamas in Gaza. If that happens, both Israel and Hezbollah have “signaled to interlocutors that they would be prepared to begin negotiations for a formal truce,” three Western officials briefed on the sides’ positions and an Israeli official told the New York Times. “Those negotiations would focus on the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters from the southernmost areas of Lebanon and the deployment of more soldiers from Lebanon’s official military,” the officials said. “The talks would also focus on how to demarcate the westernmost parts of the border between the two countries,” the officials added. Even if those negotiations ultimately failed, the hope is that their initiation could provide the sides with “an excuse to maintain an informal cease-fire and give displaced residents the confidence to return home,” the officials said.
“Israel and Hezbollah’s openness to such negotiations reflects how, despite their retaliatory strikes and public rhetoric, both sides appear to be privately looking for an offramp that would allow them to de-escalate without losing face,” the NYT reported. An Arab official briefed on Iran’s position meanwhile told the newspaper that “to protect Hezbollah, Iran wants a cease-fire in Gaza because it thinks it could lead to a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.”

Lebanon's rating unaffected by Fitch's decision, confirms Acting BDL Governor to LBCI
LBCI/July 23/2024
After the credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, announced that it will stop issuing ratings for Lebanon due to insufficient data to issue assessments, acting Banque du Liban (BDL) governor, Wassim Mansouri, confirmed to LBCI that this issue will not affect the country's rating, which is already at its lowest level. He reassured that this matter is not related to the possibility of the country being placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) "grey list."He clarified that the issue stems from the lack of any statistics or data issued by the state since 2021, noting that such information is necessary to know and assess Lebanon's financial situation with transparency and accuracy. He also mentioned that this was one of the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during its last visit.

Fitch Ratings confirms Lebanon's 'Restricted Default' status and withdraws ratings
LBCI/July 23/2024
On Tuesday, the American credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, confirmed Lebanon's Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at "Restricted Default" (RD). In a release, Fitch affirmed that it "has subsequently withdrawn Lebanon's IDRs and Country Ceiling." Additionally, the credit rating agency stated that it is "withdrawing Lebanon's ratings," as the agency "no longer has sufficient information to maintain the ratings due to the unavailability of certain key data."Therefore, Fitch would stop providing ratings, or analytical coverage, for Lebanon. "These ratings are unsolicited and the issuer has no obligation to provide information," it added. In the release, Fitch Ratings assured that "Lebanon remains in default on its long-term foreign-currency government bonds, following the sovereign's failure to pay the principal on the Eurobond that matured on 9 March 2020." "The affirmation of the Local-Currency IDRs at 'RD' reflects that the government has not resumed interest payment on Banque Du Liban's (BDL) holdings of local-currency securities issued by the government. Local-currency debt to private creditors is still being serviced. Authorities have not requested a local-currency debt restructuring," it added. Meanwhile, the agency noted that Lebanon holds an ESG Relevance Score (RS) of "5" for Political Stability and Rights and for the Rule of Law, Institutional and Regulatory Quality, and Control of Corruption. "Lebanon has a low [World Bank Governance Indicators] WBGI ranking at 14.8, reflecting the absence of a recent track record of peaceful political transitions, relatively weak rights for participation in the political process, weak institutional capacity, uneven application of the rule of law and a high level of corruption," the release affirmed. Fitch Ratings also reported that the country "has an ESG Relevance Score of '5' for Creditor Rights as willingness to service and repay debt is relevant to the rating and is a key rating driver for Lebanon."

Lebanon slams Israeli decision to classify UNRWA as terrorist organization
LBCI/July 23/2024
Lebanon's Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the Israeli Knesset's decision to classify the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization. "This decision targets the role of the agency, which represents the political and legal embodiment of the international community's commitment to resolving the refugee issue and their right to return to their land," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. "This decision is a new step in the context of Israel's repeated and continuous attempts to undermine the work of the agency and its role in supporting refugees and preserving their right to return within a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, depriving Palestinians of any hope for a better life and future," it affirmed. The ministry emphasized the necessity of supporting the continuity of UNRWA's work to preserve its role as defined in its founding resolution. "This support is essential for the agency to continue providing necessary services, especially in health and education, to Palestinian refugees as required, pending their return to their homes and the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state, based on relevant UN resolutions," it concluded.

Lebanon's FM Bou Habib meets UN envoy, discusses UNIFIL mandate renewal and Resolution 1701
LBCI/July 23/2024
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, discussed with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, the developments in South Lebanon, the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate, and the implementation of Resolution 1701. This meeting took place ahead of her participation in the consultation session that the Security Council will hold in the coming days regarding the implementation of the resolution. Minister Bou Habib confirmed to Hennis-Plasschaert Lebanon's commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 1701, as well as the importance of prioritizing diplomatic and political solutions concerning the conflict in southern Lebanon and the region. Additionally, Bou Habib met with French Ambassador Hervé Magro to discuss "the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate and the outcomes of his meetings in New York with UN officials regarding the full implementation of Resolution 1701 (2006) and support for the Lebanese army."

Lebanese Forces leader Geagea discusses Resolution 1701 with UN envoy
LBCI/July 23/2024
The head of the "Lebanese Forces" party, Samir Geagea, met in Maarab with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. The meeting took place on the eve of Security Council consultations on the implementation of Resolution 1701 and the discussion of the UN Secretary-General's report on this matter. A statement from the "Lebanese Forces" party noted that during the meeting, Hennis-Plasschaert heard the party's position, which has been calling for the actual implementation of Resolution 1701 since the start of the Gaza war. The statement affirmed: "Hezbollah's opening of the southern front has led to more wars, tragedies, and destruction in the south and its people, without being able to spare Gaza from invasion, near-total destruction, and displacement." According to the statement, the discussion also covered presidential elections and the obstruction practiced by the Hezbollah-Amal Movement duo. "The solution lies in the Speaker of Parliament adhering to the constitutional process and calling for consecutive election sessions. The 'Lebanese Forces' have no objection to consultations between blocs between election rounds until a president is finally elected without violating the constitution," it added.

Kataeb slams Hezbollah for 'storing weapons near houses'
Naharnet/July 23/2024 
The Kataeb party criticized Hezbollah Tuesday for "storing weapons between houses". "Hiding weapons between houses does not support Gaza," al-Kataeb said in a statement, mentioning a strike on "an ammunition depot" in Adloun in south Lebanon. The Israeli military had struck late Saturday "Hezbollah weapons storage facilities" in Adloun. Rockets were still exploding about an hour after the strike was reported and the blasts "lightly injured three citizens" as shrapnel from the explosions flew to surrounding villages. These ammunition depots "open the door to Israeli attacks and turn the Lebanese into human shields", al-Kataeb said. The statement blamed the Lebanese government for failing to protect the Lebanese and urged for a parliamentary session to discuss the issue. Opposition MPs, including al-Kataeb MPs, had filed Monday a petition asking for a parliamentary session to discuss the ongoing clashes on the southern border. The petition demanded putting an end to all military actions carried out by Hezbollah in south Lebanon, declaring a state of emergency in the south, and deploying the Lebanese Army there to defend Lebanon against any Israeli attacks. It also urged for the full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. 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 violence since October has killed at least 516 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.

Report: Berri proposes package deal over presidency, PM, govt.
Naharnet/July 23/2024 
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has proposed a package deal involving both the presidency and the premiership, a media report said.“The deal would not only involve the next president, but also the premiership and the members of the new government,” al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Tuesday.“This reminds of the French formula that had called for electing Suleiman Franjieh as president in return for naming Nawaf Salam as premier,” the daily noted.

Raad: Israeli state weak, internally decaying
NNA/July 23/2024
Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, Mohammad Raad, on Tuesday stated that “Israel is now internally weakened and unable to sustain itself, even with the latest weaponry.”Speaking at a ceremony honoring martyr Ali Jaafar Maatouk in Sir al-Gharbiyeh, Raad emphasized, "The enemy's divisions and internal decay prevent it from planning effectively or maintaining its challenges."Raad added, "You, the people of the resistance, are the victors, and the martyrs are the foundations that pave the way for our great victory." He highlighted that despite Israel's aggressive tactics and use of weapons, its efforts will ultimately prove futile. "Our duty is to stand with the oppressed and confront the oppressors, fulfilling our mission with the assurance that victory, granted by God, is reserved for the truthful," Raad concluded.

Marada Movement leader pays tribute to late Frangieh: My country is always right
NNA /July 23/2024
Sleiman Frangieh Jr., leader of the Marada Movement, on Tuesday posted a tribute on "X" platform commemorating the anniversary of later President Sleiman Frangieh's passing. He wrote, "My country is always right. Remembering late President Sleiman Frangieh.

FPM fails to convince PSP and Moderation bloc to unify presidential efforts
Naharnet/July 23/2024
The Free Patriotic Movement’s leadership has so far failed to convince the Progressive Socialist Party and the National Moderation Bloc to “form a centrist force that would exert pressure in the presidential file,” a media report said. “FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil believes that unifying the initiatives and efforts of the three parties would change the current presidential situation,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has reported. An FPM parliamentary source meanwhile told the daily that the idea of forming such a parliamentary force was born “after all the initiatives that were circulated over the past months reached a certain point after which they failed to make any progress.”“The PSP and Moderation are open to bilateral and not trilateral meetings and so far they have not endorsed the idea of creating a pressing force or an alliance in the presidential file,” the source added.

Iraqi President receives Minister Mawlawi at Baghdad palace
NNA/July 23/2024 
President of the Iraqi Republic, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, on Tuesday received, at Baghdad Palace, Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, and his accompanying delegation. The meeting touched on the participation of friendly and brotherly countries in the "Second Baghdad International Conference on Drug Control,” as the Iraqi President stressed the importance of coordination and joint cooperation to confront th scourge of drugs that threatens the security and stability of countries, and the future of their children. The Iraqi President also pointed out “the deep historical ties that bind the two brotherly countries, stressing “Iraq’s support for Lebanon in various fields.” He also underlined "the need to unify efforts to confront the challenges surrounding the region and enhance cooperation and coordination between countries on issues of common interest, in a way that achieves their interests and aspirations in consolidating security, stability and peace."For his part, Minister Mawlawi stressed "the importance of electing a president of the republic who will lead the state-building process," pointing out "the necessity of implementing international resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, which contribute to achieving stability in the country."Mawlawi also thanked "Iraq's positions towards Lebanon and its continued support for it in all fields, and Baghdad's hosting of the Second International Conference on Drug Control," expressing "keenness to strengthen joint cooperation with Iraq in the security aspects, in a way that serves the interests of the two brotherly countries."

Why Hezbollah Views a Second Airport as Provocative
Johnny Kortbawi/This Is Beirut/July 23/2024
The discussion over establishing a second airport in Lebanon is consistently slammed as an act of treason. Similarly, any issue in Lebanon that conflicts with the ‘resistance’ axis and its ideas results in opponents being automatically branded as traitors. After lawyer Majd Harb’s press conference, where he proposed the idea of establishing a second airport without specifying any of the three suggested locations—Hamat (Batroun), Qlayaat, or Riyaq—parliamentary circles were split between strong supporters of the idea and opponents who presented no logical arguments or substantial reasoning. Given the current political situation, especially in light of the war against the south, it is crucial to reconsider the airport issue as it serves as a psychological barrier for Lebanese people. When preparing for an attack on Lebanon, Israel often targets Beirut Airport first, and this has become a major source of fear for both residents and expatriates, as their greatest concern is the threat to the airport above all else. The primary concern is that the airport’s location near the southern suburbs of Beirut brings it close to Hezbollah’s stronghold and arm storage facilities, as often accused by the Israeli. Additionally, and according to intermittent reports, Hezbollah uses the airport for military purposes and arms shipments. Regardless of the validity of these threats, simply discussing the issue makes the airport a potential target. This highlights the need to explore alternatives—not to replace Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport but to have a contingency plan in case something happens to it. The second issue is a security concern. The airport is located in an area where gunfire is common during celebrations and funerals. There have been incidents where aircraft were hit by stray bullets simply because they landed during events such as official exam results or funeral processions. Stray bullets in the airport’s vicinity pose a significant threat, even if officials refuse to acknowledge it. Additionally, the unregulated construction in the surrounding area that disregards international standards for building heights near airports, further endangers public aviation safety. The third issue is purely aesthetic. The airport’s current condition is unacceptable without attention, maintenance, or at least cleaning. Its appearance is disgusting and is a far cry from the standards of airports in developed countries. The smell of livestock from nearby slaughterhouses gives the impression of a farm rather than an airport. Additionally, religious and political imagery of Hezbollah figures at the airport’s exit delivers the impression that we are leaving for Tehran, not Beirut. On top of that, the airport was built to accommodate a certain capacity, which is now more than it can handle. This is the most important scientific argument for seeking alternative options. If all of the above doesn’t convince Hezbollah and its allies that a new airport is a must, it is impossible to know what will.

Lebanon is 'not tank country' and an Israeli armored assault there exposes it to Hezbollah's firepower
Paul Iddon/Business Insider/July 23, 2024
Israel now waging war on three battle fronts — Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Syria
Hezbollah took a heavy toll on Israeli armor the last time they fought on the ground in Lebanon.
Its fighters wield even more advanced anti-tank weapons and know how to exploit the hilly terrain.
If Israel decides to go to war with Hezbollah, it will likely have to send tanks into Lebanon.
In a recent warning to Israel, Hezbollah's leader said his Iran-backed militia group would destroy all of Israel's tanks if it launches a ground invasion in southern Lebanon to try to stop its barrage of northern Israel. That's not an empty threat.
Hezbollah took a heavy toll on Israeli armor the last time they fought on the ground in Lebanon and have since acquired a larger arsenal of more advanced anti-tank guided missiles. If your tanks come to southern Lebanon, you will not suffer a shortage of tanks, because you will have no tanks left," Hezbollah's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel on July 17.
Israel has a tank shortage from the nine-month Gaza war that may complicate preparations for a ground offensive into mountainous southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah fighters have readied to ambush them with mines and guided missiles as they pass through steep-sided valleys.
"Hezbollah has put considerable energy into developing a 'kill team' approach of using small, highly mobile groups of fighters that can deploy quickly to confront and attack Israeli armor in southern Lebanon," Nicholas Heras, senior director of strategy and innovation at the New Lines Institute, told Business Insider. "The hilly terrain in Hezbollah's home turf in southern Lebanon favors defenders and Hezbollah has developed innovative uses for the Kornet anti-tank missiles to strike at Israel's heavily armored Merkava tanks."
Hezbollah has engaged Israel in border skirmishes since the day after Hamas's 10/7 terror attacks that have forced thousands of civilians from their homes on both sides of the border, with growing fears these increasingly deadly clashes could ignite an all-out war. On Thursday, Hezbollah claimed its forces targeted an Israeli Merkava main battle tank near the Lebanese border in one of these exchanges of fire.
Hezbollah has improved its anti-tank capabilities since its 2006 war with Israel and is likely to use the favorable terrain to threaten even the most advanced Israeli tanks and armored vehicles. Towards the end of their 34-day war in 2006, the Israeli Army sent tanks into southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters armed with Russian-made 9M133 Kornet anti-tank missiles ambushed several. For example, of the 24 Israeli tanks deployed in the Battle of Wadi Saluki, also known as the Battle of Wadi Hujeir, Hezbollah anti-tank missiles hit 11.
"Out of the 400 tanks involved in the fighting in southern Lebanon, 48 were hit, 40 were damaged, and 20 penetrated. It is believed that five Merkavas were completely destroyed," noted a 2008 military analysis of that war.
"Clearly, Hezbollah has mastered the art of light infantry-ATGM [anti-tank guided missile] tactics against heavy mechanized forces," it added. "Hezbollah also deserves high marks for its innovative use of sophisticated ambushes and the clever use of both direct and indirect fires."Israeli armor has improved since 2006 with the introduction of upgraded Merkava main battle tanks and the heavily armored Namer troop carrier based on the Merkava chassis. Many of these vehicles also have the sophisticated Trophy active protection system that tracks and counter-fires at incoming projectiles.
While Israeli armor losses in Gaza are difficult to accurately gauge, they are likely substantially less than previous conflicts the Israeli military has fought since 1982, the year it launched a large-scale invasion of Lebanon.
"In 1982, Israel faced foes with similar equipment, like the Syrian army and various Lebanese factions, that also had their own main battle tanks, heavy weapons, and air forces," Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at the risk intelligence company RANE, told BI. "Hamas had little of that — and certainly no armored vehicles." "Hezbollah, too, has no conventional heavy weapons besides its limited artillery and rocket supplies."
If Israel decides to go to war with Hezbollah, it will have no choice but to send tanks over its northern border into Lebanon, according to Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of the 2011 book Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel.
"The 2006 war demonstrated that air power alone is insufficient to neutralize Hezbollah. But the Israelis cannot get away from the fact that South Lebanon is not tank country," Blanford told BI. "The main lines of communication run from west to east, which is not helpful for an invading force wanting to move north," Blanford said. "Furthermore, the northbound routes tend to run through steep valleys, which makes armor particularly vulnerable to ambush by anti-tank missiles, IEDs, and belly charges as we saw in Wadi Hujeir at the end of the 2006 war."Any cross-border incursion by Israeli armor would undoubtedly have cover and protection from accompanying infantry, artillery, aircraft, and drones. However, some of these forces could also find themselves exposed to Hezbollah's large missile arsenal, which include surface-to-air missiles. "The IDF will likely focus not just on force but also on material protection because of these threats, however, as losing tanks to Hezbollah will constitute a political problem for a campaign there," RANE's Bohl said. "Therefore, the IDF isn't likely to carry out a massed assault against Hezbollah, but rather narrow ground incursions that would limit the amount of Israeli armor that could be struck by Hezbollah.""The last thing the IDF wants is to give Hezbollah a target-rich environment."Most of Hezbollah's new anti-armor capabilities come from Iran, including the Almas anti-tank missile it has used in recent clashes, which Iran reverse-engineered from Israeli Spike ATGMs captured by Hezbollah in the 2006 war. "They certainly have acquired new systems since 2006, as we have seen in the current conflict. The Almas being one," Blanford said. The group also possesses extended-range AT-14 Spriggans, the NATO reporting name for the laser-guided Kornet that has a six-mile range, and an Iranian reverse-engineered version of that Russian ATGM. "They have also developed the Tharallah system, which has two AT-14 launchers side by side which fire two missiles in quick succession," Blanford said. "The idea is that the first missile is taken out by an Israeli tank's Trophy defense system, but (that active protection system) doesn't have time to counter the second missile.
Armed with these weapons, Hezbollah's "kill team" approach outlined by Heras could prove deadly for Israeli armored units in a future war. "Hezbollah's introduction of the Almas system provides it with a ranged strike capability against Israeli armor, which can allow the organization to have multiple kill teams to engage against the IDF in the battlespace, both from range and in close combat," Heras said. "Despite its ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities that it can bring to bear in the battlespace in southern Lebanon, it is highly likely that the IDF would suffer significant casualties in conflict with Hezbollah."

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 23-24/2024
Israeli Tanks Advance Deeper in Southern Gaza as More Ceasefire Talks Expected
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
Palestinian residents of eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip fled their homes on Tuesday as Israeli tanks advanced deep into the area after Israel ordered the population to evacuate. The tanks pushed into the Khan Younis town of Bani Suhaila and several districts nearby were bombed for a second day, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to seek refuge elsewhere. Israel said its action - the latest in a series of major assaults in recent weeks in parts of Gaza where it had long since claimed to have rooted out Hamas - was intended to prevent the armed group's fighters from regrouping. Gaza health officials said Israeli military strikes since Monday killed at least 80 Palestinians in the Khan Younis area - adding to a death toll of more than 39,000 in nearly 10 months of warfare, according to Gaza authorities' figures.The Israeli military said Hamas and other groups used those areas to renew attacks, including firing rockets. Many of the newly displaced families said they had to spend the night in the streets as they searched in vain for a space as western Khan Younis and central Gaza areas were overcrowded. Some of them said they had to flee under Israeli fire. "For us, the most basic of essentials in our lives are not available," a woman, Ibtihal Al-Breim, told Reuters in Khan Younis. "Basic needs (like) water which we had to carry, the electricity, of course, is cut off, food is cut off, let alone the expensive prices, and there's no work." "And then suddenly you're told now you have to leave. Without prior warning, suddenly rockets began falling on us. We had to leave and I wasn't intending to leave - but then there were quadcopters and aircraft, we saw the tanks with our own eyes," she added. UN officials described scenes of despair on Tuesday as Israeli airstrikes hit the area. "The situation is impossible," the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said on X.In a later post, it said there was nowhere safe to go in Gaza. "People are exhausted from the continuous displacement and unlivable conditions & they are trapped in increasingly small & overcrowded areas," it said. The Israeli military said dozens of militants had been killed in Khan Younis by its tanks and warplanes or in close-quarter combat. Weapon caches and tunnels used by the militants had been destroyed, it said. Palestinian medics said one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the area on Tuesday. The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. Health officials have said most of those killed have been civilians. Residents in Khan Younis said tanks remained stationed deep inside Bani Suhaila, east of downtown Khan Younis. Soldiers were seen searching inside the town's main cemetery, while others commandeered roofs of high-rise buildings, firing their guns toward the western areas from time to time, residents said. In the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, where six Palestinians were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house, some residents said they had received calls from Israeli security officers ordering them to leave their homes. Some families headed towards the Nuseirat camp to the west.Later on Tuesday, residents said Israeli forces had blown up several homes in Rafah, where Israel said its operation since May aimed to dismantle the last Hamas battalions.
CEASEFIRE HOPES
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Washington this week, told families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal that would secure their release could be near. Hamas-led fighters triggered the war on Oct. 7 by storming into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies. Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages; Israel believes around a third of them are dead.Netanyahu was in Washington and is expected to meet US President Joe Biden later this week after making an address to Congress. Speaking in the US capital on Monday to families of hostages, he said: "The conditions (for a deal) are undoubtedly ripening. This is a good sign."Months of efforts mediated by Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire gained momentum in recent weeks under a proposal outlined by Biden in May. "Unfortunately, it will not take place all at once; there will be stages. However, I believe that we can advance the deal," Netanyahu said.Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters there was nothing new in Netanyahu's stance. "Netanyahu is still stalling and he is sending delegations only to calm the anger of Israeli captives' families," he said. An Israeli negotiation team is due on Thursday to resume talks that would include hostages being released in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. According to two Egyptian security sources, Israel informed Egypt that an Israeli delegation would arrive in Cairo on Wednesday evening.

At the request of Bibi': Trump and Netanyahu to meet Friday in Florida
Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/July 23/2024
Netanyahu will also meet with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, a day after his joint address to Congress on Wednesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet both US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday and his predecessor Donald Trump at his Palm Beach resort in Florida on Friday. The visits are part of Netanyahu’s trip to the United States which began Monday night, including a joint address to Congress on Wednesday, which may now extend to over the weekend. Trump, who is the Republican presidential candidate running for his second term in office, had first invited Netanyahu to meet with him on Wednesday, then switched it to Thursday. He then wrote on Truth Social that he had moved the meeting date to Friday at Netanyahu’s request. It was a statement that irked Netanyahu’s opponents, who noted that a Friday meeting would necessitate an extended stay in the United States through Shabbat during wartime when he should be pushing to return to Israel as quickly as possible. Netanyahu is also expected to meet with the presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. In a post on Truth Social Trump wrote, “During my first term we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords — And we will have it again.” His words referenced his record as president from 2017-2021, in which he secured an agreement from four Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel. “Just as I have said in discussions with [Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other World Leaders in recent weeks, my PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Agenda will demonstrate to the World that these horrible deadly wars and violent Conflicts must end,” he wrote.
“Millions are dying and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it,” he added. Netanyahu has a strong relationship with both Trump and Biden, the latter runs deeper going back over four decades but has also been fraught with discord, particularly over Iran, the Gaza war, and Netanyahu’s judicial reform program.Netanyahu is also set to hold separate meetings with evangelicals and Jewish leaders in Washington Tuesday night. He arrived in Washington during a tumultuous week during which Biden withdrew from the presidential race, a step that made Harris the presumptive Democratic candidate. She will be campaigning in Indiana on Wednesday and in an unusual way, will not be present for Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Traditionally the Vice President presides over that event. Her role will be filled by Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who heads the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Ben Cardin.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who as president pro tempore normally would preside in the absence of Harris. An aide to Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who as president pro tempore normally would preside in the absence of Harris, said she was not attending. Aides to Murray did not immediately respond when asked why she wasn’t attending.Netanyahu's visit to Washington to address Congress was orchestrated by the legislature's Republican leaders, who have accused Biden, a Democrat, of showing insufficient support for Israel, despite the billions of dollars in U.S. assistance sent during its war in Gaza.
Reuters contributed to this report.

Israel's Netanyahu Says Deal Could Be Near for Hostages in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal that would secure their release could be near, his office said on Tuesday, as fighting raged in the battered Palestinian enclave. Israeli forces pressed on with a new raid into Gaza's southern area of Khan Younis after ordering civilians to evacuate some districts they said had been used for renewed attacks by Palestinian militants, Reuters said. Thousands of people were fleeing for safer areas as Israeli airstrikes hit, UN officials said. Netanyahu is currently in Washington and is expected to meet US President Joe Biden later this week after making an address to Congress. Speaking in the US capital on Monday to families of hostages, he said: "The conditions (for a deal) are undoubtedly ripening. This is a good sign."Efforts to reach a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, outlined by Biden in May and mediated by Egypt and Qatar, have gained momentum over the past month. "Unfortunately, it will not take place all at once; there will be stages. However, I believe that we can advance the deal and leave us in possession of the leverage to bring about the release of the others (hostages not freed in first stage)," Netanyahu said. A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort accused Netanyahu of stalling. "Hamas has shown the flexibility needed for an agreement to be reached and the ball is in his court," the official said. An Israeli negotiation team was due on Thursday to resume talks that would include hostages being released in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In a week-long truce in November, 105 hostages were freed in return for 240 Palestinian prisoners. The hostages were seized in the Hamas raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which about 1,200 people were killed and around and 250 taken captive, according to Israeli tallies.Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages, around a third of whom have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities. The death toll among Palestinians in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then has reached more than 39,000, according to Gaza health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and much of the enclave laid to waste by airstrikes and artillery bombardments.
FEAR AND DISPLACEMENT
In Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli air raids hit the southern city of Khan Younis as Israeli troops and Palestinian militants fought in its shattered streets, forcing civilians to flee. The Israeli military said dozens of militants had been killed in Khan Younis by its tanks and warplanes or in close-quarter combat. Weapon caches and tunnels used by the militants had been destroyed, it said. Palestinian medics said one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the area on Tuesday, after dozens were reported killed by Israeli attacks there on Monday. Gaza's health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. Health officials have said most of those killed have been civilians. Further north, in Gaza City, Israeli bombing killed 16 people, medics said. In Rafah, next to the border with Egypt where Israel has said it was stamping out Hamas' last units, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians. Hamas said its fighters were combating Israeli soldiers in Rafah. Residents said tanks have operated in most of the city, but have yet to gain full control of the northern and western areas.

150,000 have fled Gaza's Khan Younis since Monday, UN says
Tom Bennett - BBC News/July 23, 2024
Khan Younis, which is situated in the south of the Gaza Strip, has been the focus of a new Israeli military offensive which it says is aimed at combating “efforts by Hamas to reassemble its forces there".The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued an evacuation order for eastern parts of Khan Younis on Monday. It also reduced the size of the designated al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, which it claimed was being used by Hamas fighters to carry out "terrorist activity and rocket fire".At least 80 Palestinians have been killed in the area since the Israeli operation began, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. An official from Unrwa - the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees - told the BBC’s Today programme that an estimated 150,000 people had fled Khan Younis since Monday, when the latest evacuation order was announced. "Over 80% of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as no-go zones by the Israeli military," Louise Wateridge said.
WHO 'extremely worried' about possible Gaza polio outbreak
Israel orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone.
On Tuesday, tanks were seen pushing deep into the Bani Suhaila district, with operations also taking place in the area of Al-Qarara.Some residents attempted to flee to displacement camps in the eastern parts of Khan Younis, whilst others crammed into hospitals to seek refuge.Rabah Abdul Ghafour, 37, a resident of Bani Suhaila, took shelter at Nasser Hospital. “I have been displaced 12 times since 7 October,” he told the BBC. “We lived the hardest night of our lives. The sound of explosions and gunfire did not stop for a moment. It was as if the war had started yesterday.”Rawan Al-Brim, 22, from Al-Qarara, arrived at Nasser Hospital with her husband and mother-in-law on Monday. “We slept in the outer yard without a mattress or a blanket. My four-month-old daughter was born during the war. My breast milk has dried up and I can’t find any milk to satisfy her hunger. My baby screams from hunger all night,” she said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it also assessed that 150,000 people had fled Khan Younis by monitoring population movements on the ground. It said that many people were “trapped in the evacuation area,” including “people with reduced mobility and family members supporting them.”“We’re seeing people moving to Deir al-Balah and western Khan Younis. Both of these areas are already extremely overcrowded,” Ms Wateridge told the BBC. “They’ve got limited shelters and limited services available. They can barely accommodate the people who are already in these areas.”In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had been operating "in the Khan Younis area over the past 24 hours" and had “eliminated several terrorists” whilst “dismantling terrorist infrastructure”.Israel’s offensive comes as The World Health Organization said it was “extremely worried” about the possibility of an outbreak of the highly infectious polio virus in Gaza after traces were found in wastewater. Israel launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. More than 39,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

'Hamas on its knees, in need of lifeline': Analyst explains Palestinian unity agreement
103FM/Jerusalem Post/July 23/2024
Zvi Yehezkeli expresses pessimism regarding the recent agreement between the terrorist organizations Hamas and Fatah; and China's increasing involvement in the region. i24NEWS journalist and an Arab affairs analyst, Zvi Yehezkeli, addressed the agreement between the terrorist organizations Hamas and Fatah and spoke about China's increasing involvement in the region, particularly its central role in mediating efforts between the two organizations, on 103FM on Tuesday. Yehezkeli began, "The Chinese, who have maintained a strict stance throughout the war, are looking to establish dominance here. Such events have occurred throughout Palestinian history. They want to make a connection before one of the sides is erased, or a reality emerges that will not allow this."He further added, "Hamas, which is on the verge of being wiped out, is somehow being thrown a lifeline and being told, 'Before you are erased, concede and let Mahmoud Abbas take control of the Strip.' To Abbas, they are saying, 'Don't wait for Hamas to be wiped out. Join a unity government.' However, the agreement is very limited. We've seen such things before." The bad blood between Hamas and Fatah. Yehezkeli continued, "The bad blood between Fatah and Hamas is no simple matter. Abbas already understands that he is going to be the owner of the Strip in all respects. This agreement is being woven with the Chinese to act as a lifeline for Hamas. The US is not involved here." "It is possible that Hamas is now on its knees, in such a terrible and difficult state, nearing its end, so it is ready to accept any agreement. There is no chance because these factions quarrel among themselves. They are essentially enemies, and enemies do not come together because of such interests. If Abbas waits, he will receive the Strip even without a temporary government," Yehezkeli emphasized.
He then explained the reasoning behind Fatah's outreach. "He needs to wait, and Hamas will disappear," Yehezkeli said. "He is reaching out to Hamas. Why? Because a government will come at a price in Judea and Samaria. I doubt this will come to fruition. It's just to appease the Chinese. The Chinese have proven they want to intervene in recent years." Despite this, Yehezkeli expressed skepticism about whether cooperation between the sides would ultimately materialize. "There is no weight to this. A Fatah member asked, 'What is our interest in getting into this? Why would we give Hamas a lifeline?' Giving Hamas a government with Mahmoud Abbas in the Strip will not happen. They see Abbas as an occupier. The Chinese see an opening and are stepping in, and they comply because Hamas is under pressure and needs help. There is no chance this will happen because Abbas wants to see Hamas erased. The Oslo Accords were a Trojan horse; this is exactly what is happening now, with Hamas on its knees."`

Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian factions agree to end divisions, form unity gov't after China talks
Reuters & Jerusalem Post/July 213/2024
Various Palestinian factions, including rivals Hamas and Fatah, agreed to end their divisions and form a national unity government during negotiations in China that ended Tuesday, according to Chinese state media. The Beijing Declaration was signed at the closing ceremony of a reconciliation dialogue among the factions held in China’s capital from July 21-23, state broadcaster CCTV said. Senior Hamas official Hussam Badran said the most important point of the Beijing Declaration was to form a Palestinian national unity government to manage the affairs of Palestinians. In a statement to their Telegram channel, Hamas claimed that the Beijing Declaration was a positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity, thanking the host country China “with its international weight and its firm position in support of the Palestinian cause.”The statement criticized the US, saying, “The American administration stands against any internal Palestinian national consensus and is completely biased and even partners with the occupation in its crimes against our people.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his goal is to destroy Hamas, an Iranian-backed terror group, and opposes it having any role in a post-war Gaza administration. Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz responded to the deal between the factions in a post to X, formerly Twitter, stating, “Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war. “Instead of rejecting terrorism, [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face,” he said. “In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands.” A total of 14 Palestinian factions, including the leaders of Fatah and Hamas, also met with the media, with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi present, CGTN said in a social media post. The agreement marks a diplomatic coup for China and its growing influence in the Middle East. Last year, Beijing brokered a breakthrough peace deal between longstanding regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran. Badran praised China in a statement for its significant effort to host the talks and reach such a declaration.
'Declaration comes at an important time'
“This declaration comes at an important time as our people are facing a genocidal war, especially in the Gaza Strip,” the statement quoted Badran as saying. He said the agreement was an “additional positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity.”He said a national unity government would manage the affairs of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, oversee reconstruction, and prepare conditions for elections. This was the position of Hamas, which it called for and proposed since the first weeks of the battle. “This creates a formidable barrier against all regional and international interventions that seek to impose realities against our people’s interests in managing Palestinian affairs post-war,” said Badran. Rival factions Hamas and Fatah first met in Beijing in April to discuss reconciliation efforts to end around 17 years of disputes, the first time a Hamas delegation was publicly known to have visited China since the war in Gaza began. The long-feuding Palestinian factions previously failed to heal their political disputes after Hamas fighters expelled Fatah from Gaza in a short war in 2007. Chinese officials have ramped up advocacy for the Palestinians in international forums in recent months, calling for a larger-scale Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a specific timetable to implement a two-state solution.

Houthis vow retaliation after Israeli strikes on Hodeidah
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/July 23/2024
The Iranian-backed Houthis vow to escalate attacks on Israel following IDF strikes on Hodeidah, threatening comprehensive retaliation. The Iranian-backed Houthis say they will increase attacks on Israel in the wake of the drone attack on July 19 and Israel’s retaliation on July 20 in which the IDF struck the port of Hodeidah. Hizam al-Assad, a member of the Houthi’s political bureau said that the Houthis would respond to the Israeli airstrikes. “The Zionist enemy has opened the gates of hell for itself by targeting Yemen’s Hodeidah port, he said, adding that the ports, military, and security centers deep in the occupied Palestinian territories will come under the fire of the Yemeni army,” a report at Iran’s IRNA said. This is part of a growing number of statements by Iran and its other proxies in the region about supporting the Houthis. Iran is lining up support and circling the wagons. “Iraqi resistance group Kata’ib Hezbollah says it is well-prepared to fight against the Zionist regime on all fronts,” Iranian state media also said recently. This includes Kataib Hezbollah, one of the key Iranian proxies in Iraq. This same group was behind the January attack that killed three Americans in Jordan, as well as recent threats to Saudi Arabia and the US. “The group expressed its all-out support to stand united in all fronts, especially in the resistance front of Yemen,” Kataib Hezbollah said. Meanwhile, Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani also called the Houthis on July 22 and expressed support for them. According to IRNA “in a phone call with Mohammad Abdul Salam condemned the recent Israeli attacks on the civilian facilities of Yemen's Hudaydah port. The two officials exchanged opinions on the crimes of the Tel Aviv regime and stressed the need to have discussions and consultations on the latest developments in the region.”
Houthis threaten retaliation and expanded attacks
Bagheri Kani referenced an operation called True Promise which took place on April 13-14 in which Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. The Iranian diplomat said that It “has brought in strategic failure for the Zionists over the past nine months.” The Houthis are now pushing a narrative to pro-Iran media. This is message discipline by the Houthis. “A high-ranking member of the Yemeni resistance movement Ansarullah’s political bureau has said that the Zionist regime will receive a painful response for the recent attack on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah,” Iranian state media noted. “He noted that the Yemeni operations will intensify and that Yemenis will inflict unique blows upon the occupied territories and the interests of the Zionist regime.” The Houthis claim now they are entering a new “fifth” phase of operations. IRNA claimed that the Houthis “have entered the fifth phase of their operations, and the more civilians are targeted, the more Yemenis will target sensitive and strategic centers of the regime, the official warned.”In addition, the Houthis threatened Arab countries. It used similar language as Kataib Hezbollah’s recent threats against Saudi Arabia, claiming that some Arab states had “crossed the red lines by supporting the Zionist enemy and opening land corridors to replace the Red Sea and opening their airspace and calling Hamas a terrorist.” The Houthis now appear to threaten Saudi Arabia and the Gulf or other countries with a response. Ali al-Qahoum, a top official of the Houthis also said that a response to the Hodeidah strikes is coming soon, in the next days which he said will be “full of surprises.” Russian media quoted Qahou, showing how the Houthis are also seeking for their message to reach other anti-western countries. The Houthis reportedly recently struck a tanker carrying Russian oil with an unmanned drone boat.
The Houthis now say that the “scope of the targets in occupied Palestine will be wide and comprehensive, adding that Yemen has the upper hand and the ability to change the balance of power and achieve victory.” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthi leader, also said the group is not deterred.

UN envoy to Yemen warns of a ‘devastating’ regional escalation, but points to glimmer of hope
Edith M. Lederer/UNITED NATIONS (AP)/July 23, 2024
The U.N. envoy for Yemen warned Tuesday that recent developments in the Red Sea, Israel and inside the country “show the real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation” — but he also pointed to a glimmer of hope. Hans Grundberg said Yemen’s warring parties — the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels – informed him Monday night “that they have agreed on a path to de-escalate a cycle of measures and countermeasures which had sought to tighten their grip on the banking and transport sectors.”Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that seven months of escalation reached “a new and dangerous level last week” which saw a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv and Israeli retaliatory attacks on Yemen’s key port of Hodeida and its oil and power facilities. He said Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways continue, and that the rebels are escalating their crackdown “on civic space and on international organizations,” and escalating economic issues have been “translating into public threats to return to full-fledged war.”Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis seized much of northern Yemen and forced the internationally recognized government to flee from the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of government forces, and in time the conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. While fighting has decreased considerably since a six-month truce in 2022, Grundberg told the council this month clashes have been reported along numerous frontlines “and we have witnessed an increase in military preparations and reinforcements.”Much of Yemen’s south including the major city Aden is governed by the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, a United Arab Emirates-backed group that is an ally of the internationally recognized government. Rivalry between the Houthis and the southern government have fueled an economic divide, with the rivals establishing separate and independent central banks and different versions of the country’s currency, the riyal. Grundberg gave no details of the de-escalation agreement the parties informed him of, but he told the council the “understanding” followed months of contacts with his office, which warned of the risk to the Yemeni people that “the deepening weaponization of the economy” would pose. “I welcome the parties’ decision to choose a path of dialogue and I look forward to engaging further with the parties to support them in implementing their commitments with regard to the banking sector and Yemenia Airways,” he said. “The aim remains a unified currency, a unified and independent central bank, and a banking sector free of political interference.”Nonetheless, while Grundberg welcomed the willingness of both sides to engage on economic issues, he said, “I reiterate my warning to the council that we risk a return to full-scale war and all the predictable human suffering and regional implications that entails.”Yemen is the Arab world’s poorest country and faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.Acting U.N. humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya told the council that Yemen’s GDP has shrunk by more than half since the conflict began, and a recent World Bank analysis found it contracted even further in the last year.The fall in the value of the riyal has driven already sky-high food prices further out of reach for millions of people, she said. “I urge the parties to seize this opportunity to find sustainable solutions to these challenges,” Msuya said. “Millions of people across the country depend on it.”

Kamala Harris Has a Hit New Presidential Anthem, Thanks to Beyoncé's Blessing
Virginia Chamlee/People/July 23, 2024
Beyoncé will play a role in the Kamala Harris presidential campaign — at least, musically, having given permission for the campaign to use her hit song "Freedom" at events. Already, the vice president used the song to mark her first official visit to her campaign headquarters on Monday, July 22. CNN reports that Harris' campaign got approval from Beyoncé’s team just hours before the vice president, 59, walked out to the song — and that the approval will allow them to use the song throughout Harris' 2024 presidential campaign. The move is significant considering Beyoncé is known for maintaining strict clearance guidelines around her music. And while not quite an endorsement, it is something of an approval of Harris' candidacy. Harris is a known Beyoncé fan and previously shared a glimpse into what she and husband Doug Emhoff wore for the pop icon's Renaissance World Tour concert held at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, on social media. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in September, she said of the Beyoncé hit "Break My Soul," "I just love that song. I play it all the time. I think it’s one of the anthems for women . . . when [Beyoncé says] ‘you,’ you could be life, you could be a person, you could be a situation. You will not break my soul. I can endure.”Biden, 81, announced his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday, July 21, and quickly endorsed his vice president. The decision came after weeks of concern over his age, which arose after his performance during the first 2024 presidential debate against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump. In her own statement issued on Sunday and shared by the Biden campaign, Harris said she was "deeply grateful to the president," whose "remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many Presidents who have served two terms in office."Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer. Harris then shared her thoughts on Biden's decision to not run for reelection. “With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else," she wrote. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination," she continued. "Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda."Harris concluded her statement with a rallying message: “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”Beyoncé isn't the only musical artist to offer an acknowledgement of Harris' historic campaign. Hours after Biden dropped out of the race, Charli XCX declared that Harris is having a "brat summer" —a nod to the title of her latest album, which was released on Friday, June 7.

Secret Service director steps down after assassination attempt against ex-President Trump at rally
Colleen Long/WASHINGTON (AP)/July 23, 2024
The director of the Secret Service resigned Tuesday in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed an outcry about how the agency failed in its core mission to protect current and former presidents. Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, faced growing calls to resign and several investigations into how a gunman was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania. “I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff obtained by The Associated Press. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”Cheatle’s departure was unlikely to end the scrutiny of the long-troubled agency after the failures of July 13, and it comes at a critical juncture ahead of the Democratic National Convention and a busy presidential campaign season. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have promised more investigations. An inspector general probe and an independent and bipartisan effort launched at President Joe Biden’s behest will keep the agency in the spotlight.
Cheatle’s resignation came a day after she appeared before a congressional committee and was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, but she angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.Biden said in a statement that “what happened that day can never happen again,” and he said he would appoint a new director soon, but he did not discuss a timeline. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed Deputy Director Ronald Rowe as acting director. He has worked for the Secret Service for 23 years.
Congressional questioning
At the hearing Monday, Cheatle remained defiant that she was the “right person” to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she took responsibility for the security failures. When Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, Cheatle responded, “No, thank you.”The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 135 meters (157 yards) of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire. That’s despite a threat on Trump’s life from Iran leading to additional security for the former president in the days before the rally.Cheatle acknowledged Monday that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the rally shooting. She also revealed that the roof from which Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days earlier. But she failed to answer many questions about what happened, including why there were no agents on the roof. A bloodied Trump was quickly escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents, and agency snipers killed the shooter. Trump said part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were critically wounded.
Details continue to emerge about signs of trouble that day and what role the Secret Service and local authorities played in security. The agency routinely relies on local law enforcement to secure the perimeter of events. Former top Secret Service agents said the gunman should never have been allowed to gain access to the roof. After news of Cheatle’s resignation broke, Trump posted on his social media network saying: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”The House Homeland Security Committee had asked Cheatle to testify Tuesday for another hearing on the assassination attempt, but lawmakers said she refused. Cheatle’s name was on a card on a table in front of an empty chair during the hearing, which began shortly before her decision to step down became public.
Investigating an ever-growing number of threats
Mayorkas said he was proud to have worked with Cheatle and "we are all grateful for her service.”The Secret Service is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes immigration, transportation security and the U.S. Coast Guard. The department was formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Just a few years ago, there was a movement to shift the agency back to the Treasury Department, where it was housed before Sept. 11, particularly because Homeland Security's intense focus on immigration added to the growing divide between what the Secret Service sees as its dual missions — protecting the president and investigating financial crime — and the mission of its parent department. Roughly half of the Secret Service’s $3 billion budget is spent on protective services. It also has a robust cybercrime division, state-of-the-art forensic labs and a threat-assessment center that studies how to mitigate and train against threats. With a workforce of 7,800 special agents, uniformed officers and other staff, the Secret Service has investigated an ever-increasing number of threats against the president and other officials under its protection. It has also managed a growing number of high-profile government figures asking for support. Staffing has not kept pace with the workload increase. Around Sept. 11 there were about 15 full-time protectees. That number has now more than doubled. Trump is the first modern ex-president to seek another term, and because of his high visibility, his protective detail has always been larger than some of his peers. That protective bubble grew tighter in recent months as he drew closer to the nomination. All major party nominees are granted enhanced details with counterassault and countersniper teams similar to the president.
Calls for accountability
There were calls for accountability across the political spectrum, with congressional committees immediately moving to investigate and issuing subpoenas. Top Republican leaders from both the House and the Senate said Cheatle should step down. Biden, a Democrat, ordered an independent review into security at the rally, and the Secret Service’s inspector general opened an investigation. The agency is also reviewing its countersniper team’s “preparedness and operations.”On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said Cheatle's resignation was “overdue.”“I’m happy to see that she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency.” Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., introduced legislation Tuesday to require Senate confirmation of future Secret Service directors. Cheatle served in the Secret Service for 27 years. She left in 2021 for a job as a security executive at PepsiCo before Biden asked her to return in 2022 to head the agency. She took over amid a controversy over missing text messages from around the time thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following his 2020 election loss to Biden. During her time in the agency, Cheatle was the first woman to be named assistant director of protective operations, the division that provides protection to the president and other dignitaries, where she oversaw a $133.5 million budget. She is the second woman to lead the agency. When Biden announced Cheatle's appointment, he said she had served on his detail when he was vice president and he and his wife “came to trust her judgment and counsel.”

Biden to Meet with Families of US Hostages held in Gaza, US Official Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
US President Joe Biden will meet with families of Americans held hostage in Gaza at the White House later this week, a US official said on Tuesday. It would be the president's second such meeting since hostages were taken in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the official said, Reuters reported. Biden, who has been recovering from COVID, was expected to meet with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to an official.

Harris attacks Trump at energetic 1st presidential rally in Milwaukee
ABC News/Tue, July 23, 2024
Where Kamala Harris stands on health care issuesScroll back up to restore default view. Vice President Kamala Harris rallied voters in battleground Wisconsin on Tuesday, her first presidential campaign event since securing enough delegate pledges for the Democratic nomination if they keep their word -- and used the rally to sharply frame her race against former President Donald Trump. Since Sunday, Harris has earned the backing of Democratic Party leaders and enough Democratic National Convention delegates to make her the nominee if they kept true to their pledges -- a major milestone for the vice president. "So Wisconsin, I am told as of this morning that we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. And I am so very honored, and I pledge to you, I will spend the coming weeks continuing to unite our party so that we are ready to win in November," Harris said to an energetic crowd in West Allis, Wisconsin -- just outside of Milwaukee. Harris attacked Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, on the issue of abortion and Project 2025, the conservative presidential transition blueprint fronted by the Heritage Foundation. "We'll stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have the government tell them what to do," Harris said to raucous applause. "And when Congress passes the law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law." Harris, in recent weeks, has leaned into her career as a prosecutor, having served as San Francisco's district attorney and California's attorney general, to draw a contrast with Trump, who was convicted of 34 felony counts. During the rally, Harris touted her previous experience while making a dig at Trump. "In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain," she said. "So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type." The comments elicited the chant of "lock him up" from the crowd -- a reference to the popular "lock her up" chants from crowds at Trump's rallies when he ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016. Harris' campaign chose Wisconsin -- a key battleground state in the 2024 race -- as the site of her first campaign event. Wisconsin hosted the Republican National Convention last week. "Vice President Harris's visit will highlight the choice facing Wisconsinites: between Donald Trump, the convicted felon who would drag this country backwards, and her brighter vision for the future, where our freedoms are protected and every American has a fair shot," the campaign said in the memo.
Before taking the stage, Harris' campaign announced that her political operation raised $100 million in just over a day since getting in the race for president after President Joe Biden announced he would bow out of the race. The massive sum -- raised by the Harris campaign, the Democratic National Committee and their joint fundraising committees -- came in between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, the campaign said. ​Within that time, 58,000 people signed up to volunteer, a figure that is more than 100 times their average daily sign-up rate, according to the campaign.
Harris attacks Trump at energetic 1st presidential rally in Milwaukee originally appeared on abcnews.go.com.

Trump may regret choosing JD Vance as his running mate, political scientists say
Joshua Nelken-Zitser,Taylor Berman/Business Insider/July 23, 2024
How billionaires swayed Trump to choose JD Vance as his vice president pickScroll back up to restore default view. A reporter for The Atlantic tweeted Monday that Trump's allies are "second-guessing" JD Vance. Four political scientists told BI that there's good reason to regret the choice.They said Vance lacks crossover appeal and public speaking skills. According a tweet from The Atlantic's Tim Alberta, allies of former President Donald Trump say there's been some second-guessing about the selection of Sen. JD Vance as Trump's running mate — especially now that Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to lead the Democratic ticket. Most striking thing I heard from Trump allies yesterday was the second-guessing of JD Vance—a selection, they acknowledged, that was borne of cockiness, meant to run up margins with the base in a blowout rather than persuade swing voters in a nail-biter.https://t.co/MskTPjvVSS
Four political scientists told Business Insider that Trump's camp has legitimate reasons to be worried.According to Alberta's story in The Atlantic, President Joe Biden's exit from the presidential race has forced Trump's team to reset their strategy.
Initially, Trump's allies said they were confident in their campaign plan, which was designed to defeat Biden. The Atlantic reported that Trump's team chose JD Vance to try to capitalize on their early success, aiming to run up the margins of MAGA support in a "blowout" election rather than persuade swing voters.Thomas Gift, director of UCL's Centre on US Politics, told BI that Trump's selection of Vance was "a confident — some might say too confident" decision. "Doubling down on mobilizing the MAGA base for a candidate who already has the base eating out of the palm of his hand never seemed like the best tactical play," he said.
A lack of crossover appeal
Angelia R. Wilson, the author of "The Politics of Hate" and a professor of politics at the University of Manchester, agreed that Harris' likely replacement of Biden has exposed new weaknesses in the Trump-Vance ticket. She noted that with Biden leading the Democratic ticket, Trump and Vance could effectively criticize Biden's age and competency. But with Harris as the candidate, they would need to focus on other topics. Wilson suggested the Trump team would try to exploit divisions around race and gender, which, she noted, is "going to lose them votes with suburban soccer moms," among other voters. Colin Talbot, professor emeritus of politics at the University of Manchester, told BI that he thinks Trump's all-male ticket is at great risk of losing the "independent, middle-ground women's votes." In recent days, a 2021 clip has resurfaced of Vance describing Harris as one of the "childless cat ladies" who is "miserable" with her life and who has no stake in the future of America because she has not had children. JD Vance says women who haven’t given birth like Kamala Harris are “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives,” and have “no direct stake” in America. pic.twitter.com/3DJY3pQTGe
And in the ongoing debate over reproductive rights, Harris has been an outspoken pro-choice advocate, while Vance told a podcast in 2022 that he wanted to see abortion be made "illegal nationally."Talbot said that Trump selected Vance when he thought he had the election "in the bag," but now the "mistake" of not balancing the ticket, either ideologically or by gender, is in full view.
An awkward rally performance
According to Kevin Fahey, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nottingham, there's another reason why Trump world's reported second-guessing of Vance might not be unwarranted: his public speaking abilities.
This election cycle has shown how one poor performance can significantly damage a candidate's reputation. While Vance's first solo campaign rally in Virginia on Monday wasn't as disastrous or widely watched as Biden's debate performance, Fahey told Business Insider it still revealed a potential weakness. A joke about Diet Mountain Dew fell flat. Later, Vance stumbled over his speech and mumbled some nervous laughter. Democrats were quick to pounce on the awkward moment. Further slip-ups at the microphone could undermine Vance's star power next to someone as skilled at firing up rally attendees as Trump. "He doesn't have the charisma of somebody like Donald Trump," Fahey added. Although speaking skills aren't everything, Fahey also noted that Vance doesn't have a lengthy legislative record to fall back on, nor any proof that can even outperform Trump in Ohio. Beyond his loyalty to Trump, Fahey said, "Vance adds nothing to the Republican ticket."

Egypt's Sisi Checks on Trump after Assassination Attempt
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke on the phone with former US President Donald Trump to check on his health after an assassination attempt, the Egyptian presidency said. Trump had expressed strong support to Sisi during his term in face of protests against him in 2019, calling Sisi a great leader. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives is forming a bipartisan task force to investigate the shooting of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, its Republican and Democratic leaders said on Tuesday. The panel, comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats, will make recommendations for reforms to relevant government agencies and will have subpoena authority, according to a statement from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. "The security failures that allowed an assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life are shocking," Johnson said in a statement, adding the task force would move quickly to "make certain such failures never happen again."He said House lawmakers will vote on a resolution this week to establish the force and its members. Cheatle on Monday called the shooting the agency's most significant operational failure in a decade but has rebuffed calls to step down.

Assad praises Russia and Iran for support, highlights anti-western alliance and cooperation
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/July 23/2024
Syrian leader Assad praised support from Russia and Iran, highlighting strong ties and coordination against Western hegemony and terrorism. According to Iranian reports, Syria’s regime leader Bashar al-Assad spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. Pro-Iran outlet Al-Mayadeen reported that “President al-Assad emphasized that both nations have supported one another for eight decades and have stayed steadfast in their commitment to values and dignity.”Days later, the Syrian regime hosted Ali Asghar Khaji, the senior adviser to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, along with a delegation. “In this meeting, Assad emphasized the depth of relations between Syria and Iran, as well as the strengthening of cooperation and coordination between the two countries in various fields,” Iranian state media IRNA noted. Khaji also met with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his deputy Bassam al-Sabbagh.In the talks with the Russian leader, Assad praised Moscow for working toward a multi-polar world: a world order anchored in Moscow and Beijing and one that challenges the West. Syria’s regime is backed by Iran, which is also close to Russia and China. Additionally, Turkey has recently become closer to Russia and China, as well as becoming another cog in this anti-Western world order. From Sunday to Tuesday, China hosted 14 Palestinian factions, which shows how Beijing’s clout is increasing in the region. This is part of the “multipolar” world that Assad praised Putin for helping create. “In light of the hegemony we face and the war we are witnessing, the final word is resilience, not retreat or defeat,” Assad said. Al-Mayadeen noted that “The Russian President congratulated the Syrian government and people and wished them prosperity. He emphasized that both nations had made significant progress together in a number of areas, most notably the fight against terrorism.” It also noted that “back in April, Major General Ali Mamlouk, the National Security Advisor at the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Syrian Republic, and Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, emphasized the significance of enhancing Syria-Russia relations and coordinating efforts to combat terrorism during a meeting held in Moscow.”The recent meetings with the Syrian regime and Assad’s call with Putin illustrate how Syria is positioning itself these days. Iran and Russia are the main backers of the regime. Syria’s regime is also considering working more closely with Turkey via reconciliation that could be brokered by Iraq.

Iraq Bans Kurdish PKK and Strengthens Its Cooperation with Türkiye
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
The Iraqi government announced Tuesday an official ban on a Kurdish separatist group which has been engaged in in a long-running conflict with Türkiye. Türkiye has been seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Türkiye since the 1980s and is banned there. The order issued July 14 and published Tuesday by the Department of Administrative Affairs at the Iraqi Parliament said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had issued instructions for the PKK to be described as the “banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party” in all official correspondence. It was the clearest statement from the Iraqi government on the group’s status to date. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq in April for the first time in more than a decade. At the time, Erdogan said he and Sudani had “consulted on the joint steps we can take against the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions, which target Türkiye from Iraqi territory.”Iraq has not followed Türkiye’s lead in designating the PKK a terrorist group but has put it on its list of banned organizations. The PKK has maintained bases in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. In recent months, Türkiye has built up its troops in northern Iraq and has threatened an offensive to clear PKK forces from the border area. Türkiye often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated with the PKK. Baghdad has complained that the strikes are a breach of its sovereignty, but earlier this year, the two governments issued a joint statement saying that the “PKK organization represents a security threat to both Türkiye and Iraq.”The Turkish defense ministry said Tuesday that four suspected PKK militants were killed in an air offensive in northern Iraq, including one who was allegedly on a list of militants most wanted by Türkiye. The ministry identified the man as Yusuf Kalkan and said he was wanted for membership in a terror organization as well as for founding and directing a terror group.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 22-23/2024
After Hamas is gone, how will Israel deradicalize Palestinians in Gaza?
Megan Eckstein & Enia Krivine/The Jerusalem Post/July 23/ 2024
Most Gazans approve of Hamas’s decision to launch the war on October 7 and would prefer Hamas rule over the US-backed Palestinian Authority
In June, Fadi al-Wadiya, a physiotherapist from Doctors Without Borders, was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza. Doctors Without Borders quickly took to social media, condemning the “abhorrent” attack in multiple languages in a post that received millions of views and thousands of shares.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded by publishing photographic evidence that al-Wadiya was an operative in the missile program of the terrorist group Islamic Jihad in Gaza and therefore, a legitimate target. He was a physiotherapist, but he was also a terrorist.
Upon returning from a trip to the region last month, we have been struck by the inclination among Americans to assume that Hamas represents only a narrow slice of Gaza’s population. Many seem unaware, at best — or purposely ignoring, at worst — of the extent to which Hamas has its tentacles entrenched into Gazan society. That is why a sustainable peace will depend on the creation of a deradicalization campaign that helps to erode Hamas’s base of support. Palestinian polling from June suggests that the majority of Gazans are still satisfied with Hamas and that the level of satisfaction has gradually increased since last year. Similarly, most Gazans approve of Hamas’s decision to launch the war on October 7 and would prefer Hamas rule over the US-backed Palestinian Authority (PA). Shortly after the Hamas massacre, videos surfaced of Gazan residents cheering at the sight of wounded or dead Israeli hostages arriving on trucks and motorbikes. In early June, the IDF rescued four hostages from Gaza. Outrage swirled on social media when a prominent Gaza doctor and his renowned journalist son were killed during the raid. Except, it turns out, the doctor and journalist were actually the ones holding these hostages on behalf of Hamas.
It gets worse.
While visiting an IDF base, we watched raw footage from the October 7 attacks that had not been publicly released due to its gruesome, disturbing nature. After Hamas terrorists blew open border fences and entered Israel with rifles, grenades, missile-launchers, and anti-tank explosives, average Gazans then filed into the Israeli border communities to rape, murder, and loot. A mob of these Gazans, lacking the wartime weapons of Hamas’s military wing, killed and beheaded an agricultural worker at a kibbutz with a garden hoe.
During our trip, we also visited an IDF unit that collected intelligence from the scenes of the October 7 attack and from Gaza. The retrieved items included schoolbooks that deny the legitimacy of Israel, promote violence against its Jewish citizens, and feature games and puzzles that teach antisemitism to young Gazans.No good can come from a blind insistence that there’s a small number of bad Hamas leaders, separate and distinct from some two million Gaza residents who just want a better life. That’s just not the reality on the ground, where Hamas is a terrorist group, a civil government, and a religious movement all rolled into one. Frighteningly, Hamas’s tools for indoctrinating children parallel scenes from Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, which features books and games from early 1930s Germany similarly teaching kids to hate Jews. One Israeli speaker told us that the Germans didn’t stop hating Jews after World War II out of the goodness of their hearts. Rather, occupying Allied personnel forced de-nazification upon them.
Untangling the web of extremism
That’s where the international community can help: by mobilizing the right people, organizations and governments to begin a deradicalization effort in Gaza and detangle the web of power and influence Hamas has built.
In theory, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides food, healthcare, education, and other basic civil services to Gazans registered as refugees in 1948 and to their descendants, would lead such a deradicalization effort. But UNRWA cannot be trusted to carry out this task.
According to Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, at least 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 massacre, at least 30 more assisted, and over 10% of the agency’s employees in Gaza have ties to terror. Terrorists in Gaza have repeatedly used UNRWA facilities as bases for their operations. In February, the IDF discovered a Hamas data center hidden underneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters.
Breaking UNRWA’s monopoly on services in the enclave is critical.
These should be disaggregated and assigned to other UN organizations that have a global mandate. UNRWA, by contrast, was created solely for Palestinians, employs almost exclusively Palestinians, and has been co-opted by an extreme version of the Palestinian national narrative. That needs to change.
The United States can help. Our colleagues at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies published a report earlier this year that describes how. For example, the US Agency for International Development and the US International Development Finance Corporation can centralize aid to Gaza; vet employees of the UN and other international organizations working in Gaza (such as Doctors Without Borders) to ensure their staff have no ties to terror; and help build a sustainable development model that aims for independence from aid. In so doing, they would reject the UNRWA model that perpetuates the conflict by passing entitlements from generation to generation.Gaza needs a smart and purposeful investment and a radical deradicalization agenda.
If Germans moving past their hatred in the 1940s was hard, what needs to happen in Gaza may be tougher – but not impossible.
*Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow her on X @EKrivine. Megan Eckstein is a strategic communications action officer at Strategic Insight and a 2024 media fellow at FDD’s Barish Center for Media Integrity. The views expressed are her own. Follow her on X @maeday22.

Hamas and Genocide in Israel
Dawid Bunikowski/Gatestone Institute./July 23, 2024
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such..." — Definition of genocide, The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, December 9, 1948.
Their genocidal aim, clear to the Hamas terrorists, was to murder Jews; others, such as Asians and Muslims, were also murdered. What is illuminating is how easily the civilized world, in this instance, accepted that as well as the abduction of 250 hostages. Those who slaughter and take hostages should be the subject of disgrace and condemnation. Instead, frequently, they were celebrated. Israel, of necessity, responded to this massacre. Israel's goals, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called by Andrew Roberts "the Churchill of the Middle East," are "returning hostages from Gaza, eliminating Hamas' military and governing capabilities, ensuring that Gaza will not constitute a threat against Israel and also returning displaced Israeli residents securely to their homes in both the south and the north." Israel's goal is not to destroy the Palestinians, Arabs or Gazan civilians.
The situation of displaced Gazans -- temporary evacuations are allowed by Geneva IV, Article 49 -- is certainly unfortunate; however, the main problem is the aggressive nature of Iran's and Hamas's totalitarian regimes. That is what has led to the October 7 massacre and is the seminal reason for the war and the Gazan casualties. "Israel Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Nation in History"; "Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare: Why Will No One Admit it?" — John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point; Newsweek, January 31, 2024, and March 25, 2024.
It is, in fact, Iran and Hamas that should be on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity."Hamas is a religious movement, and they are a raging religious movement against Israel. The mainstream media cannot say this because they are afraid to ignite a religious war. And what I say, it already is. They want to annihilate the Jewish people because they are Jewish people, because they are a Jewish state." — Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, Fox News, October 23, 2023.
Their genocidal aim, clear to the Hamas terrorists, was to murder Jews; others, such as Asians and Muslims, were also murdered. What is illuminating is how easily the civilized world, in this instance, accepted that as well as the abduction of 250 hostages. Those who slaughter and take hostages should be the subject of disgrace and condemnation. Instead, frequently, they were celebrated. 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)
The official definition of genocide, as determined by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner on December 9, 1948, reads:
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The Iran-backed, officially designated terrorist group Hamas -- along with other groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- on October 7, 2023, committed genocide in Israel.Jews were murdered because they were the Jews. Israelis were murdered because they were Israelis. People were murdered because they were presumed to be the Jews or Israeli sympathizers with Jews. The decision to invade, murder, torture and kidnap was made by the Hamas leadership and reportedly "managed and planned" by Iran's Quds Force. Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians massacred approximately 1,200 people in southern Israel. Near the Gaza border, at the Supernova music festival alone, at least 260 people were murdered, with some women raped before being tortured and slaughtered.
Captured Hamas members, under interrogation, said about their actions in Israeli communities: "The plan was to go from home to home, from room to room, to throw grenades and kill everyone, including women and children"; "Hamas ordered us to crush their heads and cut them off, [and] to cut their legs";
"Hamas's orders were to kill young men" and to "kidnap the elderly, women and children". Many of those hostages, taken against Article 34 of Geneva IV, are still in the hands of Hamas. One of the Hamas terrorists (according to the laws of war, they are called "combatants"), called his parents after having murdered 10 Jews in Kibbutz Mefalsim near the Gaza border: "Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!... Mom, your son is a hero!"
There are many reports like that. Their genocidal aim, clear to the Hamas terrorists, was to murder Jews; others, such as Asians and Muslims, were also murdered. What is illuminating is how easily the civilized world, in this instance, accepted that as well as the abduction of 250 hostages. Those who slaughter and take hostages should be the subject of disgrace and condemnation. Instead, frequently, they were celebrated.
Israel, of necessity, responded to this massacre. Israel's goals, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called by Andrew Roberts "the Churchill of the Middle East," are "returning hostages from Gaza, eliminating Hamas' military and governing capabilities, ensuring that Gaza will not constitute a threat against Israel and also returning displaced Israeli residents securely to their homes in both the south and the north."
Israel's goal is not to destroy the Palestinians, Arabs or Gazan civilians. Unfortunately, there are innocent victims in every war. If Hamas chooses to fight in dense urban areas, among its own civilians, there will be even more civilian casualties. Israel, which always goes out of its out of its way to prevent civilian casualties among its opponents, is always nevertheless blamed for them -- by Hamas, by European officials, and by the "progressive" and often racist media (the "genocide" libel).
"Israel Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Nation in History," wrote the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, John Spencer; and, "Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare: Why Will No One Admit it?"
To minimize casualties in its reaction to October 7, the Israeli military sent approximately 15 million text messages, 12 million recorded phone messages and made more than 40,000 personal phone calls to residents of Gaza, informing them when and where to evacuate from areas in which they might be endangered.
By contrast, Hamas was broadcasting from mosques with orders for Gazans to stay put; blocking roads leading to safety (here and here), and even shooting its own citizens to keep them from fleeing (here, here and here).
The situation of displaced Gazans -- temporary evacuations are allowed by Geneva IV, Article 49 -- is certainly unfortunate; however, the main problem is the aggressive nature of Iran's and Hamas's totalitarian regimes. That is what has led to the October 7 massacre and is the seminal reason for the war and the Gazan casualties.
It is, in fact, Iran and Hamas that should be on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Moreover, in the Hamas covenants, there is no room for an Israel or for any "Zionist project".The result of literal, systematic and historical interpretations of the Hamas Covenants of both 1988 and 2017 leads one to conclude that Iran and Hamas want to murder Jews and wipe Israel off the map. Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization, openly states that it wants to replace Israel with a new Arab, Islamist state. "Hamas's genocidal intentions," The Atlantic points out, "were never a secret."
The opening section of the 1988 Hamas Covenant reads:
"'Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it' (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory)."
Article 7 reads:
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem)".
Article 11 reads:
"The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that.... As for the real ownership of the land and the land itself, it should be consecrated for Moslem generations till Judgement Day."
Article 13 reads:
"Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement."
Article 15 reads:
"...Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem.... It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.... It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis. The 1988 Hamas Covenant was never cancelled or repudiated. Speaking in Gaza City, Mahmoud al Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, said in 2017 that the political policy document announced in Qatar by Hamas's outgoing chief Khaled Mashaal "did not contradict its founding covenant, published in 1988":
GAZA (Reuters) - One of Hamas's most senior officials said on Wednesday a document published by the Islamist Palestinian group last week was not a substitute for its founding charter, which advocates Israel's destruction.
Speaking in Gaza City, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a regular critic of Israel, said the political policy document announced in Qatar on May 1 by Hamas's outgoing chief Khaled Meshaal did not contradict its founding covenant, published in 1988.
"The pledge Hamas made before God was to liberate all of Palestine," Zahar said on Wednesday. "The charter is the core of (Hamas's) position and the mechanism of this position is the document.""When people say that Hamas has accepted the 1967 borders, like others, it is an offense to us," he said.
"We have reaffirmed the unchanging constant principles that we do not recognize Israel; we do not recognize the land occupied in 1948 as belonging to Israel and we do not recognize that the people who came here (Jews) own this land.
"Therefore, there is no contradiction between what we said in the document and the pledge we have made to God in our (original) charter," Zahar added.
Regrettably, the new 2017 Hamas Charter, which claims to have revised the 1988 Charter, did not.
Article 1 states:
"Its [Hamas's] goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project. Its frame of reference is Islam, which determines its principles, objectives and means.
Article 2 makes it clear that the idea is to destroy the State of Israel and replace it with a new Arab state:
"Palestine, which extends from the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from Ras al-Naqurah in the north to Umm al-Rashrash in the south, is an integral territorial unit. It is the land and the home of the Palestinian people. The expulsion and banishment of the Palestinian people from their land and the establishment of the Zionist entity therein do not annul the right of the Palestinian people to their entire land and do not entrench any rights therein for the usurping Zionist entity".
Article 20 states:
"Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Article 22 continues:
"Hamas rejects all the agreements, initiatives and settlement projects that are aimed at undermining the Palestinian cause and the rights of our Palestinian people. In this regard, any stance, initiative or political programme must not in any way violate these rights and should not contravene them or contradict them."
Article 23 states:
"Resistance and jihad for the liberation of Palestine will remain a legitimate right, a duty and an honour for all the sons and daughters of our people and our Ummah.
The result of a legal interpretation of these documents is, sadly, that Hamas has a genocidal intent towards Israelis and Israeli Jews. Iran's Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei, trying to walk back a poster that called for a "final solution," claimed, "I want Israel destroyed, not all Jews."
Iran and Hamas have both repeatedly announced that they would like to destroy Israel as a state. Hamas, while openly asserting that it is a jihadist organization, plays a game of being a victim. Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of another Hamas co-founder, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, denounced the terrorist organization in an address at the UN on November 20, 2023:
"Today I can speak on the authority of [myself, having once been] a Palestinian child, someone who grew up in that culture...We're talking about a religious group that does not believe in political borders and wants to annihilate an entire race in order to build an Islamic state. I don't know what else can be said about this – and I don't know why it is not obvious to everybody.
"I was born at the heart of Hamas leadership... and I know them very well. They don't care for the Palestinian people... Hamas is not a national movement. Hamas is a religious movement with a goal to establish an Islamic state... They don't care for nationalism. Actually, they are against nationalism. But that's my understanding that they are using the Palestinian cause only to achieve their goals, so the long-term goal... [is] transforming the Middle East and the world into an Islamic state.... Iran is the real master in this picture.... Hamas does not serve the Palestinian people, Hamas serves Iran. Those are the masters of Hamas. So their lie about nationalism, that they are a national movement... They are using Palestinian people as a human shield."
A later report said of Yousef:
"The son of a Hamas founder said the terrorist group is even more dangerous than ISIS on Monday, adding that the mainstream media is afraid to call it a genocidal religious movement for fear of igniting a full-on religious war."
Yousef remarked in a Fox News interview:
"Hamas is a religious movement, and they are a raging religious movement against Israel. The mainstream media cannot say this because they are afraid to ignite a religious war. And what I say, it already is. They want to annihilate the Jewish people because they are Jewish people, because they are a Jewish state."
Dawid Bunikowski holds a PhD from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland (2009), and resides in North Karelia, eastern Finland. He was granted the academic title of Docent by the University of Lapland (Finland) on the request of the Arctic Centre (2022). He has published internationally, and been invited to lecture at European and non-European universities.
**Follow Dawid Bunikowski on X (formerly Twitter)
© 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.

Sleeping Secret Service
Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute/July 23, 2024
If there was to be an award given to an incompetent, even criminally negligent, Secret Service official, it would have to be called the "Parker Trophy." It would be named for John Parker who was the Washington D.C. policeman assigned to guard Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theater.
According to historians: "John Parker was an unlikely candidate to guard a president—or anyone for that matter.... Parker's record as a cop fell somewhere between pathetic and comical. He was hauled before the police board numerous times, facing a smorgasbord of charges that should have gotten him fired."
Parker may have been in a nearby saloon or somewhere in the theater gallery to watch the play when John Wilkes Booth entered Lincoln's box and shot him at point-blank range. Putting incompetence aside regarding the actions of the Secret Service in the time before the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, there are a multitude of serious strategic questions that must be addressed by that agency in the weeks to come regarding its function, management, and chain of command. Published reports reveal that Trump's campaign security people recognized potential threats to the candidate while addressing rallies and asked for expanded Secret Service support. There was a conscious decision by that agency to deny those requests. More often than not, they claimed they just didn't have the resources. If the protection of an individual who is, arguably, the most powerful individual on the planet isn't a priority, then what is? If you are the director of that agency and you don't believe you have been given the resources to do the job, then you have a solemn responsibility to inform the nation. The agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, appeared before a US House of Representatives Oversight Committee looking into the assassination attempt in a performance worthy of – well – Ford's Theater. She dodged virtually all key questions regarding accountability, oversight, and who is ultimately responsible. The obvious and immediate question that many Americans asked following the attempted murder was whether the Secret Service was directed to ignore requests for additional agents protecting Trump, or was it simply agency incompetence that led to this tragedy? The answer may never be established, but the path of American history can never again depend on who may be eligible for "The Parker Trophy."
**Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
© 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.

The Houthis in Tel Aviv
Nadim Koteich'/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
The implications of the recent drone strike on Tel Aviv that the Houthi militia in Yemen claimed responsibility for go far beyond the immediate material damage it caused. Justifying this first-of-its-kind attack on Tel Aviv as the result of a human error in assessing the threat level of the Houthi should not lead us to overlook its strategic implications, even after Israel’s massive response. What happened shows that the capabilities of the Iran-backed militia have improved significantly and that the threat they pose to Israel's security, as well as to regional security more broadly, has aggravated. It also exposes the strategic vulnerabilities of the air defense systems of all countries to the threats posed by drones- a single error, whether human or technical, is enough to prelude disaster.
Given the current aggravation of regional tensions, this incident is high up on the agendas of governments, which are now analyzing its broader implications and making strategic reassessments of how to confront the Houthis and their Iranian backers based on that analysis.
The Houthis made clear that they have bolstered their military capabilities. They have acquired advanced drones and become better at using them to carry out long-range strikes. This success is intertwined with their coordination with Iran and the militias it supports, raising alarming bells about the capacities that other militias, like Hezbollah, which are more advanced and efficient, have acquired. If we link this to the "unity of fronts" strategy and think of what could happen if an attack on Israel or any other regional state is launched from multiple fronts- with hundreds or thousands of drones sent simultaneously- the magnitude of the threat posed by Iran's network of militias enhancing their arsenal and expanding the range and scope of their operations becomes clear. Given the rapid escalation we are seeing in the Middle East, contemplating such large-scale attacks is not a theoretical exercise.
Accordingly, the implications of the recent Houthi strike go beyond the immediate security concerns it gave rise to, potentially reflecting a shift in regional dynamics and the regional balance of power.
The drone that struck a building in Tel Aviv also dealt a blow to the image of the United States in the Middle East and eroded the confidence of its allies further. This attack is yet another indication of the Biden administration’s strategic failures in the Red Sea and the disastrous repercussions of Operation Prosperity Guardian, through which Washington sought to ensure the freedom of maritime navigation. The operation did not help the US gain the trust of its European, Middle Eastern, or Asian allies, who did not support this effort, nor did it deter Iran and its proxies.
The Europeans launched their own operation, and Gulf states refused to take part, while key partners like India and China chose not to join the US initiative. Moreover, the Biden administration's decision to remove the Houthis from the terrorist list, before putting them back on it in a limited and faltering manner, signaled weakness and capitulation to Iran-backed militias, disconcerting Gulf states and reinforcing the sense of having been abandoned by the US administration. True, the growing threat posed by the Houthis could push the countries of their region to fortify the alliances they have forged against the mutual threat they all face. However, the flip side is that countries could suspend normalization and regional integration to ward off the threat posed by the Houthis and Iran, potentially freezing comprehensive peace initiatives, which require guarantees from the Americans, who are not seen as highly reliable at the moment.
The regional cooperation that we saw following the Iranian missile attack on Israel last April is under threat. Governments in the region could conclude that direct or indirect cooperation with Israel would heighten threats to their security if no reliable international guarantor provides the support and deterrence needed to sustain partnership and cooperation.
Moreover, the Houthis’ growing confidence will probably complicate the political process and peace efforts in Yemen. This would mean Yemen remaining a focal point of regional and international insecurity and economic extortion. Since Iran is the political, military, and operational backer of the Houthis, its influence in the region will grow as a result of recent developments. This, in turn, implies the consolidation of Tehran's influence in the Middle East, which will alter the balance of power in the region. The Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv is a reminder of the complexity of escalating regional threats. It highlights the urgent need for strategic shifts in military preparedness and defense policies, as well as how Iran and its proxies are dealt with politically in light of different international calculations. Will the upcoming US elections bring political change, with Donald Trump returning to the White House? A Trump victory would imply the re-establishment of deterrence against Iran and its militias, turning the page on the Biden administration’s distinct political naivety.

Reaganite America… Is Struggling With the Post-Trumpian Era
Eyad Abu Shakra'/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 23/2024
Those with better insights about former US President Donald Trump’s personal considerations, as well the Republican Party factions on the rise, can determine whether the Republicans are at an “ideological” crossroads... or not.
Many, including myself, who do not claim to have privileged information about what goes on within the Republican Party, were surprised when Trump chose J.D. (James David) Vance, a young Senator from Ohio, as his running mate for the presidential elections in November. We, the “community” of foreign observers, have seen, over the past months and even years, how much Trump succeeded in tightening his grip on a party with a long history that is traditionally known for having many “heads.”
We saw how many leaders he eliminated...and how many others he marginalized. We saw how many positions and policies were imposed on a “partisan institution.” Empowered by his simple, direct slogans, managed to swiftly ensure shifts on matters that had been mulled over and considered painstakingly until the recent past... so much so that the party is not prepared to play the game under customary terms and restrictions.
Donald Trump, who has absolute control over his base, has rebuilt the party, which now operates “his way”...
In turn, the party did not object to handing a “magician” the reins and giving him a mandate to do whatever he wants... as we saw and heard yesterday at the end of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The two historical models closest to the “Trumpian phenomenon,” be it in terms of the intensity of its right-wing politics or the extent to which it has shaped the rules of the game in the party and the country, are perhaps those of former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.
However, if the former model led to a disastrous defeat for the Republicans against Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the latter achieved historic success in 1980. For decades, it shaped not only the Republican Party but also right-wing politics throughout the Western world... This success was broadly recognized as having brought an end to the Cold War by pushing the Soviet Union to collapse.
Goldwater's extremism, which left hundreds of millions frightened by the prospect of him pushing the "nuclear button" during the Vietnam War, did not have the same effect when Reagan ran for office. His men raised the slogan "Better to be dead than red (i.e., it is better to die than surrender to communism)." No, but the message of Reagan era “hawks,” like General Alexander Haig and Minister Caspar Weinberger, was very clear about the prospect of waging a “limited” nuclear war, and especially containing the “nuclear theater” in Europe and keeping it under control.
In fact, Reaganist “hawks” dragged Moscow into a costly “Star Wars” that the Russians did not have the economic capacity to wage. Thus, the series of Soviet “surrenders” began under Mikhail Gorbachev, who was delighted to hear Western officials speak of his “wisdom” and “vision.” In the end, the Soviet Union collapsed and the two halves of Germany were reunified... The Warsaw Pact collapsed, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization grew, with its expansion reaching Ukraine!
Three domestic pillars laid the foundation for the success of the Reaganite model, both within the Republican Party and across the United States.
The first pillar is market liberalization and reducing the state’s role in the economy, which Reagan and his economic team called “small government” and came to be known as Reaganomics.
The second pillar is the powerful grip of the military on foreign policy, which underlined the United States' status as the world’s only superpower.
The third and last pillar was making intellectual and social commitment to (Evangelical) “Christian conservatism” the safeguard of America’s unilateral global leadership. Thus pastors and “Evangelists” like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, garnered unprecedented political influence.
Yesterday, following the Milwaukee convention, observers argued that J.D. Vance (39 years old) being chosen as Vice President marked the beginning of a new phase in the course of the Republican Party’s history. Although it may be too early to know for sure what Vance will manage to do when he takes the helm- if he ever does- there is undoubtedly a wing within the party that the “Trumpian phenomenon” has obscured from view. This wing, if we were to understand its “philosophy” through the statements of Senator Vance before his nomination in Milwaukee, indicates that some Republicans, though with great caution, are moving away from the “three pillars” of the Reaganite model.
Foreign military and political intervention going hand in hand, an absolute commitment to the market economy, and the centrality of “Evangelicalism,” with its religious and moral teachings, do not seem like they will continue to be “taken for granted” once Trump hands Vance the reigns and the time comes to “change guard”... as they say. Supporting Ukraine- for example- does not mean much to the movement embodied by Senator Vance. Neither ensuring Europe's security through a strong and broad NATO, nor containing Vladimir Putin's ambitions, seem like priorities. Indeed, Moscow is no longer the greatest threat to US interests, as Trump was keen to remind us...Moreover, the market economics of “Reaganomics” and the “Chicago School’s” monetary Friedmanism, does not suit the states that are nationally religiously and socially conservative, or the poor states that rely on obsolete economic resources such as coal mines and traditional industries in the “Rust Belt.” Accordingly, “state intervention” is needed to push back against the cheap foreign labor and advanced technology creeping in from East Asia.
Finally, while the that Christian faith runs deep across the spectrum of the American Right- especially among rural Republicans in the “Bible Belt-” has been acknowledged, the “theology” of right-wing identity has clearly taken the back foot in favor of the “nationalist” face (“make America great again”)... Sometimes in explicitly racist terms... Targeting some minorities and large sectors of immigrants.
Yes, it may still be too early to determine what comes next for the Republicans, but it will certainly be interesting.

Is Yemen on the Brink of a Renewed Civil War?
Cian ward/This Is Beirut/July 23/2024
Yemen may be at risk of collapsing back into civil war as the increasingly empowered Houthi regime, hardening western policy and an intensifying economic war pushes the war-ravaged country towards the brink. “This is the tensest period I’ve seen since the truce, we may even have war next week”, says Mohammed al-Basha, analyst at the US-based Navanti Group. Yemen’s fragile peace may be at risk, as the Houthis increasingly empowered and radicalized by the Gaza war rally against the hardening positions of the US, and a new phase of economic war. Yemen has been trapped in a brutal decade-long civil war between the Houthis, a Zaydi revivalist movement, and the fractured factions of the Internationally Recognised Government (IRG), that according to UN estimates caused the deaths of 377,000, in what it termed as “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”In 2022, there was a glimmer of hope when a UN-brokered ceasefire was agreed and steps were established to build a durable peace. The peace has largely held but some analysts are worried that since the commencement of the Red Sea campaign it may be at risk.
Empowered Houthis
According to analysts, the Houthi campaign, targeting Israeli-linked ships passing through the Red Sea, has significantly strengthened its position within Yemen.
Last Friday, a Houthi drone struck Tel Aviv, killing one and wounding 10. This strike reflects the Houthis’ increasingly sophisticated military capacity. Although the UN currently inspects cargo entering Yemen, since October, over 500 shipments have entered Houthi-Yemen without inspection according to Basha. Basha told This is Beirut that the Houthis have long imported weapons from Iran, but that “historically you didn’t see top Iranian technology in Houthis hands. Yet now you do, they are basically sending them everything they have now.” In June, the Houthi’s unveiled a new supersonic ‘Philistine’ missile that closely resembles Iran’s most advanced ‘Fattah’ missile. The Gaza war has also allowed them to negate popular dissent, shifting anger onto a cause that is widely popular in Yemen. Prior to the Gaza war, the Houthi regime was suffering a legitimacy crisis, with dissent mounting over compounding economic problems, says Luca Nevola, researcher at ACLED.
According to Basha, the Houthis’ “support for Palestine has effectively deflected public anger and boosted their domestic legitimacy.” Every Friday, they organize mass solidarity rallies that frequently attract millions of Yemenis across the country.
With domestic legitimacy at an all-time high, the Houthis claim that record numbers are signing up to fight as part of the so-called ‘general mobilization’.Whilst this concept isn’t new, it has developed new-found momentum, with official numbers stating that over 300,000 new fighters have signed up since October. However these official numbers must be treated skeptically. According to Nevola, “the claims are unlikely, because the Houthis are simply not able to pay the salaries of 300,000 new fighters.”
Although Nevola acknowledged “that if hostilities resume, the Houthis would almost certainly be able to mobilize a lot of new fighters.” Al-Jazeera has reported that the Houthis have deployed 50,000 new fighters around the long-coveted Marib region – where key oil fields are situated.
Hardening Positions
Before October, Western policy in Yemen was centered around ending the war and containing the Houthis by normalizing the regime and binding it to a UN-led peace process, however the Red Sea campaign has precipitated a profound policy shift.
In December 2023, the US announced ‘Operation Prosperity Shield’ and the formation of an international coalition which commenced a campaign of airstrikes in January. Yet it has failed to deter the Houthis, and, according to Nevola, the Houthis have now realized that they can secure legitimacy through their role in Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’. They are no longer reliant on the peace process and international recognition, as the basis of their legitimacy. As a result, Nevola argues that “they will become less prone to accept conditions imposed by the international community in order to secure peace.” The movement’s theological underpinnings are also contributing to their increasing radicalization. “Their string of victories over the last decade has instilled in them a sense of euphoric hubris.” A belief that their victory is inevitable because “there is divine intervention on their side,” says Basha. The Houthi leader, Abd Al-Malik Al-Houthi, is increasingly portrayed as an emissary sent by God in a prophesied war which envisages the return of the Mahdi and the capture of Jerusalem. According to Nevola, coalition partners are witnessing this increasing radicalisation and realizing that in attempting to normalize the Houthis, they have harbored a long-term threat. US officials are aware that a sustained aerial campaign is pointless, pointing to the Saudi’s failure to dislodge the Houthis throughout a relentless nine-year bombing campaign. President Biden himself even acknowledged this in January. As a result, the US is seeking alternative levers to deter Houthi attacks, and are now contemplating strengthening the IRG to counter the Houthis, says Basha.
Economic Warfare
According to Mohammed al-Basha, the latest phase of “economic warfare is the largest reason we could be on the brink of renewed conflict.”In January, the US labeled the Houthis a ‘specially designated terrorist group’, a designation that prohibits actors from doing business with the Houthi-linked entities. Due to the designation, Saudi Arabia – who, as part of the ceasefire agreement, had agreed to pay $100 million per month to fund public sector salaries in Yemen, including those of Houthi fighters – was effectively blocked from making these payments. Putting at risk one of the central conditions of the ceasefire. In April, the IRG demanded all Yemeni banks relocate to Aden within 60 days, with failure to comply resulting in exclusion from the SWIFT network and money transfer services, in line with the prohibitions set out in the US’ terrorist designation. The consequence of this designation is to further isolate the Houthi economy, limiting the banking sector’s ability to process international payments – a vital necessity for a country heavily reliant on food imports. According to Nevalo, “the Houthi’s have been cornered by these measures, which have been very effective”.As a result, Abd Al-Malik Al-Houthi, is claiming in recent speeches that the US is instigating this economic war against them. US officials deny being involved in this latest phase of economic warfare. However, Luca Nevola claims that “it is highly likely that there is a coordinated effort by the IRG and US to apply more pressure to stop the attacks.” The risk is that the Houthis, under economic pressure but militarily empowered, may retaliate against the IRG, as part of a ‘legitimate’ front in defense of Palestine, by claiming the IRG is coordinating with the US-Israeli axis.
What Next?
Analysts agree that, in the event of war, the IRG would be unable to resist the Houthis.
The government, plagued by internecine infighting, previously only survived with the support of a relentless Saudi-led bombing campaign. But there is little appetite in Riyadh for a renewed conflict, and analysts think it is unlikely that they would resume their air campaign. Basha believes that the IRG will be quickly defeated in a manner similar to the US-backed Afghan government, when it also lost the protection of its patron. However, he warns that the humanitarian consequences will be profound, saying “it will have worse humanitarian implications for what is already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis … it will exacerbate food insecurity, displace more people and strain an already collapsing healthcare system.”