English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 29/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.’"
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12/10-12/:"And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.’""

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 28-29/2024
Decisive Israeli decision to respond to the crime of Majdal Shams committed by the terrorist Hezbollah
Netanyahu returns from US, heads for security meeting after Golan strike
Blinken says 'every indication' Golan rocket fired by Hezbollah
US warns Israel against escalation in Beirut: Report
Israel bombs east and south Lebanon after rocket kills 12 in Golan
NSC spokesperson condemns Majdal Shams attack, affirms US’ ‘continuous discussions’ with Lebanon, Israel
Middle East Airlines announces additional flight changes on July 29, 2024
Israel clarifies stance on Hezbollah after Majdal Shams incident: No full-scale war, just strategic strike
Lebanese PM Mikati reports: Ongoing international communications to safeguard Lebanon amid Israeli threats
US Senate majority leader says Israel has right to defend itself against Hezbollah
Macron speaks to Israel’s Netanyahu after Lebanon escalation: French presidency
Egypt stresses importance of supporting Lebanon amid escalating tensions with Israel
Lebanon’s MEA delays some Beirut flight arrivals to Monday morning
Israel launches devastating raids on Lebanon’s south
A strike from Lebanon killed 12 youths. Could that spark war between Israel and Hezbollah?
Israel vows to hit Hezbollah after rocket kills 12 on football field
Hezbollah, Lebanon or Iran: Who should bear the brunt of Israel’s response?/Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post/July 28/2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 28-29/2024
Thousands of Druze mourn youths killed in Golan rocket strike
Majdal Shams Mourning: Rocket Attack Sparks Outcry and Tensions
Incident in Majdal Shams: A Rocket Attack and Rising Tensions
Germany condemns Golan rocket incident, calls for 'cool heads'
France condemns Golan strike, urges no military escalation
Israeli forces battle Palestinian fighters in southern Gaza
Hamas mourns deaths of Palestinians in Israeli ‘Guantanamo'
Gaza civil defense says 5 killed in Israeli strike on displacement camp
Arab Parliament denounces ‘shameful international silence over Deir Al-Balah massacre’
Erdogan says Turkey might enter Israel to help Palestinians
Iran’s Khamenei formally grants Pezeshkian presidential powers
Putin threatens to restart production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 28-29/2024
He ‘Wanted to Kill as Many People as Possible’: The Persecution of Christians, June 2024/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatstone Institute/July 28, 2024
Voices of peace can find strength through unity/Ronald S. Lauder/Arab News/July 28/2024
Israel ceasefire would boost Harris’ candidacy/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/July 28/2024
Olympic-sized headaches a problem for Paris/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/July 28/2024
For North Africa, crisis is actually good/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/July 28/2024
A Weapon Against Yourself/Nic Rowan/The Lamp/July 26/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published oon July 28-29/2024

Decisive Israeli decision to respond to the crime of Majdal Shams committed by the terrorist Hezbollah
LCCC/July 29, 2024
After a lengthy meeting of the Israeli cabinet with the participation of the leaders of all military and intelligence forces, the decision was made to strike military targets belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in a strong and unprecedented manner.The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense were tasked with acting and implementing what they see fit. It is noteworthy that the expected strike is intended by the Americans and the Israelis not to lead to a comprehensive war.


Netanyahu returns from US, heads for security meeting after Golan strike
Agence France Presse/July 28, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from his U.S. trip on Sunday and swiftly headed for a security cabinet meeting after deadly rocket fire killed 12 youths in the Golan Heights. "The prime minister’s plane has landed in Israel. He is now making his way to the defense ministry" for the meeting, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Blinken says 'every indication' Golan rocket fired by Hezbollah
Agence France Presse/July 28, 2024
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that there was "every indication" that Hezbollah was behind a rocket strike in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 young people. "Every indication is that indeed the rocket was from Hezbollah. We stand by Israel's right to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks," Blinken told reporters in Japan. The Israeli military said the young people were struck on Saturday by an Iranian-made rocket carrying a 50-kilogram warhead that Iran-backed Hezbollah fired at a football field in the Druze Arab town of Majdal Shams. Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the strike. "We are determined to bring the Gaza conflict to a close. It's gone on for far too long. It's cost far too many lives. We want to see Israelis, we want to see Palestinians, we want to see Lebanese live free from the threat of conflict and violence," Blinken said. "We're in conversations with the government of Israel. And again, I emphasize its right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they're able to do that," he said in Tokyo. "But we also don't want to see the conflict escalating. We don't want to see a spread. That has been one of our goals from day one, from October 7 on, and we'll continue to do that. "But again, the best way to do that in a sustained way is to get the ceasefire in Gaza that we're working so hard on virtually every minute of the day," he said.

US warns Israel against escalation in Beirut: Report
LBCI/July 28, 2024
In the past two days, contacts have been ongoing between several major parties to avoid a wide-scale war between Lebanon and Israel. Meanwhile, US President Biden's senior adviser, Amos Hochstein, said in a phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday night that if Israel attacks Beirut in response to Hezbollah's alleged attack on Majdal Shams, the situation could get out of control, an Israeli senior official said, according to what Barak Ravid, a political reporter for Axios, reported.

Israel bombs east and south Lebanon after rocket kills 12 in Golan
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/July 28, 2024
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday vowed to "hit the enemy hard" after rocket fire -- which Israel said came from Hezbollah -- killed 12 young people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and again raised fears that the war in Gaza will spread. Iran warned Israel any new military "adventures" in Lebanon could lead to "unforeseen consequences."Israel's army called it "the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians" since the October 7 attack that began the war in Gaza and triggered regular exchanges of fire across the Lebanese border. Israel blamed Lebanon's Hezbollah for the rocket fire but the Iran-backed group -- which has regularly targeted Israeli military positions -- said it had "no connection" to the incident. Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammad Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies carrying out an attack" on the town of Majdal Shams.” It is unusual for Hezbollah to deny an attack.
Netanyahu cuts short trip
The rocket fire in Majdal Shams prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to return early from the United States to convene his security cabinet.
"Israel will not let this murderous attack go unanswered and Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for it, a price it has not paid before," Netanyahu said. The Israeli foreign ministry said Hezbollah had "crossed all red lines." Israel's military said later Sunday it hit Hezbollah targets "both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon." An Israeli drone fired two missiles at the village of Taraya in the Baalbek district, destroying a hangar and a home without causing casualties, a Lebanese security source told AFP. Simulatneous airstrikes in south Lebanon targeted al-Burj al-Shamali and Shabriha near the city of Tyre and the border towns of Tayr Harfa, Kfarkela and Khiam. Hezbollah has said its cross-border fire is an act of support for Palestinian Islamists from Hamas who have been fighting Israel' military since October 7 when they attacked southern Israel. The rocket strike on the Druze town of Majdal Shams hit a football pitch and killed young people aged 10 to 20, Israel's military said. Gallant visited the scene early Sunday, standing with security forces beside the mangled fence and abandoned scooters.
Call for restraint
In the wake of the strike, an AFP photographer saw medics carrying casualties on stretchers at the scene, where dozens of residents had gathered. The United Nations on Sunday urged "maximum restraint", in a joint statement from their special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) chief Aroldo Lazaro. Intensifying exchanges of fire "could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief," they said. The United States National Security Council condemned what it described as a "horrific attack" in Majdal Shams. The rocket fire on Majdal Shams came after an Israeli strike killed four Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon, prompting the militant group to announce a flurry of retaliatory rocket attacks against the Golan and northern Israel. Lebanon's government called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts."Rhetoric on both sides escalated once again following the rocket strike.
"Any ignorant action of the Zionist regime can lead to the broadening of the scope of instability, insecurity and war in the region," said Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani. Israel's Foreign Ministry called the incident in Majdal Shams a "massacre" that "constitutes the crossing of all red lines by Hezbollah" which the ministry accused of deliberately targeting civilians. Israel's military said its analysis showed that the rocket was launched from an area north of the village of Shebaa in southern Lebanon. Ha’il Mahmoud, a resident, told Channel 12 that children were playing football when the rocket hit the field. He said a siren was heard seconds before the rocket hit, but there was no time to take shelter. Jihan Sfadi, the principal of an elementary school, told Channel 12 that five students were among the dead: “The situation here is very difficult. Parents are crying, people are screaming outside. No one can digest what has happened.” Hezbollah on Saturday said its fighters carried out 10 different attacks using rockets and explosive drones against Israeli military posts, the last of which targeted the army command of the Haramoun Brigade in Maaleh Golani with Katyusha rockets. In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it hit the same army post with a short-range Falaq rocket. It said the attacks were in response to Israeli airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon.
U.S. intelligence officials said they have no doubts that Hezbollah carried out the attack on the Golan Heights, but it was not clear if the militant group intended the target or misfired, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly. The White House National Security Council in a statement said the U.S. “will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”Majdal Shams is a Druze town where many residents have not accepted Israeli nationality since Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. Druze traditionally follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The violence since October has killed at least 527 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters but the toll includes at least 104 civilians. On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities. Tens of thousands of residents have been displaced from the border areas in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel. In a speech to the United States Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Israel will do "whatever it must" to secure its northern border. Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said this month that if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza his group would stop cross-border attacks.

NSC spokesperson condemns Majdal Shams attack, affirms US’ ‘continuous discussions’ with Lebanon, Israel
LBCI/July 28, 2024
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson issued a statement regarding the recent rocket attack on Majdal Shams, condemning the actions of Hezbollah. Watson mentioned that the White House has been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese sides since the attack that killed several children playing soccer. She stated, "This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned." She emphasized, "Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah."Watson also noted that the United States is working on a diplomatic solution along the Blue Line that will end all attacks, allowing citizens on both sides of the border to safely return to their homes.

Middle East Airlines announces additional flight changes on July 29, 2024
LBCI/July 28, 2024
Following the earlier announcement regarding the rescheduling of flight arrivals to Beirut on July 28-29, 2024, due to technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations, Middle East Airlines has disclosed additional changes to some of its flights on July 29, 2024.

Israel clarifies stance on Hezbollah after Majdal Shams incident: No full-scale war, just strategic strike
LBCI/July 28, 2024
After the recent developments following the rocket attack in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, a recent broadcast by the Israeli Army Radio stated that Israel does not seek a full-scale war with Hezbollah. Military correspondent Doron Kadosh posted on X that the Israeli army has formulated several possible scenarios for an attack, which are now being presented to the political echelon during the situation assessment discussions. Israeli officials clarified, "We have no intention of going to an all-out war. We want to hurt Hezbollah, but without being dragged into a wide regional war." Security officials emphasized in their assessments of the political echelon, "We are ready to implement all the plans immediately and without delay." Meanwhile, following the Saturday strike, Hezbollah denied the allegations of being involved in the attack, affirming that it has no connection to the incident whatsoever.

Lebanese PM Mikati reports: Ongoing international communications to safeguard Lebanon amid Israeli threats
LBCI/July 28, 2024
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, conducted a series of diplomatic and political contacts in response to the emerging developments and repeated Israeli threats against the country. PM Mikati emphasized that the solution remains in achieving a complete ceasefire and the full implementation of Resolution 1701 "to eliminate the cycle of violence, which is futile, and to avoid escalation that complicates the situation and leads to undesirable consequences." He called for a lasting ceasefire, "as it is the only possible solution to prevent further human losses." He clarified that Lebanon's stance is understood by its "partners" and that ongoing communications are taking place on international, European, and Arab fronts to safeguard Lebanon and avert potential threats. The Prime Minister was also briefed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, on the outcomes of the ongoing communications in this context. Additionally, he conducted a series of contacts with the relevant ministers as part of the regular follow-up on their ministries' affairs.

US Senate majority leader says Israel has right to defend itself against Hezbollah

Reuters/July 28, 2024
WASHINGTON: US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday that Israel had the right to defend itself against Hezbollah, when asked about a rocket attack on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers.
Israel accused the Iran-backed group of being behind that attack while Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike that raised fears of a wider regional war. “Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah like they do against Hamas,” Schumer told CBS News in an interview.

Macron speaks to Israel’s Netanyahu after Lebanon escalation: French presidency
Reuters/July 28, 2024
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, the French presidency said in a statement, as Paris seeks to prevent a broader escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. The presidency said Macron had reminded Netanyahu that France was fully committed to doing “everything to avoid a new escalation in the region by passing messages to all parties involved in the conflict.” Israel convened its security cabinet on Sunday to discuss responding to a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children, and which Israel and the United States blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza. That conflict has spread to several fronts and risks spilling into a wider regional conflict. Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon during the day but a stronger response could follow the security meeting in Tel Aviv convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his return from a visit to Washington.
Israel has vowed retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Egypt stresses importance of supporting Lebanon amid escalating tensions with Israel
Reuters/July 28, 2024
CAIRO: Egypt stressed the importance of supporting Lebanon and “sparing it the scourge of war,” the country’s foreign ministry said on Sunday amid escalating tensions between Israel and the Iran-aligned Lebanese Hezbollah group. Cairo, a mediator in the ongoing Gaza war, also warned of the dangers of opening new war front with Lebanon. Thousands of mourners attended funeral ceremonies on Sunday for the 12 children and teenagers killed by a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as Israel vowed swift retaliation against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to several fronts and now risks spilling into a wider regional conflict. Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon overnight but a stronger response was expected following a meeting of the security cabinet at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a visit to the United States and met security officials ahead of the meeting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was every indication that the rocket that hit a sports field where children were playing football had been fired by Hezbollah and said Washington stood by Israel’s right to defend itself. But he said the US did not want a further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily air strikes and exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s MEA delays some Beirut flight arrivals to Monday morning
Reuters/July 28, 2024
MEA said in a statement that six flights incoming to Beirut overnight from London, Copenhagen and four other cities in the Middle East would be delayed.
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) said on Sunday it had delayed the departures of some incoming flights set to land in Beirut overnight to arrive on Monday morning instead. Israel vowed swift retaliation against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah after 12 children and teenagers were killed by a rocket in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. Hezbollah denied responsibility. Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been trading fire for nearly 10 months in parallel with the Gaza War, which has spread to several fronts across the region. Previous exchanges of fire have disrupted flights across the region. MEA said in a statement that six flights incoming to Beirut overnight from London, Copenhagen and four other cities in the Middle East would be delayed so that they would instead take off on Monday morning. MEA chairman Mohamad El-Hout told local broadcaster Al-Jadeed that the flight changes at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport were due to “insurance risks.”“We’re not afraid that the airport will be hit, nor do we have any information in that regard. If we were scared, we wouldn’t have left any flights (operating),” he said. Beirut airport was hit early in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. Passengers were still landing at the airport late on Sunday afternoon, according to a Reuters photographer. People were frantically checking indicator boards to see if more flights would be canceled or delayed.

Israel launches devastating raids on Lebanon’s south
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/July 28, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon on Sunday called for an international investigation into a strike that killed 12 people, including children, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, warning against a large-scale retaliation. Hezbollah rejected Israel’s accusation of bombing Majdal Shams on Saturday, saying in a statement that “the Islamic Resistance has nothing to do with the incident at all, and we categorically deny all the false claims in this regard.” After Hezbollah’s statement, Walid Jumblatt, former head of the Progressive Socialist Party — the most powerful Druze leader in Lebanon — warned against “what the Israeli enemy is doing to ignite strife, fragment the region, and target its various communities.” His warning came as Israel on Sunday morning carried out intense raids on the villages of Al-Abbassieh and Burj Al-Shamali near Tyre, southern Lebanon, causing widespread destruction. It also raided the border villages of Tayr Harfa and Khiam, and targeted a residential building in Taraya, central Bekaa, with two missiles, destroying the building but causing no casualties. The attack in Majdal Shams came hours after a raid by Israel on the southern border village of Kfarkila, in which four Hezbollah members were killed. In a statement, the Lebanese government condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians,” adding that “targeting civilians is a flagrant violation of international law and contradicts the principles of humanity.” It called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts.”Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said in a statement on Sunday that “since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has been targeting military sites and not civilians, and I don’t think that it carried out this attack in Majdal Shams.”He added: “It might be planned by other organizations ... an Israeli mistake or even an error on Hezbollah’s part, I don’t know. We need international investigation to uncover the truth.”In a joint statement, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL head of mission and force commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro condemned “the death of civilians, including young children and teenagers, in Majdal Shams,” stressing that “civilians must be protected at all times.”They urged “the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to put a stop to the ongoing intensified exchanges of fire, as they could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief.”
The UN special coordinator held a phone call with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is considered the most important channel of communication with Hezbollah. According to his press office, Berri affirmed that “Lebanon and its resistance are committed to UN Resolution 1701 and the rules of engagement by refraining from targeting civilians.”Berri added that “the resistance’s denial of involvement in the Majdal Shams incident strongly reaffirms this commitment and underscores that neither Lebanon nor the resistance is responsible for what happened.”UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said his organization was in contact with the parties to diffuse the tension. Jumblatt received a phone call from the US mediator to the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, who expressed concern over the escalating situation on the southern Lebanese front after the Majdal Shams incident.
Jumblatt tried to diffuse the situation, since most of the Majdal Shams’ residents are Druze. He said that “targeting civilians is rejected and condemned, be it in occupied Palestine, the occupied Golan, or in southern Lebanon,” adding that “the history of the Israeli enemy is filled with massacres against civilians.”
Activists and supporters on TV channels and social media platforms denied Hezbollah’s involvement in the Majdal Shams attack, noting that “there are no settlers in Majdal Shams for the party to target, and it knows that.”
Hezbollah’s denial was to no avail, as the Israeli army insisted on holding the party responsible for launching the rocket. Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said: “Ali Mohammed Yahya, the commander of the launch complex in the Shebaa area, ordered the firing of rockets toward the village of Majdal Shams.”The Israeli raids on Lebanon on Sunday caused enormous destruction but did not result in any human casualties. The raids targeted two large hangars in Al-Abbassieh and Burj Al-Shemali. The regular raids on the area since the start of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have caused panic among residents, damaging dozens of houses and apartments. A Lebanese security source said: “Seven Israeli warplanes carried out the raids simultaneously.”Adraee claimed that the raids hit Hezbollah targets in seven different areas across Lebanon, deep into Lebanon and its south, including weapons depots and infrastructure. Hezbollah responded to the attacks by targeting “the positioning of Israeli soldiers in the Manara settlement,” according to a statement from the party.
Israeli officials on Sunday continued to vow to make Hezbollah pay.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “This is a very difficult and painful event for these children. It is a terrible tragedy. Hezbollah is responsible for this and it will pay.”Gallant was speaking during a visit to Majdal Shams, where funeral processions were held for its victims. Israeli Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi visited Majdal Shams on Saturday evening, according to Adraee. Gen. Halevi inspected the football field that was hit, confirming the readiness for the next phase of combat in the north. “We know exactly where the rocket was fired from,” he said. “We examined the remnants of the rocket on the walls of the football field here. “We can say it was a Falaq rocket with a warhead weighing 53 kg. This is a Hezbollah rocket. Whoever fires such a rocket toward a populated area intends to kill civilians, intends to kill children.” Reuters reported, citing two security sources, that Hezbollah “is on high alert and has evacuated some key sites in eastern and southern Lebanon.” France and Norway called on their citizens “to avoid traveling to Lebanon and Israel” and asked those in the country to leave Lebanon.

A strike from Lebanon killed 12 youths. Could that spark war between Israel and Hezbollah?
Melanie Lidman And Samy Magdy/TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)/July 28, 2024
The Middle East braced for a potential flare-up in violence on Sunday after Israeli authorities said a rocket from Lebanon struck a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 children and teens in what the military called the deadliest attack on civilians since Oct. 7. It raised fears of a broader regional war between Israel and Hezbollah, which in a rare move denied it was responsible. Overnight, the Israeli military said it struck a number of targets inside Lebanon, though their intensity was similar to months of cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollah said it also carried out strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Saturday’s attack came at a sensitive time. Israel and Hamas are negotiating a cease-fire proposal to end the nearly 10-month war in Gaza.
Here is a look at the broader repercussions:
What happened?
On Saturday, a rocket slammed into a soccer field where dozens of children and teens were playing in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) south of Lebanon and next to the Syrian border. Twelve were killed and 20 others wounded, according to the Israeli military. One 11-year-old was missing, residents told Israeli media. “I feel darkness inside and out. Nothing like this happened here,” resident Anan Abu Saleh said. “There’s no way to explain this. I saw children, I don’t want to say what I saw, but it's horrible, really horrible. We need more security.” On Sunday, the coffins passed through a crowd of thousands. The Druze are a religious sect that began as an offshoot of Shiite Islam. There are Druze communities in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. There are about 140,000 Druze in Israel and 25,000 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, according to Yusri Hazran of the Hebrew University. The Druze are considered among Israel’s most loyal citizens, although those in the Golan Heights have a more fraught relationship with authorities. Israel captured the Golan, a strategic plateau, from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981. Much of the international community considers the area to be occupied territory. While Druze leaders in the Golan profess allegiance to Syria, relations with Israel are normally good. “Big anger, big, big. I have no feelings that I can explain to you,” said Hassan Shakir, a Majdal Shams resident.
What could this mean for a wider war?
Attacks along the Israel-Lebanon border have simmered below the threshold of all-out war since the start of the conflict in Gaza. But the toll and young victims in Saturday's attack could push Israel to respond more severely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried home from the U.S. after the strike and warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far.” Israeli military’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said a Falaq rocket with a 53-kilogram warhead that belonged to Hezbollah was fired. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that “every indication" showed the rocket came from Hezbollah. He said Israel had a right to defend itself but the U.S. didn’t want the conflict to escalate. Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel the day after Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7. Israel has responded by targeting what it says is Hezbollah’s military infrastructure with airstrikes and drones. Most attacks have been confined to border areas, though Israel has assassinated Hezbollah and Hamas leadership farther north in Lebanon. Tens of thousands of people along the border have evacuated. Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 500 people, mostly Hezbollah members but also around 90 civilians. On the Israeli side, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed. Hezbollah has far superior firepower to Hamas. Igniting a war in Israel’s north while it's engaged in Gaza would overburden the military, Barak Ben-Zur, a researcher at the International Institute of Counter-Terrorism, told journalists: “We are not, let’s say, capable to do it in both places and at the same time.” In Lebanon, some prepared for more fire from Israel. Lebanon’s national airline announced it had postponed the Beirut arrival of seven flights until Monday morning, without saying why. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had urgent calls with diplomats and politicians, his office said. “I doubt that there will be a strike, but nothing is far-fetched when it comes to the enemy,” said Abdallah Dalal, a resident of the Lebanese border village of Chebaa. Israeli officials have said the rocket that hit Majdal Shams was fired nearby. Any conflict could bring in Iran, which warned Israel that a strong reaction to the Golan Heights strike would lead to “unprecedented consequences.” Iran and Israel's shadow war burst into the open in April, when Iran launched 300 missiles and drones at Israel, most of them intercepted, in response to the killing of an Iranian general.
The United Nations secretary-general called for maximum restraint by all parties.
How could this impact the war in Gaza?
An Egyptian official said the attack in the Golan Heights could give urgency to negotiations to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza. “Both fronts are connected,” he said. “A cease-fire in Gaza will lead to a cease-fire with Hezbollah.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the sensitive talks with the media. In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry called on all influential international players to “intervene immediately to spare the peoples of the region further disastrous consequences of the expansion of the conflict.”
Officials from the United States, Egypt and Qatar were meeting Sunday with Israeli officials in Rome in the latest push for a deal. The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, later returned home and negotiations will continue in the coming days, Netanyahu's office said.

Israel vows to hit Hezbollah after rocket kills 12 on football field
Avi Ohayon/MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (Reuters)/Sun, July 28, 2024
Thousands of mourners attended funeral ceremonies on Sunday for the 12 children and teenagers killed by a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as Israel vowed swift retaliation against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza. That conflict has spread to several fronts and now risks spilling into a wider regional conflict. Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon overnight but a stronger response was expected following a meeting of the security cabinet at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a visit to the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was every indication that the rocket, which hit a sports field where children were playing football, had been fired by Hezbollah and said Washington stood by Israel's right to defend itself. But he said the U.S. did not want a further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the border. Britain expressed concern at further escalation while Egypt said the attack could spill "into a comprehensive regional war."On the ground, families gathered for funerals in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised by most countries. Members of the Druze faith, which is related to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, make up more than half the 40,000-strong population of the Golan Heights. Large crowds of mourners, many in traditional high white and red Druze headwear, surrounded the caskets as they were carried through the village.
"A heavy tragedy, a dark day has come to Majdal Shams," said Dolan Abu Saleh, head of the Majdal Shams local council, in comments broadcast on Israeli television.Hezbollah initially had announced it fired rockets at Israeli military sites in the Golan Heights, but said it had "absolutely nothing" to do with the attack on Majdal Shams.
ISRAEL BLAMES HEZBOLLAH
However, Israel said the rocket was an Iranian-made missile fired from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon, placing the blame squarely on the Iranian-backed group and saying Hezbollah was "unequivocally responsible". It was not immediately clear if the children and teenagers killed in the strike were Israeli citizens, but Israeli officials have vowed retaliation. "The rocket that murdered our boys and girls was an Iranian rocket and Hezbollah is the only terror organization which has those in its arsenal," Israel's foreign ministry said. Two security sources told Reuters Hezbollah was on high alert and had cleared out some key sites in both Lebanon's south and the eastern Bekaa Valley in case of an Israeli attack. Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it was delaying the arrival of some flights from Sunday night to Monday morning, without stating why. In the southern port city of Tyre, a little over 20 km (12 miles) from the border, beachgoers were still streaming to the coast. "There's fear that Israel will react, but people are living their life normally," said Ali Husseini, manager of a beachside business in Tyr. Israeli forces have been exchanging fire for months with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon but both sides have appeared to be avoiding an escalation that could lead to all-out war, potentially dragging in other powers including the United States and Iran. However, Saturday's strike threatened to tip the standoff into a more dangerous phase. United Nations officials urged maximum restraint from both sides, warning that escalation could "engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief."Lebanon has asked the U.S to urge restraint from Israel, Lebanon's foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters. Bou Habib said the U.S. had asked Lebanon's government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to show restraint as well.
ALL-OUT WAR FEARED
Iran's foreign ministry warned Israel on Sunday against what it called any new adventure in Lebanon. Syria's foreign ministry said it held Israel "fully responsible for this dangerous escalation in the region" and said its accusations against Hezbollah were false. Two diplomats focused on Lebanon said all efforts were now needed to avoid an all-out war. The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in both Lebanon and Israel to leave their homes. Israeli strikes have killed some 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists. The Israeli military said after Saturday's attack the death toll among civilians killed in Hezbollah attacks had risen to 23 since October, along with at least 17 soldiers. Hezbollah is the most powerful of a network of Iran-backed groups across the Middle East and opened a second front against Israel shortly after Hamas' Oct. 7 assault. Iraqi groups and the Houthis of Yemen have both fired at Israel, which earlier this month attacked the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in retaliation for a strike on Tel Aviv that killed one person. Hamas has also carried out rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon, as has the Lebanese Sunni group, the Jama'a Islamiya.
Druze communities live on both sides of the line between southern Lebanon and northern Israel as well as in the Golan Heights and Syria. While some serve in the Israeli military and identify with Israel, many feel marginalized in Israel and some also reject Israeli citizenship.

Hezbollah, Lebanon or Iran: Who should bear the brunt of Israel’s response? - analysis
Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post/July 28/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/132575/
The choices – diplomacy or waging war against Hezbollah, Lebanon, or Iran – are not mutually exclusive.
The Falaq-1 rocket that killed 12 children and injured dozens in Majdal Shams on Saturday was made in Iran and fired by Hezbollah from Lebanese territory.
There are, therefore, three legitimate targets for Israel to retaliate against: Iran, Hezbollah, and Lebanon. The question before Israel’s decision-makers is which is the better option? Which has the better chance of ensuring that this is something that does not happen again?
Some will argue that there is a fourth option: diplomacy. According to this reasoning, Israel now has international legitimacy to retaliate strongly in light of Saturday’s attacks. The world, however, is warning against an escalation that could trigger a regional war. The Americans don’t want it, the Europeans don’t want it, and even the moderate Arab states don’t want it.
To prevent it, according to this argument, now is the perfect time for Israel to condition restraint on getting the world to step in and implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. That resolution put an end to the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and, among its numerous clauses, called for a demilitarized zone from Israel’s border to the Litani River, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the prevention of shipping arms into Lebanon except with the Lebanese government’s consent. Is this a long shot? Extremely so. Yet, it is not one that Israel has totally abandoned. Indeed, the Foreign Ministry released a statement on Sunday indicating that it still holds out some slight hope that this might transpire.
“The only way that the world can prevent a full-scale war, which would be devastating, also to Lebanon, is by forcing Hezbollah to implement Security Council Resolution 1701. Now is the very last minute to do so diplomatically,” the statement read.
That the Foreign Ministry released this statement even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushing home from the United States to convene a Security Cabinet meeting on the matter, and as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi were threatening, once again, to pound Hezbollah, indicating that despite what happened in Majdal Shams on Saturday, the idea that the untenable situation in the North can be solved without a full-out war was still an option. A very slim option, but one nonetheless: Take advantage of the world’s concern about a massive Israeli response to get the world to take action to disarm and remove Hezbollah from Israel’s northern border.
In the strong likelihood that this does not happen, then the question arises: Whom should Israel go to war against?
Who should Israel go to war against?
The most obvious option is Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is firing missiles and rockets at Israel and has been doing so incessantly since October 8. Israel’s response has been to go after the sources of the fire and more – including pinpoint hits on some of the organization’s top leaders. It has killed at least 381 Hezbollah terrorists – at least that is how many Hezbollah admits have been killed – and nearly 70 terrorists from other organizations, including Hamas. Israel has also attacked Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon, something that has emptied many of the villages of their residents.
Yet Hezbollah has not been deterred and continues to fire into Israel. Israel can strike a much harder blow against the organization, including in Beirut. But Hezbollah would still be able to replenish its lost manpower from its strongholds in Lebanon and replenish its arms from Iran.
Furthermore, Hezbollah, like Hamas, uses human shields without compunction. This means that the international legitimacy that Israel now has for striking at Hezbollah as a result of the Majdal Shams atrocity would likely evaporate as soon as the television cameras begin broadcasting images of Lebanese civilians killed by Israel in the crossfire.
In addition, with a missile arsenal that would make a small NATO nation proud, Hezbollah would undoubtedly respond by attacking Israeli infrastructure and the home front. A war with Hezbollah would likely not be conclusive and end up in another ceasefire, which the organization would – as it did the last time – undoubtedly violate.The second option is to fight Lebanon, not Hezbollah, meaning destroying the country’s infrastructure.
Hezbollah operates from Lebanese territory and is a part of the Lebanese government. Some argue that it makes no sense only to target Hezbollah and let Lebanon off scot-free. Hezbollah has justified its presence in Lebanon for years as being the country’s protector, but if – instead of protecting the country – the Lebanese themselves see it as the cause of the country’s destruction, then the terrorist organization might very well lose the legitimacy and support inside Lebanon that ultimately enables it to operate.
According to this argument, Hezbollah cares about its standing among the Lebanese population, so if Israel badly hits Lebanese infrastructure – and if large swaths of Beirut are destroyed – then the wrath in Lebanon will be turned on Hezbollah. While Hezbollah might be willing to sacrifice Lebanon to its Iranian paymasters, the Lebanese themselves are apparently less enamored of that notion.
The Iranian foreign ministry, on Sunday, warned Israel against any military “adventures” in Lebanon, saying this could lead to “the broadening of the scope of instability, insecurity, and war in the region.”
In other words, Iran was warning Israel that if the Jewish state takes strong action, then Iran will get involved. If that is the case, why not take the fight to Iran itself – the third option?
Hezbollah is a wholly run subsidiary of Iran and does its bidding. As then-education minister Naftali Bennett articulated already in 2017, the Iranians have developed a brilliant game plan whereby they can use their proxies to attack Israel – Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias – yet remain immune themselves. When Hamas strikes, Israel goes after Hamas. Last Saturday, Israel showed that when the Houthis hit long enough and kill someone in Tel Aviv, Israel will lash out at the Houthis. And when Hezbollah hits, Israel strikes back at Hezbollah.It doesn’t, except in rare instances, strike back against Iran. Or, as Bennett put it, Iran has immunity. In his words, Iran is the head of the octopus that has its tentacles surrounding Israel; and Israel fights the tentacles but – for the most part – leaves the head alone. The third option about whom to hit in response to the Majdal Shams massacre is to strike Iran.
If Iran’s foreign ministry hints that Israel will face action by the Islamic Republic if it retaliates forcefully against Hezbollah, then why not strike directly at Iran – if they are going to hit Israel anyway if strong action is taken against Hezbollah – and forego the middleman?
The reason not to do so is to avoid a wider Middle East war. But such a war – given Iran’s genocidal designs – may be inevitable. Perhaps the only way to prevent it is to already make it clear to Iran that it is very much not worth its while.
The choices – diplomacy or waging war against Hezbollah, Lebanon, or Iran – are not mutually exclusive. For example, while holding out the hope for a diplomatic solution, Israel could demonstrate its resolve by taking some action against all three – hit various Hezbollah positions, a few strategic Lebanese infrastructure facilities, and a target in Iran – to indicate that it is serious about not tolerating the situation in the North any longer, and that if the world does not insist on changes in Lebanon, then the wider Mideast regional war that everyone dreads may be unavoidable.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 27-28/2024
Thousands of Druze mourn youths killed in Golan rocket strike
Agence France Presse/July 28, 2024
Weeping men carried small coffins at a funeral ceremony attended by thousands from the Druze community on Sunday for many of the 12 youths killed in a rocket strike on the Israeli annexed Golan Heights. The Israeli military said they were struck on Saturday by an Iranian-made rocket carrying a 50-kilogram warhead that Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired at a football field in the Druze Arab town of Majdal Shams. Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the strike. Local authorities said the dead were aged between 10 and 16 years. The Druze follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Hundreds of men dressed in traditional attire, including white caps topped with red, attended the ceremonies which saw coffins borne through the crowded narrow streets of the town, which came to a standstill. Others lined balconies to look down on the procession of white-covered caskets with white roses and gypsophila resting on top. Under a scorching sun, some mourners carried large photos of the dead children, including one boy wearing a suit. Earlier, several women dressed in black abaya robes cried as they laid flowers on the caskets, an AFP correspondent reported. 'We lost children'  "Every night, every day, every minute we are worried. It's been like this for 10 months," Laith, a 42-year-old nurse who gave only his first name, told AFP. Since October when war in the Gaza strip began, Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah have regularly exchanged fire over the border. "Everybody you see here is worried all the time," Laith said. "We are so very sad. We lost children, children playing football." It is the first time Majdal Shams has experienced such a loss during the war and it has hit hard, said Fadi Mahmoud, 48, who works in construction sector. "Our community is very close-knit. These children are like children of everybody in the village," he said. Checkpoints have been set up at the entrance to every village in the Golan. Israel's army called Saturday's rocket strike "the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians" since the October 7 attack by Hamas Palestinian militants on southern Israel that triggered war in Gaza. In Majdal Shams many residents have not accepted Israeli nationality since Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. Israel vowed to strike back "hard" after the rocket strike, and Iran warned Israel against any new military "adventures" in Lebanon. But Ziyad, 63, who gave only a first name, said Majdal Shams doesn't want to see an escalation. "Most people want to be in their house and deal with their grief. This is what is needed as opposed to overreacting," he said. Violence since October has killed at least 527 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but the toll includes at least 104 civilians. According to Israel's army, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed so far in northern Israel.

Majdal Shams Mourning: Rocket Attack Sparks Outcry and Tensions
LBCI/July 28, 2024
Amid the funeral ceremonies for twelve children and youths killed in the targeted attack on the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and among thousands of participants, contradictory emotions prevailed among the Golan residents regarding the outcomes of what was considered the largest security incident in the north since the beginning of the war. A few called for a harsh response against Lebanon and the targeting of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. However, the majority blamed Netanyahu's government for the deaths of their children, citing its stubborn policy of continuing the war and treating this occupied area as a second-class region. This group criticized the blatant discrimination between them and the Golan settlers, leaving them without the minimum guarantee of their security and without shelters. Government ministers rushed to attend the funerals, but most were expelled by Golan youths, led by Bezalel Smotrich, who left quickly after being labeled a killer and a thug dancing on the blood of their children, as one young man shouted. During the peak of the funeral ceremonies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from Washington and immediately held a reduced consultation session with the Defense Minister, the Chief of Staff, and security leaders. This was followed by a session of the security cabinet, which witnessed heated discussions between representatives like Smotrich and Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called for an immediate war reaching Beirut and targeting Lebanon's infrastructure, and those who called for an exceptional and unprecedented response that would not deteriorate into a full-scale war. Meanwhile, the army found it difficult to propose a middle-ground solution to respond to the incident during a meeting of the Northern Command, attended by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, where multiple plans were discussed along with the army's preparedness for war in Lebanon, awaiting political approval. The Golan operation heightened the tension on the northern front. Security and political officials emphasized the importance of ending the war in Gaza and returning the prisoners, warning against the continuation of the government's policy towards the northern front without a decisive resolution. The occupied Syrian Golan paid the heavy price on the northern front, while reports discussed in the security cabinet confirmed that Israel is not prepared to enter a wide-scale war with Lebanon, and it would be better not to embark on such a war due to the difficulty of predicting its repercussions, not only in terms of its potential regional expansion but also regarding the internal readiness for such a conflict.

Incident in Majdal Shams: A Rocket Attack and Rising Tensions
LBCI/July 28, 2024
In the Druze town of Majdal Shams, located in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, hundreds were present in a football field when a rocket struck, causing an explosion that killed twelve young people and children.
Israel has determined that the rocket, which it claims was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 with a 50-kilogram explosive warhead, was launched from the vicinity of Shebaa. It named Ali Mohammed Yahya as the responsible party, asserting that only Hezbollah possesses such rockets. However, Hezbollah issued a statement vehemently denying any connection to the alleged attack on Majdal Shams. Reuters reported that two security sources indicated Hezbollah was on high alert and had evacuated some positions in southern and eastern Lebanon. Hezbollah told LBCI that it never remains silent about any operation it conducts against Israel, no matter how small. Hence, its denial stands firm, noting that there were contacts urging the party not to escalate if Israel responded violently. Hezbollah's response was to wait and see Israel's actions before deciding on their course of action. Meanwhile, the government issued a statement condemning acts of violence against civilians. Though the statement did not specify the perpetrator, it called for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts. Fearing the situation could spiral out of control, rapid communications occurred on multiple fronts, especially involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. US envoy Amos Hochstein contacted several Lebanese officials, including Speaker Berri, Prime Minister Mikati, former leader of the Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt, and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. Government sources told LBCI that communications continued until dawn, especially with Hochstein, and that there was significant U.S. pressure on Israel to avoid escalation. Lebanese officials informed Hochstein that no Lebanese faction, including Hezbollah, desired war. Sources further revealed that Lebanon understood from the contacts that neither the Republican nor Democratic parties in the United States encouraged Netanyahu to embark on any military adventure, warning him against expanding the conflict on the Lebanese front. Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters that the United States requested the Lebanese government to convey a message to Hezbollah urging restraint. Lebanon, in turn, called on the US to press Israel to exercise restraint, warning that any Israeli attack on Lebanon would lead to a regional war. In a joint statement, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Janine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Commander General Aroldo Lázaro expressed their condemnation of the killing of the young civilians in Majdal Shams. They urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid sparking a broader conflict that could plunge the entire region into an unimaginable catastrophe. Efforts are intensifying to prevent further deterioration. Will they succeed in yielding positive results?

Germany condemns Golan rocket incident, calls for 'cool heads'
Agence France Presse/July 28, 2024
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday condemned what she said was the "deplorable" rocket attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, which killed 12 people, and called for "cool heads" in response. "The perfidious attacks must stop immediately. It is important to act with cool heads. Far too many people have died already in this conflict," Baerbock wrote on X in reference to the Gaza war, which risks spreading to Lebanon.

France condemns Golan strike, urges no military escalation
Agence France Presse/July 28, 2024
France’s foreign ministry on Sunday condemned the rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, which killed 12 people, and urged belligerents to avoid escalation. "France condemns in the strongest terms the particularly fatal attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights," the ministry said, calling for "everything to be done to avoid a new military escalation."

Israeli forces battle Palestinian fighters in southern Gaza
Nidal al-Mughrabi/CAIRO (Reuters)/Sun, July 28, 2024
CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli troops backed by air strikes battled groups of Palestinian fighters around Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, as they continued a week-long operation they said was meant to clear Islamist Hamas militants. A week after ordering civilians to evacuate the area, tanks pushed into the towns of Al-Karara, Al-Zanna, and Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, where medics said at least 34 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes. Residents reported fierce fighting as thousands of Palestinians, many displaced multiple times, headed to the overcrowded areas in Al-Mawasi southwest of Khan Younis, and northwards to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The days of fighting in Khan Younis underscored the fierce resistance Israeli forces have encountered almost 10 months after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct 7 that triggered Israel's campaign in Gaza.
Israel blames Hamas for concealing fighters in civilian areas and says its forces do everything possible to limit civilian casualties. But the head of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini, said the evacuation orders by the Israeli military were compounding Palestinians' suffering. "Quite often, people have just a few hours to pack whatever they can & start all over again, mostly on foot or on a crowded donkey cart for those who can afford it," he said in a post on the social media platform X. One air strike on a tented area in Al-Mawasi, a district designated as a humanitarian safe zone where the army has told people to move to, killed five people including a four-month-old girl named Maria Abu Ziada, local media reported. The Israeli military said it was aware of the report and looking into it. The military launched the operation in Khan Younis in response to what it said were repeated attacks including rocket fire from armed fighters. Fighting has also continued in other areas, including Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, in the Tel Al-Hawa suburb of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave and in central Gaza, where the military told people to evacuate and move to Al-Mawasi "immediately for their safety."
CIA'S BURNS MEETS NEGOTIATORS IN ROME
The fighting continued as negotiators from Israel, Egypt and Qatar met CIA Director William Burns in Rome where they discussed what Israel called "clarifications regarding the draft agreement that was conveyed from Israel."Negotiations on the main issues will continue in coming days, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said. Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the conflict will stop only once Hamas is defeated. Israeli public broadcaster Kan said Israel's response to the latest proposal was handed to Washington on Saturday ahead of the expected meeting - the latest effort to reach an agreement after months in which Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the stalemate. Israel said on Sunday it would strike hard against Hamas ally Hezbollah after accusing the Iranian-backed group of killing 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack on a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The attack escalated hostilities, which have been fought in parallel to the Gaza war and have raised fears of a full-blown conflict between the heavily armed adversaries. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants. Israel, which has lost around 330 soldiers in combat in Gaza, estimates that fighters account for about a third of the Palestinians killed since it launched its offensive in response to a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies.

Hamas mourns deaths of Palestinians in Israeli ‘Guantanamo'
Adam Schrader/July 28 (UPI)/July 28, 2024
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh released a statement Sunday mourning the deaths of Palestinian civilians who have died in Israeli prisons. Haniyeh said there has been an "unprecedented increase" in the number of prisoners killed in occupation prisons and detention centers, and he condemned Israel for a "systematic blackout" preventing people from seeing prisoner conditions in "Guantanamo Israel," referring to the notorious Ofer Prison. He accused Israel of engaging in "psychological and physical torture" of Palestinians as well as slowly killing them and depriving them of treatment, food and medicine. Haniyeh's statement comes as he called on Aug. 3 to mark a day of global action to support for Gaza and its prisoners taken by Israel. The Palestinian Commission of Prisoner's Affairs released a statement Sunday naming one of the prisoners who was killed by Israeli authorities. Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara was killed at the Rimon Prison during a "systematic medical crime targeting him."Abu Ara was also subjected to severe beatings and torture during his detention, the commission alleged. Before his death, he had been arrested several times and spent a total of 12 years in Israeli prisons. The commission also provided the names of 74 people who face new or renewed orders of administrative detention, a practice by which Israeli authorities can detain Palestinians indefinitely without charges, which Palestinians have likened to kidnapping.Among them is journalist Nidal Abu Aker from Bethlehem, who is considered one of the most prominent people under Israeli detention. His radio program traces the movement of prisoners inside Israeli jails and passes on prisoners' messages to the Palestinian public. Over the years, the journalist has spent many years in administrative detention, but with the new order, he has exceeded two years in administrative detention continuously without facing charges. The commission noted that there have been at least seven attempts of suicide by Palestinian prisoners because of the "bad conditions" at the prisons and "brutality of the jailers."Recent abuse allegations include a detainee who was burned by scalding hot water while taking a shower and another who had his cancer treatment canceled before he was beatten by the guards and returned to his cell. Earlier this month, the commission revealed that nearly 10,000 people from Palestine are currently being detained by Israeli authorities. At that time, the commission said that Rami Abu Mustafa, a Palestinian man suffering from mental problems, had died in Gaza after he was released from Israeli detention. The commission noted he had been "subjected to torture, unprecedented in its level and intensity." The commission called Mustafa a victim of "medical crimes" and the "crime of starvation" with the thousands of other Palestinians who are often held indefinitely without charges in Israeli prisons. And at least two women who have been detained by Israel are pregnant as conditions, including sexual harassment by their Israeli guards, continue to worsen for Palestinian prisoners. More than 3,400 Palestinians are currently under "administrative detention," a practice decried by the human rights group Amnesty International. The group has said the practice "dramatically increased" after the war began. Palestinians and their supporters often equate it to kidnapping. Amnesty International has documented cases of Israeli soldiers torturing Palestinian detainees, including "severe beatings" and "humiliation." The human rights group said that such torture had been occurring "for decades" before Hamas' attack Oct. 7. And, Israeli forces have continued to detain dozens of journalists and healthcare workers in Gaza.

Gaza civil defense says 5 killed in Israeli strike on displacement camp
AFP/July 28, 2024
GAZA STRIP: The civil defense agency in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike Sunday hit tents at a declared safe zone in the Palestinian territory’s south, killing at least five people. A witness told AFP a newborn was among the dead in Al-Mawasi near Khan Yunis city, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from the war, now nearing its 11th month. Since Monday, Israeli forces have operated in and around Khan Yunis including in parts of the coastal area of Al-Mawasi. “Today, the Israeli occupation targeted... the tents of displaced people on Al-Istable street in Al-Mawasi,” Muhammad Al-Mughayyir of the Gaza civil defense agency told AFP. “Five martyrs and seven wounded have been transferred to Nasser hospital” in Khan Yunis, he said. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. Miriam Al-Astal who lives in Al-Mawasi said a newborn baby was killed. “We were sitting in the tents... when suddenly we heard an explosion,” she told AFP. “I swear” there was no militant activity in the area, she said. Israel had warned on Monday its forces would “forcefully operate” in the Khan Yunis area — from which troops withdrew in April — and on Saturday the civil defense agency said that 170 people have been killed by the renewed fighting and military operations. The military said its latest operations there were to prevent rocket fire. On Wednesday it also announced troops had retrieved the bodies of five Israelis seized by militants during Hamas’s October 7 attack and held in Gaza. The attack on southern Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized 251 hostages during the attack, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,324 people, according to the territory’s health ministry which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.

Arab Parliament denounces ‘shameful international silence over Deir Al-Balah massacre’
Gobran Mohamed/Arab News/July 28, 2024
CAIRO: There was widespread condemnation on Sunday of Israeli airstrikes on a school used by displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Saturday, which killed at least 30 people, including several children. The Arab Parliament condemned the “brutal targeting and heinous massacre committed by Israel forces against unarmed Palestinian civilians inside a field hospital in a school housing thousands of displaced people in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip.”The Arab Parliament also denounced the “shameful international silence on the crimes of the Israeli occupation entity and the failure to deter and hold it accountable for its crimes against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly.” It described the aggression as “a cowardly terrorist act, a shameful crime, and a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.” The parliament called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to assume their responsibilities and pressure the Israeli “occupation entity to stop the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and provide international protection for Palestinian civilians.” The call urged international, regional and European parliaments to pressure their governments to take action in all international forums to stand by the Palestinian people, who are being subjected to the most heinous crimes. It said the international community should hold the occupying entity “accountable and bring it before the International Criminal Court to investigate the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing it is practicing against the Palestinian people.”

Erdogan says Turkey might enter Israel to help Palestinians
Reuters/July 28, 2024
ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey might enter Israel as it had done in the past in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, though he did not spell out what sort of intervention he was suggesting. Erdogan, who has been a fierce critic of Israel's offensive in Gaza, started discussing that war during a speech praising his country's defence industry. "We must be very strong so that Israel can't do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them," Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party in his hometown of Rize. "There is no reason why we cannot do this ... We must be strong so that we can take these steps," Erdogan added in the televised address. AK Party representatives did not respond to calls asking for more detail on Erdogan's comments. Israel did not immediately make any comment. The president appeared to be referring to past actions by Turkey. In 2020, Turkey sent military personnel to Libya in support of the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord of Libya. Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, who heads the Government of National Unity in Tripoli, is backed by Turkey. Turkey has denied any direct role in Azerbaijan's military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, but said last year it was using "all means", including military training and modernisation, to support its close ally.

Iran’s Khamenei formally grants Pezeshkian presidential powers
AFP/July 28, 2024
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave Sunday his official endorsement of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as the Islamic republic’s ninth president, following snap elections that had concluded earlier this month. In a message read by the director of Khamenei’s office, he said: “I endorse the vote (for) the wise, honest, popular and scholarly Mr.Pezeshkian, and I am appointing him as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”The new president is due to be sworn in before parliament on Tuesday. The endorsement ceremony was held in the capital Tehran in the presence of senior Iranian officials and foreign diplomats, and broadcast on state TV. Pezeshkian won a runoff election on July 5 against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili to replace president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May. The 69-year-old reformist secured more than 16 million votes, or about 54 percent of the roughly 30 million ballots cast. Turnout in the runoff election stood at 49.8 percent, up from a record low of about 40 percent in the first round, according to Iran’s electoral authority. Jalili attended Sunday’s ceremony, as did former moderate president Hassan Rouhani who had backed Pezeshkian’s presidential bid along with Iran’s main reformist coalition. Pezeshkian was the only candidate representing Iran’s reformist camp allowed to stand in the election, for which all contenders were approved by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council. Iran’s president is not head of state, and the ultimate authority rests with the supreme leader — a post held by Khamenei for the last 35 years. Following Khamenei’s official endorsement, Pezeshkian thanked the leader and the Iranian people, vowing to carry the “heavy burden” of the presidency. The election came against a backdrop of heightened regional tensions since the Gaza war began in early October, disputes with Western powers over Iran’s nuclear program, and domestic discontent over the state of the sanctions-hit economy. On the campaign trail, Pezeshkian had pledged to try to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. The deal collapsed in 2018 after Washington withdrew from it. Pezeshkian has in a recent article called for “constructive relations” with European countries, even though he accused them of reneging on commitments to mitigate the impact of US sanctions. Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon who has represented the northwestern city of Tabriz in parliament since 2008. He served as health minister under Iran’s last reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who held office from 1997 to 2005.

Putin threatens to restart production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons
Agence France Presse/July 28, 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on Sunday to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirmed its intention to deploy missiles to Germany or elsewhere in Europe. "If the United States carries out such plans, we will consider ourselves liberated from the unilateral moratorium previously adopted on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike capabilities," Putin said during a naval parade in Saint Petersburg.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 28-29/2024
قائمة بأحداث اضطهاد المسيحيين خلال شهر حزيران 2024
He ‘Wanted to Kill as Many People as Possible’: The Persecution of Christians, June 2024

Raymond Ibrahim/Gatstone Institute/July 28, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/132565/
One elderly and ailing Orthodox priest, Fr. Nikolai Kotelnikov, had his throat slit by the Muslims yelling “Allahu akbar” [“Allah is the greatest”]. – asianews.it, June 24, 2024, Russia.
ISIS militants, using machetes and rifles, slaughtered more than 80 Christians….ISIS emphasized the religious identity of its victims in a post, saying that “Caliphate soldiers” killed “Christians.” According to one report, many of the slain were “very young” and were targeted for “refusing to convert into Islam”…. some bodies were found “tied up” and “decapitated.” – premierchristian.news, June 18, 2024, Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Lahore Pakistan, authorities arrested Jameela Khatoon, a 62-year-old mentally ill Christian woman, after a Muslim shopkeeper, Muhammad Asif, complained that she had committed blasphemy against his namesake, the prophet of Islam. Jameela is being charged under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence for those who insult Muhammad. Earlier that day, after Jameela had entered Asif’s shop, they argued about shampoo. – britishasianchristians.org, June 7, 2024, Pakistan.
[A]n “anti-terrorism” court, despite lack of evidence, handed out another death sentence to Ehsan Masih, a 27-year-old Christian man, for allegedly sharing a “blasphemous” video against Muhammad on a social media platform. – morningstarnews.org, June 7, 2024, Pakistan.
[A]n impoverished Christian rickshaw driver, [Dennis Albert], is facing a long prison sentence, possibly for life, for stepping out of his carriage onto some papers alleged to have been pages of the Koran. – morningstarnews.org, June 18, 2024, Pakistan.
“Dennis has studied till 10th grade, but he had no clue that the pages he was standing on had religious value. He’s a simple rickshaw driver earning an honorable livelihood for himself. He did not have any intention of hurting religious sentiments of any person or community… He’s losing hope for his freedom. He’s being kept in a special barrack reserved for blasphemy accused…” – Imran Albert, the rickshaw driver’s brother, morningstarnews.org, June 18, 2024, Pakistan.
“Typically kidnapped girls in Pakistan, some as young as 10, are abducted, forced to convert to Islam and raped under cover of such Islamic ‘marriages’ and are then pressured to record false statements in favor of the kidnappers, rights advocates say. Judges routinely ignore documentary evidence related to the children’s ages, handing them back to kidnappers as their ‘legal’ wives.” — morningstarnews.org, July 9, 2024, Pakistan.
[A] Muslim factory owner tortured his Christian employee to death — Waqas Salamat, age 18 — for refusing to continue working for him…. Muhammad instantly sent some factory workers to collect him; they bound his hands and feet and carried him to Muhammad’s factory. There, Muhammad, his son, and several Muslim employees began torturing Waqas for hours—beating him with pipes and administering electric shocks to him—until he died. He was the main breadwinner for his impoverished family. According to his mother, Rubina.
“Our financial condition is such that we didn’t even have enough money to arrange for his burial… Waqas was my beloved son and my biggest support. He would often tell me that he’ll work very hard to make life easier for us….” — morningstarnews.org, June 11, 2024, Pakistan.
On June 23, terrorists launched attacks on several churches and synagogues in the Muslim Republic of Dagestan. At least 21 people were killed and dozens wounded. One elderly and ailing Orthodox priest, Fr. Nikolai Kotelnikov, had his throat slit by the Muslims yelling “Allahu akbar”. Pictured: Makhachkala, in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, with the Grand Mosque in the foreground. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)
The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of June 2024.
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Russia: On Sunday, June 23, terrorists launched attacks on several churches and synagogues in the Muslim Republic of Dagestan. At least 21 people were killed and dozens wounded. One elderly and ailing Orthodox priest, Fr. Nikolai Kotelnikov, had his throat slit by the Muslims yelling “Allahu akbar” [“Allah is the greatest”]. At least one church, that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was set on fire. In another church, in the words of one report,
“Gun battles erupted around the Assumption Cathedral in Makhachkala and heavy automatic gunfire rang out late into the night. Footage showed residents running for cover as plumes of smoke rose above the city.”
About 5-6 militants were killed; the rest fled. No one claimed the attack, which follows the Moscow massacre, claimed by ISIS, on March 22, 2024, when 145 Russians were murdered.
Democratic Republic of Congo: On Friday, June 7, ISIS militants, using machetes and rifles, slaughtered more than 80 Christians and forced of several churches to close. ISIS emphasized the religious identity of its victims in a post, saying that “Caliphate soldiers” killed “Christians.” According to one report, many of the slain were “very young” and were targeted for “refusing to convert into Islam.” This incident is part of a larger pattern of violence against Christians. According to another report, “nearly 150 people have been killed by the group since early June.” This includes a June 7 attack that left 41 people slaughtered; some bodies were found “tied up” and “decapitated.”
Nigeria: Some June headlines from the ongoing Muslim genocide of Christians in the African nation follow:
June 2: “Islamic Fulani Militants Kill Pastor, Wife, 3 Other Church Members.”
June 6: “Terrorists Murder 3 Abducted Christian Passengers in Borno.” (After stopping and raiding a bus, the Muslims separated the Christian passengers from the Muslims, then killed all the Christians.
June 9: “Priest Kidnapped in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
June 17: “Suspected Islamic Fulani Militants Kill 5 Christians.”
June 22: “Muslim Extremists Abduct Second Church Leader in Three Weeks.”
June 23-26: “Eight Christians Killed in Plateau State, Nigeria.”
June 21-25: “Islamic Terrorists Threaten to Kill Kidnapped Clergymen in Nigeria” (unless heavy ransoms are paid).
Germany: A roaming gang of ten “youths” savagely attacked a 20-year-old Christian of Greek origin, Phillipos Tsanis, for wearing a large pectoral cross. “They beat him to death,” Phillipos’s grieving father told reporters, “all 10 people were kicking him in the head, after he had dropped to the floor unconscious. Rushed to a hospital and placed on life support, the 20-year-old nonetheless succumbed to his injuries.”
“The most disturbing aspect,” another relative said, “is that they recorded the attack and are boasting about it.” This incident, he added, mirrors other disturbing occurrences in the area targeting individuals perceived as Christian, including the deaths of a 26-year-old man and a policeman. The primary suspect is of Syrian origin. Phillipos’s father said that the youth was just returning from a celebratory party:
“He just wanted to enjoy the graduation party with his sister and friends. His life was just beginning. The violence has to stop. This could happen to anyone’s child, and no parent should endure such a devastating loss.”
Separately, on June 28, a 15-year-old Muslim boy was sentenced to four years in prison after he confessed to planning a major terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Leverkusen. According to the report, “the boy became radicalized in the fall of 2023,” after which he and another Muslim teenager made their plans:
“The suspect wanted to kill as many people as possible at the Christmas market with a rented truck. The other suspect would film it. The teenager had posted a video in a chat group announcing an attack, which also features an Islamic State symbol in the background.”
Uganda: On June 18, the slain body of Richard Malinga, a 36-year-old pastor. was found. He had been receiving threats from Muslims for leading their coreligionists to Christianity.
According to his pastor (name withheld), “The evening of June 17, I received a short message from Malinga of being surrounded by the Muslims. I wrote back to him several times, but there was no response.” He was later found “in a pool of blood. We found the victim dead and tied with ropes.”
In a separate incident, Muslims savagely beat two Christian evangelists—breaking the leg of one—for preaching Christ in their village. Once they began to preach, Tenywa Herbert, 34, and Mukisa Siraji, 30, found that “We landed among some angry Muslims who were hunting for me,” Mukisa said:
“Before completing our message, one sheikh called Jaberi, the imam of one of the mosques in Kaliro, who had a big beard, ordered other Muslims to beat us and get Jannah (Paradise). We were grabbed and flogged publicly until my leg was hit with a hammer, and it got broken totally.”
The Muslims then culminated this punitive “ritual” by tearing their Bibles and religious tracts to pieces.
Pakistan: Blasphemy Charges, Rape, Forced Conversions and Murder of Christians
On June 4, In Lahore Pakistan, authorities arrested Jameela Khatoon, a 62-year-old mentally ill Christian woman, after a Muslim shopkeeper, Muhammad Asif, complained that she had committed blasphemy against his namesake, the prophet of Islam. Jameela is being charged under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence for those who insult Muhammad. Earlier that day, after Jameela had entered Asif’s shop, they argued about shampoo. After she left, he called police and accused her of “uttering derogatory remarks about Muhammad.” He alleged that she said that “Christ was greater than the prophet of Islam,” and generally “screaming and shouting.” According to Jameela’s son, Sonny Gil, everyone in the neighborhood knows about her mental condition:
“Ali also knows about her illness, and we are surprised as to why he filed a case against her… Ali has claimed that when he and some other Muslims tried to stop my mother from blaspheming against their prophet, she started walking towards her home but kept insulting Muhammad.”
Gil said his mother’s mental health has been rapidly deteriorating for four years and added:
“We have taken her to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health several times for treatment, but she hasn’t improved much… We have tried our best to keep her in the house, but she refuses to stay confined and becomes violent… My mother didn’t know what she was saying or doing. It would be very unfair to keep her in prison with such a medical condition. We hope that the court will drop the charges against her on compassionate grounds.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the 40-45 Christian families living in Jameela’s neighborhood have fled their homes: reprisals and collective punishment against Christians are routine in Pakistan.
Separately, on June 29, an “anti-terrorism” court, despite lack of evidence, handed out another death sentence to Ehsan Masih, a 27-year-old Christian man, for allegedly sharing a “blasphemous” video against Muhammad on a social media platform. According to his lawyer,
“The police recovered Masih’s phone from his house and sent it to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) for examination. The PFSA report concluded that no blasphemous material was found on the accused’s phone or TikTok account…. Despite there being no direct evidence against Masih, the court relied on the statements given by the prosecution witnesses and sentenced him to death, which is a gross miscarriage of justice.”
In another blasphemy-related incident, an impoverished Christian rickshaw driver is facing a long prison sentence, possibly for life, for stepping out of his carriage onto some papers alleged to have been pages of the Koran. According to the report,
“Dennis Albert, a 35-year-old rickshaw driver, was booked under one section of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison (Section 295-A, hurting religious sentiments), and another that mandates life in prison (Section 295-B, defiling the Quran).”
Police arrested him after a Muslim passerby alleged that Dennis was standing on Islamic scriptures. As Dennis’s brother, Imran, said, however:
“Dennis has studied till 10th grade, but he had no clue that the pages he was standing on had religious value. He’s a simple rickshaw driver earning an honorable livelihood for himself. He did not have any intention of hurting religious sentiments of any person or community… He’s losing hope for his freedom. He’s being kept in a special barrack reserved for blasphemy accused, and it seems after hearing their stories of prolonged imprisonment, Dennis has started thinking that the effort is futile. I keep encouraging him not to give up and remain steadfast in his faith.”
What is not clear is why Muslims were not outraged that Koran scriptures littered the public streets in the first place.
Another Christian woman, in yet another incident, after her bail was denied on June 3, was reported rotting in a jail cell while awaiting trial for accusations of blasphemy. Stella Khawar, 28, was arrested and charged with “hurting religious sentiments of Muslims,” said her husband, Khawar Shahzad, who reportedly does not believe that there is any evidence or that his wife is capable of the deed. Lawyers and human rights activist believe the accusation is part of an Islamic campaign against Christians of the region.
On June 24, Haider Ali, a 27-year-old Muslim man and butcher by profession, kidnapped Alina Khalid, a 14-year-old Christian girl, and forced her to convert to Islam and marry him. Her father reported the kidnapping on the same day to police but they failed to act, “giving the accused sufficient time to go into hiding,” Khalid Masih said. Then, three days later, the family learned that their daughter had been forcibly converted to Islam and married to Ali:
“We came to know about Alina’s conversion and marriage after she recorded her statement in court in which she purportedly claimed that she had changed her faith and married Ali by choice.”
The Islamic marriage certificate lies by recording Alina’s age as 19; it also lacks her required national identity card number.
“Alina did not have a phone and never went out of the house alone, so I don’t think she had any direct contact with Ali. He has abducted her with the sole objective of exploiting her sexually. Like all other victims, Alina too was forced to do what her abductor said.”
The report adds,
“Typically kidnapped girls in Pakistan, some as young as 10, are abducted, forced to convert to Islam and raped under cover of such Islamic ‘marriages’ and are then pressured to record false statements in favor of the kidnappers, rights advocates say. Judges routinely ignore documentary evidence related to the children’s ages, handing them back to kidnappers as their ‘legal’ wives.”
A June 13 article recounts the forced conversion attempt against a 20-year-old Christian mother of two young children The woman (name withheld) started by saying she was kidnapped from her parents’ home by five Muslim men: “I was alone in the house when the accused scaled the wall and abducted me on gunpoint.” She was taken to a deserted building and raped by the ringleader, Ali Raza, while his armed accomplices stood guard:
“Ali Raza lives in the same village, and he had been trying to force me to develop illicit relations with him whenever I used to go out for chores. I told my father about this, and he had raised the issue with the village elders. However, our pleas for intervention were ignored, emboldening him further.”
Her abductors next moved her to another location for several days:
“During this time, Ali Raza continued to rape me on gunpoint. He beat me up when I resisted him and threatened that he would kill my parents if I screamed or called for help.”
She was finally moved to Ali’s home “where he and his accomplices tried to force her to convert to Islam and marry him by forcibly taking her thumbprint as a signature on a blank paper”:
“They wanted me to surrender to their demands so that if there was any legal issue, they could claim that I had eloped with Ali Raza and converted and married him with my will. Even though they tortured me to take my thumbprint, I refused to renounce my faith and told them that I will not deny Christ come what may.”
When she finally managed to escape, thanks to the help a Muslim woman who took pity on her, and called her father, it took him days to raise the money needed to take a bus to where she was. “When I heard her voice after 10-11 days,” he said, “I cannot express how relieved I felt despite the pain of hearing what she had been through.” Of the Muslim woman who aided his daughter, he said, “I can never thank her enough for treating my daughter like her own.”
In addition, on June 6, a Muslim factory owner tortured his Christian employee to death for refusing to continue working for him. Waqas Salamat, the 18-year-old Christian worker started working for Muhammad Saleem two months earlier, but decided to leave on June 1 and search for a job that paid better to help support his family. This would not do for Muhammad. He continued pestering the young man to return and even harassed his parents, threatening to accuse the youth of theft unless he returned. Finally, when Waqas went to see another potential employer, Muhammad’s son spotted him and informed his father. Muhammad instantly sent some factory workers to collect him; they bound his hands and feet and carried him to Muhammad’s factory. There, Muhammad, his son, and several Muslim employees began torturing Waqas for hours—beating him with pipes and administering electric shocks to him—until he died. He was the main breadwinner for his impoverished family. According to his mother, Rubina,
“Our financial condition is such that we didn’t even have enough money to arrange for his burial… Waqas was my beloved son and my biggest support. He would often tell me that he’ll work very hard to make life easier for us, but I never imagined that he would be taken from me like this. I’m very poor, and with Waqas gone, my family’s financial situation has further deteriorated. I humbly ask my Christian brothers and sisters to support us in getting justice for my innocent son.”
The report adds that,
“Muslim employers commonly exploit impoverished Christian workers, believing they do not have the resources or status in the 96-percent Muslim country to obtain justice.”
Separately, on June 21, Rakha, the devastated widow of an elderly Christian man, Nazir Masih, who a few weeks earlier had been beaten to death by a Muslim mob—also on a false blasphemy accusation—died, partly of a broken heart. Her grieving son recalled how she could not get over and constantly obsessed over the murder of her beloved husband:
“The tears in her eyes never dried. She would recall the good times they had spent together and would then cry out his name. A few hours before she passed away, my mother wept and said that life had become meaningless for her after my father’s death. She would say, ‘He has left me alone, and I can’t bear this anymore.’ … Her pain and agony apparently worsened when she overheard some family members talking about the bails being granted to the people involved in my father’s killing. We tried our best to keep this information from her, but we failed…. Our lives have been completely shattered – all family members, including our children, are suffering from depression and stress. We have lost our business, and are forced to live in our own house as refugees. The release of the people involved in the killing of my father is akin to rubbing salt on our wounds. We’ve already lost hope for justice, and now my mother has also left us.”
Muslim Attacks on Churches
France: On June 5, a Muslim refugee, Fataharhman Awad Allah Abdalkrem, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for engaging in a series of arson attacks in Pau over the course of three months in 2022, including the torching of the Saint-Pierre Church, many cars, 16 apartments, and other buildings.
Several other churches were attacked in France in June. One was set on fire, and in another,
“The cross was twisted, the altar smashed, vases of flowers were thrown against the walls, a sacred plaque on the altar was unsealed, twelve columns were torn down and the cross from the high altar was thrown on the sidewalk.”
Germany: On June 22, in a small and sleepy Bavarian town, a group of “young people” barged into a church during evening mass and began shouting “Allahu akbar!” — terrifying worshippers.
Indonesia: Because a Christian church of 150 members stands close to an Islamic university, authorities are, according to a June 18 report, threatening to close it, even though it had been functioning in the same location for nine years.
Separately, on Sunday, June 30, local officials forced a stop to a Christian wedding ceremony and banned the church where it was being held in from any further meetings involving worship. They claimed that the church lacked a proper permit and that, anyway, residents were (supposedly) opposed to the church. According to the report, a video shows the pastor telling officials that they “might first ban the prostitution taking place in front of the village head office,” while the pastor’s wife pled:
“We’re not causing any trouble, sir. We’re sorry, we ask for your understanding. We come from everywhere. We are a minority group. Our congregation is small in number. So please understand.”
Authorities refused to relent, citing only that the locals were against the church—although the report states that this claim may not even be true, and that the Muslim authorities’ are citing it as a pretext to close the church for their own reasons.
Senegal: In the 97% Muslim nation, the St Louis du Sénégal cemetery was ransacked and vandalized; several iron crosses were twisted and broken, and tomb paintings and decorations were destroyed. Fr. Louis Gomis appealed to the authorities as well as other “religious leaders”:
“For a long time, especially in recent days, we have suffered a ransacking of our Catholic cemetery. This cemetery has been desecrated by unknown individuals and we are asking for help from the authorities, from religious leaders so that we can preserve the sacred place where our deceased rest.”
General Muslim Persecution of Christians
Iran: According to a June 24 report, “Five Christian converts have been sentenced to a total of over 25 years in prison by the Iranian judiciary….there has been no available information about the specific reason for the charge against the five Christian converts or the details of their accusations.” The report cintinues that while Christians are “acknowledged as a religious minority in Iran, authorities impose severe penalties, especially on those who convert from Islam to Christianity”– meaning apostates.
One of those Christians sentenced, an Armenian, was given 10 years’ imprisonment, even though there was no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part. The judges relied on a legal provision that allows punishment for “supposed” crimes. According to the report,
“Hakop Gochumyan, who had been in a cell since last summer, ended up on trial for ‘proselytising activities’ defined as ‘deviant’ that ‘contradicts the sacred law of Islam’ due to his membership and leadership of ‘a network of evangelical Christianity.'”
Iraq: A court told a Christian woman and her children to convert to Islam, due to the actions of the woman’s mother. Evlin Joseph was 15 when her mother, following a divorce from Evlin’s father, converted to Islam and married a Muslim man. According to Iraqi law, “if a parent converts to Islam, their children who are under 18 should also adopt the new faith.” Evlin, however, protests that:
“I am Christian. I am married to a Christian man. I have three Christian kids. My education was in our language. All my official documents are Christian. Our marriage is registered by the Church.”
Lawyer Akram Mikhail said he had seen “many cases” similar to Evlin’s:
“This forces someone to convert to Islam, with force. I am not an expert in Islam, but it is in Islam that one cannot force the religion onto others.”
As the report reveals, this development affects more than just Evlin:
“The law also stipulates that if one spouse converts to Islam, then Sharia law is applicable. This means that Joseph does not have the right to marry a Christian man. The law also is applied to inheritance and custody.”
**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
© 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.

Voices of peace can find strength through unity

Ronald S. Lauder/Arab News/July 28/2024
The late King Hussein of Jordan once shared a poignant message in an interview with a magazine, highlighting that the dividing line does not exist between Jordan and Israel but between the proponents and opponents of peace.
His words resonate deeply today as we witness ongoing efforts to sow division and hatred, eroding the prospects for peace in the region. It is truly disheartening to see attempts to drive a wedge between the daughters and sons of Abraham.
Looking at recent developments in the US and Europe, it is concerning to witness the spread of division and hatred within Jewish and Muslim communities. It is a stark reminder of the voices that stand against peace, as described by the late king.
Let us join hands and strive to foster empathy and understanding, standing together in our pursuit of hope and peace within our communities. Each one of us, as a member of the Jewish, Muslim or Christian community, has a crucial role to play in this journey toward peace.
As history has shown, when a minority becomes a scapegoat, it inevitably affects other minorities as well. Recent statistics reveal a disturbing increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks. This urgent issue must be addressed collaboratively by Jews and Muslims.
The time for action is now. Long-term solutions to combat those sowing division and hatred can only be effective if Abraham’s descendants unite, standing with one voice against those who seek to lead our children and grandchildren into a future marred by destruction, warfare and hate.
There is much work ahead, but my commitment to collaborate with Arab and Jewish communities against hatred and division is unwavering. And I am excited that I have partners on both the Jewish and Muslim sides who are committed to joining me in this fight. Hope blooms from ideas that pave the way forward. Recent discussions with senior officials from Arab states, the US and Europe have seen growing support for the concept of a “NATO for the Middle East,” as people increasingly acknowledge the threat posed to the region by the opponents of peace and its proxies.
Additionally, more leaders are embracing the notion of a “Marshall plan” for the Palestinian territories, which could eventually lead to a two-state solution. I initially presented both these ideas in this publication and their traction is a cause for optimism.
Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve the chance to live and dream of a peaceful and prosperous future for their children.
Despite the challenges on our journey toward a more peaceful world, I remain hopeful that those advocating for peace will ultimately prevail.
My optimism stems from encounters with other voices of hope and peace. Recently, several friends, both Jews and Muslims from different parts of the world, shared with me the story of an Israeli-Palestinian youth chorus that took part in the TV show “America’s Got Talent.” I must confess that I do not usually watch this show, but seeing so many individuals from diverse backgrounds reaching out to me with the same news was remarkable.
After listening to their song “Home” and watching their interview, I understood why this group of young performers had touched so many people of different backgrounds. They represented voices of hope. One of the girls from the chorus told the judges: “We are the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, a group of Palestinians and Israelis. We believe through music, working together and communicating, we are moving toward creating a future where justice, freedom, equality and inclusion exist.”
I saw a group of young individuals standing up against hatred and division at that moment. They taught us leadership and courage by uniting as a voice for hope, peace and a brighter future. The chorus could be an example of what the future of the region and the children of Abraham could be: A future where Israelis and Palestinians — including Jews, Christians and Muslims — come together in the spirit of mutual understanding, free from hate and terror, to build a better world. Their story is a beacon of hope, showing us that a brighter future is within our reach.
As I watched them sing, my heart ached for all the innocent civilians who have lost their lives in the recent conflicts — young women and men, boys and girls, both Israeli and Palestinian. It breaks my heart to think about the potential futures they could have had and the positive impact they could have made in this world if it were not for the voices of the opponents of peace. The tremendous destruction caused by those opposed to peace, igniting the flames of conflict on Oct. 7, is devastating.
I firmly believe empowering those who advocate for peace is crucial. We must establish a clear path forward; the two-state solution is the only viable long-term option. We must acknowledge that this region has been the historical home of Jews, Christians and Muslims for millennia.
Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve the chance to live and dream of a peaceful and prosperous future for their children. We cannot let terrorism and the threat to a nation’s existence dictate our future. It is time for the proponents of peace to come together and raise their voices. Let us unite under the banner of #2states4peace and work toward a better future for all. Remember, our strength, as proponents of peace against the opponents of peace, lies in our unity.
• Ronald S. Lauder is president of the World Jewish Congress. X: @lauder_ronald

Israel ceasefire would boost Harris’ candidacy
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/July 28/2024
Kamala Harris, the new presumptive Democratic nominee for president, last week marked her position on Gaza with the strong words: “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.” This is a welcome shift in tone, but whether it will lead to a shift in policy is yet to be seen.
Harris has begun her presidential campaign. She has energized the Democratic base, which had seemingly grown tired of aging President Joe Biden. To add to that, Biden was trailing Donald Trump by six points across seven key swing states. The result of the November election is expected to be decided by states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump’s lead in the polls has suddenly started shrinking since Biden stood aside and endorsed Vice President Harris.
Her statement on Gaza was very much needed during this election season. Some 83 percent of Democrats want a ceasefire. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has called on Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel and to use his influence to end the war in Gaza. The Black vote was a core constituency for Biden and it will likely be equally, if not more, important for Harris. Michigan could go to Trump if Arabs and Muslims do not vote for the Democrats.
A ceasefire is not only targeted to Harris’ audience. She would also win the respect of the undecided, as she would be the leader aiming to bring stability and prevent the US from being sucked into a regional confrontation. It would help shape her image. It would raise her profile as a firm and resolute leader. During Biden’s presidency, she has not been highly visible. This is probably because Biden was counting on running again and did not want to be outshone by his deputy. Now, she is stepping out of the shadows. There would be no better way to do so than to stop the ongoing war and push for a political solution, the two-state solution, on which there is global consensus.
Unlike Biden, who is a self-confessed Zionist, Harris is showing that her commitment is to principles, which is what the US stands for. Despite all the indicators showing that Democratic voters want a ceasefire and despite his frayed relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden does not want the break between the US and Israel to happen on his watch. Several analysts have said that ideology is the motivation for the American president’s devotion toward Israel. While the US has been begging Israel to show restraint, Netanyahu has only shown defiance.
Netanyahu is using Saturday’s tragic killing of 12 Druze children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as an excuse to hit Lebanon.
Harris has raised the stakes. Voters are welcoming the change of tone but they expect more. They will want to see action if she becomes president. She will need to deliver. She cannot afford to disappoint her base. Otherwise, such empty promises will be used against her by her opponents. Trump takes pride in being someone who delivers on his promises. One of his taglines is “promises made, promises kept.” Now that Harris has made those strong statements, she will need to deliver. She will need to push a ceasefire down the throat of Netanyahu.
The important question is will she be able to do so? Will she be able to resist the pressure from pro-Israel groups? Biden has not been able to enforce a ceasefire on Netanyahu and he has also refused to show Israel some tough love. The only way to force Israel to comply is by stopping weapons shipments. Biden has largely refused to use this leverage. Will Harris take this bold step and turn her rhetoric into policy? Even if she wanted to stop arms shipments to Israel immediately, for now it is Biden that still calls the shots.
Biden is unlikely to change his policy now, as he approaches the end of his presidency and prepares to exit politics. The pro-Israel lobby has invested so much in Biden. He is at the top of the list of their recipients of campaign funding. He has received more than $4 million since 1990. It is unlikely that he would take this drastic decision now. However, the same way that the Democratic establishment pressured him into dropping out of the 2024 election race, it could pressure him into taking this step.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, is a political animal. He will not take the demand for a ceasefire lying down. He is using Saturday’s tragic killing of 12 Druze children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as an excuse to hit Lebanon and hence to continue the war, while throwing a ceasefire out of the window. Last week’s anti-Israel protest in Washington, in which American flags were burned, also did not help. Harris called the burning of the US flag a “despicable” and “unpatriotic” act.
Delivering a ceasefire will not be an easy task for Harris, but she should pressure Biden to deliver it, as it could be a defining factor for her candidacy.
**Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

Olympic-sized headaches a problem for Paris
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/July 28/2024
Many governments still believe that hosting major sporting contests commands significant prestige, yet that assessment may be sorely tested with the huge challenges facing the ongoing Olympic Games in Paris.
The event got off to a very difficult start on Friday due to the sabotage of key railway lines into the French capital. The opening ceremony also took place in heavy rain.
Beyond this, the French event is facing a wide array of risks, including major security concerns. So much so that significant changes were made to scale back the original plans for the opening ceremony along the Seine. The initial plan to welcome up to 600,000 people to first come, first served viewing locations was axed. Instead it became a much safer, invite-only occasion for about 300,000.
Moreover, the event has also faced significant controversy for religious reasons. One example is that French competitors will be banned from wearing hijabs or any form of religious headgear in sports like volleyball, football and basketball.
This decision has been slammed by bodies such as Amnesty International for undermining inclusivity and discriminating against Muslim athletes. Amnesty asserted that: “French authorities made it emphatically and unashamedly clear … that their proclaimed efforts at improving gender equality and inclusivity in sports do not apply to one group of women and girls, those Muslim women and girls who wear religious head coverings.”
To cap this off, France also still has a caretaker government after this month’s parliamentary elections saw no single bloc winning an overall majority. Amid continuing infighting, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a “political truce” during the Olympics, delaying the appointment of a prime minister and the formation of a new government until after the Games.
Paris is thus the latest big city to be plagued by political and wider risks and controversies, underlining the massive challenges associated with such large-scale sporting events nowadays. Little wonder that the operating costs associated with running them, including maintaining security, are so huge.
This experience was most recently faced by China, as the 2022 Winter Olympics were threatened by COVID-19 outbreaks across the nation just days before the Lunar New Year, China’s annual travel holiday. These Games also faced a diplomatic boycott by multiple Western countries, including the US, UK and Australia, over human rights concerns.
While the challenges facing the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics may have been the largest of any sporting event of modern times, there were also prevalent problems at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This event was postponed for a full year, meaning it was held in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even then, a state of emergency was in effect in Tokyo and nine other regions for weeks beforehand and overseas fans were barred from attending.
Macron has called for a ‘political truce’ during the Olympics and delayed the formation of a new government.
Key members of the Tokyo organizing committee were also caught up in a corruption scandal, while polls at the time showed a solid majority of Japanese were opposed to the event going ahead. One of the biggest sponsors, Toyota, pulled its TV ads, while a host of athletes tested positive for the coronavirus.
Looking back even further, the Brazil 2016 Summer Olympics offers another stark example of the potential pitfalls of hosting major sporting events. More than 100 prominent doctors and professors wrote an open letter to the World Health Organization asking for the games to be postponed or moved from Brazil “in the name of public health” in light of the-then widening Zika virus outbreak. At the time, this was the worst health crisis facing Brazil since at least 1918, impacting many thousands of people.
Moreover, it is not just the Olympics that face these challenges. Take the example of the Euro 2016 football tournament that was awarded to France amid great fanfare in 2010, but which took place in a country operating under an official state of emergency following the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.
With the US State Department issuing a warning that the event could be a target for further terrorist atrocities — only the third time in some 20 years that such cautionary advice had been issued by the US government for European travel — the French authorities deployed some 90,000 police, soldiers and security guards, comparable to the levels of security at the 2024 Olympics.
Despite the fact that hosting major sporting events continues to be seen as a source of national pride, growing evidence indicates that they do not generally provide a substantial economic boost from stimuli like capital investment or tourism. For instance, many of the visitors tend to come from the host country and their spending often simply displaces that on other domestic leisure services. And the legacy value can be limited, with many facilities built at great cost simply becoming white elephant projects that fall into disuse.
Despite all these pitfalls, however, it is noticeable that several cities have expressed an interest in hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics. This will follow Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
For the foreseeable future at least, the perception that hosting big sporting events is a major symbol of national prestige will continue to supersede the headaches that can come with staging them. However, that tide may yet turn and the next couple of weeks in France could potentially be key to that calculation.
**Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

For North Africa, crisis is actually good
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/July 28/2024
In an era marked by enduring turmoil, the political elite in North Africa have found the crises that plague the world and strain domestic resilience to be surprisingly beneficial for their governments.
As security threats escalate and irregular migration intensifies amid the spillovers from widening geopolitical rifts, the governments in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco are increasingly leveraging the new opportunities arising from a tide of convergent challenges to entrench themselves and the power and influence they wield.
Algeria’s strategic significance has soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The ensuing energy crisis in Europe transformed Algeria from a regional player into a crucial supplier, with Italian and German delegations rushing to Algiers to secure gas deals as an alternative to Russian energy supplies. In 2022 alone, exports of natural gas from Algeria to Italy surged by 20 percent, demonstrating the country’s newfound prominence.
These agreements not only mitigated some of Europe’s energy woes, they also bolstered Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s precarious presidency of the country, providing him with substantial geopolitical leverage. While Algeria’s government faced criticism for clamping down on journalists and activists, the indispensable role it has played in European energy security has resulted in increased Western favor.
Capitalizing on this geopolitical shift Algiers has adopted a more assertive foreign policy, proactively engaging in its long-standing rivalry with Morocco. Beyond the energy exports, Algeria is also channeling its windfall revenues into domestic initiatives to create jobs, improve water security, and lay the foundations for overdue economic diversification.
For instance, the Algerian government has implemented new policies designed to stimulate private sector growth in an attempt to tackle unemployment, which stands at more than 20 percent for women and just under 10 percent for men.
Additionally, recent amendments allowing the deployment of its military forces in other countries signal a broader intention and strategy to play a more pivotal role in regional stability, particularly as part of Arab League and African Union peacekeeping missions.
This balanced approach between a strengthening of domestic policies and assertion of influence abroad reveals Algeria’s strategic use of crises to redefine its role both regionally and globally.
In Tunisia, President Kais Saied continues to exploit an escalating migration crisis to increase his political leverage. It is an extension of a similar gambit Saied employed to capitalize on European fears of a heavily indebted Tunisia spiraling into economic collapse, which allowed his regime to extract concessional funding while pushing back against International Monetary Fund demands for austerity and stringent reforms.
The EU, in its desperation to curb migrant flows, has offered substantial financial aid to Tunisia, with little oversight. This transactional relationship gives Saied additional financial support, with few or no strings attached, that temporarily eases the acute economic distress in his country, characterized by soaring unemployment rates and severe shortages of fuel and other basic staples.
Beyond this financial aid, Saied is also exploiting widening geopolitical rifts in an attempt to assert his control and gain legitimacy. By pivoting toward Russia, China and Iran, he anticipates the receipt of additional funding and diplomatic cover that is not conditional on striving for or preserving the democratization of Tunisia and the institutions that would safeguard it. These alliances are especially pertinent as the country edges closer to a pivotal presidential election in October.
The turbulent global environment is providing North African countries with substantial geopolitical currency.
In Libya, the fragmented landscape of governance is receiving renewed attention amid the global distractions as a result of the self-interests of external actors, most notably Turkiye and Russia. The administration of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has strategically leveraged the EU’s need for alternative sources of energy post-Ukraine by promising increased oil production to help shore up European energy security as imports from Russia dwindle. However, this engagement is fraught with allegations of corruption and mismanagement that compromise its credibility.
Meanwhile, the rival government in the east of the country is serving as a gateway for Russia to deeply embed itself in Libya, purportedly aiding Kremlin-backed initiatives such as the circumvention of international sanctions and the facilitation of fuel-smuggling operations.
Furthermore, Libya’s borders have become a conduit for sprawling illicit economies, which are magnifying the ramifications of the migrant crisis. As European border policies focus more on deterrence than resolution, Libyan elites are taking advantage of the country’s porous borders to sustain and expand these underground economies.
Morocco’s adept navigation of global crises exemplifies the ways in which nations can capitalize on turbulent times to further their own strategic objectives. For instance the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with Israel, enabled Rabat to enhance its international security and intelligence ties, especially with the US. Such alliances have brought with them access to advanced technology and enhanced defense capabilities, tilting regional power dynamics in Morocco’s favor.
While normalization with Israel risked alienating a populace among which pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong, Rabat simply opted to recalibrate its foreign policy in anticipation that the strategic gains would eventually outweigh any domestic disapproval.
Simultaneously, Morocco’s pursuit of an independent migration strategy is helping the country shake up traditional EU-North African dependency dynamics. Its national strategies related to migration contrast heavily with more heavy-handed EU approaches elsewhere in the region, by striking a balance between deterrence of irregular migration and the protection of migrants’ rights. In return, Morocco gains a soft-power boost on the African continent and avoids the stigma of being seen to do the EU’s “dirty work.”
In summary, the turbulent global environment is providing North African countries with substantial geopolitical currency. Whether through energy deals, strategic alliances or migration agreements, governments in the region are fully committed to leveraging the effects of global instability to entrench themselves domestically and project influence abroad.
**Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. X: @HafedAlGhwell

A Weapon Against Yourself
Nic Rowan/The Lamp/July 26/2024
On praying the Rosary.
When I was in fifth grade, I had a teacher who was famous for giving the same speech at the beginning of each school year. He would introduce himself, outline our curriculum, and lay out class rules. I’ve forgotten it all now, except that at one point he told us that we were allowed to carry a weapon—and then yanked out of his pocket a metal Rosary. A number of students were quite taken with the performance. They also began carrying around the Rosary in their pockets, sometimes whipping out the beads and brandishing them like swords.
I never did that. I was a self-serious child, and I was uncomfortable with the idea of prayer as a form of literal warfare. In my house we prayed the Rosary every night after dinner, and to me, its recitation was routine, no more extraordinary than grace before meals. That’s not to say it was only routine—a devotion to the Rosary is one of the greatest gifts my mother gave our family—but there was no bravado attached to it. I want to attribute this to simple piety, but more likely I was just too comfortable in my habits. Whatever the case, love for the Blessed Virgin Mary dressed with the language of militancy, even of the chivalrous sort, never held much appeal for me. Why should it have? I was a kid in suburban Northern Virginia, whose earliest exposure to war was through the voyeuristic television coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan, and there was nothing noble about that.
A hesitancy toward battle is of course not the prevailing attitude among those who pray the Rosary with any frequency. Many of the popular saints of the twentieth century were perfectly comfortable with military language—in my circles the remarks of Saints Padre Pio and Josemaría Escrivá are often cited—and of course many others have spoken of it in this manner on back through the centuries to Lepanto, where the Rosary was actually employed as a weapon. Even before Pius V urged all of the faithful to pray it during that sea battle, he recommended the Rosary as the weapon by which Catholics could defend the Church, “tossed this way and that by so many heresies, and grievously troubled and afflicted by so many wars, and by the depraved morals of men.”
I confess that until recently I found all of this talk rather mystifying. Even G. K. Chesterton’s famous poem about Lepanto, so beloved by a certain sort of faithful young man, baffled more than inspired me. I earnestly want to defend the Church, but without presumption and without bombast. And I know I am not alone in this inclination. Perhaps that is only natural; it is difficult for anyone alive now to see the world through the eyes of the sixteenth century, where every event is suffused with the awe and horror of Final Judgement.
But something changed within me a few months ago. I was standing in the back of a church in rural Virginia—late, I had shown up very late for Mass—and the elderly priest was rambling in his homily about some piddling incident that had happened to him down at the gas station. He went on and on; it must have been half an hour. I tried my best to be charitable—no doubt he was a lonely man, stranded at the furthest reaches of his diocese—but soon I found myself thinking only of slipping out of the church, escaping the inanity, never coming back. When I have these thoughts during Mass I find them almost impossible to banish. I don’t need to rehearse all my grievances here; every Catholic has them, and they always seem to come rushing into the mind in those minutes right before the Consecration.
But it was in those minutes, right after I knelt down, that I noticed a plastic Rosary hung on the wall by the local Fatima guild. Almost by instinct, I picked it up and began to pray the Apostles’ Creed quietly to myself. I made it most of the way through the Glorious Mysteries by the time Mass ended. I finished with the Salve Regina as everyone else filed out of the church. It was not a proud moment. I had not offered a beautifully profound prayer or really even fulfilled my Sunday obligation, except in the most technical sense. But I had at least been distracted for about fifteen minutes from resenting the priest.
Only later on, when I was looking back on the incident, did I realize that I had used Rosary as a weapon, not against any external force, but against myself. And I think this is ultimately what the saints of the past eight centuries have meant when they speak of the devotion in martial terms. It’s of a piece with one of the central dramas of maturation. When you’re a child, you imagine that you will do battle with the worst evils of the world; when you grow up, you realize many of them are already inside you. Anyone who has read Middlemarch knows how deflating this realization can be: George Eliot writes knowingly of the many young women possessed of a “certain spiritual grandeur ill-matched with the meanness of opportunity” who, had they only some tool to help them develop a spiritual strength in otherwise unremarkable lives, could have been saints on the level with Teresa of Avila. “Here and there is born a Saint Theresa, foundress of nothing,” Eliot writes, “whose loving heartbeats and sobs after an unattained goodness tremble off and are dispersed among hindrances, instead of centering in some long-recognizable deed.”
Most people with an inclination to goodness live in the hapless manner Eliot describes. The Rosary promises to guide and purify those inclinations. And with its use comes the realization that the battles fought in its pursuit are for the most part unseen skirmishes—rarely Lepantos—and most often against oneself.