Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 07-08/2024
Lebanon Will Not Emerge from the Quagmire of Persian Occupation Unless the Maronites Fulfill Their Leading Role through Leaders Who Believe Their Sacred Duty is to Protect the Lebanese Temple/Elias Bejjani/June 07, 2024
ISIS (Daech) and Hezbollah are two sides of the mullahs-Assad axis coin, and they are most likely behind the attack on the American embassy in Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/June 05, 2024
U.S. Embassy Beirut On X
Israel Calls on Northern Authorities to Prepare for War along Border with Lebanon
Lebanon PM welcomes US, France, UK, German stance on stability
Guterres warns of escalating conflict on Lebanon-Israel border
UN warns of risk of broader conflict along Israel-Lebanon border
US warns Israel 'limited war' with Lebanon could draw Iran to intervene
Report: US, Hochstein in high-level contacts to prevent Israel-Lebanon escalation
War with Lebanon would put more strain on Israeli army reservists and their families
Upgraded air defense: Hezbollah announces first-ever targeting of Israeli warplanes
Report: US asks Hezbollah to convince Hamas to accept ceasefire
Hezbollah introduces new air defense missiles against warplanes
Presidential Election: Le Drian Back in Beirut Shortly?
Quartet Committee Calls for Implementation of Biden Plan
Will PSP succeed in breaking stubborn presidential crisis?
Why Did Hezbollah Launch an Appeal to Finance its Armament?
Irish Peacekeeper Murder Trial Postponed Again Until February
Mikati Orders Compliance With Judge Hajjar in Ghada Aoun Case
Electricity: Production Will Increase, But Not the Hours Supplied

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 07-08/2024
Pope recreates the 2014 Mideast peace prayer in Vatican Gardens to beg for an end to Gaza conflict
Blinken to push cease-fire proposal in eighth urgent Mideast trip since war in Gaza erupted
Israel's Netanyahu Set to Address the US Congress on July 24
Israeli Forces Batter Central, South Gaza as Tanks Advance in Rafah
Israeli envoy ‘disgusted’ at army’s inclusion on upcoming UN blacklist for harming children
Israel says struck Hamas at UN school in Gaza, 3 reported dead
US urges Israel to be transparent over Gaza school strike
US-built pier in Gaza reconnected after repairs, aid expected to flow soon, says CENTCOM
Women and children of Gaza are killed less frequently as war’s toll rises, AP data analysis finds
George Clooney Called Biden Aide To Defend Amal Clooney Over Israel Arrest Warrants
Swedish police detained 19 pro-Palestinian activists who barricaded themselves inside a university
UN will describe Israel and Hamas as violating children's rights in armed conflict
Confident Putin warns Europe is ‘defenceless’
UN confirms 11 staff detained by Houthis in Yemen
Yemen's Houthis say they targeted two vessels in the Red Sea
US and British airstrikes hit Yemen, Houthis say
Saudi Arabian Crown prince joins long guest list for G7 summit
7 EU members say conditions in Syria should be reassessed to allow voluntary refugee returns
Zelenskiy says it's for Ukraine to determine his legitimacy, not Putin

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on June 07-08/2024
The Muslim Persecution of Christians Is a Censored Pandemic, Part 2/Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/Fri, June 7, 2024
Opinion: Helping Ukraine to strike inside Russia is already paying off
Mikhail Alexseev/ Los Angeles Times/Fri, June 7, 2024
To normalize or not to normalize with Israel?/Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed/Arab News/June 07, 2024
Russia-China axis growing in importance for Turkiye/Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/June 07, 2024
Time for US to end the delays on arming Kyiv/Luke Coffey/Arab News/June 07, 2024
Why summit in Switzerland is so important for global peace/Anatolii Petrenko/Arab News/June 07, 2024
Fatah, Hamas, and The Absurdity of Their Conflict/Nabil Amr/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 07/2024
Talisman Of Great Expurgation/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 07/2024
A Kuwaiti Reset?/Simon Henderson & David Schenker/The Washington Institute/June 07/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 07-08/2024
Lebanon Will Not Emerge from the Quagmire of Persian Occupation Unless the Maronites Fulfill Their Leading Role through Leaders Who Believe Their Sacred Duty is to Protect the Lebanese Temple
Elias Bejjani/June 07, 2024
In brief, without diminishing the capabilities and patriotism of others, without arrogance or a sense of superiority, and without distorting history and truth, but from a perspective of sincere faith and patriotism, we firmly believe that Lebanon will not rise from its fall, fragmentation, and the tragedy of occupation unless the Maronites rise.
Lebanon will not be liberated in the absence of Maronite leaders, in heart, mind, and spirit, who believe their role is sacred, and that they are the protectors of the temple because its glory was given to their Church, and not to others. Their role is to lead all those who want their country to be free, sovereign, independent, a beacon of civilization, coexistence, openness, freedom, and equality.
The disintegration of the Lebanese factions and the shortcomings of their leaders, for whatever reason, are not important and will not be influential if the Maronites have leaders who understand their role and can assume it with courage and selflessness. Everyone will stand and rise when the Maronites lead and march forward.
The primary and most dangerous problem in Lebanon today is the absence of civil, spiritual, and elite leaders from the Maronites. We do not say that the current Maronite leaders, without exception, are traitors or collaborators, but they are nationally deficient and emasculated figures, lacking vision and possessing shallow and weak faith. Thus, they do not meet the requirements of the current time.
In reality, they are weak and incapable figures, and this is why we need to change them. Yes, we Maronites created Lebanon, and this is a fact, not arrogance; we created it to be a homeland for us and for others. Presently, it is in a state of loss, fragmentation, chaos, and occupation because our current leaders are not the men can deal with the ongoing crisis locally, regionally and globally.
What non-Maronite Lebanese must understand is that Lebanon will not rise unless the Maronites rise and lead, as is their historic sacred role in protecting the temple. The most important thing is that we, the Maronites, understand and fulfill this role. Otherwise, we are neither true Maronites nor do we deserve the sacred temple nation whose glory was given to us.

ISIS (Daech) and Hezbollah are two sides of the mullahs-Assad axis coin, and they are most likely behind the attack on the American embassy in Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/June 05, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/130443/130443/
There is no doubt that the terrorist attack on the American embassy in Awkar (Lebanon) that took place today is a diabolical act that is condemned and denounced. In this realm, it is necessary to identify and prosecute the aggressors, those behind them, and those who armed and facilitated their arrival at the Awkar embassy locations with weapons. Presumably, Hezbollah and ISIS are most likely the ones who carried out the attack on the American embassy in Awkar today.
In reality, ISIS is an intelligence construct devised by the Iranian and Syrian rulers (the axis of resistance), tailored to their needs of terrorism, and as a terrorist tool for the Iranian expansion schemes. Furthermore, there is no independent organization called ISIS; it is an Assad-Mullah tool, much like Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Based on previous and similar terrorist attacks, the Iranian-Syrian axis of evil could be the one who orchestrated today’s attack on the American embassy.
It is crucial to highlight that the US administration (Biden-Obama) bears responsibility for this incident because it protects, cajoles, finances, and advocates for the mullahs’ regime, and at the same time flatters Hezbollah, and condones its occupation of Lebanon.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com

U.S. Embassy Beirut On X
June 07/2024
We are grateful for the outpouring of support from our friends over the past few days, especially for the member of our local guard force who was seriously injured. Our heartfelt thanks to the Government of Lebanon, the LAF, and the ISF for their partnership, professionalism and courage. We are undeterred by this attack and committed to our enduring friendship with the people of Lebanon.
U.S. Embassy Beirut
It is critical that this incident not be taken out of context and used as a weapon against the refugee community in Lebanon, which shares no blame for the attack.
إنه لمن الأهمية بمكان ألا يتم إخراج هذا الحادث عن سياقه واستخدامه كسلاح ضد مجتمع اللاجئين في لبنان، الذي لا يتحمل أي مسؤولية عن الهجوم.

Israel Calls on Northern Authorities to Prepare for War along Border with Lebanon
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 07/2024
Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon’s southern front overnight, expanding the geographical scope of the strikes deep into the South. In parallel, member of the Israeli War Council, Benny Gantz, called on the heads of local authorities in northern Israel to prepare for “more difficult days... and this may lead to war.”On Thursday, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted Gantz as saying during a meeting earlier this week with the heads of municipalities and local councils in the north: “I believe that the Lebanese government does not want a large-scale war to break out, and neither does Hezbollah... It is necessary to put pressure on it at this time before everyone goes to a broader war.”According to the channel, senior political officials held a closed discussion this week, following the escalation in the north. The ministers of the War Council, Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, said that Israel must strive to reach an agreement with Hamas in order to shift to the north. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu objected, pointing out that achieving the war goals in Gaza was the highest priority, and that it would not be appropriate to deal with the situation in the north until the war goals in the south are attained. On Thursday, the Israeli army announced in a statement the killing of a soldier during fighting in the north after two explosive drones were launched from Lebanon towards the town of Hurfish in northern Israel. The death toll in northern Israel due to Hezbollah fire has risen to 15 soldiers and 11 civilians, according to the army, since the start of the clashes.In Lebanon, 455 people, including 88 civilians, have been killed as a result of the fighting, according to Agence France-Presse. Clashes began between the Israeli military and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group along the southern Lebanon-Israel border, a day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.

Lebanon PM welcomes US, France, UK, German stance on stability
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/June 07, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has welcomed a call by the leaders of four Western powers to “preserve stability” in the country amid growing fears of a major Israeli military assault. Najib Mikati said on Friday: “We highly value this stance that supports Lebanon and calls for united efforts to stop the escalation.”The leaders of France, the US, UK, and Germany on Thursday issued a joint statement calling for a de-escalation in tensions along the border between Lebanon and Israel in line with UN peacekeeping resolutions. The statement was issued as the leaders took part in commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy during the Second World War. Mikati added: “Our priority is to communicate with Lebanon’s friends worldwide and in decision-making countries to stop the escalation and the Israeli hostilities in southern Lebanon.”
Confrontations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah entered their ninth month this week. Hostilities have intensified in recent days, with the use of heavy rockets and threats by Israel to launch a full-scale military assault amid the diplomatic deadlock. Mikati said that diplomatic efforts in the past had protected Lebanon from Israeli attempts to escalate the conflict. The statement issued by the four Western leaders emphasized the need to work on avoiding regional escalation, he added. Despite the statement, Israeli war Cabinet member Benny Gantz resumed his threats against Lebanon.He warned on Friday that an Israeli military operation in Lebanon was inevitable if diplomatic efforts failed. Israel would not hesitate to use force if the threats faced by northern villages continued, he said. Hezbollah on Thursday targeted Israeli warplanes with air defense missiles for the first time, a move widely seen as a dangerous security development. In a statement, Hezbollah said that “these missiles were launched toward planes that violated our airspace and breached the sound barrier in an attempt to scare children.”Hezbollah claimed that the missiles forced the planes to abandon their missions. Quoting senior US and Israeli officials, the Israeli Walla news website said that US President Joe Biden’s administration had warned Israel against starting a limited war with Lebanon, citing potential Iranian intervention. Washington told Israel that a “limited war” in Lebanon or a “small regional war” is not a realistic option because of the risk that it will spin out of control, the website added. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “a halt to the mutual attacks between Israel and Hezbollah along the border,” while expressing concern over the risk of a “wider conflict with devastating consequences to the region.”On a related note, Mohammed Ayyad, the Hezbollah member accused of killing an Irish peacekeeper, failed to appear before the military tribunal on Friday.Ayyad and others are alleged to have fired on a UNIFIL vehicle in Aaqbiye that was heading to Beirut on Dec. 15, 2022, killing the driver and wounding some passengers.
He was released on bail six months after being detained. Medical reports were submitted to the court stating that Ayyad has a “terminal illness.”The trial was postponed until February next year. Ayyad, along with four others who allegedly took part in the incident, are being tried in absentia.

Guterres warns of escalating conflict on Lebanon-Israel border
AFP/June 07/2024
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday called for a halt to the mutual attacks between Israel and Hezbollah along the border between Israel and Lebanon, expressing concern over the risk of a "wider conflict with devastating consequences for the region."In a statement, the Secretary-General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said, "With the ongoing exchange of fire along the Blue Line, the Secretary-General once again calls on the parties to urgently cease-fire."He added that Guterres fears this "exchange of fire could lead to a wider conflict with dire consequences for the region."The Secretary-General regretted that "we have already lost hundreds of lives, tens of thousands have been displaced, and homes and livelihoods have been destroyed on both sides of the Blue Line."

UN warns of risk of broader conflict along Israel-Lebanon border
Agence France Presse/June 07/2024
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for an end to hostilities along the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, warning of the risk of a broader conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the northern border area after eight months of war with Hamas that has devastated Gaza, warned Wednesday that Israel was "prepared for a very intense operation" along the border. Daily exchanges of artillery fire between Hezbollah and Israel have intensified in recent days as Israel wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Both groups are backed by Iran and allies of each other. "As the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line continue, the Secretary-General renews his calls to the parties to urgently cease fire," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, referring to the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon. "These exchanges of fire could trigger a broader conflict with devastating consequences for the region," he added.

US warns Israel 'limited war' with Lebanon could draw Iran to intervene
Naharnet/June 07/2024
The Biden administration has cautioned Israel in recent weeks against the notion of "a limited war" in Lebanon and warned it could push Iran to intervene, two U.S. officials and one Israeli official told U.S. news portal Axios. U.S. and Israeli officials said there is growing concern in the Israeli army and the Israeli Ministry of Defense that the situation in Lebanon is reaching “a turning point.”The Biden administration told Israel it doesn't think "a limited war" in Lebanon or a "small regional war" is a realistic option because it would be difficult to prevent it from widening and spinning out of control, U.S. officials told Axios. The Biden administration warned Israel that a ground invasion of Lebanon, even if it is only in the areas close to the border, would likely push Iran to intervene, U.S. and Israeli officials said. One scenario the administration raised with Israel is that Lebanon could be flooded with militants from pro-Iranian militias in Syria, Iraq and even Yemen who would want to join the fighting. No decisions were made in an Israeli war cabinet meeting on Tuesday, but the Israeli army presented several options for expanding the fighting, including a ground invasion aimed at pushing Hezbollah's elite Radwan force away from the border, an Israeli army official told Axios. He stressed that since Oct. 7, the army's directive from political leaders has been to focus on “defeating Hamas in Gaza and avoiding war in Lebanon.”The official warned that changing this policy could have far-reaching consequences. Theofficial said war with Hezbollah or a limited operation in Lebanon would have "huge implications for Israel" and, after costing lives and draining resources, likely result in an agreement similar to that currently being sought between Israel and Lebanon. "We need to understand this before making decisions," he said.

Report: US, Hochstein in high-level contacts to prevent Israel-Lebanon escalation
Naharnet/June 07/2024
Several officials from the White House, the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department held contacts at the highest levels over the past few hours in a bid to prevent a major escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, a media report said. “U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein took part in part of these contacts and oversaw talks with Israeli and Lebanese officials in which he sought to lower the tensions and secure a return to the previous rules of engagement,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Friday. Hochstein spoke of “a serious chance to reach sustainable agreements on the common (Lebanese-Israeli) border as a deal in Gaza nears, whose chances appear to be high in his opinion,” the daily added. Hochstein also said that his country “does not want an all-out war and is seeking to prevent it,” while stressing “the need for restraint and preventing things from spiraling out of control from the Lebanese side,” ad-Diyar said.

War with Lebanon would put more strain on Israeli army reservists and their families
Naharnet/June 07/2024
Families of Israeli army reservists have faced both emotional strain and financial difficulty since October 7. When the war started, donations poured in to support Israel's male and female reservists, who are considered a pillar of the army, and their families as their household incomes have shrunk. Israeli men who have completed their military service stay in the pool of mandatory reservists until the age of 40, a limit temporarily raised to 41.Nearly one third of spouses say they have suffered professionally since the war began, according to a poll released last Friday. Among the reservists and spouses surveyed, six percent said they had lost their jobs and 19 percent had to take unpaid leave. In January, a $2.5-billion package was approved to help the reservists. "It's like putting on a band-aid," said a spouse. "We need more."In February, the Histadrut trade union and an employers' organization signed an agreement that extended the protection period for reservists against dismissal. Late last month, parliament passed a law aimed at preventing the dismissal or deterioration of working conditions for the spouses of reservists during the mobilization period. However, the psychological stress remains high for the partners of mobilized reservists whose current number the army did not disclose. For now the Gaza war shows no sign of ending and there is the risk of another breaking out on Israel's tense northern border with Lebanon. This is sure to put more strain on reservists and their families, warned Ariel Heimann, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. "The families of the reserve force -- the nuclear family and the broader family -- have a dramatic role in the force's resilience and its ability to continue to serve and fight over time," Heimann had said in January. "It would be unreasonable to assume that the reservists will be at the disposal of the IDF (army) indefinitely and at full force."

Upgraded air defense: Hezbollah announces first-ever targeting of Israeli warplanes
LBCI/June 07/2024
Hezbollah announced in its fourth statement on Thursday, June 6, that it had fired air defense missiles at Israeli warplanes, marking the first time they have publicly stated targeting Israeli combat aircraft. Although the attack did not down the aircraft, it forced it to retreat beyond the border, according to Hezbollah's statement. Since the onset of Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Hezbollah has successfully shot down four Israeli drones, specifically two Hermes 450 and two Hermes 900 models. Did Hezbollah use the same air defense missile system against the drones and warplanes? However, there are significant differences between drones like Hermes 900 and Israeli fighter jets, often F-16s. Hermes 900 has a maximum speed of 220 km/h, whereas F-16 can exceed speeds of 2,414 km/h—more than ten times faster. Additionally, fighter jets operate at higher altitudes and have superior maneuverability compared to drones. These differences suggest that the air defense missiles used against the fighter jets might be different from those used against the drones. Hezbollah has also extended its air defense operations to target Israel's air defense systems. The group recently bombarded the Iron Dome system at the Ramot Naftali base, sending a dual message to Israel amidst increasing Israeli discussions about expanding the war into Lebanon. In light of these developments, Hezbollah continues to employ a strategy of deliberate ambiguity, keeping both its capabilities and intentions shrouded in uncertainty.

Report: US asks Hezbollah to convince Hamas to accept ceasefire
Naharnet/June 07/2024
The U.S. has indirectly asked Hezbollah to engage in the mediation efforts with Hamas in order to “reach an agreement that would stop the Gaza war and consequently the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah,” a media report said. “In a phone call with Speaker Nabih Berri, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein requested that he ask Hezbollah to intensify the efforts with Hamas in parallel with the ongoing efforts with Israel so that a ceasefire can be reached in Gaza,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday. “Hochstein justified his unprecedented request by saying that it meets Hezbollah’s decision on linking the southern front to Gaza, seeing as should the ongoing efforts to stop the war in the Palestinian sector succeed, that will automatically lead to halting the confrontations in the south,” the daily added. Hezbollah, however, refused to carry out such a role in the response it sent to Hochstein through Berri, Nidaa al-Watan said.

Hezbollah introduces new air defense missiles against warplanes
Naharnet/June 07/2024
Hezbollah fired Thursday for the first time air defense missiles at Israeli warplanes that the group said were "breaking the sound barrier and terrorizing children."Hezbollah said in a statement that its air defense missiles forced the warplanes to "retreat beyond the border."Last month, Hezbollah struck a military post in northern Israel using a drone that fired two missiles, the first successful missile airstrike it has launched from within Israeli airspace. The group has stepped up its attacks, striking deeper inside Israel and introducing new and more advanced weaponry. “This is a method of sending messages on the ground to the Israeli enemy, meaning that this is part of what we have, and if needed we can strike more,” said Lebanese political analyst Faisal Abdul-Sater who closely follows Hezbollah. Hezbollah's use of more advanced weaponry, including drones capable of firing missiles, explosive drones and the small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, that was used to attack a base controlling a surveillance balloon has already raised alarms within the Israeli military. In adapting its attacks, Hezbollah managed to reduce the numbers of fighters lost compared with the early weeks of the conflict, but Israel in response ramped up in past weeks its targeting of Hezbollah fighters and allied militants in cars and on motorbikes in south Lebanon. While Hezbollah continues to fire Russian-made anti-tank Kornet missiles from areas close to the border, it has also shifted to firing drones and other types of rockets with heavy warheads — including Almas as well as Falaq and Burkan rockets — from areas several kilometers from the border, to reduce the numbers of fighters along the border and bring down the numbers of casualties. Israel in response struck fighters deeper inside Lebanon, including in the Tyre, Sidon and Jezzine Districts.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire daily since a day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which set off the war in Gaza. The deadly fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border and sparked fears of a wider regional war. At least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in Israel's north, according to the military, since the clashes with Hezbollah began. In Lebanon, the cross-border violence has killed at least 455 people, mostly fighters but including 88 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Presidential Election: Le Drian Back in Beirut Shortly?
Bassam Abou Zeid/This Is Beirut/June 07/2024
French presidential envoy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is expected to return to Lebanon in the forthcoming days, as part of an apparent three-pronged dynamic: local, regional and Western. The primary aim of this dynamic is to untie the Gordian knot represented by the consultations supposed to lead to a form of consensus for the election of a new head of state. According to sources, Le Drian would suggest that he himself assume the role of mediator within the framework of time-limited consultations that should lead to an agreement, either around a presidential candidate, or on a concise list of candidates. Then, a plenary parliamentary session with a guaranteed quorum and successive voting rounds would be held until a president is elected. During his visit to Beirut, if confirmed, Le Drian should examine whether the various Lebanese parties are willing to let him take on the mediator’s role. It is known that they are not hostile to the principle of parliamentary consultations, but the opposition refuses to have Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri leading the consultations, on the ground that he is a party in the discord. Will Le Drian be able to overcome this obstacle? According to a French diplomatic source, the issue of the presidential election is progressing as it should, both internally and externally, and the recent efforts in that regard, led by the head of the Democratic Gathering (the PSP’s parliamentary bloc), Teymour Joumblatt, have been coordinated with the French envoy and were initiated upon his request. “For the first time, we have the feeling that we are approaching a solution”, the source said, noting that the disagreement is currently limited to the Lebanese Forces and the Speaker of Parliament on the point of who will lead the consultations. According to the source, this point is not impossible to resolve, if the intentions are sincere. With France, Qatari mediation is also in full swing, as demonstrated by the parade of Lebanese political figures in Doha over the past few weeks. Doha’s visitors underlined Qatar’s keenness to have a leading role in facilitating the process of the presidential election in Lebanon. According to informed sources, the Qatari officials believe that their efforts will not be obstructed by their peers in the Quintet Committee, including the US, Saudi Arabia Egypt and France. In fact, neither the United States nor Saudi Arabia want to be in the forefront, while France’s efforts are aligned with Qatar’s since they share the same objectives, and won’t be impeded, regardless of who succeeds in achieving them. As for Egypt, while it may not fully endorse Qatar’s involvement, it might consider that having previously played a crucial role within the Quintet Committee, the time has come for a shift in leadership dynamics. In Doha, the Lebanese visitors heard from Qatari officials praise for the efforts of the five-nation Quintet Committee. They were also assured of the consensus and reinforced solidarity among its members, and that its work will continue in order to reach the aspired result sooner or later. In this context, Qatari officials refrained from suggesting specific candidates to their Lebanese counterparts, choosing instead to inquire about their preferred options, and the answers were wide-ranging. Moreover, it was revealed that the Lebanese attendees were asked to present written documentation regarding their vision on Qatar’s potential role, and the mechanisms that should be followed towards a resolution of the controversial presidential dossier.

Quartet Committee Calls for Implementation of Biden Plan
This Is Beirut/June 07/2024
The Quartet Committee emphasized the “need to work for the implementation of the Biden plan, which calls for a ceasefire and the return of peace to the region through negotiations,” according to a report by the local channel MTV. The international committee highlighted that “the stability of Lebanon is paramount” and pledged to continue their efforts to implement Resolution 1701. In a statement issued on Friday, the group urged all parties “to exercise restraint, reduce tensions along the Blue Line, and avoid any escalation in the region.”The committee also reaffirmed its commitment to a “two-state solution,” one that “meets the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians and the Israelis, and brings peace and security” to the Middle East. On the same day, US President Joe Biden discussed a three-stage plan, presented as an Israeli initiative, aimed at ending the war, freeing all hostages, and launching the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, nearly eight months after the onset of the war between Hamas and the Israeli army. A proposal deemed incomplete by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Will PSP succeed in breaking stubborn presidential crisis?
Naharnet/June 07/2024
The Progressive Socialist Party kicked off this week a series of meetings with the Lebanese political parties in a bid to break a knotty presidential impasse, few days after French special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, left Beirut empty-handed.In Maarab, a PSP delegation met with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MPs Ghassan Hasbani and Nazih Matta, while Former minister Ghazi Aridi held meetings with Speaker Nabih Berri and Hussein Khalil, the political aide of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Most of the blocs that the PSP met were responsive and showed positivity, with the exception of the LF, al-Joumhouria newspaper said Friday. A prominent political source told al-Joumhouria that the PSP's meetings will resume next week with the Lebanese Forces and other opposition forces, and that the initiative's goal is to secure quorum for a presidential election session and to move to consultations if MPs fail to elect a president after four rounds of votes. Berri has called for a dialogue to break the impasse. He insisted that only dialogue would solve the presidential crisis, while the LF refused a dialogue chaired by Berri. The United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar, have called for consultations and a third-man solution. The quintet would help the PSP if needed, the source said. Since the end of President Michel Aoun's mandate in October 2022, Parliament has been unable to elect a successor, with both Hezbollah and its opponents not having the required majority to elect a candidate. The deadlock comes as the country is plunged into a deep economic crisis, and the war in Gaza triggering violence between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in the south.

Why Did Hezbollah Launch an Appeal to Finance its Armament?
Joanne Naoum/This is Beirut/June 07/2024
Hezbollah did not stop at involving Lebanon unwillingly in the war against Israel “in support of Gaza”, but went as far as involving civilians in a donation campaign to finance the purchase of missiles, and the acquisition of drones to continue its fight against the Hebrew state. At war since October 8, the pro-Iranian party has broadcasted, a week ago, two video clips urging its partisans to finance its armament. It provided telephone numbers for contact purposes, encouraging civilians to “be part of the battle”. The campaign raised questions about the financial situation of the party, which maintains a military wing with thousands of fighters and a vast arsenal. It coincides with deepening financial difficulties facing Iran, Hezbollah’s main financial backer, which is subject to severe American and Western sanctions. Why did Hezbollah launch this appeal? What about Iran’s unconditional support? Is there a link between the request for compensation to families whose properties were damaged as a result of Hezbollah’s war and the donation campaign?
Engaging his popular base
“This appeal would be a way of engaging his entourage and popular base further in his politics,” journalist and political analyst Ali Hamade told This is Beirut. He considered that this initiative would demonstrate the unity and solidarity of his supporters and partisans, showing that their commitment remains as strong and solid as it was on the first day of the war in support of Gaza. Hamade pointed out that this appeal was probably not due to funding problems from Iran, adding “Hezbollah remains the jewel in Iran’s crown in the region.” He emphasized Hezbollah’s illicit means of financing beyond Iranian support, noting its integration into the Lebanese economy, particularly the illegal economy and various illegal networks. “It also benefits from foreign support from countries such as Iraq and Yemen, as well as its business networks in Latin America and Africa,” he added. However, Hamade assured that the pro-Iranian party is under financial pressure and that this “war of attrition” in the South has significantly impacted dozens of villages, which have been partially or almost completely destroyed over the past eight months. He pointed out that Hezbollah would have responsibilities toward the 100,000 displaced persons who had fled the border with Israel.
A link between the demand for compensation and the appeal for donations?
A heated debate has sparked between opponents and supporters regarding compensation for families in South Lebanon. On 5/28/2024, the Council of Ministers approved Resolution No. 21/2024 to transfer 93,600,000,000 Lebanese pounds to aid some families of those killed in Israeli attacks after 10/7/2023. This decree, based on a table from the Southern Council, covers 52 families of killed fighters as a first batch, out of a total of 428 families. Only 64 families of the total are those of civilians killed in south Lebanon until 5/22/2024. Questions were raised to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, notably by the Lebanese Forces, about the legality of compensating fighters who went to war without state authorization using Lebanese funds. “No doubt there could be a connection between the demand for compensation and the appeal for donations,” Hamade said. Pointing at sanctions imposed by the West, he noted that “it is not an easy task to make a donation to the Shiite party, especially if it comes from wealthy people and businessmen from the Shiite community.” He said that these donations would come in substantial amounts and transferring them to Lebanon is complicated in these times. Regarding the Shiite party’s military and financial capabilities, Hamade said that these had not yet been compromised. Hezbollah declared recently that it has used 5% of its military capacities, while other sources indicated that 20% had been used after eight months of war, leaving 80% intact.The cross-border exchange of fire have intensified at the start of the week. Israeli officials threaten to ‘burn all of Lebanon and return it to the Stone Age’, while Hezbollah claims to be ‘ready for an all-out war’.

Irish Peacekeeper Murder Trial Postponed Again Until February
This Is Beirut/June 07/2024
The trial of Hezbollah members accused of killing the Irish peacekeeper, Sean Rooney, in South Lebanon on December 14, 2022 – and attempting to kill three of his fellow soldiers – was once again postponed. One of the accused, Mohammed Ayyad – who was in custody and was released in November 2023 – failed for the third time to show up to the trial scheduled for Friday. His attorney presented a medical report stating that he was in the hospital. The military tribunal held a hearing – led by General Khalil Jaber – for the case of the Irish UNIFIL soldier killing, in the presence of the Irish Ministry of Defense attorney, Joe Karam, the Irish ambassador in Cairo, Beirut and Palestine, Nuala O’brien (who travelled from Egypt specifically to attend the trial), the honorary consul of Ireland in Lebanon, George Siam, and the government’s delegate to the military tribunal, Judge Roland Chartouni. Ayyad will be tried in propria persona, alongside six other accused, whose verdict will be pronounced in absentia. These individuals are Ali Hassan Khalifeh, Ali Hussein Suleiman, Hussein Hassan Khalifeh, Mustafa Hassan Khalifeh, Ali Ahmad Hakim and Muhammad Ahmad Mezher. As per a court order made by military investigative judge Fadi Sawan, the six men were accused of “having established a criminal association in December 2022, in order to commit crimes against people, undermine the State’s authority, and coordinate the killing of the Irish soldier and the attempted killing of 3 of his comrades, by ambushing the Irish UNIFIL patrol in South Lebanon. The aforementioned individuals opened fire using unlicensed firearms in the South Lebanon town of Al-Akibia, then proceeded to destroy the military vehicle.”The court order also accused another armed group – whose members are still unknown – of chasing another patrol of the Irish contingent, firing at it, taking pictures of its soldiers and attempting to kill them. Ayyad’s lawyer was quick to present the medical report, according to which his client is “present in the Ragheb Harb hospital in the South, and is receiving treatment for a health condition he is suffering from.” Subsequently, the court decided to send a memorandum to the hospital, asking for Ayyad’s full medical file with information on his condition, treatment and the duration of his stay. The hearing was adjourned to February 12, 2025. On June 1, 2023, Lebanon’s military court charged five Hezbollah members with the killing of the Irish peacekeeper. According to its indictment, the five individuals “formed a criminal association aiming at implementing a criminal project.” Under the Lebanese penal code, they face the death penalty.

Mikati Orders Compliance With Judge Hajjar in Ghada Aoun Case
Hajjar Plans 'Punitive Measures' Against Ghada Aoun
This Is Beirut/June 07/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was officially notified on Friday of Acting Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Jamal Hajjar’s decision to dismiss Ghada Aoun, Public Prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, on the grounds of professional misconduct. He immediately sent a memorandum to all ministries, administrations and services, asking them to comply with Hajjar’s request, which forbade the various security services from communicating with Ghada Aoun or carrying out her orders, asking them to refer from now on to the assistant public prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, i.e. Aoun’s subordinate. In his memorandum, Mikati noted that the Public Prosecutor’s request was aimed at restoring order within the Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor’s office.
As a reminder, Judge Jamal Hajjar dismissed Ghada Aoun from all her cases despite her prior dismissal from her position. Aoun had previously been sanctioned by the Disciplinary Council of the Judiciary in May 2023 for unprofessional behavior. Nevertheless, she refused to comply with these decisions. Ghada Aoun reacted promptly, on her X account, but this time to turn her supporters against the Caretaker Prime minister, whom she accused of “breaking the law and trampling on the principle of the separation of powers to protect himself”. She accused Mr. Mikati of being part of a plan to “steal the money of depositors” whom she urged them to “rise up against this theft”.

Electricity: Production Will Increase, But Not the Hours Supplied
This Is Beirut/June 07/2024
The caretaker Minister of Energy and Water, Walid Fayad, announced on Friday “an increase in electricity production from mid-June.” He pointed out that the two power plants in operation, Deir Ammar and Zahrani, currently produce the equivalent of around 450 megawatts, which will rise to around 600 megawatts by mid-June. Unfortunately, this increase in production will not be accompanied by the supply of additional hours of electricity. Fayad explained this increase in production in the light of higher summer consumption and electricity requirements, due to the use of air conditioners. “We won’t be able to give more because needs are greater than they were in the spring. This increase in production will enable us to maintain the current supply system,” he said. However, he assured us that he was also looking to buy more fuel, as the public supplier had the necessary funds to increase supplies. His comments came at the end of a meeting on Friday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, World Bank (WB) Regional Director for the Middle East Jean-Christophe Carret, and EDL Managing Director Kamal Hayek. During the meeting, the progress of the loan program on which the WB is working for the energy sector, and in particular renewable energies, was presented. “We also discussed the requirements needed as well as the audit, legal issues, mechanism, and cost set up by EDL in cooperation with the World Bank,” he said. Fayad described the program as promising, since it involves around $250 million of investment by the World Bank in the renewable energy sector and in the consolidation of EDL. He also indicated that he had been informed by Mikati of his receipt of the letter he had sent concerning the 100-megawatt renewable energy plant that the consortium of Total Energy and Qatar Energy proposes to build in Lebanon. Fayad revealed that in his letter, he proposed a legal solution that would speed up the implementation of this project so that the two companies could invest in the construction of the plant. Caretaker Prime Minister Mikati sent a message to this effect to the two companies. “We hope they will react positively,” concluded Fayad.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 07-08/2024
Pope recreates the 2014 Mideast peace prayer in Vatican Gardens to beg for an end to Gaza conflict
ROME (AP)/June 7, 2024
Pope Francis gathered the Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors to the Vatican Gardens on Friday to pray for an end to the war in Gaza, marking the 10th anniversary of a similar encounter with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents with a new appeal for peace. “Every day I pray that this war will finally end,” Francis told the small gathering, which included around two-dozen cardinals and the Holy See’s diplomatic corps. Among them were Israeli Ambassador Raphael Schutz and Palestinian Ambassador Issa Kassissieh, as well as representatives of Italy's Jewish and Muslim communities. The event recreated the first such encounter Francis hosted in the gardens this time 10 years ago, when he welcomed Israel’s then-President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. At the time, a round of U.S.-mediated peace talks had stalled. But Francis told the two presidents that he hoped their summit would mark “a new journey” toward peace. Then as now, Francis said too many children had been killed by war, and he begged for both sides to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza and the immediate return of hostages to Israel.“All this suffering, the brutality of war, the violence it unleashes and the hatred it sows even among future generations should convince us all that every war leaves our world worse than it was before,” he said. Francis has tried to toe a balanced line on Gaza after initially angering Israel with comments that were perceived of as being supportive of the Palestinians. He has since made sure to also mention Israel's suffering and call for the return of hostages taken Oct. 7 when he refers to the war.

Blinken to push cease-fire proposal in eighth urgent Mideast trip since war in Gaza erupted
Matthew Lee, The Associated Press/June 7, 2024
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will push for a breakthrough on President Joe Biden's cease-fire proposal when he returns to the Middle East next week on his eighth diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October, the State Department said Friday.
Blinken, who is currently in France accompanying Biden on a state visit timed to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion during World War II, will fly from Paris to Cairo on Monday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other officials before traveling to Israel, Jordan and Qatar, the department said. Blinken will then go to Italy to join Biden at the summit for the Group of Seven advanced economies. In all of his meetings, Blinken “will emphasize the importance of Hamas accepting the proposal on the table, which is nearly identical to one Hamas endorsed last month” and “discuss how the cease-fire proposal would benefit both Israelis and Palestinians,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “He will underscore that it would alleviate suffering in Gaza, enable a massive surge in humanitarian assistance, and allow Palestinians to return to their neighborhoods,” he said in a statement. “It would unlock the possibility of achieving calm along Israel’s northern border — so both displaced Israeli and Lebanese families can return to their homes — and set the conditions for further integration between Israel and its Arab neighbors, strengthening Israel’s long-term security and improving stability across the region.”
In Israel, Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. In Jordan, he will participate in an emergency international conference on aid to Gaza, and in Qatar he will meet with officials who are attempting to mediate the cease-fire deal.
The lightning tour comes as the Biden administration is pushing hard for Hamas to accept a three-phase cease-fire proposal that would include the release of hostages taken from Israel and held by the militant group and potentially pave the way for an end to the conflict and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Biden, Blinken and other U.S. officials have lobbied Arab nations heavily to use what influence they have with Hamas to get it to accept the deal that the president announced last week. Hamas has said it views the offer “positively” but also called on Israel to declare an explicit commitment to an agreement that includes a permanent cease-fire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a prisoner exchange and other conditions. But there has been no definitive response so far, and in the absence of one, Blinken will press the case in his meetings in Egypt and Qatar, the two countries with the closest ties to Hamas. However, Blinken may also have trouble selling the proposal — or at least its implementation — to Netanyahu. Although the deal has been described as an Israeli initiative, some members of Netanyahu's far-right coalition government are strongly opposed to it. And, Netanyahu himself has expressed skepticism, saying what has been presented publicly is not accurate and rejecting calls for Israel to cease all fighting until Hamas is eradicated. Despite Blinken's roughly once-a-month visits to the region since the war began following Hamas' deadly attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, the conflict has ground on with more than 36,000 Palestinians killed in eight months of Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians, who are facing widespread hunger. United Nations agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July. As the crisis has escalated, Israel has come under increasingly harsh international criticism for its actions and just this week has been excoriated for airstrikes in Gaza that have reportedly killed dozens of civilians. On Friday, Israeli strikes killed at least 18 people, including children, just a day after 33 were killed at a United Nations-run school sheltering displaced Palestinian families, health officials said. Since mid-October, Blinken has shuttled between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbors, trying to boost aid to civilians in Gaza, prevent the conflict from spreading throughout the region and build support for plans for the reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza — all while vocally backing Israel’s right to defend itself. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has heightened political pressure in the U.S., with pro-Palestinian protests springing up at universities and resulting pushback from some who say the demonstrations have veered into antisemitism.

Israel's Netanyahu Set to Address the US Congress on July 24
Asharq Al Awsat/June 02/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, setting the stage for what is expected to be a contentious speech at a crucial moment for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Congressional leaders confirmed the date of the address late Thursday after formally inviting Netanyahu to come speak before lawmakers last week. It is the most recent show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza, said The Associated Press. “The existential challenges we face, including the growing partnership between Iran, Russia, and China, threaten the security, peace, and prosperity of our countries and of free people around the world,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, said in the letter. "To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combating terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”Netanyahu's appearance before a growingly divided Congress is sure to be controversial and met with plenty of protests both inside the Capitol from lawmakers and outside by pro-Palestinian protesters. And it will put on stark display the growing election-year divisions among Democrats over the prime minister’s prosecution of the monthslong war against Hamas. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US — who delivered a stinging rebuke of Netanyahu in March — said in a separate statement Thursday night that he has “clear and profound disagreements” with the Israeli leader but joined in the request for him to speak “because America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister.” Other Democratic lawmakers more critical of Netanyahu’s strategy are expected to be no-shows for the address. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, said: “Netanyahu is a war criminal. I certainly will not attend.”Netanyahu’s visit to the Capitol also comes as the relationship between President Joe Biden and the leader of the Jewish state has increasingly frayed in recent months. Biden has privately and publicly criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war and criticized the Israeli government for not letting more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Late last week, Biden announced a proposed agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, putting growing pressure on Netanyahu to accept the deal. Many Israelis have been urging him to embrace the terms, but his far-right allies have threatened to leave his coalition government if he does.That could expose Netanyahu to new elections, scrutiny over security failures that led to the war and, if he loses the prime minister post, prosecution on longstanding corruption charges. The first phase of the deal described by Biden would last for six weeks and include a “full and complete cease-fire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, older people and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The second phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The third phase calls for the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from the war’s devastation. Netanyahu has repeatedly called a permanent cease-fire in Gaza a “nonstarter” until long-standing conditions for ending the war are met, appearing to undermine the proposal that Biden described as an Israeli one. A number of Democratic lawmakers who have been supportive of Israel since the start of the war have said their attendance at Netanyahu's address will be dependent on his decision to accept the peace deal at hand.
Johnson first suggested inviting the Israeli leader, saying it would be “a great honor of mine” to invite him. In the press release Thursday, Johnson said Netanyahu responded to the invitation in kind.“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world," Netanyahu said, according to the release.

Israeli Forces Batter Central, South Gaza as Tanks Advance in Rafah
Asharq Al Awsat/June 07/024
With a renewed ceasefire push in the eight-month-old Gaza war stalled, Israel bombarded central and southern areas again on Friday, killing at least 28 Palestinians, and tank forces advanced to the western edges of Rafah. US-backed Qatari and Egyptian mediators have tried again this week to reconcile clashing demands preventing a halt to the hostilities, a release of Israeli hostages and Palestinians jailed in Israel, and an unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza to alleviate a humanitarian disaster. But sources close to the talks said there were still no signs of a breakthrough. A month after rumbling into Rafah in what Israel said was an assault to wipe out Hamas' last intact combat units, tank-led forces have advanced to the southwest fringes of the city that skirts the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, residents said. They said tanks were stationed in the al-Izba district near the Mediterranean coast while snipers had commandeered some buildings and high ground, trapping people in their homes. They said Israel machinegun fire had made it too dangerous to go out. Gaza health officials said two Palestinians had been killed and several wounded in western Rafah from tank shelling there. In central Gaza, Palestinians medics said at least 15 people died overnight in Israeli bombardments. "I think the occupation forces are trying to reach the beach area of Rafah. The raids and the bombing overnight were tactical, they entered under heavy fire and then retreated," one Palestinian resident told Reuters via a chat app.
In the larger city of Khan Younis just to the north of Rafah, an Israeli airstrike on a house killed eight people and wounded several, including children, medics said. In north Gaza, three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school building that was sheltering displaced families, rescue workers said. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas gunmen operating from a container inside the school premises, similar to its explanation for an airstrike on a UN school building in al-Nuseirat in central Gaza on Thursday that medics said killed 40 people including 14 children. Israel said it killed in Thursday's strike many of 20-30 militants concealed in the compound. Around 6,000 displaced people were sheltering at that site, the UN said.
CEASEFIRE IMPASSE
Israel's military blames Hamas for Gaza's high civilian death toll, accusing it of operating within densely populated neighborhoods, schools and hospitals as cover, something it denies. UN and humanitarian officials accuse Israel of using disproportionate force in the war, which it denies. Hamas said on Friday fighters in the central city of Deir al-Balah shelled a house where Israeli troops were barricaded, killing some and wounding others. It said helicopters were seen landing to extricate the stricken Israeli unit. The Israeli military focused on central Gaza in its latest update, saying it had killed "dozens" of fighters and destroyed more militant infrastructure in continuing operations in the al-Bureij refugee camp and nearby city of Deir al-Balah. Israel has ruled out peace until Hamas is eradicated, and much of Gaza lies in ruins, but Hamas has proven resilient, with militants resurfacing to fight in areas where Israeli forces had previously declared to have defeated them and pulled back. Hamas precipitated the war when gunmen stormed from Israeli-blockaded Gaza into southern Israel in a lightning strike last Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's invasion and bombardment of Gaza since then has killed at least 36,731 people, including 77 in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said in an update on Friday. Thousands more are feared buried dead under rubble, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced. Since a brief week-long truce in November, repeated attempts to arrange a ceasefire have failed, with Hamas insisting on a permanent end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it is prepared to discuss only temporary pauses in the hostilities until the group, which has ruled the narrow, impoverished enclave since 2007, is wiped out and Gaza poses no more security threat. The latest round of indirect talks began on Wednesday when CIA Director William Burns met senior officials from Qatar and Egypt in Doha to discuss a proposal US President Joe Biden publicly endorsed last week. Biden described the three-phase plan as an Israeli initiative.

Israeli envoy ‘disgusted’ at army’s inclusion on upcoming UN blacklist for harming children
AFP/June 07, 2024
UNITED NATIONS: Israel’s UN envoy on Friday said he was “disgusted” that the Israeli army is to be included on an upcoming United Nations list of countries and armed forces that fail to protect children during war. “I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision,” UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement. “Israel’s army is the most moral army in the world and you know it. This is an immoral decision that only aids terrorism and rewards Hamas.” The annual “Children and Armed Conflict” report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has not yet been published, but Erdan was responding after receiving notification of Israel’s inclusion on the list of countries that do not take adequate measures to shield children from conflict. “The only one who is blacklisted today is the secretary-general,” Erdan said. “Now Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this shameful decision of the secretary-general will only give Hamas hope.” Gaza is suffering through a war which broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,731 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Israel has also delayed the entry of aid into Gaza, depriving the territory’s 2.4 million people of clean water, food, medicines and fuel. Last week, the World Health Organization said that more than four in five children had gone a whole day without eating at least once in 72 hours.According to the Hamas government media office, at least 32 people, many of them children, have died of malnutrition in Gaza since the war began. Guterres’ report is expected to be published by the end of June. The report highlights human rights violations against children in around 20 conflict zones. Last year, Russia’s military and armed entities linked to Russia were included on the list. Rights groups have long pushed for Israel’s inclusion and in 2022, the United Nations issued a warning that Israel would need to show improvements in order not to be added.

Israel says struck Hamas at UN school in Gaza, 3 reported dead
AFP/June 07, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said its forces struck Friday a UN-run school near Gaza City, the second such facility hit within two days, with the Hamas-run government media office reporting three fatalities. The army said the strike targeted Hamas “terrorists” who were operating from a container on the premises of a school operated by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in northern Gaza’s Al-Shati refugee camp. The media office said an Israeli aircraft had targeted the school, killing three and wounding seven. On Thursday an Israeli strike hit another UNRWA school, in central Gaza, where a hospital said 37 people had been killed. UNRWA has been key to aid operations in the besieged Gaza Strip during the eight-month war between Israel and Hamas, and the agency’s facilities throughout the territory have been turned into shelters for displaced civilians. The Israeli army has repeatedly accused Hamas and other Gaza militants of hiding in schools and hospitals, a charge denied by the group. Hamas in a statement urged an international investigation “into these crimes” and demanded “accountability and punishment” for Israeli leaders. Many UNRWA buildings have enough space to host many people, and Gazans have taken refuge there thinking UN facilities were relatively safe from bombardment. But UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP on Friday that “over 180 UNRWA facilities, among them many shelters for displaced people, have been hit since the war began.”“As a result, more than 440 people have been killed while sheltering under the UN flag,” she said. UNRWA shares the coordinates of all its buildings in Gaza with all parties to the conflict, including the Israeli army, Touma added. The war broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,731 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

US urges Israel to be transparent over Gaza school strike
Matt Murphy - BBC News and George Wright /June 7, 2024
The US has told Israel it must be fully "transparent" over an air strike that reportedly killed at least 35 people at a central Gaza school packed with displaced people on Thursday morning. Local journalists told the BBC a warplane had fired two missiles at classrooms on the top floor of the school in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp. The Israeli military said it had conducted a "precise" strike on a "Hamas compound" in the school, but Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office denied the claim. The US called on Israel to identify publicly the Hamas fighters it said it had killed - just as the Israeli military gave the names of nine of them. Israel frequently identifies militants it targets in air strikes but it is rare for the US to urge it to do so. The Israelis “told us there were 20 to 30 militants they were targeting [and] they’re going to release the names of those they believe they’ve killed, those militants”, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. “That is what they have said they would provide. We expect them to do that, as well as any other details that would shed light on this incident." In a near-simultaneous news briefing, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari gave the names of nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters he said had been killed in the strike. The Israeli military later said it had confirmed the deaths of eight more Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members in the strike, bringing the total to 17. In Washington, Mr Miller said the US has seen reports that 14 children were killed in the strike. "If that is accurate that 14 children were killed, those aren’t terrorists," he said. "And so the government of Israel has said they are going to release more information about this strike... We expect them to be fully transparent in making that information public.”The latest deaths come just a week after 45 people were killed in an Israeli strike in the Gazan city of Rafah. Witnesses tell of 'unimaginable' Gaza shelter air strike
The latest strike, local journalists and residents say, happened in the early hours of Thursday at al-Sardi school, which is in a south-eastern area of the densely populated, decades-old camp, where the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, provides services. Videos shared on social media showed the destruction of several classrooms in one of the school's buildings, as well as bodies wrapped in white shrouds and blankets. Dead and wounded people were rushed to the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah, which has been overwhelmed since the Israeli military began a new ground operation against Hamas in central Gaza this week. The BBC is working to verify the details of the strike in Nuseirat camp. Reports on the exact number of dead have varied. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 40 people had been killed, including 14 children and nine women, and 74 others had been injured. Unrwa's commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, said at least 35 people had been killed and many more had been injured. The agency’s director of communications, Juliette Touma, told the BBC the figures were coming from Unrwa "colleagues on the ground".Witnesses described a scene of devastation following the strike. “I was asleep when the incident occurred,” Udai Abu Elias, a man who was living at the school, told BBC Arabic. "Suddenly we heard a loud explosion and shattered glass and debris from the building fell on us. Smoke filled the air and I couldn't see anything. I didn't expect to make it out alive. I heard someone calling for survivors to come out from under the rubble. I struggled to see as I stumbled over the bodies of the martyrs.”Unrwa said 6,000 displaced people had been sheltering in the school complex at the time. Many schools and other UN facilities have been used as shelters by the 1.7 million people who have fled their homes during the war, which has lasted almost eight months. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the strike through a spokesperson, saying that UN premises must be "inviolable" and protected by "all parties" during conflicts. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said jets had conducted a "precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside" the school. An annotated aerial photograph highlighted classrooms on two upper floors of the building, which the IDF said were the “locations of the terrorists”. US officials have continued to lobby for what President Joe Biden called an Israeli ceasefire proposal. The three-part plan would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israeli military would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza. There would also be a "surge" of humanitarian aid, as well as an exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The deal would eventually lead to a permanent "cessation of hostilities" and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza. Germany, France and Britain re-affirmed their support for the deal in a joint statement with the US on Thursday and called for "an enduring end to the crisis". CIA Director William Burns met mediators from Egypt and Qatar in Doha on Thursday to discuss the plans, but senior Cairo officials told the Reuters news agency that there had been no sign of a breakthrough on the deal. At least 36,470 people have been killed in Gaza in almost eight months of fighting, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage during its 7 October attacks on southern Israel. Additional reporting by Rushdi Abu Alouf in Istanbul and David Gritten in London.

US-built pier in Gaza reconnected after repairs, aid expected to flow soon, says CENTCOM
AP/June 07, 2024
WASHINGTON: A key section of the US military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the Gaza beach following storm damage repairs, and aid will begin to flow soon, US Central Command announced Friday.
The section that connects to the beach, the causeway, was rebuilt nearly two weeks after heavy storms damaged it and abruptly halted what had already been a troubled delivery route. Humanitarian aid is expected to begin moving into the enclave through the maritime route in the coming days.
A large section of the causeway broke apart May 25 as heavy winds and high seas hit the area, and four Army vessels operating there went aground, injuring three service members, including one who remains in critical condition. The damage was the latest stumbling block in what has been a persistent struggle to get food to starving Palestinians during the nearly 8-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Bad weather had earlier slowed the delivery of sections of the pier and US military personnel from Virginia to the region. And early efforts to get aid from the pier into Gaza were disrupted as residents stormed the trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food to the warehouses for distribution. The maritime route for a limited time had been an additional way to help get more aid into Gaza because the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it difficult, if not impossible at times, to get anything through land routes that are far more productive. President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the start that the pier wasn’t meant to be a total solution and that any amount of aid helps. Because of the storm damage to the causeway, large sections were disconnected and moved to the Israeli port for repairs.
Two of the US Army boats went aground near Ashkelon in Israel, but those have been freed, and the other two beached onto the Gaza shoreline. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said those two took on a lot of water and sand and that the Israeli Navy has been helping with the repairs.
Biden, a Democrat, announced his plan for the US military to build a pier during his State of the Union address in early March, and the military said it would take about 60 days to get it installed and operational. The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but Singh said earlier this week that the price had dropped to $230 million, due to contributions from Britain and because the cost of contracting trucks and other equipment was less than expected. It took a bit longer than the planned two months for installation, with the first trucks carrying aid for the Gaza Strip rolling down the pier on May 17. Just a day later, crowds overran a convoy of trucks as they headed into Gaza, stripping the cargo from 11 of the 16 vehicles before they reached a UN warehouse. The next day, as officials altered the travel routes of the convoys, aid finally began reaching people in need. More than 1,100 tons (1,000 metric tons) of aid were delivered before the causeway broke apart in the storm, Pentagon officials said

Women and children of Gaza are killed less frequently as war’s toll rises, AP data analysis finds
Josef Federman And Larry Fenn/JERUSALEM (AP)/June 7, 2024
The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply, an Associated Press analysis of Gaza Health Ministry data has found, a trend that both coincides with Israel’s changing battlefield tactics and contradicts the ministry’s own public statements. The trend is significant because the death rate for women and children is the best available proxy for civilian casualties in one of the 21st century’s most destructive conflicts. In October, when the war began, it was above 60%. For the month of April, it was below 40%. Yet the shift went unnoticed for months by the U.N. and much of the media, and the Hamas-linked Health Ministry has made no effort to set the record straight. Israel faces heavy international criticism over unprecedented levels of civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in an 8-month-old war that shows no sign of ending. Two recent airstrikes in Gaza killed dozens of civilians. The AP analysis highlights facts that have been overlooked and could help inform the public debate, said Gabriel Epstein, a research assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East policy who has also studied the Health Ministry data. The declining impact on women and children -- as well as a drop in the overall death rate -- are “definitely due to a change in the way the IDF is acting right now,” Epstein said, using an acronym for the Israeli army. “That’s an easy conclusion, but I don’t think it’s been made enough.”Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, said his group has always found the Health Ministry’s numbers to be “generally reliable” because it has direct access to hospitals and morgues. Whatever the reason for fewer women and child being killed, Shakir said, in the grand scheme, the trend pales when compared with the war’s overall devastation. “The death toll may be an undercount,” he added, because many bodies are still under rubble and the war has made it difficult for the Health Ministry to comprehensively gather data.
AS THE WAR EVOLVES, A SHIFT OCCURS
When Israel first responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people, it launched an intense aerial bombardment on the densely populated Gaza Strip. Israel said its goal was to destroy Hamas positions, and the barrage cleared the way for tens of thousands of ground troops, backed by tanks and artillery. The Gaza death toll rose quickly and by the end of October women and people 17 and younger accounted for 64% of the 6,745 killed who were fully identified by the Health Ministry. After marching across most of Gaza and saying it had achieved many key objectives, Israel then began withdrawing most of its ground forces. It reduced the frequency of aerial bombings and has focused in recent months on smaller drone strikes and limited ground operations. As the intensity of fighting has scaled back, the death toll has continued to rise, but at a slower rate – and with seemingly fewer civilians caught in the crossfire. In April, women and children made up 38% of the newly and fully identified deaths, the Health Ministry’s most recent data shows. “Historically, airstrikes (kill) a higher ratio of women and children compared to ground operations,” said Larry Lewis, an expert on the civilian impacts of war at CNA, a nonprofit research group in Washington. The findings of the AP analysis “make sense,” he said. Another sign that Israel softened its bombing campaign: Beginning in January, there was a sharp slowdown in “new damage” to buildings in Gaza, according to Corey Scher, a satellite mapping expert at City University of New York who has monitored buildings damaged or destroyed since the war began.
DAILY DEATH TOLLS AT ODDS WITH UNDERLYING DATA
The Health Ministry announces a new death toll for the war nearly every day. It also has periodically released the underlying data behind this figure, including detailed lists of the dead. The AP’s analysis looked at these lists, which were shared on social media in late October, early January, late March, and the end of April. Each list includes the names of people whose deaths were attributable to the war, along with other identifying details. The daily death tolls, however, are provided without supporting data. In February, ministry officials said 75% of the dead were women and children – a level that was never confirmed in the detailed reports. And as recently as March, the ministry’s daily reports claimed that 72% of the dead were women and children, even as underlying data clearly showed the percentage was well below that. Israeli leaders have pointed to such inconsistencies as evidence that the ministry, which is led by medical professionals but reports to Gaza’s Hamas government, is inflating the figures for political gain. Experts say the reality is more complicated, given the scale of devastation that has overwhelmed and badly damaged Gaza’s hospital system. Lewis said while the “beleaguered” Health Ministry has come under heavy scrutiny, Israel has yet to provide credible alternative data. He called on Israel to “put out your numbers.”
HIGH CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL IS A LIABILITY FOR ISRAEL
The true toll in Gaza could have serious repercussions. Two international courts in the Hague are examining accusations that Israel has committed war crimes and genocide against Palestinians – allegations it adamantly denies. Israel has opened a potentially devastating new phase of the war in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where an estimated 100,000 civilians remain even after mass evacuations. How Israel mitigates civilian deaths there will be closely watched. Israeli airstrikes in Rafah last month set off a fire that killed dozens of people, and on Thursday an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, local health officials said. Israel says it has tried to avoid civilian casualties throughout the war, including by issuing mass evacuation orders ahead of intense military operations that have displaced some 80% of Gaza’s population. It also accuses Hamas of intentionally putting civilians in harm’s way as human shields. The U.N. secretary-general plans to list Israel and Hamas as violating the rights and protection of children in armed conflict in an upcoming annual report to the Security Council. The fate of women and children is an important indicator of civilian casualties because the Health Ministry does not break out combatant deaths. But it’s not a perfect indicator: Many civilian men have died, and some older teenagers may be involved in the fighting.
PARSING GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY DATA
The ministry said publicly on April 30 that 34,622 had died in the war. The AP analysis was based on the 22,961 individuals fully identified at the time by the Health Ministry with names, genders, ages, and Israeli-issued identification numbers. The ministry says 9,940 of the dead – 29% of its April 30 total – were not listed in the data because they remain “unidentified.” These include bodies not claimed by families, decomposed beyond recognition or whose records were lost in Israeli raids on hospitals. An additional 1,699 records in the ministry’s April data were incomplete and 22 were duplicates; they were excluded from AP’s analysis. Among those fully identified, the records show a steady decline in the overall proportion of women and children who have been killed: from 64% in late October, to 62% as of early January, to 57% by the end of March, to 54% by the end of April. Yet throughout the war, the ministry has claimed that roughly two-thirds of the dead were women and children. This figure has been repeated by international organizations and many in the foreign media, including the AP. The Health Ministry says it has gone to great lengths to accurately compile information but that its ability to count and identify the dead has been greatly hampered by the war. The fighting has crippled the Gaza health system, knocking out two-thirds of the territory’s 36 hospitals, closing morgues and hampering the work of facilities still functioning. Dr. Moatasem Salah, director of the ministry’s emergency center, rejected Israeli assertions that his ministry has intentionally inflated or manipulated the death toll. “This shows disrespect to the humanity for any person who exists here,” he said. “We are not numbers … These are all human souls.”He insisted that 70% of those killed have been women and children and said the overall death toll is much higher than what has been reported because thousands of people remain missing, are believed to be buried in rubble, or their deaths were not reported by their families.
AS DEATH TOLL RISES, THE DETAILS ARE DEBATED
To be sure, this war’s death toll is the highest of any previous Israel-Palestinian conflict. But Israeli leaders say the international media and United Nations have cited Palestinian figures without a critical eye. Israel last month angrily criticized the U.N.’s use of data from Hamas’ media office – a propaganda arm of the militant group – that reported a larger number of women and children killed. The U.N. later lowered its number in line with Health Ministry figures. Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, lashed out on the social platform X: “Anyone who relies on fake data from a terrorist organization in order to promote blood libels against Israel is antisemitic and supports terrorism.”AP’s examination of the reports found flaws in the Palestinian record keeping. As Gaza’s hospital system collapsed in December and January, the ministry began relying on hard-to-verify “media reports” to register new deaths. Its March report included 531 individuals who were counted twice, and many deaths were self-reported by families, instead of health officials. Epstein, the Washington Institute researcher, said using different data-collection methodologies and then combining all the numbers gives an inaccurate picture.“That’s probably the biggest problem,” he said, adding that he was surprised there hadn’t been more scrutiny. The number of Hamas militants killed in the fighting is also unclear. Hamas has closely guarded this information, though Khalil al-Hayya, a top Hamas official, told the AP in late April that the group had lost no more than 20% of its fighters. That would amount to roughly 6,000 fighters based on Israeli pre-war estimates. The Israeli military has not challenged the overall death toll released by the Palestinian ministry. But it says the number of dead militants is much higher at roughly 15,000 – or over 40% of all the dead. It has provided no evidence to support the claim, and declined to comment for this story. Shlomo Mofaz, director of Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, said such estimates are typically based on body counts, battlefield intelligence and the interrogations of captured Hamas commanders. Mofaz, a former Israeli intelligence officer, said his researchers are skeptical of the Palestinian data. In previous conflicts, he said his researchers found numerous “inconsistencies,” such as including natural deaths from disease or car accidents among the war casualties. He expects that to be the case this time as well. The large number of unidentified dead raises further questions, he said. Michael Spagat, a London-based economics professor who chairs the board of Every Casualty Counts, a nonprofit that tracks armed conflicts, said he continues to trust the Health Ministry and believes it is doing its best in difficult circumstances. “I think (the data) becomes increasingly flawed,” he said. But, he added, “the flaws don’t necessarily change the overall picture.”

George Clooney Called Biden Aide To Defend Amal Clooney Over Israel Arrest Warrants
Ron Dicker/HuffPost/June 7, 2024
Joe Biden Cracks Down On The BorderScroll back up to restore default view.
George Clooney reportedly called a Joe Biden adviser to complain about the president’s criticism of a case his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, worked on. The account comes via The Washington Post, which cited three unnamed sources familiar with the conversation between Clooney and Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president. Clooney was ticked at Biden for slamming the International Criminal Court’s effort to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in the conflict with Hamas. (The court did the same for Hamas leaders.) Amal Clooney, a special adviser with the court, recommended the move. “The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict,” she wrote. But Biden made a forceful statement denouncing the court: “The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.” According to the Post, the Oscar-winning activist was also upset that sanctions against the ICC, which the Biden administration was initially open to, might penalize his wife. The House this week voted to impose sanctions against the war-crimes court, but the Biden administration has said it “strongly opposes” the bill. It is not likely to get through the Democrat-controlled Senate.Clooney’s considerable Hollywood clout makes the situation delicate for the White House. He along with Julia Roberts and former President Barack Obama are scheduled to hold a fundraiser for Biden in Los Angeles on June 15. In 2020, Clooney hosted a fundraiser for Biden that raised $7 million. In 2022, Biden celebrated Clooney’s Kennedy Center Honors award at the White House and jokingly called him “Amal Clooney’s husband.”

Swedish police detained 19 pro-Palestinian activists who barricaded themselves inside a university
The Associated Press/June 7, 2024
COPENHAGEN, Denmark/wedish police detained 19 pro-Palestinian activists who barricaded themselves in the country's main technical education and research university on Friday. After two hours, police carried out the masked activists from the third floor of a Royal Institute of Technology building in Stockholm. They are likely to be prosecuted for trespassing and disobeying the police, according to police. International pressure has been mounting on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in its war against Hamas in Gaza. On Thursday, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said that Hamas militants were operating from within the school. At around noon, the activists blocked the entrance of a student building at the institute, known by its Swedish acronym KTH, with chairs and tables. Some shouted “Free Palestine” and hung Palestinian flags in the windows. People supporting the activists and a large contingent of law enforcement personnel, including officers with dogs and mounted police, quickly gathered outside KTH, which is located north of downtown Stockholm. On Instagram, the activists said they occupied the building to pressure KTH to stop collaborating with Israeli universities. The school describes itself as the largest institution in Sweden for technical education and research and is a leading technical university internationally. Last week, a handful of pro-Palestinian activists were briefly detained in connection with an unauthorized demonstration outside KTH. In the past months, law enforcement in the United States and in Europe have forcefully removed encampments and barricades where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have blocked the main entrances and other access points on campuses. In the Danish capital, activists who had set up tents at a University of Copenhagen campus have taken them down and some moved Wednesday to the City Hall Square where they set up a tent camp, demanding that Denmark boycot Israeli arms sales.

UN will describe Israel and Hamas as violating children's rights in armed conflict
Michael Weissenstein/UNITED NATIONS (AP) /June 7, 2024
In an upcoming report to the U.N. Security Council, the secretary-general of the world body plans to list both Israel and Hamas as waging a war that violates the rights and protection of children. The preface of last year’s report says it lists parties engaged in “the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons." The head of Secretary-General António Guterres' office called Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, on Friday to inform him that Israel would be in the report when it is sent to the council next week, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad also will be listed. Israel reacted with outrage, sending news organizations a video of Erdan berating the head of Guterres' office, supposedly on the other end of a phone call. “Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this shameful decision of the Secretary-General will only give Hamas hope to survive and extend the war and extend the suffering,” Erdan wrote in a statement. “Shame on him!” The move heightened a long-running feud between Israel and the U.N., with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, "The UN put itself on the black list of history today.” Condemnation of the secretary-general’s decision appeared to bring together Israel’s increasingly fractious leadership — from the right-wing Netanyahu and Erdan to the popular centrist member of the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz.
Gantz cited Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, as saying “it matter not what say the goyim (non-Jews), what is important is what do the Jews.”Meanwhile, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador said that adding Israel to the “‘list of shame,’ will not bring back tens of thousands of our children who were killed by Israel over decades.” “But it is an important step in the right direction,” Riyad Mansour wrote in a statement. Israel faces heavy international criticism over civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in an eight-month-old war. Two recent airstrikes in Gaza killed dozens of civilians. U.N. agencies warned Wednesday that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue. The World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a joint report that hunger is worsening because of heavy restrictions on humanitarian access and the collapse of the local food system in the eight-month Israel-Hamas war. The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply, an Associated Press analysis of Gaza Health Ministry data has found, a trend that both coincides with Israel’s changing battlefield tactics and contradicts the ministry’s own public statements. The trend is significant because the death rate for women and children is the best available proxy for civilian casualties in one of the 21st century’s most destructive conflicts. In October, when the war began, it was above 60%. For the month of April, it was below 40%. Yet the shift went unnoticed for months by the U.N. and much of the media, and the Hamas-linked Health Ministry has made no effort to set the record straight.

Confident Putin warns Europe is ‘defenceless’
Steve Rosenberg - Russia editor/BBC/June 7, 2024
Ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been engaged in nuclear sabre-rattling, dropping a series of not-so-subtle hints that trying to defeat a nuclear power like Russia could have disastrous consequences for those who try.
Today President Putin claimed that Russia wouldn’t need to use a nuclear weapon to achieve victory in Ukraine. He was being interviewed at a panel discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum: the annual event often described as ‘Russia’s Davos’. There are few occasions when Mr Putin looks dovish compared to the person asking him the questions. But when the person asking the questions is Sergei Karaganov it would be hard not to. Mr Karaganov is a hawkish Russian foreign policy expert. Last year he called for a pre-emptive nuclear strike. Today he suggested holding a “nuclear pistol” to the temple of the West over Ukraine.
President Putin wasn’t so extreme in his language. But he is no dove.
The Kremlin leader said he did not rule out changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine: the document which sets out the conditions under which Russia would use nuclear weapons. “This doctrine is a living tool and we are carefully watching what is happening in the world around us and do not exclude making changes to this doctrine. This is also related to the testing of nuclear weapons.”And he delivered a warning to those European countries who’ve been supporting Ukraine: Russia’s has “many more [tactical nuclear weapons] than there are on the European continent, even if the United States brings theirs over.” “Europe does not have a developed [early warning system],” he added. “In this sense they are more or less defenceless.”Tactical nuclear weapons are smaller warheads designed to destroy targets without widespread radioactive fallout. This has been a surreal week in St Petersburg. On the one hand, a huge international economic forum has been taking place , sending the message that Russia is ready for cooperation and that, despite everything, it’s business as usual. Clearly, though, it is not business as usual. Russia is waging war in Ukraine, a war which is now in its third year; as a result, Russia is the most heavily sanctioned country in the world. And, right now, tensions are soaring between Russia and the West. Earlier this week, at a meeting with international news agency chiefs in St Petersburg, President Putin suggested that Russia might supply advanced conventional long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets.This was his response to Nato allies allowing Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons.
He repeated the idea again today.
“We are not supplying those weapons yet, but we reserve the right to do so to those states or legal entities which are under certain pressure, including military pressure, from the countries that supply weapons to Ukraine and encourage their use on Russian territory.”There were no details. No names. So, to which parts of the world might Russia deploy its missiles? “Wherever we think it is necessary, we’re definitely going to put them. As President Putin made clear, we’ll investigate this question,” Vladimir Solovyov, one of Russian state TV’s most prominent hosts, tells me. “If you are trying to harm us you have to be pretty sure we have enough opportunities and chances to harm you.” “In the West some will say we’ve heard this sabre-rattling before,” I respond, “and that it’s a bluff.” “It’s always a bluff. Until the time when it is not,” Mr Solovyov replies. “You can keep thinking that Russia is bluffing and then, one day, there is no more Great Britain to laugh at. Don’t you ever try to push the Russian bear thinking that ‘Oh, it’s a kitten, we can play with it.” Anger in Moscow after Ukraine allowed to hit Russia with Western weapons.
CEOs from Europe and America used to flock to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Not any more. Instead I saw delegations from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Russia has been using this year’s event to try to show that, despite Western sanctions, there are plenty of countries in the world who are ready to do business with Russia. And what have we learnt in St Petersburg about Vladimir Putin?That he sounds increasingly confident and determined not to back down. He seems to believe that in the current standoff between Russia and the West, it is the West that will blink first.

UN confirms 11 staff detained by Houthis in Yemen
BBC/ June 7, 2024
The UN has called for the immediate release of 11 of its personnel who have been detained by the Houthi movement in Yemen. The employees were taken in various parts of the conflict-torn country, in what appears to be a co-ordinated crackdown. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the world body was pursuing all available channels to secure their safe and unconditional release as rapidly as possible. The armed group sees itself as part of an Iranian-led "axis of resistance" against Israel, the US and the wider West, and has declared its support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, triggering retaliatory air strikes by the US and its allies. Several employees of other international organisations were also detained, reports quoting officials from Yemen's internationally recognised government said. Phones and computers were seized during the raids on the workers' homes and offices, which come after months of Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. The Mayyun Organisation for Human Rights said Houthi intelligence officers targeted 18 aid workers from several groups in Amran, Hudaydah, Saada and Sana'a at the same time. Officials told Reuters news agency that multiple members of the US-backed National Democratic Institute (NDI) were targeted. The detentions demonstrate the risks facing aid workers in a country where a decade-long civil war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. They come as the Houthis face increasing economic difficulties and air strikes carried out by a US-led coalition. The armed group controls the capital of Yemen - Sana'a - and the country's north-west, running a de facto government which collects taxes and prints money. The internationally recognised government of Yemen is based in the southern port of Aden.

Yemen's Houthis say they targeted two vessels in the Red Sea
Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab/CAIRO (Reuters)/June 7, 2024
Yemen's Houthis on Friday said they targeted two vessels in the Red Sea with drones and missiles, but there was no independent confirmation of the purported attacks. The group targeted the Elbella and AAL GENOA vessels with "a number of drones and ballistic and naval missiles", the Iran-aligned group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech. Saree did not specify the date on which the strikes were carried out. Reuters did not receive any reports of incidents in the Red Sea on Friday. Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, manager of the Malta-flagged Elbella container ship, declined comment. Reuters was not immediately able to reach the owner or manager for the Cyprus-flagged AAL Genoa general cargo vessel. Separately, the U.S. Central Command said on Friday that Houthis launched in the past 24 hours four anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea, but there were no injuries or damage. U.S. forces destroyed one drone launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen into the Bab al-Mandab Strait and also destroyed a Houthi patrol boat in the Red Sea, the U.S. military said in a post on X. The Houthi militia, which controls the most populous parts of Yemen, has staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The campaign has disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the wider Middle East.
The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping.

US and British airstrikes hit Yemen, Houthis say
Reuters/DUBAI/June 7, 2024
U.S. and British forces carried out six airstrikes on targets in Yemen on Friday, a Houthi-run television station said. Four attacks were made on the airport of Hodeidah - a main port city on the Red Sea - and the seaport of Salif to the north, Al-Masirah TV said. Two strikes also hit the Al-Thawra region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, it said. The Houthis, who control Sanaa and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas militants, drawing U.S. and British retaliatory strikes since February.

Saudi Arabian Crown prince joins long guest list for G7 summit
Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alex Richardson)/ROME (Reuters) /June 7, 2024
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will join at least 12 other heads of state and government invited by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to take part in next week's Group of Seven (G7) summit, officials said on Friday.
The unusually long guest list reflects Italy's desire to broaden the horizons of the G7, a club of wealthy democracies that comprises the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union. "The G7 brings together countries that are like-minded regarding fundamental principles and standards, but it is not closed off like a fortress. It opens up to the world," said a senior official who declined to be named. Diplomats had already released a list of many of those expected at the June 13-15 gathering, including the leaders of India, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, Algeria, Kenya and Mauritania. All those countries have now confirmed their attendance, meaning a first overseas trip for India's Narendra Modi since his election victory this week and for Cyril Ramaphosa, who lost an overall majority in South Africa this month. Emphasising concern over the situation in the Middle East, officials on Friday confirmed that both the Saudi crown prince and Jordan's King Abdullah would attend discussions in Borgo Egnazia, an exclusive resort in the southeastern Puglia region. It is believed to be the first time a leader from Saudi Arabia, a country regularly accused of human rights abuses, has been invited to join a G7 summit. "We do not always have the same approach, but it is through dialogue and by understanding different needs that results are achieved," the Italian official said.
UKRAINE RETURNS
As last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will take part in the G7 meeting, joining a session on June 13 dedicated to his country's conflict with Russia. The other leaders will take part in the talks on Friday, June 14. The guest star will be Pope Francis, who will be the first pontiff to participate in a meeting of the wealthy nations' club. He is due be the keynote speaker in a session dedicated to the risks and opportunities posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Critics accuse the G7 of being elitist and arrogant. By drawing in so many guests, Italy hopes to bolster consensus on critical issues such as relations with China, while also drawing attention to the problems of the Global South, especially Africa. Previous hosts have tended to offer far fewer invitations, with the last two host nations, Germany and Britain, inviting just five apiece. The last time anyone invited more people than Meloni was in 2009, when former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi asked 22 world leaders to take part. Besides a meeting on Friday on AI, energy, Africa and the Mediterranean, which all the leaders are expected to join, there will also be numerous opportunities for bilaterals. Much attention will be focused on a possible encounter between Argentinian President Javier Milei and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - South American neighbours who have been openly critical of each other in recent months.

7 EU members say conditions in Syria should be reassessed to allow voluntary refugee returns
Menelaos Hadjicostis/NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) /June 7, 2024
The governments of seven European Union member states said Friday the situation in Syria should be re-evaluated to allow for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees back to their homeland. In a joint statement, officials from Austria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Poland said they agree on a re-assessment that would lead to “more effective ways of handling” Syrian refugees trying to reach European Union countries. The seven countries, which held talks during a summit meeting in the Cypriot capital, said the situation in Syria has “considerably evolved,” even though complete political stability hasn't been achieved. Denmark had also attended the meeting, but later said it did not sign the joint statement. Although the Cypriot Interior Ministry initially said that all eight EU countries at the meeting had signed the document, it later clarified to The Associated Press that Denmark in fact did not sign. Cyprus has in recent months seen an upsurge of Syrian refugees reaching the island nation primarily from Lebanon aboard rickety boats. Earlier this month, the EU announced a 1 billion euro ($1.06 billion) aid package for Lebanon aimed at boosting border controls to halt the flow of asylum seekers and migrants to Cyprus and Italy. The seven countries said the EU should further boost support for Lebanon to "mitigate the risk of even greater flows from Lebanon to the EU.” “Decisions as to who has the right to cross a member state’s borders, should be taken by the government of the relevant member state and not by criminal networks engaged in migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings,” the joint statement said. The call comes a day afte r 15 EU member countries publicly called for the bloc to boost partnerships with countries along migratory routes in hopes of heading off attempts to reach EU countries. The countries said that while they “fully embrace” the need to support Syrian refugees in line with international law, they hoped their talks could open a wider debate within the 27-member bloc on the process of granting the migrants international protection. “What European citizens want from us ... are solutions, practical, realistic solutions that can be implemented,” said Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis. Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the United Nations' refugee agency has already “established lines of communication” with Syrian authorities regarding possible voluntary returns in line with international law. The Cypriot minister said returns would initially be on a voluntary basis, but that could develop into forced returns at a later stage. Much more needs to be done for that to happen because the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad isn't recognized by the EU, he said. In Lebanon, where anti-refugee sentiment has been surging recently, more than 300 Syrian refugees returned to Syria in a convoy earlier this week. Lebanese officials have long urged the international community to either resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria.

Zelenskiy says it's for Ukraine to determine his legitimacy, not Putin
Reuters/June 7, 2024
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his legitimacy is recognised and determined by the Ukrainian people, while criticizing that of Russian President Vladimir Putin."President Zelenskiy's legitimacy is recognised by the people of Ukraine... Our people are free. Putin's legitimacy is recognised only by comrade Putin," he told a press conference in Paris. Presidential elections in Ukraine were supposed to take place this spring, following Zelenskiy's five-year term of office. However, martial law introduced following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 bans any wartime election. The constitution says the president serves until a newly elected one takes office. Putin claimed several times that Zelenskiy is illegitimate after his five-year term ended this May. Western leaders have not questioned Zelenskiy's legitimacy, and sociologists say there is a consensus among Ukrainians that Zelenskiy should stay in office until the war ends.

Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on June 07-08/2024
The Muslim Persecution of Christians Is a Censored Pandemic, Part 2
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/Fri, June 7, 2024
Despite their much-vaunted “people of the book” appellation — the significance of which apologists for Islam have strained beyond credulity — both Christians and Jews are, in the end, also classified as infidels. Thus Koran 5:51 warns Muslims against “taking the Jews and Christians as friends and allies … whoever among you takes them for friends and allies, he is surely one of them” — that is, he too becomes an infidel, and therefore must be hated and warred upon.
Christians are further singled out by name for condemnation: Koran 5:73 declares, “Infidels are they who say God is one of three,” a reference to the Christian Trinity. Koran 5:72 says, “Infidels are they who say God is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary.” Koran 9:30 complains that “the Christians say the Christ is the son of God … may Allah’s curse be upon them!”
The significance of these verses can only be understood when one understands the significance of the word translated here as “infidel” — kafir. The kafir — the nonbeliever — is the mortal enemy of Allah and his prophet; Muslims are obligated to war on, kill, and subjugate him, whenever possible. As for what Muslims should do when attacking infidels is not feasible — for example, when the non-Muslims forces are stronger — Koran 3:28 advises: “Let believers not take for friends and allies infidels rather than believers: and whoever does this shall have no relationship left with Allah — unless you but guard yourselves against them, taking precautions.” (This is one of the primary verses that endorse taqiyya, the notorious doctrine that promotes deceiving non-Muslims.)
The final word on both Christians and Jews was “revealed” in Koran 9:29: “Fight those among the People of the Book who do not believe in Allah nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and who do not embrace the religion of truth [Islam], until they pay the jizya [monetary tribute] with willing submissiveness and feel themselves utterly subdued.”
With that, their fate was sealed. Like all other infidels, Christians and Jews were also to be hate
Slight Difference
The only difference in the way Muslims have historically (and currently) treat “infidels” is that, whereas conquered pagans must either convert or die, Christians and Jews are permitted to keep their religions — once, that is, they embrace their inferior status, as well laid out in the “Conditions of Omar,” a historic document purportedly agreed to by the conquered Christian population of Jerusalem around AD 640.
Muslim jurists still cite these conditions as containing the main stipulations Christians must agree to in order to exist under Islamic rule. In it, Christians agree:
Not to build a church in our city — nor a monastery, convent, or monk’s cell in the surrounding areas — and not to repair those that fall in ruins or are in Muslim quarters… Not to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims; Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims… Not to display any signs of polytheism, nor make our religion appealing, nor call or proselytize anyone to it… Not to possess or bear any arms whatsoever, nor gird ourselves with swords; To honor the Muslims, show them the way, and rise up from our seats if they wish to sit down.
This pact concludes with the Christians conceding that if they break any of these stipulations, they become, once again, free game for killing or enslavement.
Rather tellingly, the majority of persecution today is connected to these conditions: Churches are bombed, burned, or simply denied permits to exist or renovate; Bibles, crosses, and other symbols of “polytheism” are often confiscated, destroyed, and/or provoke violent outbursts (especially in unguarded cemeteries); Christians who openly speak of their faith are accused of proselytizing or blaspheming — both of which can lead to execution. The stipulation for Christians to “honor the Muslims” — including by offering them their seats, a scene that predates the Rosa Parks incident by nearly 14 centuries — has led to an entrenched system of contempt for and discrimination against Christians.
One Jihad At a Time
Here, it may be objected, the fact that religious doctrine teaches something — or some musty old books and scriptures say something — does not necessarily mean the religious follow it. To this, one responds by saying that Islamic history is a virtual manifestation of Islamic doctrine.
In 628, the Arabian founder of Islam, Muhammad, called on the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius — the symbolic head of Christendom — to recant Christianity and embrace Islam. The emperor refused, jihad was declared — Koran 9:29 was in fact “revealed” in this context — and centuries of Islamic invasions, wars, and conquests followed. As a result, “Muslim armies conquered [75 percent] of the Christian world,” to quote historian Thomas Madden.
All that remained was the “West” — so called because it was literally the westernmost quarter of the pre-Islamic Christian world — namely, Europe, which endured centuries of jihadist invasions and atrocities. As late as 1683 — a millennium after Muhammad’s ultimatum to Heraclius — more than 200,000 Muslims marched onto, besieged, and nearly conquered Vienna in the name of jihad. Even the United States of America’s very first war as a nation was against Muslims operating under jihadist logic.
In the words of historian Bernard Lewis, For almost a thousand years, from the first Moorish landing in Spain [711] to the second Turkish siege of Vienna [1683], Europe was under constant threat from Islam. All but the easternmost provinces of the Islamic realm had been taken from Christian rulers… North Africa, Egypt, Syria, even Persian-ruled Iraq, had been Christian countries, in which Christianity was older and more deeply rooted than in most of Europe. Their loss was sorely felt and heightened the fear that a similar fate was in store for Europe.
Evidence of Intolerance
As for those Christians whose lands came under Muslim control, from Morocco to Iraq, the historical records make clear that they were indeed treated as “inferiors,” dhimmis, in keeping with the Conditions of Omar. Whether to evade the fiscal and social oppression that was their lot — or the sporadic bouts of wholesale persecution and slaughter that regularly flared out — over the centuries, more and more of these Christians, who once formed the majority of the Middle East and Africa, converted to Islam.
Muslim records even make this clear. In al-Maqrizi’s (d. 1442) authoritative history of Egypt, anecdote after anecdote is recorded of Muslims burning churches, slaughtering Christians, and enslaving Coptic women and children — often with the compliance if not outright cooperation of the authorities. The only escape then — as sometimes still today — was for Christians to convert to Islam.
After recording one particularly egregious bout of persecution in the eleventh century, when, along with countless massacres, some 30,000 churches, according to Maqrizi, were destroyed or turned into mosques — a staggering number that further indicates how Christian the pre-Islamic Middle East was — the Muslim historian makes an interesting observation: “Under these circumstances a great many Christians became Muslims.” (One can almost sense the inaudible but triumphant “Allahu Akbars.”)
That Christians still amount for very small minorities in the Middle East — as much as 15 percent in Egypt — is, therefore, not a reflection of Muslim tolerance, as apologists claim, but intolerance. While the lives of many Christians were snuffed out over centuries of violence and persecution, the spiritual and cultural identities of exponentially more were wiped out following their pressured conversions to Islam. (Such is the sad and ironic cycle that fuels the persecution of Christians today: those Muslims who hate and attack them are themselves often distant descendants of Christians who first embraced Islam to evade their own persecution.) Past and present, then, Muslims have persecuted Christians — and still do, for the same reasons. Amazingly, however, such a perennial phenomenon is virtually unknown in the West. Why? Because (in what should by now be a familiar theme and as discussed in more detail here) the gatekeepers of information have suppressed it in an effort to serve the greater narrative, one which seeks to present Muslims as victims and Christians as persecutors.

Opinion: Helping Ukraine to strike inside Russia is already paying off
Mikhail Alexseev/ Los Angeles Times/Fri, June 7, 2024
In this photo provided by the 24th Mechanised brigade press service, Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire 120mm mortar towards Russian position on the front line at undisclosed location in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, June 4, 2024. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukrainian 24 Mechanised brigade via AP)
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a 120-millimeter mortar toward a Russian position in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Tuesday. (Oleg Petrasiuk / Ukrainian 24th Mechanized Brigade / Associated Press)
President Biden made the right call last week when he allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to hit targets inside Russia. Although the actions are limited to “counter-fire purposes” just across Ukraine’s northern border, they will bolster Ukraine’s security and ours.
First, this decision will help Ukraine counter Russia’s mounting aggression. Taking advantage of the U.S. government’s six-month delay in sending Ukrainians military aid, Russia’s autocrat, Vladimir Putin, pushed deeper into Ukraine’s east; launched a new 70-mile-wide offensive in Ukraine’s north; captured about 180 square miles of Ukraine’s territory; fired more than 3,000 glide bombs of up to one and a half tons; and intensified bombardments of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, wiping out power plants, residences and a hardware megastore. More than 100 Ukrainian settlements daily come under Russian fire.
Biden’s announcement appears to already be making a difference in the war. Just two days after the decision, images showed Russia’s prized S-300/400 surface-to-air launcher exploding in flames in Russia, about 35 miles from Ukraine’s northern border. Ukraine could reach it only with the U.S.-supplied HIMARS missiles. Other strikes, possibly also with U.S.-supplied M270 launchers, heavily damaged a Russian base, a weapons storage area and armored vehicle repair facilities. These efforts are helping Ukraine stall Russia’s Kharkiv offensive and undercut Russia’s capacity to attack further west and potentially target Kyiv.Second, there’s a multiplier effect. The U.S. being the largest supplier of military equipment to Ukraine, our permission is a more powerful example than permissions granted earlier by Britain and Poland. And the day before Biden’s announcement, the leaders of France and Germany stated Ukraine should be able to use weapons supplied by others on legitimate targets inside Russia. We and our allies have now signaled our resolve and unity to support Ukraine.
Third, we showed Putin his scaremongering failed. Biden’s announcement rightly defied the Kremlin’s threat to strike at European countries “with small, densely populated territories” if U.S. weapons strike inside Russia. Our national security officials have indicated they are not detecting changes in Russia’s nuclear strike preparedness. Moreover, using nukes in Ukraine or attacking a European country — presumably a NATO member — would undermine Putin’s whole strategy: betting on diminishing international visibility and support to force Ukraine’s surrender.
Fourth, we signal that while limited, Biden’s authorization opens the door to later allowing Ukraine to hit targets farther afield. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken stated that the U.S. will “adapt and adjust as necessary” going forward. This is important. We are telling our adversaries not to count on the U.S. to always err on the side of restraint. This is crucial to give pause not only to Moscow, but also to Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang.
Despite the significance of Biden’s authorization, it is not enough. Given Russia’s relentless push west, it is vital to reinforce the permission with other measures, particularly boosting Ukraine’s antiaircraft capability with weapons such as Patriot missiles. The Institute for the Study of War reports that Russia is close to starting production of much deadlier three-ton glide bombs, a possible game changer. The only countermeasure is to hit the bombers before they drop their payload. This means we need to do our best to help Ukraine get F-16 fighter jets as soon as possible. In doing so we will also complement Ukraine’s battlefield resilience and significant achievements in developing air and sea drones and long-range artillery.
Ensuring Putin doesn’t win is vital to our security and prosperity. Over the last year, he laid bare his intent to intimidate and challenge us. Moscow carried out a joint naval exercise with China near Alaska; staged a tactical nuclear weapons exercise north of Ukraine; removed the buoys marking maritime borders around the Baltic states; and reportedly deployed antisatellite weapons in space. Russia knocking out our GPS or seizing our oil platforms off Alaska seems unthinkable today. But so was Russia’s World War II-style invasion of Ukraine just about three years ago.
There is special significance in Biden’s timing for the weapons authorization, announced shortly after Memorial Day. At Arlington National Cemetery, honoring America’s fallen heroes, he sent a somber reminder not to take our freedom for granted. “Every generation,” he said, “has to earn it; to fight for it; defend it.” Democracy and freedom are not just about the type of government, he said, but are “the soul of our nation.”
That’s what Ukrainians are fighting and dying for. An opinion poll that I led in mid-May with Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences — funded by the National Science Foundation — makes this clear. Nearly 90% of 882 Ukrainians we polled report war-related traumas, and more than 80% report family members, health, homes and jobs lost to Putin’s invasion. Yet, as in our three prior wartime surveys, 80% believe democracy and free speech are vital for their future. Ukraine’s fight for survival is also a fight for what we Americans hold dear.
Mikhail Alexseev, a professor of international relations at San Diego State University, is the author of “Without Warning: Threat Assessment, Intelligence, and Global Struggle” and principal investigator of the War, Democracy and Society project funded by the National Science Foundation.
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To normalize or not to normalize with Israel?
Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed/Arab News/June 07, 2024
The question of the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel has been headline news since President Joe Biden visited the Kingdom in July 2022. The main purpose of this visit was to convince Riyadh to increase its oil production to lower global oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. However, the OPEC+ group, which is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, decreased oil production by 2 million barrels following his visit in order to stabilize prices.
In response, the Biden administration shifted to a new strategy, reportedly offering the Kingdom a NATO-like defense pact and a civilian nuclear plant in exchange for Riyadh limiting its cooperation with China and Russia and normalizing its relations with Israel. The Biden administration believes that the US Congress would not agree to a pact with the Kingdom that includes security commitments, the transferring of high-tech military equipment and giving the Kingdom a nuclear plant capable of enriching uranium unless it included the normalization component.
This background is important, as it provides context and the origin of the idea of Saudi normalization with Israel. Understanding the difficulties of making peace with an extremist government in Israel, whose concern is to appropriate and annex Palestinian lands, the Kingdom did not initially seek normalization with Israel. However, it was offered as part of a wider pact with the US, which the Kingdom did not reject, provided that Israel was willing to end its occupation of Palestinian land and accept the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Historically, Saudi Arabia has never rejected the idea of normalizing relations with Israel. The Kingdom supported the Palestinians when they joined the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and when they signed the Oslo Accords. When the Second Intifada erupted following the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit, it was the Kingdom that proposed the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. This stated that 57 Arab and Muslim countries were willing to normalize relations with Israel should the latter agree to withdraw from the Palestinian and Arab lands it occupied in 1967.
While the world hailed the Kingdom for its genuine proposal for peace, Israel chose to ignore it and instead erected a separation wall in the West Bank, appropriating almost 10 percent of Palestinian lands, and unilaterally disengaged from Gaza. In other words, it was Israel that turned its back on the Arab and Muslim countries’ offer of normalization.
That being stated, for the last 18 months, since the US started negotiations with the Kingdom about a defense pact that includes normalization with Israel, the Biden administration’s problem was not with the Kingdom. Rather, it was with the Israeli government, which has refused to accept the principles of a two-state solution and land for peace. Israel wants economic peace alone, thus avoiding the essential issues underlying the conflict with the Palestinians.
The Israelis are not willing to commit themselves to ceasing the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem or to establish a definitive timeframe for resolving the various aspects of the conflict, as outlined by UN Security Council resolutions and international law. One Israeli official explicitly stated: “The Americans are not doing Israel a favor; Israel will do them a favor if they reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia because it will try to enhance the chances of Republicans voting in favor of it.” The official added: “We have nothing to give the Palestinians ... we will not freeze the settlements, not even for one second.”In other words, Israel is torpedoing US efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as part of a broader agreement between the Kingdom and the US, confirming Biden’s conclusion that the current Israeli government is “one of the most extreme” he has ever seen. While the world hailed the Kingdom for its genuine proposal for peace, Israel chose to ignore it. Then came the events of Oct. 7, 2023, which reinforced the Kingdom’s view that normalization with Israel should be a consequence of the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, not a precursor to it. This position has been expressed repeatedly by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who stated in February, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, that: “The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to the US administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
This position was reiterated at the joint Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh last November, when the region’s leaders called for the launch of “a genuine and serious political process to achieve permanent and comprehensive peace, in accordance with the recognized international references.” And at the Arab League Summit in Bahrain this month, member states expressed their support for the Palestinian Authority’s call to “take irreversible steps to implement the two-state solution in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the resolutions of international legitimacy.”
Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, last week expressed dismay that the Israeli government had “rejected a full-fledged offer of peace from Saudi Arabia,” which he viewed as a significant development considering Saudi Arabia’s position as “the leader of the Arab and Muslim worlds.” He added in a post on X: “Wake up Israel! Your government is leading you into ever greater isolation and ruin.”
Indyk is right. He should add that Israel has become a moral and security burden for the US and its Western allies. It has lost its deterrence; after more than seven months of its war on Gaza, it is unable to declare victory. It is incapable of protecting its northern borders and it needed the US, the UK and France for protection last month during its first direct confrontation with Iran. Israel has been accused of carrying out a genocide and the International Criminal Court will most likely issue arrest warrants for its leaders on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. On the other hand, the Palestinians are gaining the hearts and minds of people worldwide and more countries are recognizing their right to an independent state.Israel is no longer in a position to turn its back on the Kingdom’s call for genuine peace based on the principles laid out in the 2002 Arab Peace initiative. Yet, the extremist government that rules Israel is still refusing to acknowledge the new realities that make it impossible to achieve peace during the first term of the Biden administration.
• Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed is an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Biosystems Engineering. He is the author of “Agricultural Development Strategies: The Saudi Experience.”

Russia-China axis growing in importance for Turkiye
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/June 07, 2024
Over the past decade, as disagreements with the US over security in the Middle East, especially in Syria, have intensified, coupled with frustrations regarding its EU membership process and criticisms of the Western order, Turkiye has gradually leaned toward closer ties with non-Western powers, particularly Russia and China. Although Beijing does not have the same significance as Moscow in Turkish foreign policy, the Turkish government has recently been busy cultivating closer ties with its Chinese counterpart.
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made an official visit to China, where he spoke of his country’s pursuit of new opportunities for cooperation with different partners in platforms like BRICS. He added that he would attend the China-led BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Russia on June 10-11. His statement from Beijing received a positive response from Moscow, where a Kremlin spokesperson stated that Turkiye’s interest in the economic bloc would be on the agenda at next week’s summit.
BRICS is a bloc of emerging economies that is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It recently admitted Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE as full members. This is not the first time that Ankara has expressed a desire to formally join BRICS. Now, however, the timing is significant.
Fidan’s visit and his statement came after China had raised its voice about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Beijing, which had previously kept a relatively low profile in relation to the conflict, unlike its major rival the US, last week called for a Middle East peace conference. Fidan, who has been busy with a diplomatic blitz on Gaza in cooperation with counterparts from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said he would work with China for a ceasefire in Gaza. Fidan also said that, during his visit, he extended President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation for Xi Jinping to visit Turkiye this year. As a NATO member, Turkiye has come under fire from its Western allies in recent years over its ties with Russia and China.
As a NATO member, Turkiye has come under fire from its Western allies in recent years over its ties with Russia and China. Ankara has rejected the claim that its “axis” is shifting away from the Western military alliance, saying that it remains a committed member of NATO and maintains its goal of full membership of the EU. However, the scale at which Turkiye is developing its relations with non-Western powers — in the political, economic and security dimensions — has been a concern for Western states, particularly since the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war.
This month, Turkiye reiterated its support for the continuation of aid to Ukraine and for its efforts to secure its sovereignty, but it warned that it would refuse to support any NATO involvement in the war against Russia.
Russia had already become a significant player for Turkiye in the initial post-Cold War period. However, Turkiye was firmly aligned with the Western alliance at that time. Ankara’s foreign policy stance underwent a noticeable change after both the EU and the US showed disregard for Turkiye’s political and security concerns. Frustrations with the Western powers have evolved into a tangled dilemma, which Erdogan has leveraged for Turkiye’s benefit. For Ankara, the dual aspects of its foreign policy — the NATO alliance/EU membership and involvement with organizations that oppose the West — are not conflicting but complementary. They are integral components of the country’s foreign policy, which seeks strategic autonomy and flexibility, while aiming to revive Turkiye’s historical significance as a global power bridging East and West.
For instance, Erdogan’s September 2022 statement on the possibility that Turkiye might join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a defense bloc led by China, can be read within this broader context. A few days after this statement, Erdogan delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly arguing that Turkiye is a core part of NATO and Euro-Atlantic security. Therefore, Turkiye under Erdogan’s leadership tries to balance between two blocs by leveraging its status. Fidan’s statement on his China visit also echoed Erdogan’s strategy. “While we have a customs union with the EU, we also explore new opportunities for cooperation with several partners in different platforms, such as BRICS,” he said.Frustrations with the Western powers have evolved into a tangled dilemma, which Erdogan has leveraged for Turkiye’s benefit.
This statement about being part of BRICS is significant and it goes beyond a mere desire. Turkiye joining BRICS would provide new opportunities for trade and investment. It would also be part of the multipolar interdependency that means states today want to diversify their diplomatic and economic partnerships.
Besides the economic reasons, which are the key motivator for membership, being part of BRICS would also assert Turkiye’s status on the international stage and enhance its bargaining power vis-a-vis the Western powers. There is already energy cooperation between Turkiye, Russia and China over major projects like the TurkStream pipeline and the Belt and Road Initiative. A week before Fidan’s visit, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar was in China for talks involving a third nuclear power plant that Turkiye has been planning to build in the country’s northwest region. Bayraktar subsequently said that the two countries were close to a deal on the plant. Turkiye also seeks closer cooperation with Moscow and Beijing over regional issues, such as the Syrian conflict and tensions in the South Caucasus.
Needless to say, the shrinking of the US’ position in the region has created an opportunity for Russia and China to strengthen their relations with Middle Eastern countries in several aspects, even if it cannot totally fill the American void. Beijing and Moscow provide both Turkiye and other regional states with an opportunity to lessen their dependence on the US as the only heavyweight in the region, while also developing a multifaceted relationship with them. They use platforms such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization effectively, bringing regional states closer to them and further from the US.
*Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkiye’s relations with the Middle East. X: @SinemCngz

Time for US to end the delays on arming Kyiv
Luke Coffey/Arab News/June 07, 2024
In the early weeks of this year, the first reports began to surface about a Russian troop buildup in the Belgorod Oblast, located just across the border from Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv. But thanks to the Biden administration, the Ukrainians could do nothing about it but watch and wait. Kharkiv’s proximity to the Russian border meant that it was one of the cities Moscow had hoped to capture quickly in the opening days of the war in February 2022. A stiff defense of the city by Ukrainians stopped the Russians. Therefore, it is not surprising that Russia had set its sights on Kharkiv once again.
With the availability of commercial satellite imagery, the Russian military buildup just across the border from Kharkiv was no secret. For months, it was common knowledge that the Ukrainians had requested permission to use American-provided weapons to strike the Russian military buildup before it had a chance to attack across the border.
The White House denied each request out of a fear that Ukraine using American weapons to strike inside Russia would be too escalatory. This was a curious argument for it to make considering that Russia uses Iranian and North Korean weapons to hit targets inside Ukraine. These restrictions by the Biden administration placed the Ukrainians in a deadly and difficult situation. The restrictions allowed Russia to build up forces in proximity to the Ukrainian border without the threat of American-provided long-range rockets or artillery being used against them. It does not take a military strategist to see how this was a problem for Kyiv. These restrictions by the Biden administration placed the Ukrainians in a deadly and difficult situation.
After months of building up its forces, Russia commenced its much-anticipated military operation against Kharkiv last month. So far, Russia has made minor territorial gains in the direction of the city, but no major breakthrough has happened. While Russia might not be able to capture Kharkiv, the goal will be to advance close enough to the city to place it within the range of its artillery. This would make Kharkiv uninhabitable for the locals living there and spark another wave of refugees.
However, it seems that Ukraine’s recent territorial losses served as a wake-up call for the White House. After months of saying no, the White House U-turned and finally agreed that targets near Kharkiv inside the Russian Federation could be hit using American-made weapons. While this is a welcome development, it is a continuation of President Joe Biden’s dangerous “too little, too late” approach when it comes to supporting Ukraine.Whether it was Ukraine’s requests for advanced artillery systems, long-range missiles, drones, tanks or infantry fighting vehicles, the White House would almost always first say no to Kyiv, only to later say yes after the pressure mounted. But by then, it was often too late.
For example, from the beginning of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine was asking for advanced air defense capabilities, like the Patriot missile system, to protect major population centers such as Kyiv and Odesa. Repeatedly, the White House said no. It was not until Russia ramped up its air strikes in October 2022, targeting Ukraine’s electrical grid, that the US finally agreed to provide Kyiv with the Patriots.
Perhaps the most consequential White House delay was over the delivery of the Army Tactical Missile System to Ukraine. These ballistic missiles, with a range between 165 km and 300 km, could allow Ukraine to hit Russian targets far from the front lines. This capability is desperately needed. The Ukrainians have been begging for these missiles since 2022. Even Ukraine’s supporters in Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, have called on the White House to provide them. Only recently has Ukraine started to receive them in meaningful numbers.
Last June, Ukraine launched its much-anticipated counteroffensive, but it failed to make significant progress due to Russian air attacks. In particular, Russia’s Ka-52 attack helicopter proved to be deadly against unprotected Ukrainian armored vehicles and tanks. In October last year, after Ukraine’s counteroffensive had already lost its steam, the White House finally greenlighted the transfer of a small handful of the Army Tactical Missile System missiles to Ukraine to strike two airfields where many of the Ka-52s were based.
Decisions taken in the Oval Office have a significant impact thousands of kilometers away on Ukraine’s front lines.
In one single attack that lasted only a few minutes, the Ukrainians destroyed about 24 helicopters, including a significant number of Ka-52s. In fact, one estimate claims that 11 percent of Russia’s total Ka-52 helicopter fleet was destroyed or damaged in that single attack. Had the missiles been provided to Ukraine in the spring, before their counteroffensive began, the outcomes last summer would likely have been different. Again, this was too little, too late from the Biden administration.
Decisions taken in the Oval Office have a significant impact thousands of kilometers away on Ukraine’s front lines. Had the US granted Ukraine permission to strike the Russian military buildup in Belgorod, Moscow’s attempt to take Kharkiv would have been seriously hampered before troops even crossed the border. Had the US provided Patriots and other missiles earlier than it did, it is possible that the war could now be on a different trajectory.
According to a famous phrase, “you can always count on Americans to do the right thing, after they have tried everything else.” There is no greater example of this than with the White House’s current approach to Ukraine. It is time for the US to give Ukraine what it needs, when it needs it.
President Biden needs to end the delays and understand that arming Ukraine to win, and not just to survive, is the fastest way to bring this war to an end.
*Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. X: @LukeDCoffey

Why summit in Switzerland is so important for global peace
Anatolii Petrenko/Arab News/June 07, 2024
Ukraine stands resolutely for undisputed peace. This peace must be just, comprehensive and lasting. To meet these criteria the very essence of the peace must comply with the rules and main principles of the international law embodied in the provisions of the UN Charter. At the same time, a genuine and durable peace should not be in any way substituted by the mere illusion of such a peace. No peace initiative should provide legitimacy to the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine. Calls for ceasefire without complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine bear no relation to true peace. On Nov. 15, 2022, during the G20 summit in Indonesia, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, presented a peace formula that contains an exhaustive plan of measures essential for bringing peace to Ukraine.
Following numerous rounds of consultations with the broader international community we have proceeded to a pivotal diplomatic stage: on June 15-16 in Bürgenstock, Ukraine together with Switzerland will conduct a peace summit to which over 160 countries and institutions have been invited.
The summit will focus on three inclusive objectives: first, the inadmissibility of the use of nuclear weapons and the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear facilitites; second, global food security by guaranteeing free navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov; third, addressing humanitarian issues with the exchange of prisoners and the return to Ukraine of illegally detained, deported, and displaced persons, including children.
We endeavor to unite the whole world in a coordinated and collective effort to maintain respect for international law.
We endeavor to unite the whole world in a coordinated and collective effort to maintain respect for international law and the world order based upon it. We urge all nations that comply with the UN Charter and seek peace to join this summit in Switzerland.
The framework of peace developed by the participants in the summit, not baseless ultimatums issued by Russia, should become a true ground for finishing the war and enshrining this very fact in internationally recognized and binding legal instruments.
The prepared and agreed joint peace framework could be used to resolve other conflicts worldwide, giving many suffering nations a unique chance to settle longstanding issues to which there appears no end in sight. Saudi Arabia strongly supports Ukraine politically and practically in restoring our territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Saudi position was of special value across the entire process of security consultations conducted in Copenhagen, Jeddah, Malta and Davos.Moreover, we consider the Kingdom to be an influential power possessing prominent recognition and credibility, allowing it to sincerely lead many other countries, specifically in the Middle East, in this complex diplomatic process to deliver peace to Ukraine.
This month’s summit in Switzerland will deliver strategic momentum: we all should harness our collective strength and move decisively toward peace in every region and across the entire world.
**Anatolii Petrenko is Ukraine’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Twitter: @AmbUkraineKSA

Fatah, Hamas, and The Absurdity of Their Conflict
Nabil Amr/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 07/2024
Fatah, which established the Palestinian revolution, and then led it for decades, would not have maintained its leadership during the most critical phase in the history of the Palestinian people if it had not transformed the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Indeed, it was Fatah that turned what had been a largely bureaucratic political body into a framework for managing the battlefront that incorporated all Palestinian armed factions and so-called independents, and represented all sectors and segments of the Palestinian nation, both at home and in the diaspora.
The legitimacy of the PLO was consolidated through the total Palestinian, Arab, and international consensus around it. Gaining this legitimacy is its most consequential achievement, as it granted the PLO the status of a symbolic or political homeland pending the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Fatah was the backbone of the representative, authoritative, and legitimate political entity that was the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Speaking of its leader and symbol, Yasser Arafat, the late George Habash famously said: “We can disagree with him, but we do not disagree about him.” This sums up the attitude that the Palestinians had about the organization nicely. The consensus around Arafat and the PLO’s legitimacy allowed factions and members of the organization to fundamentally differ over programs and what direction the movement should take. Disagreement was permissible, but questioning its legitimacy was not, even if some temporarily withdrew from the PLO or openly opposed its agenda.
In this era when all Palestinian factions were united, the people were divided into two fronts. One was the rejection front led by the Popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine, and the other, Fatah-led front, supported the peace process. The Palestinian cause and the Palestinians’ national struggle were not harmed by this split, as it did not go so far as fragmenting the organization and undermining its legitimacy and role.
Things continued to move along this course. There had been no fears for the organization or threats to its existence and legitimacy, even when it made its most difficult decision, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and when the leader of the revolution and the organization was seen shaking hands with Rabin in the White House. Some opposed this step and warned of its repercussions, and others agreed with it. Everyone addressed the issue their own way, and the leaders of all factions engaged with this difficult experience on home soil, including the historically rejectionist PFLP, whose Secretary-General was martyred in Palestine and whose successor was imprisoned in Israeli jails.
The real systemic shift began when Hamas started to compete with Fatah. Although it entered this competition through the gates of the Oslo Accords, taking part in the second elections, the Islamist movement built its influence on the back of the failures of Fatah's course and the peace process. History recorded, through developments that unfolded every day, that every setback faced by the peace process- and there were many- weakened Fatah and strengthened Hamas.
Then came the decisive moment, which Hamas had long prepared for. It dealt a devastating blow when it turned against Fatah and launched a coup that divided Palestine and the Palestinians. The intra-Palestinian split has trapped the Palestinian cause, people, and their rights in a labyrinth. The most dangerous problem, here, is that no party can impose its program and make decisive national achievements. The side that chose to negotiate has no achievements to boast of, and the side that chose to fight has failed to fulfill its promises. Under these circumstances, little is achieved for Palestinians and much is lost.
Despite the horror of what both sides have endured in the areas they control, neither has overcome this division, which has turned into a separation with time. Each side sees itself as right and the other as wrong.
The discourse of Fatah is built around its role in building and instigating the armed struggle, which saved the Palestinian cause from disappearing into oblivion. The discourse of Hamas is built around what it sees as its correction of the course of Palestinian history, which it claims saved the cause from inevitable erasure. This kind of conflict offers neither party any hope for victory, as national unity is an essential prerequisite for the success of any national movement resisting occupation. In the Palestinian case, there is not only a lack of unity, unity is totally absent, and its absence has had extremely negative repercussions.
The Palestinian people and their cause were in the arena before the emergence of Fatah, which instigated the contemporary revolution, or Hamas, which modeled its armed resistance on that of its vanguards in Fatah. Without understanding and acting upon this fact, no party can negate the opposing party or portray itself as the superior option for the present and future. The inevitable path to making progress on national objectives is unity. To ensure the proposal I am presenting here is not merely a wishful theoretical idea, we should look back on the experience of the PLO: how it emerged, developed, and was led. We must reflect on how it was brought to ruin and decline, which left the Palestinian people without a reference point that represented them all. This exercise would lead us to the conclusion that remaking the PLO into what it had been at its height is the solution. Otherwise, these futile conflicts over the past, present, and future will continue, and the losses will keep accumulating.

Talisman Of Great Expurgation
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 07/2024
Barring the usual hitches in any plan related to the Israel-Palestine saga, what Washington is marketing as Biden’s peace proposal may soon well become reality.
Presented in the classical style of a diplomatic plan the proposal suggests three phases for its implementation.
In the first phase a six-week ceasefire, described as “full and complete” will be installed with Israeli forces withdrawing from “populated areas” of Gaza. It is not clear why should a ceasefire need six weeks to be established. Normally a ceasefire is announced for a precise hour on a precise day at which, well, firing ceases. The adjectives “full and complete” are also redundant since a partial and incomplete ceasefire isn’t one.
The phrase about Israeli forces leaving “populated areas” is equally open to interpretation including misinterpretation. Almost all of Gaza’s populated areas have been turned into piles of rubbles. Today, with the exception of chunks of Rafah which Hamas is still present in its tunnels, talking of “populated areas” could mean the whole of Gaza that is now dotted with tents, slums and other shelters of fortune.
According to the plan “this will eventually lead to a permanent ceasefire”. ”Eventually”, however, could mean any length of time including never.
Elsewhere, the plan talks of “a durable peace”. But a peace that isn’t durable is a truce not peace. Such vague phrases assume that throughout the plan Hamas will retain at least part of its ability to fire-otherwise why talk of ceasefire?
The plan offers Hamas another sweetener: once firing ceases and Israel withdraws from “populated areas”, the US will flood Gaza with humanitarian aid to the tune of 600 trucks a day.
In the past six months Gaza’s capacity for aid absorption has averaged between 30 and 40 trucks a day. It is not clear who will check the aid that President Biden wishes to flood into Gaza. Excluding both Israel and Hamas from aid supervision and distribution could mean chaos and violence.
The six-week shibboleth may have not been snatched from thin air.
Once it becomes operational, say by the end of this month, it would cover a crucial period for President Biden’s Democrat Party to hold its national convention in Chicago (19-22 August) free of pro-Hamas students.
The second phase of the plan promises “a permanent cessation of hostilities”, opening the way for a third phase designated as “reconstruction”. It will also provide facilities for release of Israeli hostages still alive and remains of those who have died in exchange for Hamas prisoners in Israel
Paradoxically, the Biden plan makes it clear that Hamas shall have no role in shaping the future of Gaza in the third phase but should cooperate in the first two phases.
The Biden plan may help the various protagonists in this tragedy temporarily solve their problems. Biden could have his convention and, beyond that, his re-election campaign free of pressure from the pro-Hamas wing of his party. Hamas could hope to escape total annihilation.
Benjamin Netanyahu could have his invitation to Washington, perhaps to address the Republican Party. Biden may succeed in unseating Netanyahu with indirect help from Iran whose Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri Kani says Tehran is “in regular contact” with Washington to help end the war in Gaza.
Tehran is heating up the Lebanese front, thus helping Netanyahu claim that having “degraded” Hamas he should focus on the threat for Hezbollah.
The Israeli left may hope to see the current right-wing coalition in disarray, giving the badly battered left another chance.
Nightly if not hourly images of death and destruction have pushed public opinion to limits of toleration. Palestine has become “the cause”, or in the words of Khamenei “the number one concern of all mankind”, the chief vehicle for virtue-signaling and an all-encompassing excuse for the failure of political elites across the globe. Palestine is the talisman of the great expurgation. The Biden Plan will help keep it intact for future use and abuse.

A Kuwaiti Reset?
Simon Henderson & David Schenker/The Washington Institute/June 07/2024
The new emir’s suspension of parliament, followed by the appointment of a prime minister and crown prince, suggests a different direction for the oil-rich Gulf state.
On May 10, the Kuwaiti ruler, Emir Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, shut down the National Assembly and suspended parts of the constitution. The decision came four days before a new session was due to begin following elections in April. The emir, who came to the throne after his half-brother Emir Nawaf died in December, is now ruling by decree, supported by his new prime minister, Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, appointed May 1, and a Council of Ministers. The June 1 announcement of Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah as crown prince completes a new leadership team.
Kuwait has yet to pass power to a younger generation as has happened in the United Arab Emirates, where President Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan is sixty-three, and in Saudi Arabia, where de facto ruler Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is thirty-eight. The Kuwaiti emir is eighty-six; his predecessor was a year older. Even the new crown prince is seventy-one. The new prime minister is seventy-two.
But the new lineup is a break with the past and could mark a radical change from the many years of contradiction between Kuwait’s significant oil production and a perennial economic crisis. Despite being OPEC’s fifth-largest producer and having a small population of around three million—of which 70 percent are expatriate workers—the country cannot produce enough electricity to serve its needs, leading to blackouts during the hot summer months. This summer power is also being imported by transmission line across Saudi Arabia from as far away as Qatar and Oman.
Persistent Dysfunction
Kuwait’s chronic problem can be described as administrative muddle exacerbated by tensions between the government and the National Assembly, the only elected such parliament in the Gulf with any power. That power in particular includes the right for members to challenge government ministers, some of whom the members regard as corrupt. The result has often been deadlock in decisionmaking, and incompetent management has continued.
One particularly damaging consequence of this dynamic is parliament’s inability since 2017 to pass legislation facilitating the issuance of debt. Kuwait’s oil income does not cover expenditures, forcing the use of income from its huge sovereign wealth reserves, or draining the reserves.
Relations between the al-Sabah ruling family and Kuwaiti politicians have always been fractious. The April elections had been called after Emir Mishal was allegedly insulted by a member of parliament. Many observers doubt whether the dissolution will last the four years before a messy compromise deal to reactivate it becomes necessary in response to domestic tensions. The April elections saw 62 percent turnout, with so-called opposition parties ending up with twenty-nine seats in the fifty-seat forum. Shia members won eight seats. Only one member from the local Muslim Brotherhood party secured a seat.
Without the restraint of the National Assembly, the emir notionally now has free rein. He has an internal security background and became the effective head of the national guard. Crown Prince Sabah al-Khaled had a career in the Foreign Ministry, and then served as a minister, including foreign minister, ending up as prime minister in 2019. He is regarded as able, with a good reputation. Sheikh Ahmad, the new prime minister, is a former deputy governor of the central bank, and served in various ministries before becoming minister of oil from 2008 to 2011. Significantly, he was head of Mishal’s diwan (court) when the emir was crown prince, suggesting they work well together. The emir is continuing with Sheikh Fahad Yousef al-Sabah, regarded as controversial, as minister of interior and defense. Another significant holdover is Emad al-Atiqi as minister of oil.
Family Matters
The al-Sabah is a ruling rather than royal family, dating back to the 1700s, when the local merchant families wanted a single clan to deal with administrative matters, leaving them to do business. Time, and the discovery of oil, has changed the relationship. The al-Sabah itself has many branches, but its modern history dates from 1896, when Mubarak al-Sabah killed two of his half-brothers, including the then ruler. Mubarak secured British recognition of the country as a separate entity and became known as Mubarak the Great. Since his death in 1915, succession has flip-flopped between two of his sons and then their heirs, the al-Jaber line and the al-Salim line.
This system worked until the death in 2020 of Emir Sabah, a member of the al-Jaber, with this line dominating ever since. Sabah was succeeded by his half-brother Nawaf, whose successor, Mishal, was another half-brother.
Interestingly, the new crown prince is neither an al-Jaber nor an al-Salim but instead a member of the Hamad branch. But the crown prince has links to both the principal lines via his maternal grandfather and his father-in-law, which may make him acceptable to both.
Outlook
With leaders in Washington preoccupied by the Gaza war and the increasing threat of Hezbollah-Israel deterioration, the Kuwaiti leadership succession—along with closure of the National Assembly and suspension of the constitution—is unlikely to garner much attention. What these developments actually mean remains to be determined, but they are likely significant. Kuwait has shut down parliament several times in recent decades. As in the past, the current closure could prove a temporary measure intended to break the gridlock. It is possible, however, that the suspension could be more enduring, signifying an embrace of increasingly autocratic trends in the Gulf.
A more optimistic view is that a new, more qualified leadership team hailing from a different branch of the family tree will be capable of implementing policies long opposed by entrenched interests, thereby ending Kuwait’s malaise and pushing the state in a more dynamic direction—à la Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Without an obstructionist parliament, the logic goes, the emir, crown prince, and prime minister could rein in endemic corruption and start to diversify an economy solely based on and subject to the vagaries of fossil fuel prices.
Although U.S. Central Command maintains a forward headquarters in Kuwait with 13,000 service personnel, and Kuwait is a major non-NATO ally, successive U.S. administrations have paid surprisingly little attention to the state. With so many crises in the region, a stable Kuwait has been taken for granted. Yet Kuwait borders an Iraq increasingly dominated by Iran and is the target of intensifying Chinese interest and investment. An as-yet-unexploited offshore gas field shared with Saudi Arabia is also partially claimed by Iran.
While the instinct in Washington will be to scold Kuwait, as it has done with Tunisia, for a reversal of democratic progress, the administration should be patient. Over the next few months, the people of Kuwait and its Gulf neighbors will be watching as the country’s new leadership trio settles in. How the team manages its electricity challenges during the brutal summer heat will be an early test. Eventually, the assembly and constitution may be reinstated. In the meanwhile, it is possible that in the absence of this dysfunctional institution, some progress could be made toward ending Kuwait’s enduring malaise.
*Simon Henderson is the Baker Senior Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute.
*David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at the Institute and director of its Rubin Program on Arab Politics. Previously, he served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2019 to 2021.