Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 14-15/2024
Happy & Blessed Mathers Day To All Mothers/Elias Bejjani/May 12/2024
225 refugees return to Syria from Lebanon after reassurances it is safe to do so
Lebanon state media says Israel strike kills two
Israel army says civilian killed in rocket fire from Lebanon
Lebanon: Israeli Airstrike on Southern Town Causes 'Massive' Damages
Hezbollah says attacks spy balloon launchpad in north Israel
Lebanon resumes voluntary returns of Syrians
Canada's FM in Lebanon to affirm 'commitment to regional stability'
Sami Gemayel Challenges Nasrallah: Open Land Borders for Syrians
Safety Warning: Ladies, Watch Out for Your Handbags!
Parliamentary Session Highlights Nine Recommendations to Government
Syrian Migrants: Unifying Fronts in Parliament on Wednesday?
Mikati calls Syrian PM, asks for talks with Syria delegation to Arab Summit
Lebanon Resumes Trips for Syrian Refugees’ Voluntary Return to Their Country
Border War Depletes Hezbollah, Worries Israel
Saudi FM reiterates support for Lebanese people at Arab Summit prep meeting
Exclusive LBCI interview: Canadian FM urges ceasefire and Resolution 1701 adherence in Lebanon talks, discusses Canadian support for LAF, UNIFIL

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 14-15/2024
Talks Over Gaza Ceasefire at Stalemate After Rafah Operation, Qatar PM Says
Israel's Rafah attack set Hamas talks 'backward', Qatar says
UN: 450,000 fleeing Rafah
White House's Jake Sullivan to travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel
Nothing Wrong with Gaza Death Toll Figures, WHO Says
Egyptian Military Officials Cancel Meetings with Israeli Counterparts
Biden administration denies holding intel on Hamas leaders' locations
Egypt threatened to suspend peace treaty after Israel took over Rafah crossing - report
Israel secretly asked Palestinian Authority to run Rafah crossing
Talks over Gaza ceasefire at stalemate after Rafah operation, Qatar PM says
Biden administration believes Israel has enough troops to enter Rafah in expansive
Israel-Gaza war: UN says Indian staff member killed in Gaza
Israeli tanks push into Rafah, as battles rage in north
Israel and Egypt trade blame over Rafah Crossing closure
US officials doubt Israel can actually eradicate Hamas and achieve a 'total victory'
UN Corrects Israeli Claim It Made Significant Changes To Official Death Count In Gaza
Amnesty International Says Syria Still Not Safe for Returnees to Go Back To
US State Dept moves $1 billion weapons aid for Israel to congressional review, official says
US Calls on Iran to Halt Weapons Transfers to Yemen's Houthis
2 French prison officers killed and 3 injured in an attack on a prison van in Normandy
Toronto mayor says raising Israeli flag at City Hall ceremony is 'divisive'
Islamic State claims attack on army post in northern Iraq
2 Houthi drones, 1 missile destroyed over Red Sea, says US

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 14-15/2024
Are Netanyahu and Hamas Perpetuating and Deepening the Conflict?/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
The Limits of the Biden-Netanyahu ‘Dispute’... Above the Rubble of Rafah/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Egypt's Duplicity, the World's Silence/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/May 14, 2024
Why armed groups still dominate Libya, 13 years since the fall of Qaddafi/NADIA AL-FAOUR/Arab News/May 14, 2024
A GCC-EU agenda for regional peace/Dr. Ali Awadh Asseri /Arb News/May 14, 2024
The toxicity of modern politics deters the young/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/May 14, 2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 14-15/2024
Happy & Blessed Mathers Day To All Mothers
Elias Bejjani/May 12/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74768/elias-bejjani-happy-blessed-mathers-day-to-all-mothers/
Today while in Canada we are happily and joyfully celebrating the Mothers’ Day, let us all pray that Almighty God will keep granting all mothers all over the world the needed graces of wisdom, meekness and faith to highly remain under all circumstances honoring this holy role model and to stay as Virgin Merry fully devoted to their families.
For all those of us whose mothers have passed away, let us mention them in our daily prayers and ask Almighty God to endow their souls the eternal rest in His heavenly dwellings.
In Christianity Virgin Merry is envisaged by many believers and numerous cultures as the number one role model for the righteous, devoted, loving , caring, giving, and humble mothers.
The Spirit Of My mother who like every and each loving departed mother is definitely watching from above and praying for all of us. May Almighty God Bless her spirit and the Spirits of all departed mothers.
In all religions and cultures all over the world, honoring, respecting and obeying parents is not a favor that people either chose to practice or not. No not at all, honoring, respecting and obeying parents is a holy obligation that each and every faithful individual who believes in God MUST fulfill, no matter what.
Almighty God in His 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 ) made the honoring of both parents (commandment number five) a holy obligation, and not a choice or a favor.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you”. (Exodus 20:12)
Reading the Bible, both the Old and New Testament shows with no doubt that honoring parents is a cornerstone and a pillar in faith and righteousness for all believers. All other religions and cultures share with Christians this holy concept and obligation.
“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16)
“You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:3).
Back home in Lebanon we have two popular proverbs that say:“If you do not have an elderly figure in your family to bless you, go and search for one”. “The mother is the who either gathers or divides the family”
How true are these two proverbs, because there will be no value, or meaning for our lives if not blessed and flavored by the wisdom, love and blessings of our parents and of other elder members.
He who does not honor the elderly, sympathize and empathize with them, especially his own parents is a person with a hardened heart, and a numbed conscience, who does not know the meaning of gratitude.
History teaches us that the easiest route for destroying a nation is to destroy, its cornerstone, the family. Once the family code of respect is belittled and not honored, the family is divided and loses all its Godly blessings.
“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls” (Luke 11-17)
One very important concept and an extremely wise approach MUST apply and prevail when reading the Holy Bible in a bid to understand its contents and observe the Godly instructions and life guidelines that are enlisted. The concept needs to be a faith one with an open frame of mind free from doubts, questions and challenges.
Meanwhile the approach and interpretation MUST both be kept within the abstract manner, thinking and mentality frame, and not in the concrete way of interpretation.
We read in (Matthew 15/04: “For God said, Respect your father and your mother, and If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death).
This verse simply dwells on The Fifth Biblical Commandment: “Honor your Father and Mother”. To grasp its meaning rightfully and put it in its right faith content one should understand that death in the Bible is not the death of the body as we experience and see on earth. DEATH in the Bible means the SIN that leads to eternal anguish in Hell.
The Bible teaches us that through His crucifixion, death and resurrection, Jesus defeated death in its ancient human, earthly concept. He broke the death thorn and since than, the actual death became the sin. Those who commit the sin die and on the judgment day are outcast to the eternal fire. Death for the believers is a temporary sleep on the hope of resurrection.
Accordingly the verse “If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death”, means that those who do not honor their parents, help, support and respect them commit a deadly sin and God on the Judgment Day will make them accountable if they do not repent and honor their parents.
God is a Father, a loving, passionate and caring One, and in this context He made the honoring of parents one of the Ten Commandments.
In conclusion: The abstract and faith interpretation of Matthew 15/04 verse must not be related to children or teenagers who because of an age and maturity factors might temporarily repel against their parents and disobey them.
Hopefully, each and every one of us, no matter what religion or denomination he/she is affiliated to will never ever ignore his parents and commit the deadly SIN of not honoring them through every way and mean especially when they are old and unable to take care of themselves.
Happy Mothers’ Day to all mothers
N.B: Picture Enclosed is for the writer with his late mother in 1982
*The Above Piece was first published in 2015
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com

225 refugees return to Syria from Lebanon after reassurances it is safe to do so
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/May 14, 2024
BEIRUT: A total of 225 refugees, including women and children, voluntarily returned to Syria from Lebanon on Tuesday after being assured it was safe for them to do so, as part of a repatriation campaign organized by the Lebanese General Security. Previous operations of the same kind were put on hold in 2020.The returnees, some of whom were registered with UNHCR, the UN’s Refugee Agency, traveled by land from Wadi Hamid in the town of Arsal and entered Syria through Al-Zamrani and Al-Qaa border crossings. They then headed to the Syrian towns and villages from which they had been displaced by the war, taking with them agricultural equipment and livestock in cars and trucks rented in Arsal. Their convoy was accompanied in Lebanon by two security teams. The head of the General Security’s Operations Bureau, Brig. Gen. Jamal Jaroush, and the commander of the participating force, Col. Ghayath Zeaiter, worked in coordination with Syrian authorities, which provided security for the convoy after it crossed the border and made its way to villages in Western Qalamoun, Damascus and the surrounding countryside.“The number of Syrians registered on the General Security lists for return was 330,” Brig. Gen. Mounir Akiki of the General Security told Arab News.
“Since the return is voluntary and not mandatory, and must be safe, we submitted a list of those willing to return to the relevant Syrian authorities and it turned out that some of them have legal claims (against them) or are pursued by the security forces. The refugees were notified of this matter and some of them changed their minds about returning. However, others decided to return despite this and resolve the pending issues on Syrian territory. “Not all returnees are registered on UNHCR lists. The UNHCR lists that were handed over to the Lebanese General Security include about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, including 706,000 people who were registered after 2015. However, the total number of Syrian refugees is about 2.1 million. In addition to those registered with UNHCR there are Syrians who entered (Lebanon) clandestinely, with no precise figures about them, only estimates, as well as seasonal workers with legal residency.”Dalal Harb, a spokeswoman for UNHCR, told Arab News: “In Lebanon, UNHCR works very closely with the General Security Office. The GSO is facilitating, on behalf of the Government of Lebanon, the return of Syrians who expressed their wish to return and registered with GSO to do so.
“While the GSO-facilitated return movements are not a UNHCR process, UNHCR is involved and works closely with GSO and others in reaching out to and counseling refugees, when possible, and being present at the departure points prior to their return.”Asked about the role of the UN agency in encouraging or discouraging the return of Syrians to their home country, and checking whether they were doing so of their own free will, Harb said: “On the day of a GSO-facilitated return movement, UNHCR is present at the different staging points to observe the process and provide on-site assistance to refugees.
“During the last GSO returns, UNHCR spoke to some of the families returning as they were preparing to leave. Many of the families, who confirmed that they would be returning as part of the GSO-facilitated return movement, said they themselves had decided to return. UNHCR did not speak to all individuals returning. “UNHCR maintains that every refugee has the right to voluntarily return to their country. We work steadfastly with countries to try to ensure all returns are voluntary and in safety and dignity.”The Lebanese parliament was due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Syrian refugees. There has been a growing debate in Lebanon of late about their presence in the country amid reports of a rise in crimes linked to refugees, including murders, kidnappings and thefts. This has led to widespread calls among the Lebanese people for the refugees to return home.

Lebanon state media says Israel strike kills two
AFP/May 14, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s state-run news agency said an Israeli drone strike on a car in the country’s south killed two people on Tuesday evening. Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire following the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked war in Gaza. “The enemy drone strike that targeted a car on the Tyre-Al-Hush main road martyred two people,” the National News Agency said, also reporting that ambulances had headed toward the site of the strike. At least 413 people have been killed in Lebanon in seven months of cross-border violence, mostly militants but also including 79 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Israel says 14 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed on its side of the border.Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides.

Israel army says civilian killed in rocket fire from Lebanon
AFP/May 14, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said rockets fired from Lebanon on Tuesday killed a civilian and wounded five soldiers on the Israeli side of the border. “On the northern border, a civilian was killed today from an anti-tank missile that hit Adamit,” a kibbutz community on the border with Lebanon, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing. The army said in a statement that “several anti-tank missile launches were identified from Lebanon,” and that one soldier was moderately wounded and four others were lightly hurt.

Lebanon: Israeli Airstrike on Southern Town Causes 'Massive' Damages
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said on Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike on the southern town of Kfar Kila has caused “massive damages”. NNA said that Israel hit the southern town of Kfar Kila with four heavy missiles that caused major damage. Another two air raids targeted the town of Al Khyam at midnight, it added. Israel on one hand, and Hezbollah and other armed Palestinian factions on the other have engaged in near-daily exchange of cross-border fire since the Israeli war erupted in Gaza on October 6. On Monday, Hezbollah said it hit three Israeli outposts in north Israel using armed drones and missiles.Israeli media outlets said four soldiers were injured in an attack near the border.

Hezbollah says attacks spy balloon launchpad in north Israel
Naharnet/May 14/2024
Hezbollah said it targeted Tuesday the launchpad of an Israeli spy balloon that flew over Adamit in northern Israel, its control panel, and its operating crew. The Israeli army said the spy balloon fell in Lebanon after Hezbollah shot it down. Hezbollah also targeted buildings used by Israeli soldiers in al-Malkia and Avivim "in response to Israeli attacks on villages and civilians in south Lebanon."Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli drone raided the southern border town of Mays al-Jabal and soon after, Hezbollah announced the death of one of its members from the town. Israeli warplanes had struck overnight the towns of al-Khiam and Kfarkela, after Hezbollah carried out Monday seven attacks on Israeli posts in northern Israel and in the occupied Kfarshouba Hills, wounding at least 4 soldiers. Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire following the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked war in Gaza. Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday vowed that Hezbollah will continue to support Gaza to pressure Israel to halt its war on the strip. At least 410 people have been killed in Lebanon in months of cross-border violence, mostly militants but also including 79 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Israel says 14 soldiers and nine civilians have been killed on its side of the border.Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides.

Lebanon resumes voluntary returns of Syrians
Agence France Presse/May 14/2024
Lebanon resumed Tuesday "voluntary returns" of Syrians, with dozens of families set to pass through two land border crossings in the country's east, a year and a half after such returns were paused. 300 refugees are expected to leave from Arsal in the Bekaa Valley on the Lebanese side of the border with Syria to Homs and al-Qalamoun in Syria, media reports said. "We have a permanently open center in the municipality of Arsal to receive and register those wishing to leave voluntarily," a security official told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday.
Syrian refugees were seen Tuesday in Arsal standing near trucks carrying their belongings as they prepared to leave back to Syria. Lebanon says it currently hosts around two million people from neighboring Syria -- the world's highest number of refugees per capita -- with almost 785,000 registered with the United Nations. Lebanon's economy collapsed in late 2019, turning it into a launchpad for migrants, with Lebanese joining Syrians and Palestinian refugees making perilous Europe-bound voyages. Some Lebanese politicians have blamed Syrians for their country's worsening troubles, and pressure often mounts ahead of an annual conference on Syria in Brussels, with ministers meeting this year on May 27. Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have warned that Syria is not safe for returns.

Canada's FM in Lebanon to affirm 'commitment to regional stability'
Naharnet/May 14/2024
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly arrived Tuesday in Lebanon on a two-day visit to the crisis-hit country. Joly had been in Cyprus and will also be travelling to Türkiye and Greece. In Lebanon, Joly will meet with senior government officials and stakeholders, including caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Army chief gen. Joseph Aoun and Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz. While in Lebanon, Minister Joly will underscore Canada’s support for Lebanon and Lebanese people in their current challenges and reaffirm Canada’s commitment to regional stability, Canada's Global Affairs said. "The rapidly evolving situations in the Middle East continue to have significant repercussions in many communities in Canada and around the world," Joly said. "I look forward to engaging with my counterparts and other stakeholders in Cyprus, Lebanon, Türkiye and Greece to hear their views on these issues and to see how Canada can continue to provide support where needed at this critical time," she added. Canada and Lebanon enjoy strong people-to-people ties, with approximately 400,000 Lebanese-Canadians living in Canada. Since 2016, Canada has committed more than $548 million in funding to support Lebanon’s stability and resilience as it copes with the effects of the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and the catastrophic explosion at the Beirut port in 2020.

Sami Gemayel Challenges Nasrallah: Open Land Borders for Syrians
This Is Beirut/May 14/2024 
Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel challenged Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah by saying, “Open the land borders for Syrians to return to Syria.”His response comes after Nasrallah’s TV appearance on Monday, in which the latter called on the Lebanese government to open the sea routes for Syrian migrants to go to Europe, as a way to alleviate Lebanon from their protracted presence. The Kataeb leader argued, in an intervention on MTV, that Nasrallah holds the keys to the borders, the illegal crossings on the border with Syria and the government’s decisions. Gemayel considered that Nasrallah should close the illegal crossings to prevent Syrians from entering, and open the border for their departure. He affirmed that the Syrian displacement issue is “existential for Lebanon,” hoping that everyone will “rise above the bidding wars in order to reach tangible results in this context.”

Safety Warning: Ladies, Watch Out for Your Handbags!
This Is Beirut/14 May 2024
Ladies, watch out for your handbags! Make sure to keep car doors locked and windows closed, especially if you leave your bags on the passenger seat. When out on the street, keep your bag close to you, or better yet, wear a crossbody bag.
A new tactic of pickpocketing and snatch thefts is being used on the streets of Beirut. After snatching your bag, the thieves will get in touch with you to ask for money in exchange for your documents. One victim of this scheme told This is Beirut that while she was stuck in traffic on Clemenceau street, motorcyclists stole her handbag, which was placed on the seat beside her. Luckily, her cell phone wasn’t in her handbag. A few minutes later, she received a WhatsApp call from an African number, “which can apparently be bought online and is untraceable, according to the police.” “The thief asked for $200 in exchange for my wallet!” she said. The victim went to a police station, where she was told that many complaints pertaining to the same issue have been filed. The scenario went as follows: The lady decided to give in to the blackmail in order to get her documents back and was escorted by the police to the place chosen by the thieves, near the Cola bridge. The amount demanded went down to 75 dollars. However, despite prolonged phone conversations, the thieves quickly backed down, probably because they felt a police presence. This sadly recurring scenario once again underscores the authorities’ powerlessness in the face of the deteriorating security situation.

Parliamentary Session Highlights Nine Recommendations to Government
This Is Beirut/14 May 2024
Local agency “Al-Markazia” reported that the initial document of the parliamentary recommendations, which has been handed to the government, highlights 9 points. It emphasizes that Lebanon is not a “haven country” and asks the government to communicate with all relevant parties regarding displacement, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Syrian government. (Lebanon is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention NDRL). The document also calls for addressing the displacement crisis within a maximum period of one year, and requests redirecting aid to displaced persons in Syria.Of note, preparations are ongoing for the parliamentary session scheduled for May 15, as part of a concerted effort to reach a unified stance among parliamentary blocs regarding the issue of Syrian migrants. MPs are aiming to achieve a unanimous vote on Wednesday.

Syrian Migrants: Unifying Fronts in Parliament on Wednesday?
Alissar Boulos/This is Beirut/14 May 2024
Last week’s rhetoric and outcry have waned as we approached Wednesday’s parliamentary gathering aimed at debating the €1 billion financial aid package earmarked for Lebanon by the European Union. The aid is intended to bolster support for Lebanon’s most vulnerable populations and its army (LAF), while combating illegal Syrian migration to Europe. The perspective of a potential unified parliamentary stance appears to have quelled the rhetoric of all political parties that previously opposed this donation. They had accused caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati of colluding with the European Union (EU) in “selling off” Lebanon by keeping Syrians within its borders. The session, called by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, serves on one hand to attenuate emotions, and on the other hand, to ease pressure on Mikati since the announcement of the donation on May 2. The meeting is expected to bring together all groups opposed to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime. MP Georges Okais, of the Lebanese Forces-led (LF) Strong Republic Bloc, confirmed to This is Beirut that the party’s representatives will attend the meeting because it is a debate session. “There will be no laws passed in the absence of a President of the Republic, but rather a debate on a matter of strategic national importance,” he explained, noting that the LF bloc “prefers to be present because it has much to say about the (erroneous) performance of this government and successive governments since 2011” regarding the massive Syrian presence.
“We’ll propose solutions and recommendations to the ministerial delegation for their intervention at the forthcoming international conference in Brussels” on Syria, slated for May 27, the LF MP said, stressing that “multiple aspects will be discussed.”
This common interest to participate in elaborating a roadmap to resolve the issue of Syrian migrants motivates MPs of the Kataeb party, as well as the Coalition of Change, and other independent parliamentarians, who have abstained from legislative sessions since October 2022, to converge on parliament on Wednesday.
Unified Vision
For caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Wednesday’s meeting offers a chance to develop a unified national vision to resolve the Syrian migrant issue and, particularly, to relieve his team from the pressure stemming from the European initiative. Mikati emphasized on Monday that this aid represents a right for Lebanon, noting that the European Union had provided similar support in previous years, before they were suspended by the EU. An LF source said, in comments made to This is Beirut, that Mikati should have provided a clarification about the EU donation earlier. “This would have preempted speculation about the donation and whether it is aimed at keeping migrants in Lebanon.”For its part, the Renewal Bloc will call for the adoption of a clear governmental policy, focused on facilitating the return of Syrians to their home country. In an interview with This is Beirut, MP Michel Moawad, a bloc member, described the session as “essential,” as it would set the ground for a national strategy and provide a better understanding of the donation’s details.
Political Decision
For its part, the Democratic Gathering Bloc, led by MP Teymour Joumblatt of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), will present a roadmap previously submitted to Berri and Mikati, as explained by MP Bilal Abdallah to This is Beirut. “While we acknowledge the burden posed by the Syrian presence in Lebanon, what we need is a unified stance, not mere slogans.” He stressed the necessity of establishing a clear distinction between legal workers and economic and security migrants. Abdallah argued that it is crucial for the EU, the international community and particularly the Syrian government to assume their responsibilities. “Informal discussions with Syria are ongoing, however, they need to be official and formal. The return of migrants hinges on a political decision, which, if accepted by the Syrian government, will be easily implemented.”
FPM’s New Approach
The Strong Lebanon Bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) appears willing to loosen its opposition towards the government, despite being at odds since 2022, after the expiry of Michel Aoun’s presidential term. During a televised interview on Friday, Nicolas Sehnaoui, an FPM MP, emphasized the need to offer parliamentary support to the government through a clear plan and concrete decisions. The FPM bloc proposed a bill regarding the return of Syrian migrants and supports the adoption of a binding recommendation by the government on this matter, as noted by Michel Abou Najm, coordinator of the FPM’s information commission. “The European donation goes beyond mere financial aid; it is intended to catalyze the process of facilitating the return of Syrian migrants to their homeland,” he said, highlighting the measures being implemented by the General Security against illegal migrants as a prime example.
The Wednesday session, to be broadcast live on TV, poses a challenge for parliamentary blocs to reach a viable agreement which, if materialized, will exert substantial pressure on both the government and the international community to engage in a process to return Syrian migrants to their homeland.

Mikati calls Syrian PM, asks for talks with Syria delegation to Arab Summit
Naharnet/May 14/2024 
Direct communication has taken place for the first time between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Syrian government, after ministers and security chiefs used to be in charge of such contacts in recent years. In a Facebook post, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s adviser Luna al-Shebel revealed that Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous has received several phone calls from Mikati. “It was agreed to hold a meeting between him (Mikati) and the delegation that will accompany President Bashar al-Assad to the Arab Summit that will be held in Manama to discuss several matters that concern the peoples of the two countries,” al-Shebel added. The development comes amid controversy in Lebanon over the presence of Syrian refugees and economic migrants in the country.

Lebanon Resumes Trips for Syrian Refugees’ Voluntary Return to Their Country
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Lebanon will resume on Tuesday trips for Syrian refugees who have volunteered to return to their country. The General Security directorate will operate two trips involving 300 refugees. The first convoy, carrying only ten refugees, will return through the Jousseh crossing in the al-Qaa region and head towards Syria’s Homs. The second convoy will transport the remaining refugees and head towards the al-Qalamoun region. It will enter Syria through the illegal al-Zamarani crossing and will be received by Syrian security forces. The majority of the returnees opted to head back home through illegal crossings because that allows them to transport their tents, furniture, cattle and vehicles. They are not allowed to do so through legal crossings, explained sources monitoring the process. Security sources said the development was “indication of seriousness in handling the refugee file” even though the returning numbers are quite low in this first phase.The two trips will “kickstart the beginning of addressing the Syrian refugee file as a whole,” they told Asharq Al-Awsat. The voluntary return “has been put on the right track” and it is being handled seriously this time after about seven months since the last time refugees returned home, they continued. They added that the security forces have set up a center in the border town of Arsal to receive and register refugees who are willing to return home. The Syrian authorities have been cooperative with Lebanon’s efforts to ensure their return. Syrian Mohammed Abdulaziz, who has been tasked with preparing the refugees for their return, revealed that several people have registered to voluntarily go back to their homes in the western al-Qalamoun and Damascus countryside regions. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said 50 more families have signed up to go back, but their names have yet to be referred to the general secretariat tasked with coordinating their file with Lebanon’s General Security. He stressed that “all eyes are on Tuesday’s trips. If they pass smoothly, then more refugees will sign up to go home.”Fierce debate has raged in Lebanon about the Syrian refugees given the social tensions that have emerged over their continued presence in the country. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said criticism levelled against his government over this file have been aimed at “distracting it with pointless debates and disputes.”“We will forge ahead with our work and in implementing decisions we have taken responsibly and with a clear conscience,” he added.

Border War Depletes Hezbollah, Worries Israel
Beirut: Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Hezbollah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem acknowledged that the party had to make changes to its military approach in its war with Israel in southern Lebanon. The conflict between the two parties erupted on October 8, a day after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, sparking the war on Gaza. Initially, Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon in “support of the resistance in Gaza.” The war has now turned into one of attrition, running along the southern border. Israel’s attacks on the South have devastated villages and left hundreds of people dead. Qassem said on Friday Hezbollah “has learned lessons” from the fighting, “assessed the positives and negatives” and made “necessary amendments so that it can achieve a major accomplishment.”Figures close to Hezbollah revealed that the party has lost some 300 fighters in the war. The Health Ministry has tallied 351 deaths and 1,413 injuries. Researcher at Information International Mohammed Chamseddeine said Hezbollah lost 350 fighters during the July 2006 war against Israel, while it has now lost some 290 members in eight months. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he added that 57 civilians have been killed in the latest war compared to 1,267 in 2006. Several observers believe it is unfair to compare the current war to the one 2006. They say the current conflict is limited to the South and Hezbollah has said it is aimed at supporting Gaza. The 2006 conflict was an “all-out war” with Israel launching strikes across Lebanon. In March, Hezbollah announced that it had carried out 1,194 operations against Israel since October 8 revealing that it killed and injured 2,000 Israelis. Director of the Middle East Center for Studies and Political Research Dr. Hisham Jaber said that back in 2006, Israel realized that it could not continue with the war because it was unable to achieve its goal of “breaking Hezbollah.” So, it ended it after 33 days. At the time, Hezbollah boasted some 6,000 professional fighters and 10,000 members. Now, the figures are much greater, and the party’s fighters have gained experience during their involvement in the war in Syria, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. Israel has also raised its military capabilities and built on its past experiences. Jaber described the conflict in the South as a war of attrition. “Hezbollah started the war and is now involved. It can no longer comply with Israeli demands and conditions because that will harm is image before its supporters and Lebanese people. So, it has no other interest than forging ahead with the war and persevering,” he explained. “We must note, however, that the party has only revealed very little of its arsenal. The Radwan forces have not even taken action,” he went on to say. For its part, Israel has no interest in launching a ground invasion of Lebanon, especially with the experience Hezbollah has gained in Syria, putting it at an advantage over the Israelis.

Saudi FM reiterates support for Lebanese people at Arab Summit prep meeting
LBCI/May 14/2024
The Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud reiterated his support for the Lebanese people during the meeting of Arab foreign ministers to prepare for the 33rd Arab Summit. The Saudi Foreign Minister called on all Lebanese parties to prioritize the public interest by implementing comprehensive political and economic reforms that would help overcome the country's crises.

Exclusive LBCI interview: Canadian FM urges ceasefire and Resolution 1701 adherence in Lebanon talks, discusses Canadian support for LAF, UNIFIL
LBCI/May 14/2024
In an interview with LBCI, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that discussions are being held with different parties, especially with "the government here, where I just met with General [Joseph] Aoun from the Lebanese Armed Forces, the speaker of parliament, and different political leaders."
She stated: "We’re in contact with Israeli officials, we’re in contact with the Americans, the French, the Qataris, the Saudis, so, different parties that are all invested in making sure to find a peaceful solution." Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed the need for a ceasefire during the interview on Tuesday.
"We need a ceasefire, we need people living in the South of Lebanon [...] to be able to go back to their homes. We need to make sure that the Israelis living in the northern part of Israel are able to get back to their homes, that they can live side by side in peace and security."
She indicated that Security Council Resolution 1701 must be respected, additionally, regarding the political crisis, "I've put a lot of pressure on all the political leaders I've met." Responding to a question about Resolution 1701, the situation in the South of Lebanon, and the role Canada is aiming to play, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly declared: "We've been training a lot of the Lebanese armed forces and that's why I met with General Aoun."She confirmed: "We've been providing the equipment and we've been there to make sure that the Lebanese Armed Forces as an institution are able to protect the Lebanese people and to try to calm things down. We're there also to support UNIFIL, and that's why I met with officials of UNIFIL." During the interview with LBCI, the Canadian Foreign Minister expressed that as someone who is in charge of Canadian diplomacy, "I'm also doing shuttle diplomacy going to different capitals of the Middle East to try to mend the gap that we definitely see between different parties.""I've been to Saudi Arabia recently, Kuwait, UAE, Israel, and the West Bank, and I'll continue to also tour the region," she continued.
On the issue of the resettlement of Syrian refugees coming from Lebanon, Minister Melanie Joly acknowledged the pressure that this crisis is putting on the Lebanese people, saying: "I understand how much it's been a toll.""Now I understand that people don't leave their homes just to leave their homes. There's been 110 million people that are refugees around the world, and they leave because there is conflict, because they can't stay in their homes. So we need to make sure that first Canada will do its work, its part to resettle Syrian refugees coming from Lebanon," she voiced. She asserted that the meeting with General Aoun also aimed to discuss the continued Lebanese Armed Forces support to protect the border. "That's also very important. That's why we're giving funds to UN organizations and we're helping Lebanese communities that are hosting refugees themselves," she declared. The Canadian Foreign Minister asserted the need "to make sure that we continue to help the Lebanese people while they're addressing one of the biggest crises of their history, and they can count on Canada." In response to a question regarding the opportunities Canada is opening for the Lebanese people and the youth in particular, she expressed: "Well many. So we know that there are many student exchanges. There are so many great universities. Also, there's so many opportunities in the trade sector in Canada." "I was just telling you how much we want to invest in entrepreneurs and woman entrepreneurs. So these are just three examples of what we can do together," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly conveyed.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 14-15/2024
Talks Over Gaza Ceasefire at Stalemate After Rafah Operation, Qatar PM Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Talks over a ceasefire in Gaza have reached a stalemate due to Israel's operations in Rafah, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Tuesday. Israeli operations in Rafah, which started this month, have closed a main crossing point for aid from the border with Egypt a move humanitarian groups say has worsened an already dire situation. "Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately, things didn't move in the right direction and right now we are in a status of almost a stalemate. Of course, what happened with Rafah sent us backward," Sheikh Mohammed said at an economic forum in Doha. Sheikh Mohammed, whose country has mediated heavily between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel throughout the seven-month conflict, said Qatar would keep working to resolve the situation. "We make it very clear for everyone: our job is limited to our mediation," he said. "That's what we will do, that what we will continue to do."Sheikh Mohammed said the fundamental difference between the two parties was over the release of hostages and ending the war. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. "There is one party that wants to end the war and then talk about the hostages and there is another party who wants the hostages and wants to continue the war. As long as there is not any commonality between those two things it won't get us to a result," Sheikh Mohammed said.

Israel's Rafah attack set Hamas talks 'backward', Qatar says
Agence France Presse/May 14, 2024
Israel's military operation in Rafah has "set us backward" in negotiations with Hamas, mediator Qatar said on Tuesday, adding that talks are at "almost a stalemate". "Unfortunately things didn't move in the right direction and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate. Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backward," Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told the Qatar Economic Forum.

UN: 450,000 fleeing Rafah
Filip Timotija/The Hill/May 14, 2024
Almost half a million Palestinians have fled Gaza, according to the United Nations, as an Israeli military incursion continues in the area. Nearly 450,000 people have fled the Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip over the past week, according to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), the UN agency that provides relief to Palestinian refugees. “People face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear. Nowhere is safe. An immediate #ceasefire is the only hope,” UNRWA said in a Tuesday post on social media platform X. Before the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) started plowing toward the city, at least a million Palestinians had been sheltering in Rafah.Over the past week, no food has come in through the two major border crossings in the south of the strip, according to The Associated Press. The reported halt of food supplies comes as around 1.1 million Palestinians contend with drastic levels of hunger and the population is on the cusp of starvation, according to the UN. The IDF has continued its fighting against Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, in northern Gaza. The IDF evacuation orders, issued on Saturday, have displaced around 100,000 people so far, according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
“We remain deeply concerned about the lack of protection for civilians — and the lack of safety for humanitarian operations,” Haq said. “Civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay. Those who leave must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go.” Israeli military operations and the bombardment of Gaza have killed around 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health Ministry officials. The war, now in its seventh month, started following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 Israelis and took around 250 hostages.

White House's Jake Sullivan to travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel
Reuters/May 14, 2024
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan plans to travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend, a US official said on Tuesday as Israeli tanks pushed deeper into eastern Rafah, stoking fears of additional civilian deaths. Additional details on his trip were not available. The visit would come as the United States continues to press Israel to hold off on a major military ground incursion into Rafah, one of the border crossings in Gaza where more than a million people had been sheltering. The Biden administration and the Israeli government have reached an understanding that any operation in the refugee-packed city would not be "significantly expanded" before Sullivan's visit, Axios reported Tuesday, citing a senior US official. US and Israeli officials were scheduled to hold additional in-person discussions on Rafah but weeks have past without a new date being set. Israel's international allies and aid groups have repeatedly warned against a major ground incursion into refugee-packed Rafah, where Israel says four Hamas battalions are holed up. "We're going to continue to have conversations obviously with the Israeli government," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. "Those conversations continue and they have been constructive," she said, noting Sullivan said this week he expects in-person conversations to happen in the upcoming days.

Nothing Wrong with Gaza Death Toll Figures, WHO Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
The World Health Organization voiced full confidence in Gaza Ministry of Health death toll figures on Tuesday, saying they were actually getting closer to confirming the scale of losses after Israel questioned a change in the numbers. Gaza's health ministry last week updated its breakdown of the total fatalities of around 35,000 since Oct. 7, saying that about 25,000 of those have so far been fully identified, of whom more than half were women and children.  This sparked allegations from Israel of inaccuracy since Palestinian authorities had previously estimated that more than 70% of those killed were women and children. UN agencies have republished the Palestinian figures, which have since risen above 35,000 dead, citing the source. "Nothing wrong with the data, the overall data (more than 35,000) are still the same," said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier at a Geneva press briefing in response to questions about the toll. "The fact we now have 25,000 identified people is a step forward," he added.  Based on his own extrapolation of the latest Palestinian data, he said that around 60% of victims were women and children, but many bodies buried beneath rubble were likely to fall into these categories when they were eventually identified.  He added that it was "normal" for death tolls to shift in conflicts, recalling that Israel had revised down its own death toll from the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to 1,200 after checks. "We're basically talking about 35,000 people who are dead, and really every life matters, doesn't it?" Liz Throssel, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, said at the same briefing. "And we know that many and many of those are women and children and there are 1,000s missing under the rubble."

Egyptian Military Officials Cancel Meetings with Israeli Counterparts
Ramallah: Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Egyptian military officials canceled scheduled meetings with their Israeli counterparts, without previous notice, an Israeli source told the Israeli i24 channel on Tuesday. This came in the wake of Israel's military escalation in eastern Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said that the sudden cancellation indicates the deepening diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Egypt had repeatedly warned Israel against attacking Rafah, saying it would affect Egyptian national security. But the Israeli army penetrated east of Rafah last week and took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing. In response, Cairo declared its support for the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on charges of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The cancellation of the military meetings angered the Israeli side, given the necessary cooperation between the two countries in the Sinai Peninsula. Although no official in Egypt spoke explicitly about the possibility of suspending or canceling the peace agreement, Israel monitored threats from media figures and researchers close to the decision-making center in Cairo. Ofir Winter, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said that Egypt’s announcement of its support to the petition submitted by South Africa against Israel before the ICJ in The Hague was an escalation in the tension that has recently been observed between the two countries since the start of the limited army incursion into Rafah. He added that the Egyptian move aims to increase international pressure on Israel to prevent it from expanding the operation in Rafah, and to warn that the continuation of the operation will affect the relations between the two countries. Winter noted that in recent days, he has heard threats from media professionals and researchers close to the regime in Cairo, to harm relations between the two countries to the point of suspending or canceling the peace agreement. He stressed that Egypt will lose a lot if it withdraws from the peace agreement, adding that the threats - even if they are only rhetorical - may create a dangerous dynamic in a sensitive period.

Biden administration denies holding intel on Hamas leaders' locations
Jerusalem Post/May 14/2024
The United States has denied withholding information to leverage against Israel and force it to cancel operations in Rafah. While the White House recently leveraged intelligence information in hopes of stalling an IDF operation in Rafah, it has now begun denying withholding information from its ally, the New York Post reported on Monday.  The initial report that the US attempted to leverage information came from four anonymous sources speaking to the Washington Post. According to the Post, the information offered by the US includes details regarding the whereabouts of Hamas leaders and the terror group's tunnels. In addition, the proposition reportedly involved the supply of shelters for the Palestinians of the Strip and US aid in building delivery mechanisms to provide water, food, and medicine for Gazans. “We’re not holding anything back,’’ a US representative insisted. “We believe [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar should and indeed must be held accountable for the horrors of the October 7 attack.”
Promises of security, a firm alliance
National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told reporters last week, “We have a long, long and solid relationship on the counterterrorism front with Israel, which includes intelligence-sharing and includes operational lessons learned and other means of cooperation.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed the same stance, telling CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that “We have the same objective as Israel. We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again.” An unhappy partnership. The strength of US-Israel ties has been repeatedly called into question as Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu butted heads. Biden, while angry at Netanyahu, has called him an "as***le" in private conversations due to military disagreements over the Gaza war, NBC reported back in February. Additional reports also claimed Biden described the Israeli leader as a “bad f***ing guy.” More recently, the United States has delayed weapons and aid shipments to Israel.

Egypt threatened to suspend peace treaty after Israel took over Rafah crossing - report
Jerusalem Post/May 14/2024
Egyptian and Qatari mediators working on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas will reconvene in Doha this week. Egypt threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel and stop serving as a mediator in ceasefire talks after Israel only gave Egypt short notice before capturing the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, The Washington Post reported on Monday. Egypt was also blocking all humanitarian aid trucks from entering Gaza from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing due to the tensions between the two countries, Egyptian officials told The Washington Post. Last week, Israel offered the Palestinian Authority the option to send representatives to the Rafah crossing to take over the operation of the crossing but also demanded that these representatives not act officially on behalf of the PA, senior US, Israeli, and Palestinian officials told Walla. Shin Bet tells Egypt they won't let Hamas return to Rafah crossing. Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar spoke with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel about the dispute surrounding the Rafah crossing, Walla reported on Monday. According to the report, Israel is prepared to accept any solution that doesn't involve the return of Hamas. The report added that Egyptian and Qatari mediators working on trying to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas will reconvene in Doha this week.The mediators will work to try and narrow the gaps between Israel and Hamas after talks exploded last week.

Israel secretly asked Palestinian Authority to run Rafah crossing
Jerusalem Post/May 14/2024
Four officials from the PA, Israel and the United States told Axios that Israel made the request as Egypt threatened to disallow the transport of aid unless Israel withdrew from Rafah. Israel recently unofficially asked that the Palestinian Authority run the Rafah crossing in Gaza, defense sources have told the Jerusalem Post. The report first emerged from an Axios report Monday night, which referred to a mix of Israeli, American, and Palestinian Authority officials. The proposal was the first invitation Israel has extended to the Palestinian Authority to join or facilitate issues relating to the war. Egypt has halted sending aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing and has promised to continue delaying aid until Israeli forces withdraw from the Palestinian side of Rafah. Given the repeated warnings from the United Nations and other international bodies, the threat of withheld aid has placed significantly more pressure on the precarious humanitarian situation in the enclave. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a Sunday night phone call that Israel is open to many solutions for the Rafah crossing except for a return of Hamas. Another senior official reported that the Israeli government was seeking to bring in Palestinian leadership who were unconnected to Hamas to help manage the site. Officials from all three groups reported that the condition on bringing in PA control would involve the caveat that they identify themselves as a local aid committee and not an extension of the PA. The condition upset PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who said they would not agree to fulfill this role undercover. As a secondary issue, the PA also demanded that Israel release Palestinian tax revenues, which have been withheld for several months by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as retaliation for the PA pushing the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials for alleged war crimes.

Talks over Gaza ceasefire at stalemate after Rafah operation, Qatar PM says
Reuters/May 14/2024
Sheik Mohammed, whose country has mediated heavily between Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Israel throughout the seven-month conflict, said Qatar would keep working to resolve the situation. Talks over a ceasefire in Gaza have reached a stalemate due to Israel's operations in Rafah, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Tuesday. Israeli operations in Rafah, which started this month, have closed a main crossing point for aid from the border with Egypt a move humanitarian groups say has worsened an already dire situation. "Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately, things didn't move in the right direction and right now we are in a status of almost a stalemate. Of course, what happened with Rafah sent us backward," Sheikh Mohammed said at an economic forum in Doha. Sheik Mohammed, whose country has mediated heavily between Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Israel throughout the seven-month conflict, said Qatar would keep working to resolve the situation. "We make it very clear for everyone: our job is limited to our mediation," he said. "That's what we will do, that what we will continue to do." Release of hostages vs. Ending the war. Sheik Mohammed said the fundamental difference between the two parties was over the release of hostages and ending the war. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 132 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies."There is one party that wants to end the war and then talk about the hostages and there is another party who wants the hostages and wants to continue the war. As long as there is not any commonality between those two things it won't get us to a result," Sheikh Mohammed said.

Biden administration believes Israel has enough troops to enter Rafah in expansive
op. - CNN/May 14/2024
Despite these calculations, the US is still unsure of whether Israel will act on its initial goal of entering Gaza's southernmost city, where, according to reports, one million Gazans are sheltering. The US believes that Israel has enough troops and manpower in southern Gaza, on the outskirts of Rafah, to enter the city in an operational capacity, two senior Biden administration officials told CNN on Monday. According to the officials, questions have been raised within the administration about whether Israel has made a final decision to carry out an incursion. CNN also noted that the US believes that Israel's initial goal of destroying Hamas is not feasible. However, the Biden administration believes that Hamas's capabilities have been "significantly degraded," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller stated. US seeks comprehensive plan for Palestinians These officials also highlighted the growing concerns within the Biden administration of the lack of preparations to protect the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, including preparing humanitarian aid, including food, hygiene, and shelter. CNN quoted National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan's comments at the White House on Sunday about American arms transfers to Israel, stating, "The president was clear that he would not supply certain offensive weapons for such an operation would occur." This comes amid tensions following the Biden administration's decision to hold up numerous Boeing-made arms transfers to Israel for at least two weeks after the administration said that they would not support an IDF operation in Rafah without a plan to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian support.  Reuters contributed to this report.

Israel-Gaza war: UN says Indian staff member killed in Gaza
Malu Cursino - BBC News/May 14, 2024
The United Nations says one of its staff members was killed and another injured as they travelled to a hospital in southern Gaza on Monday. India's mission to the UN in New York named the staff member as Col Waibhav Kale, who worked for the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) in Gaza. The UN said the workers were travelling in a UN vehicle to the European Hospital near Rafah when it was struck. It did not mention who it thought was responsible for the attack. The UN says the death is the first of an international UN worker in Gaza since the start of the conflict. The Israeli military said an initial inquiry indicated the vehicle was struck in an active combat zone and it had not been made aware of its route. But the UN said the vehicle was clearly marked and its planned movements had been announced in advance to Israeli authorities. Rolando Gomez, a UN spokesman in Geneva, said the UN informs Israeli authorities of the movement of all its convoys in Gaza. "This is a standard operating procedure. That was the case yesterday morning," Mr Gomez said told a news briefing. Footage posted on social media and verified by the BBC shows a marked UN vehicle with multiple bullet holes outside the European Hospital. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it had received a report from the UNDSS that said two of its workers were injured in the Rafah area - in southern Gaza - on Monday. The IDF added that the incident was under review. India's mission to the UN in New York said it sent its "deepest condolences are with the family" of Col Kale, who Indian media reports was a former member of the Indian army. UN secretary-general António Guterres said he was "deeply saddened" to learn of the worker's death and sent his condolences to their family, his spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement. "The secretary-general condemns all attacks on UN personnel and calls for a full investigation," Mr Haq added. In a separate statement, Mr Guterres said more than 190 UN staff had been killed in Gaza since the war began. While Col Kale is the first international casualty for the UN, six international aid workers and a Palestinian colleague from the international food charity World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli strike at the start of April. Their deaths sparked an international outcry and the IDF sacked two senior officers over the incident which it described as a "grave accident".
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza with the stated aim of destroying Hamas - which controls Gaza - in response to the group's cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage. More than 35,090 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Israeli tanks push into Rafah, as battles rage in north
REUTERS/May 14, 2024
CAIRO: Israeli tanks forged deeper into eastern Rafah on Tuesday, reaching some residential districts of the southern border city where more than a million people had been sheltering, raising fears of yet further civilian casualties.
Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly warned against a ground incursion into refugee-packed Rafah, where Israel says four Hamas battalions are holed up. The World Court, also known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said it would hold hearings on Thursday and Friday to discuss a request by South Africa seeking new emergency measures over the Rafah incursion, which Qatar says has stalled efforts to reach a ceasefire. South Africa’s demand is part of a case it brought against Israel accusing it of violating the genocide convention in Gaza, and which Israel has called baseless. Israel will provide its views on the latest petition on Friday, the ICJ said. Israel has vowed to press on into Rafah even without its allies’ support, saying the operation is necessary to root out remaining Hamas fighters. “The tanks advanced this morning west of Salahuddin Road into the Brzail and Jneina neighborhoods. They are in the streets inside the built-up area and there are clashes,” one resident told Reuters via a chat app. Palestinian residents of western Rafah later said they could see smoke billowing above the eastern neighborhoods and hear the sound of explosions following an Israeli bombardment of a cluster of houses.
Hamas’s armed wing said it had destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with an Al-Yassin 105 missile in the eastern Al-Salam district, killing some crew members and wounding others. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on the report. In a round-up of its activities, the IDF said its forces had eliminated “several armed terrorist” cells in close-quarter fighting on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. In the east of the city, it said it had also destroyed militant cells and a launch post from where missiles were being fired at IDF troops.
’NOWHERE IS SAFE’
Israel issued evacuation orders for people to move from parts of eastern Rafah a week ago, with a second round of orders extending to further zones on Saturday. They are moving to tracts of land such as Al-Mawasi, a sandy strip bordering the coast that aid agencies say lacks sanitary and other facilities to host an influx of displaced people. UNRWA, the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza, estimates some 450,000 people have fled Rafah since May 6, warning “nowhere is safe,” in the enclave of 2.3 million. The war has pushed much of Gaza’s population to the brink of famine, the UN says, and has devastated its medical facilities, where hospitals, if working at all, are running short of fuel to power generators and other essential supplies. James Smith, a British emergency room doctor volunteering in hospitals in southern Gaza, said he had been told by a World Health Organization official that some emergency fuel had made it into the Gaza Strip, potentially enough for six days. “Health is still being prioritized over other essential services, so when health looks a bit better it generally means other essential services are struggling,” he told Reuters via a WhatsApp voice note. “It’s a zero-sum game.”
FIERCE GUN BATTLES
Fighting across the Strip has intensified in recent days, including in the north, with the Israeli military heading back into areas where it had claimed to have dismantled Hamas months ago. Israel says the operations are to prevent Hamas, which runs Gaza, from rebuilding it military capacities. The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters. It said that 82 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, the highest death toll in a single day in many weeks. Israel launched its Gaza operation following a devastating attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who rampaged through Israeli communities near the enclave, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in the north, bulldozers demolished clusters of houses to make a new road for tanks to roll through into the eastern suburb. In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, a sprawling refugee camp built for displaced Palestinians 75 years ago, residents said Israeli forces were trying to reach as deep as the camp’s local market under heavy tank shelling. Residents said fierce gunbattles were continuing in Jabalia. Hamas and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said they were fighting Israeli forces there. “Many people are being trapped in their houses. We lost contact with some relatives after they were warned by the army in phone calls to leave and they refused,” Nasser, 57, a father of six, told Reuters, using an international phone card. A strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, killed seven people and wounded several others, medics said. The IDF said it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters in Jabalia and dismantled a network of explosives, while in Zeitoun it located tunnel shafts and destroyed several rocket launchers. With fighting intensifying, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said ceasefire talks, mediated by his country and Egypt, were at a stalemate.

Israel and Egypt trade blame over Rafah Crossing closure
JERUSALEM (Reuters)/Maytaal Angel and Nayera Abdallah/May 14, 2024
Israel said on Tuesday that it was up to Egypt to reopen the Rafah Crossing and allow humanitarian relief into the Gaza Strip, prompting Cairo to denounce what it described as an attempt to shift the blame for the blockage of aid deliveries. The Rafah Crossing is on the border between Egypt and southern Gaza, and has been a vital route for aid going into the coastal territory. "The key to preventing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is now in the hands of our Egyptian friends," Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Katz said in comments circulated to reporters. Katz said he had spoken with his British and German counterparts about "the need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing", adding he would also speak with Italy's foreign minister later on Tuesday. The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been running Gaza, will not "control the Rafah crossing", Katz said, citing security concerns over which Israel "will not compromise".The comments drew a swift response from Egypt's foreign ministry, which said in a statement that Israel was responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that Israel's military operations around Rafah were the main reason aid had been prevented from entering the enclave. Egypt has consistently said the crossing has remained open from its side throughout the conflict that began between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7. Cairo has been one of the mediators in stalled ceasefire talks, but its relationship with Israel has come under strain since Israeli forces seized the Rafah Crossing on May 7. The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of two crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom - had virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid. The U.N. had already warned, prior to the closing of the two crossings, that Gaza is on the brink of famine. Israel launched its current Gaza offensive following an attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led gunmen who rampaged through Israeli communities near the enclave, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, according to Gaza health officials.

US officials doubt Israel can actually eradicate Hamas and achieve a 'total victory'
Ella Sherman/Business Insider/May 14, 2024
US officials have expressed doubt over Israel's ability to completely eliminate Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains firm on the goal to defeat Hamas. President Biden has threatened to cut off weapon shipments if Israel assaults Rafah. US government officials are skeptical Israel can actually achieve its goals and completely eliminate Hamas in Gaza."Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory," Deputy US Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told CNN at the NATO Youth Summit. "I don't think we believe that that is likely or possible."When TV personality Phil McGraw, also known as Dr. Phil, asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview on May 9 whether Israel still plans on eliminating Hamas as its goal in the Israel-Hamas war, Netanyahu confirmed that this plan hasn't changed. He argued that "we have to achieve victory and that means that we have to destroy all these battalions, which we will."Netanyahu has been adamant that in order to meet this goal and win the war, Israeli forces must assault Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza where about one million Palestinian refugees have fled. The US has provided Israel with support throughout its war, but President Joe Biden has warned that he would cut off weapon shipments to Israel if it moves forward with an attack on the city. "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden told CNN last week. "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem."There is currently a Republican-led effort in Congress to force the provision of weapons shipments, but the White House is in firm opposition. The current US view of what victory looks like in this war appears different than that of Israel. Other members of the Biden administration have weighed in on Israel's progress and plan to defeat Hamas. "We're seeing parts of Gaza that Israel has cleared of Hamas where Hamas is coming back including in the north, including in Khan Younis," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with CBS's Margaret Brennan on Sunday. If the Israelis hit Rafah with a tough offensive, he predicts that "they may go in and have some initial success, but potentially at an incredibly high cost to civilians." And any success they have, he said will likely be "one that is not durable, one that is not sustainable.""And they will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas will be left no matter what they do in Rafah," Blinken said. The alternative isn't much better though."If they leave and get out of Gaza, as we believe they need to do, then you're going to have a vacuum, and a vacuum that's likely to be filled by chaos, by anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again," he said. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that ultimately, Israel will make its own decisions on strategy and how it will end the war. "With the question of a strategic endgame, I don't think that's really a question about American influence," he said. "That's a question about Israel's strategy and what Israel chooses to do."

UN Corrects Israeli Claim It Made Significant Changes To Official Death Count In Gaza
Kate Nicholson/HuffPost UK/May 14, 2024
The United Nations has corrected recent claims from Israeli officials that the organisation altered its estimated number of people killed in Gaza. A UN report from May 8 revised down the number of women and children thought to have been killed. This led to questions over the veracity of its death toll estimates, even though the overall number of those killed remained consistent. On Monday, the official X account for the State of Israel said these changes “did not release any press releases or statements, almost as if this reduction was a secret”. However, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq explained these casualty figures – provided by the UN’s counterpart in Gaza, the ministry of health – remain “unchanged”. He said the UN and Gaza officials still believe more than 35,000 people have been killed since the war began – but that the breakdown of those deaths has changed now 24,686 of the dead have been “fully identified”.
Haq continued: “There’s about another 10,000 plus bodies who still have to be fully identified, and so then the details of those – which of those are children, which of those are women – that will be re-established once the full identification is complete. “The Ministry of Health says that the documentation process of fully identifying details of the casualties is ongoing.”Haq explained that the number of dead now worked out to 7,797 children, 4,959 women, 1,924 elderly, and 10,006 men. Previously, it was thought around 9,500 of those killed were women and 14,500 were children. Haq added: “The Ministry of Health says that the documentation process of fully identifying details of the casualties is ongoing.” Israeli officials have criticised the death count numbers coming from Gaza for some time. The spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oren Marmostein, criticised UN agencies for using those numbers, claiming they have been “manipulated by Hamas” just on Monday. He said: “They are not accurate and they do not reflect the reality on the ground. “The parroting of Hamas’ propaganda messages without the use of any verification process has proven time and again to be methodologically flawed and unprofessional.” But Haq stood by the estimates coming out of Gaza. He said previous death toll tallies have “proven to be generally accurate” especially during the “mass casualty incidents” which have occurred in the enclave every few years. The World Health Organisation (WHO) also stood by the figures, saying it has a “long-standing cooperation with the MoH in Gaza and we can attest that MoH has good capacity in data collection/analysis and its previous reporting has been considered credible.” Spokesperson Margaret Harris said: “Real numbers could be even higher.”Israel has allowed very few foreign journalists to go into Gaza since the war began, meaning it’s hard to get independent assessments of the death toll. In November, Gaza officials also said they could not continue to count the number of Palestinians killed because of the difficulties in collecting such data while under attack. Israel and the UN have often clashed in the past, and these tensions have only risen since the war in Gaza began. Last Friday, an Israeli representative ripped up the UN charter while standing on the podium of the UN general assembly.It happened just before members voted on offering new privileges to Palestinians at the UN. By a margin of 143-9, and 25 abstentions, the UN voted to grant new “rights and privileges”, and reconsider Palestine’s request to join the world body.

Amnesty International Says Syria Still Not Safe for Returnees to Go Back To
Asharq Al Awsat/May 14/2024
Amnesty International said that Lebanon’s decision to resume the “voluntary return” of Syrian refugees to their homeland is “worrying” in light of the difficult circumstances these refugees are enduring in the crisis-hit country. On X social media platform, the organization said that Lebanon has adopted a series of measures that aim at pressuring the refugees into returning to their country, and has imposed new restrictions regarding their residency, work and transportation. Amnesty said that such measures raise concerns about the Syrian refugees’ ability to “freely consent” to their return back to war-torn Syria. According to Amnesty, Syria is still an unsafe country for refugees to return to. It said that refugees detained in Syria were subjected to “torture, ill-treatment, including beatings and sexual violence”. Amnesty also stated that Lebanon must respect its international obligations and humanitarian rights and halt the collective return of Syrian refugees.

US State Dept moves $1 billion weapons aid for Israel to congressional review, official says
Reuters/Tue, May 14, 2024
The U.S. State Department has moved a $1 billion package of weapons aid for Israel into the congressional review process, two U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The latest weapons package includes tank rounds, mortars and armored tactical vehicles, one of the officials told Reuters. The chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs committees review major foreign weapons deals. President Joe Biden said last week he had delayed a shipment of 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel over concerns they might be used for a major invasion of Rafah, a town in southern Gaza. Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to invade Rafah without safeguards for civilians, seven months into a war that has devastated Gaza. Biden's support for Israel in its war against Hamas has emerged as a political liability for the president, particularly among young Democrats, as he runs for re-election this year.

US Calls on Iran to Halt Weapons Transfers to Yemen's Houthis
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
The United States called on Iran on Monday to halt its transfer of an “unprecedented” amount of weaponry to Yemen’s Houthi militias, enabling their fighters to carry out “reckless attacks” on ships in the Red Sea and elsewhere.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the UN Security Council that if it wants to make progress toward ending the civil war in Yemen, it should collectively “call Iran out for its destabilizing role and insist that it cannot hide behind the Houthis.” He said there is extensive evidence that Iran is providing advanced weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, to the Houthis in violation of UN sanctions. “To underscore the council’s concern regarding the ongoing violations of the arms embargo, we must do more to strengthen enforcement and deter sanctions violators,” Wood said. The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war with Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, the US Maritime Administration said late last month. Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, warned the council that “hostilities continue,” even though there has been a reduction in attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, as well as a reduction in the number of US and British airstrikes on targets in Yemen. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council that the Israeli announcement on May 6 that it was starting its military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where 1.2 million Palestinians had sought safety, ratcheted up the spiral of escalation in the region “another notch further.” “There’s no doubt that this will have an impact on the situation in Yemen’s surrounding waters,” he said, noting the Houthis’ opposition to Israeli attacks that harm Palestinian civilians. “We call for a swift cessation of the shelling of commercial vessels and any other actions that hamper maritime navigation," Nebenzia added. He sharply criticized the United States and its Western allies, saying their “totally unjustified aggressive strikes” in Yemen violate the UN Charter. He said they further complicate an already complex situation in the Red Sea.

2 French prison officers killed and 3 injured in an attack on a prison van in Normandy
PARIS (AP)/May 14, 2024
Two French prison officers were killed and three others seriously injured in a brazen attack on their convoy in Normandy on Tuesday during which an inmate escaped, officials said. The van was transporting prisoner Mohamed Amra to Évreux jail after a court hearing in Rouen when it was ambushed. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said he would join a crisis unit to address the emergency. “All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilized,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted on X. “This morning’s attack, which cost the lives of prison administration agents, is a shock for all of us," French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X. “The nation stands alongside the families, the injured and their colleagues.”The attack prompted a significant law enforcement operation in the northwestern region of France as authorities worked to secure the area and apprehend the assailants. The assault took place late Tuesday morning on the A154 freeway, which has since been closed. Amra was under high surveillance and had recently been sentenced for burglary. He was also under investigation for a kidnapping and homicide case in Marseille, according to public prosecutor Laure Beccuau. French media reported that Amra was nicknamed “La Mouche” (The Fly). Beccuau announced an investigation into the attack, now considered a case of organized crime and murder. “At this stage, we mourn the death of two penitentiary agents in this armed attack, and two are in critical condition,” Beccuau said in a statement. The investigation will also address organized escape attempts, possession of military-grade weapons, and conspiracy to commit crime.

Toronto mayor says raising Israeli flag at City Hall ceremony is 'divisive'
The Canadian Press/May 14, 2024
Toronto's mayor says she decided to not attend a City Hall ceremony marking Israel's national day because an Israeli flag-raising ceremony is currently "divisive." Olivia Chow says that the ongoing war in Gaza is causing "deep pain" for many in Toronto, emotions are running high and it is important to show empathy for those impacted by the bloodshed in the Middle East. Chow also says Toronto's mayor does not decide which flags are flown at City Hall events, noting such requests are approved by the protocol office following public submissions. May 14 marks the anniversary of the day in 1948 when the state of Israel was proclaimed, an event often recognized in ceremonies around the world. But Israel's war in Gaza has brought added scrutiny to the anniversary this year, including in Ottawa where an Israeli flag was also flying above City Hall but there was no public ceremony to mark the occasion after officials raised concern about a risk to public safety.

Islamic State claims attack on army post in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters)/May 14, 2024
Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for an attack on Monday targeting an army post in northern Iraq which security sources said had killed a commanding officer and four soldiers. The attack took place between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, a rural area that remains a hotbed of activity for militant cells years after Iraq declared final victory over the extremist group in 2017. Security forces repelled the attack, the defence ministry said on Monday in a statement mourning the loss of a colonel and a number of others from the regiment. The security sources said five others had also been wounded. Islamic State said in a statement on Telegram it had targeted the barracks with machine guns and grenades.Iraq has seen relative security stability in recent years after the chaos of the 2003-U.S.-led invasion and years of bloody sectarian conflict that followed.

2 Houthi drones, 1 missile destroyed over Red Sea, says US
SAEED AL-BATATI/Arab News/May 14, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthis launched two drones and one ballistic missile over the Red Sea on Monday, but all failed to reach their targets after being destroyed by the US Navy, in the latest round of Houthi attacks on ships in international commercial lanes. US Central Command said the Houthis fired a drone from their controlled areas in Yemen at 3:41 p.m. on Monday, which was shot down by US Navy forces before reaching its intended objective. Nearly three hours later, US military forces shot down one inbound anti-ship ballistic missile and a drone fired by the Houthis over the Red Sea, according to CENTCOM.Yemen Freya Raddi, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation, boards the Houthi-seized Israel-linked cargo vessel Galaxy Leader, anchored off the coast of Yemen’s Hodeidah. The militia said their campaign is in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war. (AFP)
The intercepted drones and missile caused no harm to the US-led marine coalition or international commercial ships in the Red Sea. This comes as the Houthis said on Monday that US and UK warplanes conducted an airstrike on Hodeidah airport in the western province of Hodeidah, the latest round of military actions by the two nations against Houthi targets in Yemeni territory under their control. The Houthis have seized a commercial ship, sunk another and claimed to have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at more than 100 ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, Gulf of Aden and recently in the Indian Ocean since the beginning of their campaign in November. The ICRC has visited crew members who were detained following the seizure of the Galaxy Leader vessel in Yemen. During this humanitarian visit, ICRC passed on family messages to the crew members.
ICRC delegation
The Houthis claim that they only target ships linked to or sailing to Israel in order to pressure the latter to end its war in Gaza, and later attacked US and British vessels after those countries launched strikes against Yemen. On Monday, a Yemeni government official told Arab News that a team of UN experts who visited the Belize-flagged and Lebanese-operated MV Rubymar that sank in the Red Sea after being hit by Houthi missiles in February suggested that it is impossible to retrieve the ship and bring it to shore or remove its cargo of 22,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphate-sulfate NPS fertilizer, disappointing Yemeni and international environmentalists who have long warned of an ecological disaster in the Red Sea. The Houthis on Sunday allowed a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross and a group of journalists to visit the seized Galaxy Leader ship and its 25 crew members off the coast of Hodeidah.
The ship was taken by the Houthis in November, during the early stages of their ship attacks. “The ICRC has visited crew members who were detained following the seizure of the Galaxy Leader vessel in Yemen. During this humanitarian visit, ICRC passed on family messages to the crew members,” the ICRC delegation in Yemen told Arab News. Meanwhile, Amnesty International has urged the Houthis to free a Yemeni teacher who has been held in a notorious Houthi prison center for over six months. The international rights group said in a petition addressed to the militia’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdul Sallam, that the Houthis abducted Moujib Al-Mikhlafi, a middle-aged educationist and human rights trainer, in October last year while he was traveling to the province of Ibb to give a teacher training course. The Houthis stormed his home and stole his electronics and paperwork, abducted him on the same day, held him for 21 days, and then threw him into a security and intelligence jail in Sanaa, where he was tortured and refused treatment, according to the group. “We urge the Houthi de facto authorities to immediately release Moujib Al-Mikhlafi. Pending his release, the authorities must ensure he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment and that he has access to legal representation, regular family contact, and adequate healthcare,” Amnesty said, adding that his family said that his health has worsened in recent months and that he requires medical care for diabetes and high blood pressure. The Houthis have not put Al-Mikhlafi on trial or explained why they are keeping him.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 14-15/2024
Are Netanyahu and Hamas Perpetuating and Deepening the Conflict?
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war in Gaza lacks a clear long-term political plan. That is evident from his recent suggestion that Arab countries help a Palestinian civilian government run Gaza after the war.
Outside the framework of perpetuating the conflict without ending it decisively, Netanyahu has nothing to offer the Israelis and his country’s strategic regional partners beyond shifting the responsibility onto others and evading the demands that must be met to reinforce genuine peace.
Accordingly, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s denouncement of Netanyahu’s statements and his emphasis on the fact that he “does not have any legal capacity to take this step,” came as no surprise. Bin Zayed also stressed that his country refuses “to be drawn into any plan aimed at providing cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip."
It is true that Arab and Gulf countries contributing to a peacekeeping force in Gaza, or playing another political role, present the Arab moderate camp with an opportunity to expand its regional influence and reinforce the pillars of peace. However, this should come about as part of a series of conditions placed on Israelis and Palestinians alike.
There is no doubt that none of these countries will accept to play any role in Gaza that does not clearly align with the diplomatic objectives they have set for the future of the Palestinian question. No one will take a step forward so long as there are no guarantees that it would not jeopardize their relationships and interests, both with the Palestinians and Arabs and with Israel and the United States.
With his bizarre proposal, Netanyahu is trying to paper over a simple rationale. The Arabs will not make any contribution to managing “the day after” in Gaza that is not part of a broader peace plan that is recognized internationally and endorsed by major powers and the United Nations. How else could the security of the Arab or joint forces, or political and logistic reinforcement teams, be guaranteed, in light of the complex military and security situation in the Strip and the absence of clear rules of engagement and a political mandate that is agreed upon to guarantee the safety and effectiveness of the foreign forces in Gaza?
Moreover, it is strange that Netanyahu did not mention Egypt and Jordan, as both countries have direct security and political interests tied to the Palestinian question. Indeed, he did not even indicate that his proposal must be supported by a broader regional consensus. It is as though Netanyahu is suggesting that the Gulf states have a direct responsibility to foot the bill for reconstruction, regardless of the political context!
A televised interview may not be the appropriate occasion to lay out a complex political proposal for a complex conflict. However, the tone taken by the Israeli prime minister, which evoked a sharp and swift Emirati response, shows that the man is deliberately avoiding discussions regarding political, leadership, and administrative responsibilities on “the day after.” It also shows that he does not take the strategic interests of the parties whose assistance he seeks into account.
There is no doubt that the devastating Gaza war is a direct result of the attack of October 7, 2023, and the terrifying intransigence of Hamas’s leadership, who do not factor the suffering of the Palestinians in their calculus. However, above all, it is the cumulative result of Netanyahu’s performance over a long period.
He has always sought to marginalize politics, managing Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians through political finagling and crude security policies. His policy of helping Hamas maintain its rule over the Gaza Strip and deepening the Palestinian split to end the Palestinian state project are the highlights of this finagling. In fact, this wheeler-dealer approach is also reflected in his recent statements about helping a civilian Palestinian government manage Gaza after the war.
The truth of the matter is that no one will come to pick up the pieces of everything that Netanyahu and Hamas have broken together, unless the participation of these parties aligns with the broader political goals of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE. The most prominent of these objectives are the enhancement of stability, economic development, and the normalization of relations between regional powers, through new and different governments in Israel and Palestine.
This is exactly what both parties responsible for the calamity are evading. Hamas and Netanyahu are trying to exploit Arab intervention and turn it in their favor, a dangerous game aimed at perpetuating the conflict and deepening its dynamics. Neither of them has the slightest concern for the fate of the defenseless Palestinians.
Both parties to the disaster are kidding themselves before anyone else if they believe that the clear humanitarian role the Arabs have been playing, which the UAE is contributing to through a comprehensive aid strategy and the delivery of goods by sea, land, and air, can be turned into a tool of conflict, or that it can be built upon to lure Abu Dhabi and others into playing a role that goes beyond the humanitarian framework of their mission.
Yes, the Arab’s financial and political potential presents an opportunity for preserving peace and ensuring development. It offers the Palestinians a different trajectory linked to cooperation, economic integration, regional stability, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East... Obstructing this trajectory is the lethal drive of Netanyahu and Hamas to cling to power, as well as the criminal effort to perpetuate the conflict by other stakeholders, most notably Iran.
By the way, a loaded question: Who bombed the vicinity of the Kerem Shalom crossing, a vital crossing for humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, as Arab pressure on Hamas to accept the deal with Israel was succeeding?!

The Limits of the Biden-Netanyahu ‘Dispute’... Above the Rubble of Rafah
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/2024
I am still uncertain about the implications of US President Joe Biden’s decision to suspend “advanced weapons” to Israel in response to the defiance of Benjamin Netanyahu and his “war cabinet,” who have ignored Washington’s “requests” that they refrain from invading the city of Rafah.
Frankly, I am not sure that President Biden has finally “toughened up”... after running out of patience with Israel’s blatant disregard for Washington’s interests, and I am not saying its feelings. Netanyahu’s intransigence and arrogance have impelled him to perpetuate the displacement and genocide and push it all the way to the edge of the Gaza Strip...
I say this because I am very well aware of the kind of administration Joe Biden leads. I have no doubt that the “Israel lobby” dominates the bodies, figures, and networks of influence and funding over the Democratic and Republican parties.
Accordingly, I believe it is highly unlikely that the White House has not received “advice” from several “key figures” tied to the administration justifying Israel’s crimes since the start of this displacement war. In my opinion, they have certainly warned Biden that he is dealing with an influential force. It exercises near-total control over both Chambers of Congress, meaning that it would be crazy to clash with it - or even criticize it- the year of a presidential election.
Indeed, I heard and read, as others have, Netanyahu’s recent statement. With typical overbearing arrogance, he challenged the decision to suspend arms shipments, declaring that it would change nothing. “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails.” We also heard John Bolton, a veteran conservative right-wing hawk, claim that Biden’s decision to suspend arms shipments could cost him the presidential election next November.
Thus, I believe that a few factors may have encouraged the American President to take the risk of adopting this kind of “stance” at this time- that in my estimation, will have no impact- the most prominent of which are the following:
1- The willingness of Republican politicians to outbid him. No matter how excessive President Biden’s defense of Israel’s position becomes, Donald Trump and other Republican Party leaders have not hesitated and will never hesitate to outbid him. This is apparent not only because of the policies of Trump that reflected Likud's dreams during his presidency but also from the statements that the former president and several of those aspiring to work with him (or replace him if he was unable to run the November elections) have made.
2- The student uprising on university campuses across the US, from the Far East to the Far West, has challenged the stagnation. This “intifada” has effectively shaken the Israeli narrative that had monopolized the political arena for a long time, especially since the scenes of massacres and terrible destruction have been streamed daily, hour by hour, reaching every home in the US and the West.
3- The Israeli far-right has “regurgitated” increasingly aggressive, brazen, and racist speeches since October. Extremist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, as well as the rabid settler leaders, have made provocative statements that alienated all neutral or moderate observers. It has had a real negative impact on many in the West (both the US and Europe) who refused to blindly endorse the lie of “Israel’s right to defend itself” that has been promoted by Israeli propaganda and its psychological warfare campaign... Israel has entrusted its defense to a network of organizations it controls, some of which are bodies of major parties and media institutions.
4- Arab and regional considerations in the Middle East. Here, observers find a direct conflict of interest between two allies. The superpower, the United States, has multifaceted considerations, friendships, and hostilities in this extremely sensitive region of the world. Its calculus has been complicated further by the expansion of Chinese and Indian interests across the region, and the geopolitical reality that Russia has created in the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains. The regional power, Israel, has a lot of influence within the American establishment, and it couldn't care less about undermining Washington’s interests with the other regional players (the Arabs, Türkiye, and Iran). On the contrary, Israel's objective is to "monopolize" having a special relationship with Washington, and then exploit it at any will to attack all its neighbors and regional rivals.
In any case, this state of affairs certainly creates risks. However, conditions in the Middle East have become so bad that there may not be time to wait for the right circumstances to present a comprehensive vision for this region... that has one map today and could wake up to another tomorrow.
It is a region where problems have become intertwined, hostilities have arisen, mistakes have been added up, and the components of modern statehood and civil society have collapsed in many polities.
Even the Israeli right, with its religious nationalists, opportunists, and “militarists,” may not yet fully understand the implications of the “unbridled chaos” that will result from killing opportunities for coexistence and people’s futures.
Moreover, the West has problems of its own that it often seems to lack the courage to acknowledge. The US presidential elections in November may be the “juncture” at which the conundrum of withering partisan life, the growth of religious and racial fanaticism, and the decline of youth’s confidence in establishment parties are revealed.
As for Western Europe, some of its countries find themselves in a much worse situation... Local and continental factors explain why this is the case, including the migrant crisis, which directly contributed to the rise of the neo-fascist “belligerent” right in several democratic countries. Indeed, neo-fascists have become the only (alternative) force capable of challenging the ruling “consensus” parties. They threaten the identity of the European Union and its common interests, to say nothing about its international ties.
And last but not least, there is the old-new obsession...Russia.
In my mind, there is nothing more dangerous to Europe than a reassured Russia... but a Russia that feels besieged and targeted!

Egypt's Duplicity, the World's Silence
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/May 14, 2024
 https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/129754/129754/
"A one-hundred-dollar bill does wonders with an Egyptian police officer at a Sinai roadblock who intercepts a truck packed with 'pipes.'" — Efraim Inbar and Mordechai Kedar, BESA Center, January 22, 2009.
This is just another example of how, when Palestinians become victims of oppressive measures taken against them by their Arab brothers, the world does not care a bit. About a decade ago, when Egypt demolished dozens of houses and buildings in Rafah as part of a campaign to combat terrorism, no one said a word against the Egyptians -- or even bothered to look.
If the Egyptians actually cared about the Palestinians, instead of blocking the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, they could easily coordinate with Israel though alternative border crossings such as the nearby Kerem Shalom terminal.
Evidently the Egyptians would rather see the Gazans starve; then, the international community, as usual, would hold only Israel responsible.
That is the real problem: Where is the demand from the international community for Egypt to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip? Where are social media posts, the US college campus protests, and the op-eds condemning Egypt for deliberately withholding aid from Gaza's Palestinians?
Why doesn't the Biden administration pressure Egypt, and not just Israel, to allow aid to enter Gaza for the Palestinians?
Egypt has, in fact, been imposing a blockade on the Gaza Strip for the past 15 years.... Where are the protestors calling to stop the billions in aid to Egypt? They do not, of course, exist. The protests were never about helping Palestinians. They were always only about attacking Jews.
This is the same Egypt that been displacing thousands of Palestinians from Rafah after demolishing their homes and is now blocking aid to the Palestinians, that has piously decided to join the South African case against Israel at the ICJ.
Now that Israel is attempting to dismantle a terrorist group whose primary objective is the elimination of Israel, the Biden administration and many in the international community suddenly claim they are "outraged."
If they really want to help the Palestinians, they could begin by filing cases against Egypt and the Arab states in the region that, for many decades, have turned their backs on the Palestinians and paid billions to their governments to keep on mistreating them.
If the Egyptians actually cared about the Palestinians, instead of blocking the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, they could easily coordinate with Israel though alternative border crossings. Evidently the Egyptians would rather see the Gazans starve; then, the international community, as usual, would hold only Israel responsible.
On May 12, Egypt announced that it will support South Africa's case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel is accused of "genocide" for defending its citizens against Hamas's murderers and rapists who invaded Israeli communities on October 7, 2023. The announcement came in response to the ongoing Israeli military operation against Hamas terrorists and bases, especially in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
If the South Africans had any decency, they would not only call out the Egyptians for being hypocrites and liars, they would also file a case with the ICJ against Egypt for its role in transforming the Gaza Strip into a weapons depot and continuing to deprive the Palestinians there of humanitarian aid.
Last week, Egypt refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip from the Rafah border crossing ostensibly due to Israel's "unacceptable escalation," reported Egypt's state-affiliated Alqahera News satellite TV. The official also said that Egypt held Israel responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptians are, in reality, upset because Israeli forces on May 7 seized the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
For the past 15 years, the Palestinian side of the terminal was controlled by Hamas and profitably used by both sides to smuggle weapons and terrorists.
Over the past few decades, Egypt, for considerable remuneration, has allowed the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip from its territory.
"The expectation that Egypt will put an end to the traffic in the tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza border is not realistic – for strategic, political and domestic reasons," according to a report by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
The report, although published in 2009, remains as relevant as ever:
"At the strategic level, Egypt sees Israel as a competitor in the quest for hegemony in the Middle East, and has for years turned a blind eye to the arming of Hamas via the tunnels. Simply put, it had, and still has, an interest in bleeding Israel...
"The two-faced policy being pursued by the Mubarak administration also serves a useful purpose in domestic Egyptian politics. In contrast to Europeans and other foreigners, Egyptian citizens easily recognize and comprehend their government's double-dealing. Everybody in Cairo understands that the government is facilitating the arming of Hamas; and turning a blind eye to the tunnels weakens the argument of the Islamic opposition that the government is cooperating with the Zionists. Moreover, curbing the traffic in the tunnels would worsen the economic situation in Gaza. Pictures of suffering in Gaza or of Palestinians climbing the fences to get into Egypt only help the Islamist opposition.
"Finally, Egypt's double game is also result of a complex reality in the Sinai Peninsula. As with other Third World states, the Egyptian government is not fully in control of its territory. Thus, an international agreement on ending arms smuggling from Sinai into Gaza will face considerable problems of implementation, even if the Egyptian regime wants it to happen.
"Notably, most of the smuggling into Gaza is led by Egyptian Bedouins who live in the northern Sinai. These tribes do not speak Egyptian Arabic, they are not really an integral part of Egyptian culture and society, and they do not subscribe to Egyptian political ethos. They make a living by smuggling women and drugs to Israel, as well as arms, ammunition, and missiles to the Gaza Strip.
"Egyptian attempts to extend law and order to Bedouin areas have met armed resistance. Every time the Egyptian regime attempts to curtail the Bedouin smuggling activities, they carry out a terrorist attack on a Sinai resort, as has happened in Taba, Sharm el-Sheikh (twice), Nueiba, and Ras al-Satan. Such attacks negatively influence tourism to Egypt, an important source of income, and seem to be an effective way of "convincing" the Cairo authorities to live and let live.
"Bribery, an important element in the Egyptian ways of doing business, also facilitates the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Low-paid Egyptian officials in Sinai can hardly resist hefty bribes. A one-hundred-dollar bill does wonders with an Egyptian police officer at a Sinai roadblock who intercepts a truck packed with 'pipes.' The likelihood that policemen at Egyptian checkpoints will stop taking bribes from trucks transferring arms to Gaza is very low – unless the Egyptian government decides to heavily punish such behavior. Only execution of smugglers could have a deterring effect, but such a determined Egyptian government behavior is also unlikely."
By turning a blind eye to its widespread smuggling industry, Egypt significantly contributed to transforming the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip into a major base for Islamist terrorism.
If the Egyptians actually cared about the Palestinians, instead of blocking the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, they could easily coordinate with Israel though alternative border crossings such as the nearby Kerem Shalom terminal.
The Egyptians, however, are refusing to send aid to the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. For the past week, the Egyptians have been blocking aid to the Gaza Strip by refusing to coordinate the entry of truckloads through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings.
The Egyptians appear to be playing the "humanitarian aid card" to pressure Israel to stop the war on Hamas. They seem to believe, perhaps correctly, that by blocking the aid to the Palestinians, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip will escalate and the world will blame Israel, not Hamas or Egypt, for the ongoing suffering of the people there. Evidently the Egyptians would rather see the Gazans starve; then, the international community, as usual, would hold only Israel responsible.
That is the real problem: Where is the demand from the international community for Egypt to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip? Where are social media posts, the US college campus protests, and the op-eds condemning Egypt for deliberately withholding aid from Gaza's Palestinians?
Why doesn't the Biden administration pressure Egypt, and not just Israel, to allow aid to enter Gaza for the Palestinians?
Instead of pressuring Israel in order to avoid targeting Hamas terrorists in Rafah, US President Joe Biden could have already been on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to urge him to assist his Palestinian brethren.
The Egyptians' decision to join the South African case against Israel at the ICJ, as well as their decision to block aid to the Palestinians, indicate that they seem nervous about what Israel will uncover regarding weapons smuggling along Egypt's border in the Rafah area.
The Egyptians may reasonably be worried that Israel will discover dozens of the smuggling tunnels that operated for many years under the nose of the Egyptian authorities, and were used to enlarge Hamas's military capabilities in the Gaza Strip.
Where are the self-proclaimed pro-Palestinian protesters at college campuses in the US speaking out negatively about Egypt, which has been actively blocking aid as Israel is trying to get it in?
Egypt has, in fact, been imposing a blockade on the Gaza Strip for the past 15 years. Egypt allows only Gazans who pay exorbitant bribes to enter its territory, and shuts out everyone else, including those who want to flee the Gaza Strip. Where are the social media posts saying "F*** Egypt?" Where are the protestors calling to stop the billions in aid to Egypt?
They do not, of course, exist. The protests are never about helping Palestinians. They are always only about attacking Jews.
Do the anti-Israel protesters on US campuses know that half of the city of Rafah is located inside Egypt? Do they know that the Egyptians have demolished literally thousands of houses on the Egyptian side of the border for "security reasons"?
This is the same Egypt that been displacing thousands of Palestinians from Rafah after demolishing their homes and is now blocking aid to the Palestinians, that has piously decided to join the South African case against Israel at the ICJ.
According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, on October 29, 2014, five days after an Islamist terror group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, attacked a checkpoint near Rafah, Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb issued a decree ordering the "eviction and isolation" of a buffer zone extending between five and seven kilometers from the border with Gaza and including all of Rafah.
The HRW report noted:
"Mehleb's decree encompassed a much larger area than government officials had previously described in public statements about home demolitions, which the military had been conducting throughout 2013 and 2014. A map contained in the decree delineated a zone that extended along the entire 13-kilometer border [of Egypt] with Gaza and encompassed roughly 79 square kilometers of Egyptian territory. The [prime minister's] decree ordered that those forced to leave be provided with 'due compensation' and alternative housing [presumably provided by Egypt]."
Between 2013 and 2014, according to HRW, the Egyptian military demolished at least 540 buildings. Most were within 500 meters of the border but some lay beyond a kilometer from the border. Between October 25, 2014, and August 15, 2015, satellite imagery analysis showed that the authorities demolished at least 2,715 additional buildings. In total, the Egyptian military destroyed at least 3,255 residential, commercial and community buildings, including schools, mosques and hospitals. All of the destroyed buildings showed clear signs of having been deliberately demolished using a combination of heavy machinery and the uncontrolled detonation of high explosives.
The HRW report revealed:
"The start of demolitions began in July 2013, but journalists only began reporting on demolitions that September, describing them as the possible beginning of a buffer zone. Egyptian officials quoted in these media reports claimed that the buffer zone would protect Egypt's national security by preventing Gaza-based armed groups from smuggling fighters and weapons into the Sinai and fueling the insurgency there..."
According to families who spoke with HRW, however, Egyptian authorities did not consult with Rafah residents before issuing the eviction decree on October 29, 2014, and did not give proper notice that residents would be forced to leave. Of 11 families interviewed, only five were warned of the impending eviction. Those families said they were warned by army patrols who told them that they had between 36 and 48 hours to leave. The authorities never handed out a written notice, they said. Six other families said that they received no notice, or heard about the eviction only from the news media or their neighbors.
One resident said that he tried to discuss with a group of neighbors how to organize a group action against the evictions, but another person with connections to the authorities warned him that if they did, they could face arrest and be accused of being terrorists and would lose their chance to receive compensation. Two residents said that they had heard of other residents being arrested on accusations of terrorism.
Um Mohamed, who lived with her three children in a three-story building that belonged to her husband's family, said that she was sitting at a relative's home almost 250 meters from the border on the afternoon of October 27, 2014, when an officer accompanied by 10 soldiers knocked on the door of a neighbor's house.Um Mohamed said the officer told the elderly woman who answered the door that they would blow up her house the following day. When the old woman responded that her family had been living there for their entire lives, the officer responded: "That's it, there's no time to talk. Move your things from this moment." Um Mohamed said they told the officer that there was no mobile phone coverage, which the authorities regularly disable as part of their counterinsurgency efforts, and they did not know how they would be able to tell their male relatives to come move their belongings. "Not a problem, we'll blow it up with whatever's inside, you don't have to take a thing," he said. The elderly woman said a prayer and responded: "You're kicking us out of our homeland." "Go look for another homeland. I don't want to hear another word. I'll be here tomorrow to blow up the house," the officer said. A few days later, the Egyptian authorities cut the electricity and water supply and the telephone line to the house, Um Mohamed said, and shops in the area closed. Five days later, the army came to say they would demolish her home. Two days later, they did.
This is just another example of how, when Palestinians become victims of oppressive measures taken against them by their Arab brothers, the world does not care a bit. About a decade ago, when Egypt demolished dozens of houses and buildings in Rafah as part of a campaign to combat terrorism, no one said a word against the Egyptians -- or even bothered to look. Now that Israel is attempting to dismantle a terrorist group whose primary objective is the elimination of Israel, the Biden administration and many in the international community suddenly claim they are "outraged."
If they really want to help the Palestinians, they could begin by filing cases against Egypt and the Arab states in the region that, for many decades, have turned their backs on the Palestinians and paid billions to their governments to keep on mistreating them.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
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Why armed groups still dominate Libya, 13 years since the fall of Qaddafi
NADIA AL-FAOUR/Arab News/May 14, 2024
DUBAI: Muammar Qaddafi’s capture and killing by rebel fighters near his hometown of Sirte on Oct. 20, 2011, failed to usher in the era of stability and democracy that Libyans had hoped for when mass protests erupted earlier that year. Instead, despite the best efforts of the UN Support Mission in Libya, the country remains deeply insecure, divided by two rival administrations, and fragmented among a plethora of armed groups vying for control.
“The fracturing of the Libyan body politic, with the emergence of dual governments and empowered militias, has posed perhaps the most significant challenge,” Hafed Al-Ghwell, a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, said in a recent op-ed for Arab News.
“An enduring stalemate remains underpinned by a lack of consensus on constitutional and electoral frameworks, deepened by the entrenchment of local and international stakeholders in the status quo.”
Libya is split between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah based in Tripoli, which controls barely a third of the country, and the Government of National Stability of Gen. Khalifa Haftar based in Benghazi. The latest effort to bridge this divide culminated in the creation of a joint committee by the House of Representatives and the Government of National Unity-aligned High State Council, which aimed to pave the way for national elections. These, however, are still yet to take place.
A meeting in Cairo under Arab League auspices in March and efforts by the African Union to organize a national reconciliation conference in early February also did little to help UNSMIL bring about elections and national reconciliation.
“Rapidly evolving from a need to stabilize post-revolution Libya into addressing deep-seated political divisions and external interference, (the UN’s) mandate has consistently proven ill-suited to the complexities of the Libyan context,” said Al-Ghwell. “It has devolved into merely managing failure, rather than being a well-orchestrated attempt at resurrecting democratic governance in a post-Gaddafi Libya. “Its emphasis on mediation and political dialogue, while noble, has failed to account for the leverage that will be necessary to fully enforce ceasefires, manage the transition to governance or curb the influx of arms and mercenaries bolstered by self-interested external meddlers.”On April 16, Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily tendered his resignation as the UN’s special envoy for Libya, saying he was unable to support the country’s political transition while its leaders continued to put their own interests above finding a solution. “Under the circumstances, there is no way the UN can operate successfully. There is no room for a solution in the future,” Bathily said in a statement at the time, announcing the delay of a national reconciliation conference originally scheduled for April 28. “The selfish resolve of current leaders to maintain the status quo through delaying tactics and maneuvers at the expense of the Libyan people must stop.”
As the country’s finances are split between the two governing powers, which are backed by competing foreign players, the matter of their legitimacy in the eyes of Libyans and the international community remains an issue.
Foreign involvement is arguably the main reason why Libya has been unable to move on and establish a unified, stable administration. By sponsoring their preferred side in the conflict, experts say external actors have periodically added fuel to the fire.Indeed, experts believe Libya has become little more than a playground for competing foreign interests, with the spoils of war — oil, arms contracts, and strategic influence — up for grabs. To further these aims, various outside interests have sponsored militias inside Libya, thereby compounding and prolonging the fragmentation of the nation’s security apparatus. Haftar commands the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, also known as the Libyan National Army. Although multiple armed groups serve under its banner, many operate under their own command structures and engage in their own raids and patrols across eastern Libya. Meanwhile, in western Libya, prominent militias such as the Stability Support Apparatus, Misrata Counter Terrorism Force, Special Deterrence Forces (known as Radaa), 444 Brigade, 111 Brigade, Nawasi Brigade, and Joint Operations Force engage in their own state-sanctioned activities.
These include intelligence gathering and surveillance, street patrols, border security, and overseeing migrant camps.
“In today’s Libya, armed groups are the only entities capable of projecting power and maintaining territorial control,” Jalel Harchaoui, an associate fellow at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute, told Arab News.“These groups lack a limpid chain of command and do not always follow the authority of the central state or manage their personnel in a clear and organized manner. They are inherently informal, often flawed, and dysfunctional. “Despite their shortcomings, they are powerful when it comes to controlling territories and using force.”
Although these armed groups have been tasked with improving the nation’s overall security situation, they frequently clash with one another. This violence has shown little sign of abating, despite international efforts to establish a unified government and security apparatus. Fifty-five people were killed in August 2023 when Radaa and the 444 Brigade engaged in running street battles in Tripoli. In February this year, at least 10 people, including members of the SSA, were shot dead in the city.
During this year’s Eid Al-Fitr celebrations, clashes broke out in the capital between the SSA and Radaa militias. Although this most recent bout of violence incurred no casualties, it raised fresh concerns about the country’s perilous security situation.
While the humanitarian situation in Libya has somewhat improved since the UN-facilitated ceasefire agreement of October 2020, civilians continue to bear the brunt of political and economic instability. Militia skirmishes have resulted in the internal displacement of some 135,000 people. Another 300,000 are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UN reports from 2022.
The dire humanitarian situation was made worse by the devastating storm that pounded the Libyan coast in September last year. Storm Daniel burst two dams in the eastern city of Derna, with the resulting torrent of water flattening everything in its path. The storm killed at least 5,900 people and displaced more than 44,000, according to the US Agency for International Development. “Achieving stability in Libya requires a long-term strategy that would take many years and involve significant commitment from key foreign states,” said Harchoui.
“This would demand dedication and the willingness of countries like the US to challenge their regional partners, such as Turkiye, the UAE, and Egypt. It’s a major undertaking by all means.”The SSA and Radaa are not under the direct authority of Libya’s interior or defense ministries. Nevertheless, they receive public funds and operate independently under a special status granted in 2021 by the prime minister and the presidential council. Armed groups in Libya are often accused by the UN and human rights groups of committing war crimes with impunity. A report published by the UN last year found that these militias had engaged in murder, rape, arbitrary arrest, and slavery. A 2023 report by Amnesty International also found that groups like the SSA, LAAF, and several others had committed acts of sexual violence, abductions, mock executions, and had restricted freedom of expression.
Libyan civilians have no power to hold these groups to account — particularly those backed and legitimized by the state. An initial step toward achieving stability, Harchaoui believes, is recognizing that armed groups have infiltrated government institutions to become integral parts of the Libyan state and are “increasingly involved in corrupt and illegal activities.”
He said: “Tackling corruption should therefore be the initial focus, as this would slow the expansion of armed groups into areas beyond physical security, like government administration, finance, oil, and wealth extraction writ large.
“Once corruption is addressed, further steps can be considered.”There are, however, multiple factors behind the Libyan military’s inability to rein in the country’s many armed groups. Chief among these is that Libya’s “political leaders, economic institutions, and foreign states still need the protection of these armed groups for day-to-day operations,” said Harchaoui. “This protection is needed for activities like oil production, diplomacy, contract signing, and counterterrorism intelligence gathering.”These operations, he says, allow these groups to become more entrenched and powerful — and, in turn, make it more difficult to reduce their influence. “This paradox means that continuing to rely on these groups for daily operations only strengthens them, preventing the ultimate goal of replacing them with formal forces some day in the future.”There were some green shoots of change in July 2023 when the two rival administrations agreed to set up a committee to oversee the sharing of Libya’s significant oil revenues. In a statement at the time, UNSMIL said it “welcomes the decision announced by the Presidential Council to establish a High Financial Oversight Committee to address fundamental issues of transparency in the spending of public funds and fair distribution of resources.” Nevertheless, far from emerging from the Qaddafi era with greater openness, economic growth, and productive engagement with the international community, Libya continues to endure lawlessness and institutional collapse, becoming something close to a failed state.

A GCC-EU agenda for regional peace
Dr. Ali Awadh Asseri /Arb News/May 14, 2024
The Gulf Cooperation Council and the EU enjoy close political, economic and security relations. Hence, their interests converge over issues of regional security and cooperation in the Middle East and Europe. The GCC countries seek stability and peace in the Middle East, as it enhances their own security and development. On the other hand, conflict in the Middle East has serious security implications for the EU member states. Mutual gains motivate their shared interests over conflict resolution in Palestine and Ukraine, and stability and cooperation in the respective regions.
The two organizations have a lot in common in terms of their origin, evolution and purpose. Over the past eight decades, Europe has been through a miraculous progressive journey after experiencing the horrors of the Second World War. The EU today, despite the successive shocks of the past couple of decades, is a role model of regional integration in the world. Though born in response to a regional security threat, the GCC has also been able to put in place the essential features of economic cooperation over the last four decades. Both organizations seek peace and stability in the wider Middle East and Europe, as it serves their respective institutional goals for survival and growth.
Just like Germany in the EU, Saudi Arabia leads the GCC. It has been an anchor of stability and growth in the Gulf, the Middle East, the Muslim world and at the global level due to its distinctive national attributes of being the largest Gulf state and the richest Arab nation, a center of gravity in the Islamic world and a key stabilizing factor in the global energy sphere. In the past eight years, the Kingdom has undergone a huge socio-economic transformation under the pioneering Vision 2030 of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This strategic program asserts that the sustained prosperity of the Saudi people is an essential driver of the country’s foreign policy, as well as the prosperity and stability of the region.
In the complex landscape of the Middle East, there are forces that have a vested interest in subverting regional security and cooperation
The Saudi leadership understands that the window of opportunity to pull off the vision’s socioeconomic agenda depends upon regional stability. Hence, it has led the process of political reconciliation and economic development in the Gulf and the Middle East. In the aftermath of the so-called Arab Spring, the whole region was in deep turmoil, with deadly wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Reconciliation has helped to bring Syria back to the Arab League fold, heal factional strife in Iraq, reach a sustainable ceasefire and political path in Yemen, improve Turkish ties with the Gulf and Egypt, and overcome the unfortunate GCC rift with Qatar. Saudi Arabia has also normalized relations with Iran, despite the Iranian regime’s rampant use of militant proxies to destabilize Arab nations in the recent past.
Yet, in the complex landscape of the Middle East, there are forces that have a vested interest in subverting regional security and cooperation. The Hamas attack on Israel and the massive Israeli military response in Gaza have stalled the reconciliatory momentum in the Middle East, including the Abraham Accords. Israel has not lived up to its side of the bargain under these accords by continuing to build illegal Jewish-only settlements in occupied Palestinian lands. There was even talk of Saudi-Israeli normalization; however, that is conditional on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. This rare chance has also become a casualty of the competing interests of militant proxies and ultranationalist elements amid the Gaza war.
Israel’s genocidal killing spree against hapless Palestinians has enraged public opinion across the world, especially among the Arab and Muslim people. This could, in turn, inflame extremist passions, producing more terrorists and their sympathizers. Neither the Gulf nations nor EU members were immune from the previous wave of terrorism in the region. The wars in Iraq, Syria and Libya also produced the worst refugee crisis in EU history. Now, with each passing day, the prospect of peace in Palestine is getting further away.
At least Saudi Arabia and the other GCC members realize the lurking danger of global inaction on Gaza. Hence, they have engaged in hectic diplomacy to push for an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian support and containment of the conflict. Iran has taken sides by supporting Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Despite this, there have been attempts at diplomacy, with Saudi and Iranian leaders engaging in talks to reduce tensions and sustain their normalization. Israel and Iran have engaged in open hostilities once, but thankfully shown restraint since. Meanwhile, the Kingdom and the GCC have not allowed the resurgence of the conflict to derail their modernization and integration plans. Other fruits of regional reconciliation also remain more or less intact.
Yet, the regional fallout of the Gaza war is clear from the Houthis’ attacks on international shipping in the Gulf and recurrent Hezbollah-Israeli military exchanges. The GCC and the EU must prevent this conflict from spreading beyond Gaza. Previously, they pursued an incremental approach to political change during the Iraq war and the Arab uprisings in 2011 and beyond. The EU also has a shared interest with the GCC in Vision 2030’s catalyzing impact on regional stability and cooperation. Like Saudi Arabia and the GCC, it supports the urgency of a ceasefire and humanitarian help in Gaza. It has long championed a two-state solution to the Palestine conflict, for which the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative provides a crucial reference point for negotiations in the wake of the Gaza war.
Both organizations must push for a lasting solution to the Palestine question within the two-state option under the Arab Peace Initiative
Therefore, in its policy statements throughout this conflict, the Saudi leadership has consistently called for the revival of this comprehensive peace plan, which offers a win-win option for both parties, i.e., security for Israelis and a state for Palestinians. The Arab Peace Initiative is endorsed by the Arab League and the UN. What the Middle East Quartet (of which the EU is a member) has failed to achieve, this peace plan could do by producing a sustainable political bargain between Israel and Palestine, along with a genuine international consensus.
As for the war in Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and the GCC have adopted a cautious and neutral stance, navigating a delicate balance between their relationships with global powers and regional interests. But the crown prince has clearly positioned himself as a key mediator to end this war through dialogue. He enjoys a personal rapport with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the Kingdom is an important partner of Russia in the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations.
Saudi Arabia last year hosted the largest gathering of more than 40 nations, but not including Russia, to explore diplomatic options to end the war. The Ukrainian leader visited Riyadh in February to follow up on this global initiative. Besides providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, Saudi Arabia has also partnered with Turkiye to facilitate a prisoner swap between Kyiv and Moscow, resulting in the release of Western nationals. Together with its Gulf and European allies, the Kingdom must continue the search for a viable settlement of this conflict, which will contribute to transregional security and economic cooperation.
The GCC and the EU have a long-standing relationship based on a cooperation agreement signed in 1988. The two sides meet annually to discuss issues and best practices and oversee its progress. They also have a strategic partnership that includes regular dialogues on cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, climate change, energy, environment and research. GCC-EU relations have been strengthened over the years, with the EU being the second-largest trading partner of the GCC and an important source of investment for Gulf countries. The relations have also been marked by a number of high-level visits and meetings, including the 27th GCC-EU Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting held in Oman last October.
The GCC and the EU also have a strong partnership based on shared interests in regional security. Previously, they collaborated on diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya, as well as on counterterrorism initiatives against extremist groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda. Currently, as the war in Gaza threatens to possibly refuel another wave of extremism, they must gear up their security cooperation to keep the consequences of renewed Middle Eastern conflict beyond their frontiers. More importantly, both organizations must push for a lasting solution to the Palestine question within the two-state option under the Arab Peace Initiative. The US’ carte blanche to the state of Israel is the key barrier to its implementation. The EU must prevail over Washington in this respect.
Finally, through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has taken the lead by massively investing in Saudi infrastructure development, including in transport networks, green energy projects, technology parks and industrial zones. The EU is yet to fully harness the potential rewards of this development spree under Vision 2030. It is true that, under this vision, the Kingdom seeks to become a global economic hub by reorienting its oil economy toward the productive sectors of technology, green energy, services and tourism. However, as argued before, Vision 2030’s real value lies beyond Saudi economic development as a catalyst for regional security and cooperation.
*Dr. Ali Awadh Asseri served as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Pakistan from 2001 to 2009 and received Pakistan’s highest civilian award, Hilal-e-Pakistan, for his services in promoting the Saudi-Pakistan relationship. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Beirut Arab University and authored the book “Combating Terrorism: Saudi Arabia’s Role in the War on Terror” (Oxford, 2009). He is a member of the Board of Trustees at RASANAH, the International Institute for Iranian Studies, Riyadh.

The toxicity of modern politics deters the young
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/May 14, 2024
We often tend to forget that our political leaders are human beings and find it convenient to put them on a pedestal; only to, at some point, knock them off it. They sometimes contribute to this unhealthy relationship by portraying themselves as having almost supernatural powers to address all our wishes and hardships. Last month’s almost-resignation of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, after a court opened an initial inquiry into his wife over corruption claims, led to more than 10,000 people gathering in front of the Socialist Party’s headquarters in Madrid in a show of support for the prime minister. This, together with other expressions of support, led him to withdraw his earlier threat to leave politics, declaring: “We have let the mud soil our public life for too long.”
On this occasion, Sanchez decided that, despite what he saw as the politically motivated persecution of his family, he would rather weather the storm. However, many young leaders have, in recent years, left politics after a relatively short time, feeling that the burden of the limelight projected onto those in front-line politics has taken too much of a toll, not only on themselves but also on their families. Such despairing acts are making our politics poorer and less diverse.
The ability of politicians to endure can vary immensely. Some can hardly remember a life without politics — and the forthcoming US presidential election supplies a prime example of that. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who enter politics with great promise and star qualities but prove to be more like shooting stars, shining very briefly before they vanish.
Many feel that the burden of the limelight projected onto those in front-line politics has taken too much of a toll
When Jacinda Ardern announced last year that she would not run for another term as prime minister of New Zealand, she said: “I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also one of the more challenging.” She added: “You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank, plus a bit in reserve.” And she concluded that, after five and a half years in the job, her tank was empty.
In 2022, a teary Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, who took office at the tender age of 34, found herself defending her record and insisting that she was actually working hard for her country and its citizens, not just partying, as her political rivals and segments of the media claimed. Marin reminded her critics that she was only human and that she had to work in especially difficult circumstances in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She added that she was entitled to a private life and, like any other human being, she sometimes longed “for joy, light and fun amidst the dark clouds.” She did not last much longer in her post.
More recently, Irish leader Leo Varadkar in March stunned the country by resigning as taoiseach in a rather emotional speech, insisting that he was leaving politics for reasons that were personal as well as political. Varadkar had previously suggested he would leave office before he turned 50, but at 45 he was departing somewhat earlier than his self-imposed deadline.
Life at the top for elected leaders should have an official expiry date. In the US and France, constitutional arrangements limit presidents to two terms. However, several younger world leaders have recently chosen to cut short their premierships for personal reasons. But this is not to suggest that the younger generation of leaders do not have the required stamina or skills for their job. This would be too harsh a judgment and, in most cases, inaccurate.
Several younger world leaders have recently chosen to cut short their premierships for personal reasons
These days, politicians often start their careers at a relatively young age and have time to pursue a different calling should they lose their appetite for power or the public lose faith in them. Today’s job market allows for several career changes throughout one’s life. Moreover, the unforgiving environment of pressure politics, in which a leader’s peers insist that they be under the media microscope 24/7 with little time to make decisions and no room to make mistakes — or worse, to learn from them — can wear out our leaders more quickly than in the past.
Very few professions are this exacting. The view that one should enter politics with more life experience before reaching for the top, so as to be better prepared, might have some merit. But if there is one observation common to most memoirs of former world leaders, it is that nothing really prepares you for this job and a great deal must be learned while doing it.
It is the case that, in the age of round-the-clock media coverage and social media in particular, when too much content consists of thoroughly unsubstantiated personal attacks without a shred of evidence, even the most thick-skinned of politicians might find this too difficult and simply not worth their while to put up with. This is exacerbated when leaders have young families who become the center of attention, often on issues where a public interest cannot be claimed. And unlike the older generation, spouses have independent careers and will not be satisfied with merely being “the spouse of” a politician. Admittedly, some politicians contribute to intrusions on their privacy by opening their homes to journalists from glitzy magazines to portray some kind of idyllic family life, but their “stories” usually fail to convince and merely legitimize such invasions of their living rooms.
For ordinary citizens, especially the youth, to fully identify with their politicians, leaders need to be strongly representative of their age group and so better identify with what their generation is going through, from finding a job and dealing with the cost of living to putting a roof over their head and needing better public services, while living in today’s diverse societies. For this to happen, there must be respect for the private lives of politicians and their families. They should be allowed as normal a family life as possible while in office and given respect when they say farewell to politics, without the media automatically looking for ulterior motives. Otherwise, some of the most dedicated and talented young minds will continue to avoid careers in politics and instead find their mission and its fulfillment elsewhere.
*Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at international affairs think tank Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg