Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 16-17/2024
The May 17, 1983, agreement between Lebanon and Israel was a fair opportunity for peace that Lebanon lost/With the Agreement text/Elias Bejjani/May 17/2024
2 Dead in Strike on Car in South Lebanon
Two killed in Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon
Quintet Ambassadors Held a Second Evaluation Meeting
Hezbollah Attacks Golan and Israel Retaliates in Baalbeck
Fire breaks out caused by Israeli phosphorus bombardment in Khiam
Drone strike targets vehicle in Tyre district, injuries reported: NNA
Israel strikes Baalbek after Hezbollah multi-drone attack on Tiberias
Financial oversight: BDL investigates suspected embezzlement in the banking sector
Parliament recommends govt. repatriate illegal Syrians within a year at latest
Parliamentary recommendations: Lebanon's response to the Syrian refugee crisis
Disagreement and Incongruity Over Offshore Gas and Oil Exploration
An Israel-Lebanon Agreement May Not Be Worth the Costs/David Schenker/The Washington Institute/May 16/ 2024
Mikati: “Our Government Is Determined to Solve the Syrian Migrant Issue”
Arab Summit: Mikati Stresses Lebanon’s Attachment to Arab Identity
The “Made in Lebanon” Conundrum/Nicolas Sbeih/This is Beirut/May 16/2024
Karim Andari Launches Second Beirut Sports Festival/Makram Haddad/This is Beirut/May 16/2024
South Lebanon War Leaves 11,000 Students Out of School/Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 16/2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 16-17/2024
Arab League summit calls for UN peacekeepers in Palestinian territories
Bahrain calls for Mideast peace conference at Gaza-focused Arab League
Three killed in Israeli raids in West Bank, Palestinian officials say
Israel Admits Killing Five of Its Own Young Soldiers by Mistake
Israel says more troops to ‘enter Rafah’ as operations intensifyIsrael says more troops to ‘enter Rafah’ as operations intensify
Israel army says two Thai hostages held in Gaza are dead
Hamas authorities say over 100 academics killed in Gaza war
Gaza: South Africa says war at 'new and horrific stage' as it urges UN court to order ceasefire and stop Rafah offensive
Israeli Finance Minister: Israel will cancel the free trade agreement with Turkey
Hamas 'regrets' Mahmoud Abbas' speech at Arab Summit, sees Israel as not needing excuses
House votes to require delivery of bombs to Israel in GOP-led rebuke of Biden policies
Arab League calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Gaza, establishment of Palestinian state
‘They have crossed a line’: Australian university orders pro-Palestinian protesters to leave building
Canada provides $40 million in new assistance for Palestinians
Canada sanctions four Israelis over West Bank violence
Ireland to Recognize Palestinian Statehood ‘This Month’, Says Minister
Turkish court sentenced Kurdish leader to 42 years over 2014 unrest
US destroys 4 Houthi drones in Yemen
China's Xi says he and Putin agree on need for 'political solution' to Ukraine conflict

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 16-17/2024
Russia, China and Iran Must Not Seize Control of Sudan/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/May 16, 2024
A Message to the Arab Summit: Under What Circumstances Are You Being Held?/Amr Moussa/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 16/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 16-17/2024
The May 17, 1983, agreement between Lebanon and Israel was a fair opportunity for peace that Lebanon lost/With the Agreement text
Elias Bejjani/May 17/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/118293/118293/
Today, Lebanon remembers the May 17 peace agreement that was signed by the Lebanese and Israeli states on May 17, 1983, during the reign of President Amin Gemayel, and Prime Minister Shafiq Al-Wazzan, after through and arduous negotiations, through which the skilled Lebanese negotiators managed to succeed par excellence in consolidating and preserving all the elements of sovereignty and rights. And most importantly securing complete unconditional, peaceful withdrawal of the Israeli army from all Lebanese territories.
The agreement was supported by the majority of the Lebanese people, the Presidency of the Republic, the Council of Ministers, and the parliament. It was also welcomed by most Arab countries, and all countries of the free world. It was indeed a great and irreplaceable opportunity to establish true peace in the Middle East region in general, and between Lebanon and Israel in particular.
However, through its Local cancerous influence on armed Lebanese groups, mercenaries, merchants of the false resistance, leftists and fundamentalists, the Syrian Baathist regime thwarted the agreement and forcibly prevented its implementation. The Syrian regime did not want Lebanon to have peace with Israel in a bid to maintain its barbaric occupation and hegemony.
The Syrian Baathist regime, as well as the current Iranian occupier continue striving to keep Lebanon an open arena for absurd wars, a mailbox for their fiery terrorist messages, and a negotiating and bargaining chip. Syria and Iran falsely claim to be anti - Israel, and use this camouflaging and deceiving tag as an excuse to freely oppress their people and remain in power.
The May 17 agreement, was and still is a need, because the Lebanese want peace, stability and prosperity for their country, just as the Egypt, Jordan, Sudan Morocco, and the majority of the Arabian Gulf states did through peace agreements with Israel. However the Baathist Syria and Iranian mullahs' regimes, along with all merchants of the resistance, the Leftist and fundamentalists, thwarted the May 17 agreement by force, and they are still continuing to impose the same dirty plot on Lebanon and the Lebanese, but with different faces and under new malicious titles.
Certainly, Lebanon will not obtain from Israel at any time, and under any circumstances a peace agreement with better terms and conditions than the May 17 agreement one, therefore all those mercenary mouthpieces who attack the agreement must shut up and swallow their sharp tongues that are only fluent in a wooden language and in all arts of lies, hypocrisy, blasphemy, fabrication, and transgression against others... at the forefront of those are Iran, Hezbollah and their Lebanese mercenaries.
Yes, Lebanon has the right, legally and nationally, for striving to preserve its interests, security, sovereignty and independence, and that was exactly the main goal of the May 17 agreement, which unfortunately was thwarted by the Syrian regime, the resistance merchants and terrorists.
In conclusion, All Patriotic Lebanese leaders are required to put an end to their hypocrisy, trading with the blood and the livelihood the Lebanese, and work hard to serve both their people and country through forging real peace with all countries, including the state of Israel, as the majority of Arab countries did. And YES,The Lebanese have the right to enjoy peace and tranquility in a state that resembles them, and does not resemble the axis of evil, Syrian and Iranian regimes.

2 Dead in Strike on Car in South Lebanon
Asharq Al Awsat/May 16, 2024
Lebanese state-run media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Thursday killed two people, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers saying at least one of them was a group member. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, now in its eighth month. "Two people were martyred in the raid that targeted a car on the Ramadiya-Qana road," the official National News agency (NNA) said, after earlier reporting a drone strike. A rescuer from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health committee said an Israeli strike on a car in Qana had killed two young men, including a member of the Iran-backed movement. Hezbollah earlier said it had launched "more than 60" rockets at Israeli military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in retaliation for overnight strikes that killed a Hezbollah member who Israel said was a field commander. The strikes were "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks last night on the Bekaa region" in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek area, it said in a statement. The Israeli army later said it had identified about "40 launches" from Lebanon towards the Golan Heights that caused no injuries before striking back at the sources of the fire. According to AFP, it reported several more attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel, to which it had also responded with strikes. Later, the Israeli military said an explosive drone launched from Lebanon hit the Metula area, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two more. Hezbollah said it had fired an "attack drone carrying two "S5" rockets" that targeted a vehicle at a position in Metula.

Two killed in Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon
Arab News/May 16, 2024
BEIRUT: Two people were killed in an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon. They were on their way to the funeral of a Hezbollah member when a drone targeted their vehicle on the Qana-to-Ramadiyeh road in Tyre. Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said it launched “more than 60” Katyusha rockets toward Israeli military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in retaliation for strikes on Wednesday that killed a member of the group. It said it targeted an army base in Metula with S-5 missiles launched from a drone, and struck “the 210th Golan Division in Nafah, the Kilaa air defense base, and the Yoav artillery barracks with rockets.”
Hezbollah said it was using a new type of weapon — attack drones armed with missiles — and conducting several operations against Israeli military sites, including army outposts and a command center. The group also said its attacks had damaged surveillance equipment installed at the Ramyeh and Addir outposts.Israeli media said that an armor-piercing missile struck the Metula settlement, killing one person and seriously injuring two. Hezbollah also reportedly targeted the Zar’it barracks, including an equipment crane and newly deployed surveillance equipment, with guided weapons and artillery shells, and carried out a series of attacks on military outposts near the border, damaging surveillance equipment at Jal Al-Allam. Sirens sounded repeatedly in several Israeli towns and cities, including Metula, Kiryat Shmona, Hurfeish and Peki’in, and in western Galilee and at Israeli military outposts in upper Galilee.
Israeli media reports described “the launching of dozens of rockets from Lebanon toward Meron and northern villages” in Israel, and the targeting of a military base at Mount Meron. Two missiles were fired from southern Lebanon toward Mattat in western Galilee, and 40 missiles targeted the Golan and the Galilee panhandle. Hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have intensified over the past 48 hours along the southern Lebanese front, as both sides continue to cross red lines established over the past seven months and deploy ever-more advanced weapons.
Missiles fired by Hezbollah reached an area west of Tiberias, 50 kilometers from the border, while Israeli raids hit the village of Nabi Chit in Bekaa, 71 kilometers east of Beirut.Hezbollah said its attacks on Thursday were in response to Israeli raids that targeted the Baalbek-Hermel region on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Israeli warplanes carried out 10 raids on targets in the vicinity of Baalbek, and five raids on the outskirts of Nabi Chit. The attacks extended as far as a mountain range in eastern Lebanon between the villages of Brital and Khraibeh. Israeli airstrikes also targeted an evacuated Hezbollah training camp but no casualties were reported.
Hezbollah had on Wednesday attacked the Ilaniya military base, west of Tiberias, with drones, targeting part of the Israeli Air Force’s comprehensive monitoring and detection systems. Israeli Army Radio reported “the explosion of a Hezbollah drone at a security site in the Golani area” and said “technical teams were investigating the extent of the impact and damage to the site.”This latest escalation of hostilities follows the assassination of a prominent Hezbollah field commander, Hussein Ibrahim Makki, and several other people in a drone attack on the Tyre road on Tuesday night. The Israeli military had also targeted Lebanese border towns with dozens of missiles and airstrikes. In the Marjayoun plain, two shepherds were wounded by one of the attacks, which also struck Kfarkela, Aita Al-Shaab, Aitaroun, Mays Al-Jabal, Hula, Blida, Yarine, Ramyah, and the outskirts of Chihine and Wadi Zebqin. Some buildings in these towns have been razed as a result of such daily strikes. Meanwhile, Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council in Israel, said people evacuated from northern settlements are not expected to be able to return home until at least the end of the year. In an interview with an Israeli radio station, he said the situation has reached “a stage of indifference” and criticized the Israeli government. “There are no policies or plans in Gaza, or the abandoned security belt known as the Galilee, which is the front line,” he said. “The government has lost its direction; it is absent in administration, the economy and security. Extending our evacuation period means we won’t be in our homes” until 2025, he added.

Quintet Ambassadors Held a Second Evaluation Meeting
Bassam Abou Zeid/This is Beirut/May 16/2024
The ambassadors of the quintet (United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar) held an evaluation meeting on Wednesday at the American Embassy in Awkar, to assess the results of the contacts they have already made with the various political parties on the issue of the presidential election, and to decide on the follow-up to their mission of good offices. This is the second meeting they have held after completing a first round of consultations with Lebanese political leaders, in an attempt to find a breakthrough on the presidential issue.The first meeting was held on April 16 at the residence of the Egyptian ambassador, Alaa Moussa. The five ambassadors consider that Lebanon urgently needs a new President of the Republic. They are now convinced that the Lebanese presidential election is linked to the war in Gaza which is, in their opinion, extremely disadvantageous for Lebanon. They believe that the Lebanese must realize that it is in their interest to elect a president before the war in Gaza ends. If the stalemate continues and a ceasefire is reached in the Palestinian enclave, the subsequent negotiations will take place but without Lebanon. The United States, France, Saudi Arabia, and even Egypt insist that in the absence of a president, Beirut will have no place in the talks that directly concern it, since they must address, among other things, the modalities for restoring stability both in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. During their meeting in Awkar, the five diplomats discussed the steps they could take in the coming weeks in accordance with their initiative, while recognizing that it may not be successful. According to different sources, the ambassadors’ action is similar to that of the National Moderation Bloc’s initiative. The bloc is in favor of informal parliamentary consultations on the presidential election. At the end of these consultations, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nabih Berry, would convene an electoral session with successive rounds until the election of a president.

Hezbollah Attacks Golan and Israel Retaliates in Baalbeck
This Is Beirut/May 16/2024
The Israeli Army confirmed on Thursday that “for the first time, a security facility was targeted last night in the Golan Junction as a result of the explosion of a Hezbollah drone.”The Israeli Army radio also announced that the Army “sent technical teams to the scene and is investigating the extent of damages.” In parallel, ‘Al-Hadath’ reported that “Hezbollah’s drone hit a giant Israeli balloon which detects missiles and drones yesterday.”The Israeli Army also declared that two rockets were fired from Lebanon towards the settlement of Matat in the Upper Galilee on Thursday morning without any reported injuries. Israeli spy drones have been heavily flying over the villages of Tyre Caza and the sea coast. According to Israeli media reports, villages around Baalbeck-North Bekaa were subject to a series of violent Israeli shelling in the early morning in response to Hezbollah’s attacks. The eastern mountains facing Brital and Khraiba, in addition to Nabi Shit, were targeted by 10 consecutive warplane bombings. According to information, raids targeted a training camp belonging to the pro-Iranian formation in Nabi Sreij, which had been evacuated earlier, with no casualties reported according to initial reports. Yesterday, Hezbollah had declared targeting an air force surveillance and detection system, west of Tiberias, claiming that they had achieved “what they wanted in accurate and precise hits, in an operation which comes in response to assassinations carried out by the Israelis.”

Fire breaks out caused by Israeli phosphorus bombardment in Khiam
LBCI/May 16/2024
Israeli artillery and phosphorus bombardment on Al-Maslakh area in the town of Khiam on Thursday caused a fire to break out, and civil defense and ambulance teams headed to the place, according to the National News Agency (NNA). In addition, the agency reported artillery shelling on the Marjayoun plain and Al-Awaidah hill towards Odaisseh.

Drone strike targets vehicle in Tyre district, injuries reported: NNA
LBCI/May 16/2024
On Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported that a drone launched an airstrike targeting a vehicle on the road connecting the towns of Qana and Rmadiyeh in the Tyre district. Furthermore, reports indicate that there are injuries.

Israel strikes Baalbek after Hezbollah multi-drone attack on Tiberias
Agence France Presse/May 16/2024
Israeli jets raided areas in the Baalbek district overnight after Hezbollah launched multiple drones at a base near the Israeli city of Tiberias -- one of its deepest attacks into Israeli territory in months of cross-border fighting. The airstrikes that occurred around midnight Wednesday struck the hills and mountains overlooking the town of Brital in northeast Lebanon close to the border with Syria. There was no word on casualties. The area that was attacked is a Hezbollah stronghold and is a vital route that links the group’s positions in eastern Lebanon with Syria’s Qalamoun mountains, where Hezbollah also has military presence. The Israeli military said there were no injuries from the strike. The Israeli strikes came hours after Hezbollah attacked with explosive drones an Israeli military base near the city of Tiberias. Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire following the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it launched dozens of rockets at military positions in northern Israel. It attacked "the Meron base with dozens of Katyusha rockets, heavy rockets and artillery shells" while also targeting a barracks with "heavy rockets", the group said. The attacks were "part of the response to the assassination carried out by the Israeli enemy in the south" the previous day, it said. Israel's army said sirens sounded in Meron on Wednesday without providing further details. Hezbollah said later its fighters had "launched an aerial attack using a number of drones" on the base west of Tiberias, which lies about 30 kilometers from the border with Lebanon.
It said the attack had targeted "surveillance and detection systems" at the base, adding that "it accurately hit its designated targets and achieved what it wanted from this limited operation".Hezbollah's attacks had previously been restricted to Israeli towns and bases on the border with Lebanon. On Tuesday evening, Hezbollah said Israeli fire had killed its member Hussein Makki, who was identified as a field commander by a source close to the group. The Israeli army later confirmed it had launched the strike that killed Makki. It described him as "a senior field commander" in Hezbollah responsible for planning and executing "numerous terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and territory". "He previously served as the commander of Hezbollah's forces in the coastal region," the army added. Lebanon's official National News Agency had reported two people killed in an "enemy drone strike that targeted a car" on the main road linking Tyre and Al-Husha. But another source close to Hezbollah later told AFP that while Makki was killed, the other person was injured. At least 412 people have been killed in Lebanon in more than 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 in areas on both sides of the border.

Financial oversight: BDL investigates suspected embezzlement in the banking sector
LBCI/May 16/2024
The Lebanese Banking Control Commission and the Special Investigation Commission at Banque du Liban (BDL) revealed suspicions of embezzlement of funds belonging to depositors at Credit Bank. To verify these suspicions, BDL requested documents from the management of Credit Bank. However, the bank's management hesitated, later revealing an attempt to forge some documents in an effort to dispel suspicions of embezzlement. Consequently, BDL appointed an interim manager for the bank, former Deputy Governor Mohammad Baassiri. In coordination with the acting BDL governor, Wassim Mansouri, Baassiri is overseeing the investigation into the bank's documents, which revealed suspicions of embezzlement amounting to tens of millions of dollars. As a result, BDL froze the accounts of the former chairman of the board of directors of Credit Bank, Tarek Khalifeh, his family members, and the bank's general manager, Naila Zeidan. Information suggests that the suspects are required to return the funds immediately or face legal action by BDL before the judiciary. All information and evidence related to this case are now in the hands of the Public Prosecution, which may take automatic action. In another banking case, a dispute arose between MEAB Bank and one of its depositors, who accused the bank of money laundering and circumventing US sanctions. The Public Prosecution in Beirut filed charges against the bank and several individuals, including Chairman of the Board Ali Kassem Hjeij.
MEAB Bank described the allegations as false, affirming its adherence to all banking principles. It stated that its local and international operations are transparent and free from any wrongdoing. The bank revealed that due to a demand from one of its clients to settle a due debt and initiate seizure procedures, this individual filed a lawsuit that investigations proved to be unfounded. Therefore, MEAB Bank considered the lawsuit riddled with blatant legal inaccuracies. On its part, BDL confirmed that it has no violations related to MEAB Bank and has not received any audits or requests in this regard.

Parliament recommends govt. repatriate illegal Syrians within a year at latest
Naharnet/May 16/2024
Parliament convened Wednesday and approved a binding recommendation aimed at “returning the illegal Syrian migrants and residents in Lebanon to their country within a year at the latest.”To this end, the legislature recommended that the government form a ministerial committee to “communicate and directly and strenuously follow up with the international and regional sides and the various bodies, especially with the Syrian government, and to devise a detailed timeframe for repatriating the displaced (Syrians), except for special cases protected by the Lebanese laws and specified by the committee.”The government was also requested to compel the U.N. Refugee Agency to “submit the statistics and files related to the displaced that are in its possession” and to “coordinate with its office in Syria to facilitate their return to their country.”
The government should “call on the international community and donor bodies to help the government by offering the necessary assets to the military and security agencies in order to control the land border,” the recommendation added.
“All U.N. agencies, especially the Refugee Agency and the international and European donor bodies should be asked to pay incentives and offer financial and humanitarian aid aimed at encouraging the return of the displaced to their country,” the recommendation says.“Lebanon can no longer bear the burden of the presence of the displaced, and it anyhow cannot be a border police for any country,” the recommendation adds, while asking the government to “submit a report to parliament every three months about the implementation phases.”In recent weeks, lawmakers from the entire political spectrum ramped up anti-refugee sentiment and called for more refugee returns and crackdowns.
The European Union this month announced an aid package worth 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — of which about 200 million euros would go to security and border control, in an apparent bid to curb migration from Lebanon to Cyprus, Italy, and other parts of Europe. While caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has welcomed the aid, other officials described it as a bribe for tiny Lebanon to keep the refugees. A country of about 6 million people, Lebanon hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita. Lebanese officials have long urged the international community to either resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria. Over the past months, leading Lebanese political parties have become increasingly vocal, demanding that Syrian refugees go back. Lebanese security forces this year stepped up deportations of Syrians, although nowhere near the level threatened two years ago when the Lebanese government announced a plan to deport some 15,000 Syrians every month, to what they dubbed “safe areas,” in cooperation with the government in Damascus. Many increasingly impoverished Lebanese have accused Syrian refugees of benefiting from humanitarian aid while beating Lebanese to jobs by accepting lower pay. Lebanon’s ruling political parties and leadership claim that most Syrians living in the tiny Mediterranean country are economic migrants rather than refugees escaping the war at home, now in its 13th year. Lebanese security agents have in the past weeks raided shops and other businesses employing undocumented Syrian workers, and shut them down.

Parliamentary recommendations: Lebanon's response to the Syrian refugee crisis
LBCI/May 16/2024
In a recent parliamentary session, the Parliament urged the caretaker government to address the Syrian refugee crisis by implementing Lebanese laws and international agreements, especially the 2003 Agreement. While there is widespread political consensus on tackling the existential threat posed by Syrian displacement, the parliamentary recommendations, although significant, are not legally binding on the government unless issued as part of legislation. Despite assertions to the contrary by the Parliamentary Speaker, the internal rules of the Parliament and the constitution do not stipulate any measures regarding the enforceability of parliamentary recommendations on the government. However, to leverage the current consensus, informed sources revealed that Prime Minister Najib Mikati's request was met by convening a session for two purposes:
Firstly, to present a unified Lebanese stance and convey a collective message from the Parliament to accredited ambassadors in Lebanon and all countries preventing the return of refugees. The message warns the government that the current situation of the refugee crisis cannot continue and that the Parliament stands behind it in the face of any international pressure to prevent refugee return. Secondly, to remind the Prime Minister and ministers of all applicable laws and agreements that must be implemented, with no authority having the power to prevent their enforcement. The deportation of illegal Syrian immigrants, closure of illegal institutions, seizure of unregistered vehicles, coordination with Syria to secure borders, and communication between the two governments are among the measures recommended by the Parliament. The parliamentary action marks an initial step towards ending the illegal Syrian presence in Lebanon. However, it remains insufficient as long as the Parliament does not threaten government accountability if laws, at least those recommended by Parliament, are not enforced.

Disagreement and Incongruity Over Offshore Gas and Oil Exploration
Bassam Abou Zeid/This Is Beirut/May 16/2024
There is still disagreement between Total Energies and the Ministry of Energy’s petroleum management committee over the final report on drilling works in Block 9. The French multinational did not deliver the report in question, despite repeated requests from the ministry. However, the cabinet and the Ministry of Energy have, strangely enough, failed to send a reminder request in that regard to the CEO of Total Energies, Patrick Pouyanné, although the deadline for submitting the report expired on April 12, 2024. The said report could be of great benefit for Lebanon, as the figures it contains may encourage companies other than Total to participate in the third tender to operate blocks 8 and 10 of the Lebanese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean. The deadline for receiving the bids is set for July 2.
According to informed sources, Total wishes to keep its monopoly over the oil and gas drilling works in the country, with the support of an influential Lebanese party, which could be the reason behind the French company’s procrastination. The aim would be to keep the report undisclosed and avoid attracting other companies that might present better offers – both in terms of deadlines and financing – for blocks 8 and 10. The same sources indicate that, as part of its efforts to ensure the success of the third tender, the Ministry of Energy asked the Council of Ministers to authorize the participation of companies specializing in deepwater works, with assets of $1 billion, in the tender. Participation in the bidding is currently granted only to companies with assets of $10 billion. The Council of Ministers has yet to respond to this request, perhaps because those in favor of maintaining TotalEnergies fear the entry of competing companies, though major multinationals do not want to take part in the tender. Highlighting the importance of amending the terms for the participation of smaller companies, the sources noted that the Greek company, Energean, which discovered the Karish gas field in Israel had assets worth only a billion dollars at that time, but its capital increased considerably after the discovery. According to the sources, the issue of offshore oil and gas exploration is influenced by persisting tensions in the region. In their view, significant progress in the process leading to genuine discoveries of gas and oil reserves will not be made until a long-term agreement is reached between Lebanon and Israel, guaranteeing stability and security on the southern border.

An Israel-Lebanon Agreement May Not Be Worth the Costs
David Schenker/The Washington Institute/May 16/ 2024
The lesson from past deals involving Hezbollah is clear: the group will try to pocket any U.S. concessions on the presidency and other issues while simply jettisoning whatever border commitments it may make in return.
All eyes are on Gaza as Israel and Hamas inch toward a ceasefire in their months-long war. If and when a truce is reached, however, the Biden administration’s focus will likely turn to Lebanon, where it hopes to de-escalate amid fears of a full-scale war. Last week, several local and pan-Arab press outlets reported on Beirut’s unenthusiastic response to a proposal that Washington formulated in partnership with Paris and conveyed to Lebanese and Hezbollah officials via an unofficial French white paper. Although actual negotiations will not begin in earnest until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, the initial reception from Lebanon suggests that the chances for success are remote.
Outlines of the Proposed Deal
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein and French minister for Europe and foreign affairs Stephane Sejourne have visited Beirut repeatedly in recent months to lay the groundwork for a joint de-escalation plan, culminating in the white paper. Building on UN Security Council Resolution 1701—which effectively ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel but failed to secure an enduring peace—the new proposal seeks to fix flaws in the original document that hindered implementation, eroded confidence, and contributed to long-term instability along the border. Key elements of the U.S.-French initiative include:
Redeploying Hezbollah’s Radwan special forces seven to ten kilometers north of the border, close to but not necessarily beyond the Litani River
Stationing 15,000 troops from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) along the frontier
Allowing the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and its nearly 11,000 troops to conduct less restricted patrols in south Lebanon unaccompanied by the LAF
Building observation posts near the border to be staffed by the LAF and/or UNIFIL
Ending Israeli military overflights of Lebanon
Establishing a monitoring committee to discuss any infringements of the new arrangement, similar to the body created after Israel’s 1996 military campaign in Lebanon
Initiating negotiations on some disputed border points with an eye toward more formally and precisely defining the UN-demarcated Blue Line
These steps would be complemented by European funding to underwrite LAF operations in the south, as well as U.S. local development assistance and investment promotion.
Negative Response
Arab media reported immediate objections to several aspects of the proposal. The Lebanese paper Nida al-Watan noted that Hezbollah flatly rejected the plan, while the reliably pro-Hezbollah daily al-Akhbar indicated that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri had rejected the provisions on repositioning Hezbollah forces, giving UNIFIL freedom of movement in the south, and creating an internationally directed role for the LAF in the south.
The proposal was also vetted by a pair of Hezbollah advisors dubbed the “Khalilan” or “two Khalils”—namely, Hussein Khalil and Ali Hassan Khalil, the latter a Berri confidant who was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2019 for his ties to the militia and assorted corrupt activities. Per Nida al-Watan, they did not explicitly reject or accept the plan, but rather “subjected it to a process of careful hollowing out” that seemingly amounted to the same end result as Berri’s objections. The pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat described the Khalilan’s approach as “buying time” until a Gaza ceasefire is reached and Hochstein returns to Beirut for negotiations.
Sweetening the Deal for Hezbollah?
Although the United States and France appear to be mostly on the same page regarding a potential deal on south Lebanon, they disagree on whether and how the deal should be tied to choosing Lebanon’s next president, a post that has been vacant since October 2022. While the French have refused to connect the two issues, Hochstein has reportedly linked them—though it is unclear how reliable these reports are given that they were published by the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar. (Notably, the paper also claimed that Hochstein is not coordinating with Paris on this matter, and that “France is very disturbed by the way the American side has behaved.”)
By law, the presidency must be held by a Maronite Christian, but parliament’s selection of Maronite candidates has been complicated—Hezbollah is pushing for the Syria-aligned leader of the Marada Movement, Sleiman Frangieh, while opponents favor more neutral figures. This decision is relevant to the U.S.-French plan because a president will eventually be required to ratify any border agreement. Given Hezbollah’s rejection of the current terms, the group will likely seek concessions in return for moving its Radwan forces. In theory, delineating the border would seem like a sufficient tradeoff, but Hezbollah may not actually want to resolve the border dispute given that its articulated raison d’etre is fighting the Israeli “occupation” of Lebanon. A more appealing accomplishment for the group would be securing Frangieh’s appointment as president, and Washington seems poised to consider that concession. Perhaps concerned about facilitating another six years of a weak, Iran-friendly Lebanese president, Paris has thus far been uncharacteristically hesitant to adopt such an expedient approach.
Doha Agreement Redux
The Biden administration’s apparent coupling of these issues is reminiscent of the May 2008 Doha agreement, a Qatari-brokered accord reached during a previous Lebanese domestic crisis and presidential vacuum. That crisis emerged after the formerly pro-Western government in Beirut attempted to weaken Hezbollah’s control over the country’s international airport and restrict its secure communications network, spurring the militia to march on the capital and engage in armed clashes that killed nearly a hundred people.
The resultant agreement made crucial concessions to Hezbollah, including a “blocking third” in the cabinet and effective veto power over all government decisions. Ironically, the parties also agreed to prohibit the “use of weapons and violence” to resolve domestic political disputes, giving the state full “security and military authority over Lebanese nationals.” Regarding the vacant presidency, they agreed that parliament would convene and name LAF commander Gen. Michel Suleiman to the post within twenty-four hours of signing the accord. Hezbollah apparently viewed Suleiman as acceptable because the LAF had abstained from intervening during the group’s assault on Beirut. Unsurprisingly, he never once challenged Hezbollah’s writ during his subsequent six years in office.
In short, the Doha agreement was a boon for Hezbollah, consolidating its domestic political dominance at no cost. The group predictably ignored its commitment to renounce violence against its fellow citizens—since 2008, Hezbollah is the leading suspect in at least seven assassinations of prominent opponents in the political and security establishment, among numerous other examples of attacking or intimidating people who get in the way of its local activities. Likewise, Hezbollah—not the “state”—remains the top military and security authority in Lebanon.
Conclusion
Although negotiating a deal for a new status quo on the border might temporarily defer the next war between Israel and Hezbollah, doing so at the cost of installing a president who is obeisant to the militia will not help U.S. interests, let alone the interests of the Lebanese people. Since 2019, the country has been reeling from a financial crisis, but rather than helping its fellow citizens extricate themselves from this predicament, Hezbollah is actively exploiting the crisis while opposing necessary reforms. A pro-Hezbollah president is just as unlikely to pursue such reforms. Moreover, the perception that the Biden administration is considering concessions to Hezbollah while apparently avoiding consultations with the group’s Lebanese critics may give U.S. partners in the Middle East further reason to question Washington’s reliability.
Even more important than the perception problem, however, is the likelihood that Hezbollah will not adhere to any deal Beirut reaches with Washington and Paris. The lesson from 2008 is that the group will pocket whichever provisions benefit its position at home and the interests of its sponsors in Iran while ultimately disregarding the rest. Tragically, this lesson was punctuated in brutal fashion five years after the Doha agreement, when former Lebanese minister Mohamad Chatah wrote an open letter to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani pleading for support on implementing Security Council Resolution 1701, including the provisions on deploying the LAF to the border and ending hostilities with Israel. Just days later, Chatah was assassinated, almost certainly by Hezbollah. Hence, any new deal that perpetuates Hezbollah and Iran’s control over Lebanon is doomed to fail in the long run.
Even a deal’s principal short-term benefit—de-escalating ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel—could prove to be moot. With Blue Line negotiations on the table, Hezbollah may choose escalation to secure a better deal, as it did during the lead-up to the 2022 maritime agreement. The group might also decide to continue firing on Israel even after a Gaza ceasefire. With nearly 80,000 Israeli citizens still evacuated from the north, the Netanyahu government is under growing pressure to take action that enables their return, potentially including military action. Amid new combat operations in Rafah and reported Hezbollah mobilizations in Lebanon, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant recently warned that “it could be a hot summer” in the north. Given the complications and costs of getting to a border agreement, he may be right.
**David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of its Rubin Program on Arab Politics. Previously, he served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2019 to 2021.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/israel-lebanon-agreement-may-not-be-worth-costs
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/ar/policy-analysis/alatfaq-byn-lbnan-wasrayyl-qd-la-ysthq-alna

Mikati: “Our Government Is Determined to Solve the Syrian Migrant Issue”
This Is Beirut/May 16/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati asserted on Thursday the importance of UNHCR’s full cooperation with the Lebanese government on the issue of Syrian migrants, affirming that “the government is determined to complete the resolution of this issue, regardless of obstacles and difficulties”.In a meeting with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in Manama, ahead of his participation in the 33rd session of the Arab League, Mikati called for pressure on Israel to halt aggressions against south Lebanon and Gaza. He also emphasized the need of continuous support and funding for UNRWA’s work in Lebanon “as this is of utmost importance in the current difficult circumstances that Lebanon is witnessing.” The meeting was attended by Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Bou Habib, Caretaker Minister of Education Abbas Halabi, Caretaker Minister of Information Ziad Makari, and Caretaker Minister of Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan, in addition to Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini, and a delegation accompanying Guterres.

Arab Summit: Mikati Stresses Lebanon’s Attachment to Arab Identity
This Is Beirut/May 16/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati underlined, in his address at the Arab League summit in Bahrain on Thursday, Lebanon’s strong “attachment to its Arab identity,” which he said offers it protection and support.
“We need to follow up on three main issues of concern in Lebanon today, notably the escalation of violence on the southern border, the growing number of Syrian refugees and the vacancy in the presidential post, which is the main crisis,” Mikati told leaders of the 22-member Arab bloc. For Mikati, the war that has been going on for more than seven months in south Lebanon is “the result of Israel’s continuing attacks and persisting violations of Lebanon’s national sovereignty and UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” which he said amount to 35,000 violations since 2006.
He reaffirmed Lebanon’s “commitment to legitimate international resolutions” and called for pressuring Israel “to withdraw from occupied Lebanese lands and end its violations and aggression by land, sea and air.” He also stressed “the need for a comprehensive and effective implementation of resolution 1701, coupled with a full set of clear international guarantees.”Mikati then sounded the alarm about the increasing number of Syrian migrants and “the heavy economic, social and security repercussions” posed by their massive presence “on Lebanon’s limited resources.”He called for “the reactivation of the League of Arab States’ Contact Group on Syria, which will help achieve a unified Arab vision, and for the development of a funding mechanism to ensure the necessary resources to facilitate and accelerate the return of Syrian migrants to their homeland”.
“We emphasize Lebanon’s readiness to cooperate fully, in particular with neighboring Arab and European countries, to resolve this crisis (…) by ensuring the return of Syrians to safe towns and villages and offering them the necessary aid in their own countries,” Mikati insisted. The caretaker premier expressed particular concern about the protracted presidential vacancy, stressing that the Lebanese were placing high hopes on the efforts of the five-nation group – the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar – to help political forces in Lebanon overcome this impasse.
He also called for dialogue “as an indispensable prerequisite for restoring stability and starting the process of recovery and revival” in the country. Mikati closed his speech with a wish for “active support from the Arab brethren to help Lebanon overcome its crisis and put it on the road to prosperity and economic progress.”

The “Made in Lebanon” Conundrum
Nicolas Sbeih/This is Beirut/May 16/2024
If you are accustomed to supermarket visits, you’ve likely observed a shift in the variety of products available in recent years. Shelves are now brimming with numerous brands that were nonexistent until recently. This is because importers and retailers have frequently had to turn to new supply sources to adapt to our new situation of poverty. As a result, the flagship brands have somewhat lost their glory, facing competition from what some perceive as generics.
Everything is crystal clear. However, what remains less clear and leaves us wondering is how the so-called Lebanese brands, whether new or old, operate. Let’s explore a selection of Lebanese food brands (as labeled by supermarkets): Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar from the Obegi group; Plein Soleil, owned by the Halwani group; Carry, an exclusive label at Le Charcutier; and others like Siblou, Lamesa, Deroni, Captain Fisher, Bihar, Monarch, La Piara, Taj, Frumer, Domo, Dolsi, Barista, among many more.
Brands that offer a wide array of quality products are certainly cause for celebration. However, upon examining the backside of the can, one discovers that for many of these brands, the products are neither manufactured in Lebanon nor by the company itself. We have identified up to 25 different sources and countries. So, can we truly regard this as a flourishing Lebanese industry to be proud of, or should we raise concerns about fraud? In reality, the industry has undergone transformation over time. Ownership of factories is no longer a prerequisite for production. In many cases, outsourcing production is even preferred, but it is imperative to maintain control over the process. This control should encompass various factors for food products, including taste, hygiene, cost, quality, manufacturing techniques, and adherence to international standards…
Moreover, outsourcing provides a level of production flexibility that isn’t achievable when one acts as their own producer: Customize the product, make instant modifications, and modulate the quantity. For example, this enables the production of small quantities of a flagship product.
Here is a concise example to illustrate: Several years ago, a Lebanese industrialist with international umbrella had a unique exotic fruit juice produced in France by a subcontractor. The quantity was naturally limited for such niche, yet it remained the sole product on the market. The operation was deemed successful, as producing the juice in-house wouldn’t have been profitable, considering the inability to even amortize machinery costs.
What does this pattern indicate? It suggests that the essential for a producer in a manufacturing process is to concentrate on the area of comparative advantage, reach a certain level of excellence in this very domain, and adhere to it, even if it entails outsourcing the rest.
Let us consider an international example with Apple, a company that produces and sells 250 million cell phones annually. In reality, Apple does not manufacture anything itself. Most of these devices are made in China by a subcontractor partner, Foxconn, with the rest coming from various countries in the same region. So, is Apple an American or Chinese company? Is it industrial or commercial? There’s no difference, since this simply represents the new method of producing a valuable product.
Similarly, a Renault car consists of parts sourced from dozens of different suppliers, when the entire vehicle is not manufactured in Spain, Turkey, or Slovenia.
Getting back to our main point, this trend is not a matter of choice for us; it is a necessity. Why? Well, primarily because our industrial costs are high, largely attributable to our dual record: one of the poorest infrastructures globally (electricity, water…) and one of the worst public administrations.
Furthermore, one must face the facts that no producer, in essence, is self-sufficient. In Lebanon, it’s even worse as everything is scarce. Even a local producer of homemade apricot jam needs to import sugar, glass jars, metal lids, label paper, gas for cooking and transportation… and sometimes even the raw materials themselves (apricots), in the event of a poor harvest. This scarcity prompts Lebanese brands to outsource production, both for domestic consumption and export. In any case, it is more profitable to produce hummus cans in Canada for the Canadian and North American market than to export them from Lebanon. If we were to draw a conclusion, it would be that in this post-industrial era, the key element is known as the knowledge economy. This is what determines the value of a product, whether it is an Apple cell phone, a Renault car, Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar hummus, or a legal consultation.
Undoubtedly, all of this is too complicated for the narrow minds in power, those who want to “prioritize productive sectors in Lebanon’s future” while failing to even ensure the electricity supply—an invention dating back to the 19th century, to establish a rule of law, and to lower their corruption or administrative blackmail. It is becoming painful to be always governed by the lowbrows.
nicolas.sbeih@icibeyrouth.com

Karim Andari Launches Second Beirut Sports Festival
Makram Haddad/This is Beirut/May 16/2024
Karim Andari, founder of the Beirut Sports Festival, held a press conference on Thursday at the Beirut Forum to announce with great pomp the launch of the second edition of the festival. In front of an impressive array of personalities, politicians, sports figures and journalists, including President of the Lebanese Olympic Committee Pierre Jalkh, Raja Labaki representing the caretaker Minister of Youth and Sports, Brigadier General André Haddad representing the Chief Commander of the Lebanese Army, Commander Walid Tanouri representing the Director-General of Internal Security, Major Hicham Ramouz representing the Acting Director-General of General Security, Captain Hamza Ibrahim representing the Director-General of State Security, presidents and members of federations and presidents and members of clubs, the master of ceremonies George Souaidi welcomed the participants, emphasizing that hosting this major sporting event is a success in itself given the economic, political and security conditions Lebanon is currently facing. The festival’s initiator and Chairman of the Organizing Committee Karim Andari stated that hosting the festival in these difficult circumstances is a challenge in itself. “We have a responsibility to sports and athletes, and like last year, the proceeds from visitors will be donated to support prominent Lebanese athletes. I expect the festival to attract between 45,000 and 50,000 visitors, four times more than the 10,000 visitors brought in last year. One billion Lebanese pounds were distributed to athletes, this amount coming from the proceeds of the entrance fees of the first edition.” In this regard, Andari mentioned that the entrance fee will be $3 per person, but this rate will drop to $1 if the visitor registers via a sponsor’s application at the Forum entrance. “The festival area is approximately 25,000 square meters, and there will be numerous games throughout the festival, including three-on-three basketball, taekwondo, kung fu, and wushu, mixed martial arts, wrestling, badminton, padel, table tennis, an arm wrestling university championship and foosball, as well as many university tournaments in several disciplines because universities are the breeding ground for youth and athletes.”“All these competitions will of course be placed under the auspices of their respective federations, in addition to numerous sports competitions and shows under the supervision of the Automobile et Touring Club du Liban (ATCL),” continued Andari. The Beirut Sports Festival will take place at the Beirut Forum from May 23rd to May 26th. This important sports event will be open to all from 4 PM to 10 PM. The Lebanese public and sports enthusiasts will have the opportunity to attend colorful shows and competitions.
*Karim Andari founder of the Beirut Sports Festival. Photo Makram Haddad

South Lebanon War Leaves 11,000 Students Out of School
Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 16/2024
The ongoing clashes in South Lebanon have disrupted the school year, as many students have fled the region with their families, while others are besieged in the towns and unable to have a safe access to the classrooms. The Lebanese Ministry of Education has resorted to temporary solutions, including providing students with the necessary tools for online learning and housing the displaced in safe areas, that is, within schools designated to accommodate them and help them complete their educational programs with the available means. According to the ministry’s data, around 11,000 students have forcibly left their schools this year.Director of the ministry’s Secondary Education Department Khaled Al-Fayed said that the concerned authorities were “dealing with a difficult reality that has imposed itself on students.”He added that efforts were deployed to limit the resulting damage as much as possible. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Fayed said that 44 schools, including 12 secondary schools, have been permanently closed in the villages witnessing military confrontations. He added: “There are 10,800 students who are out of school, including 1,951 in secondary education.”He noted that these educational institutions are located in the towns of Alma al-Shaab, Marwahin, Marjayoun, Mays al-Jabal, Rmeish, Aita al-Shaab, Taybeh, Aitaroun, Shebaa, al-Khiam, Bint Jbeil and Kfarshuba.
What further complicated the situation was that the battles erupted in the South only one day before the beginning of the academic year on Oct. 8. The students and their teachers were unable to find alternative solutions, which stirred a state of general confusion. With the intensification of the Israeli bombing that destroyed hundreds of homes and facilities and forced the residents to flee their towns, the authorities scrambled to find temporary ways to address the crisis. According to Al-Fayed, the ministry established 10 response centers for academic education students and 10 other centers for vocational education, distributed among areas of displacement in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and the Bekaa, in addition to a small number of buildings in the cities of Sidon and Tyre. Despite the difficulty to reach the students who are still trapped in their villages, the Ministry of Education was able to provide them with computers to facilitate distance learning. The ministry official pointed to the distribution of 3,200 laptops and about 3,000 tablets to students and teachers in the South. As for private schools, he said that around 20 institutions have been closed permanently, while others enjoy a kind of independence and resort to online education through applications varying from WhatsApp to Zoom. Students in border villages are facing another problem, which is the official baccalaureate exams, as the war is likely to continue until after June, during which the examinations take place. In a recent announcement, Minister of Education Abbas Al-Halabi decided to conduct the official exams across the country, including the South, without specifying the mechanism by which students in the border villages would be able to sit for them.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 16-17/2024
Arab League summit calls for UN peacekeepers in Palestinian territories
ARAB NEWS/May 16, 2024
MANAMA: The Arab League on Thursday called for a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories at a summit dominated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The “Manama Declaration” issued by the 22-member bloc called for “international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories” until a two-state solution is implemented. The declaration also called for “all Palestinian factions to join under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization,” which is dominated by the ruling Fatah movement, and added that it considered the PLO “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”It also called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza and an end to forced displacement in the Palestinian territory. “We demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a halt to all attempts at forced displacement, an end to all forms of siege and allowing full and sustainable access to aid,” the final communique said. It further “strongly condemned the attacks on commercial ships,” saying they “threaten freedom of navigation, international trade, and the interests of countries and peoples of the world,” and reiterated the Arab League’s commitment to “ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea” and surrounding areas. The King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, opened the summit by calling for an international conference for peace in the Middle East. The king, as the summit’s host, also reaffirmed his country’s support for the full recognition of a Palestinian state and the acceptance of its membership in the United Nations. He stressed that the establishment of a Palestinian state will reflect positively on the region. Last week, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member and called on the UN Security Council to reconsider the request. The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the US vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month.
“What the Palestinians are facing requires a unified international stance,” the King of Bahrain said. During his opening remarks at the summit, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for the establishment of an internationally recognized Palestinian state. The prince was among the Arab delegates who arrived in Manama on Thursday for the Arab League Summit. During his speech, the prince highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reiterating Saudi Arabia’s support for issues of the Arab world. He urged the international community to back ceasefire efforts and halt the aggression on Palestinian civilians. It is the first time the Arab leaders come together after Riyadh hosted an extraordinary summit in November where the bloc condemned Israel’s “barbaric” actions in Gaza. The one-day summit was set to discuss events in Gaza, propose a ceasefire and push for a Palestinian state. “The Kingdom calls for conflict resolution through peaceful means,” the prince said.
Palestinian leader slams Hamas
The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas for giving Israel the ‘pretext to attack’ Gaza with the Oct. 7 attack. “Hamas’ rejection of ending the division serves Israel’s interest in ending the two-state solution,” he noted, pointing to the long-standing tensions between the Palestinian Authority and the militant group governing Gaza. He said the Palestinian government has not received the financial support it had expected from international and regional partners, noting that Israel is still withholding the funds and creating a dire situation. The Palestinian leader called on Arab countries for financial support and the US to pressure Israel into releasing the funds. “It has now become critical to activate the Arab safety net, to boost the resilience of our people and to enable the government to carry out its duties,” Abbas added. He also urged the international community to start immediately with the implementation of the two-state solution and reiterated ‘full rejection’ of the displacement of Palestinians, who just marked the 76th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba. Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid, Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad were among the attendees on Thursday.

Bahrain calls for Mideast peace conference at Gaza-focused Arab League
Agence France Presse/May 16, 2024
Host Bahrain called for a Middle East peace conference Thursday at the start of an Arab League summit dominated by the Israel-Hamas war, which has been raging in the Gaza Strip without a ceasefire in sight. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was addressing fellow heads of state and government at the 22-strong grouping in the capital Manama, more than seven months into a conflict that has convulsed the region. "(We) call for an international conference for peace in the Middle East, in addition to supporting full recognition of the State of Palestine and accepting its membership in the United Nations," said the king. It is the first time the bloc has come together since an extraordinary summit in Riyadh, capital of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, in November that also involved leaders from the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, based in the Saudi city of Jeddah. At that meeting, leaders condemned Israeli forces' "barbaric" actions in Gaza but declined to approve punitive economic and political steps against the country, despite growing anger in the region and widespread support for the Palestinian cause. That could change this time around as backing builds globally for a two-state solution long advocated by Arab countries, said Kuwaiti analyst Zafer al-Ajmi. Western public opinion has become "more inclined to support the Palestinians and lift the injustice inflicted on them" since Israel's creation more than 70 years ago, Ajmi said. Meanwhile, Israel has failed to achieve its war objectives including destroying Hamas and is now mired in fighting, he said. The war broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 128 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 36 the military says are dead. Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry, and an Israeli siege has brought dire food shortages and the threat of famine.
Change of 'tone' -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said nearly 500,000 people had been evacuated from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where he is insisting on going after remaining Hamas battalions despite objections from US President Joe Biden.
He also disputed claims that Israeli operations there would trigger a "humanitarian catastrophe", though much of the international community remains squarely opposed to a Rafah invasion. Against that backdrop, and with mediator Qatar describing talks on a truce and hostage release deal as close to a stalemate, "the tone of Arab countries has changed", Ajmi said, raising the possibility that the final declaration out of Thursday's summit could include "binding" measures. The message would be especially strong coming from a summit held in Bahrain, one of two Gulf countries along with the United Arab Emirates to normalise ties with Israel in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords. Beyond the Israel-Hamas war, Arab leaders are also expected to discuss conflicts in Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Syria, whose President Bashar al-Assad is due to attend after returning to the Arab fold last year. Attacks by Yemen's Houthis on Red Sea shipping, which the rebels say are intended as a show of solidarity with Palestinians, could also be on the agenda, said Bahraini analyst and journalist Mahmeed al-Mahmeed. Bahrain joined a maritime coalition organised by Washington to counter those attacks. "These vital sea lanes are not only important for countries in the region, but also for the global economy," Mahmeed said.

Three killed in Israeli raids in West Bank, Palestinian officials say
Ali Sawafta/Reuters/May 16, 2024/
Israeli forces killed three men in raids across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, during which money-changing shops were searched, the Palestinian Health Ministry and Palestinian officials said. Ayman Ahmad Mubarak, 26, Husam Imad Da’bas, 22, and Mohammed Yusif Nasrallah, 27, were killed as Israeli forces moved into the city of Tulkarm and took up positions in central areas, the Health Ministry said. Israel's military did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Tulkarm is a flashpoint city in the West Bank, where violent clashes between occupying Israeli forces and Palestinians were already increasing before the Gaza war began in October. Raids also took place in the governorates of Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Tubas and Qalqilya, and included more than a dozen arrests, the Palestine Monetary Authority said in a statement. Increased violence in the West Bank, the largest and most populous Palestinian territory under Israeli occupation, risks wider escalation in the region as the Gaza war rages on. Since the start of that conflict, triggered by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militants, there have been regular Israeli army raids on militant groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages, and street attacks by Palestinians on Israelis. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested and hundreds killed during regular operations by Israeli army and police. Many of the victims were members of armed groups. Others were stone-throwing youths and uninvolved civilians. The Palestine Monetary Authority condemned the raids on money changing shops, saying cash had been confiscated and workers interrogated. The shops are "subject to the supervision of the Monetary Authority and are subject to strict compliance standards," the authority's governor Feras Milhem said in a statement. Hani Abu Moyes, who owns a money changing company called al-Khaleej with 11 branches, said several of his employees had been detained. He accused Israeli forces of staging the raids to grab money. "We don't do anything illegal and we work under the umbrella of the Palestine Monetary Authority," he said by phone. "So far I haven't finished my calculation of how much money has been confiscated but we are talking about large amounts". Money changing shops are an important part of the financial landscape of the West Bank. Many Palestinians in the territory prefer U.S. dollars or Jordanian dinars for big purchases such as land, houses or vehicles, though Israeli shekels are used for daily life. Many also have relatives living and working overseas who use money changers to send money home.

Israel Admits Killing Five of Its Own Young Soldiers by Mistake
Dan Ladden-Hall/The Daily Beast./May 16, 2024
The Israeli military said Thursday that five of its soldiers were killed in Gaza when they were hit by Israeli tank shells in what is thought to be one of the deadliest instances of friendly fire since the outbreak of the war. Another seven troops were wounded—including three seriously—in the incident in the northern city of Jabalia on Wednesday evening. All of the deceased victims served in the 202nd Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade and were between the ages of 20 and 22. “An initial investigation into the deaths of five IDF soldiers reveals that IDF tanks, located dozens of meters away, identified a weapon and fired shells at an IDF force nearby,” the Isreal Defense Forces said in a statement, according to NBC News. “This force had entered the northern part of Gaza and occupied buildings along a logistic route. The tanks fired two shells for unclear reasons, resulting in seven more soldiers being injured, three severely.” The statement also said the IDF is investigating “why the shells were fired and if the soldiers were mistaken for armed militants.”The killings brought the number of Israeli soldier deaths over the course of the seven-month conflict to 278, according to IDF figures. Of those, 44 were killed in what the military calls “operational accidents.”Elsewhere on Thursday, the United Nations’ top court will open two days of hearings over a request from South Africa for an order to Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where over half of the enclave’s population has sought refuge from the conflict. The International Court of Justice is being asked to demand that Israel immediately withdraws from Rafah, saying that the court’s previous preliminary orders are not enough to address “a brutal military attack on the sole remaining refuge for the people of Gaza.” South Africa has also requested that the court order Israel to allow humanitarian aid workers, U.N. officials, and journalists into the strip without impediment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed that Rafah is one of the last remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza and that military action in the city is necessary to deliver a “total victory” over the group which, on Oct. 7, mounted the deadliest attack on Israeli soil in the nation’s history. The U.S. government, however, fears that a widespread military operation in the city could lead to large civilian casualties, with President Joe Biden warning that he could cut off weapons shipments to Israel if a full-scale ground invasion is launched in Rafah. Other international Israeli allies have also expressed concern that such an invasion could aggravate an already desperate humanitarian crisis in the area. As part of efforts to alleviate the situation, the U.S. military announced Thursday that it had finished installing a floating pier off a Gaza beach that is intended to help boost the amount of aid entering the enclave. No American troops entered Gaza as part of the effort, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore in the coming days,” the statement continued. “The United Nations will receive the aid and coordinate its distribution into Gaza.”

Israel says more troops to ‘enter Rafah’ as operations intensifyIsrael says more troops to ‘enter Rafah’ as operations intensify
AFP/May 16, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that more troops would “enter Rafah” as military operations intensify in Gaza’s far-southern city, in remarks issued by his office Thursday. The operation “will continue as additional forces will enter” the Rafah area, Gallant said, adding that “several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops... this activity will intensify.”“Hundreds of [terror] targets have already been struck, and our forces are manoeuvring in the area,” he said according to a statement released by his office after he visited Rafah the previous day.
Israeli forces took control earlier in May of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in a push launched in defiance of US warnings that around 1.4 million civilians sheltering there could be caught in the crossfire. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said “600,000 people have fled Rafah since military operations intensified” in Rafah.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch a full-scale ground operation in Rafah in a bid to dismantle the remaining battalions of Hamas. Gallant said that the military’s offensive against Hamas had hit the militant group hard. “Hamas is not an organization that can reorganize, it does not have reserve troops, it has no supply stocks and no ability to treat the terrorists that we target,” he said.
“The result is that we are wearing Hamas down.”
However, Israel’s top ally the United States has warned that it had not seen any credible Israeli plan to protect civilians in Rafah. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC on Sunday that “Israel’s on the trajectory, potentially, to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas left or, if it leaves, a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy and probably refilled by Hamas.”The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel’s military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israel army says two Thai hostages held in Gaza are dead
AFP/May 16, 2024
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Thursday that two Thai hostages earlier believed to be alive in Gaza were killed in the October 7 attack and their bodies are being held in the Palestinian territory. “We informed the families of two kidnapped Thai citizens, who worked in agriculture in the plantations near Kibbutz Beeri, that they were murdered in the terrorist attack on October 7 and their bodies are being held by Hamas,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. There are now six Thai hostages being held in Gaza, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Thailand has about 30,000 citizens in Israel, most of whom work in the agricultural sector. Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Hamas authorities say over 100 academics killed in Gaza war
AFP/May 16, 2024
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Gaza authorities released a list on Thursday of more than 100 academics and researchers they say have been killed by Israeli forces since war broke out over seven months ago. “We strongly condemn the occupation’s assassination of scientists, academics, university professors and researchers, who are a distinguished group in the Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” the Hamas government’s media office said in a statement. “This sends a clear message that they aim to completely eliminate scientists and researchers in the educational sector,” it added. Among those on the list of 104 names is Sufyan Tayeh, who was the president of the Islamic University and a leading researcher in physics and applied mathematics. Top surgeon and professor of medicine Adnan Al-Barsh was also listed. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Barsh, 50, died in Israeli custody on April 19 after being detained with other doctors at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza last December. Asked at the time about his reported death in custody, the Israeli army said it was “currently not aware of such (an) incident.” The Hamas government called on the “free countries of the world and all organizations related to education and higher education worldwide to condemn this historical crime and to pressure the occupation to stop the genocidal war.”Its statement came against the backdrop of student protests against Israel’s conduct of the war on campuses across the United States and beyond. Many of the demonstrators have called on their universities to divest from companies that allegedly contribute to human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories. The bloodiest ever war in Gaza broke out when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas has killed at least 35,272 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry.

Gaza: South Africa says war at 'new and horrific stage' as it urges UN court to order ceasefire and stop Rafah offensive
Sky News/May 16, 2024
South Africa has told a UN court the situation in Gaza is at a "new and horrific stage" - as it tries to convince it to order a ceasefire and stop Israel's operation in Rafah. It was the third time the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has held hearings on Gaza since December, when South Africa first accused Israel of genocide. "Seven months ago South Africa could not have imagined that Gaza would be largely wiped off the map," the country's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, told judges. Israel denies allegations of genocide and says it takes great care to avoid civilian casualties as it seeks to destroy Hamas following its devastating October attack. However, South Africa believes Israel's military operation has far exceeded acceptable self-defence. "Israel's actions in Rafah are part of the end game. This is the last step in the destruction of Gaza," lawyer Vaughan Lowe told the 15-judge panel at The Hague.
South Africa called Israel's offensive in the southern city a "brutal military attack on the sole remaining refuge for the people of Gaza", and said the court's previous orders had made no difference. Ambassador Madonsela urged judges to order Israel to "totally and unconditionally withdraw" from the Gaza Strip.
More than a million people are estimated to have originally fled to Rafah from the destruction in northern parts of Gaza. But as Israeli attacks in Rafah intensify, about half have now left for other areas - including to bombed-out homes they previously abandoned. In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to do all it could to guard against deaths, destruction and any acts of genocide but didn't tell it to end the fighting. Another order in March said the country should take steps to improve the humanitarian situation - with many Gazans also dealing with chronic food shortages. Thursday's court hearing came as the US said it had anchored a floating pier to receive much-needed aid at a Gaza Strip beach. The United Nations welcomed the move but said land entry points were a faster way to get aid in. Israel's operation in Rafah has virtually halted aid via the southern border and famine is a "clear and present danger", said UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths. "Stocks of food which were in place already in southern Gaza are running out. I think we're talking about almost none left," he told Reuters news agency. "And so the humanitarian operation is stuck, it's completely stuck. We can't do what we want to do." Israel has blamed UN agencies for not distributing aid more efficiently and creating backlogs of supplies. It says it had killed more than 100 Hamas fighters since it began a ground operation in Rafah last week - which officials say is intended to destroy the group's presence there and rescue hostages. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshan said on Thursday they had also found tunnel shafts under and near the city's border crossing with Egypt. Many Western countries warned of devastating consequences if Israel expanded operations in Rafah, with President Biden saying the US wouldn't provide some weapons if it went ahead. So far, it doesn't appear to be a full-scale invasion but the UN says hundreds of thousands of people have still fled. The offensive could escalate, however, after the Israeli defence minister visited on Wednesday and warned "additional forces will enter" and "we are wearing Hamas down". Gaza's health ministry says more than 35,000 people have died so far, while about 1,200 were murdered in the 7 October Hamas attack that triggered the war. Several hundred Israelis were also taken hostage, with immense pressure at home for the government to agree a ceasefire deal to free them.

Israeli Finance Minister: Israel will cancel the free trade agreement with Turkey
Reuters/May 16, 2024
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday said Israel would abolish its free trade agreement with Turkey and also impose a 100% tariff on other imports from Turkey in retaliation for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's decision to halt exports to Israel. The plan, he said, would be submitted to the cabinet for approval.

Hamas 'regrets' Mahmoud Abbas' speech at Arab Summit, sees Israel as not needing excuses
AFP/May 16, 2024
Hamas expressed "regret" on Thursday for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's speech at the Arab Summit, in which he considered the movement's attacks on October 7th as providing "excuses" for Israel to launch the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas stated in a statement, "We express our regret for what was mentioned in the speech of the President of the Palestinian Authority (...) regarding the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the path of internal reconciliation, and we emphasize that the Zionist enemy (...) does not wait for excuses to commit crimes against our people."It affirmed that its attack on Israel constituted "the most important link" in confronting Israel.

House votes to require delivery of bombs to Israel in GOP-led rebuke of Biden policies
WASHINGTON (AP)/May 16, 2024
The House delivered a rebuke to President Joe Biden Thursday for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, passing legislation that seeks to force the weapons transfer as Republicans worked to highlight Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Seeking to discourage Israel from its offensive on the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Biden administration this month put on hold a weapons shipment of 3,500 bombs — some as large as 2,000 pounds — that are capable of killing hundreds in populated areas. Republicans were outraged, accusing Biden of abandoning the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East. Debate over the bill, rushed to the House floor by GOP leadership this week, showed Washington's deeply fractured outlook on the Israel-Hamas war. The White House and Democratic leadership scrambled to rally support from a House caucus that ranges from moderates frustrated that the president would allow any daylight between the U.S. and Israel to progressives outraged that he is still sending any weapons at all. On the right, Republicans said the president had no business chiding Israel for how it uses the U.S.-manufactured weapons that are instrumental in its war against Hamas. They have not been satisfied with the Biden administration moving forward this week on a new $1 billion sale to Israel of tank ammunition, tactical vehicles and mortar rounds.
“We’re beyond frustrated,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said. “I don’t think we should tell the Israelis how to conduct their military campaign, period.”
The House bill condemns Biden for initiating the pause on the bomb shipment and would withhold funding for the State Department, Department of Defense and the National Security Council until the delivery is made. The White House has said Biden would veto the bill if it passes Congress, and the Democratic-led Senate seems certain to reject it. “It’s not going anywhere," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier this week. Republicans were undeterred as they tried to highlight Democratic divides on the Israel-Hamas war. Appearing on the Capitol steps ahead of voting Thursday morning, House Republican leaders argued that passage of the bill in the House would build pressure on Schumer and Biden. “It is President Biden and Senator Schumer himself who are standing in the way of getting Israel the resources it desperately needs to defend itself,” Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Biden placed the hold on the transfer of the bombs this month over concerns the weapons could inflict massive casualties in Rafah. The move underscored growing differences between his administration and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its handling of the war.
Over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed as Israel tries to eliminate Hamas in retaliation for its Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 more captive. Hundreds of thousands of people could be at risk of death if Israel attacks Rafah, the United Nations humanitarian aid agency has warned, because so many have fled there for safety.
The heavy toll of the Israeli campaign has prompted intense protests on the left, including on university campuses nationwide and some aimed directly at Biden. At the same time, a group of moderate Democrats in Congress have expressed almost unconditional support for Israel. Roughly two dozen House Democrats last week signed onto a letter to the Biden administration saying they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by pausing the bomb shipment. Faced with the potential for a significant number of those Democrats voting for the GOP House bill, the White House has been in touch this week with lawmakers and congressional aides about the legislation, including with a classified briefing on the security situation. House Democratic leadership also worked hard to convince rank-and-file lawmakers to vote against the bill.
“The legislation on the floor today is not a serious effort to strengthen the special relationship between the United States and Israel,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. He added that he supported the effort to “decisively” defeat Hamas while also advocating for a goal of “Israel living in safety and security side by side with a demilitarized Palestinian state that allows for dignity and self-determination amongst the Palestinian people.”Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he thought that “very few” Democrats would vote for the bill, saying it was more about political messaging than enacting actual law.
As an alternative, Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a separate bill on Thursday with some bipartisan backing that would require the president to notify Congress before holding the delivery of defensive weapons to Israel and allow Congress to override the hold. With the general election campaign coming into focus, the speaker has mostly turned to advancing partisan bills, including legislation on immigration, local policing and antisemitism, that are intended to force Democrats into taking difficult votes.
Ahead of voting on Thursday, several Democrats who have been openly critical of Biden's hold on the bomb shipment came out in opposition to the House bill. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat who signed onto the letter criticizing the pause, said she was voting against the bill because it threatened to defund U.S. national security programs. “It's being done to score cheap political points,” she said in a floor speech. Still, other Democrats appeared likely to support the legislation. “The administration has been wavering so I’m going to vote for the bill when it comes to the floor,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, said this week.
Another Democrat who has criticized the pause on the bomb shipment, Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, said this week he was also considering the messages being sent to the Jewish community in the United States. “My community right now is worried,” he said. “Things don’t happen in a vacuum.”Historically, the U.S. has sent enormous amounts of weaponry to Israel, and it has only accelerated those shipments after the Oct. 7 attack. But some progressives are pushing for an end to that relationship as they argue that Israel's campaign into Gaza amounts to genocide — a characterization that the Biden administration has rejected. “My fear is that our government and us as citizens, as taxpayers, we are going to be complicit in genocide,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat. “And that goes against everything we value as a nation.”

Arab League calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Gaza, establishment of Palestinian state
Ehren Wynder/May 16 (UPI)
Leaders at the 33rd Arab League summit on Thursday condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza and called for the "immediate" withdrawal of forces from the region. Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa presided over this year's summit, which took place in Bahrain's capital of Manama. The meeting covered numerous ongoing conflicts in Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, in addition to the war in Gaza. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who headed last year's summit, gave an opening speech in which he reiterated his country's support for the establishment of a Palestinian state and called on international leaders to halt the "Israeli aggression against Gaza."The crown prince also noted Houthi rebel attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea and said it is essential to protect the area from actions that affect maritime commerce. Hamad stressed the need to adopt a unified Arab and international position to end the conflict in the Middle East and for "the full recognition of the State of Palestine and accepting its membership in the United Nations." This year's Arab League summit comes against the backdrop of the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza in response to the terror group's Oct. 7 attack, which killed more than 1,170 people in southern Israel. Gaza's Health Ministry reported Israeli military operations have killed at least 35,272 people and created serious food shortages.Also in attendance on Thursday were Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and United Arab Emirates Vice President and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Al-Sisi accused Israel of avoiding efforts to reach a ceasefire with Hamas and continuing its assault on Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. He also accused Israel of using the Rafah border crossing "to tighten the siege on the Strip.""[Egypt] renews its rejection of the displacement or forced displacement of Palestinians," he said. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejoined the summit for a second time this year. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in 2011 over the government's brutal treatment of Arab Spring protesters. Also present was U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza" and an "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."
"In its speed and scale, it is the deadliest conflict in my time as Secretary-General - for civilians, aid workers, journalists and our own U.N. colleagues," he said of the Gaza war. Thursday's summit was the second Arab League gathering since the launch of the Israeli campaign into Gaza.Just a month after the outbreak of the war, Riyadh hosted an emergency summit where leaders rejected Israel's claims that it was acting in self defense and called on the U.N. Security Council to adopt "a decisive and binding resolution" to halt the operation. The agenda for Thursday's summit also covered joint Arab action in the political, economic, social, cultural, media and security fields. Participants also adopted the "Bahrain Declaration," a proposal drafted on Tuesday calling for a U.N.-backed international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be held in Manama. Attendees also discussed reactivating the Arab Peace Initiative, which Saudi Arabia proposed and was adopted at the 2002 league summit. The initiative proposes full diplomatic relations with Israel and Arab states in exchange for Israel withdrawing from Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

‘They have crossed a line’: Australian university orders pro-Palestinian protesters to leave building
Hilary Whiteman, CNN/May 16, 2024
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a building at the University of Melbourne have been told to leave by university officials, who say they’ve “crossed a line” by entering the building and disrupting class for thousands of students.
“Students have a right to protest but that is not a blank check,” said the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Michael Wesley in a video message distributed to media on Thursday. “They have crossed a line when they have occupied the Arts West building … the university’s patience is now at an end.” On Wednesday, students at the university were among thousands who rallied across the country to remember the 1948 al-Nakba or “catastrophe,” when around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes by armed Jewish groups seeking to establish the state of Israel.
Dana Alshaer, from UniMelb for Palestine, said after the rally a smaller group of students “independently” decided to occupy the Arts West building, and others supported them. Several banners have since been hung around the room, including one renaming the building “Mahmoud’s Hall” after Mahmoud Alnaouq, a Palestinian student who had won a scholarship to study in Australia but was killed in Gaza last October. Around 1:30pm on Wednesday, Deputy Vice Chancellor Pip Nicholson addressed the group inside the building on a loudspeaker, telling them their choices that afternoon would have “serious consequences.”According to a video posted online, she said: “In the event that you are not out of here within an hour … the university will make decisions that will regrettably and unavoidably escalate the tension.”On the video, protesters said they wouldn’t leave until the university responded to their demands, which include divesting from weapons companies and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. “We come in peace,” a protester said off-camera. “We came here to learn, to study, to make an impact on the world, and the fees that we’re paying are going towards companies committing an act of genocide right now. Speak to us about that.”By Thursday, more than 150 classes had been cancelled, affecting 6,000 students and staff, the university said. Victoria Police said it was monitoring the protest activity and hadn’t been asked to intervene. Alshaer denied reports students had blocked the building’s doors and said the university had disabled them. “The people here are opening the doors for anyone, students and uni staff to come in and out whenever they want. It’s not closed. It’s not barricaded,” she said.
Tension building after weeks of protest
Since the first tents appeared at universities in Australia over three weeks ago, more students have joined the protest action, demanding the institutions cut ties with weapons companies linked to Israel’s attacks. More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a war against Hamas after its October 7 attack in southern Israel, according to health officials. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage. Around 100 are still in captivity and Hamas’ top leadership is still at large despite the Israeli onslaught. Protests in support of both sides have flared around the world, with a widespread pro-Palestinian movement launching demonstrations at university colleges. So far, protest sites in Australia have remained relatively peaceful, unlike sister sites in the United States, where police violently evicted some students amid clashes with counter-protesters. Other universities in Melbourne and Canberra have put students on notice to leave. Protesters at Deakin University said Thursday they’d received a second order to dismantle their camp on Thursday, in a letter shared with CNN that warned that failure to comply may constitute an act of student misconduct. Jasmine Duff, from Students for Palestine Victoria, told CNN the students had no intention of leaving. “We refuse to obey the directives of a university which is profiting from weapons research during a genocide,” she said. Meanwhile, at least seven student protesters at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra have received letters from the university telling them to leave the site by the end of Friday. In the letter, shared with CNN by the university, students were told the institution had received “reports regarding the negative impact of the encampment on the wellbeing and safety of the broader University community,” without specifying what they were. In a statement, ANU said it supports students’ right to protest but said “these activities must be safe and not cause unnecessary harm or damage to our campus or community.” One of the letter’s recipients, Nick Reich, said he and others are weighing their options. “We have to make the decision about how much and to what extent we participate in the protests against the university’s investments in arms companies supplying Israel, but we can be certain that the encampment itself is going to remain set up and will continue to fight this fight,” he said. In his video message distributed by the University of Melbourne, Wesley called on protesters to “peacefully end the occupation.” “Red lines have been crossed,” he said. “The occupation is now seriously disruptive and seriously intimidating for the vast majority of our staff and students who have nothing to do with the protests and are not interested in the protests.”

Canada provides $40 million in new assistance for Palestinians
The Canadian Press/May 16, 2024
OTTAWA — Canada is providing $40 million to help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid concern over what it calls a catastrophic humanitarian situation, worsened by an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. Ottawa says the funding will support the provision of food, water, emergency medical assistance, protection services and other life-saving assistance in the region. The money will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, as well as trusted partners in the region including the Canadian Red Cross and other Canadian non-governmental organizations. The government says Canada’s funding has also helped establish an International Committee of the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah. The hospital is being supported by the Canadian Red Cross with surgical equipment, medicine and supplies, diagnostic equipment, disinfection materials and personnel. The need for humanitarian aid has become more dire in the last week following a ground offensive in Rafah by Israel, which said it must invade to dismantle Hamas and return hostages. "Because of our extreme concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, we not only have to step up assistance, but we've also been relentless in our efforts to get more humanitarian aid in," International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said in an interview. The $40 million is in addition to a $25-million payment Ottawa recently delivered to UNRWA as part of a multi-year commitment to help Palestinian refugees in the region, including those living in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the West Bank. Canada temporarily suspended funding to the agency in January after Israel alleged some UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, when Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and seized some 250 as hostages. The attack sparked the Israel-Hamas war, which Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, including combatants.
Canada lifted that suspension in March.
UN investigators are looking into allegations against 14 of the 19 staffers.
A separate review of UNRWA’s neutrality said last month that Israel had never before expressed concerns about anyone on the staff lists that UNRWA had given Israel every year since 2011. The report said UNRWA has "robust" procedures to uphold the UN principle of neutrality, but cited serious gaps in implementation, including staff publicly expressing political views, textbooks with "problematic content" in schools the agency runs and staff unions disrupting operations. It made 50 recommendations to improve UNRWA's neutrality. Canada helped with the report led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, said Hussen. He said he accepts the report's recommendations and continues to uphold the organization as the "backbone" of aid in the territory. "UNRWA's network, presence, expertise and logistics, and ability to provide direct support to Palestinians inside Gaza, is unmatched," he said.
"Other organizations also use their network and their connections to reach vulnerable populations inside Gaza, and that's why we're supporting them, because they're very effective."

Canada sanctions four Israelis over West Bank violence
Ismail Shakil/OTTAWA (Reuters)/May 16, 2024
Canada on Thursday imposed its first-ever sanctions on what the foreign ministry called "extremist" Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and said Ottawa was weighing additional measures to deter settler violence against Palestinians. Canada's sanctions, which follow similar measures by allies including the United States and Britain, target four individuals accused of engaging directly or indirectly in violence against Palestinians and their property. The sanctions prohibit dealings related to the individuals and render them inadmissible to Canada, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Settler violence in the West Bank is a source of growing concern among Israel's Western allies. The European Union and New Zealand have also imposed sanctions on violent settlers and urged Israel to do more to stop the violence. "The rise in violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank is deeply troubling and poses significant risks to peace and security in the region," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in the statement. "With these measures, we are sending a clear message that acts of extremist settler violence are unacceptable and that perpetrators of such violence will face consequences," she said. Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was already at a more than 15-year high in 2023 and surged further after Israel's war in the separate enclave of Gaza in response to the Palestinian militant group Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. Canada has designated Hamas a terrorist organization, and earlier this month imposed sanctions on individuals accused of providing military training and resources to the group. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and the area has been under military occupation since, while Israeli settlements have consistently expanded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist government has promoted the settlements, creating friction with Washington. In February, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington deemed West Bank settlements inconsistent with international law, reverting to a U.S. position that had been overturned by the administration of then-President Donald Trump. Most world powers deem the settlements illegal. Israel disputes that, citing historical claims to the West Bank and describing it as a security bulwark. Palestinians envisage the West Bank as part of a future independent state also including Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Ireland to Recognize Palestinian Statehood ‘This Month’, Says Minister
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 16/2024
Ireland is certain to recognize Palestinian statehood by the end of May, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday, without specifying a date. "We will be recognizing the state of Palestine before the end of the month," Micheal Martin, who is also Ireland's deputy prime minister, told the Newstalk radio station. In March the leaders of Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta said in a joint statement that they stand ready to recognize Palestinian statehood. Ireland has long said it has no objection in principle to officially recognizing the Palestinian state if it could help the peace process in the Middle East. But Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza has given the issue new impetus. Last week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Spain, Ireland and Slovenia planned to symbolically recognize a Palestinian state on May 21, with others potentially following suit. But Ireland's Martin on Wednesday shied away from pinpointing a date."The specific date is still fluid because we're still in discussions with some countries in respect of a joint recognition of a Palestinian state," said Martin. "It will become clear in the next few days as to the specific date but it certainly will be before the end of this month. "I will look forward to consultations today with some foreign ministers in respect of the final specific detail of this."Last month during a visit to Dublin by Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the countries would coordinate the move together. "When we move forward, we would like to do so with as many others as possible to lend weight to the decision and to send the strongest message," said Harris. The Gaza war followed Hamas's October 7 attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Turkish court sentenced Kurdish leader to 42 years over 2014 unrest
AFP/May 16, 2024
A Turkish court sentenced an ex-leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party to 42 years in prison on Thursday for his alleged involvement in the fatal riots that broke out in 2014 as jihadists from the Islamic State group overran the Syrian town of Kobane. Already jailed since 2016, Selahattin Demirtas, 51, a two-time election rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was convicted for dozens of crimes including undermining state unity and the country's integrity. The court in Sincan on the outskirts of the capital Ankara also sentenced HDP's former co-chair Figen Yuksekdag to 30 years and three months, private broadcaster NTV and rights group MLSA reported. The court ordered the release of some politicians including Gultan Kisanak, former mayor of major pro-Kurdish city Diyarbakir in the southeast, but many others were handed jail terms. The case against former members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including Demirtas and Yuksekdag, stems from one of the darker episodes of the more than decade-long Syria war. Thirty-seven people died in violent protests against the Turkish army's inaction in the face of an IS offensive against the largely Kurdish northern Syrian town. The fighting was visible from the Turkish side of the border and many in the country's Kurdish community viewed the army as complicit in the humanitarian disaster that followed. Turkey views the HDP as the political front of outlawed Kurdish militants who have been waging an insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984.

US destroys 4 Houthi drones in Yemen
Arab News/May 16, 2024
CENTCOM: These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels.
Prime minister accuses militia of trying to bankrupt the government by attacking oil terminals AL-MUKALLA: The US Central Command said on Thursday morning, Yemen time, that its forces had destroyed four drones in an area controlled by the Houthi militia, thwarting a strike on ships in international commercial waterways. “These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM said in a statement. This is the latest round of US military operations against sites in Yemen under Houthi control to pre-emptively destroy drones and missiles before they can be used against commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden. The CENTCOM announcement came as Houthi officials reaffirmed their warnings to expand their assaults on ships if Israel did not halt its war in the Gaza Strip.  Mahdi Al-Mashat, leader of the militia’s Supreme Political Council, said that they will launch attacks on ships during the fourth phase of their campaign in support of Palestine, which involves targeting ships in the Mediterranean until Israel ends the war and the blockade of Gaza. “We have decisive, bold, and difficult choices if the aggression against our people in Gaza continues,” Al-Mashat said, according to the Houthi-run Saba news agency. The militia’s leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said on Thursday that his forces had fired 211 missiles at Israel and carried out more than 100 attacks on US warships in the Red Sea since the start of their campaign in November.
He urged Iraqis to join them in their operations to support the Palestinian people.
“Companies that transport goods to the Israeli enemy will have their ships attacked anywhere within reach of the Yemeni army's capabilities,” Al-Houthi said. Since November, the Houthis have destroyed one commercial ship, captured another, and launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at commercial ships and warships along international shipping lanes near Yemen, mostly in the Red Sea. The Houthis say the attacks are intended to compel Israel to halt its blockade of Gaza, and have targeted US and UK ships because both countries attacked Yemen. Yemeni government officials accuse the Houthis of leveraging Yemen’s widespread anger over Israel’s war in Gaza to shore up their dwindling popular support, recruit new fighters, and justify continuing military operations throughout Yemen. Speaking to leaders at the Arab summit in Bahrain on Thursday, Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council, branded the Houthis as a “rogue” force that poses a significant danger to regional and international security. He accused the Houthis of killing more than 500,000 Yemenis, displacing four million more, torching hundreds of homes and mosques, besieging towns, seizing Yemeni property, and generating the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe. “The Yemen war, which was instigated a decade ago by Iran-backed militia, will continue to be one of the biggest challenges to Arab nations and their people’s interests,” Al-Alimi said. At the same time, Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak accused the Houthis of attempting to bankrupt his government by attacking oil terminals in the government-controlled provinces of Hadramout and Shabwa, preventing traders from importing goods through Aden ports, while banning the import of gas from the central city of Marib. He said that the Houthis’ efforts, which he described as an economic war, had cost the Yemeni government 3.3 trillion Yemeni riyals ($13.2 billion) in lost income since October 2022. “The Houthis are using all of their cards, including the economic war, to accomplish political goals,” bin Mubarak said in an interview with the national TV on Wednesday.

China's Xi says he and Putin agree on need for 'political solution' to Ukraine conflict
Associated Press/May 16, 2024
Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Thursday that he and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for a "political solution" to the war in Ukraine, following talks between the two presidents in Beijing. "Both sides agree that a political solution to the Ukraine crisis is the correct direction," Xi told media alongside Putin in a joint press conference broadcast by Russian television.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on May 16-17/2024
Russia, China and Iran Must Not Seize Control of Sudan
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/May 16, 2024
Moscow has undertaken a radical change in its involvement in the Sudanese conflict, with the Kremlin now providing al-Burhan's Islamist-aligned SAF its "uncapped" military support. In return, Moscow is hoping the Sudanese leader will honour a deal struck in 2020 to allow Russia to establish a naval base in Port Sudan, a move that would enable the Russian navy to threaten directly Western trade routes passing through the Red Sea.
If, as now seems likely, both Russia and Iran, together with China, succeed in deepening their foothold in Sudan, as well as gaining access to key maritime bases such as Port Sudan, they will be in a strong position to challenge the West's ability to protect key shipping routes in the Red Sea.
Iran's presence in Sudan, moreover, will present a major challenge to Israel: it will complete Tehran's strategic encirclement of the Israelis.
The Western powers must act urgently to protect this pivotal African state from falling into the hands of hostile autocratic regimes, such as Iran, Russia and China, which seek to use Sudan as a base from which to maintain their assault of the West and its key allies in the region. Russia has undertaken a radical change in its involvement in the Sudanese conflict, with the Kremlin now providing General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's Islamist-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces its "uncapped" military support. Western powers must act urgently to protect this pivotal African state from falling into the hands of hostile autocratic regimes, such as Iran, Russia and China. Pictured: Al-Burhan in Gedaref State, Sudan, on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
A modern-day "Scramble for Africa" is taking place in war-torn Sudan, where an unholy collection of hostile autocratic states, namely Iran, Russia and China, are competing for a stake in the country's key resources, especially the all-important maritime base of Port Sudan in the Red Sea.
Back in the late nineteenth century, the original "Scramble for Africa" was the term coined to describe the efforts of European colonial powers such as Britain, France and Germany to expand their influence throughout the African continent. Their campaign of expansion proved so successful that by the outbreak of the First World War, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained free from the shackles of European colonisation.
While Europe's influence in Africa may have waned in recent decades, a new breed of foreign interlopers is today vying to consolidate their hold over key African states, with civil war-ravaged Sudan emerging as a prime target for the autocratic regimes in Tehran, Moscow and Beijing. Sudan's precipitous decline into all-out war has proved disastrous for the long-suffering Sudanese population, with the UN estimating that at least 15,000 people have been killed during the violence of the past year, although aid agencies believe the figure is significantly higher.
In addition, more than 8.6 million people have been forced from their homes, while 25 million are said to be in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with Sudan achieving the unenviable record of having the largest population of displaced children in the world.
At the heart of the conflict is a deadly battle for power between the ruling Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who is also known as "Hemedti", which are battling to seize control of the country. The civil war between the SAF, which has close ties to Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and the RSF, which was established by Omar al-Bashir, the country's former Islamist dictator, is the result of a deadly power struggle between two rival military factions.
While the conflict has inflicted widespread devastation on Sudan, it has also provided an opportunity for a number of autocratic regimes to seek to expand their influence within the strife-torn country.
For many years prior to the conflict, China had been one of Sudan's most significant investment partners, with Beijing investing an estimated $6 billion in the country's energy, agriculture and transport sectors since 2005.
China has also taken a close interest in Sudanese maritime assets such as Port Sudan, which it hopes will one day become a vital cog in its Belt and Road global trade route initiative.
Russia, too, had already initiated attempts before hostilities erupted to establish a foothold in Sudan in the form of the paramilitary Wagner Group which, under its former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, served as Russian President Vladimir Putin's private army.
Wagner mercenaries worked predominantly with the RSF, which benefited greatly from the support it received from Moscow, with Wagner reported to have supplied large quantities of weapons and equipment to Sudan, including military trucks, amphibious vehicles and two transport helicopters.
In return, Russia was given access to the east African country's gold riches, thereby enabling Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions to fund its war effort in Ukraine.
Since Prigozhin's death in a mysterious airplane crash last year, Moscow has undertaken a radical change in its involvement in the Sudanese conflict, with the Kremlin now providing al-Burhan's Islamist-aligned SAF its "uncapped" military support.
In return, Moscow is hoping the Sudanese leader will honour a deal struck in 2020 to allow Russia to establish a naval base in Port Sudan, a move that would enable the Russian navy to threaten directly Western trade routes passing through the Red Sea.
While China has tried to maintain a degree of neutrality in the Sudanese conflict, Russia's deepening support for al-Burhan and the Islamist-aligned SAF has laid the foundations for the entry of another hostile authoritarian regime into the conflict, in the form of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Given the vital support Iran has provided to Russia for its war effort in Ukraine, it was perhaps inevitable that Russia's involvement in Sudan would ultimately pave the way for Iranian military hardware to be deployed on the Sudanese battlefield.
According to recent reports, the tide of the war is beginning to turn in favour of the SAF, after it began using Iranian-made drones earlier this year.
The newly acquired unmanned aerial vehicles have been used for reconnaissance and artillery spotting during recent army victories in Omdurman, across the Nile from the country's capital, Khartoum.
Iranian officials confirmed to the Reuters news agency that the SAF have had begun using the drones in its war against the RSF. The arrival of the Iranian drones in Sudan followed last year's visit to Tehran by Ali Sadeq, Sudan's acting foreign minister, during which he met with senior Iranian security officials.
The Iranian regime has a long history of cooperation with Khartoum, with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps regularly using Sudan as a base to ship weapons to terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah during Bashir's dictatorship. Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation was also based in Sudan for a time in the 1990s.
The deployment of Iranian drones in Sudan, together with Russia's deepening involvement in the Sudanese conflict, should certainly be a cause for concern for Western policymakers given the country's geographical significance in the Red Sea.
If, as now seems likely, both Russia and Iran, together with China, succeed in deepening their foothold in Sudan, as well as gaining access to key maritime bases such as Port Sudan, they will be in a strong position to challenge the West's ability to protect key shipping routes in the Red Sea.
Iran's presence in Sudan, moreover, will present a major challenge to Israel: it will complete Tehran's strategic encirclement of the Israelis.
For this reason, it is vital that international mediation efforts are convened, as a matter of urgency, to bring this dreadful conflict to a close.
The Western powers must act urgently to protect this pivotal African state from falling into the hands of hostile autocratic regimes, such as Iran, Russia and China, which seek to use Sudan as a base from which to maintain their assault of the West and its key allies in the region.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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A Message to the Arab Summit: Under What Circumstances Are You Being Held?
Amr Moussa/Former Arab League Secretary General and former Foreign Minister of Egypt/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 16/2024
The Arab Summit will convene today in Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Its annual meeting almost brings back to the Arab mind, and even to the Arab conscience, the cry of Al-Mutanabbi:
“O, Bairam days come back again as you desire. No matter you come as usual or wearing new attire.”
This time, the summit is being held amid a gloomy international atmosphere and disturbing regional situations. What disturbance is greater than what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, where Palestinian blood is flowing and Arab house is collapsing, with its cities and villages, politics and interests, people, trees and stones?
If you add to that the divisions in Sudan, the neglect in Somalia, helplessness in Lebanon, crying over the ruins in Syria, status quo in Libya, turmoil in Tunisia and the Arab Maghreb in general, conspiracies in the Fertile Crescent, and in the Arabian Gulf, threats that may affect the stability of its countries, and even their independence... you understand that leaders gathered in Manama have a compound responsibility.
They will have to deal with a serious challenge to Arab existence...to be or not to be. This had never been raised before, or presented with such frankness and clarity.
First: I expect that the summit this year will not last only a few hours. In the previous meetings, the attendees raced to return to their capitals, considering that they fulfilled their duty through their presence, without allowing sufficient time to formulate stances that address the existing problems. The current challenges require positions and procedures expressed by the collective Arab mind in the face of a negative and unprecedented situation, which is considered a political insult and a strategic disregard for the Arabs as a whole.
Second: Never before has the international system allowed a small state like Israel to represent an exception to international law and human rights values. Rather, it has invented a legitimate right of defense of its own that does not apply to any other state... a legitimate right of defense against the civilian population in the occupied territories, who are protected by international law in times of war.
We have never heard before that the Security Council allowed the crime of genocide to continue, by refusing to issue a ceasefire resolution, under pretexts of extreme political nonsense and legal emptiness.
We have not heard before of international positions that enable “mercenaries” to compete for the rule of an important African-Arab country such as Sudan, and other positions that establish two governmental entities within one state, as is happening in Libya, to destroy its stability and development until the great powers decide something that is seen as effective.
The situation is seen in most corners of the Arab world, and if it is left as it is, it is easy to expect a major collapse within the Arab house.
Is it possible for the Arab Summit to meet without dealing with all of this, to give it the necessary time and attention, and to issue stances and initiatives that express the Arab position at this high level of Arab kings, presidents and emirs? I do not think so.
Third: The matter is not only about addressing the great powers and others at the international and regional levels, but most importantly, talking to the Arab public opinion and the rising generations in a convincing way. They are the ones whose hearts have begun to be despondent, as they feel being insulted as human beings and citizens of Arab countries. They are waiting for their current leaders to relieve them of the contemporary historical stumbling block and protect their identity.
Fourth: Yes, there are disagreements, some of which can be described as radical differences. However, there are multiple ways to deal with them, not necessarily through shouting or fighting, but rather with a serious presentation befitting the level of the summit and which addresses the means to reconcile a decision with the common Arab political interest.
Fifth: Any adult citizen expects the summit leaders to make reasonable and firm Arab decisions regarding the necessity of ending the turbulent situation in Libya, helping Tunisia maintain its stability, and rejecting “mercenaries” assuming the presidency of Sudan under any circumstances, along with a firm stance that rejects the rule of a minority claiming to defend religion and the formation of a summit committee to help Sudan return to a normal, stable situation. A similar demand can be made with regard to Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, and perhaps others.
Sixth: The summit leaders are expected to observe the regional situation, and reflect on the Arab position towards Iranian policy and Turkish approaches, the situation in the Red Sea and in Arab waters and their wealth, whether in the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, or the Mediterranean Sea.
Seventh: Making strong and clear decisions regarding what is happening in Gaza remains an urgent priority for the Arab public opinion. The issuance of a firm decision by the Arab Summit that clarifies the Arab position - at least for history - can put things in the right place and contribute to creating a positive atmosphere throughout the Arab world. All of this and more make it imperative for the Arabs to meet at the highest level, as is happening in Manama today, and for them to take their time.
Stay in Manama for a day and part of a day, not for an hour or part of an hour.
The matter is important, and the moment is decisive... God helps those who help themselves, and He is the One who grants success and relief. Please accept this with the utmost respect.