English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 13/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2024/english.November 13.24.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006 

Click On The Below Link To Join Eliasbejjaninews whatsapp group
https://chat.whatsapp.com/FPF0N7lE5S484LNaSm0MjW
اضغط على الرابط في أعلى للإنضمام لكروب Eliasbejjaninews whatsapp group

Elias Bejjani/Click on the below link to subscribe to my youtube channel
الياس بجاني/اضغط على الرابط في أسفل للإشتراك في موقعي ع اليوتيوب
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAOOSioLh1GE3C1hp63Camw

Bible Quotations For today
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice
John 10/11-16: “‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 12-13/2024
Elias Bejjani: Self-Deception and Deception of Others with Illusory Victories from Ahmed Said and Al-Sahhaf to Hezbollah’s Media Relations Official Muhammad Afif
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: Heavenly Justice Takes Vengeance on Hezbollah’s Terrorist Mastermind, the Criminal Salim Ayyash
Israeli Defense Minister Katz: Time is right to hit Iran & no ceasefire with Hezbollah Except on Our Terms
Will We Witness a Return to Temporary Solutions?/Colonel Charbel Barakat/November 12, 2024
A delegation from the ‘ Identity and Sovereignty Gathering’ met with Patriarch Rai & urged him to work towards restoring Lebanon the state, the entity, and the nation with a message
Wave of Israeli strikes hit south Beirut after evacuation warning
Israel broadens airstrikes, killing displaced families without warning
There Might Be a Shot for a Ceasefire in Lebanon, According to Hochstein
Lacroix in Lebanon to Assert the Significance of 1701
Israel Targets Abadiyeh in Aley District for the First Time, 12 people killed in Joun
A New Parliamentary Commission for Displaced Persons' Affairs
Abdallah Takes Over as LAU’s 10th President
Riyadh Summit: Mikati Briefs Berri, Calls for International Pressure on Israel
Strikes in Beirut's Southern Suburbs, Heavy Shelling in South Lebanon
IDF destroys most of Hezbollah weapons sites in Dahiyeh, mainly under civilian locations
Lebanon security official says Israel strikes house east of Beirut
Lebanon rocket fire kills two in Israel: first responders
Lebanon says five killed in Israel strike on southern village
Hezbollah says ties with Lebanese army remain ‘strong and solid’
Reactions In Lebanon To Trump's Victory: Fear Among Hizbullah And Its Supporters, Optimism Among Their Opponents
Naim Qassem commemorates 40 days since Hassan Nasrallah’s death/David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/November 12/2024
Rmeish, A Christian Border Town in Lebanon is in the Crosshairs, Again/Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/November 13/2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 12-13/2024
Israeli strikes kill 46 people in the Gaza Strip and 33 in Lebanon, medics say
UN force says Israeli work on so-called Alpha Line with Syria saw ‘severe violations’ of ceasefire
Iran builds 'defensive tunnel' in Tehran to avoid future Israeli attacks
At UN, US warns Israel against forcible displacement, starvation in Gaza
U.S. and Israel Expose Iran’s Tenacious Malign Influence
As the transition unfolds, Trump eyes one of his favorite targets: US intelligence
Yemen's Houthi rebels launch drones and missiles at US warships near the Red Sea but do no damage
US warships repelled attack from Yemen's Houthis, Pentagon says
Houthis attack US warships after US strikes in Yemen
US Navy destroyers unscathed after fighting off a complex attack of cruise and ballistic missiles and exploding drones
Canada/Ottawa principal apologizes for playing Arabic song during Remembrance Day ceremony

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on November 12-13/2024
Israel: The Way Forward/Nils A. Haug/Gatestone Institute./November 12, 2024
Obama Isn’t Going Anywhere....The former president lost big on Nov. 5. But he doesn’t seem interested in leaving D.C., or American politics./Lee Smith/The Tablet/November 12, 2024
Why Trump’s victory is a victory over antisemitism/Hananya Naftali/Jerusalem Post/November 12/2024
European Prosecutors Launch Probe into Allegations that Senior EU Official Accepted Bribes From Qatar/Natalie Ecanow/FDD/November 12/2024

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 12-13/2024
Elias Bejjani: Self-Deception and Deception of Others with Illusory Victories from Ahmed Said and Al-Sahhaf to Hezbollah’s Media Relations Official Muhammad Afif
Elias Bejjani/November 12/ 2024
The greatest catastrophe afflicting Arab nations lies in the decline of the culture and standards of victory and defeat standards among their leaders, intellectuals, political elites, and clerics. These figures live in a world of myths and legends, forcing these deceptive believes onto their people, where ignorance and a complete detachment from reality prevail, along with a fondness for living in fantasies, hallucinations, and daydreams.
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in the mid-1940s, sickening hallucinations, delusions and illusions have dominated the minds of many Arab leaders—be they civilian, military, or religious—who have willfully failed to understand that the world is changing and the days of sword and shield wars are gone, and victory and defeat can no longer be defined by mere wishes, desires, or dreams that do not align with real power dynamics and capacities.
This rotten, insular, and diseased mentality has led to an accumulation of continuous, ongoing chapters of losses, defeats, disasters, and catastrophes, which are misleadingly portrayed as victories.
In the 1967 war, the Arabs suffered a crushing defeat under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had previously threatened to "throw Israel into the sea", and boasted of possessing great destructive power and capabilities, only to end up defeated. During that war, which ended in Egypt's resounding defeat, the broadcaster Ahmed Said, contrary to all realities on the ground, was announcing news of victory, deceiving the Egyptian people.
Similarly, the Iraqi  Al-Sahhaf under Saddam Hussein’s rule, propagated lies, claiming victory over the "American invaders" while the Iraqi army was disintegrating and suffering enormous losses as American tanks entered Saddam’s palace.
Today, in Lebanon, after the years of defeats of Abdel Nasser, Saddam Hussein, Arafat, and Gaddafi, history repeats itself with Muhammad Afif, Hezbollah’s media official, who promotes defeats as if they were victories.
In a press conference yesterday, Afif shamelessly and arrogantly claimed that Hezbollah is the victor, asserting that Israel failed to occupy even a single village in southern Lebanon. According to his deceitful logic, this means Israel failed to achieve its goals. Afif conveniently ignored the immense destruction inflicted by Israel’s army on Shiite towns and cities in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut’s southern suburbs, as well as the displacement, casualties, injuries, and living hardships endured by over a million Lebanese, most of whom belong to the Shiite community, who is badly suffering in all domains due to Hezbollah's delusions and Iran’s ambitions and schemes.
It is truly sad that the deceitful approach adopted by leaders like Abdel Nasser, Saddam Hussein, Iran’s ruling mullahs, and Hezbollah serves only to deceive the Arab people, obscure the truth, and claim imaginary victories that conceal disasters and defeats.
In conclusion, Hezbollah, the terrorist and jihadi organization wholly subordinate to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, is defeated, broken, and has lost the war it waged against the State of Israel. Thus, it must accept this reality, surrender, and hand over its weapons, ammunition, and all its military equipment to the Lebanese Army, the sole legitimate authority mandated to protect Lebanon and its citizens.

Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: Heavenly Justice Takes Vengeance on Hezbollah’s Terrorist Mastermind, the Criminal Salim Ayyash
Elias Bejjani, November 11, 2024
Isaiah 33/01/Woe to you destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying you will be betrayed.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/11/136707/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p_aitt-Cv8
Isaiah 33/01/Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betrayingyou will be betrayed.
In an act of divine justice, Hezbollah security leader Salim Ayyash—convicted for the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri along with multiple Lebanese MPs, journalists, and security figures—was reportedly killed by an Israeli airstrike in the town of Qusayr, Syria. Alongside three bodyguards, Ayyash met his fate, fulfilling the adage, “The killer will be killed, even if delayed.” This reflects the concept that God grants time but does not neglect justice. Such outcomes bear testimony to divine intervention in eradicating high-ranking Hezbollah terrorists, figures steeped in the corruption and heresy that Hezbollah’s Iranian-driven mission has wrought on Lebanon and beyond. Yesterday, Israeli Channel 12 announced the airstrike, marking the end of Ayyash’s long, murderous career, which inflicted terror on opponents of Hezbollah’s occupation and malign objectives.
***
Lebanese journalist, Jean Faghali, commented aptly in Nidaa Al-Watan newspaper today is an admonishing critics to refrain from disparaging the Lebanese Army, which he defended by contrasting Hezbollah’s failure to protect its own, leading to the assassinations of its key figures like Imad Mughniyeh, Qassem Soleimani, Mustafa Badreddine, and others—most of whom perished in Israeli strikes with no Hezbollah reprisal demanded against Syria or Iran.
He writes: “Raise your voices against Hezbollah’s shortcomings, not the Lebanese Army.”
In his piece, Jean Faghali draws attention to the series of high-profile Hezbollah figures who have been assassinated, often under puzzling circumstances.
He highlights the lack of accountability within Hezbollah for the repeated breaches in security that allowed these targeted killings. Figures like Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in Syria within a tightly secured diplomatic zone managed by Syrian intelligence, raise serious questions. How did Israel’s Mossad penetrate such highly secured areas to eliminate Mughniyeh? Faghali asks why Hezbollah never issued a statement demanding Syria to account for this security breach.
He continues, noting similar cases, such as the assassination of Mustafa Badreddine, also in Syria, and others like Hajj Hassan Nasrallah and top Hezbollah operatives who were struck within Hezbollah-controlled territories in Lebanon, including the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Faghali criticizes Hezbollah for its failure to demand explanations or accept responsibility for these losses. Instead, he argues, critics fixate on perceived flaws within the Lebanese Army while overlooking the severe lapses in Hezbollah’s own security network.
He emphasizes that Hezbollah’s critics only focus on “the splinter in the eye” of the Lebanese Army, while ignoring “the plank in the eyes” of those responsible for guarding Hezbollah’s operatives. Even regarding recent incidents, such as the kidnapping in Batroun, Faghali raises questions: if the kidnapped individual was not affiliated with Hezbollah, why did Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, take a significant interest in the matter? And if he was indeed affiliated, why did Hezbollah fail to protect him?
Faghali concludes that Hezbollah, by refusing coordination with the Lebanese Army and acting unilaterally, has no grounds to question or challenge the Army’s stance.
He asserts that the Lebanese Army remains the entity with the authority to ask questions—not Hezbollah. As he firmly states, “Raise your voices away from the Army.”

Israeli Defense Minister Katz: Time is right to hit Iran & no ceasefire with Hezbollah Except on Our Terms
Jerusalem Post/November 12/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/11/136745/
Israel’s incoming Defense Minister Yisrael Katz declared conditions are optimal for targeting Iran’s nuclear program, citing recent successful Israeli airstrikes and broad national consensus.
Late Monday night, incoming Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the diplomatic, operational, and tactical situation for attacking Iran’s nuclear program has never been as doable, realistic, and likely as it is now. Katz noted how two previous Israeli strikes on Iran this year – which were actually counter-attacks following massive attacks by Tehran on the Jewish state on April 13-14 and October 1 – have made it clear how superior the Israeli Air Force is to even the most advanced aspects of the Islamic Republic’s air defense systems. “There is an opportunity to achieve the most important goal – to thwart and remove the threat of destruction hanging over the State of Israel…Today, there is a broad national and defense establishment consensus that we need to thwart the Iranian nuclear program, and there is an understanding that this is doable – not only on the security front, but also on the diplomatic front,” said Katz Despite Katz’s statement, many officials, including former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, had called for the air force to strike Iran’s nuclear program on October 26. Instead, the Air Force was ordered by the government to strike about 20 ballistic missile production and air defense sites in Iran. At press time, Katz’s office had not responded to an inquiry about whether there really was a readiness by Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear program, given that the government chose not to on October 26.
No ceasefire
In addition, the new defense minister said that there would be no ceasefire with Hezbollah until it commits to remaining North of the Litani River in Lebanon, but also not until Israel secures the right to enforce that Hezbollah promise with military force as well as the right going forward to attack attempts to smuggle new weapons to Hezbollah. Although the IDF has for years been attacking weapon smuggling attempts focused on Syria, its war between wars on that issue started too late to prevent Hezbollah from – until the current war – growing its rocket arsenal to around 150,000 rockets.

Will We Witness a Return to Temporary Solutions?
Colonel Charbel Barakat/November 12, 2024
(Freely translated from Arabic and quoted by Elias Bejjani, editor and publisher of the LCCC website)
Introduction
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/11/136748/
Colonel Charbel Barakat, a retired Lebanese Army officer, historian, terrorism expert, and author of numerous works on Lebanon, the Iranian regime’s schemes, and jihadist movements, has testified multiple times before the U.S. Congress on critical issues, including Iranian and Syrian terrorism, the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, jihadist threats, and the pursuit of Middle East peace. In his analysis of today, Colonel Charbel Barakat calls on the Lebanese people to break free from the cycles of influence and domination imposed upon them by foreign powers—from Nasser’s Arab nationalism to Arafat’s Palestinian agenda, Assad’s Syrian dominance, and now Iran’s Revolutionary Guard through Hezbollah. He asserts that the Lebanese must choose unity over division and prioritize their homeland and people above all foreign schemes. Barakat warns that ideological ambitions, whether Arabist, Islamist, Shiite, Sunni, Baathist, or nationalist, have only served to weaken Lebanon by turning its people into fuel for other nations’ conflicts. Quoting his analysis, Barakat states, “The Lebanese, who once embraced the intelligence operations of Abdel Nasser, then Arafat, Assad, and now the Revolutionary Guard, must realize that these doctrines neither understand Lebanon’s unique strength nor value its qualities.” He urges the Lebanese, particularly the Shiite community, to stand firm against what he terms “Iran’s Party,” pushing for the cessation of divisive rhetoric and calls for violence against neighbors. He declares that “our homes are destroyed, our children are killed, and our leaders are buried along with their expansionist projects.” He calls on the Lebanese to instead embrace unity, neutrality, and peace, aiming to build a dignified and stable society where they can live honorably and desire for others what they seek for themselves. Barakat’s words echo a clear message: the path forward for Lebanon lies not in serving external agendas but in fostering peace, stability, and unity within its borders.
“Will We Witness a Return to Temporary Solutions?”
Colonel Charbel Barakat/November 12, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/11/136748/
Colonel Charbel Barakat began by analyzing Lebanon’s past struggles, emphasizing that “Lebanon has faced four main phases in dealing with terrorism and its supporters, each time leading it to lose its immunity and its unique role as a place of coexistence.” He stated that these experiences caused Lebanon to gradually lose its qualities as a hub for dialogue and a model of coexistence among diverse groups in terms of origin, religion, sect, philosophy, and political orientation.
He explained that Lebanon’s first experience was with Nasserism, during which Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser attempted to expand his influence into Syria and Lebanon, aiming to undermine Beirut’s port as a commercial hub that could rival the Suez Canal. “Nasser’s efforts to dominate the region,” he noted, “led him to intervene in Lebanon in 1958, seeking to overthrow the government and incorporate Lebanon into his so-called ‘United Arab Republic’.” This effort was countered by the U.S. Sixth Fleet, which intervened to halt his plans and protect the Mediterranean’s trade routes.
Barakat observed that “Nasser’s ambition to nationalize the Suez Canal and his military actions in Yemen ultimately caused his downfall.” He added, “Following his withdrawal from Syria, Nasser turned his attention to Yemen, creating chaos and entangling Saudi Arabia in a protracted conflict.”
Barakat continued by identifying the second phase as “Lebanon’s experience with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian militants, leading to the Lebanese Civil War, which was not truly civil but rather driven by Palestinian overreach.” He explained that Arafat, with Syrian support, sought to dominate Lebanon. “In 1978, Israel’s intervention almost curbed Arafat’s ambitions through UN Resolutions 425 and 426, but Syrian interference prevented the full implementation of these resolutions.”
The third experience, he stated, occurred after the 1982 Israeli invasion that reached Beirut, expelling Arafat and Syrian forces from the capital. He noted, “Fear of Syrian pressure on President Bashir Gemayel prevented Lebanon from finalizing the May 17 Agreement,” which had been approved by the government and parliament. This, he said, “enabled Hezbollah’s formation and reignited terrorism with its supporters.”
Barakat pointed out that the fourth phase unfolded during the 2006 war, “instigated by Hezbollah under the direction of Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force.” This conflict led to UN Resolution 1701, which called for the disarmament of militias and the exclusive control of weapons by the Lebanese state. “Despite these resolutions,” he explained, “Lebanon’s refusal to place the implementation under Chapter VII gave Hezbollah yet another chance to rebuild and expand its arsenal, ultimately leading to the escalation of the current conflict.”
He cited recent global interventions aimed at preventing a regional war between Iran and Israel, emphasizing that “the October 7, 2023, attack known as the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood,’ which killed around 1,000 Israelis and resulted in over 300 kidnappings, has escalated tensions.” He added, “Despite the extensive operations conducted by the Israeli army in Gaza, including the displacement of residents and substantial casualties, Hamas has not surrendered, sustained by the Iranian regime’s support, much like Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Reflecting on these events, Barakat warned, “History teaches us that achieving only temporary ceasefires without holding the true supporters of terrorism accountable leads inevitably to worse conflicts in the future.” He urged the international community and regional officials to avoid any compromise that would permit terrorism to persist. “If the United States had held Nasser responsible for his actions in 1958,” he observed, “he might not have dared to pursue conflict in Yemen or his failed war in 1967, and Lebanon might have recognized the dangers early on.”
Barakat further elaborated, “If Lebanon and the international community had firmly addressed Arafat’s actions and warned Syria against intervention, and if the May 17 Agreement had been enacted in 1983 with the support of multinational forces, Hezbollah might never have come into existence.” He concluded, “Every time the Lebanese people and the international community allow terrorism to go unpunished, it encourages others to use similar tactics to impose their views, as they realize there are no serious consequences.”
He emphasized, “The time has come for the regime in Tehran to face due punishment. This regime has sown discord and fear not only across the Middle East but around the world, exploiting vulnerable individuals by instilling hatred and fueling divisions.” He added, “It is not enough to simply change Iran’s leadership; those who commit injustices without fearing divine or earthly consequences must be held accountable.”
Barakat called on “the Lebanese, particularly the Shiites who have been misled by Iran’s agents, to stand united against Hezbollah and its destructive influence.” He concluded by urging all Lebanese to abandon ideologies of dominance, sectarianism, and radicalism. “It is time for us to embrace a peaceful and neutral stance, to become a beacon of cooperation and dignity, seeking for others what we seek for ourselves,” he said. “Let us rise together for peace, stability, and constructive progress.”

A delegation from the ‘ Identity and Sovereignty Gathering’ met with Patriarch Rai & urged him to work towards restoring Lebanon the state, the entity, and the nation with a message
National News Agency (Translated from Arabic by the LCCC website editor & publisher)
November 12/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/11/136754/
A delegation from the ‘Identity and Sovereignty gathering”,’ headed by former Minister Yusuf Salamé, and including Sheikh Sami Abdel Khaleq, Amer Bahsali, and Cynthia Mendellian, visited Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bshara Boutros Rai at Bkirki. According to a statement issued by the meeting, the delegation presented the following appeal to the Patriarch:
“When we come to Bkirki, we make a pilgrimage to the Institution who has been given the glory of Lebanon. The glory of Lebanon was given to those who founded the Lebanese entity in partnership with Prince Fakhr al-Din al-Ma’ni the Great, who laid the first cornerstone of this entity. The glory of Lebanon was given to Patriarch Paul Massad, who oversaw the establishment of the first republic in the East and who went to the Sublime Porte to meet with Sultan Abdul Hamid, demanding the exemption of young Lebanese Muslims from military service, like their Christian brothers.
The glory of Lebanon was given to Patriarch Elias Howayek, who brought about Greater Lebanon after a tour of capitals of decision, and who did not believe in counting (Numbers) for a single moment and did not fear the numbers for a single moment, but rather worked for Lebanon with all its people.
The glory of Lebanon was given to Patriarch Anton Arida, who told the journalist Iskandar Riachi on the day the French bombed Damascus that the Muslims were not slaves to the French. When the politician Fakhri Baroudi read this statement in the Umayyad Mosque, a demonstration erupted from the worshippers chanting, ‘There is no god but God, and Arida is the beloved of God.’
The glory of Lebanon was given to Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, who was called the Patriarch of the Second Independence, who rebelled against all tutelages and confronted various types of occupation, and continued to resist with the weapon of words and stance until he achieved liberation.”
The statement concluded, “Based on this momentum, and given the vacancy of the presidency and the deterioration of authority in most state institutions, we have come to demand of the institution who has earned the glory of Lebanon, and who is the custodian of this rich history of the Patriarchate, that he too take up the weapon of stance without hesitation and lead a delegation of national patriots who believe in the permanence of this entity without any personal gain, spread across all components of the nation, and tour the decision-making centers of the world, starting with the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, all the way to the Security Council, the United Nations, the Vatican, the European Union, and the United States, which holds the reins of the world’s political, economic, military, and technological trajectory at the present time, to demand the restoration of Lebanon as a state, an entity, and a nation-message, and to insist on its neutrality, which constitutes the only guarantee to protect the diversity of the components of its social fabric, which has made it a laboratory for the culture of coexistence between the Abrahamic religions and civilizations of all kinds, with all that this requires in terms of agreements and treaties. Lebanon deserves sacrifice and adventure for its sake, Your Beatitude, because its loss is a loss for all of humanity.”

Wave of Israeli strikes hit south Beirut after evacuation warning
AFP/November 12, 2024
BEIRUT: Israel launched at least 10 air strikes on south Beirut Tuesday morning, Lebanese state media said, shortly after Israel’s army urged residents of several neighborhoods to evacuate the Hezbollah bastion. “Israeli warplanes launched a very violent tenth strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the official National News Agency reported. AFPTV footage showed grey smoke covering the area, with big plumes rising after each strike. Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli army told residents of four south Beirut neighborhoods to leave immediately, warning it would strike Hezbollah targets there. “You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, against which the Israel Defense Forces will act in the near future,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X. The post included a map showing the buildings it would target in the Lebanese capital’s south. Witnesses told AFP they heard gunfire in the area ahead of the strikes — warning shots by residents for people to leave following the evacuation call. NNA also reported Israeli strikes across Lebanon’s south that destroyed a building in the main southern city of Nabatiyeh and also targeted the eastern city of Hermel. Last month, Israeli strikes razed Nabatiyeh’s historic marketplace, with another wave of attacks also hitting its municipality building and killing several including the mayor. Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign, mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon’s east and south and in southern Beirut. A week later, it sent in ground troops. It came after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire, launched by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. More than 3,240 people have been killed in Lebanon since the clashes began last year, according to the health ministry, the majority of them since late September.

Israel broadens airstrikes, killing displaced families without warning
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/November 12, 2024
BEIRUT: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings. However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.
The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers. The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.
The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded. For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people. The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.” The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.” The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath. Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family. Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries. The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.
During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.
The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy. It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River. Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited. In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings. The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”

There Might Be a Shot for a Ceasefire in Lebanon, According to Hochstein
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
The American envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, told reporters at the White House that there might be "a shot" at getting a ceasefire in Lebanon in the coming weeks, according to the American news website, Axios. "I am hopeful we can get it," Hochstein was quoted as saying. Axios revealed that Ron Dermer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s confidant, who is currently in the US, met with President Donald Trump on Sunday and will hold meetings with the Biden administration to discuss ongoing efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon. These talks seem to be motivated allegedly by Netanyahu’s wish to end the war in Lebanon within weeks. Tel Aviv and Washington are still discussing the terms of an agreement for a ceasefire, according to US officials quoted by Axios, but no agreement seems to have been reached yet.

Lacroix in Lebanon to Assert the Significance of 1701
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of peace operations, is in Lebanon to support peacekeepers at this difficult period, according to a UNIFIL statement on Tuesday night. Lacroix met with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and will hold discussions with other Lebanese leaders to emphasize the significance of Resolution 1701 and the vital function of UNIFIL. During the meeting, he told Mikati that his visit aims at expressing solidarity with the people of Lebanon and that he appreciates the Lebanese stance in rejecting Israeli attacks on the UNIFIL. Lacroix also said that "the U.N. is making intensive efforts with all parties to achieve a ceasefire," in Lebanon, and stressed the importance of Resolution 1701 implementation in which he sees “the only solution for the situation in the South”. He highlighted "the importance of the cooperation between the peacekeeping forces and the army."For its part, Mikati reiterated the government’s “commitment to resolution 1701 and to a full cooperation between the army and the UNIFIL”.

Israel Targets Abadiyeh in Aley District for the First Time, 12 people killed in Joun
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
The number of victims rose on Tuesday as Israeli attacks persisted across Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes killed 29 people across the country, among them many who had been displaced by the intensified conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The attacks targeted not only known Hezbollah strongholds such as the southern suburbs of Beirut, but also areas where the Iran-backed group has not traditionally had a presence. The Ministry of Public Health said a strike on Joun, in the Chouf district, killed 12 people and wounded eight."The official National News Agency (NNA) said the building had housed displaced people fleeing bombardment by Israel in its war against Hezbollah. For the first time since the start of the war, Israeli fighter jets bombarded a house between the towns of Baaleshmey and Dhour al-Abadiyeh on the international road in the district of Aley. The toll of the raid is eight dead and two injured, according to the Ministry. A security source told AFP the attack had hit a house where people displaced in the war had taken refuge. Another attack on the town of Burj al-Shemali, a town close to Tyre, resulted in the death of one person. Five people were also killed in an Israeli raid on the town of Taffahta, in the caza of Saida, and 12 others in an Israeli strike on the town of Saksakiye in southern Lebanon. Israel also bombed a home in the town of Dabaal, destroying it and causing casualties and injuries. Furthermore, two bodies were recovered from beneath the debris following an Israeli attack on a building in the town of Kfar Remen in Nabatiyeh on Monday night. In the northern Beqaa city of Hermel, one person was killed and four were injured in an Israeli attack on a home. The Israeli Army stepped up its air assault earlier on Tuesday by hitting structures in the southern suburb of Beirut. At least 14 raids were carried out, levelling four buildings in the area, following evacuation instructions to locals.
With maps showing structures designated for attack, military spokesman Avichay Adraee had issued a warning about upcoming strikes on installations connected to Hezbollah. The sudden escalation sparked fear in the densely populated suburbs, with bullets fired in the air as a warning to residents to evacuate.
As strikes became more frequent, some school administrators in Beirut and in the vicinity of the southern suburbs suspended classes and sent students home. Hours after the raid, Avichay Adraee announced on his X account that the Israeli Army had destroyed “most of the missile production and weapons storage facilities that Hezbollah had established beneath the southern suburb of Beirut.” He added that “during the past ten years, Hezbollah had established dozens of these structures, where hundreds of missiles were produced and hidden,” and that the Israeli Army is “determined to dismantle these structures.”Adraee announced later that the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Hertsy Halevy, had assessed the situation on the ground during a field visit in southern Lebanon, where he held a meeting with the Galilee Division Commander, the Northern District Commander, and more officers, in what appears to be a civilian home. He did not say where the meeting was held, but quoted Helavy as saying that the Israeli Army had “eliminated a lot of leaders, fighters, and capabilities of Hezbollah, destroyed a lot of weapons, missiles, and missile launchers, and this is very important.”The Israeli Army is acting “very aggressively,” according to Halevy, to stop weapons from getting to Hezbollah. Earlier, the Israeli Army also called on residents of several villages across southern Lebanon to “evacuate immediately.” The bombardment began with intensive air raids, backed by shelling from warships on the towns Marwanieh, Zebqine, Chihine, and Alma al-Shaab, among others. The campaign escalated across the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts. Two fatalities and numerous injuries were reported in Siddikin. Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it fired missiles at an air base near Tel Aviv, following a wave of Israeli air strikes on the group's south Beirut bastion. Israel reported two people killed in the northern town of Nahariya by rocket fire from Lebanon.

A New Parliamentary Commission for Displaced Persons' Affairs
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
A Parliamentary commission made up of members of different parliamentary blocs was set up on Tuesday to follow up the needs of the displaced persons, alongside the government’s emergency committee. A meeting was held for this purpose in the Parliament at the invitation of Hezbollah and Amal’s blocs. The MPs underlined the need to finish the survey of the displaced people who are still outside shelters and who account for 80% of the displaced population. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday to secure all demands, including those related to health and education.
Following heavy Israeli raids on southern Lebanon, the Beqaa, and the southern suburb of Beirut, as well as previously thought to be safe areas like Tyre, Zahrani, Bint Jbeil, and Marjayoun, Lebanon saw an unprecedented exodus, with more than 1.3 million displaced people.

Abdallah Takes Over as LAU’s 10th President
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
The Lebanese American University (LAU) announced in a statement on Tuesday that Dr. Chaouki T. Abdallah, a researcher and educator who held several high-ranking positions in the United States, has assumed his duties as the university’s new and 10th president. The most recent position he held before joining LAU was Executive Vice President for Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), during which the university accomplished a significant growth in research, reaching $1.45 million in funding. Dr. Abdallah is a leading expert in systems theory and engineering, having published eight books and over 400 peer-reviewed articles. When he arrived in Lebanon earlier this month, he said he was “certain that the moral and humanitarian qualities of the Lebanese people, along with their long-standing legacy, would help the country get through this challenging time.”

Riyadh Summit: Mikati Briefs Berri, Calls for International Pressure on Israel
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati briefed Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday on the exceptional Arab-Islamic summit, held in Saudi Arabia the day before, which called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza. Following the meeting, Mikati refrained from making a public statement.
The premier had stressed during an earlier meeting on the summit's sidelines with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi the urgent need for the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon. Mikati told the Egyptian head of state that “the priority should be to pressure Israel to stop its aggression against Lebanon, achieve a ceasefire, and fully implement UN Resolution 1701.”During the high-level meeting, which was also attended by Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Sissi reaffirmed Egypt's steadfast support for Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Egyptian leader strongly condemned Israeli aggression in both the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, stressing the international community's crucial role in preventing escalation in the region. “The international community must act to prevent the region from sliding into an all-out war that would have catastrophic consequences for both the present and future of its peoples,” Sissi stated. He also assured continued Egyptian support for Lebanon and its people. In turn, Mikati expressed his appreciation for Egypt's “firm and steadfast support for Lebanon,” and commended its ongoing efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region. Arab and Muslim leaders, including Mikati, held a summit on Monday that focused on Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Strikes in Beirut's Southern Suburbs, Heavy Shelling in South Lebanon
This is Beirut/November 12/2024
The Israeli army has intensified its air campaign by striking buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday. This latest attack comes after earlier evacuation orders urging residents to leave immediately. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee had warned earlier of impending strikes on Hezbollah-affiliated facilities, with maps identifying buildings marked for targeting. The sudden escalation triggered panic in the densely populated suburbs, with gunfire erupting throughout as a warning for civilians to evacuate and residents scrambling to flee the area. Some school administrations in Beirut and areas surrounding the southern suburbs began dismissing students early before the end of the day as the frequency of strikes increased
Southern Lebanon
Simultaneously, Israeli forces continued their extensive military operations across southern Lebanon. The bombardment began with intensive air raids on towns like Marwaniyeh, Zebqine, Chihine, and Alma al-Shaab. Naval warships supported the assault by shelling Naqoura, Jabal al-Labbouneh, and the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab at dawn. The campaign escalated across the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts, with strikes on Tayr Harfa, Hadatha, Siddikine, Srifa, Haniyeh, Mansouri, Rashaf, Majdal Selem, Jabal al-Batm, Kfara, and Al-Ma'aliya. In Siddikine, two fatalities and numerous injuries were reported. In Tyre, airstrikes targeted the Zaraa neighborhood and the Al-Riz Buildings, as well as the vicinity of Hiram Hospital, leading to significant damage and multiple casualties. The town of Al-Masaken at the entrance of Tyre was also hit, causing further injuries. During the night airstrikes extended to Kafr Dunin in the Bint Jbeil district and Toul in Nabatieh, causing widespread destruction. The attacks also targeted Tibnine, Bazouriyeh, and Mazraat Meshref, resulting in one fatality and several injuries. The road linking Srifa to Arzon was bombed, collapsing a three-story building and severing access to the area.
Airstrike on Hermel
Israeli forces launched a powerful airstrike earlier on Tuesday on Hermel .This strike caused significant damage, killing one and wounding 4.
Hezbollah
For its part Hezbollah announced having intercepted a Hermes 450 Israeli drone above Nabatiyeh, forcing it to leave Lebanese airspace. The pro-iranian group also announced the targeting of the settlement of Kafr Blum with a rocket bullet
Israel
The Israeli military reported activating alerts on Tuesday in the Western and Upper Galilee after detecting suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon. According to Israeli media, an explosion was heard in the Nesher area, east of Haifa near a community center, no injuries were reported

WATCH: IDF destroys most of Hezbollah weapons sites in Dahiyeh, mainly under civilian locations
Jerusalem Post/November 12/2024
IDF intelligence had been tracking these underground facilities for years, and over recent weeks, the air force focused on destroying them. The IDF announced on Tuesday that it has now destroyed the vast majority of Hezbollah's weapons manufacturing and storage facilities, which had been hidden under civilian locations in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of the Lebanese capital in Beirut. In the past, these facilities had been used to manufacture hundreds of rockets and missiles used against the Israeli home front. IDF intelligence had been tracking these underground facilities for years, and over recent weeks, the Israeli air force escalated its focus on destroying them after a previous focus on killing top commanders and destroying deployed rocket cells. According to the IDF, there have been numerous cases where they struck a site that was nominally for civilian use, but the attack led to blatant secondary explosions, which could only have come from Hezbollah's militarization of Dahiyeh's civilian sector underground. More specifically, the IDF revealed new details about its destruction of a Hezbollah site, including five buildings, which it had flagged to the UN in 2020 in the al-Shufiat neighborhood. The site was used to develop long-range precision rockets that could hit central Israel despite having around 50 civilian families above ground and being only 85 meters from a school.
Hezbollah's mixing of military and civilian locations
Further, the IDF said that such a Hezbollah strategy of mixing military and civilian locations had led to the August 4, 2020 disaster in which an accidental explosion from a military Hezbollah site at the Port of Beirut killed 190 civilians and wounded thousands. In addition, the IDF presented numerous graphics of what the site had held and looked like and videos of their destruction, including secondary explosions. Despite the announcement, Hezbollah managed to kill two Israelis in Nahariya with rockets on Tuesday and wounded seven on Monday. Even after the IDF has eliminated much of Hezbollah's top commanders and weaponry, the Lebanese terror group has managed to rain down large volumes of rockets on Israel every day, with no end in sight absent a ceasefire.

Lebanon security official says Israel strikes house east of Beirut
Reuters/November 12, 2024
BEIRUT: A Lebanese security official said an Israeli strike hit a villa east of Beirut on Tuesday, with state media confirming the rare attack outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. The security official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the “Israeli strike caused an unspecified number of casualties.” The National News Agency later said Israeli warplanes hit a house between Baalshamieh and Dhour Al-Abadiyah. At least five people were killed and two were injured in the strike, health ministry said.

Lebanon rocket fire kills two in Israel: first responders
AFP/November 12, 2024
JERUSALEM: Rocket fire from Lebanon on Tuesday killed two men in their 40s in northern Israel, close to the town of Nahariya, first responders said. Emergency medic Dor Vakinin said a rocket hit a warehouse and that emergency teams arrived on the scene “quickly.”“There was a lot of destruction and an active fire,” he said. “We performed medical examinations on two men who were lying unconscious and suffering from severe injuries to their bodies. Unfortunately their injuries were too severe and after the examinations, we had to determine the death of both of them.”
The Israeli military said a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, some of which were intercepted, while “others fell in the area.”It said sirens had sounded in central Israel, including in Tel Aviv and at Ben Gurion airport. Three projectiles that crossed from Lebanon were intercepted, it said. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it had fired missiles at an Israeli air base south of Tel Aviv. The rocket fire came as Israel again pounded Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and south Lebanon, the military said. Israeli and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since Hamas militants from Gaza carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Fighting has escalated since Israel launched an air and ground offensive against Hezbollah in September.

Lebanon says five killed in Israel strike on southern village
Reuters/November 12, 2024
A Lebanese security official said an Israeli strike hit a villa east of Beirut on Tuesday, with state media confirming the rare attack outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. The security official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the “Israeli strike caused an unspecified number of casualties.” The National News Agency later said Israeli warplanes hit a house between Baalshamieh and Dhour Al-Abadiyah At least five people were killed and two were injured in the strike, the Lebanese health ministry said. Later Tuesday, the ministry added that five people were killed in another Israeli strike on a village about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Israeli border, which state-run media said targeted a house. “The Israeli enemy strike on Tefahta killed five people,” the ministry said in a statement, with the official National News Agency reporting that “enemy aircraft launched a strike a short while ago on the town of Tefahta, targeting an inhabited house.”

Hezbollah says ties with Lebanese army remain ‘strong and solid’
AP/November 12, 2024
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels saw multiple explosions strike near a vessel traveling through the Red Sea on Tuesday, though no damage was immediately reported by the ship, authorities said. The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region. Meanwhile, a UN panel of experts now allege that the Houthis may be shaking down some shippers for about $180 million a month for safe passage through the area. A vessel in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, reported the attack, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.No one was wounded on board in the blasts, and the ship was continuing on its journey, the UKMTO added. The Houthis didn’t immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days before they acknowledge one of their assaults. The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.The Houthis have shot down multiple American MQ-9 Reaper drones as well. The last Houthi maritime attack came Oct. 28 and targeted the Liberian-flagged bulk tanker Motaro. Before that, an Oct. 10 attack targeted the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Olympic Spirit. It’s unclear why the Houthis’ attacks have dropped, though they have launched multiple missiles toward Israel as well. On Oct. 17, the US military unleashed B-2 stealth bombers to target underground bunkers used by the rebels. US airstrikes also have been targeting Houthi positions in recent days as well. Meanwhile, a report by UN experts from October says “the Houthis allegedly collected illegal fees from a few shipping agencies to allow their ships to sail through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden without being attacked.” It put the money generated a month at around $180 million, though it stressed it hadn’t been able to corroborate the information provided by sources to the panel. The Houthis haven’t directly responded to the allegation. However, the report did include two threatening emails the Houthis sent to shippers, with one of those vessels later coming under attack by the rebels.

Reactions In Lebanon To Trump's Victory: Fear Among Hizbullah And Its Supporters, Optimism Among Their Opponents
MEMRI/Lebanon | Special Dispatch No. 11669/November 12, 2024
Like many other issues in Lebanon, Donald Trump's presidential win has been a subject of disagreement between Lebanese supporters of Iran's resistance axis, led by Hizbullah, and their opponents in the country. Resistance axis supporters have expressed concerns and distrust regarding Trump's campaign promises to end wars and not start new ones, while opponents praised Trump and expressed their hopes that he will pursue aggressive policies against Iran and its proxies throughout the region, particularly in Lebanon.
At a government meeting that was held just as the election was called for Trump, interim Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati uttered only a brief and laconic message of congratulations. "There is no alternative," he said, "but to congratulate the president-elect and the American people for having actualized democracy."[1] Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri did not congratulate Trump, declaring that he would express his judgement only after seeing the outcome of Trump's term – that is, four years from now. Berri also criticized the Biden administration, saying that its support for the "genocide" Israel is perpetrating in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is the reason that Kamala Harris lost to Trump.
This report will present notable examples of reactions by Lebanese politicians and in Lebanese media to Trump's re-election.
Hizbullah And Resistance Axis Supporters Express Fear, Pessimism Over Second Trump Term
As noted, Trump's victory was received with much concern among supporters of the resistance axis in Lebanon.
Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri: We Will Judge Trump By His Actions
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the leader of the Shi'ite Amal Movement and an ally of Hizbullah, refrained from congratulating Trump. In an interview with the Al-Mustaqbal online media outlet, he said he would not comment on Trump's victory "before four years have passed" – that is, before the end of Trump's term in office. Addressing Trump's campaign promise to end the war in Lebanon, Berri noted that during a visit to a Lebanese restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan – the city with an Arab majority[2] and the largest Muslim population in the U.S.[3] – Trump had "promised in writing [to act] for a ceasefire in Lebanon immediately upon his victory."[4]
Berri also attributed the defeat of the Democrats to the policy of President Biden, who, he said, had "watched from the sidelines as children were killed in Gaza and Lebanon."[5]
Muhammad Khawaja, a Lebanese MP from Berri's party, expressed pessimism regarding the ramifications for Trump's victory for the situation in Lebanon, saying that he does not expect a change in U.S. policy, particularly with regard to ties with Israel. He predicted that the U.S. would continue to support Israel, "with which," he said, "we are at open war."[6]
Hizbullah Secretary-General Naim Qassem: We Attribute No Importance To Either Harris Or Trump
Hizbullah's official reaction to Trump's victory has been minimal; it stated that it has little faith in his promises to stop the current Israel-Hizbullah war.
Hizbullah Secretary-General Naim Qassem attempted to convey indifference to the election results. In a speech aired November 6 before the final results were announced – and which was possibly recorded prior to the elections – Qassem said that as far as Hizbullah is concerned, it does not matter who wins the election. He emphasized: "We are not counting on the American elections. Whether Kamala Harris wins or Trump wins, they are [both] worthless from our perspective... We rely on the ground [to determine the outcome of the war with Israel]..."[7]
Hizbullah MP Ibrahim Al-Moussawi said that the organization welcomes any effort to end the war in Lebanon but does not pin its hopes on any American administration.[8]
The Hizbullah-affiliated Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar also expressed pessimism about the coming Trump presidency. The day after the final election results became known, it published a photo of Trump with the text "Trump Is Not One Who Puts Out Fires."[9]
Source: Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), November 8, 2024.
The Hizbullah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen TV also published on its website a cartoon expressing concerns that Trump would support Israel and advance its interests. The cartoon depicts an Arab man pulling a Star of David out of an Uncle Sam hat belonging to Donald Trump, with the text "What is Trump hiding in his hat?"[10]
Source: Almayadeen.net, November 9, 2024.
Opponents Of The Resistance Axis: Trump's Victory Is An Opportunity For Lebanon And The Region To Rid Themselves Of Iran's Aspirations
By contrast, Lebanese opponents of the Iran-backed resistance axis hastened to express their congratulations to Trump, along with their hopes that he would support Lebanon and act firmly against Iran, which they accused of attempting to take control of the Middle East, particularly of Lebanon.
Lebanese Politicians Congratulate Trump
Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Al-Hariri wrote on his X account in English: "Congratulations President Donald Trump. A well-deserved victory which I hope opens new and better doors for America, the world and my country."[11]
Samir Geagea, head of the Christian political party Lebanese Forces and an opponent of the resistance axis, extended warm congratulations to Trump and expressed his hope that U.S. support for Lebanon would remain unchanged. He wrote on his X account in English and in Arabic: "I extend my congratulations to President Donald Trump on his reelection for president; I am confident that the steadfast U.S. support for Lebanon and its constitutional institutions, sovereignty and independence, and for the establishment of an effective [Lebanese] state, will continue as we have known it. I also congratulate the American people for their commitment to the goals of the democratic process, which serves as a decisive factor in change, renewal and the continuity of American institutions, especially given that we share with the American people the concepts and values of defending people's safety, freedom and independence."[12]
Charles Jabbour, head of the Lebanese Forces' outreach department, was more outspoken. He said: "What happened today is that an American administration that believes Iran is the problem and will undertake to restrain it has been elected. This is a president who is not planning on a second term; this is his last term in office. He already has four years of experience as president, and he knows how to make the most of the existing reality. As far as Lebanon is concerned, the main benefit of this development is a shift and a halting of Iran's role, which is detrimental to Lebanon's stability."[13]
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, formerly a Hizbullah ally but recently a harsh critic of it for joining the war against Israel and linking the conflict in Lebanon to the war in Gaza,[14] congratulated Trump on his victory and predicted that Trump's campaign promises would have "a tremendously positive impact on the U.S. and the world." He also welcomed what Trump wrote in his letter to the Lebanese-American community, calling it "a golden opportunity for Lebanon and the Lebanese people."[15]
Maronite Patriarch: Trump Follows Through On His Promises
The head of the Maronite church, Bechara Boutros Al-Ra'i, also congratulated Trump and expressed hope that his administration would help find a solution to Lebanon's presidential crisis and would undermine Iran's influence in Lebanon. In a Sunday sermon, Al-Ra'i said: "We are happy to congratulate the United States for electing a new president, Donald Trump. We congratulate him personally on his victory, and hope that he will bring good tidings to Lebanon and the region. [We hope] that the new president will pursue diplomatic means to bring about a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah, along with cooperation towards appointing, as soon as possible, a new president for Lebanon who will deal with negotiations regarding Lebanon and restore its institutions to their natural state."[xvi]
In an interview with the Nedaa Al-Watan journal, Al-Ra'i elaborated on his expectations vis-à-vis Trump's upcoming presidency: "Trump can be better than others because he does what he says. I believe that his arrival in the White House will have a positive impact on our country. He has Lebanese people on his team, and I hope that these ties will be used only for advancing Lebanon's interests. With regard to [appointing] a president [in Lebanon], the United States is the most influential country in the world, and therefore Trump's election can bring a swift end to our presidential vacuum. He has promised solutions to the region and the world... If Trump has announced that he will liberate Lebanon from Iran's influence, then I hope for the best, since we have had our fill of being [forced under] the auspices [of other countries], and the time has come for us to be independent."
Al-Ra'i also criticized the Biden administration's policies regarding Lebanon, and particularly U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, whom he said had promised to help defend the Christian villages on the border with Israel but had "disappeared without returning."
Moreover, he expressed hope that during the Trump era, relations with the U.S. government would improve. Regarding the possibility that he may soon visit Washington, Al-Ra'i said: "It is important that a visit would be effective and will be used to present the Lebanese issue and how we can be helped in achieving practical independence and in forming a strong state in Lebanon. We are awaiting efforts [to organize such a visit], particularly on the part of the Lebanese individuals active in Trump's administration."[16]
Anti-Resistance Axis Lebanese Daily Al-Nahar: Trump's Electoral Victory Is Bad News For Iran And Hizbullah, And A Gift To The Entire Region
The Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, known for its opposition to the Iran-backed resistance axis, published several articles depicting Trump's victory as bad news for Iran and Hizbullah, and good news for Lebanon since Trump will work to crush the resistance axis.
In one article, journalist Ali Hamada wrote: "The return of former president Donald Trump to the White House is bad news for the Iranian regime... and for Hizbullah... The balance of power is clearly shifting in favor of the Israelis, behind whom are the Americans, who believe that this is the right time to begin implementing an old-new plan to eliminate Iran's proxies in the Middle East, in preparation for restricting the Iranian regime to [its own] borders and halting its expansion in the region. A blow to Hizbullah's military wing would be an enormous gift, not only to the Israelis or the Americans but to the entire region, and it would put an end to a dark period of military-security activity [by an organization] that serves the Iranian agenda."
Hizbullah, Hamada added, must understand that its proposal for a ceasefire and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is no longer relevant, given the fundamental shift in Israel's security position after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel. He added that the American security strategy likewise regards this as a "golden opportunity" to undermine Iran's expansionist policy in the Middle East, beginning with the destruction of its most important military apparatus, i.e. Hizbullah. "The Israelis and Americans will try to exploit this opportunity during the rest of Biden's term and throughout Trump's presidency," he said, "and therefore, there will be no deal in the foreseeable future."[18]
Similar remarks were made by journalist Fares Khachan, who wrote that Trump's victory is the worst possible outcome for the resistance axis and that Iran's only remaining course of action is to reach a compromise. He wrote: "For many countries around the world, and especially for the resistance axis, led by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the return of Donald Trump to the White House is not just another event. Not only is Trump the man who moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and eliminated the architect of the 'unity of fronts' [strategy], Iranian [Qods Force commander] Gen. Qassem Soleimani; [not only is he the man] who was convinced by the Iranians [themselves] that they were plotting to kill him, even before the American security agencies convinced him of this – he is also the author of the Abraham Accords, which are aimed at changing the face of the region – a plan that Iran admitted it had tried to foil with [Hamas's October 7] attack..."
Stating that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have put their differences behind them and now share broad common ground, Khachan concluded that "Trump's victory... is the worst thing that could happen to the resistance front" because Iran now faces "difficult and limited options." He explained that an attack on Israel is no longer an option for Iran, because it would be suicidal, and that buying time is not an option either, because it requires two factors that are no longer effective: Iran's proxies and its economic capabilities. Therefore, he concluded, "the only option left [for Iran] is a settlement – the option that Trump prefers..."[19]
Conversely, some expressed concern that Trump would seek to escalate the confrontation with Iran, which could have serious consequences for Lebanon. Dr. Khaled Al-Hajj, an expert on Iranian affairs, wrote in Al-Nahar that he does not foresee any easing of tensions before Trump enters the White House, and that even after this, "Trump and Israel will [likely] strive to continue the war until they achieve their primary goal: removing the existential threats to Israel." If that happens, he said, "Lebanon, being directly affected by any escalation between Iran and Israel, will find itself in the eye of the storm, unable to control events..."
He added that the U.S. policy towards Iran and the region will be based on the principle of "America first," regardless of the effect on regional stability. Therefore, he said, despite Trump's statements about wanting to end wars, the primary goal of his administration will be to expand America's influence and maintain its strategic hegemony. "The talk of future de-escalation [thus] seems to be a distant aspiration, while total war is a more realistic scenario—unless Iran chooses to continue its strategy of avoiding direct escalation," he concluded.[20]
[1] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 6, 2024.
[2] Msn.com/en-us/news/us/census-arab-americans-now-a-majority-in-dearborn-as-middle-eastern-michiganders-top-300k/ar-AA1hh5DV, April 3, 2024.
[3] Politico.com/news/2023/09/20/dearborn-michigan-abdullah-hammoud-00116900, September 20, 2023.
[4] A few days before the election, Trump sent an open letter to the "Lebanese-American community," in which he promised to "fix the problems" caused by the Biden administration and "stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon" (today.lorientlejour.com, October 30, 2024). On November 1, Trump visited Dearborn, Michigan, known as the "Arab capital of America," where approximately 400,000 Arab Americans live, many of them of Lebanese origin. During the visit, he stopped at a local café owned by a Lebanese-American and said, "We have to get this whole thing over with," referring to the war in Lebanon (mlive.com, November 1, 2024).
[5] Mustaqbalweb.com, November 6, 2024.
[6] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 6. 2024.
[7] Almanar.com, November 6, 2024.
[8] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), November 7, 2024.
[9] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), November 8, 2024).
[10] Almayadeen.net, November 9, 2024.
[11] X.com/saadhariri, November 6, 2024.
[12] X.com/DrSamirGeagea, November 6, 2024.
[13] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 6, 2024.
[14] For example, in a July 2024 interview with Sky News Arabia, Bassil condemned Hizbullah for creating this link and added that the Lebanese do not want a war they did not decide to fight (Skynewsarabia.com, July 4, 2024). During a party meeting in late August, he stated that Hizbullah's continued involvement in the Gaza war without any future prospect exhausts Lebanon and its resources and deepens the rifts among the Lebanese people (Al-Joumhouriya, Lebanon, August 27, 2024). At a party gathering in the Al-Shouf region, Bassil declared that the movement supports Hizbullah when it is defending Lebanon but not when it starts a war against Israel (Elnashra.com, August 31, 2024).
[15] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 7, 2024.
[16] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 10, 2024.
[17] Nedaa Al-Watan (Lebanon), November 11, 2024.
[18] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 6, 2024.
[19] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 7, 2024.
[20] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), November 7, 2024.

Naim Qassem commemorates 40 days since Hassan Nasrallah’s death
David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/November 12/2024
Naim Qassem’s second speech as secretary-general of Hezbollah, delivered on November 6, was as predictable in content as timing. It came, as is the group’s custom, to commemorate 40 days since the passing of a senior figure—in this case, the assassination of former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In themes and content, Qassem repeated and summarized his four prior speeches since becoming Hezbollah’s official voice after Nasrallah’s death. A raspier Qassem—flanked again to the left by the Lebanese and Hezbollah flags and to the right with Nasrallah’s portrait—began by eulogizing his predecessor at length. Nasrallah’s death, Qassem explained to his audience, was God’s will and one of two equally desirable blessings—victory or martyrdom—that the Almighty could grant His faithful followers. He then proceeded to heap praise upon Nasrallah and his accomplishments, including “building a party that brings together all of society’s factions,” for several minutes. Qassem sought to demonstrate continuity and derive continued legitimacy for the party under his new leadership from Nasrallah’s legacy. He, thus, emphasized that Nasrallah, like all martyrs, “is alive, but you do not sense it. He will continue with us, and we will continue with him. The Resistance will remain and grow grander.”As Qassem did in his previous speeches—and as Nasrallah always did with his addresses—he then turned to fitting current events into Hezbollah’s metanarratives: its narrative regarding the current war and its broader narrative on the course of history.
Israel’s war on Lebanon and its significance
Hezbollah, Qassem said, was now confronting an Israeli ‘war of aggression’ on Lebanon that began a month and 10 days ago. This framing, constant in Hezbollah’s narrative, seeks to present all of Israel’s campaigns in Lebanon, including the current one, as gratuitous and with far-reaching, nefarious ambitions. The corollary idea is that Hezbollah, rather than provoking the Israelis, is always acting in self-defense on behalf of Lebanon to repel this unprovoked aggression. Qassem suggested Hezbollah was separating this fight from the “support front war” the group had launched on October 8, 2023, in support of its allies in the Gaza Strip, whom he said, “will be victorious, God willing.” What started the war and its justifications, he said, were “unimportant. What’s important is that we are facing an Israeli aggression.” The goals of this war, Qassem falsely claimed, were a “grand project” aiming “to change the face of the Middle East.” He made this claim despite admitting in the past that Israel’s far less ambitious goals were to restore displaced Israelis to their homes in northern Israel and vowing Hezbollah would foil those objectives. Israel’s “very grand project,” Qassem alleged, “extend beyond Gaza, Palestine and [even] Lebanon, [spanning] the entire Middle East.” Israel’s war on Lebanon, he claimed, was merely one preparatory step that would proceed in three stages, the first of which is Hezbollah’s destruction. The Israelis meeting that goal would pave the way for the second stage, Israel’s “occupation of Lebanon […] that would make Lebanon like the West Bank.” Here, Qassem hedged due to the falsehood of his claims, saying this could occur “even from a distance,” and so would be “an invisible occupation.” From there, the third stage of Israel’s apparent plan, “reworking the map of the Middle East,” would proceed.
Qassem was thus trying to reframe the current conflict along the lines of Hezbollah’s propaganda on the causes of the Syrian Civil War and the opposition’s intended outcomes. Syria was not the organic uprising of abused Syrians against brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad to attain a better life, Hezbollah argues. Rather, it was a Western-orchestrated war against the central pivot of the noble Resistance Axis aimed at breaking that alliance and, through doing so, paving the road to subjugating the region. Qassem was reframing Israel’s current war along similar, diabolical lines of cosmic significance.
“These are the stages that Netanyahu wanted, and he began them with his war on Lebanon to achieve the first step,” Qassem stressed.
‘Hezbollah in the breach’
Hezbollah anticipated that this war “would occur one day” and has been thoroughly preparing for it for 18 years, Qassem claimed. Now, he said, Hezbollah was in “a defensive posture to confront this aggression and its desired expansionist goals.” Qassem claimed Israel had sought to “end Hezbollah” with its telecommunications device attacks on September 17 and 18, and its subsequent assassinations of Hezbollah’s military and political leadership to “facilitate its invasion of Lebanon.” But Israel, he said, in its ignorance and hubris, “did not know they were facing a party and resistance that possessed three basic components of strength” ensuring the failure of Israel’s plans. “First, the resistance fighters and the party adhere to a “solid/rigid [salba], entrenched Islamic doctrine” that makes them unyielding in their commitments, Qassem argued. “Second,” he said, “the resistance fighters have surrendered their minds [literally, “skulls”] to God,” so they do not seek worldly pleasures, and resistance is their sole path to reward in this life and the next. “All of our resistance fighters,” said Qassem, “are martyrdom-seekers,” explaining that this did not mean they were suicidal. “No, the martyrdom-seeker is the one who does not fear death,” but, nevertheless, is not one who actively desires it. “On the battlefront, do you see the frontline fighters exposing themselves to be killed by the Israelis so they may meet God Almighty? No, they kill and fight and endure and ensure to cause [Israeli] casualties while remaining alive,” he explained. What makes them martyrdom-seekers was their lack of fear and their desire—like the Vikings of old—that their end, if it should come, should come “on the battlefield, while they are in battle.” The third component of Hezbollah’s strength, Qassem said, was the group’s military preparations, including weapons and training.
Qassem then turned to discuss the foundations of Israel’s strength, blending this part of his speech with Hezbollah’s metanarrative about Israel’s inherently ‘evil’ nature. He argued that Israel’s strength rested on these equally ‘diabolical’ natural foundations. “They have three factors of strength,” Qassem told his audience. “The first is extermination/genocide [ibada], killing civilians, oppression, occupation, and monstrous behavior. We’re seeing this in Gaza and Lebanon,” he said.
Qassem argued that the second component of Israel’s strength, less inherently malicious, was its “air superiority.” He explained that this air dominance depended on several factors, but “especially the unlimited support of America, the Great Satan.” Qassem said that the United States gave Israel “tens of billions” in military aid, alongside direct involvement in the current conflict by deploying its “ships and planes and advisers, alongside everything America gives for Israel.” Qassem’s purpose in raising this point was two-fold. The first was to exaggerate the odds that Hezbollah was facing—not just a war with Israel, but a war by proxy with the United States. This, too, is part of Hezbollah’s larger historical metanarrative: that every Israeli war launched against Lebanon was actually an American proxy war. The second reason Qassem tied the conflict explicitly to America was to feed into the enmity towards the United States that the group seeks to inculcate in its followers.
Israel’s third strength factor, Qassem explained, was deploying five IDF divisions on the ground. Regardless, he claimed Israel’s only true advantage was in its airpower, “whereas the army and the killing and murder components are entirely disadvantageous,” he said. “Murder and extermination have negative repercussions for the Israeli entity’s future,” he explained, “while the army, we see it—it’s standing on the border and can’t advance,” he claimed, raising another constant Hezbollah argument: that the Israeli army’s soldiers are incompetent cowards, and Hezbollah’s fighters are brave warriors.
“The level of confrontation” Hezbollah’s fighters have put up, claimed Qassem, foiled Israel’s true plans of quickly reaching the Litani River, forcing the Israelis to lie publicly and minimize their objectives. Israel “fears direct clashes, and so far, has sufficed with fighting on the frontline. They now declare they have no additional goals because they faced stiff resistance,” Qassem said. This was meant to emphasize Hezbollah’s strength and ability to deliver on its promise of defending Lebanon.
‘Hezbollah will bring the war to an end’
Qassem then turned to explaining how the war would end by extending the theme of Israeli aggression—that Israel’s campaign can only stop, and will only be stopped, by Hezbollah’s military actions. “We will not beg for an end to the aggression,” Qassem said. “We will force the [Israeli] enemy themselves to seek to request an end to [their] aggression. […] We believe only one thing will end this aggressive war—the battlefield,” Qassem stressed, saying Hezbollah was not even betting on the outcomes of the US elections to change matters. The group, he said, would make it clear to Israel “on the battlefield that it is defeated,” preventing it from achieving its goals. Hezbollah’s victory, Qassem claimed, would only come from two things. The first was Hezbollah’s stiff resistance on the border, which he claimed the group could reinforce with “tens of thousands of trained resistance fighter mujahidin” and a sufficient supply of war materiel “that can last us for a very long period, God willing.”The second source of victory would be the pain Hezbollah was allegedly inflicting upon the Israeli home front with “rockets and loitering munitions, forcing it to pay a true price and understand Israel will not be successful in this war,” he said. Qassem argued these attacks would lead Israel to “scream,” since Hezbollah’s projectiles can reach everywhere in the country, and he promised “more and more” escalation as the war progresses. For the second speech in a row, Qassem sought to rebut detractors who claimed the losses Israel inflicted upon Hezbollah demonstrated the group was too weak to defend itself or Lebanon. He returned to this claim because it cuts to the heart of Hezbollah’s purported utility as a resistance organization. The group’s strength, he argued, should not be judged by the blows inflicted upon it because the purpose of resistance was neither to be invincible nor to achieve conventional parity with Israel. “No resistance in history ever matched the capabilities of a State, or an enemy, or an entity, or the oppressor or colonizer. […] The strength of a resistance is [measured by] its ability to endure despite the difference in military capabilities,” he stressed, as part of Hezbollah’s longstanding redefinition of victory to mean mere survival. In the meantime, Qassem said Hezbollah was “hurting them [the Israelis] the same way they are hurting us,” somewhat illogically noting that the surplus pain on the Lebanese side of the ledger owed to “the resistance building a future, with sovereignty and independence, during this confrontation.” He then turned to a common rhetorical trick employed by Hezbollah’s spokesmen of exaggerating Israel’s losses —“over a thousand officers and soldiers killed and wounded in 40 days, though they won’t admit the true number” and “more than 45 Merkava tanks have been hit”—and Hezbollah’s successes. He boasted that Hezbollah had likely displaced more than 60,000 Israelis from the north and was able to send millions into bomb shelters with one missile.
Qassem also claimed Hezbollah was foiling all of Israel’s objectives, including attempting to turn the Lebanese public against the group through forced displacement. “[Israel] failed because these people love the Resistance,” Qassem claimed. Lebanese citizens receiving Hezbollah’s displaced supporters were not giving into Israel’s alleged desires, he said, because they realize Israel poses a collective danger to them all.
‘Hezbollah is victorious’
Hezbollah will inevitably win, Qassem insisted, because its fighting cadres were comprised of men who “bowed to God and cannot bow to another” and martyrdom-seekers entirely devoted to God. Meanwhile, the price being paid in blood and lives was “necessary to achieve victory.” In any case, he stressed, that price paled in comparison to “surrender and submission.”Qassem claimed that all of Hezbollah’s base had long internalized this idea, including the children. “Go watch the interviews they have with children, little kids, boys and girls—listen to their logic,” he said, adding, “I swear by God, these are the ones who terrify the Israelis.” He continued, “Is it possible that a six- or seven-year-old boy or five or 10-year-old girl speaks of ‘resistance’ and ‘strength’ and ‘[military] preparation’ and ‘endurance’ and emerging victorious over Israel?” His statements revealed the depths of indoctrination to which Hezbollah has subjected the children of its support base. “We cannot be defeated,” Qassem continued, “because we are in the right, the land is ours, and God is with us.” On the other hand, “it’s impossible for Netanyahu to be victorious,” he claimed, because the Israeli prime minister is ostensibly betting on “murder and extermination, which cannot create victory.” “In any case,” Qassem continued, “we will walk according to God’s teachings, and we are therefore certain of victory—and he [Netanyahu] is walking according to the Devil’s teachings, and we are certain he will be defeated despite him saying he will win.” He again framed this war in Manichean terms as Hezbollah does with all its conflicts. Moving forward, Qassem said, “Indirect negotiations—through the Lebanese state and [Parliament] Speaker [Nabih] Berri, who carries the political banner of the Resistance” can start “once the enemy decides to end the aggression.” These negotiations, he insisted, will “be built upon two matters: first, ending the aggression, and second, the ceiling of negotiations will completely protect Lebanese sovereignty, undiminished.” Here, Qassem was likely implicitly rejecting the recently leaked draft ceasefire deals, which would guarantee Israeli freedom of action in Lebanon if the Lebanese state does not diminish Hezbollah’s armed strength. Here, Qassem was insisting on undiminished Lebanese sovereignty, knowing that, absent external pressure, Lebanon and the Lebanese government will never act against the group. Qassem ended his speech by saying that if the Israelis had bet on “extending the war” to bleed Hezbollah through attrition, then the group was prepared for a long fight. “Take your time. If you want a war of attrition, we are ready,” he stressed. “No matter how much time passes, we will remain steadfast…confronting you.” Qassem promised that Israel “will not win, no matter how much time goes by” because, he reasoned, descending into somewhat mystical absurdities, “a nation that produced sayyed Hassan [Nasrallah] can only be victorious [and] a nation that backed [Imam] Hussain will defeat its enemies.” He concluded by quoting Nasrallah, saying, “This is the era of victories; the era of defeats is gone.”
*David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.

Rmeish, A Christian Border Town in Lebanon is in the Crosshairs, Again
By: Alberto M. Fernandez/National Catholic Register/November 13/2024
COMMENTARY: The greatest hope of the people of Rmeish is to live in peace. Israel and Hezbollah have other priorities.
View of Southern Lebanon villages and Metula (in Israel) as seen from Mitzpe Benya lookout, located at the foot of Misgav Am in Upper Israel. (photo: MoLarjung / Shutterstock)
Sometimes small things vividly illustrate and reveal larger truths. Rmeish is a small town in southern Lebanon close to the Israeli border. It is a mostly Christian town, with about 99% of the entire population being Maronite Catholics, one of a handful of Christian villages in a region dominated by the Shiite Muslim majority in Lebanon’s South.
The greatest hope of the people of Rmeish is to live in peace. But being so close to the border has meant that it has been a close observer and unwilling bystander to wars, including the war launched on Oct. 8, 2023 by the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah against Israel. While Hezbollah has used much of the border region to strike Israel, prompting heavy Israeli return fire, Rmeish has managed — just barely — to stay above the fray.
In March 2024, locals discovered that Hezbollah militants were trying to set up a rocket launcher in the town, a step that would have provoked a harsh Israeli response. According to Beirut’s L’Orient Le Jour, “The situation escalated to the point where the Hezbollah members started firing bullets into the air while the residents rang the bell of a church in the village.” The locals succeeded in protecting their town that day and received expressions of solidarity from Lebanese Christian leaders in Beirut. Hezbollah’s intimidation of Christians in the South, even up to outright murder, is not uncommon and has happened for decades.
The war has continued, however, and in early October 2024 the Israeli Army entered Lebanon’s border region to push back Hezbollah forces. The Israeli operation, targeting a dense network of infrastructure, weapons and tunnels honeycombed in and under Shiite Muslim villages and used by Hezbollah to launch more than 9,000 rockets against Israel, has been extremely destructive.
Rmeish has stood apart. It has been able to prevent itself from becoming a combat zone or a missile launching pad and has not been destroyed. That fact alone has made the town the target of a Hezbollah propaganda blitz on social media, accusing the town’s inhabitants of being traitors for not participating in Hezbollah’s war.
One large pro-Hezbollah X account, @WarMonitors, with more than 1 million followers, on Oct. 18 warned the inhabitants of the town against “making any mistakes,” presumably mistakes in even thinking of collaborating with the Israelis in any way. Hezbollah relies on front organizations and local proxies to apply the pressure and intimidation. Lebanese law is draconian on such matters and there is a pattern of the Lebanese government investigating individuals for even the merest suspicion of any contact with Israelis.
While some locals have fled to Beirut, many inhabitants have remained in their ancestral village. Indeed, they have welcomed hundreds of displaced Lebanese, both Shiite Muslims and Christians, from other villages in the region as “guests of Rmeish” and housed them in a local monastery. Others were sheltered in the homes of the people of Rmeish. Many came from Ain Ebel, a village that the Israelis had ordered evacuated.
With the war raging all around them, food has grown increasingly short. At one point in late October, there was no flour left to make bread. Contact with the outside world is intermittent. A humanitarian convoy was able to evacuate the villagers of Ain Ebel but the roads are dangerous and the sound of fighting and bombing between Hezbollah and Israel can often be heard easily in the town. The inhabitants that remain long for the permanent deployment of the Lebanese Army and Police and the departure of both Hezbollah and the Israelis.
The pattern of Christians caught between two fires in the Middle East is tragically a common one. Palestinian gunmen in 2002 fleeing the Israelis holed up for 39 days in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, the holy place marking the site of the manger where the Lord Jesus was born.
In Egypt, rural Christians have to tread carefully in the face of threats from both Muslim extremists and from the security forces that combat them. The decades-long war between the Turkish Army and PKK Kurdish insurgents was a direct cause in the depopulation of the Syriac Christian villagers in the Tur Abdin, “the Mountain of the Worshippers of God,” an ancient and, until 50 years ago, majority Christian refuge in southern Anatolia. In northern Iraq, Christian villages faced the depredations of Sunni Muslim jihadists a decade ago and then the continued intimidation of the Shiite Muslim militias today that had helped push the Jihadists out. As the war in Lebanon rages, and innocents are killed both north and south of the Lebanon-Israel border, we should remember and pray for the Christians of Rmeish, our brothers and sisters who have shown great steadfastness and hospitality in this current calamity. The dangers they face are not only the destruction of war drawing dangerously close but the threat of being scapegoated or demonized by others for rejecting a war not of their choosing.
*Alberto M. Fernandez Alberto M. Fernandez is a former U.S. diplomat and a contributor at EWTN News.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 12-13/2024
Israeli strikes kill 46 people in the Gaza Strip and 33 in Lebanon, medics say
Wafaa Shurafa And Samy Magdy/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) /November 12, 2024
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 46 people in the Gaza Strip in the past day, including 11 at a makeshift cafeteria in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone, medics said. In Lebanon, warplanes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs and killed 33 people elsewhere in the country on Tuesday. The latest bombardment came as the United States said it would not reduce its military support for Israel after a deadline passed for allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The State Department cited some progress, even as international aid groups said Israel had failed to meet the U.S. demands. In Lebanon, large explosions shook Beirut’s southern suburbs — an area known as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah has a significant presence — soon after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for 11 houses there. There was no immediate word on casualties. The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, including command centers and weapons production sites, without providing evidence. Another Israeli strike on an apartment building east of Beirut killed at least six people. Wael Murtada said the destroyed home belonged to his uncle and that those inside had fled from the Dahiyeh last month. He said three children were among the dead and other people were missing. An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in central Lebanon killed 15 people, including eight women and four children, and wounded at least 12 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. The strike came without warning, and state media said the building was sheltering displaced families.
Israel has been carrying out intensified bombardment of Lebanon since late September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and stop more than a year of cross-border fire by the Lebanese militant group.
A rocket exploded in a storage building in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya on Tuesday, killing two people, first responders said. Another two people were wounded by shrapnel in a separate impact outside the town. A Hezbollah drone smashed into a nursery school near the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Tuesday morning, but the children were inside a bomb shelter and there were no injuries. The impact scattered debris across the playground.
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 46
At the same time, Israel has continued its 13-month campaign in Gaza set off by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel. An Israeli strike late Monday hit a makeshift cafeteria used by displaced people in Muwasi, the center of a “humanitarian zone” that Israel’s military declared earlier in the war. At least 11 people were killed, including two children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Video from the scene showed men pulling bloodied wounded from among tables and chairs set up in the sand in an enclosure made of corrugated metal sheets. A strike on a house in the northern town of Beit Hanoun killed 15 people on Tuesday, including relatives of Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat, who has been reporting from the north. Mohamed Shabat and his wife Dima, both volunteer doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital, were killed along with their daughter Eliaa, according to hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya. Strikes in central and southern Gaza killed another 20 people, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.
Under US pressure, Israel allows more aid into Gaza
Hours earlier, the Israeli military announced a small expansion of the humanitarian zone, where it has told Palestinians evacuating from other parts of Gaza to take refuge. Hundreds of thousands are sheltering in sprawling tent camps in and around Muwasi, a desolate area with few public services.
Israeli forces have also been besieging the northernmost part of Gaza since the beginning of October, battling Hamas fighters it says regrouped there. With virtually no food or aid allowed in for more than a month, the siege has raised fears of famine among the tens of thousands of Palestinians believed to still be sheltering there. The United States gave Israel a 30-day deadline — that expired this week — to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling on it to allow at least 350 truckloads to enter each day, among other things. So far, Israel has fallen short. In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, and 75 a day so far in November, according to Israel’s official figures. The United Nations puts the number lower, at 39 trucks daily since the beginning of October. Israel has announced a flurry of measures in recent days to increase aid, including opening a new crossing into central Gaza and some small deliveries of food and water to the north. But so far the impact is unclear.
More forced evacuations in isolated northern Gaza
The military announced Tuesday that four soldiers were killed in Jabaliya, bringing to 24 the number of soldiers killed in the assault there since it began. Palestinian health officials say hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, though the true numbers are unknown as rescue workers are unable to reach buildings destroyed in strikes. Israel has ordered residents in the area to evacuate. But the U.N. has estimated some 70,000 people remain. Many Palestinians there fear Israel aims to permanently depopulate the area to more easily keep control of it. On Tuesday, witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli troops had encircled at least three schools in Beit Hanoun, forcing hundreds of displaced people sheltering inside to leave. Drones blared announcements demanding people move south to Gaza City, said Mahmoud al-Kafarnah, speaking from one of the schools as sounds of gunfire could be heard. “The tanks are outside,” he said. “We don’t know where to go.”Hashim Afanah, sheltering with at least 20 other people in his family home, said the forces were evicting people from houses and shelters.
The U.N.’s top humanitarian official, Joyce Msuya, told the Security Council on Tuesday that “acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes” are being committed in Gaza. “The daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limits,” she said, pointing to recent developments in Beit Hanoun. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities that do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say more than half the dead are women and children. Israel says it targets Hamas militants who hide among civilians.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250 as hostages. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead.

UN force says Israeli work on so-called Alpha Line with Syria saw ‘severe violations’ of ceasefire
AP/November 12, 2024
DUBAI: United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed “severe violations” of a ceasefire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. The comments from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, which has patrolled the area since 1974, come after an Associated Press report Monday that published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier. The work, which UNDOF said began in July, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip’s frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire. While such violence hasn’t broken out along the Alpha Line, UNDOF warned Tuesday the work risked further inflaming tensions in the region. “Such severe violations of the (demilitarized zone) have the potential to increase tensions in the area and is being closely monitored by UNDOF,” it added. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Syrian officials have declined to comment on the construction, though UNDOF described Syrian officials as having “strongly protested” the work. As Israel conducted the construction work, which UNDOF described as “extensive engineering groundwork activities,” it has protected earth-moving equipment with armored vehicles and main battle tanks, the peacekeepers said. Troops and earth-moving equipment have crossed the Alpha Line into the demilitarized zone in Syria, known to UNDOF as the “area of separation.”“Violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement have occurred where engineering works have encroached into the AOS,” the peacekeepers said in a statement, using an acronym for the area. “There have been several violations by (Israel) in the form of their presence in the AoS because of these activities.”UNDOF has repeatedly protested the work, which it described as violating the ceasefire deal over the months of construction so far. “Based on the engagement, (Israel) has indicated that the current earthworks are being carried out for defensive purpose to prevent unauthorized crossing and violations by civilians,” the peacekeepers added.
Israel sent a 71-page letter in June to the UN outlining what it described as “Syrian violations of the Alpha Line and armed presence in the area of separation (that) occur daily.” The letter cited numerous Israeli-alleged violations by Syrian civilians crossing the line. Syria has constantly accused Israel of launching attacks against it from territory it occupies in the Golan Heights. Israel has frequently struck Syria over the years, particularly after the start of the Mideast wars following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel. Israel seized control of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. The UN Secretary Council voted to create UNDOF to patrol a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized zone and maintain the peace there after the 1973 Mideast war. A second demarcation, known as the Bravo Line, marks the limit of where the Syrian military can operate. UNDOF has around 1,100 troops, mostly from Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Uruguay, who patrol the area. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 — a move criticized by a UN resolution declaring Israel’s action as “null and void and without international legal effect.” The territory, some 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) in size, is a strategic high ground that overlooks both Israel and Syria. Around 50,000 Jewish settlers and Arabs who are mostly members of the Druze sect of Shiite Islam live there.
In 2019, President Donald Trump unilaterally announced that the United States would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory, a decision that has been unchanged by the Biden administration. However, it’s the only other country to do so, as the rest of the world views it as occupied Syrian territory.

Iran builds 'defensive tunnel' in Tehran to avoid future Israeli attacks
Jerusalem Post/November 12/2024
According to Iranian media, the tunnel, located near Tehran's city center, will link a station on the Tehran metro to the Imam Khomeini Hospital. Iran is building what it termed a "defensive tunnel" in the capital, Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, following two counter-strikes by Israel on Iran, including one last month. Israel’s air force counter-attacked Iran on April 19 and in a much larger series of strikes on October 26 after the Islamic Republic launched two massive aerial attacks on the Jewish state on April 13-14 and October 1. Tehran attacked Israel with over 300 aerial threats, including around 120 ballistic missiles in April and around 180 ballistic missiles on October 1. The air force responded on April 19 by destroying Iran’s S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system, which was guarding its Natanz nuclear facility, and on October 26 by destroying four more critical S-300 systems, including a number of sites related to Iranian ballistic missile production. According to the Tasnim report, the tunnel, located near the city center, will link a station on the Tehran metro to the Imam Khomeini hospital, thus allowing direct underground access to the medical facility. "For the first time in the country, a tunnel with defensive applications is being built in Tehran," the head of transport for Tehran City Council told Tasnim.
Examining Iran's broader, longer-term strategy of underground fortifications
Although the initiative seems to be new, it could reflect Iran's broader and longer-term strategy of using underground fortifications, which it has been using and expanding for years. As early as 2006, Iran built a secret nuclear facility under a mountain at Fordow, which the West only exposed in 2009. There is speculation that absent the facility’s exposure, Tehran might have tried to use the facility to clandestinely break out into a nuclear weapon. In any event, by building the facility underground, Iran hoped it would be impossible for Israel to strike the facility, even if it wanted to. In 2021, Iran started to build a second nuclear facility underground, under a mountain at Natanz. At a number of other locations, Iran built its conventional ballistic missile facilities and a number of air force assets underground to protect them from being attacked. This was also to make it harder for Jerusalem or Washington to attack various strategic sources of Iranian military power. Although Iran called the new tunnels defensive and focused on connecting a hospital to a metro station, none of Israel’s two attacks on Iran have struck a single civilian location. Rather, if the latest announcement follows past Iranian actions, it could be covered for moving more and more of its nuclear, military, and governing capabilities, as well as the ability to move assets in those fields around underground. Such moves will make them harder to strike and allow the movement of assets beyond the sight of Israel’s and the US’s satellites. During the weeks when Israeli and other defense experts debated whether Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear program or less important assets, one of the concerns was that if Jerusalem struck but did not hit the nuclear program, Tehran might decide to move its nuclear assets further out of reach, such as underground. The latest announcement may now be such a process playing out.

At UN, US warns Israel against forcible displacement, starvation in Gaza
Michelle Nichols/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) /November 12, 2024
The United States stressed at the United Nations on Tuesday that "there must be no forcible displacement, nor policy of starvation in Gaza" by Israel, warning such policies would have grave implications under U.S. and international law. The remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield came just hours after Washington said its ally Israel was doing enough to address the humanitarian crisis in Israel to avoid facing potential restrictions on U.S. military aid. "Still, Israel must ensure its actions are fully implemented - and its improvements sustained over time," Thomas-Greenfield told the U.N. Security Council. It was also urgently important that Israel pause implementation of a law banning the operation of the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, she added. The council met over a report by global hunger experts that said there was a "strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas" of northern Gaza as Israel pursues a military offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the area. "Most of Gaza is now a wasteland of rubble," acting U.N. aid chief Joyce Msuya told the council. "As I brief you, Israeli authorities are blocking humanitarian assistance from entering North Gaza, where fighting continues, and around 75,000 people remain with dwindling water and food supplies," she said. Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon rejected the famine warning by the global hunger experts as "simply false" and outlined efforts by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. "I urge each of you to consider the facts. Look closely at Israel's actions on the ground. Consider the risks our soldiers take to uphold these humanitarian commitments, often in the face of active threats," Danon told the council. Slovenia's U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar said the Security Council needed to take action.
"More than a year into the war, we cannot accept assurances implying that everything possible is being done for protection of civilian population in Gaza. This is simply not true," he told the council. The U.N. Security Council is currently discussing a draft resolution that "demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire to be respected by all parties" in Gaza. It also "demands the facilitation of full, rapid, safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance at scale to and throughout the Gaza Strip and its delivery to all Palestinian civilians who need it."The text was drafted by the elected 10 members of the council, who began negotiating with the permanent five veto-wielding members - Russia, China, the U.S., Britain and France - at the beginning of November. Russia and China on Tuesday backed the draft text and called for it to be put to a vote as soon as possible. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass.

U.S. and Israel Expose Iran’s Tenacious Malign Influence
Max Lesser & Ari Ben Am/FDD/November 12/2024
The FBI, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Israel National Cyber Directorate published a joint cybersecurity advisory on October 30 detailing new tradecraft and operations by Emennet Pasargad, a threat actor linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The detailed discussion of Iranian tradecraft in this report can strengthen global efforts to combat Iran’s malign influence, thus demonstrating the benefits of close collaboration between America and its democratic allies when combating malign influence from common adversaries. Emennet Pasargad, which now operates under the company name Aria Sepehr Ayandehsazan (ASA), is one of Iran’s most tenacious threat actors, having conducted multiple prominent cyber and influence operations in support of numerous malign actors, including Hamas. For example, ASA published the private information of Israeli Olympians to scare the athletes and the Israeli public; attempted to contact the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza to inflict more trauma; and sent out mass text messages seeking to incite Muslim protests in Sweden following the burning of Qurans by political extremists. ASA also attempted to interfere with the 2020 U.S. presidential election — prompting Treasury sanctions, a Department of Justice indictment, and a State Department award of $10 million for any information leading to the identification or location of its leadership. On October 23, 2024, Microsoft revealed that the group conducted reconnaissance and limited probing against election-related websites in several swing states in April 2024.
The joint advisory reveals several significant developments in ASA’s tradecraft. ASA had previously conducted hack-and-leak operations primarily to steal and then publicize sensitive information, thereby causing psychological, reputational, and financial harm. Now ASA uses commercially available artificial intelligence tools to generate and enhance images and audio for its operations. Among other tactics, the advisory details how ASA creates front companies to purchase web hosting services from unsuspecting foreign companies. ASA then uses some of the infrastructure for its own cyber and influence operations. The group provides the rest to other Iranian terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah. The advisory also details how ASA gathers sensitive information without using cyberattacks, instead relying on open-source intelligence-based reconnaissance methods. To research specific individuals, ASA uses commercially available identification tools and services as well as publicly available data from social media and from genealogy services such as ancestry.com. Iran presumably does this in preparation to launch further cyber or physical attacks. ASA also uses specialized search engines to identify exposed internet-connected cameras to gather visual intelligence on sites, the locations of which remain undisclosed in the joint advisory. The advisory warns that in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, ASA harvested from cameras across Israel. In releasing such a detailed advisory, thereby enabling private companies and other governments to take steps to mitigate Iranian operations, the United States and Israel demonstrate the value of international collaboration on investigation and attribution of cyber and influence operations. At the same time, America and its allies should take further steps to make it more difficult for Iran and other adversaries to conduct these operations, by signing new information-sharing and cooperation agreements. By creating a stronger regulatory environment, Washington and other governments could undermine Iran’s use of front companies to access base-level internet infrastructure such as data centers. While many managed hosting providers already require the completion of know-your-customer forms by consumers seeking to purchase domains and rent out servers, these processes are porous. Mandating a more stringent registration process for firms that directly provide hosting infrastructure for clients would empower the United States and its allies to better catch fronts like the ones used by Iran in these operations.
*Max Lesser is the senior analyst on emerging threats at the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Ari Ben Am is an adjunct fellow at the center. For more analysis from the authors, CCTI, and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Ari on X @ari_ben_am. Follow FDD and CCTI on X @FDD and @FDD_CCTI. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.

As the transition unfolds, Trump eyes one of his favorite targets: US intelligence
David Klepper/The Associated Press/November 12, 2024
Donald Trump has long viewed the nation's spy services with suspicion, accusing them of trying to undermine his first term and campaigns. Now that he's returning to the White House, Trump's promises to overhaul the U.S. intelligence agencies put him on a collision course with one of most secretive and powerful parts of government. For the CIA and other intelligence agencies, the start of Trump's second administration is a way to reset an often challenging relationship with a leader who has in the past dismissed them as the deepest of the deep state — Trump's label for the thousands of career federal employees that carry out the work of government regardless of who is president. For Trump, the return to power offers an opportunity to follow through on promises to clean house of officials that he believes have tried to challenge his leadership and criticize his actions.
The stakes of the relationship with the spy agencies couldn't be higher and are almost certain to be reflected in Trump's appointments to top positions. Former and current intelligence officials also are watching for clues indicating whether Trump will use U.S. intelligence to inform foreign policy and national security decisions or whether he will realize the fears of critics, who worry he could spill classified secrets or seek to weaponize intelligence work against Americans. “If he comes in committed to retribution and cleaning house, that’s going to impact the agency. We're going to lose people, and there's going to be this fear: ‘What will get me in trouble politically?’” said Douglas London, a 34-year CIA veteran who now writes about intelligence work and teaches at Georgetown University. London said that in his experience, intelligence officials work hard to avoid any appearance of partisanship and put their constitutional oaths ahead of politics.“There’s very little agency officials can do," London added, "other than to show: ‘We’re here, we’re on your team, we’re here to support you.’” Trump signaled his intentions the day after he won his second term.
“We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them,” Trump said in a video released last week. “The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled.”
In an effort to head off any difficulties with the president-elect, intelligence agencies are emphasizing their nonpartisan mission and their usefulness to any new president looking to understand a globe complicated by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the growing partnership between China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Intelligence officials won't say if Trump has already received an intelligence briefing, but the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement saying it is following a standard procedure for new presidents that dates to Dwight Eisenhower's election.
“ODNI is acting consistent with the tradition, in place since 1952, of providing intelligence briefings to the president-elect," the office wrote. During his time in the White House or on the campaign trail, Trump has been anything but traditional, displaying an animosity toward the nation’s spy agencies unlike any seen since Richard Nixon, who believed the CIA and other agencies sought to undermine his presidency. Trump often railed against the CIA and other spy agencies, accusing them of working to undermine his first administration and seeking to prevent him from retaking the White House. He also has blamed intelligence officials for questioning his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump received fewer intelligence briefings as president than any other recent commander in chief. In 2021, President Joe Biden suggested that Trump should no longer receive the standard intelligence briefings given to former presidents, calling Trump “erratic.” Trump also was accused of mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate — a case now stalled in the courts that prosecutors are seeking to wind down following the election. Trump's win gives him a mandate to carry out his vision for national security and intelligence, said Elbridge Colby, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the first Trump administration. Colby said wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with China's growing rivalry, show Trump doesn't have time to be delicate with the nation's national security and intelligence agencies, likening them to the Titanic heading toward an iceberg.
“If you turn the Titanic 90 degrees, people are going to fall out of their bunks, chandeliers and beautiful plates are going to get broken," Colby said Sunday on Tucker Carlson's internet show. “But that's where we are. ... President Trump ran against the system.”
Trump's picks to helm the CIA and other spy agencies are likely to offer the first clues about his intentions. Individuals mentioned as possible CIA directors include John Ratcliffe, Trump’s former director of national intelligence; Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee; and Kash Patel, a Trump aide who worked at the Defense Department and the National Security Council during Trump’s first term. Patel has been upfront about his desire to use government to strike back at Trump's critics and those who opposed his 2020 campaign. “We will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media” over the 2020 election, Patel said on Steve Bannon's podcast last year. Trump and his allies have repeatedly claimed the that election was stolen, for which there is no evidence. A spokesperson for Patel declined to comment. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Trump transition said the president-elect will reveal his administration appointments as they are decided but offered no timeframe for an announcement.

Yemen's Houthi rebels launch drones and missiles at US warships near the Red Sea but do no damage
JON GAMBRELL and TARA COPP/Associated Press/November 12, 2024
Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted two U.S. Navy warships with multiple drones and missiles as they were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful, the Defense Department said Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the Iranian-backed Houthis launched at least eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles at the USS Stockdale and the USS Spruance, both Navy destroyers, on Monday. He said there was no damage and no one was injured. The incoming fires “were successfully engaged,” Ryder said. The strait is a narrow waterway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year. The rebels have been targeting shipping through the strait for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon. In response, U.S. and partnered forces have launched multiple rounds of coordinated airstrikes against Houthi launch sites and weapons storage sites, and the U.S. organized an international coalition to help provide protection to commercial vessels as they transited — but it has not stopped the Houthi attacks. The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region. Meanwhile, a U.N. panel of experts now alleges that the Houthis may be shaking down some shippers for about $180 million a month for safe passage through the area. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree in a prerecorded statement earlier Tuesday had claimed the rebels attacked two American destroyers in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones. There were also reports of a commercial ship being attacked. A vessel in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, reported the attack, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. No one was wounded on board in the blasts, and the ship was continuing on its journey, the UKMTO added. It wasn't immediately clear if the UKMTO report was directly linked to the attacks on the U.S. destroyers, but similar incidents of rebel fire coming near other ships have happened before. The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The Houthis have shot down multiple American MQ-9 Reaper drones as well. The last Houthi maritime attack came Oct. 28 and targeted the Liberian-flagged bulk tanker Motaro. Before that, an Oct. 10 attack targeted the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Olympic Spirit. It's unclear why the Houthis' attacks have dropped, though they have launched multiple missiles toward Israel as well. On Oct. 17, the U.S. military unleashed B-2 stealth bombers to target underground bunkers used by the rebels. U.S. airstrikes also have been targeting Houthi positions in recent days as well. Meanwhile, a report by U.N. experts from October says “the Houthis allegedly collected illegal fees from a few shipping agencies to allow their ships to sail through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden without being attacked.” It put the money generated a month at around $180 million, though it stressed it hadn't been able to corroborate the information provided by sources to the panel. The Houthis haven't directly responded to the allegation. However, the report did include two threatening emails the Houthis sent to shippers, with one of those vessels later coming under attack by the rebels.

US warships repelled attack from Yemen's Houthis, Pentagon says
Reuters/November 12, 2024
U.S. warships shot down drones and missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis while they were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, the Houthis said they conducted two military operations against U.S. naval vessels in the Red and Arabian seas which the group's military spokesperson said lasted for eight hours. Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said that on Monday two U.S. warships were attacked by at least eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles. The warships brought down the projectiles and there was no damage to the vessels. Ryder said he was not aware of any attacks against the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea had earlier said the first operation targeted a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian sea with a number of missiles and drones, while the second operation launched missiles and drones at two U.S. destroyers in the Red Sea. The Iran-backed Houthi movement, which controls northern Yemen, has been launching attacks on international shipping lanes near Yemen since Oct. 7 which they say are against ships they perceive as Israeli-linked in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war in Gaza. The attacks have drawn U.S. and British retaliatory strikes. The Houthis previously said they targeted U.S. destroyers and drones.

Houthis attack US warships after US strikes in Yemen
Ruth Comerford - BBC News/November 12, 2024
A multiple-missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on two US warships has been thwarted, the Pentagon has said. At least eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles were aimed at the USS Stockdale and the USS Spruance on Monday. The vessels shot down the projectiles and were "not damaged and no personnel were hurt," Pentagon press secretary Air Force Major Gen Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday. The attack followed a series of airstrikes made by the US Central Command against Houthi weapons storage bases in Yemen.
US bombers target underground Houthi weapon sites in Yemen. The attack happened while the Iranian-backed rebel group were travelling through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a waterway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi movement, said that a series of airstrikes had targeted two US warships and a third vessel in the Arabian Sea. The group's military spokesman, Yahya al-Sarea, said in a statement on X that the rebels had "successfully" bombarded the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with a number of cruise missiles. Ryder said he was "not aware of any attacks" on the Abraham Lincoln vessel. "We will continue to make clear to the Houthis there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks," he said. The Houthis are part of a network of armed groups in the Middle East backed by Iran that includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. They have repeatedly targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third of targeted ships and killed crew members. They say they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have claimed, often falsely, that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK. Earlier this year, the US, UK and 12 other nations launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect Red Sea shipping lanes against the Houthis. In October, the US military said it had launched strikes on 15 Houthi targets in Yemen, with several explosions reported in the capital Sanaa.It has previously said it aims to degrade the Houthis' ability to target shipping. Disaster averted in Red Sea as burning tanker saved

US Navy destroyers unscathed after fighting off a complex attack of cruise and ballistic missiles and exploding drones
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/November 12, 2024
The US Navy defeated a complex attack launched by the Houthis on Monday that saw the rebels fire several missiles and drones at two American warships off the coast of Yemen, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Tuesday. The destroyers USS Stockdale and USS Spruance came under fire as they were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic maritime chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Navy repelled multiple Houthi attacks involving at least three anti-ship cruise missiles, five anti-ship ballistic missiles, and eight one-way attack drones, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at a press briefing Tuesday. Ryder said that the attacks were "successfully engaged and defeated. The vessels were not damaged; no personnel were hurt." Earlier, the Houthis said they attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea and two unnamed American destroyers in the Red Sea. The Iran-backed rebels said that they achieved their objectives. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale sails alongside the Egyptian Navy El Suez-class corvette ENS Abu Qir in October. The Stockdale is one of the vessels that came under attack on Monday. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale sails alongside the Egyptian Navy El Suez-class corvette ENS Abu Qir in October. The Stockdale is one of the vessels that came under attack on Monday. Ryder said he was unaware of any attack on the Lincoln.
His announcement came several hours after US Central Command published footage showing fighter jets taking off from the Lincoln to "support operations" against the Houthis. It was not immediately clear if that footage was related to the Monday attack on the destroyers or earlier US military action against the rebels. Ryder also shared that US forces carried out precision airstrikes against multiple Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen over the weekend. He said the operation involved F-35 stealth aircraft, which were seen in Centcom's footage. The attack against the destroyers on Monday marks the latest Houthi attack on Navy warships off the coast of Yemen. In late September, US forces fended off a similarly complex missile and drone assault. The Navy has routinely intercepted Houthi missiles and drones targeting military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the past year. The rebels have said their actions are in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Monday's engagement came against the backdrop of a similar interaction that occurred between American forces and other Iranian groups in Syria over the past few days. On Sunday, US personnel at Mission Support Site Green Village in northeast Syria came under two separate attacks involving a drone and indirect rocket fire, Ryder said. In response to the attacks, American forces carried out airstrikes the next day against nine targets in two locations linked to Iranian groups.
Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the Centcom commander, said attacks against US and coalition partners in the Middle East "will not be tolerated." "We will continue to take every step necessary to protect our personnel and coalition partners and respond to reckless attacks," he said in a statement on the US airstrikes.

Canada/Ottawa principal apologizes for playing Arabic song during Remembrance Day ceremony
CBC/Tue, November 12, 2024
An Ottawa high school principal has apologized for playing an Arabic song about peace during a Remembrance Day ceremony after facing swift backlash from critics calling it inappropriate and hurtful to members of the Jewish community. During the ceremony at Sir Robert Borden High School, located on Greenbank Road, on Monday, school officials included a song titled "Haza Salam," in the program. In a letter issued Tuesday, the school's principal Aaron Hobbs said the intention "was to foster a message of peace and remembrance, reflecting on the importance of unity and reconciliation," but that he has since become aware the song "caused significant distress to some members of our school community." "For this, I would like to offer my apologies," he said. The song title, when translated to English, roughly means "This Is Peace." Many comments on multiple Youtube videos of the song, speak of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinians, though the song itself makes no mention of the conflict in the Middle East. "The inclusion of a song that could be seen as politically charged was not in line with the values of respect and unity that we strive to uphold at this school," wrote Hobbs.
Criticism from Jewish community, politicians
Criticism has extended well-beyond those in the public school board. In a statement issued over social media, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa said it was "deeply concerned" over the use of the song during the ceremony. It said including a song which is associated with one side of a divisive foreign conflict "reflects poor judgment for a public-school setting." Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod, an outspoken supporter of Israel and its actions during the conflict, shared her own reaction on social media, claiming the service "did not follow the Royal Canadian Legion protocol and also distressed all of the Jewish students."
She said she also requested the school take disciplinary measures. "What an absolute disgrace that so many woke activists and authorities used Remembrance Day to push their divisive and radical causes," wrote Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre on X, though he didn't make any specific mention of the ceremony at the Ottawa high school. Sean Bruyea, a veteran who served in the Gulf War and an advocate for veterans with disabilities called it "one of the most profoundly shocking incidents" he's ever heard involving a Remembrance Day ceremony. The inclusion of that song does nothing to educate the sacrifices made by Canadian veterans, he said, and goes against why many serve in the military — to ensure that the conflicts overseas "are not manifested on our own soil."
School board investigating
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board released a statement, confirming it was conducting an investigation into the incident. "In order to ensure the integrity of the investigation, we will not be commenting further on this matter until the investigation is complete," wrote general manager of communications Diane Pernari. However, several human rights advocacy groups are now condemning the backlash, calling it anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab. "Just because the language is Arabic?" asked Jamila Ewais, a researcher with the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East's anti-racism program. "What if someone was singing this language, let's say this song or like a similar song in, I don't know German or Ukrainian language?" The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada said it was also in touch with the OCDSB, and shared its own statement over social media condemning criticism of the song's use during the ceremony. "Comments like these create an unsafe environment, making it harder for Muslims to freely practice their faith and celebrate their identity," it said. "Schools and public spaces must be welcoming environments for all, where diversity is respected and celebrated."

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on November 12-13/2024
Israel: The Way Forward
Nils A. Haug/Gatestone Institute./November 12, 2024
Fortunately for Israel, former US President Donald J. Trump was just re-elected to serve a second term. Within hours, Hamas indicated that now might be a good time to talk about peace. Qatar, perhaps concerned that its days of double-dealing might be coming to an end, announced it would be "stalling" its role as a mediator between the US and Hamas. The landslide victory of Trump in the US election this week appears finally to be restoring deterrence.
Israel's society is politically and ideologically split. On one side are Israelis who understandably want their relatives back, and have been hoping for a ceasefire. Sadly, they are probably unaware that Iran, Qatar and Hamas, are loath to relinquish the only bargaining chip they have, and will undoubtedly drag out releasing even one hostage as long as they can.
[A]fter 13 months of futile ceasefire negotiations, many Israelis appear to have trouble realizing that if Hamas and its backers, Iran and Qatar, so wished, the hostages would be home by now.
If the priority of Israeli progressives were to rescue the hostages, they would demand that Hamas release them. "The slogan for freeing the hostages," wrote British journalist Douglas Murray, "... should never have been 'Being them home.' It should be 'Give them back.' Now."
Murray has also noted that for years, the Biden administration has put all its efforts into trying to oust Netanyahu when it would probably have been better off putting all its efforts into ousting the Iranian regime.
Israel's progressives would also have called on the international community to pressure Iran and Qatar, rather than hector their own prime minister. Sadly, these Israelis, some of them in desperation to see their loved ones again, are playing into the hands of Hamas. Its leaders must be delighted to see a divided Israel turn against itself. Painfully, Israeli activists are doing damage to both their country and the hostages.
Among Israel's most vocal protestors are prominent Israeli politicians, backed -- and some funded -- by the Biden administration. The US appears to desire someone more malleable in Israel's number-one spot: a person, one assumes, willing to do whatever the US dictates.
The Biden administration's goal appears to be establishment of a terrorist Palestinian state on Israel's border. In addition, Iran will soon be able to produce nuclear weapons with which to bomb Israel to oblivion. This monumentally destabilizing objective was proposed by the Obama administration in its illegitimate 2015 "Iran nuclear deal," officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (JCPOA)...
As American journalist Daniel Greenfield points out: "The appeasement lobby only has one big idea when it comes to Islamic terrorists and any other enemies: 1. Give them land..."
Evidence shows that, unfortunately, this strategy does not work. The failure of the Oslo Accords only emphasizes that fact. The "ceiling" of each offer becomes the "floor" of the next one, as each concession is pocketed in the expectation of more.
Meanwhile, in the USA, President-elect Donald J. Trump is already creating seismic global changes within days, long before his inauguration on January 20, 2025.
Fortunately for Israel, former US President Donald J. Trump was just re-elected to serve a second term. Trump is already creating seismic global changes within days, long before his inauguration on January 20, 2025. Pictured from left to right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then US President Donald Trump, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan at the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords at the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Israel, under the heroic but much criticized statesman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – a leader praised by historian Andrew Roberts as "The Churchill of the Middle East" – appears to have brought threats from Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, under control and can now focus Israel's attention and military forces on other fronts.
Incomprehensibly, at this crucial period in Israel's existence, the chaotic domestic political situation has been cooking up unnecessary problems for the nation's security. Internal turmoil in Israel just serves to stimulate the hope for victory in its enemies, and less hope for the quick release of Israeli and other hostages Hamas is holding. "Hamas," wrote JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, "views the unrest inside the Jewish state as an asset."
Fortunately for Israel, former US President Donald J. Trump was just re-elected to serve a second term. Within hours, Hamas indicated that now might be a good time to talk about peace. Qatar, perhaps concerned that its days of double-dealing might be coming to an end, announced it would be "stalling" its role as a mediator between the US and Hamas. The landslide victory of Trump in the US election this week appears finally to be restoring deterrence.
Israel's society is politically and ideologically split. On one side are Israelis who understandably want their relatives back, and have been hoping for a ceasefire. Sadly, they are probably unaware that Iran, Qatar and Hamas, are loath to relinquish the only bargaining chip they have, and will undoubtedly drag out releasing even one hostage as long as they can. Delaying the release of the hostages would also expand the time Hamas has to rearm, regroup and attack Israel again "until it is annihilated", as Hamas senior official Ghazi Hamad announced. The hope seems to be that if they keep making the lives of Israel's Jews miserable enough, they will all finally pack up and leave. They apparently do not know the Jews.
Nevertheless, after 13 months of futile ceasefire negotiations, many Israelis appear to have trouble realizing that if Hamas and its backers, Iran and Qatar, so wished, the hostages would be home by now.
"[A]s long as the hostages are useful to their cause," notes Tobin, "Hamas will hold onto many of them, despite the belief among some Israelis that it is Netanyahu's stubbornness or political ambition that is the obstacle to their freedom."
The real aim of agitators on the Israeli left appears to be the collapse of Netanyahu's elected government, and ousting the prime minister, whom they apparently regard as a destructive, self-serving war-monger. Netanyahu is unfairly deemed responsible for failure to rescue all Gaza hostages by now, despite a total lack of leverage over the situation other than a ceasefire/surrender.
Hamas continues to demand two key concessions: a complete Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, and an end to the "blockade." Agreement by Israel would enable Hamas to import weapons again and to maintain its hold on power. Keeping hostages is presumably an ideal way to ensure that Israel will not re-enter Gaza, and jeopardize their safety. Meanwhile, radical jihadists from Hamas's puppet-master, Iran, continue trying to wipe Israel off the map (here and here).
Netanyahu and his government seem determined to protect Israel from repeating the horrors of October 7, 2023. Sadly, this agenda is wrongly seen by many as a lack of concern for rescuing the hostages before they are all murdered or die.
Even before October 7, 2023, agitators were protesting Netanyahu's undisputed electoral victory in what actually appeared an effort to oust him. That seemed the real objective in opposing Israel's badly needed "judicial reform."
If the priority of Israeli progressives were to rescue the hostages, they would demand that Hamas release them. "The slogan for freeing the hostages," wrote British journalist Douglas Murray, "... should never have been 'Being them home.' It should be 'Give them back.' Now."
Murray has also noted that for years, the Biden administration has put all its efforts into trying to oust Netanyahu when it would probably have been better off putting all its efforts into ousting the Iranian regime.
Israel's progressives would also have called on the international community to pressure Iran and Qatar, rather than hector their own prime minister. Sadly, these Israelis, some of them in desperation to see their loved ones again, are playing into the hands of Hamas. Its leaders must be delighted to see a divided Israel turn against itself. Painfully, Israeli activists are doing damage to both their country and the hostages.
Among Israel's most vocal protestors are prominent Israeli politicians, backed -- and some funded -- by the Biden administration. The US appears to desire someone more malleable in Israel's number-one spot: a person, one assumes, willing to do whatever the US dictates. This is probably not the best way to treat an ally. The Biden administration's goal appears to be establishment of a terrorist Palestinian state on Israel's border. In addition, Iran will soon be able to produce nuclear weapons with which to bomb Israel to oblivion. This monumentally destabilizing objective was proposed by the Obama administration in its illegitimate 2015 "Iran nuclear deal," officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA), the sunset clauses of which guarantee Iran's regime, in just a few years, as many weapons as they can build.
According to Iran's former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, all it would take for Iran to obliterate Israel, a country smaller than the state of New Jersey, was one bomb.
Anti-Netanyahu-government agitators, apart from those in the Biden administration, include much of Israel's media. So-called "progressive" political leaders in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe are apparently more worried about trade than a world upended by an expansionist regime with nuclear weapons.
As American journalist Daniel Greenfield points out:
"The appeasement lobby only has one big idea when it comes to Islamic terrorists and any other enemies: 1. Give them land..."
Evidence shows that, unfortunately, this strategy does not work. The failure of the Oslo Accords only emphasizes that fact. The "ceiling" of each offer becomes the "floor" of the next one, as each concession is pocketed in the expectation of more.
On the pro-Netanyahu end of the spectrum is a sizable group of Israelis and other supporters, acting to preserve the nation against future assaults while fending off attempts to replace the prime minister with one who would surrender to Hamas. The opposition, no doubt, hold to an illusory hope of welcoming the hostages back home. Sadly, only about half the remaining hostages are thought still to be alive.
The hostages seem to have become Hamas's "insurance policy": Israel will not presumably be able to attack Hamas in the future for fear of killing them. It is believed Hamas's late leader, Yahya Sinwar, for his personal safety, surrounded himself with hostages. Sinwar, far from wanting to be a "martyr", prioritized his personal safety as a pre-condition for a ceasefire. Found on his body when the Israelis finally dispatched him was the passport of an UNRWA teacher.
Israel's few international supporters have, in the main, offered erratic or limited assistance while imposing unconscionable conditions. Western leaders, including the US, attempted to micro-manage and constrain Israel's handling of the war, to the extent that without their interference, the Gaza campaign could possibly have been brought to an end months ago. "Do what you have to do," Trump recently told Netanyahu, but, according to one report, he asked Netanyahu to please finish the war by inauguration day, January 20, 2025.
In calls between Netanyahu and Trump, they reportedly "see eye-to-eye on Iran."
The failure for agreeing to a ceasefire appears to lie with Hamas's intransigence, coupled with mixed signals from the Biden administration. By threatening Israel and withholding weapons, the US administration has, ironically, protracted the war and given Qatar, Iran, and its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis – the idea that all they have to do is wait, and the US, by forcing Israel to heel, will hand them a victory.
The Gaza Ministry of Health -- run by Hamas - bewails the large number of alleged civilian casualties in Gaza; a number hugely and falsely inflated. Hamas fails to reveal exactly how many of the casualties were terrorists. Hamas deliberately causes casualties by concealing weapons depots and command centers in the middle of crowded schools, hospitals, and mosques so that Israel will be blamed. This practice, known as "Hamas's CNN strategy," consists of showing dead babies to television crews so the media and international community will force Israel to stop defending itself, supposedly for "humanitarian" reasons.
Israelis demonstrating for Netanyahu's ouster claim that they hold him primarily responsible for intelligence and security shortcomings which enabled the October 7th disaster. Prime ministers, however, are reliant for information on the state's military and intelligence services, which may have failed to provide him with real-time warnings of Hamas's impending attack. The combination of internal forces, aided by Western politicians in their aim to overthrow Israel's democratically elected government, creates discord that plays straight into the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, Qatar, Iran, and Israel's other enemies. Israel's internal turbulence most likely suits the Biden administration, which has still not acted strongly against the lynchpin of all this devastation, Iran. On the contrary, the Biden administration rewarded Iran with "closer to $60 billion" -- a windfall that Iran's regime must at least partially draw on to finance their wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.
In a disrespectful comment implicating Netanyahu and the entire Israeli Knesset (Parliament), the US reportedly described Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant -- who they appeared to consider a compliant potential replacement for Netanyahu -- as the "only adult in the room." That remark came after they had seemingly given up on replacing Netanyahu with former Defense Minister Benny Gantz and, had considered former (briefly) Prime Minister Yair Lipid.
Netanyahu seems determined to protect Israel to the end from future attacks by adversaries, both within and without. Gallant was dismissed from the government earlier this month. "[T]rust between me and the minister of defense has cracked," Netanyahu said.
Lapid, Gantz, Gallant, Biden, Blinken and others in the circle all appear to be like-minded, acting questionably in the interests of Israel's elected government, and arguably against the security of the state itself.
Perhaps Israel's progressives need to be reminded why Israel exists, and why Jews have every right, and every obligation, to defend their community, their nation, and the integrity of their country's borders.
Even before the US election on November 5, Netanyahu had clearly decided to go it alone. He apparently did not inform the US administration about "Operation Grim Beeper," which caused pagers carried by Hezbollah's terrorists to explode; or of the aerial bombardments in Lebanon that that followed it. Netanyahu's actions indicate his distrust of the Biden administration (well-earned). Biden has withheld or slow-walked weapons shipments, and has warned Israel not to "escalate" the situation. Every day since October 8, 2023, however, Hezbollah has bombarded Israel - a country roughly the size of Wales -- with rockets, missiles and attack drones. Netanyahu announced that "No country can accept the wanton rocketing of its cities. We can't accept it either."
Meanwhile, in the USA, President-elect Donald J. Trump is already creating seismic global changes within days (here, here and here), long before his inauguration on January 20, 2025.
"After the terrible massacre on October 7", said a Likud party spokesperson, "we cannot reward terrorism and enable a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Netanyahu has proven over the past 20 years that he is the only barrier to the creation of a terror state between the [Mediterranean] Sea and Jordan."
US President Lyndon Baines Johnson's words on America in his 1965 inaugural speech apply equally to Israel:
"They came here - the exile and the stranger... They made a covenant with this land. Conceived in justice, written in liberty, bound in union, it was meant one day to inspire the hopes of all mankind; and it binds us still. If we keep its terms, we shall flourish."
Nils A. Haug is an author and columnist. A Lawyer by profession, he is member of the International Bar Association, the National Association of Scholars, a faculty member at Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Retired from law, his particular field of interest is political theory interconnected with current events. He holds a Ph.D. in Apologetical Theology. Dr. Haug is author of 'Politics, Law, and Disorder in the Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the Innocent – Life, Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.' His work has been published by First Things Journal, The American Mind, Quadrant, Minding the Campus, Gatestone Institute, National Association of Scholars, Israel Hayom, Jewish News Syndicate, Anglican Mainstream, Document Danmark, James Wilson Institute, Jewish Journal, and others.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Obama Isn’t Going Anywhere....The former president lost big on Nov. 5. But he doesn’t seem interested in leaving D.C., or American politics.
Lee Smith/The Tablet/November 12, 2024
Donald Trump’s decisive victory last week was the only logical plot point in the most remarkable story in American political history. After the protagonist is humiliated, exiled and silenced, runs the gantlet of a justice system that means to imprison him for life, gets shot in the face, and escapes another murder attempt, he humbles himself, prays, cloaks himself, and walks among everyday Americans, as a fast-food worker then as a sanitation man, which shows him there are winners everywhere you look in America. And then he wins, too. It’s not an American story if he doesn’t win.
But the story of Trump’s rise and fall and redemption isn’t over yet. If he doesn’t drive Barack Obama out of Washington, D.C., and dismantle his private- and public-sector network, Trump can still ultimately lose. His first term was undermined by Obama allies in U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and there’s evidence that the heart of the resistance is now ensconced inside the Pentagon and already poised to fight him. This threatens not only the Trump presidency but also the stability of the country. After fulfilling campaign promises to close the borders, embark on a massive deportation program sending millions of illegal aliens home, and appoint an attorney general capable of restoring the rule of law, the president-elect’s top priority must be to bring an end to the Obama era.
Presidents leave the capital city after their term in office to demonstrate their respect for one of the fundamental principles of our republic: the transfer of executive authority from one president to another. Obama stayed to underscore the opposite.
Woodrow Wilson, the only other ex-president who stayed put, had been incapacitated by a stroke midway through his second term and couldn’t leave. Obama announced at the start of his second term he wasn’t going away, and spent the first four years of his post-White House tenure to lead the resistance, and the next four as shadow president.
No other former president has distributed his opinions to the public in the immediate aftermath of a presidential election, because no previous holder of that office intended to give the impression that he was still involved in deciding the fate of the nation.
Obama never hid his role as the real center of power during Joe Biden’s term. When he retired the old man to make way for the candidate he’s preferred since at least 2019, Obama simply grabbed the mic and took center stage. The “Kamala Harris” campaign—whose “New Way Forward” slogan he premiered—was, in reality, just another Barack Obama campaign. Harris, who had never won a primary vote and withdrew from the 2020 race polling at 3%, had already been vetted and her record showed that she was unlikable, and more exposure made her even more unlikable. Pushing Harris on Democratic voters in the middle of a medical emergency—Biden’s cognitive meltdown during the June debate—and giving them no other choice was the only way to get her on track for the White House.
On election night, Obama stepped up to steady Harris voters—and demoralize Trump supporters—by promising a late-hour comeback similar to Biden’s four-years ago. “It took several days to count every ballot in 2020, and it’s very likely we won’t know the outcome tonight either,” he tweeted. “Let the process run its course. It takes time to count every ballot.”
Social media MAGA saw a repeat of the 2020 “red-mirage blue-shift” blackout when ballot-counting mysteriously shut down with Trump ahead, restarted hours later, typically without poll observers, and ended with Biden tallying 81 million votes—more than 15 million more votes than Clinton received in 2016. The reason it didn’t take days to announce a winner this time is because Trump lawyers won enough battles against Marc Elias and other Obama-allied lawyers to defend election integrity against procedures designed to facilitate fraud. And thus, in the end, Obama lost twice on election night: His puppet lost at the ballot box, and his legal team lost in court.
To obscure his culpability for the party’s loss, media accounts claim that what Obama wanted all along was an open primary—in reality a catastrophic scenario that would have entailed the party’s leading lights eviscerating each other three months before the election. And now, instead of installing another figurehead to occupy what in his estimation is the ceremonial position of president while he and his faction held real power, Obama must fight to stay relevant.
Following the election, he issued a statement shortly after Harris gave her concession speech. This marked another Obama first—no other former president has distributed his opinions to the public in the immediate aftermath of a presidential election, because no previous holder of that office intended to give the impression that he was still involved in deciding the fate of the nation.
“America,” Obama wrote, “has been through a lot over the last few years—from a historic pandemic and price hikes resulting from the pandemic, to rapid change and the feeling a lot of folks have that, no matter how hard they work, treading water is the best they can do. Those conditions have created headwinds for democratic incumbents around the world, and last night showed that America is not immune.”
The “folks,” in Obama’s condescending account, were not rejecting the transformative program he championed. Rather, they were reacting, likely irrationally, to phenomena that lacked cause or agency. There have been “price hikes resulting from the pandemic”—not historic levels of inflation caused by the Biden administration’s climate change agenda that has transferred trillions in middle-class wealth to Democratic Party donors and clients as well as the People’s Republic of China. There has been “rapid change”—which is to say the tens of millions of illegal aliens the Biden administration has ushered across the border in less than four years, spiking crime rates, suppressing the wages of U.S. workers, burdening taxpayers with the cost of education, housing, and other services for noncitizens. In any case, it’s not that this “change” wasn’t progress. It’s just that it may have happened too fast. And these “conditions,” which in Obama’s construction materialized out of the blue, “created headwinds for democratic incumbents around the world.”
No doubt this document was read, drafted, and revised dozens of times by a team of Obama loyalists to ensure that every word served a purpose. “Around the world” is intended to underscore the small “d” in democratic—Obama is not talking about an American political party but rather a political system. Trump didn’t beat Democrats, he thwarted democracy by defeating its defenders. In contrast to Harris, Trump is more like a right-wing fascist, or an authoritarian strongman, like Vladimir Putin, for instance. Thus, in the context of democracy, Trump’s presidency is not legitimate. And that calls for resistance.
Immediately after Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat, Obama set in motion the multi-pronged operation to undermine his successor. Obama told his FBI Director James Comey to continue the investigation, and surveillance, of the president-elect that was initiated while Trump was the GOP candidate. Further, the outgoing president directed CIA chief John Brennan to produce an official assessment asserting that Trump owed the presidency to Putin. By using the U.S. government’s official imprimatur to validate the conspiracy theory that Trump had been compromised by a foreign power, Obama delegitimized Trump’s presidency at its birth and divided the country. Now Obama is looking for another play, and it appears that it involves splitting the armed forces.
Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed Pentagon personnel to carry out a smooth transition and reminded them “to carry out the policy choices of its next Commander in Chief, and to obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command.”
It’s not the first time an outgoing Pentagon chief counseled his subordinates to abide by their oaths to the Constitution—what’s of potential concern is that the phrase “lawful orders” appears to contain a warning that some military officials’ decisions regarding lawful orders may be shaped by anti-Trump animus. What orders is Austin referring to? First, Trump has indicated he might use the military to assist in carrying out his incoming administration’s operation to deport illegal immigrants. Further, the Trump White House is planning to shrink the size of the bureaucracy, which also includes Pentagon officials. The resistance has already picked up on the cues left in Austin’s message.
For instance, in a report on Pentagon officials discussing how to respond in the event Trump issued unlawful orders, CNN correspondent Natasha Bertrand emphasized the threat implicit in Austin’s wording and wrote that “the US military will obey only lawful orders.” Bertrand famously drove the Trump-Russia narrative with leaks from intelligence officials, and in October 2020, she was first to report on the letter authored by 51 former spies falsely claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation.” That is, the CNN reporter is a delivery mechanism for anti-Trump information operations, and this particular op has been in the works for nearly a year.
In January, NBC News reported that former Obama officials and Democratic Party operatives were already plotting to derail Trump’s agenda under the pretext that he was aiming to use U.S. military to implement his political agenda. “We’re already starting to put together a team to think through the most damaging types of things that he [Trump] might do so that we’re ready to bring lawsuits if we have to,” said Mary McCord, a former DOJ lawyer who oversaw its unlawful Trump-Russia probe. Another partner in the Pentagon op, according to the NBC story, is Democracy Forward, chaired by Marc Elias, who paid for the Trump-Russia dossier when he was a lawyer for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign.
In May and June, former Obama Pentagon official Rosa Brooks convened past Democratic and Republican officials to war-game scenarios for the postelection period. She’d done the same for the 2020 election with the Transition Integrity Project, a messaging campaign that prepared Democrats for the ballot count to drag on long past election day making Biden the winner and leaving Trump to contest the election. For this election, she joined with reporter Barton Gellman and the Democracy Futures Project to “forecast” the aftermath of election 2024.
The scenarios were made public on July 30 in an obvious media rollout, with stories in The Bulwark, where Brooks herself sketched the scenarios; The Washington Post, in a piece authored by Gellman; as well as The New Republic and The Guardian, the last of which gave the most detail on the various war games. One scenario posits the possibility “that Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act to go against street protests.” In other words, riots designed to block Trump policies would be as bad or worse than the spring and summer 2020 George Floyd riots when Trump reportedly entertained the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act. Those social justice demonstrations left 19 dead and caused billions of dollars worth of damage in dozens of cities across the country.
“In the course of the Insurrection Act tabletop exercise,” according to the Guardian report, “the person role-playing Trump initially met resistance from senior military figures who tried to cling to the Posse Comitatus Act barring federal troops from engaging in civilian law enforcement.” The account relayed that as the scenario unfolded, Trump fired the officers who disobeyed his orders and replaced them with officers who implemented them.
Last week’s CNN article picked up on the same themes and keywords: “The president’s powers are especially broad if he chooses to invoke the Insurrection Act, which states that under certain limited circumstances involved in the defense of constitutional rights, a president can deploy troops domestically unilaterally,” wrote Bertrand. “A separate law—the Posse Comitatus Act—seeks to curb the use of the military to enforce laws unless authorized by Congress. But the law has exceptions for rebellion and terrorism, which ultimately gives the president broad leeway in deciding if and when to invoke [the] Insurrection Act.”
With this, the tabletop exercises and the communications component for the anti-Trump Pentagon op are in order. Does the resistance really intend to move pieces in place to split the military or are they just bluffing to get Trump to back off on campaign promises that will topple two of its pillars? It might seem strange to threaten to destabilize the country on behalf of defense bureaucrats and illegal aliens, but the former constitute a crucial part of Obama’s network, and giving the latter the vote, as Trump’s landslide victory shows, may be the Democrats’ best chance to win national elections in the near future. It’s tempting to read the Brooks scenarios and the CNN report as resistance porn—a performance of the rituals and motions that this class has accustomed itself to over the course of the past eight years, as it now braces for the return of the president it did its best and failed to destroy.
Would Obama fracture the military to once again cripple Trump’s term in office? The former president is in a decidedly weaker position and facing a battle-hardened Trump. Still, it would be reckless to assume the best from the man who already proved his willingness to weaponize the national security apparatus against his political opponent. The president-elect shouldn’t take any chances.
**Lee Smith is the author of Disappearing the President: Trump, Truth Social, and the Fight for the Republic (2024).

Why Trump’s victory is a victory over antisemitism - opinion
Hananya Naftali/Jerusalem Post/November 12/2024
Donald Trump winning the election is a game-changer not just for America, but for Jews worldwide.
Donald Trump has done more for Israel and the Jewish people than any modern president before him and that is what we need as antisemitism once again rages around the world.
Trump Fights Antisemitism with Actions, Not Just Words
President-elect has made his stance about the Jewish people crystal clear by acting and not just verbally supporting the State of Israel. Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem wasn’t a mere gesture; it was a historic promise finally fulfilled after decades of empty commitments by previous administrations. In doing so, Trump declared to the world that America unapologetically stands by Israel and supports that the Jewish people have the right to claim Jerusalem as their capital, no matter who opposes it.
Trump's administration also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and made it clear that America would no longer turn a blind eye to Palestinian-funded terrorism. His Abraham Accords—a series of unprecedented peace agreements between Israel and several Arab countries—showed that peace in the Middle East can happen without appeasing those who threaten the Jewish nation’s existence. These actions were not just pro-Israel; they were anti-antisemitic and proved that America’s support for Israel is non-negotiable.
I keep mentioning Israel because for Jewish people worldwide, Israel isn’t just a country; it’s a symbol of survival, safety, and identity after centuries of persecution and statelessness. When Israel is unfairly singled out or its legitimacy is questioned, it often crosses into antisemitism by denying the Jewish people the same right to self-determination and security that other nations take for granted. So, in any fight against antisemitism, defending Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish homeland is essential.
Antisemitism isn’t just thriving in dark corners of the internet; it’s out in the open, often disguised as “anti-Zionism.” But far-left activists march in American cities waving flags that aren’t just anti-Israel—they’re anti-America. At recent pro-Hamas protests, radicals burn the American flag with the flag of Israel because they openly support the destruction of Israel, oppose the right of the Jewish people to exist, and hate any entity that supports Israel and the Jewish people.
In this world where being “politically correct” often means letting hatred slide, Trump stands firm against the toxic ideology that threatens Israel and the US, which has proliferated thanks to the far-left in America. The far-left claims to support “human rights”, but backs groups that chant for the end of Israel and America, and support regimes that stone women, imprison journalists, and silence dissenters.
If these pro-Hamas protesters despise the principles America stands for so much, Trump should help them leave. Why should America, a country built on freedom and respect, tolerate people who don’t respect the flag? It’s time to draw a line: America must protect its values, and that includes standing against those who openly support terrorism. What Trump’s Victory Means for Israel
A second Trump term means a stronger US that Israel can continue to count on. Trump doesn’t cower to the United Nations, nor does he concede to hostile regimes openly calling for Israel’s destruction. Trump's foreign policy ensures that Israel’s enemies know that any attack will not go unanswered.
Trump’s victory also means a renewed battle against the forces trying to tear down America and Israel, including the far-left defenders of Hamas and other terrorist organizations who spread anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitism. The “Squad” and their followers can barely condemn terrorism without making excuses for the people aiming to destroy Israel. But Trump doesn’t cater to these extremists. He has been one of the few voices bold enough to call them what they are: anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and anti-American. He understands that antisemitism isn’t just a “Jewish issue”; it’s a threat to any democratic society. In a world where antisemitism hides behind anti-Israel rhetoric, Trump’s support for Israel is the most effective antidote.
A Victory for Common Sense and Freedom
Like every leader, Trump has his flaws. His leadership style may not be for everyone, but his commitment to protecting the Jewish state and standing up to antisemitism is undeniable. For Jews around the world, Trump’s return to the Oval Office sends a message to the world that antisemitism has no place in America or anywhere else. America will fight to protect its Jews and ensure that they don’t have to hide their identity or fear for their lives.
So yes, a Trump victory is a victory over antisemitism too. It may take a while, but just like in every battle we have faced - we will emerge victorious.
Hananya Naftali is a leading Israeli Jewish influencer and human rights activist in the fight against antisemitism, antizionism and the BDS Movement.
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Shimon Koffler Fogel.

European Prosecutors Launch Probe into Allegations that Senior EU Official Accepted Bribes From Qatar
Natalie Ecanow/FDD/November 12/2024
European Commission advisor Henrik Hololei is the latest Western official facing legal consequences for allegedly accepting bribes from Qatar. On November 1, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced that it opened an investigation into claims that Hololei accepted tens of thousands of euros in gifts from Qatar while he was negotiating an aviation deal between the EU and the Gulf emirate in his former post as head of the commission’s transport department. The Estonian diplomat reportedly shared confidential information with state-owned Qatar Airways in exchange for complimentary flights, five-star hotel stays, and luxury shopping sprees.
Hololei’s Fall From Grace
Holelei served as director-general of the European Commission’s Mobility and Transport department when the EU and Qatar signed a 2019 “open skies” agreement, which granted Qatar Airways unfettered access to European airports. While his department negotiated the aviation deal, Hololei took multiple business class trips to Qatar on Doha’s dime and allegedly shared information with the Qataris about Europe’s negotiating position. Hololei resigned from his post as director-general in 2023 and moved into an advisory role after news broke of his paid junkets to Qatar.
European prosecutors opened their probe into Hololei’s conduct after the French newspaper Libération published an exposé accusing the European Commission of failing to refer Hololei’s case to either the EPPO or the authorities in Belgium, where the EU is headquartered. Libération claimed that a European Anti-Fraud Office report detailing Hololei’s potential misconduct has been gathering dust on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s desk since July.
Qatari Corruption Rampant in the West
Hololei resigned three months after Belgian police raided residences and offices across Brussels, arresting a half dozen EU officials and seizing more than $1.5 million in cash. It turns out that Qatar had been paying to play in Europe: Leaked documents show how Doha paid off members of the European parliament to whitewash Qatar’s image and smear the emirate’s Gulf rivals. Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the once-influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is at the center of another Qatari corruption case. In August, a jury found Menendez guilty of accepting bribes — including gold bars, luxury watches, and Formula One racing tickets — and using his position of influence to secure a multimillion-dollar Qatari investment deal. Menendez subsequently resigned after being convicted on 16 counts that included bribery and extortion, and is now facing decades in prison.
Doha doesn’t only manipulate politicians. Qatar allegedly paid FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, more than $800 million in cash and contracts in exchange for the rights to host the 2022 World Cup. In 2020, the U.S. Justice Department asserted in a superseding indictment that FIFA executives “were offered and received bribe payments” to secure hosting privileges for Qatar.
With Qatar, Washington Should Proceed With Caution
Despite Qatar’s track record, the emirate continues to host the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East and reap the benefits of its status as a major non-NATO ally of America. Meanwhile, the White House is trusting Qatar to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and compel Hamas to release the remaining hostages even as the emirate shelters the terrorist organization’s most senior leaders. The incoming administration should drop the illusion that Qatar is a good-faith ally and start holding the emirate to account. If Doha will not change course, the new administration should consider stripping it of its major non-NATO ally status and potentially relocating American military bases.
*Natalie Ecanow is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Natalie and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.