English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 09/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal
First Letter to the Corinthians 12/28-31//13/01-07: And God has
appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then
deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership,
various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues?
Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still
more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do
not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith,
so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away
all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not
have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or
boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not
irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the
truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things."
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on October 08-09/2024
Elias Bejjani / Text and Video: Analysis of Naïm Qassem’s Illusions,
Delusions, Denial and Treacherous Speech
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: The End of Iran’s Reign of Terror and Hezbollah's
Demise
Sheikh Qassem Speech Text and Video Link: Hezbollah’s Military Capabilities
Solid, Will Emerge Victorious
War Piles Yet More Trauma on Lebanon's Exhausted People
Lebanon Says Has ‘Assurances’ but No Guarantees Israel Won’t Target Airport
Israel’s Netanyahu Says Israel Has Taken Out Nasrallah’s Successors
Hezbollah Steps up Rocket Fire into Israel, Which Sends More Troops into Lebanon
Israeli Military Says it Killed Senior Hezbollah Commander in Beirut
France, Qatar Deliver Urgent Aid to Lebanon, Foreign Minister Says
More Countries Evacuate Nationals from Lebanon
Israel begins 'targeted' ground operations in southern Lebanon
Hezbollah leader says more Israelis will be displaced as the militants extend
their rocket fire
Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy chief?
Lebanon abandoned by international community - ex PM
France, Qatar deliver urgent aid to Lebanon, foreign minister says
Who is Hashem Safieddine, the Nasrallah relative seen as future Hezbollah
leader?
Israel deploys fourth army division in south Lebanon offensive, says senior
Hezbollah official probably dead
The Truth between Two Wars: July 2006 and October 2023
With Hospitals Full in Lebanon, Family Flees to Give Birth in Iraq
Lebanese Fishermen Stay Ashore after Israeli Warning
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October 08-09/2024
Netanyahu Says Israel ‘Will Continue to Fight’ Its Enemies
Israeli Strike Targets Residential Building in Syria’s Damascus, Say State Media
Israel's strikes are shifting the power balance in the Middle East, with US
support
As Israel plots to strike Iran, its choices range from symbolic to severe
Israel may have military superiority, but it lacks a clear strategic vision, say
experts
Heavy fighting in Gaza's Jabalia as Israel conducts new ground operation
A year after Oct. 7, Hamas faces dissent in Gaza as war takes toll
Pro-Palestinian activists target UK offices of Germany's Allianz
UN Chief Tells Israel That Draft Law Blocking Aid Agency UNRWA Would Be
‘Catastrophe
Iran foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia, regional countries
Iran warns Israel against any attack, threatens stronger retaliation
US targets Hamas with sanctions on anniversary of Gaza war
Palestinians evacuating northern Gaza say they are being shot at by Israeli
military
Gaza is in ruins after Israel's yearlong offensive. Rebuilding may take decades
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on October 08-09/2024
How to End the War in Lebanon/Elie Aoun/October 08/2024
In Iran, war jitters fuel public support for developing nuclear weapons/Laura
King, Omid Khazani/Los Angeles Times/October 08/2024
The candidates’ response to Hurricane Helene tells voters all they need to
know/Austin Sarat, opinion contributor/The Hill/October 08/2024
Israel may have military superiority, but it lacks a clear strategic vision, say
experts/Thibault Spirlet,Hannah Abraham/Business Insider/October 08/2024
Israel Defense Chief’s US Trip Postponed After Netanyahu Objects/Dan Williams
and Natalia Drozdiak/Bloomberg/October08/2024
The Palestinian Tradition of Celebrating the Death of Jews/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone
Institute/October 08/2024
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on October 08-09/2024
Elias Bejjani / Text and Video: Analysis of
Naïm Qassem’s Illusions, Delusions, Denial and Treacherous Speech
October 08/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/10/135390/
Sheikh Naïm Qassem’s speech today was a blatant display of mental and
psychological denial regarding the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah. It was, first
and foremost, a clear and documented affirmation that Hezbollah is entirely an
Iranian proxy, with no connection whatsoever to Lebanon, the Arab world, or
humanity. Sheikh Qassem, “God save us from harm,” is nothing more than a
mouthpiece for the Iranian regime.
Secondly, his reckless, jihadist rhetoric acts as a “carte blanche” (license)
for Israel, the free world, and moderate Arab states to strengthen their support
for Netanyahu, continue funding him, and back his efforts to eliminate Hamas and
Hezbollah. This would also result in the displacement of our Lebanese Shiites
brothers and the destruction of their regions along with all of Lebanon.
In his speech, Qassem boasted about the supposed fear, displacement of its
northern residents, economic loses and the fear, anxiety that Israelis are
experiencing, based on his delusional interpretations. However, he willfully
ignored the suffering of the Lebanese Shiites, in particular, and the Lebanese
people as a whole. With foolishness and denial, he claimed that displacement of
the Lebanese in their own country is a form of resistance. Similarly, Sheikh
Sadiq al-Nabulsi has echoed the absurd notion that drug trafficking and
smuggling are tools of Hezbollah’s so-called resistance.
This madman and Iranian puppet declared, “In war, it’s the first to scream who
loses, and we will not scream.” This bizarre detachment from reality is
alarming, especially considering the tragedies that have befallen the Shiites
and Lebanon as a whole. His speech was nothing but empty rhetoric, fantasies,
delusions, and a call suicidal of the Lebanese people.
Qassem’s treacherous speech showed no regard for Lebanon, or the Lebanese
people, nor did it acknowledge the catastrophic consequences of the war on the
Lebanese Shiites, all caused by Hezbollah’s loyalty to Iran and its criminal
actions.
Qassem divided his miserable speech into three main points:
*He thanked Iran and its leaders, glorifying their support, as if Iran had not
already abandoned Hezbollah, either willingly or by force, allowing Israel to
assassinate its leaders, displace the Shiites, and destroy their regions.
*He refused to separate Hezbollah’s war in Lebanon from the conflict in Gaza.
*He confirmed that the war would continue and that Hezbollah would ultimately
claim victory.
Foolishly, he boasted about national unity and the supposed solidarity of the
Lebanese people behind Hezbollah. He ignored the fact that the Lebanese welcomed
the displaced Shiites out of humanity, not in support of Hezbollah, a criminal
and Persian-backed entity. Most Shiites and all free Lebanese see Hezbollah as
nothing but demons, murderers, and enemies.
In conclusion, Israel who is facing an existential threat, along with the Arab
world, the West, and the USA, will not stop the war until Hezbollah, the party
of Satan, is completely uprooted from Lebanon. Hezbollah, along with Iran, Hamas,
and their criminal network, must surrender.
In wars, there must be a victor and a defeated, and without any doubt, Iran,
Hezbollah, Hamas, and their terrorist jihadist allies are on the losing side of
the conflict with Israel.
From a Lebanese perspective, there is no resistance—only Iranian and
Brotherhood-affiliated terrorists, blood merchants, and mafia-like criminals
from top to bottom.
In regards to Lebanon’s bright future after the Hezbollah’s era is over, the
next president must renounce all ties to this so-called resistance and after
bringing Hezbollah’s leaders to justice for their countless crimes, they must be
deported to Iran.
God curse this fraudulent resistance and its leaders Iranian masters. Without
any doubt, the mullahs are leading to death everyone connected to Hezbollah,
down to the last one of them.
Lebanon has long been under Hezbollah’s mere control, now is the time to reclaim
the state, restore its sovereignty, and eliminate Hezbollah’s grip.
As for the silence of certain Christian leaders, like the pharaonic “Abu al-Hul,”
it is disgraceful and a complete betrayal. Silence, in this case, is the
behavior of the dead.
*The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website:
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: The End of Iran’s Reign of Terror and
Hezbollah's Demise
Elias Bejjani/October 06/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/10/135390/I strongly recommend watching the five enclosed interviews posted
on my website,
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/.
These interviews are crucial as they reveal the trajectory of the region,
culminating in the conclusion that the mission of the criminal, repressive
Iranian Mullah regime is nearing its end. This regime, having served its role as
the Western alliance’s boogeyman, has frightened the Sunni Arab world into
accepting Israel. Every Arab nation has now recognized Israel, viewing Iran as
the true existential threat. Even Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince has publicly
acknowledged that Israel could be a potential ally.
The anticipated event, either today or tomorrow, will be a massive Israeli
military strike against Iran, backed by international Western (NATO) forces and
with Arab blessings under the table. This attack will mark the first anniversary
of Hamas's barbaric jihadist invasion on October 7 last year, restoring Israel’s
deterrence and balance of power, as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu promised.
Netanyahu declared just yesterday that Israel will strike Iran, shift the
regional balance, and obliterate Hezbollah by force, stripping it of its weapons
once and for all.
Lebanon’s Political Puppetry
Anyone counting on Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, to lead
the efforts aiming to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence is as
deluded as someone hoping a wolf will guard sheep. Berri is nothing more than a
polished puppet of Hezbollah—a terrorist entity at its core and a servant of
Iran, disguised with a necktie to further deceive the people. Berri, along with
his Amal Movement and all other Shiite authorities, was militarily defeated and
eliminated during the "Iqlim al-Tuffah" battle
(March 1988) under Iranian
orders, with Syrian backing and Israeli assistance.
As for Najib Mikati, Lebanon's current PM, he’s nothing but a hypocritical
merchant whose shameful history and betrayal exposes his consistent service to
the Assad and Mullah regimes at Lebanon’s expense.
Regarding our Christian Maronite leaders in particular, and Christians in
general, it’s tragic that they have become nothing more than spineless,
politically and nationally emasculated traders, much like the traitorous
disciple who sold Christ to be crucified for 30 pieces of silver. These are the
worst leaders we’ve seen in 1,400 years of our history, with no exceptions,
whether civilians or clergy. Among the worst is Samir Geagea, whose
shameful silence throughout the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war has been deafening,
even as he prevents his supporters from expressing their views and concerns.
Sadly, his supporters are stupidly accepting the role of sheep.
In regards to former President Michel Aoun and his corrupt son-in-law, Gebran
Bassil, they are both a disgrace, and their pitiful status reflects that of the
rest of the politicians and the heads of the commercial, narcissistic political
parties. Sadly, our beloved Lebanon today is devoid of any national leadership,
both religious and political, which is unsurprising given that the Palestinian,
Syrian, and Iranian occupations since the 1970s have neutered the political and
religious class and molded them to serve their interests.
The Path to Lebanon's Liberation
The salvation of Lebanon will not come from the hands of the current leaders,
parties, or politicians who handed it over to foreign occupations, betrayed its
people, conspired against it, robbed its bank deposits, displaced and humiliated
its citizens, and reduced themselves to tools and empty puppets.
Lebanon’s solution lies in placing it under the guardianship of the United
Nations Security Council, enforcing international resolutions—namely the
Armistice Agreement, Resolution 1559, 1701, and 1680—by force under Chapter VII,
with the aim of rehabilitating the Lebanese people to govern themselves.
In the same context, Former Minister Youssef Salameh’s predictions in an
interview conducted with him yesterday are highly plausible in light of the
ongoing war between Israel, Iran, Hezbollah, and their other terrorist proxies:
He loudly with confidence and proves said:
The world western powers dealt with Hassan Nasrallah the same way they did with
Bashir Gemayel, Rafic Hariri, and Kamal Jumblatt—the four were assassinated
after their roles were finished. This historical reality supports the reasoning
behind Nasrallah’s eventual elimination.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was created by NATO to divide Sunnis and
Shiites, forcing the Sunnis to recognize Israel, which is precisely what
happened. Hezbollah’s role has ended, and Nasrallah has been eliminated as a
result.
Iran is not a strong state and does not wield significant influence on the
international stage, not even in determining Nasrallah’s fate. Its regime’s
collapse is inevitable now that its purpose has been exhausted.
Militarily unbalanced wars, such as the one Hezbollah and Hamas are waging
against Israel, are suicidal endeavors, which is the current reality.
What protects Lebanon from Israel is the international system, not Hezbollah’s
so-called resistance lie and heresy.
Lebanon must move toward peace with Israel, just like every other Arab nation.
There will be no compromise on Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence. The
concept of "resistance" is obsolete, and no state can exist within the shadow of
a militia.
Walid Jumblatt’s daily bizarre stances are circumstantial, and his support for
Hezbollah does not reflect the Druze community’s stance, which opposes
Hezbollah.
Hassan Nasrallah has always been alienated from Lebanon’s national entity,
calling for an Islamic state and proudly declaring himself a soldier of Iran’s
Supreme Leader, loyal to the Iranian regime.
The assassination of Nasrallah signifies the end of a regional era—the Mullah
regime and its tentacles, including Hezbollah.
The era of Shiites political dominance in Lebanon is over, and Lebanon is on the
path to sovereignty, freedom, and independence.
Sheikh Qassem Speech Text and Video Link: Hezbollah’s
Military Capabilities Solid, Will Emerge Victorious
Al-Manar English Website/October 8, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut4dw2IVAzo
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed on Tuesday that
the Lebanese resistance group’s chain of command is fine and that its military
capabilities are solid, as he vowed that the resistance will emerge victorious
against the Israeli enemy.
In a televised speech via Al-Manar on the first anniversary of Operation Al-Aqsa
Flood, Sheikh Qassem affirmed that Hezbollah is not frightened by the alliance
of the Israeli enemy with the United States and some European countries. He
addressed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who vowed to bring the Zionist
settlers back to northern occupied Palestine by saying: “Many more (settlers)
will be displaced.” Sheikh Qassem lashed out at the US for being key partner in
the war which is aimed at eliminating the Axis of Resistance and exterminating
the Palestinian people.
He said that the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is an exceptional event and the
beginning of change in the Middle East. The Hezbollah deputy chief hailed the
resistance in Gaza as “legendary and capable of withstanding more and more”.
“We Are Not Scared”
Sheikh Qassem said that the alliance of the Israeli enemy along with the US and
some European countries doesn’t frighten the Lebanese resistance. He said that
the Zionist entity and the Western countries have been trying to “put fear” into
the Lebanese resistance group after the assassination of Secretary General
Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, “but it’s not working.”“We are the sons of Axis of
Resistance’s Master of Martyrs Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah,” the Hezbollah deputy
chief said, as he praised the martyred S.G. for putting “fear in the hearts of
the Zionists and fighting the criminals of the occupation”. He hailed Operation
Al-Aqsa Flood as “an extraordinary and exceptional event which represents the
beginning of change in the Middle East… and the first step for change” towards
freedom for the Palestinians.” Sheikh Qassem noted that the Israeli enemy’s goal
“was to completely eliminate the Axis of Resistance and exterminate the
Palestinian people,” stressing that the Israeli crimes against Palestinian
women, children and elderly are unparalleled in the history.
In this regard, he hailed the Palestinian resistance in Gaza as legendary,
noting that and “it’s capable of withstanding more and more.” Sheikh Qassem
stressed that the US is a key partner in this aggression, as well as some
European countries. He said Lebanon has been under aggression, noting that
Netanyahu has repeatedly declared that he wants a “new Middle East.”
Resistance’s Determination Firm
Sheikh Qassem said that the Lebanese front “has exhausted the enemy throughout
11 months and has displaced tens of thousands of Israeli settlers.” “This war
has never and will never affect our determination to confront the Israeli
aggression.” He stressed that Hezbollah fighters in the battlefield are solid,
and that the command is coherent. “Netanyahu says that the settlers will return
to the north and we tell him that many more will be displaced.” Sheikh Qassem
warned the Israeli enemy that “the longer the war continues; the more difficult
impasse Israel will face.”“We are striking the enemy and expanding the range of
fire, we will reach any place at the time we decide according to our plan. We
are steadfast and we will emerge victorious.”Meanwhile, Sheikh Qassem praised
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, stressing that Hezbollah and Amal Movement are
“one heart in good times and bad.”
“We fully trust our “big brother” Speaker Nabih Berri,” his eminence said. He
stressed: “We are the people of the battlefield and we will never beg for a
solution.” “This war is a war of who screams first and we will not scream, we
will continue and we will offer sacrifices, you will hear the enemy screaming,
God willing.”
Hezbollah Chain of Command Fine
On the other hand, Sheikh Qassem reassured that the resistance’s chain of
command is fine, noting that there is no vacant position in Hezbollah. “I tell
you that the chain of command is operating strictly regular and we have overcome
the painful blows that have been inflicted on us.”
“We don’t have a vacant position, all positions are filled and Hezbollah is
working with full readiness and regularity,” he added. He affirmed, meanwhile,
that the resistance group “will elect a new secretary-general and will announce
it once it has been done.”
“Everything that the martyred leaders had, their assistants and replacements
have copies of,” his eminence reassured.
Solid Military Capabilities
Sheikh Qassem affirmed that Hezbollah’s ability to resist Israel’s military is
intact. “Our military capabilities are fine. What our enemies say about our
fighting capabilities is an illusion. They are lying.” “Our fighters on the
front line are solid. The Israeli plan is to kill Lebanese civilians and empty
villages to cause chaos. But I tell them, your efforts are a failure.”He noted
that the Israeli ground incursion in southern Lebanon began a week ago,
stressing that the Israeli army has yet to advance. The Hezbollah deputy chief
stressed that the resistance fighters are fully ready to engage in face-to-face
battles with the Israeli enemy forces.“We will neither abandon our positions,
nor hand over our weapons,” stated Sheikh Qassem. Sheikh Qassem’s speech is the
second since martyrdom of S.G. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah in a flagrant Israeli
strike on Beirut’s southern suburb, Dagiyeh, on September 27.
On September 30, Sheikh Qassem said that Hezbollah was using the minimum of its
capabilities, voicing full readiness for all scenarios.
War Piles Yet More Trauma on Lebanon's Exhausted People
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Ask a Lebanese person how they are, and you're likely to be met with a heavy
pause or a pained smile. Years of crisis have drained them, and now Israeli air
strikes are pushing many to breaking point. Cartoonist Bernard Hage, who draws
under the name Art of Boo, summed it up a few weeks ago with a layer cake. These
layers are "Financial Collapse", "Pandemic", the 2020 "Beirut Port Explosion",
"Political Deadlock" and "Mass Depression".
"War" is now the cherry on top.
Carine Nakhle, a supervisor at suicide helpline Embrace, says the trauma is
never-ending. "The Lebanese population is not OK," she said, AFP reported. The
hotline's some 120 operators take shifts around the clock all week to field
calls from people in distress. Calls have increased to some 50 a day since
Israel increased its airstrikes against Lebanon on September 23. The callers are
"people who are in shock, people who are panicking", Nakhle said. "Many of them
have been calling us from areas where they are being bombed or from shelters."
Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, mostly in the south and in Beirut's southern
suburbs, has killed more than 1,100 people and displaced upwards of a million in
less than two weeks. Tens of thousands have found refuge in central Beirut,
whose streets now throng with homeless people and where the traffic is even more
swollen than usual.
'Huge injustice'
Every night, airstrikes on the southern suburbs force people to flee their
homes, as huge blasts rattle windows and spew clouds of debris skywards. Ringing
out across Beirut, the explosions awaken terrible memories: of the massive 2020
Beirut port blast that decimated large parts of the city; of the last war
between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006; and of the 1975-1990 civil war. This
latest affliction comes on the back of years of the worst financial crisis in
Lebanon's history that has plunged much of its middle class into poverty. Rita
Barotta, 45, lives near the relatively quiet Christian-majority town of Jounieh
north of Beirut. She says she cannot hear the airstrikes, but also that she no
longer has the words "to describe what is happening" to Lebanon. "I no longer
know what being me 15 days ago looked like," said the university lecturer in
communications, who has thrown herself into helping the displaced. "Eating,
sleeping, looking after my plants -- none of that's left. I'm another me. The
only thing that exists now for me is how I can help." Networking on her phone,
Barotta spends her days trying to find shelter or medicine for those in need."If
I stop for even five minutes, I feel totally empty," she said. Barotta almost
lost her mother in the Beirut port explosion, and says that keeping busy is the
only way for her not to feel "overwhelmed and petrified". "What is happening
today is not just a new trauma, it's a sense of huge injustice. Why are we being
put through all this?"
'Just can't anymore' -
A 2022 study before the war by Lebanese non-governmental organization IDRAAC
found that at least a third of Lebanese battled with mental health problems.
Rami Bou Khalil, head of psychiatry at Beirut's Hotel Dieu hospital, said all
Lebanese were struggling in one way or another. "Lebanese have a great capacity
for resilience," he said, citing support from family, community and religion.
"But there is this accumulation of stress that is making the glass
overflow.""For years, we have been drawing on our physical, psychological and
financial resources. People just can't anymore," he said. He said he worries
because some people who should be hospitalized cannot afford it, and others are
relapsing "because they can no longer take a hit".Many more people were relying
on sleeping pills. "People want to sleep," he said, and swallowing pills is
easier when you have neither the time nor the money to be treated.
Nakhle, from Embrace, said many people sought help from non-governmental
organizations as they could not afford the $100 consultation fee for a therapist
at a private clinic.
At the charity's health centre, the waiting list for an appointment is four to
five months long.
Lebanon Says Has ‘Assurances’ but No Guarantees Israel Won’t Target Airport
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Beirut has received "assurances" that Israel will not target the country's only
international airport, Lebanon's transport minister told AFP, but said those
fell short of guarantees.
Since September 23, Israel has launched an intense air campaign mainly targeting
Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon including Beirut's southern suburbs, adjacent
to the airport. On Monday, the United States warned Israel not to attack the
Beirut airport or the roads leading to it, after repeated Israeli strikes near
the facility. Lebanon "seeks to keep its public airport, sea ports and land
crossings -- chief among them the Rafik Hariri International Airport --
functional," Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh told AFP.
"Ongoing international calls have given us a sort of assurance" the airport will
be spared Israeli strikes, he said, however adding that "there is a big
difference between assurances and guarantees".Hamieh denied Israeli accusations
that Hezbollah was using the airport and border crossings to smuggle weapons.
The Beirut airport "is subject to Lebanese laws and to the scrutiny of various
relevant departments and security agencies", he said. "Any military aircraft or
plane carrying weapons must be approved by the Lebanese army" and be licensed to
do so by his ministry. He said his ministry was "fully coordinating" with the
army and relevant state agencies to keep land, air and sea ports safe because
"if these ports are closed, it means we're under siege". On Friday, the Israeli
army said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets near the Masnaa border
crossing, damaging the main road between Lebanon and Syria and preventing
vehicles from getting through.
Dozens are still crossing the border on foot. Lebanon's government said more
than 400,000 people had fled to Syria to escape Israeli bombardment, with tens
of thousands crossing from Masnaa before the main road was bombed.
"Closing off this crossing has created a big problem," Hamieh said, adding that
the government was "making the necessary calls to get it back up and running
again".The Masnaa crossing is Lebanon's main land gateway to the rest of the
region. "The Masnaa crossing is a major crossing... for imports and exports, and
a vital crossing for Lebanese farmers and industrialists for land exports," he
said.
Israel’s Netanyahu Says Israel Has Taken Out Nasrallah’s Successors
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Israeli forces have taken out the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday,
without naming them. "We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities. We took out
thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's
replacement, and the replacement of the replacement," Netanyahu said in a
pre-recorded video message. Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said
Hashem Safieddine, the man expected to replace the slain Nasrallah, had probably
been "eliminated".
It was not immediately clear whom Netanyahu meant by the "replacement of the
replacement". Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official was widely expected to
succeed Nasrallah, according to Reuters. "Hezbollah is an organization without a
head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated,"
Gallant told officers at the military's northern command center, in a brief
video segment distributed by the military. "There's no one to make decisions, no
one to act," he said. Safieddine had been running Hezbollah alongside its deputy
secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah's assassination and was expected
to be formally elected as its next secretary general, although no official
announcement had yet been made. Qassem said in a televised statement on Tuesday
that the group will elect a new secretary general and will announce it once it
has been done.
Hezbollah Steps up Rocket Fire into Israel, Which Sends
More Troops into Lebanon
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, and the armed
group’s acting leader vowed to keep up pressure that has forced tens of
thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border. The Israeli
military said it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon, and that a
senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike. Dozens of rockets fired
by Hezbollah were aimed as far south as Haifa, and the Israeli government warned
residents to the north of the coastal city to limit activities, prompting the
closure of more schools. The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched more than
170 rockets across the border. Sheikh Naim Qassem, the acting leader of
Hezbollah, said its military capabilities are still intact after weeks of heavy
Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, and attacks that killed its
top commanders in a matter of days. Qassem said Israeli forces have not been
able to advance since launching a ground incursion into Lebanon last week. The
Israeli military said Tuesday it deployed a fourth division, and that operations
have expanded to the west, but its focus still appears to be a narrow strip
along the border.
The Israeli military said it has dismantled militant infrastructure along the
border and killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters. On Tuesday, it said a strike
in Beirut had killed Suhail Husseini, who it described as a senior commander
responsible overseeing logistics, budget and management of the armed group.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, and no way to confirm battlefield
claims made by either side. Israeli forces also fought heavy battles Tuesday
with Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza, where residents were ordered in
recent days to evacuate.
Qassem, speaking by video from an undisclosed location, said: “We are firing
hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones. A large number of settlements and
cities are under the fire of the resistance.”
He said Hezbollah will name a new leader to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was
killed in an Israeli airstrike in a bunker in Beirut last month, “but the
circumstances are difficult because of the war.”Qassem said Hezbollah backs
efforts by Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to reach a ceasefire, but
did not specify whether that means the group would be willing to accept a truce
before there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah, has been seen as the main interlocutor between
the group and the United States, and has been trying to broker a ceasefire since
fighting began a year ago.
The Israeli army said 170 projectiles were launched from Lebanon toward northern
Israel on Tuesday, and that its aerial defense intercepted most of them. A
70-year-old woman was wounded by shrapnel and Israeli media aired footage of
what appeared to be minor damage to buildings near Haifa. The military also said
it struck Hezbollah targets in the southern Beirut suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh,
where the group is headquartered. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern
Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas' surprise attack into Israel ignited
the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran. Israel has
inflicted a punishing wave of blows against Hezbollah in recent weeks and says
it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can
return to their homes in the north. More than 1,300 people have been killed in
Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated in
mid-September. Since then, Hezbollah has extended its rocket fire into central
Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country's commercial hub of Tel Aviv.
Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen have also launched missiles that reached
central Israel. Most of the projectiles have been intercepted or fallen in open
areas, disrupting life in Israel while causing few casualties and little
property damage. Last week, Iran launched its own barrage of some 180 ballistic
missiles at Israel, in what it said was a response to the killing of Nasrallah,
an Iranian general who was with him at the time and Ismail Haniyeh, the top
leader of Hamas, who was killed in an explosion in Iran's capital in July.
Israel has vowed to respond to the missile attack, without saying when or how.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington this week to meet with
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Biden administration says it is opposed to
an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which could escalate regional
tensions even further.
Israeli Military Says it Killed Senior Hezbollah Commander
in Beirut
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
The Israeli military eliminated Suhail Hussein Husseini, the commander of
Hezbollah's headquarters, in a strike in the area of Beirut, it said in a
statement on Tuesday.
It said Husseini was responsible for overseeing logistics, budget and management
of the group. The military added that Husseini was involved in the transfer of
advanced weapons from Iran and their distribution to different Hezbollah units,
and that he was a member of the group’s military council. On Monday, Iran-backed
Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with "Fadi 1" missiles
and launched another strike on Tiberias, 65 km away. The armed group later said
it also targeted areas north of Haifa with missiles. Israel's military said
about 190 projectiles entered its territory on Monday. There were at least 12
injuries. Israel's military said the air force was carrying out extensive
bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s
southern suburbs. Two Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday, taking the Israeli
military death toll inside Lebanon to 11. Israeli airstrikes have displaced 1.2
million people in Lebanon. Israeli forces issued a warning in Arabic to
beachgoers and boat users to avoid a stretch of the Lebanese coast, saying they
would soon begin operations against Hezbollah from the sea. Lebanon's health
ministry reported dozens of deaths, including 10 firefighters killed in an
airstrike on a municipal building in the border area. About 2,000 Lebanese have
been killed since Hezbollah began firing at Israel a year ago in solidarity with
Hamas, most killed in the past few weeks. The Israeli military has described its
ground operation in Lebanon as "localized, limited and targeted," but it has
steadily increased in scale beginning last week.
France, Qatar Deliver Urgent Aid to Lebanon, Foreign
Minister Says
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
France and Qatar delivered urgent humanitarian aid to Lebanon on Tuesday,
France's foreign minister said, as Paris pushes for broader humanitarian efforts
and a ceasefire in the country. "If we don't do anything, then Lebanon tomorrow
could resemble what Syria has become," Jean-Noel Barrot told lawmakers in
parliament. "(That is), a hub of instability for smuggling, terrorism and a
point of departure for a large migration of civilians seeking refuge in
Europe."French and Qatari military planes delivered some 27 metric tons of
medicines and basic necessities, including blankets and hygiene kits, diplomatic
sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Paris has historical ties with
Lebanon and has been working with the United States in trying to secure a
ceasefire in the Middle Eastern country. Those talks stalled at the end of
September when Israel heavily bombed Beirut's southern suburbs, killing longtime
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. It has since launched a ground offensive
displacing thousands of people. Tuesday's Franco-Qatari aid aims to support
local aid groups to help the wounded and displaced. The two sides must accept
the ceasefire proposal, Barrot said, to "give peace and negotiations a chance to
guarantee the sovereignty of Lebanon and security for Israel." France is also
working to put together a conference on Lebanon soon that will center around
three pillars: humanitarian aid, reinforcing the Lebanese army and discussing
the ongoing political vacuum in the country, Barrot said.
More Countries Evacuate Nationals from Lebanon
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
A German air force plane is flying another 89 German citizens out of Lebanon,
the fourth such flight in the past 10 days. The Foreign Ministry wrote on X on
Tuesday that the military Airbus A321 flew 2 tons of medical aid for Lebanese
civilians to Beirut. Germany already organized three military flights out of
Beirut last week, which took a total of 460 of the country’s nationals out of
Lebanon. Meanwhile, the second repatriation flight from Lebanon organized by the
Brazilian government landed in Sao Paulo with 227 people, including 49 children,
the Brazilian air force said.
On its journey to Lebanon, the plane chartered by the Brazilian air force took
medical and hospital supplies donated by Brazil, the Foreign Ministry said,
adding that more flights will follow. About 21,000 Brazilians live in Lebanon,
which is home to the largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East. Two
Brazilian adolescents have been killed by Israeli bombardments in Lebanon. China
evacuated more than 200 citizens from Lebanon by ship and chartered flight, the
Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. A total of 211 residents of mainland China, three
Hong Kong residents and a Taiwan resident have been evacuated, according to
ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. At the request of the Lebanese government,
Beijing has agreed to provide Lebanon with emergency humanitarian medical
supplies, Mao added.
Israel begins 'targeted' ground operations
in southern Lebanon
Darryl Coote/United Press International/October 8, 2024
The Israeli military said Tuesday that it has begun "a targeted and demarcated
ground operation" in southern Lebanon, where it claimed Hezbollah militants and
infrastructure were located. The 146th Division was operating alongside the
213th Artillery Brigade and additional forces to "expose and dismantle terrorist
infrastructure in the area," the Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday morning on
its Telegram account, adding it It described the operation as "limited,
localized, targeted."
The division, which fought the last year on Israel's northwestern border, is the
first reserve division to enter southern Lebanon as part of Operation Northern
Arrows, according to a IDF statement on X. Northern Arrows was launched Sept. 23
to destroy Iran-backed Hezbollah and secure Israel's northern border. The ground
operation coincides with the anniversary of Hezbollah's involvement in the
Israel-Hamas war, launching rockets over the Lebanese border at the neighboring
country. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have traded attacks that have forced
tens of thousands of Israelis to evacuate from their northern homes. Then in
late September, operation Northern Arrows was launched and Israel vowed to
return its evacuated citizens.
According to Lebanon's Ministry of Health, at least 2,083 people have been
killed and nearly 10,000 wounded since Oct. 8, 2023, though more than 1,200 were
killed since Sept. 23. More than 1 million Lebanese have also been displaced.
Israel has issued dozens of evacuation calls throughout southern Lebanon, and
the IDF's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, told some evicted Lebanese
residents Tuesday that for their safety they are being prohibited to return to
their homes. "You should refrain from heading south, anyone who heads south is
putting their life in danger," he said on X.
Hezbollah leader says more Israelis will be displaced as
the militants extend their rocket fire
Bassem Mroue And Tia Goldenberg/BEIRUT (AP)/October 8, 2024
Hezbollah’s acting leader said Tuesday that even more Israelis will be displaced
as the militant group extends its rocket fire deeper into Israel, in a defiant
televised statement marking the anniversary of fighting that escalated into war
last month.
Sheikh Naim Kassem, the acting leader of Hezbollah, said its military
capabilities are still intact and that it has replaced all of its senior
commanders after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of
Lebanon, including targeted strikes that killed much of its top command in a
matter of days. He also said Israeli forces have not been able to advance after
launching a ground incursion into Lebanon last week. The Israeli military said a
fourth division is now taking part in the incursion, which has expanded to the
west, but operations still appear to be confined to a narrow strip along the
border. The Israeli military says it has dismantled militant infrastructure
along the border and killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters. On Tuesday, it said
a strike in Beirut had killed Suhail Husseini, who it described as a senior
commander responsible overseeing logistics, budget and management of the
militant group. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, and no way to
confirm battlefield claims made by either side.
“We are firing hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones. A large number of
settlements and cities are under the fire of the resistance,” Kassem said in a
video address, speaking from an undisclosed location. “Our capabilities are fine
and our fighters are deployed along the frontlines."
He said Hezbollah's top leadership was directing the war and that the commanders
killed by Israel have been replaced. “We have no vacant posts,” he added.
He said that Hezbollah will name a new leader to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who
was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a bunker in Beirut last month, “but the
circumstances are difficult because of the war.”The Israeli military said that
85 projectiles were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel in a
significant burst of fire on Tuesday.
Israel’s aerial defense intercepted most of the rockets, the military said. A
70-year-old woman was moderately wounded by shrapnel and Israeli media aired
footage of what appeared to be minor damage to buildings near the coastal city
of Haifa.
The military also said that it struck Hezbollah targets in the southern Beirut
suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh, where the militant group is headquartered.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day
after Hamas' surprise attack into Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and
Hamas are both allied with Iran, and Hezbollah says its attacks are aimed at
aiding the Palestinians. Israel began carrying out airstrikes in response and
the conflict steadily escalated, erupting into a full-fledged war last month.
The Lebanese militant group has said it will stop the attacks if there is a
cease-fire in Gaza, but months of diplomatic efforts on that front have
repeatedly stalled.
Israel has inflicted a punishing wave of blows against Hezbollah in recent weeks
and says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli
citizens can return to their homes in the north. More than 1,300 people have
been killed in Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated
in mid-September.
Since then, Hezbollah has extended its rocket fire into central Israel, setting
off air raid sirens in the country's commercial hub of Tel Aviv. Iran-backed
Houthi rebels in Yemen have also launched missiles that reached central Israel.
Most of the projectiles have been intercepted or fallen in open areas,
disrupting life in Israel but causing few casualties and little property damage.
Last, week Iran launched its own barrage of some 180 ballistic missiles at
Israel, in what it said was a response to the killing of Nasrallah, an Iranian
general who was with him at the time and Ismail Haniyeh, the top leader of Hamas,
who was killed in an explosion in Iran's capital in July.
Israel has vowed to respond to the missile attack, without saying when or how.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington this week to meet with
his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin. The Biden administration says it is
opposed to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which could escalate
regional tensions even further.
Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy chief?
Reuters/October 8, 2024
Hezbollah's deputy secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem, who said on Tuesday
that the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon, has
been a senior figure in the Iran-backed movement for more than 30 years.
Speaking in front of curtains from an undisclosed location, Qassem said the
conflict between Hezbollah and Israel was a war about who cries first, and
Hezbollah would not cry first. The group's capabilities were intact despite
"painful blows" from Israel.
But he added the group supported the efforts of parliament speaker Nabih Berri -
a Hezbollah ally - to secure a ceasefire, for the first time omitting any
mention of a Gaza truce deal as a pre-condition for halting the group's fire on
Israel.
His 30-minute televised address comes just days after senior Hezbollah figure
Hashem Safieddine is thought to have been the target of an Israeli strike and 11
days after the killing of Hezbollah's secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Qassem was appointed deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group's then-secretary
general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack the
following year.
Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one
of Hezbollah's leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media
including as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.
Qassem's televised address on Tuesday was his second since hostilities between
Israel and Hezbollah intensified in September. He was the first member of
Hezbollah's top leadership to make televised remarks after Nasrallah's killing
in an Israeli air attack on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 27. Speaking on
Sept. 30, Qassem said Hezbollah would choose a successor to its slain secretary
general "at the earliest opportunity" and would continue to fight Israel in
solidarity with Palestinians. "What we are doing is the bare minimum... We know
that the battle may be long," he said in a 19-minute speech. Born in 1953 in
Beirut to a family from Lebanon's south, Qassem's political activism began with
the Lebanese Shi'ite Amal Movement.
He left the group in 1979 in the wake of Iran's Islamic Revolution, which shaped
the political thinking of many young Lebanese Shi'ite activists. Qassem took
part in meetings that led to the formation of Hezbollah, established with the
backing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in response to the Israeli invasion of
Lebanon in 1982. He has been the general coordinator of Hezbollah's
parliamentary election campaigns since the group first contested them in 1992.
In 2005, he wrote a history of Hezbollah seen as a rare "insider's look" into
the organisation. Qassem wears a white turban unlike Nasrallah and Safieddine,
whose black turbans denoted their status as descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Lebanon abandoned by international community - ex PM
Anna Foster - BBC News/October 8, 2024
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora during a BBC interview
Fouad Siniora says the conflict in Lebanon should not be inextricably linked to
the war in Gaza [BBC] Lebanon’s prime minister at the time of its last war with
Israel in 2006 has told the BBC his country has been abandoned by the
international community. Fouad Siniora said it was unacceptable to leave Lebanon
to fall, and there was a lack of initiative when it came to trying to restore
peace. "We are now in a very difficult situation that requires real effort
locally, as well on the Arab side and internationally. "You can push things -
sometimes to the brink of falling - in a major catastrophe without really
realising what it means later on. "It's happening at a time when the American
administration is so busy with the elections. "And we are unable to elect a
president, because some groups in the country, particularly Hezbollah, have been
insisting that they want a president that will not stab that group in the back,"
Siniora said.
The last war between Lebanon and Israel, nearly 20 years ago, began when
Hezbollah fighters crossed the border and attacked Israeli soldiers. Two were
kidnapped and three were killed, sparking a month-long conflict. In the days
that followed, Siniora made a public statement distancing the Lebanese
government from what had happened. He thinks the country’s current leaders have
failed their people by not doing the same thing. "This government did not do
what my government did that day. My government was very clear and determined in
stating that we were not aware, and we were not informed, of Hezbollah’s plan to
cross the Blue Line on the border and to kidnap and kill Israeli soldiers. "This
time there hasn't been any move made by the Lebanese government. The advantage
of what we did is that we created a distance between the Lebanese government and
Lebanon on the one hand, and Hezbollah on the other," he explained.
Siniora is unflinching in his assessment of Lebanon’s lost sovereignty.
"Practically, Lebanon as a state has been kidnapped by Hezbollah. And behind
Hezbollah is Iran.
"This gun that was held by Hezbollah, instead of being pointed towards Israel,
started to be pointed domestically and started to be used as a way for Iran to
interfere in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen. Lebanon can’t get involved in such a
war."Siniora was also one of the architects of UN resolution 1701, the agreement
which ended the 2006 war. Among its conditions was that a swathe of southern
Lebanon - the area south of the landmark Litani river - should be kept as a
buffer zone between the two sides, free of any Hezbollah fighters or weapons.
Despite the deployment of the UN peacekeeping force Unifil and the presence of
the Lebanese army, that didn’t happen. Hezbollah’s people, and its military
infrastructure, remained bedded into the area. This vacuum at the top of the
Lebanese political system has made Hezbollah’s influence on the country
particularly difficult to control. Lebanon has been without a properly
functioning government since its last set of elections in 2022, being run
instead by a caretaker administration.
When President Michel Aoun’s term ended nearly two years ago, lawmakers couldn’t
agree on his replacement - so the job remains empty. Many Lebanese believe
leadership is in short supply.
Siniora is also clear that the conflict in Lebanon should not be inextricably
linked to the current year-old war in Gaza. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
Araghchi has visited regional capitals, calling for simultaneous ceasefires in
both Lebanon and Gaza. “Since October 2023 things have been dragging and getting
worse and worse. Many chances were made available to dissociate the Lebanese
situation from Gaza. It’s very important nationally and from an Arab point of
view to associate with Gaza," Siniora said. "But particularly now Lebanon cannot
afford, in principle, to get involved in such a matter. "When the Gaza situation
has become 2.2 million Palestinians homeless and all of Gaza destroyed, to
continue to link Lebanon's situation with Gaza is not wise."
Bowen: Year of killing and broken assumptions has taken Middle East to edge of
deeper, wider war 'I felt like my heart was going to explode': Beirut reels from
heaviest night of strikes
France, Qatar deliver urgent aid to Lebanon, foreign
minister says
Reuters/October 8, 2024
PARIS (Reuters) - France and Qatar delivered urgent humanitarian aid to Lebanon
on Tuesday, France's foreign minister said, as Paris pushes for broader
humanitarian efforts and a ceasefire in the country. "If we don't do anything,
then Lebanon tomorrow could resemble what Syria has become," Jean-Noel Barrot
told lawmakers in parliament. "(That is), a hub of instability for smuggling,
terrorism and a point of departure for a large migration of civilians seeking
refuge in Europe." French and Qatari military planes delivered some 27 metric
tons of medicines and basic necessities, including blankets and hygiene kits,
diplomatic sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Paris has
historical ties with Lebanon and has been working with the United States in
trying to secure a ceasefire in the Middle Eastern country. Those talks stalled
at the end of September when Israel heavily bombed Beirut's southern suburbs,
killing longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. It has since launched a
ground offensive displacing thousands of people. Tuesday's Franco-Qatari aid
aims to support local aid groups to help the wounded and displaced. The two
sides must accept the ceasefire proposal, Barrot said, to "give peace and
negotiations a chance to guarantee the sovereignty of Lebanon and security for
Israel." France is also working to put together a conference on Lebanon soon
that will centre around three pillars: humanitarian aid, reinforcing the
Lebanese army and discussing the ongoing political vacuum in the country, Barrot
said.
Who is Hashem Safieddine, the Nasrallah relative seen as future Hezbollah
leader?
Reuters/October 8, 2024
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Hashem Safieddine, reported by Israel as apparently killed in
its confrontation with Hezbollah, is widely seen as Hassan Nasrallah's likely
successor as head of the Iran-backed group. A relative of Nasrallah, he has been
running the movement alongside its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since
the assassination by Israel on Sept. 27. Safieddine has sat on the group's Jihad
Council - the body responsible for its military operations. He is also head of
its executive council, overseeing financial and administrative affairs for the
Iran-backed group.
While not as well-known to Israelis as Nasrallah, Safieddine is seen by Israel
as a leading target in what it deems a terrorist organisation and a proxy for
arch-foe Iran. Safieddine assumed a prominent role speaking for Hezbollah during
the past year of hostilities with Israel, addressing funerals and other events
that Nasrallah had long avoided for security reasons. He was the first Hezbollah
official to speak in public after the group's Palestinian ally Hamas attacked
southern Israel on Oct. 7, igniting the Gaza war that drew the Lebanese Shi'ite
Islamist movement into a parallel conflict with Israel.
With observers across the Middle East waiting to see what Hezbollah might do to
help Hamas, Safieddine told an Oct. 8 rally in Beirut's southern suburbs that
the group's "guns and our rockets are with you". "Everything we have is with
you," Safieddine declared.
Like Nasrallah, Safieddine wears the black turban denoting his status as a
sayyed, or descendent of the Prophet Mohammed. He bears a strong physical
resemblance to Nasrallah. He hails from a prominent Lebanese Shi'ite family, and
was born in the country's predominantly Shi'ite south.
Safieddine studied at religious seminaries in the Iranian city of Qom before
returning to Lebanon in the 1990s to assume leadership responsibilities in the
group. He maintained strong ties to Hezbollah's backers in Iran.
His son, Rida, is married to the daughter of the late Iranian general Qassem
Soleimani, head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force until he was killed
by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in 2020. His brother, Abdullah, serves as
Hezbollah's representative in Tehran. As executive council chief, Safieddine
plays a role some likened to that of prime minister of a government, responsible
for an array of Hezbollah institutions involved in health care, education,
culture, and construction, and other activities. He led efforts to rebuild the
Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut following the group's 2006 war
with Israel, when swathes of the area were flattened by Israeli airstrikes. In a
2012 speech, Safieddine said the post-war reconstruction had amounted to "a new
victory" over Israel. Phillip Smyth, an expert who studies Iran-backed Shi'ite
militias, said Nasrallah "started tailoring positions for him within a variety
of different councils within Lebanese Hezbollah. Some of them were more opaque
than others". The U.S. State Department declared him a specially designated
global terrorist in 2017. In response to U.S. pressure on Hezbollah that same
year, he said "this mentally impeded, crazy U.S. administration headed by Trump
will not be able to harm the resistance".
Israel deploys fourth army division in south Lebanon
offensive, says senior Hezbollah official probably dead
Reuters/James Mackenzie and Maya Gebeily/October 8, 2024
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's military said on Tuesday it had deployed a
fourth army division into south Lebanon, signalling an expanding ground
offensive against Hezbollah, and said the successor to the Iran-backed group's
slain leader appeared to have been "eliminated".
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant made the announcement about Hashem Safieddine, in
what would be the latest shock to Hezbollah's hierarchy, as Israel began ground
operations in southwest Lebanon, extending its incursions to a new zone. As
Hezbollah's deputy leader left the door open to a negotiated ceasefire, the
Israeli military said it had sent the 146th Division into Lebanon, the first
reserve division to have been deployed over the border. A military statement did
not specify how many soldiers were now inside Lebanon. But the military had
previously announced that three other army divisions were operating there,
meaning that thousands of soldiers were likely on Lebanese soil. The Israeli
military announced on Oct. 1 that ground forces had entered Lebanon, initially
with commando units that were then followed by regular armoured units and
infantry units. The army has said the operation is limited in scope. The
heightened Middle East tensions kindled a year ago by Palestinian armed group
Hamas' attack from Gaza on southern Israel have escalated in recent weeks into
an intensifying series of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Oct. 1,
Iran, sponsor of both Hezbollah and Hamas, fired missiles at Israel. On Tuesday
Iran warned Israel not to follow through on threats of retaliation. Its foreign
minister said any attack on Iran's infrastructure would be avenged. Western
powers are seeking a diplomatic solution, fearing the conflict could roil the
wider, oil-producing Middle East. The area of Israeli operations in Lebanon has
been widened. The Israeli military said it was now conducting "limited,
localised, targeted operations" in Lebanon's southwest, having previously
announced such operations in the southeast. A military spokesperson declined to
say how many troops were in Lebanon at one time. "It is a dynamic type of
operation, limited, targeted raids and raids means in and out, means movement,
means different locations, means different forces and so on," Lieutenant Colonel
Nadav Shoshani told a briefing with reporters.
TRADING FIRE
Overnight, Israel again bombed Beirut's southern suburbs where Hezbollah is
headquartered and said it had killed a figure responsible for the heavily armed
Iranian proxy militia's budgeting and logistics, Suhail Hussein Husseini - the
latest in a strong of assassinations of some of Hezbollah's top officials.
In northern Israel not far from the Lebanon border, warning sirens sounded
regularly throughout Tuesday as authorities said Hezbollah fired almost 200
rockets into Israel. Targets again included Haifa, the northern port city where
there were multiple reports of damage to buildings from missile debris. Israel's
military said it had struck the launchers that fired the missiles at Haifa. The
mushrooming Israeli-Hezbollah conflict has killed well over 1,000 people in
Lebanon in the past two weeks and prompted the mass flight of more than a
million.Israel's stated objective is to make its northern areas safe from
Hezbollah rocket fire and allow thousands of displaced residents to return.
NASRALLAH SUCCESSOR LIKELY 'ELIMINATED'
Safieddine, the senior Hezbollah official, was widely expected to succeed Hassan
Nasrallah, the Shi'ite Muslim movement's longtime leader assassinated in an
Israeli airstrike on south Beirut on Sept. 27. Safieddine has not been heard
from publicly since another Israeli airstrike late last week.
"Hezbollah is an organisation without a head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his
replacement was probably also eliminated," Gallant told officers at the Israeli
military's northern command centre, in a brief video segment distributed by the
military. Safieddine has been a prime target for Israel, nurtured as an
influential leader and potential heir to Nasrallah. As head of Hezbollah's
executive council, he has overseen the group's political affairs, while also
sitting on the Jihad Council, which manages its military operations.
CEASEFIRE EFFORTS
In a televised speech from an undisclosed location shown before the release of
Gallant's video, Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said he backed attempts
to secure a truce.For the first time, the end of war in Gaza was not mentioned
as a pre-condition to halting combat on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Qassem said Hezbollah supported attempts by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a
Hezbollah ally, to secure a halt to fighting. It was not clear whether Qassem's
remarks signalled any change in stance, after a year in which the group has said
it is fighting in support of the Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in
Gaza, and would not stop without a ceasefire there. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment on Qassem's remarks. Qassem said
Hezbollah's capabilities were intact despite "painful blows" from Israel.
"Dozens of cities are within range of the resistance's missiles. We assure you
that our capabilities are fine." (This story has been refiled to add the missing
word 'official' in the headline) (Reporting by Elwely Elewelly in Dubai and Maya
Gebeily in Beirut and Benoit Van Overstraeten in Brussels and Emma Farge in
Geneva; writing by Michael Georgy and Mark Heinrich; editing by Peter Graff,
Timothy Heritage and Ros Russell)
The Truth between Two Wars: July 2006 and October 2023
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
The dangerous plight Lebanon endured in 2006 and currently enduring since
October 8, 2023, share several similarities and vast differences. The moment the
Israeli enemy carried out its aggression against Lebanon in July 2006 – under
the pretext of retaliating to a Hezbollah military operation and kidnapping of
two Israeli soldiers – I called cabinet to meet to discuss the danger of the
assault and its consequences. We discussed measures that should be taken to
protect national security and civilians in areas that were being targeted to
prevent the South from being emptied of its people. I clearly stated that the
government was taken by surprise by Hezbollah’s operation. We were unaware of it
and did not adopt it. We condemned the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its
sovereignty and people, and urged the need to file an urgent complaint at the
United Nations Security Council and demand a ceasefire.
Distance between the state and party -
The government effectively established a clear distance between the Lebanese
state and Hezbollah, allowing it to address the Arab and international
communities to help Lebanon and strengthen its perseverance. This also enabled
and allowed it to assume its role as the victim – a role Israel had tried to
play since that morning of July 12, 2023. I made sure that the Lebanese state,
with all of its elements and means, would be responsible for everything:
tackling the outcomes of what happened and what would happen, that it would
assume its responsibilities in taking all measures and decisions to protect
Lebanon and its people, and that it would provide all the means for their
perseverance and protect the displaced Lebanese. Since that day, the government
Serial turned into a tireless national workshop, while members of government
formed a united team to defend Lebanon and ensure the functioning of state
institutions to allow daily life to continue. Civil society was also entrusted
with playing its role in defending Lebanon.
On the external front, and with the cooperation of Lebanon’s foreign minister,
daily contacts were intensified with senior world officials, such as the UN
secretary-general, heads of fraternal Arab states and friendly influential
countries that could impact world decisions. A ceasefire was our primary demand
at the Security Council. At the time, the Israeli enemy continued its war on
Lebanon. It targeted vital facilities, destroyed bridges, roads, schools and
infrastructure in villages and towns. The government, meanwhile, worked
tirelessly in bringing together the world and international organizations to
condemn the assault against Lebanon.
Seven-point plan -
Along with the cabinet and effective role of the president, I presented to world
leaders and the Security Council solutions to end the war against Lebanon. The
government adopted a seven-point plan that I proposed at the Rome conference.
The plan was adopted by the Security Council as part of its international
resolution for a ceasefire. The Security Council issued resolution 1701 and the
war ended. The displaced returned to their homes and villages starting August
14, 2006. The reconstruction plan of infrastructure and destroyed and damaged
buildings was carried out with the highest level of competence, credibility,
efficiency and speed in due to the generous aid offered by Arab states,
especially the Gulf, and friendly countries. Lebanon could rely on these
countries after the trust that the government consolidated and built with all
brothers and friends.
And so, Lebanon rose again and prospered. It went on to resume its natural Arab
and international role. From 2007 and 2010, Lebanon achieved the highest growth
rate in its history and over a four-year period. It achieved a major surplus in
its balance of payments and a very positive surplus in its foreign currency
reserves in the Central Bank. It also achieved a major relative drop in its
public debt.
Unity of arenas without foundation -
In contrast, what happened on October 8, 2023, was a result of Hezbollah’s
vision of the “unity of arenas”. It took its actions alone and at its own
responsibility without informing or the knowledge of the legitimate authorities
in Lebanon. It opened the southern Lebanese front with occupied Palestine
without also taking into consideration the very dire circumstances that Lebanon
has been and still continues to endure. The very next day I issued a statement
stressing that Lebanon will not and cannot be dragged into such a military
battle. I listed five fundamental reasons: the national and political crisis
caused by the vacuum in the presidency, failure to form a responsible
government, the stifling economic crisis, the Syrian refugee crisis and
Lebanon’s loss of close ties with its Arab fold and loss of the Arab and
international safety net that protected it in 2006. Added to that is the
majority of the Lebanese people’s lack of sympathy or support of Hezbollah’s
military operation.
Now, resolution 1701 has not been implemented as it should, and the UN and
Security Council have not played their role in ensuring the implementation of
all international resolutions related to Lebanon and the Palestinian cause.
Israel has proven that it does not want just and lasting peace in the region. It
does not recognize international law, international legitimacy or human rights.
It has been running rampant in genocide, killing, and destruction in Gaza and
the West Bank. Now, it has its sights on Lebanon where it is killing civilians
and displacing the people, destroying homes and infrastructure and abusing
modern technology.
Nation searches for heroes -
Now, we are where we are, facing obstacles to outlets that can help Lebanon out
of this Israeli aggression. I believe that certain officials in Lebanon can play
a major national role in the absence of a president. I believe these figures are
Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, and Najib Mikati, the caretaker prime
minister. They must intensify their efforts and earn this heroic role. All
dutiful officials must save Lebanon and take the initiative to help it through
adopting the following six points:
First, national duty demands that all Lebanese people come together and act
according to a unified basis and national fraternity. The entire Lebanese
population condemns this barbaric Israeli aggression that is targeting the whole
of Lebanon and its structure, which cannot tolerate the idea of no victor and no
vanquished. Second, solutions in Lebanon can only be reached through unifying
national proposals that are based on the full implementation of the Taif Accord
and Lebanese constitution. They should adhere to the state and its authority.
The state is independent and it alone is responsible for protecting the nation
and its sovereignty and its people and their security and stability. Third, the
Israeli aggression is targeting the whole of Lebanon and all the Lebanese
people. No one wants this attack and sees in it an opportunity to back their
political position. So, efforts should be focused on supporting the state and
allowing it to take control and assume responsibility, bringing together the
people so that their sole concern would be saving Lebanon and helping it out of
this dangerous crisis that is threatening their nation, their unity and their
fate. Fourth, the Security Council must issue a resolution for an immediate
ceasefire in Lebanon. It must assume its responsibilities in preserving
international peace and security through obligating all parties to fully and
immediately implement resolution 1701 and respect all relevant resolutions.
Fifth, Speaker Berri must call parliament to convene to discuss the dangers that
are looming around the Lebanese state and people. The parliament must ensure the
preservation of the Lebanese entity, respect the constitution, and preserve
Lebanon’s unity and territorial integrity. Berri must call for the election of a
new president without delay.
The president must be able to unite all the people and form a responsible
government that would assume the responsibility in implementing resolution 1701
in full. It must work on reviving the state and restoring its sovereignty. It
must bolster the role of the Lebanese state in maintaining the country’s
independence and freedom.
With Hospitals Full in Lebanon, Family Flees to Give Birth in Iraq
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Lubana Ismail had just fled her village in southern Lebanon with her husband and
two children when she went into labor. She had swollen veins in her uterus and
needed immediate medical supervision to give birth safely. They searched for a
hospital in Beirut or Sidon that would admit her, but all were full of the dead
and wounded. "No hospital accepted me. We were turned away everywhere until my
father suggested we go to Iraq," she recounted. So they boarded a flight and
flew to Najaf. It was there, in a former war zone 1,000 km (600 miles) from
home, that Lubana finally gave birth to baby Zahraa, healthy and safe. The proud
father, Fouad Youssef, recounted the perils of their evacuation. "At first, we
went to Tyre, but a strike hit directly next to us. We decided to go to Beirut,
thinking it would be safer, but even on the way, a strike hit near us,” he said.
"During our two days of displacement, I tried to get my wife into a hospital
because her labor was difficult. But due to the high number of injuries and
martyrs, there were no vacancies."More than a million Lebanese have fled their
homes since Israel intensified its airstrikes and launched a ground campaign in
southern Lebanon against the Hezbollah movement which has been striking Israel
in solidarity with the Palestinians. Imran Riza, UN humanitarian coordinator,
said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios,
and too much damage was being done to civilian infrastructure.
Najaf is accustomed to handling the emergency medical needs of foreigners, and
Iraqis have endured almost two decades of war at home. But receiving refugees
from Lebanon is unexpected. Iraq's interior ministry says around 5,700 Lebanese
have arrived so far. Lubana and Fouad are grateful to have found a safe place to
bring their family and give birth to their daughter. But they have no idea what
will come next. "We are afraid the war will go on for a long time. What will
happen to our children? We were preparing them for school, but now there is no
education. Are we going to stay here? Are we leaving? Are we going back to our
country?" pondered Youssef, watching news of the destruction in Lebanon on his
mobile screen.
Lebanese Fishermen Stay Ashore after Israeli Warning
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Piles of fishing nets lay on land unused in the southern Lebanese port of Sidon
on Tuesday as fishermen stayed ashore after the Israeli military warned of
strikes against fighters along the coast. Commercial vessels and leisure boats
were anchored in the harbor, while the city's ancient fish market fell unusually
quiet, with traders trying to peddle the catch from earlier in the week. "The
Lebanese army told us we weren't allowed to go out, and we're respecting that,"
said Mohammed Bidawi, a member of the local fishermen's union. "If it continues
like this, the market will close too." After nearly a year of cross-border
clashes, Israel intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon on September 23,
killing more than 1,100 people and displacing over a million from their homes,
according to official figures. The Israeli army warned late Monday that it would
expand its operations against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah to Lebanon's coast.
It warned people to stay away from the shore in the area south of the Al-Awali
river, which flows into the sea to the north of Sidon. Issam Haboush, another
fisherman, said he was worried about his family. "Fishing is the way we support
our children. If we don't go out to sea, we won't be able to feed ourselves," he
said, adding that hundreds of families depended on the trade. Bidawi said the de
facto ban on fishing in Sidon had plunged around "5,000 to 6,000 people" into
difficulty, the latest blow after a huge financial crisis in the country since
2019.
"The fishermen and traders at the fish market are going to need help," he said.
Before the war, Lebanon's fleet of 3,000 fishing boats reaped in between 3,000
and 3,500 tons of fish each year, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization
said in 2021. Fisherman Hamza Sonbol said he and his colleagues had become
destitute overnight. "We've become like the country's displaced," he said.
'Upsetting'
Freediving instructor Marwan Hariri, 47, also has a boat in the port to take
students out on for lessons. "Since yesterday I've been feeling very down," he
said. He had already lost 70 percent of his students in the past year of border
clashes, as they largely came from southern areas under heavy Israeli
bombardment, he said. "I haven't even been opening the diving center. I've just
been going down to the sea to go spearfishing," he said. Despite the financial
crisis and the tensions in the south, he was still enjoying diving with his
speargun which he said was a way to temporarily escape from the news.
On Monday, he put his catch up for auction among acquaintances and managed to
sell it for $56. Then the Israeli military issued its warning. Despite the
perfect weather conditions on Monday morning, when he went down to the beach, he
saw no fishermen coming back on their boats.
"It was really upsetting," he said. Sixth, efforts must be exerted with all Arab
brothers and the Arab League, as well as all friendly countries and
institutions, to offer the necessary and immediate aid to the displaced. The
safe return of the displaced must be ensured and the necessary funds for
reconstruction must be secured. This new plight has demonstrated that Lebanon
has not learned from the lessons of 2006. It has become exposed in every aspect
before the Israeli enemy, which has taken advantage of its superior firepower,
air force, technology, intelligence and unlimited support from the international
community to kill and destroy. The enemy is still hoping to sow division and
strife between the Lebanese people. God willing, this will not happen. The enemy
has not shied away from committing massacres and assassinations, the last of
which was the killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
Today, the whole of Lebanon is facing a test. Will the UN and Security Council
champion what is right? Will the Lebanese people rally together to defend
Lebanon and their right for a dignified and safe life, and teach Israel a lesson
in rights, humanity and respect for human rights?
*Fuad Siniora is a Lebanese former prime minister.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October 08-09/2024
Netanyahu Says Israel ‘Will Continue
to Fight’ Its Enemies
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel “will continue to
fight” against its enemies. Netanyahu delivered a recorded message late Monday
to a government memorial service marking the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Israel
responded to the attacks with a military offensive that has devastated Gaza and
inflicted heavy losses on the Hamas militant group. US-led ceasefire efforts
have repeatedly faltered, and Israel has now turned its focus to a ground
offensive in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah party. “As long as the
enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to
fight,” Netanyahu said. “As long as our hostages are in Gaza, we will continue
to fight. We will not give up on any of them. I won’t give up.” The government
ceremony was prerecorded, and Netanyahu did not attend. Families of people
killed in the Oct. 7 attack, hostages and soldiers who died fighting Hamas held
a separate ceremony earlier Monday, skipping the official ceremony in a show of
anger against the government.
Israeli Strike Targets Residential Building in Syria’s
Damascus, Say State Media
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
An Israeli strike targeted a residential building in the Mezzah suburb west of
the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria's state news agency reported on Tuesday.
Preliminary reports indicated that the strike had resulted in injuries among
civilians, Syrian state media reported. State media earlier reported that
Syria's air defenses had intercepted "hostile" targets in the vicinity of
Damascus. Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in
Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year's Oct. 7 attack by
Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli territory that sparked the Gaza war.
Israel's strikes are shifting the power balance in the Middle East, with US
support
Ellen Knickmeyer/WASHINGTON (AP)/October 8, 2024
Israeli military strikes are targeting Iran's armed allies across a nearly
2,000-mile stretch of the Middle East and threatening Iran itself. The efforts
raise the possibility of an end to two decades of Iranian ascendancy in the
region, to which the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq inadvertently gave rise.
In Washington, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and Arab capitals, opponents and
supporters of Israel's offensive are offering clashing ideas about what the U.S.
should do next, as its ally racks up tactical successes against Hezbollah in
Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen and presses its yearlong campaign to crush
Hamas in Gaza.
Israel should get all the support it needs from the United States until Iran's
government “follows other dictatorships of the past into the dustbin of
history,” said Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at Washington's
conservative-leaning Foundation for the Defense of Democracies — calls echoed by
some Israeli political figures.
Going further, Yoel Guzansky, a former senior staffer at Israel’s National
Security Council, called for the Biden administration to join Israel in direct
attacks in Iran. That would send "the right message to the Iranians — ‘Don’t
mess with us,’'' Guzansky said.
Critics, however, highlight lessons from the U.S. military campaign in Iraq and
toppling of Saddam Hussein, when President George W. Bush ignored Arab warnings
that the Iraqi dictator was the region's indispensable counterbalance to Iranian
influence. They caution against racking up military victories without adequately
considering the risks, end goals or plans for what comes next, and warn of
unintended consequences.
Ultimately, Israel “will be in a situation where it can only protect itself by
perpetual war,” said Vali Nasr, who was an adviser to the Obama administration.
Now a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, or
SAIS, he has been one of the leading documenters of the rise of Iranian regional
influence since the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving limited weight to Biden
administration calls for restraint, the United States and its partners in the
Middle East are “at the mercy of how far Bibi Netanyahu will push it,” Nasr
said, referring to the Israeli leader by his nickname.
“It's as if we hadn't learned the lessons, or the folly, of that experiment ...
in Iraq in 2003 about reshaping the Middle East order,” said Randa Slim, a
fellow at SAIS and researcher at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.
Advocates of Israel’s campaign hope for the weakening of Iran and its armed
proxies that attack the U.S., Israel and their partners, oppress civil society
and increasingly are teaming up with Russia and other Western adversaries.
Opponents warn that military action without resolving the grievances of
Palestinians and others risks endless and destabilizing cycles of war,
insurgency and extremist violence, and Middle East governments growing more
repressive to try to control the situation.
And there’s the threat that Iran develops nuclear weapons to try to ensure its
survival. Before the Israeli strikes on Hezbollah, Iranian leaders concerned
about Israel’s offensives had made clear that they were interested in returning
to negotiations with the U.S. on their nuclear program and claimed interest in
improved relations overall.
In just weeks, Israeli airstrikes and intelligence operations have devastated
the leadership, ranks and arsenals of Lebanon-based Hezbollah — which had been
one of the Middle East’s most powerful fighting forces and Iran's overseas
bulwark against attacks on Iranian territory — and hit oil infrastructure of
Yemen's Iran-allied Houthis.
A year of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza appears to have reduced the leadership of
Iranian-allied Hamas to a few survivors hiding in underground tunnels. However,
Israeli forces again engaged in heavy fighting there this week, and Hamas was
able to fire rockets at Tel Aviv in a surprising show of enduring strength on
the Oct. 7 anniversary of the militant group's attack on Israel, which started
the war. Anticipated Israeli counterstrikes on Iran could accelerate regional
shifts in power. The response would follow Iran launching ballistic missiles at
Israel last week in retaliation for killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
It also could escalate the risk of all-out regional war that U.S. President Joe
Biden — and decades of previous administrations — worked to avert.
The expansion of Israeli attacks since late last month has sidelined mediation
by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
U.S. leaders say Israel did not warn them before striking Hezbollah leaders in
Lebanon but have defended the surge in attacks, while still pressing for peace.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in an
interview with CBS' “60 Minutes” aired Monday that the U.S. was dedicated to
supplying Israel with the military aid needed to protect itself but would keep
pushing to end the conflict.
“We’re not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the
region, including Arab leaders,” she said. Israel’s expanded strikes raise for
many what is the tempting prospect of weakening Iran’s anti-Western, anti-Israel
alliance with like-minded armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen to
governments in Russia and North Korea.
Called the “Axis of Resistance," Iran's military alliances grew — regionally,
then globally — after the U.S. invasion of Iraq removed Saddam, who had fought
an eight-year war against Iran's ambitious clerical regime.
Advocates of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and overthrow of Saddam, said correctly
that an Iraqi democracy would take hold.
But the unintended effects of the U.S. intervention were even bigger, including
the rise of Iran's Axis of Resistance and new extremist groups, including the
Islamic State.
“An emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor” of the 2003
Iraq war, notes a U.S. Army review of lessons learned.
“Two decades ago, who could have seen a day when Iran was supporting Russia with
arms? The reason is because of its increased influence” after the U.S. overthrow
of Saddam, said Ihsan Alshimary, professor of political science at Baghdad
University.
Even more than in 2003, global leaders are offering little clear idea on how the
shifts in power that Israel’s military is putting in motion will end — for Iran,
Israel, the Middle East at large, and the United States.
Iran and its allies are being weakened, said Goldberg, at the Foundation for the
Defense of Democracies. So is U.S. influence as it appears to be dragged along
by Israel, Nasr said.
The conflict could end up hurting Israel if it bogs down in a ground war in
Lebanon, for example, said Mehran Kamrava, a professor and Middle East expert at
Georgetown University in Qatar.
After four decades of deep animosity between Israeli and Iranian leaders, “the
cold war between them has turned into a hot war. And this is significantly
changing — is bound to change — the strategic landscape in the Middle East,” he
said.
“We are certainly at the precipice of change," Kamrava said. But “the direction
and nature of that change is very hard to predict at this stage."
As Israel plots to strike Iran, its choices range from
symbolic to severe
Josef Federman/The Associated Press/October 8, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has promised to retaliate for Iran’s massive missile
attack last week. How it does so involves great risk, and could have major
repercussions for the archenemies, the Middle East and the world. Israel's
options range from symbolic strikes on military targets to crippling attacks on
Iran's vital oil industry or its secretive and heavily fortified nuclear
program.
The intensity and timing of any retaliatory strike was expected to top the
agenda of a planned meeting this week at the Pentagon between Israel’s defense
minister and his U.S. counterpart. But late Tuesday, the Pentagon said the
meeting was abruptly postponed. In a sign of possible disagreement over the
right approach, President Joe Biden has already urged Israel not to hit Iran's
nuclear program and discouraged it from hitting the oil industry. The Associated
Press spoke to two former Israeli prime ministers and other experts to explore
Israel’s options. There is broad consensus that Israel must strike back, but
deep disagreement over the best way to do so.
“The question is not whether Israel will retaliate or respond,” former Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert told AP. “The question is which way.”
Why is Israel threatening Iran?
Israel and Iran have been involved in a bitter shadow war for years — primarily
through Israel’s battles against Iranian-backed militant groups across the
region. Israel also has been suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists and
carrying out attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, but it rarely acknowledges
involvement. Direct clashes have been rare. But things changed after Hamas
attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, and Hezbollah began firing
rockets at Israel the following day. Both groups receive support from Iran. In
April, Iran fired over 300 drones and missiles toward Israel after accusing it
of killing two Iranian generals in a diplomatic compound in Syria. Nearly all of
the missiles malfunctioned or were intercepted, and Israel responded with a
limited strike that signaled it did not want any further escalation. After last
week’s Iranian attack, Israel signaled its next response would be different.
Iran said the barrage of at least 180 ballistic missiles was to avenge a series
of Israeli strikes against its close allies, Hamas and Hezbollah, including the
assassination of the group’s longtime leader. Although the missiles caused
little damage or casualties, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had
made a “big mistake and it will pay for it.” Members of his hard-line coalition
have called for a harsh response.
What options does Israel have?
Israel has a broad range of choices of targets – from Iranian government
buildings and military bases to sensitive oil installations to heavily fortified
nuclear facilities hidden deep below ground. Israel accuses Iran of developing
nuclear weapons — a charge Iran denies. Striking anywhere in Iran is a
logistical challenge for Israel. Warplanes would need to fly over 1,500
kilometers (about 1,000 miles) to their target, requiring a complicated midair
refueling operation, potentially over hostile skies. Any strike would also mean
confronting Iran’s Russian-made air-defense systems.
“Remember that Iran is 1,500, 1,600 kilometers (about 1,000 miles) away from
Israel, and you have countries in between — Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia. Some are
friends. Some are foes,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the
Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv and a former adviser on
Iranian affairs on Israel's National Security Council. “You don’t want to
embarrass your friends. You don’t want to get hostile fire from other
countries,” he said.
Olmert, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009, said Israel is more than
capable of coping with these challenges. “We have the capabilities,” he said.
“I’m not certain it would be wise and responsible to expose them.” Even if
Israel has the means, there are diplomatic considerations. A strike on the oil
sector, Iran’s economic backbone, or on the nuclear program would almost
certainly guarantee an Iranian response and raise the risk of further
escalation. Such strikes could rattle global oil markets and shake the U.S.
economy on the eve of a presidential election. They also could risk Iranian
retaliation not only against Israel, but against American troops stationed in
the region or Gulf Arab countries aligned with the West. “Unlike Lebanon and
Gaza, every Israeli attack on Iran has international and global repercussions,”
said Menahem Merhavy, an Iran expert at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
So how will Israel respond?
Former leaders are divided on what path Israel should choose. Olmert said a
strike on multiple military targets, spread across Iran’s vast territory, would
be more than enough to send a message. The goal, he said, is to show that Israel
can strike anywhere and anytime. “That’s precisely what deterrence is all
about,” he said. Olmert said hitting Iran’s oil sector would be an unnecessary
escalation that invites a response, and that striking the nuclear program is not
worth the risk. Not only would it trigger Iranian retaliation, but the odds of
success are uncertain, he said.
“Trying to attack the nuclear program will be a mistake,” he said. Another
former prime minister, Yair Lapid, believes Israel should strike Iran’s oil
industry infrastructure. “That is the most painful target for the Iranian
regime,” Lapid, who served as premier in 2022, said in a written response to a
question from The Associated Press. “Iran’s ballistic missile attack against
Israel must be met with a forceful response,” he said, adding that Iran must
understand “there is a high cost to its regional aggression.” In an interview
with the Israeli news site Ynet, Lapid said a strike on Iran’s nuclear
facilities should only be done as part of an international coalition in
coordination with the United States. Lapid’s predecessor as prime minister and
former governing partner, Naftali Bennett, takes an even tougher line, saying
now is the time for Israel to bomb the Iranian nuclear project. Bennett said in
a video posted on social media Tuesday that Iran and its allies have been
weakened, and that Israel has a rare chance to deliver a decisive blow to Iran’s
leadership, economy and nuclear program. “We must not settle for Iranian
military bases or noisy-yet-meaningless actions that are meant only to deliver a
message,” Bennett said. “The time for messages is over.” Olmert, however, said
he hopes cooler heads will prevail. “What do we want to achieve and how far do
we want to go and how arrogant do we want to be?” he said. His advice: “Try to
be smart.”
Israel may have military superiority, but it lacks a
clear strategic vision, say experts
Thibault Spirlet,Hannah Abraham/Business Insider/October 8, 2024
Israel now waging war on three battle fronts — Palestinian territories, Lebanon,
and back up to restore default view. Israel is fighting a multi-front war
that includes Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Syria. Experts told BI that Israel
still lacks a long-term strategic vision on how to end the war. Israel may have
fallen into what one expert described as an "escalatory trap."One year after
Hamas' October 7 massacre, Israel has become embroiled in a multi-front war that
includes Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Syria. But while Israel may have
military superiority in the region, it lacks a clear, long-term strategic vision
to end conflict in the Middle East, according to security experts. On Tuesday,
it said it was expanding its ground operation in Lebanon by adding a fourth
division of soldiers. Meanwhile, it has intensified its air strikes on Gaza and
Lebanon, including this week hitting Hezbollah intelligence targets and a
Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Beirut. It is also weighing up
a strike on Iran in response to a ballistic missile attack last week. Targets
could include nuclear sites, oil facilities, and military bases. It's clear the
Israel Defense Forces have achieved a series of tactical gains in recent weeks,
but they still lack a clear military strategy, security analysts told Business
Insider.Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow for Middle East Security at the
Royal United Services Institute, said the longer Israel's military operations
continue, the more "urgent" it becomes for it to articulate how it envisions war
to come to an end."There is a lack of strategic coherence on all sides in this
multi-front conflict," she told BI.
Netanyahu's goals
In a video address on Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
Israel is achieving its war goals a year after Hamas' terrorist attacks.He
listed them as toppling Hamas' rule, bringing all the hostages home, eliminating
any threat from Gaza to Israel, and returning all the residents of southern and
northern Israel safely to their homes. However, Bashir Abbas, a fellow at the
Stimson Center, told BI that Israel still has a way to go in pursuing national
security.
"Even in Gaza, Israel has simply not articulated a long-term strategy for
Israeli security at all, apart from wiping out Hamas — which would be virtually
impossible to do fully given the nature of insurgent groups.""You cannot just
bomb Hamas into oblivion and destroy it," concurred Chris Doyle, director of the
Council for Arab British Understanding NGO. While he said Israel could degrade
Hamas' capabilities, at the end of it, "how will Israel live side by side with 7
million Palestinians going forward after all that they've done to it?" he asked.
"There has to be underpinning it, a political agreement and strategy— that means
an agreed cease-fire," he said.Doyle made the same point for the Lebanon-based
Hezbollah militia group. "Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982, the
consequences of which were the establishment of Hezbollah 42 years later," he
said. "They're not just fighting Hezbollah, but they're fighting an organization
that is now a state within a state with a huge arsenal of missiles of all sorts
of types," he added.
An 'escalatory trap'
Anthony Pfaff, the director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the US Army
War College, said in August that Israel may be stuck in what he termed the
"escalatory trap." "If Israel escalates," wrote Pfaff, "it fuels the escalatory
spiral that could, at some point, exceed its military capability to
manage."However, if it chooses the status quo, it will have done little to
improve its security situation. "Neither outcome achieves Israel's security
objectives, which would represent a defeat for the IDF and could threaten the
survival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government," Pfaff said.
The problem may be that Israel's security doctrine has long been based on short
wars. As the Guardian points out, the opposite has now taken place. None of the
IDF's operations "comes as part of a clear strategy with achievable aims that
will, in the end, bring greater ability and peace to Israel, to Israeli
civilians," said Doyle of the Council for Arab British Understanding NGO.
Instead, he said it "escalates the conflict, but without any clear sense that
there is an exit." The increasingly drawn-out conflict has triggered fears of
full-blown war in the Middle East, which could spark inflation and lead to a
global economic downturn.
Last week, Moody's Israel lowered Israel's credit rating, citing heightened
tensions, economic uncertainty, and the potential for escalation into a
full-scale conflict. Prior to Israel's incursions into Lebanon last month,
Israel's finance minister described the war as the "longest" and "most
expensive" conflict in Israel's history, with about $54 billion to $68 billion
in "direct" costs. The Bank of Israel estimated in May that the costs arising
from the war would total about $66 billion through the end of next year —
equivalent to roughly 12% of Israel's GDP, per CNN.
Will the election change things?
Netanyahu's stance toward a peace deal may hinge on who wins the US presidential
elections in November, said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor to the Counter
Extremism Project. While former president Donald Trump would give Netanyahu
"carte blanche" to do everything on his own terms, Vice President Kamala Harris
would push for a "constructive attitude to ceasefires and peace processes," he
said. "I think we're a lot closer to the beginning of this conflict than we are
to the end," former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman told Fox Business on
Monday. "There's going to be a new administration, and that will have a lot of
implications on our strategy."
Heavy fighting in Gaza's Jabalia as Israel conducts new
ground operation
David Gritten - BBC News/October 8, 2024
Residents say there has been heavy fighting in Jabalia in northern Gaza, where
Israeli tanks and troops are conducting a new ground operation. The Israeli
military said it had killed 20 “terrorists” there over the past day, and that
one of its soldiers had also been killed in the north. Hamas said its fighters
had targeted Israeli forces in Jabalia and its refugee camp, while the Hamas-run
civil defence agency said Israeli strikes had killed 19 people. Civilians in
Jabalia and nearby Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia have been told to evacuate south
by the military, which said on Sunday that intelligence indicated Hamas was
trying to “rebuild its operational capabilities” in the region. It warned that
the operation would involve “systematic strikes and the radical destruction of
terrorist structures”. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday evening
that Israeli forces were besieging the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia and
that it would run out of fuel within hours. It also said patients and medical
personnel had been asked to evacuate the hospital, as well as the nearby
Indonesian and al-Awda hospitals. Israeli forces launched a campaign in Gaza to
destroy Hamas in response to the group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel
on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were
taken as hostages. More than 41,960 people have been killed in Gaza since then,
according to the territory's health ministry. Analysis: Year of killing and
broken assumptions has taken Middle East to edge of deeper, wider war .This is
the third time Israeli forces have gone into Jabalia and its refugee camp over
the past year, with the last operation in May displacing tens of thousands of
people, killing hundreds and causing widespread destruction. On Monday, Jabalia
resident Asmaa Tayeh told the BBC that she and her family had had to leave their
home for the fourth time in a year. They have returned to her grandparents’
house in the al-Nasr district of Gaza City and, like many civilians in the
north, are reluctant to move south, fearing that if they do they will not ever
make it home. Despite Israeli assurances, Palestinians fear the military is
planning to implement a plan, proposed by the former head of Israel’s national
security council, to completely empty northern Gaza of the 300,000 to 500,000
civilians believed to be living there. According to Giora Eiland’s plan, the
north would then be declared a “closed military zone” and the estimated 5,000
Hamas fighters there would be put under siege in order to force the group to
release the remaining Israeli hostages. “The situation is getting so dangerous
that we don’t have so much hope that we’ll go back,” Asmaa said. The Israeli
military also ordered civilians in parts of the southern city of Khan Younis to
evacuate after Hamas fired rockets towards Israel from there on Monday, lightly
wounding two women in Kfar Chabad in central Israel. In central Gaza, the civil
defence agency said 17 people, including children, were killed when a
three-storey home in Bureij refugee camp was hit in an Israeli strike overnight.
Medics at a hospital in nearby Nuseirat refugee camp confirmed the death toll,
according to AFP news agency. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas
operatives in the camp and that it “conducted a precise strike on a structure
from which a terrorist cell planned terror activities”.
Additional reporting by the BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Paul Adams in London
A year after Oct. 7, Hamas faces dissent in Gaza as war
takes toll
Reuters/Tue, October 8, 2024
CAIRO/RAMALLAH - Samira, a mother of two, yearns for her old life when she was
an Arabic teacher and had a comfortable home - before the attack by Hamas on
Israel a year ago plunged Gaza into suffering and chaos. She has joined a
growing number of Gazans asking whether they have paid too high a price for
Hamas' assault on Oct. 7 last year. The Israeli offensive that followed has
flattened Gaza, killed tens of thousands, and driven more than a million
Palestinians from their homes. “Despite all the hardships, our life was going
well. We had jobs, houses and a city,” said Samira, 52, who declined to give her
family name for fear of retaliation. Samira describes Israel as “our prime
enemy…the source of all our ills” but she also blames Hamas' leader Yahya Sinwar,
the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, for what she sees as a huge
miscalculation. "What was he thinking? Didn't he expect that Israel would
destroy Gaza?" she said. Reuters spoke to dozens of residents of Gaza, all of
whom asked not to be identified by their full name to avoid retribution. For
some, Hamas are heroes for the Oct. 7 attack, when Palestinian militants mounted
an unprecedented raid into Israel, something they'd never thought they'd see.
But several said that the Iranian-backed militant group – which has ruled Gaza
since 2007 – had given little thought to their suffering, and some suggested the
attack had been a terrible mistake.
Sinwar, 62, has not been seen publicly since the Oct. 7 raid, in which gunmen
killed 1,200 people and abducted another 251, including women and children,
according to Israeli tallies. He has run Hamas from the shadows of a network of
labyrinthine tunnels under Gaza and, according to people in contact with him,
remains convinced that armed struggle is the only way to force the creation of a
Palestinian state.
Hamas says the Oct. 7 attack – the deadliest in Israel's 75-year history –
marked a turning point in the decades-long struggle for Palestinian nationhood,
which had drifted off the international agenda. Officials say the group is
winning the battle against Israel, which has failed to achieve its war aims of
destroying Hamas as a fighting force, eliminating its leaders or retrieving
their hostages.
Yet about 42,000 Palestinians have died been killed in Israel’s offensive,
according to tallies from Gazan health authorities, and hunger stalks
displacement camps where more than a million people have sought shelter. An
opinion poll published in mid-September by the Palestinian Center for Policy and
Survey Research (PSR), a think tank based in Ramallah and funded by Western
donors, showed for the first time the majority of Gazans opposed the decision to
attack. The poll, conducted in early September, found that 57% of people
surveyed in the Gaza Strip said the decision to launch the offensive was
incorrect, while just 39% said it was correct – down sharply from the previous
poll in June. Hamas has long been accused of crushing dissent in Gaza with
beatings or worse. But recent months have seen some rare public displays of
dissent.
Former Hamas official Ahmed Youssef Saleh took to Facebook in July to ask
whether anybody in Hamas “studied and thought of the consequences” before
launching an attack that invited Israel’s uncompromising invasion. Saleh’s post
has since drawn hundreds of comments, many adding their own criticism of the
Islamist group. Saleh, who continues to post regularly, did not respond to
requests for comment.
In July, Palestinian activist Ameen Abed, who had criticized the Oct. 7 attack,
was beaten by masked men and hospitalized. His father walked through the streets
of Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp using a loudspeaker to accuse Hamas of the
attack. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, dismissed such criticism of the
group as "limited remarks". "Those remarks result from the pain and nothing
more," he told Reuters, adding that the spirit of the Palestinian people was far
from breaking. “We had no choice but to launch this major battle, regardless of
the cost, because the Palestinian cause was about to end amid the growing
aggression and the Israeli crimes against our people and our sacred sites," he
said. Signs of dissent matter to Hamas, which aims to maintain its sway in Gaza
once the war ends, despite the insistence of Israel and the United States that
it can play no part in governing the enclave after the war. Ashraf Abouelhoul,
managing editor of the Egyptian state-owned paper Al-Ahram and a specialist on
Palestinian issues, said the nature of any role for Hamas in a post-war Gaza
would depend on how the conflict ended."Inside Gaza, the situation will be
different and when people realize that Gaza has become unliveable, the support
for Hamas will become less," he said. However, he added that Iran could demand a
future role for the militant group as part of a settlement of a broader regional
conflict.
ACT OF DEFIANCE
Palestinians blame Israel for their economic miseries, the expansion of
settlements in the West Bank, and for blocking their political aspirations for a
Palestinian state with the occupied East Jerusalem as its capital. Many see the
Oct. 7 attack as a response to decades-long Israeli occupation and not a
response to specific Israeli offensive or policies. Mahmoud, 29, a resident of
Gaza City now displaced in the Zawayda area in the centre of the Gaza Strip,
criticized the United Nations and Western powers for allowing Israel to ignore
repeated calls for the creation of a Palestinian state. He said the attack had
put the neglected issue at the centre of the international agenda. "The whole
world was awakened by Oct. 7: they realized that there were people still under
occupation; people who will not settle before the Israeli occupation is ended,"
said Mahmoud, who asked not to be identified by his full name.
Many advocates of a two-state solution, however, recognize that in the wake of
Oct. 7, the possibility seems as remote as ever, with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government staunchly rejecting the idea and
escalating the tempo of settlement construction in the West Bank. The PSR
opinion poll, published on Sept. 17, showed that the proportion of Gazans who
said they want Hamas to run a post-war Gaza had dropped to 36%, from 46% in its
June poll. "For the first time, we see more Gazans wanting the PA, not Hamas, to
control Gaza after the war. This is probably the most decisive indicator,"
Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey
Research, told Reuters, referring to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority
led by President Mahmoud Abbas. Even in the West Bank, where support for Hamas
remained stronger, support for the attack has declined, the poll showed, though
almost two-thirds of respondents there still thought it was the correct
decision. PSR said it surveyed 1,200 people face-to-face, 790 of them in the
West Bank and 410 in Gaza, with a 3.5% margin of error.
In August, the Israeli military accused Hamas of mounting an effort to falsify
the results of PSR polls to show false support for Hamas and Oct. 7, though the
military said there was no evidence of PSR cooperating with Hamas. PSR said it
had investigated the allegation but found no proof of data being manipulated.
Abouelhoul, the Egyptian newspaper editor, said it would be very hard to measure
the popularity of Hamas in Gaza comprehensively until the war was over. He said
the Palestinian Authority, controlled by Hamas’ rival party Fatah, needed to
reform itself if it were to play a role in post-war Gaza. "What is important is
that Palestinians must agree on a new government, with new faces, that will be
tasked with administering people's affairs and reconstructing Gaza," he said.
Pro-Palestinian activists target UK offices of Germany's Allianz
Reuters/October 8, 2024
Pro-Palestinian activists targeted the British offices of German financial
services firm Allianz on Tuesday, daubing the outside with red paint in protest
over the company's links to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems. Palestine Action
claimed responsibility for the protest on social media platform X, and said
demonstrators had attacked 10 Allianz offices in the UK and "occupied" the
insurer's UK headquarters in Guildford, south of London, overnight. "Without
insurance, Elbit couldn't operate in Britain," Palestine Action said in its
post, describing Allianz as "investors and insurers of Israel's biggest weapons
firm".
UK-based spokespeople for Allianz, one of Europe's biggest financial services
groups, did not respond to a request for comment. Police said officers were
called at 4 a.m. (0300 GMT) to reports of red paint being sprayed onto two
buildings in London's City financial district. They arrested a 19-year-old man
on suspicion of criminal damage following a foot chase. Authorities also
cordoned off Allianz Commercial's office in the City after the vandalism, which
coincides with the first anniversary of the start of the Gaza war, triggered by
Palestinian militant group Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas-led
militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages to Gaza on Oct. 7
last year, according to Israeli figures. Nearly 42,000 people have been killed
in retaliatory attacks on Gaza since, Palestinian health authorities say, and
most of the 2.3-million population has been displaced. Besides urging customers
to boycott certain financial firms, demonstrators have expanded protests to
include defacing buildings using red paint to symbolise the bloodshed in Gaza.
Allianz is the latest global financial firm to have suffered such vandalism,
with British lender Barclays also a frequent target for pro-Palestinian
protesters. They have also repeatedly targeted Elbit Systems UK and other
defence firms in Britain linked to Israel. In August, seven people were charged
with burglary and violent disorder at a warehouse linked to Elbit near Bristol,
southwest England.
UN Chief Tells Israel That Draft Law Blocking Aid Agency
UNRWA Would Be ‘Catastrophe
Asharq Al Awsat/October 08/2024
Draft Israeli legislation that would stop the UN Palestinian refugee agency
working in the Gaza Strip and West Bank would be a "catastrophe" if enacted,
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday, adding he
raised his concerns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Such a
measure would suffocate efforts to ease human suffering and tensions in Gaza,
and indeed, the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory. It would be a catastrophe
in what is already an unmitigated disaster," he told reporters. The Israeli
parliament in July gave preliminary approval to a bill that would declare UNRWA
a terrorist organization. Israeli leaders have accused UNRWA staff of
collaborating with Hamas fighters in Gaza. In response to Guterres' remarks,
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told Reuters: "Israel works with humanitarian
agencies that are actually interested in humanitarian aid and not activism or,
in some cases, terrorism."The UN said in August that nine UNRWA staff may have
been involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and had been fired.
Then a Hamas commander in Lebanon - killed last month in an Israeli strike - was
found to have had an UNRWA job. UNRWA provides education, health and aid to
millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It
has long had tense relations with Israel, but ties have deteriorated sharply
since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to
be disbanded. Guterres spoke to reporters a day after the one year anniversary
of the shock Hamas rampage in Israel, during which some 1,200 people were killed
and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. More than 100
hostages remain held in Gaza by the Palestinian militant group. The Hamas attack
triggered Israel's retaliation in Gaza, sparking a humanitarian crisis in the
besieged enclave where authorities say more than 41,000 people have been killed.
"There is something fundamentally wrong in the way this war is being conducted,"
Guterres said on Tuesday. "Ordering civilians to evacuate does not keep them
safe if they have no safe place to go and no shelter, food, medicine or
water."The conflict in Gaza has raised fears of all-out regional war, pitting
Israel against Iran and the armed groups that it backs, including Lebanon's
Hezbollah. Israel's military on Tuesday deployed more troops into south Lebanon,
signaling an expanding ground offensive against Hezbollah. Guterres appealed to
Israel and Hezbollah to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL peacekeepers
in southern Lebanon. He said that Israeli forces operating adjacent to a UNIFIL
position - staffed by Irish peacekeepers - had left after he complained on
Monday "to different entities." A UN official later said Guterres had
communicated with the United States.
Iran foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia, regional
countries
Reuters/October 8, 2024
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Saudi Arabia and other
countries in the region starting on Tuesday to discuss regional issues and work
on stopping Israel's "crimes" in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran's state media reported.
Gulf Arab states - most of them major energy exporters like Iran - have sought
to reassure Tehran of their neutrality in the Iran-Israel conflict, sources told
Reuters last week. "Our dialogue continues in regards to the developments in the
region to prevent the shameless crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Lebanon
in continuation of the crimes in Gaza," Araqchi said in a video carried by state
media. "Starting today I'll start a trip to the region, to Riyadh and other
capitals in the region and we will strive to have a collective movement from the
countries of the region... to stop the brutal attacks in Lebanon", Araqchi
added.
Ministers from Gulf Arab states and Iran attending a meeting of Asian nations
hosted by Qatar centred their conversations around de-escalation, sources told
Reuters on Thursday. A meeting between Iran and the countries of the Gulf
Cooperation Council has been held in an unofficial way, our relations have
always had ups and downs, but there is a will that these relations leads to
regional cooperation, Araqchi said. Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has had a
political rapprochement with Tehran in recent years, which has helped ease
regional tensions, but relations remain difficult.
Iran warns Israel against any attack, threatens stronger
retaliation
Reuters/October 8, 2024
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister warned Israel against launching an
attack, saying on Tuesday any strike on Iranian infrastructure would be met with
a stronger retaliation. Iran attacked Israel last week with a salvo of missiles.
Israel has vowed to retaliate. "We recommend the Zionist regime (Israel) not to
test the resolution of the Islamic Republic. If any attack against our country
takes place, our response will be more powerful," Araqchi said in a televised
speech. Any attack on Iran's infrastructure will be met with a stronger
retaliation, and "our enemies know what kind of targets inside the Zionist
Regime (Israel) are in our reach," Araqchi added. Iran's oil minister landed on
Kharg Island, home to the country's main export terminal, and held talks with a
naval commander on Sunday, the oil ministry's news website Shana reported, amid
concern Israel could attack energy facilities. U.S. President Joe Biden said on
Friday that he did not think Israel had yet decided how to respond.
US targets Hamas with sanctions on anniversary of Gaza war
Daphne Psaledakis/Reuters/October 7, 2024
The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on an international Hamas
fundraising network, accusing it of playing a critical role in external
fundraising for the Palestinian militant group, in action marking the first
anniversary of the Gaza war. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it
imposed sanctions on three people and what it called a "sham charity" that it
accused of being prominent international financial supporters of Hamas, as well
as on the Al-Intaj Bank in Gaza that it said was controlled by the group. Also
targeted was a longstanding Hamas supporter, a Yemeni national living in Turkey,
and nine of his businesses, Treasury said. “As we mark one year since Hamas’s
brutal terrorist attack, Treasury will continue relentlessly degrading the
ability of Hamas and other destabilizing Iranian proxies to finance their
operations and carry out additional violent acts,” Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen said in the statement.
“The Treasury Department will use all available tools at our disposal to hold
Hamas and its enablers accountable, including those who seek to exploit the
situation to secure additional sources of revenue.”In their rampage through
Israeli towns and kibbutz villages near the Gaza border a year ago, Hamas-led
militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza,
according to Israeli figures. The huge Israeli security lapse led to the single
deadliest day for Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, shattered many citizens' sense
of security and sent their faith in its leaders to new lows. The Hamas assault
unleashed an Israeli offensive on Gaza that has largely flattened the densely
populated enclave and killed almost 42,000 people, Palestinian health
authorities say. The Treasury on Monday said that: "Hamas has exploited the
suffering in Gaza to solicit funds through sham and front charities that falsely
claim to help civilians in Gaza," adding that as of early this year, the group
may have received as much as $10 million a month through such donations. The
Treasury said Hamas considers Europe to be a key source of fundraising. Monday's
action targeted an Italy-based Hamas member the Treasury said established the
sham Charity Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which it
accused of helping bankroll Hamas' military wing. Also targeted was a senior
Hamas representative in Germany and a Hamas representative in charge of the
group's activity in Austria.
Palestinians evacuating northern Gaza say they are being
shot at by Israeli military
Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder and Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN/October 8, 2024
Palestinians fleeing sites of Israel’s renewed military operation in northern
Gaza are being shot at as they evacuate, according to residents there and
footage shared with CNN documenting their journey. Mohammad Sultan, 28, said he
and his family fled their house in Jabalya in northern Gaza “due to the intense
and continuous bombardments in the area.” When he went back to retrieve food,
water and blankets, he and other civilians were fired at, he said. “Drones were
firing at everyone passing by on the road,” Sultan told CNN. “Three people were
shot right in front of me. My brother and I tried to help the injured get to the
hospitals, but a little girl was shot in the neck, and her father was also
injured.” The shooting took place at Abu Sharkh roundabout in Jabalya, according
to Sultan. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.
Footage taken by Sultan during his journey shows residents walking along a sandy
road, surrounded by rubble and half-destroyed buildings. Some, including
children, are on foot, struggling to walk with heavy bags. Others are on
bicycles or tuk-tuks.
Drones can be heard buzzing in the background as the bullwhip-like sound of
bullets piercing the air trigger screams and attempts to shelter. “They are hit,
they are hit,” Sultan is heard shouting as he films civilians from a distance.
An injured man, bleeding, limps toward him. Another girl is seen sitting in an
ambulance, her neck wrapped in blood-soaked gauze that is seeping through the
bandage. Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City later identified her as 9-year-old Dana
Nasser, and told CNN she must be admitted to surgery. Her father was shot in the
leg, the hospital said.
The Israeli military on Monday issued fresh evacuation orders in both northern
and southern Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been sheltering.
In northern Gaza, the military said it is “currently operating with great force
in the area” and told residents to move to Al Mawasi, a southern region
designated as a so-called humanitarian zone that is already crammed with
refugees. A day earlier, Israel’s military said it had encircled Jabalya as it
launched a new ground operation there amid efforts by Hamas to “rebuild its
operational capabilities in the area.”
Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Monday it was engaged in
“fierce fights” with Israeli forces in northern Gaza. Flyers were dropped by the
Israeli military over Jabalya Tuesday morning, “urgently” warning residents to
“evacuate immediately,” residents told CNN. The renewed fighting comes on the
first anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
Gunfire at ‘anything that moves’
Hassan Hamad, a resident of Jabalya, was killed this week in his home in Jabalya,
his aunt Itaf told CNN. She decided to stay in the city to collect his remains
and give him a dignified burial. After months of documenting Israel’s offensive
in Jabalya,18-year-old Hamad was killed when his family’s apartment was hit in
an Israeli missile attack in the city’s refugee camp on Sunday, according to
witness testimony and footage shared with CNN. Gunfire and shelling have stopped
his aunt from leaving the house in search of her nephew’s remains, which were
scattered around the area after the assault, she told CNN. “We stayed in the
house to search for the remaining body parts of Hassan, but now we cannot go out
due to the intensity of the shelling and gunfire,” the 58-year-old said, adding
the gunfire targets “anything that moves.” Itaf spoke to CNN on the phone from
her home in Jabalya, where shelling could be heard in the background. “We try to
stay away from the windows, so they won’t shoot at us,” she said. Residents say
the fighting in Jabalya has been some of the most intense in recent days.
Mohammad Ibrahim, a resident of the city who decided to stay in his home with
his two sons, said the explosions outside his house were so intense they “shook”
his body. “I felt as though my body was tearing apart,” Ibrahim told CNN, adding
that the firing is more intense than it was at the outset of the war. From his
window, Ibrahim said he could see smoke billowing between abandoned apartment
buildings. “Anyone who wants to leave the north to Gaza wants death,” he said.
Jabalya has been targeted several times during the war, and like many other
parts of Gaza, its residents say they don’t know where to go for shelter. “We
are living in the Stone Age,” Ibrahim said. “There is no conscience, no
humanity, no human rights.”
Gaza is in ruins after Israel's yearlong offensive. Rebuilding may take decades
JOSEPH KRAUSS and SARAH EL DEEB/Associated Press/ October 8/ 2024
There are hills of rubble where apartment blocks stood, and pools of
sewage-tainted water spreading disease. City streets have been churned into dirt
canyons and, in many places, the air is filled with the stench of unrecovered
corpses. Israel’s yearlong offensive against Hamas, one of the deadliest and
most destructive in recent history, has killed more than 41,000 people, a little
over half of them women and children, according to local health officials. With
no end in sight to the war and no plan for the day after, it is impossible to
say when – or even if – anything will be rebuilt. Even after the fighting stops,
hundreds of thousands of people could be stuck living in squalid tent camps for
years. Experts say reconstruction could take decades. “This war is destruction
and misery. It would make the stones cry out,” said Shifaa Hejjo, a 60-year-old
housewife living in a tent pitched on land where her home once stood. “Whoever
sees Gaza ... It will make them cry.”Israel blames the destruction on Hamas. Its
Oct. 7 attack on Israel — in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250
taken hostage — ignited the war. Israel says Hamas embedded much of its military
infrastructure, including hundreds of kilometers (miles) of tunnels, in densely
populated areas where some of the heaviest battles were fought. The fighting
left roughly a quarter of all structures in Gaza destroyed or severely damaged,
according to a U.N. assessment in September based on satellite videos. It said
around 66% of structures, including more than 227,000 housing units, had
sustained at least some damage. If there's a cease-fire, around half of all
families “have nowhere to go back to,” said Alison Ely, a Gaza-based coordinator
with the Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the
Norwegian Refugee Council.
The devastation in Gaza exceeds front-line towns in Ukraine. Almost as many
buildings have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza as in all of Ukraine after its
first two years of war with Russia, according to Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den
Hoek, U.S.-based researchers who use satellite radar to document the wars'
devastation.
To put that into perspective: Gaza is less than half the size of Ukraine's
capital, Kyiv. The amount of destruction in central and southern Gaza alone,
Scher said, is roughly equivalent to what was lost in the front-line town of
Bakhmut, the scene of one of the deadliest battles in the Ukraine war and where
Russian forces destroyed nearly every building in their path to force Ukrainian
troops to withdraw. The destruction in northern Gaza is even worse, he said.
Gaza’s water and sanitation system has collapsed. More than 80% of its health
facilities — and even more of its roads — are damaged or destroyed.
“I can’t think of any parallel, in terms of the severity of damage, for an
enclave or a country or a people,” Scher said. At the end of January, the World
Bank estimated $18.5 billion of damage — nearly the combined economic output of
the West Bank and Gaza in 2022. That was before some intensely destructive
Israeli ground operations, including in the southern border city of Rafah.
’I couldn’t tell where people’s homes were’
When Israeli ground forces pushed into the southern city of Khan Younis in
January, Shifaa Hejjo and her family fled their four-story home with only the
clothes they were wearing. They spent months in various tent camps before she
decided to return – and the sight brought her to tears. Her entire neighborhood
had been destroyed, her former home and the roads leading to it lost in a sea of
rubble. “I didn’t recognize it,” she said. “I couldn’t tell where people’s homes
were.” Around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced by the war,
often multiple times, according to U.N. estimates. Hundreds of thousands have
crowded into sprawling tent camps near the coast with no electricity, running
water or toilets. Hunger is widespread. Hejjo lived in a tent in the courtyard
of a hospital. Before that, she was in Muwasi, the main tent camp in southern
Gaza. “It smelled bad,” she said. “There were diseases spreading.”She said her
husband, who was suffering from liver disease, was broken-hearted when he heard
their home had been destroyed and he died shortly thereafter. She was among the
first to return after Israeli forces withdrew in April. Her neighbors stayed
away, fearful they would find bodies or unexploded bombs.
But for her it was still home.
“It is better to live in my home, where I lived for 37 years, even though it is
destroyed,” she said. Hejjo and her children dug through the rubble with shovels
and their bare hands, going brick by brick and saving whatever could be reused.
Torn clothes were used to feed cooking fires.
Rats had crept in, and swarms of mosquitoes hovered over the ruins. There was
broken glass everywhere. They set up a tent fortified by corrugated metal
sheeting and some bricks salvaged from her destroyed home. A light drizzle wet
their clothes as they slept.
U.N. agencies say unemployment has soared to around 80% — up from nearly 50%
before the war — and that almost the entire population is living in poverty.
Even those with means would find it nearly impossible to import construction
materials because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of
law and order.
There are mountains of rubble, little water and no electricity
The first obstacle to any significant rebuilding is the rubble – mountains of
it.
Where houses, shops and office buildings once stood, there are now giant drifts
of rubble laced with human remains, hazardous substances and unexploded
munitions. The U.N. estimates the war has left some 40 million tons of debris
and rubble in Gaza, enough to fill New York’s Central Park to a depth of eight
meters (about 25 feet). It could take up to 15 years and nearly $650 million to
clear it all away, it said. There’s also the question of where to dispose of it:
The U.N. estimates about five square kilometers (about two square miles) of land
would be needed, which will be hard to come by in the small and densely
populated territory. It isn’t just homes that were destroyed, but also critical
infrastructure. The U.N. estimates nearly 70% of Gaza’s water and sanitation
plants have been destroyed or damaged. That includes all five of the territory’s
wastewater treatment facilities, plus desalination plants, sewage pumping
stations, wells and reservoirs. The employees who once managed municipal water
and waste systems have been displaced, and some killed. And fuel shortages have
made it difficult to keep operating facilities that are still intact. The
international charity Oxfam said it applied in December for a permit to bring in
desalination units, and pipes to repair water infrastructure. It took three
months for Israel to approve the shipment, but it still has not entered Gaza,
Oxfam said. The destruction of sewage networks has left streets flooded with
putrid water, hastening the spread of disease. There has been no central power
in Gaza since the opening days of the war, when its sole power plant was forced
to shut down for lack of fuel, and more than half of the territory's electrical
grid has been destroyed, according to the World Bank.
Can Gaza be rebuilt?
Wealthy Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have said
they are only willing to contribute to Gaza’s reconstruction as part of a
postwar settlement that creates a path to a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled that out, saying he won’t allow Hamas or
even the Western-backed Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza. He has said Israel
will maintain open-ended security control and delegate civilian affairs to local
Palestinians. But none are known to have volunteered, and Hamas has threatened
to kill anyone who aids the occupation. Rebuilding Gaza would also require the
import of massive amounts of construction supplies and heavy equipment, which
Israel is unlikely to allow as long as there’s a potential for Hamas to rebuild
its militant infrastructure. In any case, Gaza has only a small number of
crossings with limited capacity. The Israeli military body that coordinates
civilian affairs in Gaza says it does not restrict the entry of civilian
supplies and allows so-called dual-use items that could also be used for
military purposes. Israel allowed some construction materials in before the war
under what was known as the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, but it was subject to
heavy restrictions and delays. The Shelter Cluster estimates that it would take
40 years to rebuild all of Gaza’s destroyed homes under that setup. For now, aid
providers are struggling just to bring in enough basic tents because of the
limited number of trucks going into Gaza and the challenges of delivering aid.
Efforts to bring in more robust temporary housing are still in the early stages,
and no one has even tried to bring in construction materials, according to Ely.
In September, the Shelter Cluster estimated 900,000 people were still in need of
tents, bedding and other items to prepare for the region's typically cold and
rainy winters.
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on October 08-09/2024
How to End the War in Lebanon
Elie Aoun/October 08/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/10/135408/
It is possible to achieve a sustainable peace by implementing certain
fundamental principles found in the constitutions of, and the treaties signed
by, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria.
Firstly, Article 152 of the Iranian Constitution states that “the foreign policy
of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based upon the rejection of all forms of
domination, both the exertion of it and submission to it.” On this basis, Iran
must renounce and abandon its exertion of its domination policy towards Lebanon
– by disbanding Hizballah, removing all the missiles and weaponry that it has
funneled into Lebanon, along with the withdrawal of its military and security
personnel from the country. Iran should also abandon its “exertion of
domination” in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, etc.
Iran’s Constitution claims that it “has cleansed itself of the dust and
impurities” and “purged itself of foreign ideological influences.” In the same
manner, we in Lebanon desire to cleanse the nation from the dust and impurities
of Iran’s ideology.
Iran’s Constitution (Article 3(5)) calls for “the prevention of foreign
influence.” In the same manner, we in Lebanon desire the prevention of Iranian
influence.
Iran’s Constitution (Article 146) forbids “the establishment of any kind of
foreign military base in Iran.” In the same manner, we in Lebanon forbid the
establishment of any kind of Iranian military base in Lebanon through Hizballah.
If Iran’s objective is to revive the “Persian Empire,” the Iranian regime must
remember that in the Treaty of Zuhab or Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin (May 17, 1639),
the Persian Empire had irrevocably ceded Mesopotamia (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,
etc.) to the Ottoman Empire. Lebanon is not part of the Persian Empire.
Secondly, the Defense and Security Agreement between Lebanon and Syria (May 22,
1991) states that both States shall take the necessary measures to prevent any
activity or organization that may cause prejudice to the other country. Each
State shall undertake not to give shelter for, facilitate the passage of, or
provide protection for individuals and organizations operating against the
security of the other state. Similar language is found in Article 3 of the
so-called “Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation, and Coordination.”
Although we have some reservations on the Agreement and Treaty, the Syrian
government should prohibit the passage (through its territory) of any Iranian
weaponry or any militant groups or military personnel (Iranian or otherwise)
into Lebanon. Furthermore, Syria must control (from its side of the border) all
militant activities alongside the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Thirdly, the Israel-Lebanon Armistice Agreement (March 23, 1949) states that “No
aggressive action by the armed forces - land, sea or air - of either Party shall
be undertaken, planned, or threatened against the people or the armed forces of
the other.” “The right of each Party to its security and freedom from fear of
attack by the armed forces of the other shall be fully respected.”
Fourthly, the first line of the Lebanese constitution states that “Lebanon is a
sovereign, free, and independent country.” All Lebanese have the obligation to
safeguard that sovereignty, freedom (with responsibility), and independence.
“Sovereignty” refers to a state's preeminent authority within its borders, the
state's right to bar outsiders, and to determine its own relations with the rest
of the world.
Based on statements made by Hizballah and Iranian officials, Hizballah was
pronounced as “an extension of Iran in Lebanon.” As such, the group must be
disbanded militarily (since it is a military tool of Iran) and must be disbanded
politically (since its political agenda is to overthrow the Lebanese republic
and render it into a dummy province of Iran).
Any Lebanese is free to pursue political activity. However, freedom comes with
responsibility. No one is free to overthrow governmental institutions, transform
the country into a battle-zone, and pursue strategies contrary to the well-being
of the population.
Disbanding a militant group with foreign allegiance, such as Hizballah, is the
bedrock of sovereignty. The leadership of that group has misled their followers
and destroyed the nation. Iran should order Hizballah to disband, or whoever is
left in that group must assume responsibility and take a unilateral decision to
do so.All Lebanese must adhere to the principles that protect them – instead of
following misguided policies that endanger the people. All parties (foreign and
domestic) involved in Lebanese affairs must abandon short-term “interests” and
pursue enforcement of long-term “principles” as the most efficient way to end
the current war, prevent future wars, and secure a genuine peace.
Unfortunately, the current Lebanese political class is focused on “interests”
and not equipped to constructively face the challenges. They must recognize this
fact and immediately appoint to governmental positions qualified Lebanese to
handle the situation.
The Lebanese are primarily responsible for what is taking place on their soil
and must demand the implementation of defined principles. In the meantime time,
the leadership of Hizballah, Amal Movement, and the Higher Shiite Council must
assume responsibility for all the costs related to the humanitarian consequences
of the war and acquire funding from whatever sources they deem appropriate,
including their own, to financially support the Lebanese refugees throughout the
country. Such leadership cannot pursue destructive policies for many decades and
then place the effects of those policies on other communities to resolve them.
In Iran, war jitters fuel public support for developing
nuclear weapons
Laura King, Omid Khazani/Los Angeles Times/October 8, 2024
As the world braces for another round of escalatory exchanges between Israel and
Iran, some ordinary Iranians who had previously opposed any move by their
government to develop nuclear weapons are having a change of heart. “I think we
should go for it,” said Vafa Sharzad, a 33-year-old chemical engineer. Sharzad
said she had always supported negotiations with Western governments over Iran’s
nuclear capabilities, and welcomed the landmark nuclear accord of nine years ago
between Iran and several world powers, believing it would bring greater economic
opportunity and an easing of international isolation. “But I have my doubts
today,” she said.
Although the nuclear accord has been imperiled since then-President Trump
withdrew from it in 2018, Iran’s government continues to insist it does not
intend to develop nuclear arms. And many sanctions-weary Iranians have long been
wary of any nuclear moves that would trigger further economic hardship. However,
the most direct outbreak yet of hostilities with Israel is changing the thinking
of some here. A year after the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has
taken aim not only at Hamas, whose attack on southern Israel triggered that
devastating conflict, but at Iran’s other regional proxies — Houthi rebels in
Yemen, and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Iran last week unleashed a barrage of missiles against Israel that it said was
in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan
Nasrallah, and a series of other deadly strikes against the Iranian-backed
group, which for months has been firing rockets into Israel.
Israel said its missile-defense system repelled most of the incoming
projectiles, but nonetheless declared it would retaliate. The Biden
administration, fearing an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities or other
major infrastructure, has sought to deescalate the confrontation.
The U.S. president was asked last week whether he would support Israel hitting
Iran’s nuclear sites. “The answer is no,” Biden replied.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long contended that Iran, and its
nuclear aspirations in particular, pose an existential threat to Israel. Since
the onset of the current crisis, some Israeli political figures, inside and
outside government, have called openly for the Israeli military to seize a
chance to strike at Iran’s nuclear sites. “This is a one-time window of
opportunity in which we have both the legitimacy and the ability to severely
damage the Iranian regime and its nuclear program,” Naftali Bennett, a hawkish
former prime minister, said in a video statement released Tuesday. Such talk has
alarmed U.S. officials, who have reportedly urged Israel to avoid nuclear
installations and assets in any counterstrike. That message is expected to be
underscored on Wednesday, when Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets in
Washington with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd J. Austin III. With the threat of
Israeli retaliation hanging over the country, the mood in Tehran and other major
cities has been tense. Israel is widely believed to possess a stockpile of
nuclear weapons, but has never made a formal acknowledgment.
Many Iranians, though, view Israel's own capabilities as a danger.
“Look, a country with a nuclear arsenal is … threatening to bomb our cities,”
said a 55-year-old teacher in the capital who wanted to be identified only by
his first name, Ahmad. Like others, he didn’t think Iran had much to lose by
developing nuclear weapons as a deterrent. “We have already paid an extremely
heavy price for our civilian nuclear programs — we are under enormous sanctions
already,” he said. Experts said more hawkish views often come to the forefront
at times of regional strife. “This is not the first time such sentiments are
running high in Iran,” said Mojitaba Najafi, a Paris-based researcher and
lecturer at Sorbonne University. Whenever security concerns spike, “such voices
get louder and louder, and are not necessarily in support of the ruling
establishment.”There is no reliable domestic polling within Iran on support for
a civilian or military nuclear program, but newfound bullishness on nuclear
weapons development would represent a historic shift — albeit one that had been
in the making even before the current spike in tensions.
“Public opinion polls since the mid-2000s have consistently demonstrated that
while Iranians favored a peaceful nuclear program, a majority of them opposed
developing nuclear weapons,” Harvard scholar Peyman Asadzade wrote in a June
paper for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
But he said a survey this past spring, in which he collaborated with the
Toronto-based company IranPoll, “suggests that Iranian citizens are growing more
receptive to nuclear weapons.”
In Isfahan, the ancient architectural jewel in central Iran that is home to the
country's major nuclear installations and enrichment sites, a 44-year-old
university lecturer who wanted to be identified only as Masoud F. said he had
been a staunch backer of the 2015 nuclear accord, but that he and others were
swayed by the recent escalation. In 2018, when Trump abandoned the accord, only
about one in 10 people he spoke with thought that Iran should pursue nuclear
weapons — but now, he said, the number has increased at least fivefold.
He said anecdotal encounters bear that out.
“I went to a shop yesterday in my neighborhood — the shopkeeper and a student
were both talking in favor of nuclear weapons,” he said. Other Iranians,
however, foresaw only greater escalation — and more economic suffering — should
Iran choose that path.
“I think Iran needs reconciliation and deescalation with the world,” said Saman
Jam, a 43 year-old business manager. “We already have enough deterrent measures
at our disposal; our conventional army and missiles program are enough for
deterrence.” Mehrdad Khadir, an editor at Iran’s AsrIran News website, said he
believed an economic downturn and a sense of international deadlock had fueled
hawkish views on weapons development. “I don't think the government and the
establishment will be affected by such sentiments, at least in the short term,”
he said.
Others felt that since ordinary Iranians suffer the repercussions of sanctions
whether or not the country actively pursues nuclear weapons capability, there is
little to lose by pressing ahead and gaining a means of deterrence. “I think no
country should have an atomic bomb, but now that some countries in the region
have it and threaten us, it would be very silly of us not to have it,” said Reza
Gorji, a 29-year-old engineer. “As a Persian proverb says, ‘We’ve lost both
ways.’”
Khazani is a special correspondent. Times staff writer King reported from
Washington.
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The candidates’ response to Hurricane Helene tells
voters all they need to know
Austin Sarat, opinion contributor/The Hill/October 08/2024
For millions of Americans, Hurricane Helene has been a catastrophic and
life-changing event. Since it first hit Florida on Sept. 26, at least 220 people
have died and “hundreds are unaccounted for.” It will take months — perhaps
years — for parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and
Virginia to recover.
Even now, many places remain cut off. Hundreds of thousands still have not had
electricity restored. The New York Times says that Helene is “the deadliest
storm to strike the U.S. mainland in nearly two decades.”Traditionally, in the
aftermath of disasters like this one, Americans and their leaders have put aside
partisan differences and come together. Political scientists have dubbed this
the “rally round the flag effect.” But, like many American traditions, this one
already seems like a thing of the past.
In the short time since Helene hit, former President Trump and his allies have
tried to turn the catastrophe to their political advantage. Their response
exemplifies what some have called a “me first” approach to disasters. The Biden
administration sprang into action before the hurricane came ashore. It approved
emergency requests for federal help from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Alabama. By the end of last week, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency reported that “(m)ore than 4,800 personnel from across the Federal
workforce” were involved in managing the disaster. On Oct. 2, Biden announced
that he was sending 1,000 active-duty troops “to assist with response and
recovery efforts.”
Testimony to the quality of the president and his team’s response to Helene came
from Republican political leaders across the Southeast, none of whom are fans of
Biden. Like Biden, they put aside partisanship and hailed what the Democratic
administration has done.
For example, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) noted that Biden had reached out to him
and said, “‘Hey, what do you need?’ … He offered that if there’s other things we
need, just to call him directly, which, I appreciate that. But we’ve had FEMA
embedded with us since, you know, a day or two before the storm hit.”Republican
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster expressed similar sentiments last week. He
said that the federal response to Helene had “been superb,” explaining that the
president and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told him they would
provide “whatever the state needed.” McMaster noted, “we’re getting assistance,
and we’re asking for everything we need.”
Finally, on Friday, the Washington Post quoted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who
offered what the Post called “a robust defense of the federal recovery efforts
so far.”
But you would never know any of this from what Trump has been saying. Sensing
the possibility of securing a political advantage in swing states like Georgia
and North Carolina, the ex-president has tried to stir up his usual brew of fear
and resentment among those whose lives have been up ended. Ignoring Kemp,
McMaster, Tillis and other members of his party, on Thursday Trump insisted that
“Kamala and Sleepy Joe are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that
they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina. It is going down
as the WORST & MOST INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED ‘STORM,’ AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, EVER
SEEN BEFORE – BUT THEIR MANAGEMENT OF THE BORDER IS WORSE!”
As this statement suggests, Trump has treated Hurricane Helene as an opportunity
to reap political gains on the topic of immigration.
Speaking at a rally in Michigan, Trump said, “If you want to see how sick and
distorted Kamala Harris priorities are, just consider FEMA.…Kamala spent all her
FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants, many of whom
do not belong here at all, including one billion for gift cards for illegal
aliens and putting them up in luxury hotels.”
This claim is demonstrably false. As the New York Times explains, “Funding for
migrant shelters did not amount to ‘billions of dollars,’ nor did it deplete the
coffers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And no disaster funding has
been spent on those shelters.”
And when he hasn’t been fanning the flames of resentment against migrants, Trump
has used Hurricane Helene to deepen the chasm between Republicans and Democrats.
Before he went to North Carolina to see the aftermath of Helene, Trump posted
the following on Truth Social: “I don’t like the reports that I’m getting about
the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of
their way to not help people in Republican areas.”
The Times notes that “there is no evidence that the Biden administration was
purposefully ignoring the needs of Republican areas. In fact…FEMA has designated
counties in several states — including dozens won by Mr. Trump in the 2020
presidential election — as eligible to apply for federal assistance.”
On Sept. 30, as he arrived in Georgia, Trump struck a different tone, and noted
the American tradition of putting aside politics when disaster strikes. As he
put it, “At a time like this, when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry
out in need. … We are not talking about politics.”
But it didn’t take long for the former president to try to score political
points.
He used a news conference staged in a storm-damaged furniture store to claim,
contrary to what Kemp had said, that the governor “has been calling the
president but has not been able to get him.” And, again contradicting Kemp,
former President Trump asserted that the federal response in that state has been
“terrible.”Trump also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not visiting
Georgia. “Of course, the Vice President, she’s out some place
campaigning…looking for money.”
Harris, who had cut short her campaign trip to consult with FEMA officials in
Washington, traveled to Georgia on Oct. 2, and, unlike Trump, did not use her
visit to criticize her opponent. Instead she announced that President Biden had
“approved Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s request for ‘100 percent federal
reimbursement of local costs’…to get relief to people as quickly as possible.’”
Getting relief to people “as soon as possible” versus making false claims to
garner political advantage marks stark differences in the way the two
presidential candidates think about responding to disasters. Trump’s “me first”
approach was also highlighted last week when Mark Harvey, who served on the
staff of Trump’s National Security Council, claimed that in 2018, after deadly
wildfires struck California, Trump initially refused to approve disaster aid
because of the state’s Democratic leanings.
According to Politico, “Trump changed his mind after Harvey pulled voting
results to show him that heavily damaged Orange County, California, had more
Trump supporters than the entire state of Iowa.”When Americans go to the polls
in November, they will have an opportunity to choose whether they want a
president who will put aside politics when disaster strikes or one who will use
disasters to help his supporters and punish those who are not.
Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and
Political Science at Amherst College. His views do not necessarily reflect those
of Amherst College.
*Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Israel may have military superiority, but it lacks a clear strategic vision, say
experts
Thibault Spirlet,Hannah Abraham/Business Insider/October 08/2024
Israel now waging war on three battle fronts — Palestinian territories, Lebanon,
and SyriaScroll back up to restore default view. Israel is fighting a
multi-front war that includes Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Syria. Experts told
BI that Israel still lacks a long-term strategic vision on how to end the war.
Israel may have fallen into what one expert described as an "escalatory trap."
One year after Hamas' October 7 massacre, Israel has become embroiled in a
multi-front war that includes Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Syria. But while
Israel may have military superiority in the region, it lacks a clear, long-term
strategic vision to end conflict in the Middle East, according to security
experts. On Tuesday, it said it was expanding its ground operation in Lebanon by
adding a fourth division of soldiers. Meanwhile, it has intensified its air
strikes on Gaza and Lebanon, including this week hitting Hezbollah intelligence
targets and a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Beirut. It is
also weighing up a strike on Iran in response to a ballistic missile attack last
week. Targets could include nuclear sites, oil facilities, and military bases.
It's clear the Israel Defense Forces have achieved a series of tactical gains in
recent weeks, but they still lack a clear military strategy, security analysts
told Business Insider.
Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow for Middle East Security at the Royal
United Services Institute, said the longer Israel's military operations
continue, the more "urgent" it becomes for it to articulate how it envisions war
to come to an end. "There is a lack of strategic coherence on all sides in this
multi-front conflict," she told BI.
Netanyahu's goals
In a video address on Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
Israel is achieving its war goals a year after Hamas' terrorist attacks. He
listed them as toppling Hamas' rule, bringing all the hostages home, eliminating
any threat from Gaza to Israel, and returning all the residents of southern and
northern Israel safely to their homes. However, Bashir Abbas, a fellow at the
Stimson Center, told BI that Israel still has a way to go in pursuing national
security.
"Even in Gaza, Israel has simply not articulated a long-term strategy for
Israeli security at all, apart from wiping out Hamas — which would be virtually
impossible to do fully given the nature of insurgent groups." "You cannot just
bomb Hamas into oblivion and destroy it," concurred Chris Doyle, director of the
Council for Arab British Understanding NGO. While he said Israel could degrade
Hamas' capabilities, at the end of it, "how will Israel live side by side with 7
million Palestinians going forward after all that they've done to it?" he asked.
"There has to be underpinning it, a political agreement and strategy— that means
an agreed cease-fire," he said.
Doyle made the same point for the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia group. "Israel
invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982, the consequences of which were the
establishment of Hezbollah 42 years later," he said. "They're not just fighting
Hezbollah, but they're fighting an organization that is now a state within a
state with a huge arsenal of missiles of all sorts of types," he added.
An 'escalatory trap'
Anthony Pfaff, the director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the US Army
War College, said in August that Israel may be stuck in what he termed the
"escalatory trap." "If Israel escalates," wrote Pfaff, "it fuels the escalatory
spiral that could, at some point, exceed its military capability to manage."
However, if it chooses the status quo, it will have done little to improve its
security situation. "Neither outcome achieves Israel's security objectives,
which would represent a defeat for the IDF and could threaten the survival of
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government," Pfaff said. The problem
may be that Israel's security doctrine has long been based on short wars. As the
Guardian points out, the opposite has now taken place.
None of the IDF's operations "comes as part of a clear strategy with achievable
aims that will, in the end, bring greater ability and peace to Israel, to
Israeli civilians," said Doyle of the Council for Arab British Understanding
NGO. Instead, he said it "escalates the conflict, but without any clear sense
that there is an exit." The increasingly drawn-out conflict has triggered fears
of full-blown war in the Middle East, which could spark inflation and lead to a
global economic downturn.
Last week, Moody's Israel lowered Israel's credit rating, citing heightened
tensions, economic uncertainty, and the potential for escalation into a
full-scale conflict. Prior to Israel's incursions into Lebanon last month,
Israel's finance minister described the war as the "longest" and "most
expensive" conflict in Israel's history, with about $54 billion to $68 billion
in "direct" costs.
The Bank of Israel estimated in May that the costs arising from the war would
total about $66 billion through the end of next year — equivalent to roughly 12%
of Israel's GDP, per CNN.
Will the election change things?
Netanyahu's stance toward a peace deal may hinge on who wins the US presidential
elections in November, said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor to the Counter
Extremism Project.
While former president Donald Trump would give Netanyahu "carte blanche" to do
everything on his own terms, Vice President Kamala Harris would push for a
"constructive attitude to ceasefires and peace processes," he said. "I think
we're a lot closer to the beginning of this conflict than we are to the end,"
former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman told Fox Business on Monday.
"There's going to be a new administration, and that will have a lot of
implications on our strategy."
Israel Defense Chief’s US Trip Postponed After Netanyahu
Objects
Dan Williams and Natalia Drozdiak/Bloomberg/October08/2024
(Bloomberg) -- A US visit by Israel’s defense chief — billed as a chance for the
allies to craft a common strategy in a face-off against Iran — has been
postponed, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. An Israeli official, who asked
not to be identified discussing the decision, cited last-minute objections to
the trip by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,
who has sparred with Netanyahu about the conduct of the yearlong war in Gaza and
on other fronts, had been due to fly to Washington for talks on Wednesday about
“ongoing Middle East security developments,” the Pentagon had announced. Those
were to have included Israel’s threatened riposte to a ballistic missile salvo
by Iran last week. President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s
nuclear program or oil infrastructure, amid concerns either move could trigger a
wider conflict that drags in Washington, pushes up energy prices and hits the
global economy.
But hours before Gallant’s departure, the Israeli official said, Netanyahu
decided the defense minister wouldn’t go unless the security cabinet first
convened to agree on an Iran plan. Netanyahu also wanted to speak to Biden
first, said the official, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the
matter. Similar reports were carried by several Israeli media outlets. Netanyahu
and Gallant spokespeople had no immediate comment.
Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters that Austin and Gallant
are “in touch pretty frequently so a call could always be scheduled later today
or later this week.”
Netanyahu has said Iran made “a big mistake” in firing the barrage of 200
ballistic missiles, which caused little damage, with one fatality in the West
Bank, but hit some air bases and forced millions of Israelis into shelters. Amir
Ohana, speaker of Israel’s parliament, told visiting European lawmakers that the
retaliation would be “significant.”
Iran warned it would respond in turn with a more powerful assault. “We advise
Israel not to test our will,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said
Tuesday in a speech in Tehran, ahead of a regional tour of countries including
Saudi Arabia to boost efforts to reign in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.
US Central Intelligence Agency head William Burns said Monday there’s a “real
danger of a further regional escalation” and the Israeli leadership is taking
into account the White House’s concerns. Yet Netanyahu hasn’t shown a
willingness to follow US advice in the various conflicts to date, ignoring calls
from Washington for a cease-fire in Lebanon ahead of the assassination of
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last month.
The US has similarly failed to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in
Gaza after months of on-off talks. The standoff between Israel and Iran —
arch-foes in the region — comes as fighting escalates on multiple fronts a year
after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on southern Israel last Oct. 7,
triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday a fourth army division is being deployed
into Lebanon a week after the start of a ground operation against Hezbollah, the
most powerful of Tehran’s allied militias. Israeli jets have carried out a heavy
bombardment of Beirut suburbs and other areas, and have eliminated most of
Hezbollah’s leaders.
An Israeli military spokesman warned on X that Lebanese civilians should avoid
the coastline south of the Awali River, about halfway between Beirut and the
Israeli border, due to maritime operations against the militant group.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qasem said that, while the group supports efforts
to secure a cease-fire, it isn’t backing down. “What’s been said by the enemy
about our capabilities is an illusion,” he said in a televised address. “Our
fighters are on the front, we’re solid.”
The IDF said about 135 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into
Israel on Tuesday, and TV footage showed rocket fire over Haifa. A municipality
spokesperson said the attack was the biggest so far on the country’s
third-biggest city.
More than 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israel’s bombings in
recent weeks and about one million have been displaced, according to local
officials. The IDF says 10 soldiers have died in the campaign, which Netanyahu
has said is essential to return displaced Israelis to their homes in northern
communities. Netanyahu also said Israel has degraded Hezbollah capabilities and
killed thousands of its militants, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, his
replacement and the replacement of his replacement, Israel said Monday it
intercepted most of a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas toward Tel Aviv. Israel
bombed a number of targets in Gaza on the same day.
The US and many of its allies consider Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups.
In a sign that opinion inside Israel is hardening, opposition leader Yair Lapid
said the country should ignore US objections and strike oil facilities in Iran,
an OPEC member that exports 1.7 million barrels of crude a day. “This is Iran’s
Achilles’ heel, a blow to its economy — the Iranian economy is in a very
precarious state,” Lapid, a former prime minister, told the public broadcaster
Kan. The government should tell its US allies that “Israel has its own
interests,” he said.
--With assistance from Arsalan Shahla, Dana Khraiche, Golnar Motevalli, Alisa
Odenheimer and Katrina Manson.
The Palestinian Tradition of Celebrating the Death of Jews
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 08/2024
Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is
attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists.
It is hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is
willing to criticize his own people for celebrating terrorist attacks. It is
also hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is
willing to condemn the October 7 atrocities and massacres against Israelis.
Palestinian leaders have good reason not to speak out: they are afraid of being
killed by their own people.
Last month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in a speech at the
United Nations General Assembly, ignored the Hamas attack and instead accused
Israel of committing "massacres," "crimes," and "genocide" against the
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Needless to say, Abbas also ignored the fact
that a large number of Palestinians expressed support for the Hamas-led October
7 attack and took to the streets to celebrate the brutal mass-murder of Israeli
women, children and the elderly.
Palestinian leaders who do not have the courage, or are unwilling, to denounce
terrorism will never be able to call on their people to recognize Israel's right
to exist, let alone make peace with it. Palestinians who celebrate the murder of
their neighbors are not ready for a state, which will undoubtedly be used as a
springboard to slaughter more Jews and to try to destroy Israel.
There is no excuse for celebrating murder. A society that celebrates murder will
never be a partner for peace. True peace will only come when Palestinian leaders
values their people's lives more than celebrating the murder of Jews.
Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is
attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists, and it is hard, if not impossible,
to find one senior Palestinian official who is willing to criticize his own
people for celebrating terrorist attacks. Pictured: Palestinian Arabs celebrate
Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel and pose, flashing the "V for victory"
sign, with a piece of a downed Iranian missile that they moved to the town
square of Dura (near Hebron), on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Hazem Bader/AFP via
Getty Images)
Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is
attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists.
The latest Palestinian celebrations took place on October 1, 2024, when Iran
launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel. The celebrations occurred
even though some of the missiles fell in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and
the only person killed was, ironically, a Palestinian man in the city of
Jericho.
In one West Bank village, Palestinians erected a monument from the tail of an
Iranian missile to celebrate Iran's attack on Israel.
Similar celebrations took place in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and in many
countries when Iran launched its first direct missile and drone attack against
Israel in April. According to a report by Iran's Tehran Times:
"It was also a sleepless night in Ramallah and other cities in the occupied West
Bank, that saw excited crowds of Palestinians gathering in the streets and
pointing to the skies amid the visible trails of Iranian missiles flying, with a
celebratory mood until the early hours of Sunday morning."
The largest celebrations occurred a year ago, on October 7, 2023, when thousands
of Iran-backed Hamas terrorists and "ordinary" Palestinians invaded Israel from
the Gaza Strip and murdered 1,200 Israelis. During the attack, thousands of
Israelis were raped, tortured, and burned alive, while more than 240 others were
kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. A year later, 101 Israeli hostages are still
being held by Hamas terrorists.
A video from the Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera television network titled "Palestinians
overjoyed with the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation" (the name Hamas uses to describe its
October 7 attack) showed celebrations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The Iranian-affiliated Lebanese TV station Mayadeen aired a report about
Palestinian celebrations in the West Bank, where sweets were handed out in
Nablus and guns were fired in Jenin "in jubilation." A little girl can be seen
waving a rifle and a handgun in the air.
Palestinian activist Omar Assaf praised the Hamas attack:
"The resistance has proven today, once again, that the only option the people
support is the option of resistance and confrontation, and proved, once again,
that this occupation is weaker than a spider web, like [Hezbollah leader] Hassan
Nasrallah said."
In 2004, thousands of Palestinians spilled onto the streets of the Gaza Strip to
celebrate a twin suicide bombing in southern Israel that killed 16 people. The
Palestinians celebrating, estimated to number about 20,000, threw sweets in the
air and chanted slogans in support of Hamas, which took credit for the terrorist
attack.
The Palestinians are also happy to see Americans targeted by terrorists. While
Israel declared a "national day of mourning" in solidarity with the US after the
9/11 attacks, Palestinians celebrated by handing out sweets, firing guns in the
air and chanting Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest).
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has since been celebrating the 9/11 attacks with
cartoons glorifying Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or mocking and attacking the
US.
The PA's official media outlets made a concerted effort to bash the US by
rubbing salt in its most sensitive wounds, and by depicting America as evil,
while appropriating Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims as the victims.
In one Palestinian cartoon, bin Laden is shown forming a victory sign with his
fingers, which are made up of the smoldering Twin Towers next to a plane about
to fly into them.
In another cartoon, the PA mocked the US by portraying Uncle Sam fleeing in
terror from the date "September 11." After the massacre and atrocities committed
by Palestinians on October 7, a senior Palestinian official repeated the
accusation that the US knew about the 9/11 attacks but wanted them to happen:
"They [Israel] knew about this [Oct. 7 attack] and were silent because they
wanted that what happened would happen, just as their teacher [America] did in
the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks."
— Fatah Revolutionary Council member Adnan Al-Damiri, Facebook, December 20,
2023.
It is hard to forget how the Palestinians also celebrated when Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein fired Scud missiles at Israel more than 30 years ago. Here is
what The Washington Post wrote about the celebrations back then:
"As Iraqi missiles fell on Israel's coastal plain Friday and Saturday,
Palestinian residents here huddled in rooms sealed with masking tape and
bleach-soaked cloths, in case the warheads contained deadly chemical agents.
Still, when they heard the thud of explosions, they cheered for Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein."'We were happy. A little scared, maybe, but mainly happy,' said
May, a shopkeeper, during a two-hour break today in the military curfew imposed
by occupying Israeli forces. Added Amer, a 15-year-old boy who stood nearby:
'It's wonderful that missiles hit Tel Aviv...'
Two Western reporters in search of opinions were quickly surrounded by
Palestinians on a downtown street. Everyone who passed by, it seemed, wanted to
express admiration for Saddam. Most seemed full of emotion. 'Saddam is winning,
of course he is winning,' said Sammy, 27, an employee in a United Nations
refugee camp. 'Why? Because he is still fighting. He is fighting 28 countries,
and yet after two days he fired 11 missiles at Tel Aviv, with precision. This is
a victory.'"
It is hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is
willing to criticize his own people for celebrating terrorist attacks. It is
also hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is
willing to condemn the October 7 atrocities and massacres against Israelis.
Palestinian leaders have good reason not to speak out: they are afraid of being
killed by their own people.
Last month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in a speech at the
United Nations General Assembly, ignored the Hamas attack and instead accused
Israel of committing "massacres," "crimes," and "genocide" against the
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Needless to say, Abbas also ignored the fact
that a large number of Palestinians expressed support for the Hamas-led October
7 attack and took to the streets to celebrate the brutal mass-murder of Israeli
women, children and the elderly. Palestinian leaders who do not have the
courage, or are unwilling, to denounce terrorism will never be able to call on
their people to recognize Israel's right to exist, let alone make peace with it.
Palestinians who celebrate the murder of their neighbors are not ready for a
state, which will undoubtedly be used as a springboard to slaughter more Jews
and to try to destroy Israel. There is no excuse for celebrating murder. A
society that celebrates murder will never be a partner for peace. True peace
will only come when Palestinian leaders values their people's lives more than
celebrating the murder of Jews.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made
possible through the generous donation of a couple of donors who wished to
remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.
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