English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 10/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
The Fruitless Fig Tree Parable, so it deserved to be cut
Luke 13/06-09: "Then Jesus told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So
he said to the gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for
fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be
wasting the soil?" He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig
round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year,
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on October 09-10/2024
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
Hezbollah repels Israeli incursions as deadly clashes continue
What to know about Israel's ground invasion in southern Lebanon
Situation in Lebanon should not turn into situation in Gaza, US State Dept says
Turks set to evacuate from Lebanon by ship, driven by safety fears
How Israel’s war on Hezbollah risks creating a lost generation in Lebanon
Calls for Safety of Beirut Airport under Threat of Israel Strikes
Hezbollah Targets Israeli Troops on Lebanese Border, Sirens Sound in Northern
Israel
Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hezbollah Tasking Me to Hold Political Negotiations Is
Nothing New
Ground invasion of Lebanon could erase Israel’s gains/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab
News/October 09, 2024
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October 08-10/2024
Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre: Israel hit on Iran nuclear
sites would be ‘gift’ to humanity
Iran: An earthquake — or a secret underground nuclear test?
Biden and Netanyahu hold their first conversation in weeks. Trump recently
called the Israeli leader
Syria says Israeli strike in Damascus killed civilians
At least four Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on West Bank
Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah discuss post-Gaza plans
60 killed in Gaza strikes as Israel presses on with Jabalia camp raid
Hospitals move patients as Israeli tanks encircle Jabalia camp
3 northern Gaza hospitals say they are being ordered to evacuate, putting
patients at risk
Israeli offensive in hard-hit northern Gaza kills and wounds dozens and
threatens hospitals
Wall Street’s Gulf Boom Faces Risks From Iran-Israel Tensions
Six wounded in stabbing attack in Israel, police say
Hamas, Fatah leaders to hold Palestinian unity talks in Cairo
Iran rejects UK security official's 'accusations' against Tehran, foreign
ministry says
Iran Quds Force chief Qaani is well, to get medal from Supreme Leader, adviser
says
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on October 09-10/2024
The Axis of
Failure and Delusion/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 09/2024
Kamala Sends $157 Million to Lebanon After Claiming No Money for U.S. Hurricane
Victims/Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute./October 09/2024
Opinion - What Netanyahu should have conveyed to the international community at
the UN/Jonathan Dekel-Chen, opinion contributor/ The Hill./October 9, 2024
The October 8th War/Jonathan Schanzer/Commentary/October 09/2024
Qatari Emir’s Speech at UN Showed Its Loyalty to Hamas; We Must Respond/Natalie
Ecanow/The Algemeiner/October 09/2024
Opinion - What will it take for Ukraine to ‘win’?/Thomas Graham, opinion
contributor/The Hill./October 9, 2024
Reality-based approach to Middle East peace is essential/Rev. Johnnie Moore/Arab
News/October 09, 2024
Tweets for today October 09/2024
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on October 09-10/2024
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.
Hezbollah repels Israeli incursions as deadly clashes
continue
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/October 09, 2024
BEIRUT: Israeli forces clashed with Hezbollah fighters across Lebanon’s southern
border on Wednesday as Israel expanded its invasion force with a fourth
division. The two sides exchanged fire early in the
day across the Labouneh area, near the coastal border town of Naqoura.
It followed two days of Israeli attempts to infiltrate the towns of Maroun
Al-Ras, Adaisseh and Kfar Kila, which were subsequently abandoned after clashes
with the militant group. Hezbollah said on Wednesday
that its fighters “targeted an Israeli infantry unit in Ras Al-Naqoura with a
missile barrage.”
A military source told Arab News: “The Israeli advances and retreats along the
border can be categorized as an assessment of Hezbollah’s strengths and
weaknesses in terms of ground confrontation at the primary defense line.”The
Lebanese border region experienced an unprecedented barrage of airstrikes from
Tuesday night through Wednesday. Towns along the
border have effectively become military zones devoid of civilian populations,
with Khiam enduring about 15 airstrikes within a span of 30 minutes.Hezbollah
said: “While the Israeli enemy’s forces attempted to advance toward Mays
Al-Jabal from several locations, the resistance fighters targeted them at 1:30
p.m. with rocket fire and artillery shells, and the clashes are
ongoing.”Hezbollah said in a previous statement: “At 1:20 p.m., a group
confronted the forces of the Israeli enemy as they advanced from the Tufa plain
toward Mays Al-Jabal and Muhaybib with a barrage of rockets.”According to its
statements this morning, Hezbollah targeted “an Israeli infantry force that
tried to infiltrate the Labouneh area with a large missile barrage, killing and
wounding them.”The Israeli army is focused on entering towns situated in
highland areas that provide a vantage point into southern Lebanon.
Its activities near Maroun Al-Ras have been particularly significant,
with an Israeli unit entering the town between Monday and Tuesday.
During the operation, Israeli soldiers hoisted their national flag on the
wall of a garden at the eastern edge of the town after clearing the area and
uprooting trees.Photographs of the event were taken and shared online before the
forces withdrew.
Hezbollah acknowledged the Israeli operation.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti described the situation on the ground as “unsafe
and unclear.”The Israeli army on Tuesday launched a new incursion into Lebanon’s
western sector led by the 146th Division, which includes the 2nd Brigade and
205th Brigade.It aims to “execute a targeted ground operation against
Hezbollah’s infrastructure,” and follows eight days of aerial bombardment over
Lebanese territory and warnings for residents in southern villages to move north
of the Litani River. In Tebnine, an Israeli drone
targeted two motorcycles, as well as a car on the road to the town of Shaqra.
For the first time, Israel struck the town of Wardaniyeh in the Iqlim
Al-Kharroub region of Mount Lebanon, targeting an apartment.
The area is housing displaced people from southern Lebanon, mainly those
who left the border town of Aitaroun.
The Ministry of Health reported that the attack killed four people and injured
10 others, including the principal of a local school and his wife.
Their children sustained severe injuries.
Cautious calm prevailed in Beirut’s southern suburb following a series of raids
on Tuesday night that targeted several areas in Laylaki, Haret Hreik and Burj
Al-Barajneh. The attacks were preceded by a warning
from Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, who instructed residents of the
targeted areas to leave. The southern suburb has
become a ghost town, with unprecedented destruction visible near neighborhood
landmarks, as well as flames rising from the rubble of flattened buildings.
A line of four residential buildings in Burj Al-Barajneh collapsed
following the most recent Israeli strikes, and Israeli jets have circled over
the area round the clock. In a statement, the Israeli
army claimed that its attacks “targeted a weapon factory and Hezbollah’s
intelligence headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb.”Saaideh in western
Baalbek was also hit by an airstrike, killing a citizen later identified as
Hussein Saleh Amhaz and injuring several residents, including three women from
the same family — a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter.
An Israeli raid also targeted a house in Al-Hallanieh, killing two people
and injuring others. Hezbollah operations targeted
Israeli military positions and settlements on and across the border.
Israeli media said that the militant group launched 20 missiles at Kiryat
Shmona, killing two people. Hezbollah said that it
targeted “a gathering of the Israeli enemy in the Kiryat Shmona settlement with
a rocket salvo.” Amid Israel’s invasion, Lebanese
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that Arab and international efforts to end
Israel’s “aggression” are “ongoing.”He added: “However, the Israeli
intransigence and the efforts by the enemy to achieve what it considers as gains
and victories are still obstructing the success of these efforts.
“Lebanon’s friends from the Arab and foreign countries also continue to pressure
Israel into implementing a ceasefire for a specified period in order to discuss
the main political steps, most importantly implementing Resolution 1701 fully,
and compelling the Israeli enemy to implement it.”
What to know about Israel's ground invasion in southern
Lebanon
Melanie Lidman And Kareem Chehayeb/JERUSALEM (AP)/Wed, October 9, 2024
Israel’s ground invasion in Lebanon stretched into its second week, as the
Hezbollah militant group fired hundreds of rockets deep into Israel — with no
end in sight to the escalating conflict.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon - mostly in airstrikes - and
over a million displaced since the fighting intensified in mid-September. At
least 15 Israeli soldiers and two civilians have been killed since the ground
operation began, and more than 60,000 people have been displaced from towns
along the border for more than a year. Hezbollah began firing rockets into
Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group,
attacked southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. Israel and Hezbollah
have exchanged fire almost every day since, coming close to a full-fledged war
on several occasions but stepping back from the brink until this month. Here’s
what to know about the current ground incursion in southern Lebanon:
What is the aim of Israeli military’s ground invasion?
The Israeli military began what they called a “limited, localized and targeted
ground raids” in southern Lebanon on Oct. 1. The same day, the military said
that it had carried out dozens of secretive cross-border operations to destroy
Hezbollah infrastructure over the past year. The aim, Israel says, is to allow
its displaced residents to return home. A military official said that thousands
of Israeli troops are currently operating along the roughly 100-kilomter-long
(62-mile) border, clearing the area just along the border to try to remove the
launch pads where Hezbollah fires rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank
missiles into Israeli towns, as well as infrastructure they say would allow for
an Oct. 7-style invasion of Israel. The official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss the military’s strategy, said the troops haven’t ventured
deep inside Lebanon so far, and have conducted operations from distances of a
few hundred meters (yards) up to 2 to 3 kilometers (1.5 to 2 miles) into
Lebanese territory. The Israeli military has shared videos of what it says are
underground tunnels chiseled into rock used by Hezbollah. The tunnels are used
to store weapons and stage attacks. One tunnel stretched from Lebanon into
Israeli territory, according to the military. The goal is not to destroy
Hezbollah, and the army is aware that this will not remove the threat of
longer-range rockets and missiles, the official said. Elijah Magnier, a
Brussels-based military and counterterrorism analyst, said Israeli forces
haven’t seized any ground positions yet.
“They need to go in, harass, test and come out,” Magnier said. In order to hold
ground positions, Israel would need tanks to come in and take high critical
ground overlooking territory, he said. He estimates it would require clearing
some 10 kilometers of Hezbollah presence, which is still a long way off. It is
not clear how long the operation will last or how long Israel will maintain a
presence in these towns. The official said the hope is that this can lead to a
diplomatic arrangement pushing Hezbollah away from the border. But the plans
could change. A previous Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, initially intended
to push back Palestinian militants, turned into an 18-year occupation.
What is Hezbollah’s strategy?
Hezbollah officials, including assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah, have
conceded that the Israeli military has the superior air force and intelligence.
But Hezbollah has the advantage in direct confrontations on Lebanese turf.
Hezbollah forces have better equipment and training compared to Hamas, which
Israel has been battling for more than a year in Gaza. Hezbollah forces gained
experience in wars in Syria and Iraq. Lebanon’s terrain is also more rugged and
challenging than the Palestinian enclave, which is mostly flat and sandy.
Hezbollah’s strategy, led by its elite Radwan Forces, has been drawing in and
ambushing incoming Israeli troops, detonating explosive devices or firing
rockets at them, and firing artillery and rockets at Israeli border towns.
Although Hezbollah has lost many of its top officials and commanders in recent
weeks, militants have continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel, including
heavy barrages on the city of Haifa. Former Lebanese
Army General Hassan Jouni said that he assessed Israel is still conducting
reconnaissance ahead of its main attack, but that it had already suffered heavy
losses in the smaller operations. Jouni said Hezbollah had dug many tunnels in
the south and were well equipped with weapons caches and ammunition.
“The land always works in the favor of those who own it,” he said. How
does this compare to the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah? Israel and
Hezbollah last went to war in 2006, a 34-day conflict that ended with the United
Nations Resolution 1701, which was supposed to push Hezbollah further north and
keep the border region exclusively under the control of the Lebanese army and UN
peacekeepers. Israeli leaders say they want Lebanon to implement the resolution.
Hezbollah says Israel hasn’t held up its part of the treaty and will stop firing
rockets when there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s searing air
campaign in southern Lebanon and Beirut in recent weeks is similar to the 2006
war, though this time, better intelligence has enabled Israel to kill several of
Hezbollah’s top leadership. “The Air Force is better
and is using all kinds of methods to penetrate deeper into the ground, like
dropping bomb after bomb after bomb,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at
the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Israel killed Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah in September by dropping more than 80 bombs on an
apartment complex built over an underground compound in quick succession. In the
2006 war, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon after 10 days of airstrikes and
withdrew them about four week later, just after the cease-fire went into effect.
Troops went all the way to the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (18.5 miles)
north of the border, but suffered heavy losses.
Could there be a diplomatic solution?
Hezbollah’s acting leader signaled Tuesday that the group is open to a
cease-fire. Guzansky believes Israeli troops will stay on the ground in southern
Lebanon until there is an internationally enforced diplomatic solution that’s
stronger than the current UN peacekeeping force. If Israeli troops retreat, he
said, they risk the same situation as 2006, where Hezbollah simply rearmed and
resumed operations. But former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was Israel’s
leader during the 2006 war, said that war served as a lesson that immediate
diplomacy, rather than military force, is the only way to keep the border quiet.
“Why not try and make a deal now rather than to fight for half a year?” he asked
in an interview with The Associated Press.. “You lose how many soldiers, kill
how many innocent people? And then in the end we’ll make a deal which may have
been made in advance.”
Situation in Lebanon should not turn into situation in
Gaza, US State Dept says
Reuters/Simon Lewis and Daphne Psaledakis/October 9, 2024
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday warned that it
would be unacceptable for Israel's military incursion in southern Lebanon to
evolve into a situation similar to its invasion of the Gaza Strip. "We cannot
and must not see the situation in Lebanon turn into anything like the situation
in Gaza. That would, of course, not be acceptable," State Department
spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing when asked
about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments on Tuesday. "I'm
making very clear that there should be no kind of military action in Lebanon
that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza."Netanyahu
said on Tuesday in a video message directed at the people of Lebanon that
Hezbollah was weaker than it had been in many years and urged Lebanese to "take
back your country.""Don't let these terrorists destroy your future any more than
they've already done," Netanyahu said. "You have an opportunity to save Lebanon
before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and
suffering like we see in Gaza. It doesn't have to be that way."
Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 42,000
Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the enclave's health ministry. It
has displaced nearly all its 2.3 million people and wrought a humanitarian
crisis with widespread hunger and a breakdown in healthcare and critical
infrastructure. Hamas-led militants stormed through Israeli towns and kibbutz
villages near the border on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about
250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Hezbollah began firing rockets
into Israel last Oct. 8, citing solidarity with Hamas.
Israeli strikes have hit the group's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs on
a nightly basis, and ground incursions have expanded to additional parts of
Lebanon's southern border with Israel.
Turks set to evacuate from Lebanon by ship, driven by
safety fears
Reuters/Abdelaziz Boumzar and Heba Fouad/October 9, 2024
Nearly 2,000 Turkish citizens and family members prepared to leave Beirut on two
Turkish navy landing ships on Wednesday, evacuating from Lebanon over fears for
their safety as Israel expanded its operations against Hezbollah militants.
Those gathering at the port said the deteriorating security situation and
economic hardship in Lebanon prompted them to flee on the ships, which left
Turkey on Tuesday. "We cannot take this situation
anymore. No one knows where this country is taking us. The siege is becoming
bigger," said Issa Malak, who like many of the evacuees holds Lebanese as well
as Turkish citizenship. "There is no bread here. There is no future in Lebanon."
The ships first unloaded humanitarian aid upon arriving in Beirut.
Turkey's defence ministry said they were carrying some 300 tons of supplies.
"There are beds, tents, blankets, food parcels, kitchenware and hygiene kits,"
Turkish Ambassador Ali Baris Ulusoy told state-owned Anadolu news agency. Ahead
of the ships' arrival, the passengers registered their papers and waited with
their luggage. "We're leaving because the rockets and shells started dropping on
us," said Tarek Issa. Mariam Darwish, who holds Turkish and Lebanese
nationality, said she would travel with her 80-year-old Turkish father. "The
situation is becoming scary, and our neighbourhood became unsafe," she said.
"This is much safer for us and our children, our grandchildren and our health."
The ships are expected to arrive in Turkey's eastern Mediterranean city
of Mersin on Thursday after a voyage of around 12 hours, a Turkish Foreign
Ministry source said. The source said a few of the
Turkish evacuees would be joined by foreign relatives. Earlier this week, the
source said there were around 14,000 Turkish citizens in Lebanon. Beyond the two
ships, Ankara will also charter flights out of Lebanon if there is demand, the
source said. Turkey has previously said it was working
with around 20 countries on preparing for a possible evacuation of foreign
nationals via Turkey. Hundreds of people of various nationalities arrived in
Turkey from Lebanon last week on a commercial ferry.
How Israel’s war on Hezbollah risks creating a lost
generation in Lebanon
RAZIA DESAI/Arab News/October 09, 2024
DUBAI: Thousands of children across Lebanon, many of whom were due to start the
new school year, have seen their education abruptly disrupted by the sudden
escalation in hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
With schools closing, teachers fleeing, and students facing mounting trauma,
Lebanon’s educational system is on the verge of collapse.
“This has added to existing challenges caused by the pandemic, political
instability, economic downturns, including earlier teacher strikes, and
continuous conflict,” Erin Wall, an education technical adviser at Save the
Children Lebanon, told Arab News.
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire along the Lebanese border since Oct.
8 last year. However, this suddenly escalated in September with an unprecedented
attack on the militia’s communications network, followed by a wave of strikes on
its leaders and weapons caches.
Lebanon was rocked last month when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies
carried by Hezbollah members suddenly exploded simultaneously. The devices,
reportedly booby-trapped by Israel, exploded in public areas, killing scores and
injuring thousands, including children.
Following the pager incident, Lebanon’s Education Minister Abbas Halabi
announced the closure of schools and higher education institutions, impacting
some 1.5 million young people across the country. In the days that followed,
Israel escalated its airstrikes against Hezbollah targets, with the stated aim
of pushing the militia away from the Israel-Lebanon border, making it safe for
the 60,000 Israelis displaced from the north to return home.
Israeli strikes, which have now extended beyond southern Lebanon to the capital
Beirut and other regions, have forced some 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes
— an estimated 35 percent of them children. School buildings in the north of the
country have been repurposed to provide emergency shelter to families escaping
the bombardment in the south and other areas that are considered Hezbollah
strongholds. The long-term effects of the violence and disruption are likely to
run deep. Children like 14-year-old Ali Al-Akbar, who returned to school not for
an education but to find a place of refuge, are missing out on much-needed
stability.
“I miss my friends and teachers,” Al-Akbar told AFP news agency from a
classroom-turned-shelter in Beirut’s southern suburbs, echoing the sentiment of
thousands of displaced students across the country. War damage and the mass
displacement of students and teachers have left education in Lebanon in a state
of limbo. “Damage to some school infrastructure and
resources has diminished educational quality,” Mira, an elementary teacher from
Beirut, told Arab News. “Displacement forces children to adapt to new curricula
and environments, adding to their stress.”Online learning, while utilized during
the COVID-19 pandemic, has proven difficult to implement in the face of daily
bombings and unreliable internet access. Furthermore, the trauma of conflict,
compounded by the loss of community and routine, makes it nearly impossible for
children to concentrate on their studies.
“The psychological impact on students, who lose access to safe, child-friendly
spaces and routine support services, contributes to stress and anxiety,” said
Wall of Save the Children.
“This scenario exacerbates the risk of social isolation and disconnection,
significantly affecting their overall well-being and development.” The
disruption to education could also have lasting consequences for Lebanon’s
recovery. A World Bank report last year estimated the economy could lose $3
million in the long term due to educational disruptions.
Even more concerning is the impact on students who may never return to school or
will forget what they have already learned. Jennifer Moorehead, Lebanon country
director at Save the Children, told AFP: “It will be generations before Lebanon
will recover from this learning loss.”
The country’s fragile economy is unlikely to withstand such an extensive
setback, with an entire generation of children at risk of being left behind.
Children displaced by the conflict are also at risk of long-term trauma.
Wall emphasized how the cognitive abilities of children are being affected, with
many exhibiting signs of constant anxiety and fear. “This is detrimental to
their ability to focus, which negatively affects their acquisition of
foundational skills such as math or reading,” she said.
Meanwhile, at schools that have been turned into makeshift shelters, little
space remains for the continuation of education. In these overcrowded
conditions, the chances of returning to regular schooling are slim.
Displaced children play in a school which provides them temporary shelter in
Beirut, Lebanon, on October 7, 2024 amid the ongoing hostilities between
Hezbollah and Israel. (Reuters)
“No mother wants her child to miss out on school, but this year I’d rather he
stayed by my side as nowhere in Lebanon is safe anymore,” Batoul Arouni, a
mother staying in a repurposed school in Beirut, told AFP. Her sentiment is
shared by many parents who fear for their children’s safety amid the violence.
In the face of these overwhelming challenges, international aid has begun to
trickle in. The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, has been providing educational and
psychosocial support to displaced children in shelters. Regional countries,
including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan, have also pledged millions of
dollars in relief. Volunteers of the Russian Cultural Center entertain displaced
children at a school in Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 3, 2024, after fleeing the
Israeli airstrikes in the south. (AP)
While the aid provided thus far has primarily focused on food, shelter, and
medical care, these necessities offer a glimmer of hope for Lebanon’s children.
By stabilizing the humanitarian situation, aid organizations say they are
creating an environment where children can eventually return to learning and
begin to heal from the trauma.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Education has also partnered with private institutions to
allow displaced children to attend nearby schools. However, the success of this
initiative will depend heavily on whether schools can remain open in the face of
continued violence.
INNUMBERS
• 400k Children displaced by the conflict in Lebanon, according to the UN.
• 40% Proportion of public schools serving as shelters, according to education
officials.
• 127 Children killed since the onset of hostilities — more than 100 in the last
two weeks.
The current crisis has exposed the deep vulnerabilities in Lebanon’s education
system, which has been plagued by instability for years.
The pandemic, teacher strikes, and economic hardship had already pushed many
schools to the brink of collapse. The conflict with Israel has only exacerbated
these issues.
Displaced people get food in a school which provides them temporary shelter in
Beirut, Lebanon, on October 7, 2024, amid the ongoing hostilities between
Hezbollah and Israel. (REUTERS)
Lebanon’s public schools are set to reopen in early November after the Ministry
of Education pushed back the start of the new term. But uncertainty looms over
whether they will be able to function effectively. Indeed, according to
Lebanon’s Education Minister Halabi, around 600 schools, or 40 percent of public
institutions, have been repurposed as shelters.
“The education plan we have put in place needs more time for implementation,”
Halabi said in a statement, adding that public schools will reopen based on
their location and capacity to host students. The UN estimates that more than
400,000 children have been displaced by the conflict to date. With no formal
schooling available in shelters, children and teachers will be enrolled in
nearby schools, but it is unclear how many will be able to return.
However, the loss of education is not just a temporary inconvenience — it
could have catastrophic long-term consequences for a country already mired in
crisis.
Without immediate and sustained international support, an entire generation of
Lebanese children risks being lost to conflict, trauma, and missed
opportunities. For many families, though, education is
no longer a priority, as survival takes center stage.
bat in southern Lebanon. Sirens sounded in northern Israel on Wednesday morning
after Israel renewed bombing of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah
stronghold, overnight. The conflict in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in
recent weeks as Israel has carried out a string of assassinations of top
Hezbollah leaders and launched ground operations into southern Lebanon that
expanded further this week. An Israeli military
spokesperson declined to say how many troops were in Lebanon, but the military
has announced four divisions are operating on the border, meaning that thousands
of soldiers are deployed. Overnight, Israel again bombed Beirut's southern
suburbs and said it had killed a figure responsible for budgeting and logistics,
Suhail Hussein Husseini. The suburbs, once a
densely-populated and thriving district, has been emptied of many of its
residents by Israeli evacuation warnings. Many Lebanese draw parallels between
the warnings and those seen in Gaza over the last year, prompting fears that
Beirut could face the same scale of destruction.
BIDEN-NETANYAHU CALL
US President Joe Biden is expected to speak on Wednesday with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a person familiar with the matter,
with talks set to include discussion of any plans to strike Iran. The Middle
East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack from Iran
last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military
escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel and
Washington called it ineffective. Israel's retaliation
will be a key subject of the call, with Washington hoping to weigh in on whether
the response is appropriate, a separate person briefed on the discussions
said.The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Biden has said he
would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in
Israel's shoes. Last week, he also said he would not support Israel striking
Iranian nuclear sites. The bombardment has left more than 2,100 people dead in
Lebanon, most of them in the last two weeks, and displaced roughly 1.2 million
across the country. Netanyahu said on Tuesday Israeli
airstrikes had killed two successors to Hezbollah's slain leader Hassan
Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept.
27. Netanyahu did not name them, but Israeli Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant said Hashem Safieddine, the man expected to succeed
Nasrallah, had probably been "eliminated". It was not clear whom Netanyahu meant
by the second replacement. Later, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said
Israel knew Safieddine was in Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters when fighter
jets bombed it last week and Safieddine's status was "being checked and when we
know, we will inform the public." Safieddine has not been heard from since that
strike.
Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said on Tuesday the group's capabilities
were intact despite the "painful blows" inflicted by Israel's mounting military
pressure. Qassem said the group endorsed efforts by Lebanon's speaker of
parliament and Hezbollah ally to secure a ceasefire, and conspicuously left out
an oft-repeated condition of the group - that a Gaza ceasefire would have to be
reached before Hezbollah put down its arms. Netanyahu's office declined to
comment on Qassem's remarks. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller
told a briefing in Washington that Hezbollah had "changed their tune and want a
ceasefire" because the group is "on the back foot and is getting battered" on
the battlefield. Hezbollah is the most formidably armed of Iran's proxy forces
across the Middle East and has been acting in support of Palestinian fighters
Israel in Gaza. The heightened regional tensions kindled a year ago by
Palestinian armed group Hamas' attack from Gaza on southern Israel have
escalated to include Lebanon and prompt several direct confrontations between
Israel and Iran. On Oct. 1, Iran fired missiles at Israel. On Tuesday, Iran
warned Israel not to follow through on threats of retaliation.
Calls for Safety of Beirut Airport under Threat of Israel
Strikes
Asharq Al Awsat/October 09/2024
As Israeli strikes devastate Lebanon, calls to safeguard the country's only
airport -- a lifeline for aid and travel located precariously close to
Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold -- have gained urgency. Since Israel
intensified its air campaign against Hezbollah last month, Beirut's airport has
received a flurry of aid shipments from various countries, most recently France
and Qatar. It has also served as a major evacuation
hub for foreign nationals and Lebanese citizens fleeing Israel's deadly
campaign, despite most airlines suspending services over security concerns as
strikes land nearby. The airport was previously targeted in 2006, during
Israel's last war with Hezbollah, prompting concern over a repeat as Israel
threatened to unleash destruction on Lebanon similar to Gaza, where it has been
fighting a devastating year-long war.
UN and Arab officials have called for the protection of the facility, warning
that an attack would disrupt the critical flow of international assistance. The
airport is essentially "the only passage for humanitarian aid", said Qatar's
Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah Al-Khater who flew in on
Tuesday as black plumes billowed into the skyline. It
should be safeguarded as "an absolute necessity", she said, a day after Israel's
closest ally the United States warned Israel not to bomb the facility or roads
leading to it.
-'Relies on imports'-
On Tuesday, vehicles revved beneath the racket of idling military aircraft
engines on the ramp at the Beirut airport as crews unloaded two aid planes.
The humanitarian supplies, bearing the French flag or stamped with "Qatar
Aid", contained medicine, medical equipment and tents. The airport should be
protected and treated as "a humanitarian corridor", Al-Khater told reporters
during a Beirut news conference as she announced a humanitarian "air bridge" for
Lebanon from Qatar. Lebanon's transport minister Ali
Hamieh told AFP Beirut has received "assurances" that Israel will not target the
airport, but added "there is a big difference between assurances and
guarantees". He spoke days after the Israeli army said
it struck Hezbollah targets near the Masnaa border crossing, damaging the main
road between Lebanon and Syria and preventing vehicles from getting through.
"It's important that the airport remains open. It's absolutely critical the
ports remain open. And it's also critical that the overland corridors into
Lebanon remain open," said Lebanon director of the World Food Program (WFP)
Matthew Hollingworth. "This is a country that relies
on imports to cover most, if not all, of its needs, in terms of fuel, in terms
of food," he told a briefing. Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the UN Commissioner
for Human Rights in Geneva, stressed the "paramount importance of international
humanitarian law", saying "all parties must respect not only civilians but
civilian objects".
More than 1,150 people have been killed since Israel ramped up air strikes on
Lebanon on September 23, according to official figures. The fighting has forced
more than one million people to flee their homes, with many heading to Beirut,
which is now overwhelmed.
Hezbollah Targets Israeli Troops on Lebanese Border,
Sirens Sound in Northern Israel
Asharq Al Awsat/October 09/2024
Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border village of
Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets on Wednesday, the group said, a day
after Israel said it had killed two successors to Hezbollah's slain leader. The
Iran-backed group, which has been launching rockets against Israel for a year in
parallel with the Gaza war and is now fighting it in ground clashes, said it had
pushed the troops back. The escalation in Lebanon and the ongoing one-year-old
war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has raised fears of a wider Middle East
conflict that could suck in Iran and Israel's superpower ally the United States.
The Israeli military said three of its troops were severely injured on Tuesday
and Wednesday during co
Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hezbollah Tasking Me to Hold
Political Negotiations Is Nothing New
Beirut: Thaer Abbas/Asharq Al Awsat/October 10/2024
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that no positive progress has
been made to stop the Israeli war on Lebanon, a reference to American officials
“who say they support an end to the war, but do nothing to do so.”Speaking to
Asharq Al-Awsat, he added that Hezbollah’s tasking him to hold political
negotiations “is nothing new and doesn’t change anything.”Hezbollah’s deputy
leader Naim Qassem had said on Monday that Berri has been tasked with the
negotiations. “I was in charge of political negotiations during the 2006 war and
I am doing the same thing today,” he went on to say, while dismissing claims
that he had rejected such a mission. The speaker noted
that with Hezbollah officials being targeted by Israel, he has gained a greater
responsibility in the negotiations. Moreover, he said that Lebanon is still
committed to the principles that were approved during his meeting with caretaker
Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. On international
stances on ceasefire efforts, he remarked: “The French and the British are still
with us.”“As for the Americans, they say they are with us, but do nothing to
stop the aggression,” stressed Berri. He added that attention will be shifted to
the United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday and whether it will
issue anything related to Lebanon. The conflict will definitely be on the table,
he stated. The meeting will indicate which path the political course is taking,
he explained. Meanwhile, Mikati said Arab and international efforts were still
ongoing to stop the Israeli attack on Lebanon, but “Israel remains intransigent
and is forging ahead to claim what it believes are victories and gains.”In a
statement from his office, Mikati dismissed concerns that diplomatic efforts to
end the conflict have ceased, stressing: “We continue to hold the necessary
contacts.” “Lebanon’s Arab and international friends are also exerting pressure
to reach a ceasefire so that the main political steps can be discussed, most
notably the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 and forcing
Israel to abide by it,” he added.
Ground invasion of Lebanon could erase Israel’s gains
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/October 09, 2024
As Israel ramps up its ground offensive against Hezbollah along Lebanon’s
southern coast, after it had previously sent troops to Lebanese villages in the
southeast of the country close to the Israeli border, it is becoming
increasingly clear that its air offensive is being supplemented by ground
incursions. Tel Aviv insists these are limited in nature despite the deployment
of a fourth division, as it claims to want to destroy an already weakened
Hezbollah.
Away from the inflammatory rhetoric of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his
repeated pledge to keep fighting a “sacred war” to secure Israel, especially the
northern areas close to Lebanon, the ultimate plan to destroy Israel’s long-term
adversary and linchpin in Iran’s coalition of proxies in the region could
backfire. Israel sending troops into Lebanon, even in
a “limited” ground operation, could indirectly resuscitate a gravely wounded
Hezbollah. Israel may find itself mired in bloody close combat battles that
generally favor guerrilla-style hit-and-run tactics.
Many in Lebanon are of the opinion that what Hezbollah has done since Oct. 8
last year — attacking Israel as a way to support Hamas in Gaza — was not helpful
to the Palestinians as it did not stop the Israeli onslaught. Missiles fired
from Lebanon over the past 12 months have also not helped Lebanon, despite the
attacks being conducted at the request of Hezbollah’s Iranian patron, which
conceived and deployed a strategy of besieging Israel by fire from its proxy
militant groups operating in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Israel sending troops into Lebanon could indirectly resuscitate a gravely
wounded Hezbollah
One could see how, in order to restore its long-established high threshold of
deterrence — a key foundation of Israeli security doctrine since 1948 — the
confidence gained by the Israeli military and intelligence establishment after
the decapitation of Hezbollah’s leadership, including Hassan Nasrallah, could
easily encourage planners into thinking that an opportunity had presented itself
to bring strategic change to the region on a major scale.
But history has demonstrated time and again that it is very easy for the most
superior of military forces to become embroiled in guerilla-style warfare,
especially against groups like Hezbollah, which has been trained, armed and
funded by Iran. It would be easy for something to go wrong, such as a few
soldiers becoming separated from their units and being captured by Hezbollah,
for Israeli troops to fall into an ambush that causes heavy casualties and is
filmed and published online, or even for images of burned-out tanks in south
Lebanon to go viral on the internet. Such incidents could cause a strategic
turnaround and erase the many tactical gains Israel won through its covert,
indirect planting of explosives into Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies. This
was followed by the start of its intensified air campaign, which eliminated the
head of Hezbollah as well as most of the top- and middle-ranking military
leadership of the terrorist group. Since the Oct. 7
attacks a year ago, along with battling Hamas in Gaza, Israel has focused on
securing its northern border with Lebanon with the aim of allowing tens of
thousands of displaced Israelis to return home. On Sept. 23, Israel finally
launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, leaving
hundreds dead or injured. Above all, this forced more than a million Lebanese,
many of whom are core Hezbollah supporters, to flee their homes in southern and
eastern Lebanon, as well as Dahieh in the south of Beirut, the suburb that has
for years been a closed Hezbollah area. In wars, limited, localized and targeted
operations do not remain as such. Also, due to incorrect assessments,
operational fluidity and other adversities and mistakes that are frequent during
conflicts, advantages can be quickly overturned.
Also, one must remember that Israel’s recent tactical successes, though
impressive, have failed to deliver the strategic breakthroughs Netanyahu seeks.
One aim is to eradicate Hamas and remove all existential threats to Israel’s
existence without remedying the core issue for a Palestinian people thriving to
fulfill their right to a state and self-determination and independence. The
second is the return of the 60,000 displaced Israelis to their homes in the
north.
It is feared that Netanyahu has nothing but a forever war to offer, vowing to
continue to fight for “as long as the enemy threatens our existence and the
peace of the country.”
Due to adversities and mistakes that are frequent during conflicts, advantages
can be quickly overturned. While this could prove impossible to achieve for any
national leader and not just Netanyahu, as de facto wars almost never end on the
battlefield but rather at the negotiating table, the talk of some Lebanese
officials close to Hezbollah is equally delusional, when they try to allude to
Lebanese unity prevailing in the fight against the enemy.
Hezbollah is considered by the UK, the US and much of the rest of the Western
world, as well as some Arab countries, as a terrorist organization that has
dominated Lebanon’s fate since at least 2006. Israel’s ground offensive to
uproot the militia could prove futile and even counterproductive. It might give
a new lease of life to a largely broken Hezbollah, while offering nothing to the
Lebanese but death and destruction.
Weakened and splintered, Lebanon under Hezbollah’s control has become a failed
state politically, with no president, head of government, functioning and funded
administration or security apparatus like any normal state. On Hezbollah’s
watch, the country’s banking system collapsed, with people losing their deposits
and their wealth. I doubt anyone in the country would mourn the end of the
group’s grip on power if given the chance to speak freely.
Twelve months since Hamas’ attack on Israel and the region is teetering
on the brink of a wider escalation that will engulf the region. Israel and
Iran’s wars of choice have so far failed to make Israel more secure, the
Palestinians more hopeful or Hezbollah less willing to fight.
Israel under Netanyahu is playing a dangerous game and, in the shifting
sands of the Middle East, the tactical upper hand it has gained could quickly
evaporate, especially where a ground offensive in Lebanon is concerned. All
parties, starting with Iran and Israel, must once again believe that only a
diplomatic solution can bring them back from the brink, as the fate of the
people in the region is to coexist once the guns are silenced.
**Mohamed Chebaro is a British Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years of
experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy. He
is also a media consultant and trainer.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on October 09-10/2024
Canadian
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre: Israel hit on Iran nuclear sites would be
‘gift’ to humanity
Sean Boynton/Global News/October 08/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/10/135449/
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday doubled down
on his call for Israel to pre-emptively strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying
such an act would be “a gift by the Jewish state to humanity.” Poilievre
wouldn’t say if he disagrees with Biden’s assessment when asked by reporters in
Ottawa on Tuesday, but reiterated his belief that striking the facilities would
prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. “I think the idea of allowing a
genocidal, theocratic, unstable dictatorship that is desperate to avoid being
overthrown by its own people to develop nuclear weapons is about the most
dangerous and irresponsible thing that the world could ever allow,” Poilievre
said. “If Israel were to stop that genocidal, theocratic, unstable government
from acquiring nuclear weapons, it would be a gift by the Jewish state to
humanity. Poilievre first voiced his support Monday at a commemoration event in
Ottawa marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against
Israel. The ensuing conflict in the Middle East reached a new crescendo last
week, when Iran — which supports Hamas and other proxy militant groups fighting
Israel — fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, which has vowed
retaliation.
U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders have warned against striking
Iran’s nuclear facilities over fears of further escalating the conflict into an
all-out war between two of the region’s most well-armed nations. Poilievre has
long taken a hardline approach to Iran and has held it responsible for the Oct.
7, 2023, attack on Israel and overall violence in the Middle East, saying Tehran
wanted to undermine peace talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Poilievre has
long taken a hardline approach to Iran and has held it responsible for the Oct.
7, 2023, attack on Israel and overall violence in the Middle East, saying Tehran
wanted to undermine peace talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “Israel must be
able to prevent Iran from using nuclear weapons, if necessary,” Poilievre said.
A decades-old fatwa issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
forbids the development, proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. But Iran’s
intelligence minister has warned that stance could change if it was “cornered,”
and there are fears within the international community that Iran could still use
its nuclear program to produce such a weapon relatively quickly. Iran began
enriching uranium again after then-president Donald Trump pulled the United
States out of an international agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program in
2018. U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is running for president, said
during an interview that aired on CBS’ 60 Minutes Monday that Iran was the
United States’ greatest adversary, and that one of her “highest priorities”
would be to ensure Iran “never achieves the ability to be a nuclear
power.”Israel is also widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, but there is
no concrete evidence and the country has not acknowledged or denied their
existence. Following Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Oct. 2, Trudeau and
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said their goal was to ensure a wider war
between Israel and Iran is avoided. Defence Minister Bill Blair told reporters
on Monday it would be “appropriate” for Israel to hit Iranian oil production
facilities, but did not mention nuclear sites.
“When we talk about (Israel’s) ability to defend themselves, certainly that
would include missile launch sites, military installations, airfields from which
these attacks are being launched, but Israel has a right to defend itself
against such attacks and diminish Iran’s capabilities of attacking,” he said.
Biden told reporters the day after Iran’s attack that “the answer is no” when
asked about Israel hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities, and stressed the need for
a “proportional” response. He said his administration would be in discussions
with Israeli counterparts about what that response might look like. Pentagon
spokesperson Maj. Gen Pat Ryder said Monday that “we continue to discuss the
next steps with Israel, to include steps that need to be taken to defend
Israel,” while stressing the need to avoid further escalation. He said he would
not “speculate” on a potential strike on nuclear sites. Trump, however, said
during a campaign event on Friday that Iran’s nuclear program “is the thing you
want to hit” and that he disagreed with Biden’s approach.
“The answer should have been, hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest
later,” he said, referring to how he felt Biden should have responded to
reporters. Harris said after Iran’s attack against Israel that the U.S. will
“continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive
behavior and hold them accountable.”Giora Eiland, a retired major general of the
Israel Defense Forces, told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired
Sunday on The West Block that Israel might not necessarily go after Iran’s
nuclear facilities, “which are well-protected.”
But he added: “Israel can cause real significant damage to Iran if we attack
other possible targets.”
—with files from Saba Aziz
https://globalnews.ca/news/10800852/pierre-poilievre-israel-iran-nuclear-sites/
Iran: An earthquake — or a secret
underground nuclear test?
Euronews Farsi/Euronews/October 9, 2024
At 10:45 pm on Saturday, the University of Tehran's seismography centre
announced that a 4.4-magnitude earthquake had shaken the city of Aradan in
Iran's Semnan province, with tremors also felt in parts of eastern Tehran. The
epicentre of the earthquake, which occurred 12km below ground, were recorded as
35.42° north and 52.78° east. Hours after the news broke, social media users
began speculating that the Tehran regime had attempted to conduct its first
underground nuclear test, presumably as a deterrent measure against Israeli
attacks on its territory. These speculations came as Islamic Republic officials
and Revolutionary Guard commanders repeatedly threaten that if economic,
political and military pressures on the country intensify, Tehran will alter its
military defence doctrine — a change that would require amending the Iranian
leader's fatwa on the illegality of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the NorNews
news website, which operates informally as the Islamic Republic's National
Security Council main information outlet, dismissed the nuclear speculation as
“rumours” and once again stressed that nuclear testing contradicts Iran's
nuclear and defence doctrine. However, the notion that Iran would never conduct
such a test without announcing a change in policy does not necessarily stand up
to scrutiny.
Does Iran have any secret testing sites?
In 2019, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think
tank, released a report that Iran had begun a program to build underground
nuclear testing sites, known as the “Field Project”. The foundation has been
sanctioned by Iran's Foreign Ministry for five years for “producing and
disseminating lies, encouraging, consulting, lobbying, and negative propaganda
campaign against the Islamic Republic with the aim of playing an effective role
in imposing and intensifying economic sanctions”.According to its 2019 report,
its researchers "identified the likely location (in an area southeast of Semnan)
where underground non-nuclear explosives tests were conducted in 2003 as part of
developing seismic methods of measuring the yield of an underground nuclear
explosive."This raises the prospect that the earthquake reported in Semnan could
be connected to Tehran's first nuclear test.
While Iran has previously acknowledged the existence of the "Imam Khomeini"
space centre and missile headquarters southeast of Semnan, the site is more than
100 kilometres fr to use it as a testing site instead of conducting them at a
well-known facility such as Natanz.om the earthquake's epicentre. However, some
social media users continue to speculate that perhaps Iran has an undeclared
underground nuclear facility in Semnan province, preferring. Tehran has
consistently failed to disclose its nuclear activities to the International
Atomic Energy Agency. At the same time, Iran is an earthquake-prone country, and
tremors like these are not uncommon or strange.
Biden and Netanyahu hold their first
conversation in weeks. Trump recently called the Israeli leader
Zeke Miller, Tia Goldenberg And Aamer Madhani/WASHINGTON (AP)/October 09/2024
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday
were holding their first call in weeks, a conversation that comes as Israel
expands its ground incursion into Lebanon and considers how to respond to Iran’s
recent ballistic missile attack.
Netanyahu's office also confirmed that the prime minister had recently spoken
with former President Donald Trump. Trump, a Republican who is the midst of a
close White House race against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, called
Netanyahu last week and “congratulated him on the intense and determined
operations that Israel carried out against Hezbollah,” according to Netanyahu's
office. A Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., joined that call.
Syria says Israeli strike in Damascus killed civilians
David Gritten - BBC News/October 9, 2024
Syria’s foreign ministry has condemned a suspected Israeli air strike on an
apartment building in Damascus that, it says, killed seven civilians. The
ministry said women and children were among the dead from Tuesday evening’s
attack on the Mezzeh neighbourhood, which houses the Iranian embassy and other
diplomatic facilities. Israel's military has not commented. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 13, including nine civilians
and two members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is a key ally of
Iran and Syria's government.
The UK-based monitoring group said the strike targeted an apartment frequented
by leaders of Iran's "Axis of Resistance". Syria’s state news agency, Sana,
cited a military source as saying that the building was hit by three missiles
launched by Israeli aircraft from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights.
Photographs from the scene showed emergency services personnel inspecting
significant damage to apartments on the first, second and third floors. "I was
on my way home when the explosion happened and communications and electricity
were cut off, so I could no longer contact my family," electrician Adel Habib,
61, who lives in the building, told AFP news agency. "These were the longest
five minutes of my life until I heard the voices of my wife, children and
grandchildren." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified the civilians
killed as a Yemeni doctor, his wife and their three children, as well as a woman
and her child, a female doctor and a man. Iran's embassy said no Iranian
citizens were among the casualties. On Wednesday, a
Syrian police officer was killed in an Israeli strike near the south-western
city of Quneitra, according to Sana. In the evening, the Israeli military put
out a statement saying it had conducted a strike in the Quneitra area that
killed a man called Adham Jahout, whom it identified as a terrorist in
Hezbollah’s “Golan Terrorist Network”.As part of his role, it claimed, Jahout
relayed information from Syrian government sources to Hezbollah and transmitted
intelligence to facilitate the group's operations against Israeli targets in the
Golan Heights. Last week, another Israeli strike in
Mezzeh reportedly killed the son-in-law of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan
Nasrallah, Hassan Jaafar Qassir. Israel has previously
acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets in
Syria that it says are linked to Iran and allied armed groups such as Hezbollah.
The Israeli strikes in Syria have reportedly been more frequent since the
start of the war in Gaza last October, in response to cross-border attacks on
northern Israel by Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon and Syria. According to
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli air and artillery strikes have
targeted Syrian territory on 104 occasions since January, killing at least 296
people and resulting in the damage or destruction of about 190 targets,
including weapons depots, vehicles and Iran-backed militia headquarters. Over
the past three weeks, Israel has also gone on the offensive against Hezbollah in
Lebanon, launching an intense and wide-ranging air campaign targeting the
group’s infrastructure and weapons, and invading the south of the country.
Bowen: Year of killing and broken assumptions has taken Middle East to edge of
deeper, wider war. Middle East conflict: How will it end? Israeli special forces
'raid missile site in Syria'
At least four Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on
West Bank
AFP/October 09, 2024
NABLUS, Palestinian Territories: Israeli police killed at least four
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, Palestinian
health authorities and Israeli security forces said. The Palestinian health
ministry reported in a statement Wednesday that “four martyrs shot by the
occupation in Nablus have been transferred to Rafidia Government Hospital.”It
later said the men were aged between 31 and 43 years old. The Palestinian Red
Crescent also reported the deaths of four people, but Israeli security forces
said five were killed Wednesday. Officers from an elite police unit “killed five
wanted terrorists in Nablus,” the Israeli police, army and Shin Bet domestic
security service said in a joint statement. The statement added that among those
killed was the head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade in the Balata refugee camp
adjacent to the city. It said that during a joint
operation involving army and police force, coordinated by Shin Bet, police
killed five armed men “who presented a danger for our forces.”“The eliminated
terrorists were involved in the planning and exporting of terrorist activity
against civilians and army forces,” the statement added.
Nablus governor Ghassan Daghlas however told AFP that “the four martyrs
are ordinary citizens who were among the people and were killed among the people
in cold blood.”He called the killing “a cowardly and deliberate
assassination.”He added that one man was from Balata camp, while the remaining
three were from the Askar camp in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since
1967. Violence has soared in the West Bank since Hamas
launched its unprecedented attack on Israel in October last year. Israeli troops
or settlers have killed at least 705 Palestinians in the West Bank since,
according to the Ramallah-based health ministry. Israeli officials say at least
24 Israelis, civilians or members of the security forces, have been killed in
attacks carried out by Palestinian militants or in Israeli military operations
over the same period in the West Bank.
Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah discuss post-Gaza
plans
REUTERS/October 09, 2024
CAIRO: Leaders from Islamist group Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas’s Fatah movement discussed plans for cooperation after the war in Gaza in
a new round of talks in Cairo on Wednesday, a Hamas official told Reuters. The
talks are the first since the two groups met in China in July and agreed steps
to form a Palestinian unity government for Gaza and the occupied West Bank. They
are also part of long-running and previously unsuccessful efforts to heal a
schism that hardened when Hamas seized control of Gaza in a brief conflict with
Fatah in 2007. The Hamas delegation is led by Khalil
Al-Hayya, the group’s Qatar-based second-in-command and chief negotiator, Hamas
media official Taher Al-Nono said. A Palestinian
official said the Fatah delegation was led by Fatah’s second-in-command, Mahmoud
Al-Aloul. There was no immediate comment from Fatah.
“The meeting will discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the
challenges facing the Palestinian cause,” Nono said. The issue of the
administration of Gaza after the end of the year-old Israel-Hamas war is one of
the thorniest issues facing the Palestinians. Israel,
which began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas in Gaza after the Hamas-led
attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, has ruled out the
group’s inclusion in a post-war administration.It says it also does not trust
the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority, which partially governs the
Israeli-occupied West Bank, to do the job. The
Palestinian factions say their post-war plans are an internal affair, and reject
Israeli conditions.
Border crossings
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said that if no unity government
was agreed the groups might try to form a committee to run Gaza and help manage
its border crossings.The shape and exact responsibilities of the proposed
committee remained unclear, said the official, who asked not to be named.
Egyptian security officials said Egypt was urging both sides to agree on a
mechanism to manage the crossing on its border with Gaza, closed since May.
Cairo says a Palestinian presence must be reestablished at the border. It
has been discussing plans for the border with the United States, alongside wider
ceasefire negotiations that have now stalled. Before
May, Rafah was the only Gaza crossing not directly controlled by Israel. It had
become an important entry point for humanitarian aid and an exit for medical
evacuees. It was previously a gateway to the outside
world for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents although Egypt and Israel tightly
controlled movement through it.
60 killed in Gaza strikes as Israel presses on with
Jabalia camp raid
REUTERS/October 09, 2024
CAIRO/TEL AVIV: At least 60 people were killed in Israeli military strikes on
Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said on Wednesday, as Israeli forces
pressed on with a raid in the enclave’s north where a UN aid official said
hunger is spreading again.
The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop
Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them
regrouping. It has been overshadowed by Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah
militants in Lebanon and plans to retaliate for last week’s Iranian missile
attack. Israel has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia
and nearby areas, but Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe places
to flee to in the Gaza Strip. “At least 400,000 people
are trapped in the area,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN aid agency for
Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, posted on X. Medics said an Israeli strike killed
at least 15 people inside Al-Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital in Jabalia. The hospital
houses displaced families living in tents. The Gaza Health Ministry said the
army had ordered three hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate and that hundreds
of patients and medics were trapped inside those facilities.
“The lives of dozens of patients are at risk because of the Israeli siege around
those hospitals.”Gaza health officials said at least 32 people were killed in
Jabalia and the nearby areas in the north, while the others were killed in the
central and southern Gaza Strip. The Hamas-run
Gaza government media office said at least 125 Palestinians were killed in
northern Gaza areas in the past five days. The Palestinian Civil Emergency
Service said it had received unconfirmed reports that dozens of Palestinians may
have been killed in Jabalia and other areas of northern Gaza, but is unable
reach them because of Israeli bombardments.
Lazzarini said some UNRWA shelters and services were being forced to shut down
for the first time since the war began and that with almost no basic supplies
available, hunger was spreading again in northern Gaza. “This recent military
operation also threatens the implementation of the second phase of the #polio
vaccination campaign for children,” he said. Israel did not immediately comment
on Lazzarini’s remarks. Israeli authorities have previously said they facilitate
food deliveries to Gaza despite challenging conditions. In one Israeli strike
overnight on a house in Shejaia, a suburb of Gaza City, nine people of the same
family were killed, medics said. Others were killed overnight in central areas
of the Gaza Strip. Hamas exiled official Izzat
El-Reshiq said in a statement Israel’s escalation in northern Gaza aimed to
punish residents for refusing to leave their homes. He accused the US of
partnering with Israel in a “war of genocide” in Gaza. In another development,
at least six people were stabbed and wounded in northern Israel in what police
say was a militant attack. Police said the assailant
stabbed people in multiple locations in the northern city of Hadera on Wednesday
before fleeing on a motorbike. Police said they later shot and “neutralized”
him, indicating he was killed. They did not provide the name or nationality of
the assailant. Five of the people who were attacked
were in critical or severe condition, while the sixth was moderately wounded,
according to the nearby Hillel Yaffe Medical Center.
Hospitals move patients as Israeli tanks encircle Jabalia
camp
Yolande Knell - BBC Middle East correspondent/October 9, 2024
Amid gunfire and Israeli artillery shelling, Palestinian medics say that they
have begun moving premature babies and other patients away from Kamal Adwan
Hospital in Jabalia refugee camp, as troops and tanks encircle it. The Israeli
military has been carrying out its third ground offensive in the area since the
war in Gaza began, saying it is targeting regrouping Hamas fighters who aim to
launch attacks. Two other local hospitals are virtually inaccessible and face
evacuation orders, Gazan health officials say.Dozens of people are reported to
have been killed and wounded in the north in recent days.How do young
Palestinians and Israelis see their future?
Heavy fighting in Gaza's Jabalia as Israel conducts new ground operation
Bowen: Year of killing and broken assumptions has taken Middle East to edge of
deeper, wider war. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said on Monday that its
first responders had recovered the bodies of 15 people following an Israeli
strike on a tented camp for displaced people next to the al-Yemen al-Saeed
Hospital. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had "struck terrorists
operating within a command-and-control centre embedded in an area in Jabalia
that previously served as a medical compound", and that it had taken steps to
mitigate harm to civilians.
The Civil Defence also said five people were killed in a strike on a family home
in the camp, which had more than 110,000 registered residents before the war.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned
that its own shelters and services were being forced to shut.
“With almost no basic supplies available, hunger is spreading and deepening
again,” Philippe Lazzarini said, adding that the second phase of the polio
vaccination campaign for children in Gaza was also threatened. Residents have
been speaking to the BBC about their fear and desperation.
“I have been displaced more than 10 times. I’ve moved from house to house, from
school to school, under shelling, and from street to street,” said Ahmed Leki, a
50-year-old father from the Falluja area of Jabalia. "We are exhausted,
completely worn out. There's nothing left. Where can we go? We have small
children, and there's no safe place in Gaza, not a single safe inch,” he added.
“We left our homes with shells raining down on us, with bombing, destruction,
and dismemberment all around us. Enough is enough."In recent days, new
evacuation orders have been issued by the Israeli military covering a wide area
in the north of the enclave, including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and parts of Gaza
City. All those remaining in the north - estimated at 400,000 people - have been
told to head to the south. “Displacement is extremely difficult, a tragedy.
There is no transportation, no necessities for survival. Men, women, and
children ask, ‘Where do we go?’ and the answer is, ‘I don’t know,’” said Bilal
al-Amreeti, a local man. “The sound of Israeli
warplanes is above us, there is bombing, and the shelling continues
everywhere.”Despite Israel’s assurances, many Gazans fear that it aims to
depopulate the north of the strip and turn it into a closed military zone or a
Jewish settlement.
3 northern Gaza hospitals say they are being ordered to
evacuate, putting patients at risk
MARY KEKATOS/ABC News/October 9, 2024
Doctor describes conditions at hospitals in GazaScroll back up to restore
default view.
Three hospitals in northern Gaza are reportedly being ordered to evacuate by
Israeli forces, putting medical staff and patients at risk, doctors at the
hospitals told ABC News. Residents of Beit Hanoun,
Jabalia and Beit Lahia were ordered to evacuate on Monday to the newly created
humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi -- near the southern city of Khan Younis --
according to a post on the social platform X from Avichay Adraee, an Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson for the Arab Media and translated by ABC News.
Medical staff told ABC News that Al-Awda Hospital, Indonesian Hospital
and Kamal Adwan Hospital -- which are all partially functioning -- are in the
mandatory evacuation zones and are being ordered to evacuate their medical
centers. "We are really under siege, and we are the
only hospital providing services to children in northern Gaza," Dr. Husam Abu
Safiyeh, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told ABC News Tuesday evening. "I
also have a large number of injured and wounded people, and the Israeli army
will evacuate the hospital within 24 hours. From here, I appeal to the world to
let us provide humanitarian services."Dr. Eid Sabah, the director of the nursing
department at Kamal Adwan, said the Israeli armed forces allegedly contacted
Safiyeh and ordered the hospital be evacuated within 24 hours, warning that
medical staff and patients could be at risk of death or capture.
He said Kamal Adwan has an intensive care unit for children, a
three-level nursery and a kidney dialysis department for children, as well as
providing obstetrics and gynecology services in the north. "If this hospital
stops functioning, then that means many civilians will die -- these civilians
are innocent women and children," he told ABC News in Arabic on Wednesday
morning.
ABC News has reached out to IDF for comment.
This is not the first time the IDF has targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital. In
December 2023, Israeli forces raided the hospital and, in May 2024, the vicinity
around the hospital was attacked and Israeli forces blocked access to the
hospital, trapping medical personnel inside. Dr.
Mohammed Salha, acting director at Al-Awda Hospital, told ABC News that he
received a message from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health that Israeli
forces were ordering the hospital to be evacuated.
However, he said Al-Awda is not evacuating to keep treating patients, and he is
remaining with at least 15 members of his staff. "The main issue [is] that we
are working with maternity services," he said Wednesday morning. "We have women
[giving] birth here in the hospital. There is a woman in labor now [who] will
have a cesarean-section operation."Israel has claimed that Hamas uses hospitals,
and networks of tunnels beneath them, as bases to conduct and promote terrorist
activity, and U.S. officials have backed this claim. Hamas, however, has
repeatedly denied it. The reported evacuations come just two weeks after ABC
News reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering a
plan that involved forcibly expelling the remaining civilians from north Gaza
and imposing a complete siege of aid and food to those who stay. Since Hamas
launched its surprise terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, more than
1,700 people in Israel have been killed and more than 8,700 have been injured,
according to Israeli officials. In Gaza, more than 42,000 people have been
killed and more than 97,000 people have been injured, according to the Gaza
Ministry of Health. ABC News' Victoria Beaule and
Jordana Miller contributed to this report. 3 northern
Gaza hospitals say they are being ordered to evacuate, putting patients at risk
originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Israeli offensive in hard-hit northern Gaza kills and
wounds dozens and threatens hospitals
Samy Magdy And Wafaa Shurafa/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/October 9, 2024
A large-scale Israeli operation in northern Gaza has killed and wounded dozens
of people and threatens to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war
with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said Wednesday.
Heavy fighting is underway in Jabaliya, where Israeli forces carried out
several major operations over the course of the war and then returned as
militants regroup. The entire north, including Gaza City, has suffered heavy
destruction and has been largely isolated by Israeli forces since late last
year. The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza, unleashed by Hamas'
Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, comes as Israel expands a week-old
ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and considers a major retaliatory
strike on Iran. Residents of Jabaliya, a refugee camp
dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, say heavy airstrikes
and evacuation warnings have driven hundreds of people from their homes. An
airstrike early Wednesday killed at least nine people, including two women and
two children, according to the Al-Ahly Hospital, which received the bodies.
Strikes in central Gaza killed another nine people, including three
children, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. An
Associated Press reporter counted the bodies. The Gaza
Health Ministry said Wednesday that the overall Palestinian death toll in Gaza
since the start of the war has surpassed 42,000, with more than 97,000 others
wounded.
Palestinians huddle inside as fighting rages
Residents of Jabaliya said thousands of people have been trapped in their homes
since the operation began Sunday, as Israeli jets and drones buzz overhead and
troops battle militants in the streets. “It’s like hell. We can’t get out,” said
Mohamed Awda, who lives in Jabaliya with his parents and six siblings. He said
there were three bodies in the street outside his home that could not be
retrieved because of the fighting. “The quadcopters are everywhere, and they
fire at anyone. You can’t even open the window,” he told The Associated Press by
phone, speaking over the sound of explosions. He and other residents fear
Israel’s aim is to depopulate the north and turn it into a closed military zone
or a Jewish settlement. Israel has blocked all roads except for the main highway
leading from Jabaliya to the south, according to residents.
“We are concerned about the displacement to the south,” Ahmed Qamar, who
lives in Jabaliya with his wife, children and parents, said in a text message.
"People here say clearly that they will die here in northern Gaza and and won’t
go to southern Gaza.”
Hospitals are under threat
Fadel Naeem, director of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said it has received
dozens of dead and wounded people from across the northern half of the
Palestinian enclave since Israel launched its air and ground operation. Israel's
offensive has gutted Gaza's health sector, forcing most of its hospitals to shut
down and leaving the rest only partially functioning.
“The situation is tense,” Naeem told The Associated Press in text message. “We
declared a state of emergency, suspended scheduled surgeries, and discharged
patients whose conditions are stable.”He said three hospitals further north —
Kamal Adwan, Awda and the Indonesian Hospital - have become almost inaccessible
because of the fighting. The Gaza Health Ministry says the Israeli army has
ordered all three to evacuate staff and patients. Meanwhile, no humanitarian aid
has entered the north since Oct. 1, according to U.N. data.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the
hospitals or the apparent suspension of aid delivery in the north.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military spokesperson, said late Tuesday
that Israeli forces were operating in Jabaliya “to prevent Hamas' regrouping
efforts" and had killed around 100 militants, without providing evidence. Israel
says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it
fights in residential areas. Israel ordered the wholesale evacuation of northern
Gaza, including Gaza City, in the opening weeks of the war, but hundreds of
thousands of people are believed to have remained there. Israel reiterated those
instructions over the weekend, telling people to flee south to an expanded
humanitarian zone where hundreds of thousands are already crammed into squalid
tent camps. The war began just over a year ago, when
Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people,
mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. They are still holding around 100
hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed 42,010 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health
Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. It has said women and
children make up over half of the dead. The offensive has also caused staggering
destruction across the territory and displaced around 90% of the population of
2.3 million people, often multiple times.
Israel warns Lebanon that it could end up like Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until
“total victory” over Hamas and the return of all the captives. On Tuesday, he
warned that Lebanon would meet a similar fate if its people did not rise up
against Hezbollah, which began firing rockets into Israel after the initial
Hamas attack. That set in motion a cycle of escalation that ignited a full-scale
war last month. “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into
the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see
in Gaza,” Netanyahu said, addressing the Lebanese people. In recent weeks Israel
has waged a punishing air campaign across large parts of Lebanon, targeting what
it says are Hezbollah rocket launchers and other militant sites. In a matter of
days, strikes killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top
commanders. So far, ground operations appear to be
focused on a narrow strip along the border, but Israel has warned people to
evacuate dozens of cities and towns across southern Lebanon, many of them north
of a buffer zone declared by the United Nations after the last war between
Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Hezbollah's acting leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem,
said in a televised statement Tuesday that the group has replaced its slain
commanders and was preventing Israeli ground forces from advancing. The
militants have extended their rocket fire deeper into Israel, disrupting life
but causing few casualties. Israel is meanwhile considering options for a strike
on Iran that could potentially escalate the war on yet another front. Iran,
which supports Hezbollah and Hamas, launched a wave of some 180 ballistic
missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of top militants
from both groups.
Wall Street’s Gulf Boom Faces Risks From Iran-Israel
Tensions
Zainab Fattah/Bloomberg/October 9, 2024
Wall Street giants have been flocking to the Middle East for a slice of the
region’s vast oil wealth, but escalating tensions between Iran and Israel are
throwing up new uncertainties.
In recent years, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have pushed for
regional peace and spent billions from their vast oil revenues to expand their
economies. They’ve become more important than ever to the world of finance and
business, using a $3 trillion pile of sovereign wealth to bankroll global deals
and attract the biggest hedge funds and banks. But the hubs of Abu Dhabi, Doha,
Riyadh and Dubai sit just across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, which last week
attacked Israel with nearly 200 missiles. Images on social media showed the glow
that lit up the Gulf’s night sky as the missiles took off.
That was one of the starkest reminders yet of the risks facing these cities.
While they’ve remained insulated from the war between Israel and Hamas that
began last year, governments are now contending with a conflict drawing closer
to their shores.
As long-time allies of Washington, several Gulf countries are home to American
military bases. While the region has seen conflict previously, for the most part
this played out through Iran-backed proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
Now — amid pledges from Israeli officials of a ‘significant’ response to Iran’s
attack — there’s the threat of a direct war that could drag in the US. The rise
in hostilities is likely to impact business sentiment and make investors think
twice about putting money into the Middle East, according to Anna Jacobs, who is
a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The UAE and others have
done very well economically and have insulated themselves quite well over many
years amid the ebbs and flows of tension between Israel and Iran, between the US
and Iran, between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis,” she said. “However, now we’re
in a different moment and this is unprecedented in many ways. The business
community is quite aware of that.” Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Oman
have stated publicly that they wouldn’t allow their airbases and airspace to be
used in a conflict, according to Mohammed Baharoon, director general at
Dubai-based think tank B’huth. But governments are still assessing risks to see
what could go wrong, he said.
To be sure, business executives and diplomats familiar with the region said they
haven’t seen signs of foreign firms cancelling visits, stalling expansion plans
or pulling out money. Many within the region continue to hope Arab Gulf states
will remain insulated, although concerns and questions from bankers and others
overseas are rising, they said. While the UAE has
sometimes benefited from money inflows during prior crises, the trajectory of
the current war has been harder to predict. Some regional stock markets fell in
early October, reflecting those worries. Last month, analysts from HSBC pointed
to some of these concerns surrounding Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “In both
markets, we love the structural story, but a combination of heightened
geopolitical risk and low oil prices is creating near-term headwinds,” they
said. Besides Gaza, Israel is waging a ground and air offensive across its
northern border in Lebanon to combat Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and
designated as a terrorist organization by the US. Iran said its missile attack
against Israel was a response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyeh in Tehran and the killing of Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Spillover
“We’re constantly talking about the risks of spillover but I wonder whether we
actually haven’t crossed that bridge,” said Nickolay Mladenov, director general
of the Abu-Dhabi based Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, which also includes a
state-linked think tank. “The biggest risk today is so many points at which
small escalations can lead to bigger conflicts that it’s difficult to predict
which might get out of control and lead to a huge spillover.”The US has military
bases in Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain as well as some sites in Saudi Arabia
and other countries, according to an analysis by the Council on Foreign
Relations. After Iran’s strike, its president met with Gulf officials, including
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, who said his country intends “to turn the page
on differences” between the former rivals, according to an Iranian read out.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE moved to reestablish diplomatic ties with Iran recently
after years of tensions that played out through regional proxies. China helped
broker a deal between Riyadh and Tehran, while UAE mended ties with Iran post
attacks on oil tankers off the country’s coast.If Israel attacks major economic
infrastructure and oil facilities in Iran, there are concerns that groups
aligned with Tehran could hit critical energy infrastructure in US allies like
Saudi Arabia or the UAE, International Crisis Group’s Jacobs said.
Financial Centers
In recent years, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sought to distance themselves
from regional rivalries and conflict. Luring investors to back their development
plans required stability, which governments have looked to achieve, helping
their economies thrive. Dubai’s real estate market has been a beneficiary of
foreign capital that’s pushed property prices near records. Nearby Abu Dhabi has
also drawn a cadre of hedge funds, venture capital firms, crypto companies and
investment heavyweights. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has embarked on a development
drive that will cost trillions of dollars. Large projects in the capital Riyadh
and on the Red Sea have been commissioned to help lure tourists. But already
after Iran’s strike against Israel last week, airlines connecting Europe with
the Middle East and South Asia were forced to fly a more circuitous path, with
many avoiding the airspace of Iran, Iraq and Jordan. “Any one following this
would have a hard time saying with any confidence how it will all shake out and
what will happen next,” Jacobs said.
*With assistance from Matthew Martin and Dinesh Nair.
Six wounded in stabbing attack in Israel, police say
Reuters/October 9, 2024
At least six people were wounded, two of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in
the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said. "The
terrorist has been neutralized," police said in a statement. "Four separate
locations have been identified, resulting in six victims with stab wounds."
The police did not immediately provide other details, but issued a brief video
of the suspected attacker being apprehended. Of the six people rushed to the
hospital, at least two were in serious condition, according to medical
officials. Israel has been on high security alert since the Hamas assault a year
ago sparked the war in Gaza, while a the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon
continues to escalate.
Hamas, Fatah leaders to hold Palestinian unity talks in Cairo
Reuters/October 9, 2024
Leaders from the Islamist group Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas'
Fatah movement will hold further unity talks in Cairo on Wednesday, a Hamas
official told Reuters. According to Taher Al-Nono, the
media adviser of the Hamas political chief, the Hamas delegation arrived in
Cairo on Tuesday. It was led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group's chief negotiator
and Hamas' second-in-command, currently based in Qatar. "The meeting will
discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the challenges facing the
Palestinian cause," Nono said. There was no immediate
comment from Fatah. The meeting will be the first in months since the two groups
held talks in the Chinese capital in July, agreeing on steps to form a unity
government. Similar rounds in the past have so far failed to make progress. The
issue of the post-war Gaza administration is one of the thorniest issues facing
the Palestinians, and both factions have said it was an internal affair,
rejecting any Israeli conditions. Israel vowed it would not accept any role for
Hamas in post-war Gaza. It says it doesn't trust the Abbas-led Palestinian
Authority to do the job either.
Iran rejects UK security official's 'accusations' against
Tehran, foreign ministry says
Reuters/October 9, 2024
DUBAI (Reuters) - Tehran rejects "accusations" put forward by a British security
official, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on
Wednesday, a day after UK's MI5 spy chief said 20 Iran-backed potentially lethal
plots had been disrupted in Britain since January 2022.
In a wide-ranging speech on Tuesday outlining the current threat picture,
Security Service (MI5) Director General Ken McCallum accused Iran of being
behind "plot after plot" on British soil. McCallum
said state threat investigations were up 48% in the last year as Russia and Iran
turned to criminals, drug traffickers and proxies to carry out their "dirty
work".Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson dismissed what he described in a
statement as repetitive accusations over the last two years by the British
security official, whom he did not name. Baghaei accused the British of hosting
"terrorist" groups that take advantage of free speech to promote violence,
according to the statement and asked London to reconsider its policies towards
"the nation of Iran and West Asia".
Iran Quds Force chief Qaani is well, to get medal from
Supreme Leader, adviser says
Reuters/October 9, 2024
The commander of the overseas arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards is well
and will receive a medal from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei soon, the
semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a senior Guards adviser on Wednesday as
saying.
Two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters earlier that Quds Force
commander Esmail Qaani, who travelled to Lebanon after the Sept. 27 killing of
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, had not been
heard from since further Israeli bombings of south Beirut late last week.
"Commander Qaani is in perfect health and will receive the Fath medal from the
Supreme Leader in the coming days," Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to Qaani, told
Tasnim. Quds Force deputy commander Iraj Masjedi had
on Monday denied reports that Qaani had been harmed in the course of Israel's
intensifying airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs. The
Islamic Republic appointed Qaani as commander of the Guards overseas military
and intelligence service after the United States assassinated his powerful
predecessor Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020. Revolutionary
Guards Aerospace Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh received the Fath medal from
Khamenei on Sunday for his central role in Iran's missile strikes on Israel
carried out on Oct. 1. Iran has awarded the Fath medal since 1989 to war heroes,
military commanders and politicians, especially those linked to the eight-year
Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s..
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on October 09-10/2024
The Axis of Failure and
Delusion
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 09/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/10/135437/
We are facing two stark scenes of posturing and misadventure that have cost Arab
countries a lot of pain and destruction. Those behind them are not politicians,
but adventurers, or if you prefer, political "thugs."
The first scene is that of Khaled Meshaal’s appearance on the first anniversary
of the Gaza war. The Hamas leader considered the setbacks of what he called the
"Resistance Axis" to be tactical and Israel's losses to be strategic. He called
for the opening of additional fronts, including the West Bank, and concluded his
speech by urging the people of Gaza to remain steadfast, asserting that victory
is inevitable, even if it may not be imminent.
Of course, he is outside Gaza, and he clarified that Hamas had worked hard to
reach a ceasefire agreement, but Israel thwarted it!
The second scene is the pre-recorded speech of Hezbollah deputy
Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who said the party maintains its capabilities and
is in "good shape.This war has not affected our will, and it will not affect it.
We are determined to resist," he added.
"Israel and Western countries are trying to pressure us to make us afraid, but
we do not fear them," he insisted. His party, Qassem told us, has overcome "the
painful blows... This is a war where the first to scream loses, and we will not
scream." Qassem also expressed his support for the efforts of Nabih Berri, who
he called an "older brother," to reach a ceasefire!
Meshaal and Qassem claim that their organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, are "in
good shape" despite the destruction in Gaza, South Lebanon, and Beirut’s
southern suburbs... and although 42,000 people have died in Gaza and nearly
3,000 have died in Lebanon, not to mention millions have been displaced.
Both Meshaal and Qassem are dismissive of people's suffering. When he discusses
a ceasefire, Meshaal proclaims that Israel’s intransigence is the reason we have
yet to see an agreement, while we all know that the decision is in the hands of
Yahya Sinwar, not Meshaal.
Qassem supports Nabih Berri's effort to reach a ceasefire now, after Hezbollah
was decapitated and as the southern suburbs are being destroyed. But his party,
specifically Hassan Nasrallah, insisted that Lebanon would not be decoupled from
Gaza, a commitment Qassem did not reiterate yesterday!
So if this isn't recklessness, adventurism, failure, and delusion, what could we
call it? It is true that Hamas and Hezbollah, along with other subordinates of
the Iran axis, present themselves as the "Resistance Axis." However, they and
their actions are anything but political.
I will hold them to the standards of none other than Iran itself, which, to this
day, pragmatically uses political means to safeguard its national interests as
it avoids a war and direct clash with Israel. Whatever we think of Tehran, it
plays politics, even though it uses this Axis to perpetuate destruction.
Egyptian researcher Karim Shafik remarked recently commented on this. "The
paradox, not the contradiction and opportunism, here, is that the pragmatic
objective pursued by the Velayat e-Faqih regime, which depends on its local
proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, is to maintain its political
standing in Tehran and its foreign ties during critical moments, both in the
field and politically."
He added that Iran does not hesitate "to turn ideologically charged bases of
support fueled by a doctrine of martyrdom into a force for destruction that
leaves piles of decaying bodies." That is true, and developments on the ground
affirm this claim, as evident from the carnage seen in four Arab countries and
the distortion of the Palestinian cause. And so, this is the Axis of failure and
delusion.
Kamala Sends $157 Million to Lebanon After Claiming No
Money for U.S. Hurricane Victims
Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute./October 09/2024
"To that end, the United States will provide nearly $157 million in additional
assistance to the people of Lebanon... This additional support brings total U.S.
assistance to Lebanon over the last year to over $385 million." — Vice President
Kamala Harris, X.com, October 5, 2024.
$385 million for an Islamic terrorist state.
$20 million to Hurricane Helene survivors.
While there's not enough money for hurricane victims in America, Vice President
Kamala Harris announced on October 5 that "the United States will provide nearly
$157 million in additional assistance to the people of Lebanon... This
additional support brings total U.S. assistance to Lebanon over the last year to
over $385 million." $20 million to Hurricane Helene survivors. $157 million to
Hezbollah. Those Hezbollah votes in Dearborn, Michigan don't come cheap.
Pictured: Harris campaigns in Flint, Michigan on October 4, 2024. (Photo by
Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Joe Biden, there's just no money for hurricane victims.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claims that the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) is running out of money. (And not because it blew
through $1.4 billion on illegal aliens, that's dangerous misinformation.)
While there's not enough money for hurricane victims in America, after Israel
took out Hezbollah Islamic terrorist leaders, Vice President Kamala Harris
announced on October 5:
"The people of Lebanon are facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation. I
am concerned about the security and well-being of civilians suffering in Lebanon
and will continue working to help meet the needs of all civilians there.
"To that end, the United States will provide nearly $157 million in additional
assistance to the people of Lebanon for essential needs such as food, shelter,
water, protection, and sanitation to help those who have been displaced by the
recent conflict. This additional support brings total U.S. assistance to Lebanon
over the last year to over $385 million."
$385 million for an Islamic terrorist state.
But there's a bold press release out at FEMA declaring that the "Biden-Harris
Administration Provides More Than $20 Million to Hurricane Helene Survivors,
Ongoing Search and Rescue Operations Continue in North Carolina".
$20 million to Hurricane Helene survivors.
$157 million to Hezbollah.
Those Hezbollah votes in Dearborn, Michigan don't come cheap.
*Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom
Center.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
Opinion - What Netanyahu should have conveyed to the
international community at the UN
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, opinion contributor/ The Hill./October 9, 2024
Hundreds of Hamas terrorists and civilians from Gaza assaulted, looted and
destroyed my home, Kibbutz Nir Oz, on Oct. 7.
They murdered 51 people in our community of a little more than 400. They
kidnapped 79 others, including my 36-year-old son, Sagui.
Twenty-nine are still hostages in Gaza. We do not know if any of them are still
alive. Our world stopped that day; it can resume only after the hostages return.
Nir Oz’s survivors are among more than 150,000 Israelis internally displaced by
Hamas’ attack in the south and Hezbollah rockets in the north. Israel now faces
multiple threats from Iranian proxies. The only way to return our hostages alive
(or perhaps at all) is to negotiate with Hamas, the homicidal captor of our
loved ones. Hostage families have warned for months that our government’s
military pressure strategy will fail in its stated goal of forcing Hamas to
agree to a deal. No army can rescue hostages from tunnels guarded by suicidal
fanatics. The Israel Defense Forces’ recovery in recent weeks of 12 bodies of
hostages who were alive for months in captivity has debunked Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s core hostage policy. Further, close-quarter
military action will only result in the murder of more hostages.
The vast majority of Israelis have been appalled by our government’s repeated
moving of the goal posts in the negotiation process with Hamas. It claims that
Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor is of vital national interest,
despite our military and clandestine services’ dismissal of this argument.
The recent escalation of conflict with Hezbollah can surely be justified on
military grounds. But targeted killing of its leaders and widespread bombing in
Lebanon have only added to fears that our government’s unclear path, without a
stated strategy, will lead to the death of all the hostages.
Since Oct. 7, Israel has been at war with satanic terrorist organizations, in
Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen. Our greater threat, however, comes from within. As
Israel approached the one-year anniversary of “Black Saturday,” Netanyahu’s
speech at the UN marked a low point for our hostages and our country. Why? As a
patriotic Israeli, I must ask, “What was his goal and his intended audience?”
Israel did not need this speech. The only possible justification for it would be
as a dramatic platform to announce some breakthrough; major progress toward an
agreement to free our hostages or the announcement, finally, of a strategic
vision for post-Hamas Gaza.
Netanyahu could have begun the long road toward improving Israel’s international
image by sincerely addressing the suffering of Gaza’s civilian population since
Oct. 8. Instead, he repeated his worn-out cliches about the hostages and his
fantastical goal of “Total Victory” over Hamas. This was followed by a torrent
of accusations — against UN member countries and the UN itself. He peppered the
speech with childish maps and offensive comparisons of the current conflict to
the Holocaust.
Israel cannot ask for the world’s support as a “victim” (as Netanyahu claimed)
while our army lays waste to cities in Gaza, whatever the cause. Claiming that
our critics act solely out of antisemitic motivations only deflects from
Israel’s responsibility to offer real strategic vision. The prime minister also
mentioned nothing in his speech about the immense debt our country owes to the
United States for its steady support amid this controversial war.
Netanyahu’s speech only amplified the ugliest part of Israeli politics: leaders
unwilling to take any accountability for the situation in which Israel finds
itself and unable to offer a workable vision for a better future. Exactly at a
time when Israel needs partners to leverage Hamas in favor of a
ceasefire-for-hostage deal and encourage moderate Arab countries toward
cooperation with Israel after the war, Netanyahu deepened existing anti-Israel
antagonisms. The only applause came from a cluster of staff and supporters in
the gallery. He only harmed Israel’s national interest.
Who then was the intended audience? One commentator speculated that this
exercise in political theatre was directed toward Donald Trump. In truth, the
only audience for the speech was his own domestic political base, always ready
to embrace the populist “us against the world” narrative that Netanyahu has
peddled since he emerged into Israeli politics in the mid-1980s.
When speaking on the UN’s center stage, here is what Netanyahu should have said,
“We call on you to join us in ending the disastrous war in Gaza. This requires
direct pressure on Hamas. It must be forced to agree to a ceasefire and hostage
release. Only then can Gazans reconstruct their lives with the help of the
international community. Gazans must no longer be used by Hamas as human shields
in its deadly Holy War against Israel.
“We don’t yet know the contours of peace with our Palestinian neighbors. We do
know that we must not go back to Hamas rule over Gaza or Israeli control over
Gazans. Well-intentioned international partners can help us create a better
future for our region. But first our hostages must come home.”
*Jonathan Dekel-Chen is a history professor at Hebrew University and a U.S.
citizen. He is the father of a hostage who has been held by Hamas terrorists in
Gaza.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The October 8th War
Jonathan Schanzer/Commentary/October 09/2024
An unfathomable number of keystrokes (we don’t talk about spilling ink because
that’s no longer a thing) was devoted yesterday to the anniversary of the
October 7 massacre. Appropriately so. That attack by the Hamas terrorist
organization kicked off a seven-front war that has now dragged on for a year.
However, when historians look back on this conflict, October 8 may be viewed as
a more significant marker.
October 8, 2023, was the day that Hezbollah, Iran’s more powerful proxy, began
firing at Israel from Lebanon. The volume of fire that Israel has sustained
since then is not well understood. Hezbollah has launched an estimated 10,000
rockets, missiles and drones at Israel since the fighting began. Entire swaths
of Israel’s northern territory have been evacuated. The damage has yet to be
assessed.
This war is still evolving. The Israelis are hammering Hezbollah relentlessly
right now, with a combination of lethal air strikes and limited ground maneuvers
in southern Lebanon. But this was not the case for nearly eleven months. The way
the war evolved in the north was downright bizarre.
Even as Israelis sustained blow after blow from the Iranian proxy, they limited
their responses to tit-for-tat, commensurate strikes. This remarkable restraint
was encouraged—perhaps ordered—by the Biden White House. Under any other
circumstances, the Israelis would have flattened Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold
in Beirut, long ago. They would have carried out a massive campaign in southern
Lebanon to remove the threat along their northern border.
But they didn’t. The Biden White House was petrified of a Lebanon war. The
Israelis didn’t want one either. And for good reason. Hezbollah is perhaps the
most deadly foe Israel has faced in its entire history. Israeli security
officials believe the group’s military capabilities are on par with a mid-size
European military (think Czech Republic or similar). The group has (or at least
it had) an estimated 200,000 projectiles. It has precision-guided munitions. It
has a fleet of underwater and aerial drones. And its fighters have trained
alongside the Russia and Iranian militaries.
The Israelis have spent years trying to prevent advanced Iranian weapons from
reaching Hezbollah. This was the thrust of the “Campaign Between the Wars” that
Israel waged for roughly a decade before the current war erupted. The goal was
to delay the inevitable. But that clock ran out on October 8.
Given the gravity of the threat and given that Hezbollah had clearly joined the
war less than 24 hours after the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, there were
many in the Israeli security establishment who were inclined to head north to
fight Hezbollah immediately after 10/7. Biden said don’t. He set the Israelis on
the path of war with Hamas in Gaza, and that postponed the inevitable for a
time.
Realistically, Hamas was only going keep the Israelis busy for so long. The
Iranian proxy group in Gaza is now effectively a spent force. That doesn’t mean
it won’t occasionally carry out a successful rocket attack or snipe an Israeli
soldier. Those things will happen. But the Israelis are now confident that it
will be a decade or more before the group can rebuild, if it ever does. And
that’s why the attention has turned north.
It’s hard to say exactly when the Israeli counteroffensive began. It might have
been the targeted strike on terrorist mastermind Fouad Shukr in the heart of
Beirut on July 31. Perhaps it was the Mossad’s ingenious exploding pager and
walkie-talkie operation that killed, maimed and injured hundreds of Hezbollah
commanders on September 17. Or it could have simply been the thundering series
of air strikes that felled Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on
September 27. It almost doesn’t matter at this point. The long-feared “war of
the north” is now fully underway.
There is a temptation to say that Israel is winning this northern war. The
Israelis have destroyed roughly half of Hezbollah’s significant capabilities
(how that is determined is hard to grasp, but this is what Israelis who know are
saying). And the group’s leadership has been utterly eviscerated. But the fight
is far from over. This is evident by the sheer number of rocket, drone, and
missile attacks that have been launched by Hezbollah into Israel despite the
damage the group has sustained. Unfortunately, there is much more where that
came from.
The scenarios the Israelis have sketched out in years past when describing the
looming war now upon us have been fodder for nightmares. They include large
numbers of casualties and unfathomable damage to iconic buildings, not to
mention Israel’s infrastructure. Thankfully, none of that has occurred… yet. But
it’s still possible. And the odds of a fiercer battle will only go up after
Israel initiates military strikes inside Iran in response to last week’s barrage
of ballistic missiles into Israel. Indeed, the regime will almost certainly
instruct its Lebanese proxy to escalate by introducing some of its more advanced
capabilities. This will only provoke Israel to strike harder. Up the escalation
ladder we go. The Biden Administration continues to
try and head off a wider war. But this is a fool’s errand at this point. The war
that began on October 8, one year ago, has clearly entered a new phase. The
sheer intensity of it is now impossible to ignore. The Israelis are looking to
deliver a knockout blow. Is that even possible?
Qatari Emir’s Speech at UN Showed Its Loyalty to Hamas;
We Must Respond
Natalie Ecanow/The Algemeiner/October 09/2024
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has once again accused Israel of
committing war crimes in Gaza.
In his recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly, al-Thani refused to
condemn Hamas — the Iran-backed terror group that instigated the war on October
7, 2023. Instead, he condemned the Jewish State for what he described as “the
most barbaric and heinous and extensive” violations of “human values,
international charters and norms.”
Al-Thani’s speech demonstrates that Qatar remains loyal to Hamas’ narrative of
events in the Middle East, and should not be trusted as an impartial
interlocutor between Israel and the terrorist organization.
During this speech, al-Thani never mentioned that Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis
and kidnapped some 250 others on October 7.
He never mentioned that the United Nations itself released a report in March
delineating “clear and convincing” evidence that Hamas terrorists committed
widespread sexual crimes on October 7.
He never mentioned the extraordinary steps that Israel has taken to limit
civilian casualties in a combat zone, while Hamas uses schools, hospitals, and
even children’s bedrooms as human shields.
Brushing aside the ongoing threat of Iranian-backed terrorism, al-Thani
proceeded to applaud Palestinians in Gaza for the enclave’s “remarkable
development” over the past 17 years, neglecting to mention that Hamas invested
hundreds of millions of dollars in building terrorist infrastructure rather than
investing in the economy. He also decried the assassination of Hamas political
chief Ismail Haniyeh, whom the emir styled as a legitimate political official.
And al-Thani referred to all Palestinians killed in Gaza as “martyrs,” ignoring
the fact that thousands of fatalities were Hamas terrorists.
Next, al-Thani criticized Israel for “waging war on Lebanon,” while failing to
mention that Hezbollah initiated the war by launching rockets and drones daily
at northern Israel since October 8, 2023, displacing at least 60,000 civilians
from their homes, and killing dozens. Furthermore, Israel has made it clear that
Israel’s conflict is with Hezbollah, not the people of Lebanon. But that’s
apparently lost on al-Thani. He didn’t even name Hezbollah once in his UN
address.
Conveniently disregarding the facts, the emir insisted that Israel’s detonation
of thousands of communication devices carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon
was a “major crime” conducted with “total disregard” for the victims’ “identity
or location.” In reality, the attacks are considered the most strictly-limited
widespread attack on a terrorist organization in history.
With the region on the precipice of a broader war, al-Thani warned that the
violence must stop.
“This is the choice before Israel,” he said, adding that “the State of Qatar
will spare no effort in working with its international partners and the United
Nations to firmly consolidate the pillars of peace, security, sustainable
development, human rights, and the rule of law.”
Placing the onus on Israel to end the war disregards reality, in which Iran’s
Axis of Aggression deliberately initiated — unprovoked — a conflict that has
targeted not only Israelis, but Americans and other free people around the world
as well.
Al-Thani’s assertion that Qatar is committed to peace, security, and human
rights is just as deceptive. Qatar harbors Hamas leaders and financiers,
provides financial support to Gaza’s Hamas-run government, and amplifies Hamas
propaganda on Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the Qatari government continues to abuse the rights of its own
population.
In a 2023 report, the US State Department noted “significant human rights
issues” in Qatar, including “credible reports” of abuses like “enforced
disappearance,” “arbitrary arrest,” and “extensive gender-based violence.”
In the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, Doha came under the spotlight for
exploiting migrant workers employed to construct soccer stadiums, by forcing
them to work overtime under the blazing sun, often without compensation.
Still, the Biden administration continues to express gratitude to Qatar, and
confidence in Doha’s diplomatic services.
On September 25 — one day after al-Thani spoke at the UN — US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said Washington remains “grateful” to “our friends from Qatar”
for their “tireless efforts to get a ceasefire.” Notably, the administration
admitted Qatar to the US Visa Waiver Program, which will allow Qatari citizens
to travel to the US for up to 90 days without a visa. Blinken said Qatar’s
participation in the program “will deepen our strategic partnership and enhance
the flow of people and commerce between our two countries.”
The Biden administration must get sober about its partners in Doha. Al-Thani’s
UN speech demonstrates that Qatar remains wedded to Hamas’ ideology and should
not be trusted as an honest broker or reliable ally of the United States.
*Natalie Ecanow is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute
focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow Natalie on X
@NatalieEcanow.
Opinion - What will it take for Ukraine to ‘win’?
Thomas Graham, opinion contributor/The Hill./October 9, 2024
As the U.S. considers its next steps in the Russia-Ukraine war, it is worth
remembering that wars rarely end with moral clarity, with the aggressor state
justly punished for its crimes. This is the reality that the U.S., its allies
and Ukraine are likely to face in any effort to resolve the ongoing conflict.
For some time now it has been obvious that Kyiv is not going to hold a victory
parade in Moscow, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is not going to be hauled
off to the Hague to face a war crimes tribunal. Indeed, as most Western
governments now acknowledge privately if not publicly, Ukraine is not likely to
drive Russian forces from all the Ukrainian land they have seized since 2014.
Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded that the territorial
issue will not be decided on the battlefield but at the negotiating table, even
if he has not abandoned the goal of regaining all the lost land. The hard truth
is that, whenever the fighting stops, Russia will undoubtedly occupy some
Ukrainian territory, and likely a sizable amount.
Putin will spin such an outcome as a victory for Russia, despite the huge cost
in lives and equipment, and many in the West and Ukraine will agree. Putin will
have proven that aggression pays, even if he falls short of the goals he set
when he launched the war: Ukraine’s demilitarization and “denazification” (that
is, installment of a pro-Russian regime in Kyiv).
But few, if any, Ukrainian or Western leaders will argue that failing to achieve
those last goals spells the strategic defeat they hoped to inflict on Russia.
Quite the contrary: Russia will remain a major, and fearsome, power on the
global stage and a looming challenge to Europe.
Russia’s “winning,” however, does not mean that Ukraine and its Western allies
must lose.
That depends on how a territorially reduced Ukraine develops in the years ahead.
Does it revert to the poor, corrupt, oligarchic country of little interest to
the West that it was before the war began? Or does it emerge as a strong,
prosperous, democratic, independent country firmly anchored in the Euro-Atlantic
community? The former outcome would be an unmitigated defeat. The latter would
mark a major victory for Ukraine and the West, one that would honor the enormous
sacrifice Ukraine has made in the war.
While the destruction Russia has wreaked will certainly complicate the task, the
fact is that achieving the better outcome lies primarily in Ukraine’s and the
West’s hands. Three tasks have to be accomplished.
First, Ukraine must have sufficient military resources to defend the line of
contact and prevent any further Russian advance westward, should Moscow decide
to renew military operations against Ukraine in the years ahead. Ukraine must
also develop an aerial defense system capable of providing security for its
critical infrastructure and major cities. That is essential to creating the
conditions in which Kyiv and its partners can begin the socio-economic
reconstruction of Ukraine in earnest, first with public money but eventually
with private investment.
The results could be dramatic: At the end of the conflict, Ukraine will still
have a well-educated population, significant industrial potential, and vast
fertile agricultural lands. Ukraine could thoroughly modernize its
infrastructure as it rebuilds.
Second, the European Union and Ukraine need to press ahead on accession talks.
The path is likely to be long and arduous, but it is critical to Ukraine’s
future. The process will encourage the socio-economic reforms that Ukraine needs
to prosper in the future, bolstering the underpinnings of a free-market economy.
It will encourage further investment.
It will also spur the renewal of genuine politics after years of martial law and
promote the consolidation of a genuinely democratic polity. In particular, it
will guard against the resurrection of a corrupt oligarchy, which impoverished
Ukraine from the time it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Third, the West needs to provide Ukraine with credible security guarantees. NATO
membership, which Kyiv ardently seeks, is off the table, no matter what
pronouncements to the contrary NATO officials and Western leaders might make.
Building consensus among the now 32 allies needed to admit Ukraine is difficult
to imagine, as is producing the necessary two-thirds majority in the U.S.
Senate.
The security guarantees will have to be grounded in the bilateral security
agreements, which nearly two dozen countries, including the United States,
United Kingdom, France and Germany, have signed with Ukraine. These represent
commitments to provide military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine
for the next decade. They provide for assistance in modernizing and expanding
Ukraine’s defense-industrial complex, and they promise close security
cooperation. To have the desired effect, these agreements will have to be fully
resourced in the years ahead, which they are not at the moment.
Whether Ukraine and the West can accomplish these tasks is far from certain. It
will require political will and resolve for an extended period. But it is the
only way to ensure that Russia’s territorial aggrandizement does not spell
strategic defeat for Ukraine and the West.
*Thomas Graham, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, was
the senior director for Russia on the National Security Council staff under
George W. Bush. His latest book is titled “Getting Russia Right.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Reality-based approach to Middle East peace is essential
Rev. Johnnie Moore/Arab News/October 09, 2024
Jonathan Ross is the founder of the generative AI chipmaking behemoth Groq. It
earned him a prime slot on Time magazine’s recent list of the 100 most
influential people in artificial intelligence. Jonathan is brilliant and among
his best observations is the need to amend the criteria for measuring human
intelligence based on the intelligence quotient (IQ) and the emotional quotient
(EQ) criteria. For Ross, there is a third leg to the intelligence stool that
matters just as much as IQ and EQ. He relies on this third factor when he hires
key members of his growing company and he thinks about it as he lives every day
in the rarified air of those navigating the future of generative AI for the rest
of us. He calls this third factor “RQ,” or the reality quotient.
It is a term he has popularized, if not coined altogether. We do not just
need IQ and EQ to manage the world, we also need a healthy dose of RQ to get it
right. A lack of reality quotient makes the world more
dangerous, and nowhere is this more apparent than in peacemaking.
In short, the reality quotient is the ability to be able to “perceive
reality accurately.” It’s a type of intelligence that can see the world as it is
and not just as one wants it to be, as it feels or as it should be. It is a
check on the type of feelings-first thinking that dominates our digital age,
always pulling on our heartstrings, and it adds something to the prosaic,
inflexible facts alone-based analysis, which often makes problems much worse
before making them better.
These days, we have an abundance of EQ in our political discourse, some IQ, but
very little RQ.
This is especially the case when it comes to navigating the growing challenges
afflicting our conflict-ridden world. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index
report, “many of the conditions that precede major conflicts are higher than
they have been since the end of the Second World War.” There are currently 56
active conflicts in the world. A lack of RQ makes the
world more dangerous, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the fraught
world of peacemaking in the Middle East, especially when it comes to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike some in my own
conservative community, and like many of the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks in
the kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip and at the Nova Music Festival, I have
always been a determined advocate for peace between the Israelis and Arabs,
including the Palestinians. We must recognize the Oct. 7 terrorist attack for
what it was: fundamentally an attempt by terrorists to sabotage peace.
And, like most of those massacred on Oct. 7, I have never publicly opposed a
two-state solution and I have always believed peace was possible. I still do,
but I believe it is only possible if we embrace the reality quotient.
See, it’s an RQ problem that has made declarations in favor of a
two-state solution little more than talking points defined by a world that no
longer exists and which has not existed for a long time. Those words are also
not a magic wand that will immediately put out fires fanned by foreign non-state
actors and war.
A two-state solution — even for those who have advocated for it for years — is
further away than ever because so few people want to consider the “reality on
the ground quotient” that has led us to this point, especially since the total
withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
As a Christian friend of Israelis and Arabs, of Jews and Muslims, I find it
frustrating how these arguments take place in echo chambers — often EQ echo
chambers that avoid facts and reality. The leaders of
moderate nations in the Arab world know the reality and may be uniquely able to
prepare credible plans for the future Palestinian leadership based upon reality.
Those plans must address the proliferation of terrorist financing and arms
trafficking, address systematic corruption (often involving money stolen from
Arab and Western countries) and achieve the deradicalization of educational and
humanitarian organizations financed by the international community.
Simply collecting half-hearted pledges about a recommitment to a two-state
solution will not do it
The Trump administration tried with its Peace to Prosperity economic summit in
2019, promising many billions of dollars in investment in a Palestinian future.
But while that historic event was attended by many Arab countries and global
business magnates, it was sadly boycotted by Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian
Authority. Simply pacifying extremists by tolerating
anti-Israel propaganda or collecting half-hearted pledges about a recommitment
to a two-state solution will not do it. We have to
really tackle reality. Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the
foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, recently published a thoughtful editorial in
The Financial Times. While I do not see everything exactly the same way as my
friend, I agreed with most of what he wrote. He called
on us to “embark on an irreversible road to resolution … by embracing a solution
that allows both peoples to coexist in peace,” and then “we can dismantle the
cycle of violence that has entrapped both sides for far too long.” He wrote that
“the true obstacles to peace are not the Palestinians and Israelis who yearn for
stability and coexistence,” but “radicals and warmongers … who seek to spread
this conflict across our region and beyond.”I am sure Arab genius can help
tackle these challenges, beginning with the current war, but it simply has to be
alongside the historical and present neighbors who are also the children of
Abraham: the Israelis. Nations do not have to have
normal diplomatic relations to meet, even in person, to work in good faith to
try to negotiate a better future based on reality in pursuit of everyone’s
respective best interests. Keeping the problem solvers apart is an age-old
tactic of those who traffic in dehumanization and of those who sabotage peace.
**Rev. Johnnie Moore is president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and
president of JDA Worldwide.
Tweets for today October 09/2024
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Hezbollah likes to present itself as a Lebanese resistance force. In reality,
it’s an Iranian occupation force. It has repeatedly, and often violently,
imposed its will on the country’s elected leadership. It has been implicated in
the assassinationof the former prime minister Rafik Hariri. It has dragged the
country into ruinous wars with Israel. It has turned Lebanese civilians into
human shields by emplacing itself in dense Beirut neighborhoods. It has taken
advantage of the country’s weakness to establish lucrative sidelines in drug
trafficking, weapons smuggling and money laundering.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Told Sky News Arabic (Arabic) that the NYT and CNN story that Hezbollah chief
Nasrallah had accepted a ceasefire with #Israel in #Lebanon without a ceasefire
in Gaza does not add up. In his last speech on 9/19, Nasrallah refused untying
the two. On 9/30, Nasrallah deputy Qassem insisted that Hezbollah will not untie
Lebanon's war with Israel from Gaza. On 10/4, #Iran FM visited Beirut, said
Lebanon was fighting for Gaza. In all of Hezbollah military statements about its
attacks on Israel -- since 10/8/2023 and until this minute -- Hezbollah
continues to say that it "attacked Israel in support of" Hamas in Gaza.
Except for "sources" claiming that -- between Berri's (i.e. Nasrallah's)
refusal of separation of wars on 9/24 and Nasrallah's death on 9/27 -- Nasrallah
had changed his mind and accepted untying Lebanon from Gaza (and told the US,
which the US denied), there is no convincing evidence, timeline, or Iran or
Hezbollah statement that even hints that Nasrallah, Hezbollah, or Iran ever
accepted untying Lebanon war from Gaza war.Also told SkyNewsArabia that the
reason why Hezbollah deputy chief Qassem "hinted" that they accepted untying the
two fronts was because they feared that the Lebanese were on their way to
electing a Lebanese president even without a ceasefire. If this happens, that'll
be first president ever not approved by Hezbollah, and that undermines the
militia's legitimacy even if it remains the most powerful on the ground.
Remember that Nasrallah kept presidency vacant for 2 years because he couldn't
force election of Hezbollah's candidate Franjieh. While Leb Prez seems
irrelevant, Hezbollah pins its legitimacy on him. This is what made Hezbollah
pretend that it accepted untying from Gaza, and Qassem added "ceasefire [with
Israel] then we debate all the other details" (i.e. election of president).
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Qatar government, which styles itself as ethically, legally, and
logically superior to other governments of the world, unabashedly employs the
fallacious term "Israeli aggression on Gaza." That Gaza started the war and
aggression on Israel does not matter.
Facts are not a thing in Qatar. Only image and impression, thus leading Arab and
Islamist collective delusion.