English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 10/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
I give you a new commandment, that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 13/31-35:"When he had
gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been
glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in
himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a
little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to
you, "Where I am going, you cannot come."I give you a new commandment, that you
love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 09-10/2024
Text and Video: Rise Up to Congratulate Dr. Geagea for Dropping the Terrorist
Label from Hezbollah/Elias Bejjani/September 8, 2024
Effective UN Security Council measures needed to stop Israeli attacks on
civilians, PM Mikati says
Israel's Gantz says army focus needs to shift to Lebanon
25 dead, dozens hurt in violent Israeli strikes on sensitive sites in Syria
Egyptian ambassador: Our focus has returned to the presidential file
Gallant says shift of 'center of gravity' to Lebanon may happen quickly
Report: Israeli threats against Lebanon aimed at intimidation
EU's Borrell is set to visit Lebanon
Israeli aggression mounts: Lebanon presents alarming casualty figures to UN
Gulf Cooperation Council condemns Israeli violations, calls for full
implementation of UN Resolution 1701
Arrest warrant issued: Former BDL governor Riad Salameh arrested ahead of second
hearing
Israel-Hezbollah clashes: Latest developments
Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem warns Israel of increasing losses if war prolongs,
renews call for presidential elections
Jamaa Islamiya resumes rocket attacks on Israel
Lebanon launches new tourism campaigns as Autumn season approaches
It’s time to deal with Hezbollah, says Israeli opposition leader/Ryan
Jones/Israel Today/September 09/2024
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 09-10/2024
Israeli strikes on Syrian military sites kill 16, state media say
Charred cars, burning trees after deadly Israeli strikes on Syria
UN rights chief urges states to challenge Israel over occupation
The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the worst he's seen
Israel orders more evacuations in Gaza after militants fire rockets
Palestinians' UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and the West Bank in 6
months
UN convoy in Gaza released after being detained by Israel
US demands Israel to conclude probe into killing of American activist in West
Bank
Jordan's Islamists, buoyed by anger over Gaza, seek to shake up parliament at
polls
Fear of 'lost generation' as Gaza school year begins with all classes shut
Iran rejects Western accusations of arms exports to Russia
Transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia would be a 'dramatic
escalation': US State Department says
Kremlin, on report of missile supplies from Iran, says Tehran is its partner
Turkey heads to Arab League ministerial for first time in 13 years, source says
Jake Sullivan had a constructive call with the Saudi Crown Prince
US, UK strike Houthi targets for second day
RSF paramilitaries kill 31 in Sudanese city of Sennar, activists say
Saudi crown prince meets Russian foreign minister
GCC strengthens ties with Russia, India, Brazil at Riyadh summit
House Republicans release report blaming Biden for disastrous end to US war in
Afghanistan
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on September 09-10/2024
The Stalemate/Charles Chartouni/This Is Beirut/September 09/2024
The Global Left Shares a Playbook with Islam/Raymond Ibrahim/The
Stream/September 09/2024
Dire warnings of regional war ... but is anybody listening?/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/September 09, 2024
Jordan’s stability is necessary for Palestinians, Arabs alike/Ghassan
Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/September 09, 2024
Which path will Iran-China economic relations take?/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/September 09, 2024
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 09-10/2024
Text and Video: Rise Up to Congratulate Dr. Geagea for Dropping the
Terrorist Label from Hezbollah
Elias Bejjani/September 8, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134178/
We were not at all surprised when Dr. Samir Geagea refrained from labeling
Hezbollah as a terrorist organization during his interview with the Saudi
journalist Tariq Al-Hamid on September 5th of this month, conducted via the
“Al-Arabiya FM” website. In the interview, Al-Hamid asked Geagea about his
reason for silencing his supporters who were loudly chanting “Hezbollah is a
terrorist” during the speech he delivered at the martyrs’ mass celebration last
week in his Maarab Headquarter. This pro Hezbollah stance is not new or
unexpected from Dr. Geagea; due to the fact that it is consistent with his
long-standing position, which he frequently expresses, as do all the
representatives and leaders of his party, most notably MP Melhem Riachi. They
consider Hezbollah to be a Lebanese entity, represented in parliament, and
reflecting its Shiite base. They even recognize Hezbollah's role in the 2000
liberation of the south and regard its killed members as martyrs of Lebanon, on
par with the martyrs of the Lebanese Forces Party.
Furthermore, Geagea's MPs and officials often, and foolishly, boast about Israel
being an enemy, whether prompted or not. We question whether such non-Lebanese
positions are driven by Dhimmitude, cleverness, complicity, esotericism, or
genuine convictions?. The answer is simple: they are bundles of hypocrisy,
self-deception, and deceit of others, because Hezbollah openly and proudly
declares its Persian identity, its Iranian project, and its absolute allegiance
in doctrine, thought, belief, funding, and armament to the mullahs of Iran. The
sad and ironic aspect of these submissive approaches is that they are
gratuitous; Hezbollah does not pay any attention to them, and instead, accuses,
demonizes, and despises their proponents and all its opponents. Mr. Nasrallah
has repeatedly and publicly stated that those who do not support his so-called
“resistance” and wars are not human beings.
How can we expect the world to help us liberate our country from the occupation
of the terrorist and Iranian Hezbollah when we are afraid to call it what it
openly declares itself to be?
Here, we must draw Dr. Geagea’s attention, as well as others who are immersed in
slanderous, esoteric, and surrenders positions, to the fact that many Arab and
Western countries classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and have placed
it on their terrorism lists. Do we expect these countries to help us while we
continue to flatter Hezbollah and drop the terrorist label from it?
We ask, is he not a “terrorist” who assassinated Pascal Sleiman and Elias
al-Hasrouni, among hundreds of others before and after them, invaded Ain
al-Rummaneh, Beirut, and the Mountain, declared war on Israel, suspended the
constitution, stole property, dismantled the state, and prostituted its
institutions? Hezbollah is a professional in manufacturing and exporting
all things forbidden and prohibited, carries out terrorist operations in many
countries, fights in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, blew up the port of Beirut, stole
the money of the Lebanese—and the list goes on and on.
The writer is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Contact: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Website:
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com
Effective UN Security Council measures needed to stop
Israeli attacks on civilians, PM Mikati says
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/September 09, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati convened with
ambassadors from Western nations and representatives of international
organizations on Monday to discuss recent events in southern Lebanon, including
Israeli aggression against its Civil Defense workers. Mikati emphasized the
necessity for the UN Security Council to adopt more effective and decisive
measures in addressing violations and attacks by Israel on Lebanese civilians.
He also asserted that “the response from the Security Council must be prompt and
robust, aimed at safeguarding innocent civilians and the Civil Defense personnel
who are striving diligently to alleviate the suffering of the civilian
population.”Mikati urged “the Security Council to assume its responsibility in
upholding international law and security by holding accountable those
responsible for targeting Lebanese civilians.”He reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment
to peace and stability and the protection of its people, and added that
international cooperation and support were crucial for achieving lasting
stability in the region. The prime minister’s comments came as Al-Fajr Forces —
the military wing of the Al-Jama’ah Al-Islamiyah movement — joined the military
escalation involving the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
The group’s move heightened tensions on Monday along the southern front
in Lebanon.
Explosions were reported on the Israeli side after Hezbollah launched rockets
toward Israeli military positions, while the Israeli army intensified its
airstrikes on southern towns. The recent escalation of
confrontations has signaled a return to the precarious situation which had
existed prior to Aug. 25. An Israeli attack on the town of Froun in Lebanon
resulted in the deaths of three Civil Defense paramedics, Qassem Bazi, Mohammed
Hashim, and Abbas Hamoud, while two others sustained serious injuries.
Israeli army radio announced that Hezbollah had targeted northern Israel
with three waves of rocket fire, resulting in damage to a building in Kiryat
Shmona, and added that the group had “launched about 100 rockets towards
northern Israel in the past 24 hours.”Hezbollah announced on Monday that it had
targeted “the Ma’ayan Baruch site with missile fire, achieving a direct
hit.”Sirens were activated in the Manara settlement in Upper Galilee, as well as
in Kiryat Shmona and its surrounding areas. The Israeli military reported “the
detection of two drones that infiltrated from Lebanon, with one of them landing
in Nahariya.”The Israel Fire and Rescue Authority said that “a multi-story
building in Nahariya, located approximately 14 km from the Lebanese border,
sustained a direct hit.” Rescue teams assessed the
damage and conducted searches. Shahar Toledano, whose apartment was hit by the
drone, reportedly told Israeli media: “I was sitting with my insurance agent.
Suddenly, we heard one siren go off and then one after the other. We rushed into
the bunker, and heard a very loud boom. “The windows were blown away, and
shrapnel went everywhere. We are used to the sound of explosions, but not such
explosions.”A siren went off in Arab Al-Aramsha, located near the border with
Lebanon, while Hezbollah confirmed that it had “targeted the headquarters of the
Golani Brigade and Egoz Unit 621 in the Shagra barracks north of Acre with
suicide drones.” In addition, Al-Fajr Forces later
announced that it had “targeted and directly hit Beit Hillel sites near Kiryat
Shmona with rockets.”Hezbollah went on to announce that it had “intercepted an
Israeli warplane, bombed the new Western Brigade Command headquarters in the
south of the Yaara barracks, and targeted Israel’s Al-Marj military site with
artillery shells.”In the later hours of Monday, Hezbollah claimed a series of
new operations had targeted “the surveillance equipment at Al-Ramtha site in the
occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba Hills, Habushit and Jal Al-Alam.”
Israel's Gantz says army focus needs to shift to Lebanon
Agence France Presse/September 09, 2024
Former war cabinet member Benny Gantz has said in Washington that Israel should
shift its focus toward Hezbollah and the Lebanese border, warning that "we are
late on this."
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading near-daily cross-border fire,
with the Lebanese militant group saying it is acting in support of its
Palestinian ally Hamas in the ongoing war in Gaza. "We have enough forces to
deal with Gaza and we should concentrate on what is going on in the north,"
Gantz said, speaking in Washington at a Middle East forum where he also said
Iran and its proxies were "the real issue.""The time of the north has come and
actually I think we are late on this," the former army chief and centrist
politician added. Gantz said Israel had made a mistake in evacuating much of
Israel's north as hostilities with Hezbollah flared following the October 7
Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war. "In Gaza, we have crossed a decisive
point of the campaign," he said. "We can conduct anything we want in Gaza.""We
should seek to have a deal to get out our hostages but if we cannot in the
coming time, a few days or few weeks, or whatever it is, we should go up
north.""We are capable of... hitting the state of Lebanon if needed," he said.
"The story of Hamas is old news," he added, saying instead that "the story of
Iran and its proxies all around the area and what they are trying to do is the
real issue."Gantz left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in June
over its lack of a post-war plan for Gaza. The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel
allegedly resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, including
some hostages killed in captivity, official Israeli figures show. Militants
seized 251 hostages during the attack, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza,
including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive
in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,972 people, according to the health
ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The U.N. human rights office says most of
the dead are women and children.
25 dead, dozens hurt in violent Israeli strikes on
sensitive sites in Syria
Agence France Presse/September 09, 2024
Syrian state media said Monday that overnight Israeli strikes killed 16 people
in central Hama province, while a war monitor reported a higher death toll in
the "intense" raids on military sites. The Israeli military, which has carried
out hundreds of strikes in Syria since its civil war started in 2011, declined
to comment on the latest reported attack. Syrian
official news agency SANA, citing a medical source said the number of dead "in
the Israeli aggression on a number of sites on the outskirts of Masyaf" was "16
martyrs and 36 wounded, including six critically," updating an earlier toll of
14.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported "intense Israeli
strikes" overnight, providing an updated toll of 25 dead including "five
civilians, four soldiers and intelligence personnel and 13 Syrians working with
pro-Iran groups." Three more bodies were unidentified, the Observatory added.
Israeli strikes on Syria since 2011 have mainly targeted army positions and
Iran-backed fighters including from Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but
have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence
in the country.
The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside
Syria, had earlier said the strikes targeted sites "where pro-Iran groups and
weapons development experts are stationed." The Observatory said "Israeli
strikes... targeted the scientific research area in Masyaf" in Hama province and
other sites, destroying "buildings and military centers." Syria's SANA news
agency, citing a military source, reported that at "around 11:20 pm (2020 GMT)
on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack" from the direction of
northwest Lebanon "targeting a number of military sites in the central
region."Air defenses "shot down some" of the missiles, SANA reported.
Missiles and drones
It was "one of the most violent Israeli attacks" in Syria in years, Observatory
chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. He said Iranian experts "developing arms
including precision missiles and drones" worked in the scientific research
center that was hit. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a
media briefing: "We strongly condemn this criminal attack by the Zionist regime
on Syrian soil."Syria's foreign ministry condemned the raids, accusing Israel of
trying to "provoke a further escalation in the region."
Israeli raids on Syria surged after Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel
sparked war in Gaza, then eased somewhat after an April 1 strike blamed on
Israel hit the Iranian consular building in Damascus. Syria has sought to stay
out of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has raised fears of a broader regional
war. In late August, several pro-Iranian fighters were killed in Syria's central
Homs region in strikes attributed to Israel, the Observatory had said. Days
later, the Israeli military said it killed an unspecified number of fighters
belonging to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad in a strike in Syria near the Lebanese
border. The Syrian government's brutal suppression of a 2011 uprising triggered
the conflict that has killed more than half a million people and drawn in
foreign armies and jihadists. Iran-backed groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah
have bolstered President Bashar al-Assad's forces during Syria's civil war.
Israeli raids on Syria have also sought to cut off Hezbollah supply routes to
Lebanon.
Egyptian ambassador: Our focus has returned to the
presidential file
Naharnet/September 09, 2024
Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Alaa Moussa has said that the attention of the
five-nation group for Lebanon is now focused on resolving the country’s lengthy
presidential crisis. “We all went to deal with an urgent situation, which was
the latest escalation that we witnessed” between Israel and Hezbollah following
the deadly Majdal Shams incident and the assassination of Hezbollah military
chief Fouad Shukur, Moussa told al-Jadeed TV. “Today we are focusing again on
the presidential file and on giving it impetus and the meeting of the Quintet’s
ambassadors will be held when all ambassadors return to Beirut,” the ambassador
added. “The French drive and the meeting in Riyadh (between French envoy
Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Royal Court adviser Nizar al-Aloula) are an
important step that reflects a desire to move forward,” Moussa went on to say.
He added: “The issue is not in the quantity of initiatives, but rather in
seeking common denominators in the proposed ideas in order to achieve a progress
in the presidential file.”
Gallant says shift of 'center of gravity' to Lebanon may happen quickly
Agence France Presse/September 09, 2024
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant commented the situation on the Lebanese
border Sunday during a tour of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, telling
troops "we are preparing for anything that may happen in the north." "The shift
of the center of gravity can happen quickly and can also involve you in a short
period of time," Gallant said, according to a statement issued by his office.
Report: Israeli threats against Lebanon aimed at
intimidation
Naharnet/September 09, 2024
The latest flurry of Israeli threats regarding an imminent military operation in
Lebanon are only aimed at “intimidation,” diplomatic sources said.
“They are also aimed at blocking the latest Iranian-American
rapprochement, whose first signs have appeared in the agreement reached in Iraq,
which would not have happened without an Iranian green light,” the sources told
al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Monday. Iraq and the United States
have agreed on a phased pullout of the U.S.-led anti-jihadist coalition but have
yet to sign a final agreement, the Iraqi defense minister said Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that he had instructed
the army and security forces to prepare to change the situation on Lebanon’s
border, where Israel has been engaged in near-daily clashes with Hezbollah since
October 8 last year.
The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents
on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly vowed to act to return its
citizens through war or diplomatic action. The cross-border violence has killed
some 614 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 138 civilians,
according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan
Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26
civilians. Israel and Hezbollah had on August 25 exchanged heavy fire that
briefly raised fears of an all-out war. On that day, Israel said around 100
warplanes launched airstrikes targeting hundreds of rocket launchers across
southern Lebanon to thwart an imminent Hezbollah attack. Hezbollah for its part
said it launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli military and security
bases, including at a key intelligence base in Tel Aviv’s suburbs. Hezbollah
called the attack a response to the killing of one of its top commanders, Fouad
Shukur, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs in July.
EU's Borrell is set to visit Lebanon
LBCI/September 09, 2024
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and
Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, will visit Lebanon on
Wednesday and Thursday. He will meet Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Speaker of the
Parliament Nabih Berri, and Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.
Borrell will also have a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib, and a press conference will be foreseen. The EU's
support for Lebanon's resilience and stability and its regional role will be
reviewed with a range of domestic and international stakeholders, including the
UN. The visit will be an opportunity to discuss all aspects of the situation in
and around Gaza and broader political issues with regional leaders, notably the
impact of the conflict on neighboring countries and their respective
contributions to peace and stability efforts. On Monday, Borrell visited Cairo
for official meetings with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to discuss the
political and humanitarian situation in Gaza and efforts toward a ceasefire. The
discussions also touched on bilateral relations between Egypt and the EU.
Borrell is set to visit the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with
Gaza, where he will meet with representatives of international relief agencies
working in the area. Additionally, he will inaugurate an EU-funded project aimed
at assisting children from Gaza and their caregivers in Egypt.
Israeli aggression mounts: Lebanon presents alarming casualty figures to UN
LBCI/September 09, 2024
Lebanon has expressed its readiness for indirect negotiations with Israel to
stop the ongoing conflict, with a stipulation that any ceasefire agreement must
be new and not a mere amendment of UN Resolution 1701. "If there is a good
decision that we accept as a state, we will try to convince Hezbollah." Lebanese
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib made these remarks after a meeting with
ambassadors of UN Security Council ambassadors. However, these stances have only
one goal, which is halting Israeli aggression in Lebanon. The meeting followed
an increase in Israeli violations against Lebanese civilians, with Prime
Minister Najib Mikati stressing the need for a swift and robust response from
the UN Security Council to protect innocent civilians and civil defense
personnel, who are tirelessly working to alleviate the suffering. During the
meeting, the Lebanese government presented the latest figures on Israeli
violations, which have escalated since the start of the war. As of September 5,
Lebanon has endured 5,882 airstrikes, with the town of Aita al-Shaab suffering
the brunt of the attacks. The death toll has reached 641, including 174
civilians, among them 25 healthcare workers and three journalists. Economically,
the war has caused severe disruptions across more than 2,000 square kilometers,
equivalent to 18% of Lebanon's total land area. In addition, over 18 million
square meters of land have been scorched, including 40,000 olive trees, while
340,000 livestock have perished. These alarming figures prompted the Lebanese
government to call on the UN ambassadors to intervene and halt the ongoing
Israeli assaults.
Gulf Cooperation Council condemns Israeli violations, calls
for full implementation of UN Resolution 1701
LBCI/September 09, 2024
The Ministerial Council reaffirmed the Gulf Cooperation Council's positions in
support of the Lebanese people and its continuous backing for Lebanon's
sovereignty, security, and stability, as well as for the Lebanese Army, which
protects its borders and combats threats from extremist groups. The council also
emphasized the importance of implementing comprehensive political and economic
reforms to ensure that Lebanon overcomes its political and economic crisis and
does not become a hub for terrorists, drug trafficking, or other criminal
activities that threaten regional security and stability.
Furthermore, the Ministerial Council condemned the repeated Israeli violations
on Lebanon, stressing the necessity of fully implementing UN Security Council
Resolution 1701, which calls for Israel to respect Lebanese borders and for the
Lebanese government to exercise control over all Lebanese territories under
relevant Security Council resolutions and the Taif Agreement, to ensure the
country's full sovereignty with no arms except those authorized by the Lebanese
government and no authority other than its own. The council also emphasized the
need to avoid military escalation along the Lebanese-Israeli border, protect
civilians, exercise restraint, and avoid engaging in regional conflicts to
prevent the expansion of regional disputes.
Additionally, the Ministerial Council supported the efforts of the Quintet
Committee regarding Lebanon, which highlighted the urgency of holding
presidential elections and implementing necessary economic reforms for the
Lebanese government to meet its responsibilities to its citizens. The council
commended the efforts of Lebanon's partners in restoring and strengthening
cooperation between Lebanon and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and their
support for the role of the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces in
maintaining its security.
Arrest warrant issued: Former BDL governor Riad Salameh arrested ahead of second
hearing
LBCI/September 09, 2024
Amid heightened security and public outcry, former Banque du Liban (BDL)
governor Riad Salameh arrived for questioning at the Beirut Justice Palace. The
interrogation, led by Investigating Judge Bilal Halawi, lasted two and a half
hours. Following the session, Halawi issued an arrest warrant against Salameh in
connection with the embezzlement of $40 million through a consultancy account at
BDL through the company Optimum Invest. A second
hearing is scheduled for Thursday to investigate the case further, focusing on
the operations of the consultancy account and the working mechanism with Optimum
Invest.
Monday's session included a representative from BDL, which had filed a lawsuit
in the case. However, Helena Iskandar, head of the Justice Ministry's Cases
Authority, was not permitted to attend. Salameh's defense lawyer objected to her
presence. Judge Halawi denied her participation, citing the absence of
permission from the Finance Minister, as the case involves suspected
embezzlement of public funds. Salameh's lawyer expressed confidence in the
ongoing legal process, denying that his client had embezzled public money and
emphasizing that the funds in the consultancy account were not public assets. He
also clarified that the charges against Salameh were unrelated to the fate of
bank deposits. After the hearing, Salameh was escorted out of the Justice Palace
and returned to the Internal Security Forces (ISF) custody, where he has been
detained since last week.
Israel-Hezbollah clashes: Latest developments
Naharnet/September 09, 2024
Hezbollah said Monday that it targeted Israel’s Ma'ayan Baruch military post
near Lebanon’s border with the “appropriate weapons,” managing to achieve a
“direct hit.”The Israeli army meanwhile announced that four drones infiltrated
Israel’s Western Galilee area of which three were intercepted and a fourth hit a
tall building in Nahariyya. Israel’s Channel 12 said security officials estimate
that the fourth drone had been targeted at military bases south of Nahariyya.
Hezbollah later claimed the attack, saying that it launched an array of suicide
drones at the Shraga barracks north of Akka in response to an airstrike on
Khirbet Selm. Hezbollah also said that it fired a volley of Katyusha rockets at
the Ya’ara barracks in northern Israel. Moreover, the group said it fired a
surface-to-air missile at an Israeli warplane in Lebanon's airspace, forcing it
to withdraw. Channel 12 later reported that 15 rockets
were fired from Lebanon at Israel’s Western Galilee. Israeli mortar and
artillery shelling meanwhile targeted the southern towns of Kfarkela, Zibqin and
Yater. Israeli warplanes had overnight raided the Bint Jbeil town of Hanine,
wounding four people. A drone also bombarded the town at dawn.
Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel shortly after the
outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas' surprise attack into
Israel on Oct. 7. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies, each backed by Iran. The
cross-border violence has killed some 614 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but
also including 138 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side,
including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of
at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians. The fighting
has also displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents on both
sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly vowed to act to return its
citizens through war or diplomatic action.
Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem warns Israel of increasing losses if war prolongs,
renews call for presidential elections
LBCI/September 09, 2024
Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, confirmed that
Israel and Palestinians face two equations each. He considered: "Either Israel
halts the war now, which would mitigate its losses, or it remains in a state of
attrition, which would expand its problems, losses, and internal complexities,
as it cannot win the war no matter how long it lasts, and all indicators suggest
this." He pointed out during a memorial ceremony that "Palestinians also face
two equations: either the war stops, which they are demanding but the other side
is not responding, in which case they will stop at a position for a better
future, or the war continues, and they will remain steadfast.""Anyone who bets
that the Palestinians will tire or surrender is mistaken; anyone who bets that
time will lead to Palestinian losses and achieve Israeli goals is mistaken.
Therefore, prolonging the war means more Palestinian attrition and sacrifices
and Israeli losses, but in the end, it will be a Palestinian victory and an
Israeli loss, with consequences starting after the war ends," he affirmed.
Sheikh Naim Qassem considered Lebanon to be a "support front," stating: "We
believe that all the goals we set for the support front have been and are being
achieved."
Meanwhile, Qassem addressed the Israeli side by saying: "War with Hezbollah does
not return the displaced; it increases their numbers. If we face a war, we will
respond with an even harsher one, and we will not abandon the field." He further
noted: "The Israeli side knows that our readiness is so high that we do not fear
threats and are prepared for confrontation. Anyone who has been able to impose a
deterrent pace on Israel for 11 months, forcing it to withdraw from villages and
settlements with all the losses it has incurred [...] is capable of continuing
with this pace and even more. Israel knows that we are field experts." He
reaffirmed that Hezbollah decided to respond to the attack that targeted the
southern suburbs of Beirut and that killed Fouad Shokor "exactly as we wanted,
with 320 rockets in addition to drones hitting their targets."Commenting on the
outcome of the response, Sheikh Naim Qassem said: "We executed the operation
[...] as we planned, achieving the desired goals. Israel should know that they
cannot decide to return the northern residents without ending the war in Gaza."
Regarding Lebanon's presidential elections, Qassem stated that Speaker of the
Parliament Nabih Berri has renewed his proposal to exit the current presidential
vacuum, urging the parties to agree to his proposal. "If they believe that the
presidency is dependent on external developments, they are mistaken. The
evidence is that we faced the same crisis six months before these developments.
We are prepared to proceed with the presidential election process according to
the path outlined by Speaker Berri, and we welcome their cooperation in this
effort."
Jamaa Islamiya resumes rocket attacks on Israel
Naharnet/September 09, 2024
Lebanon’s Jamaa Islamiya said Monday that its military wing fired a volley of
rockets at Israel’s Beit Hillel military post in the Kiryat Shmona settlement,
resuming military action from Lebanon against Israel after several months of
apparent suspension. The group said its attack came
after Israel escalated “its aggression against our people and villages in the
South and in support of our people in Gaza and Palestine as part of the national
and humanitarian duties.”Several groups allied to Hamas have exchanged
near-daily fire with Israeli forces along Lebanon's southern border since war
erupted in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's October 7 attacks on southern
Israel. The groups say they are acting in solidarity
with Hamas and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Jamaa
Islamiya has carried out "joint operations with Hamas" in Lebanon, according to
an official from the small Sunni Muslim movement. "All forces that operate in
south Lebanon coordinate their actions," Ali Abu Yassin, head of Jamaa
Islamiya's political bureau, told AFP in March. The group announced the death of
seven of its medics in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon that month and
Israel has carried out drone assassinations of several of its commanders.
Mohanad Hage Ali, from the Carnegie Middle East Center, said Jamaa Islamiya was
"operating as an extension of Hamas in Lebanon," describing the two movements'
relationship as "organic."Hage Ali says Jamaa Islamiya has "around 500 armed
men" but has played only a "marginal political role" in Lebanon with just one
lawmaker in the national parliament. Jamaa Islamiya
and Hamas both come from the same ideological school as the Muslim Brotherhood,
a Sunni Islamist group with origins in Egypt. Jamaa
Islamiya established its armed wing, the Fajr Forces, in 1982 to fight the
Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Relations with Hezbollah have seen ups and downs
but improved recently, analyst Hage Ali said, particularly since Jamaa Islamiya
elected a new leadership closer to Hamas in 2022. But Hage Ali noted Jamaa
Islamiya "is not subservient" to Hezbollah. The two groups differ in particular
over the Syrian conflict, with Hezbollah supporting Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad since his 2011 repression of anti-government protests sparked war,
unlike Hamas and Jamaa Islamiya. Jamaa Islamiya political official Abu Yassin
acknowledged his group had "differences of opinion with Hezbollah due to its
participation in the Syrian war on the side of the regime." The Jamaa Islamiya
official requesting anonymity said that though the groups differ over Syria,
"today, we are in the same trench as Hezbollah on the Palestinian issue."
Lebanon launches new tourism campaigns as Autumn season approaches
LBCI/September 09, 2024
As summer ends, Lebanon is gearing up for its autumn tourism season, which
serves as a prelude to the winter holidays, including Christmas and New Year's—a
time of particular significance in the country. Following the Ministry of
Tourism's "Meshwar Rayhin Meshwar" national campaign for summer 2024, which,
according to the ministry, did not receive the attention it deserved due to the
departure of many expatriates and tourists because of the war in the south and
security threats, it has decided to launch two new tourism campaigns for the
upcoming seasons. The Tourism Minister discussed the campaigns alongside Miss
Lebanon 2024, Nada Koussa, in their first official meeting since being crowned
on July 27. Lebanese expatriates are urged to set
aside their concerns about Lebanon, embrace their time in their homeland, and
contribute to strengthening the economy and tourism in the coming seasons. The
Miss Lebanon competition plays a vital role in promoting tourism in Lebanon,
showcasing the beauty of Lebanese women and the country's landscapes, culture,
and creative talents. As a newly crowned Miss Lebanon, Nada Koussa has committed
to representing Lebanon positively on the global stage. She is preparing to
compete in the Miss Universe pageant on November 16 in Mexico. Her participation
aims to uphold Lebanon's reputation for beauty and excellence despite ongoing
challenges.
It’s time to deal with Hezbollah, says Israeli
opposition leader
Ryan Jones/Israel Today/September 09/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134223/
Another top former general says even if a ceasefire is reached, war has become
unavoidable if Israelis are to live in peace and security.
Israel’s true opposition leader Benny Gantz (he’s expected to come in
first or second in the next election) says the time has come to deal decisively
with the Hezbollah threat emanating from Lebanon. In
the absence of a ceasefire/hostage agreement in Gaza, and Gantz emphasized that
the fault lies entirely with Hamas, he said Israel “must go to war in the
north.”Hezbollah claims it is only attacking Israel’s northern border regions in
response to the continued Israeli “aggression” against Gaza, and that once the
Gaza war end so will the rocket fire that has driven some 80,000 Israelis from
their homes in the Upper Galilee.
But the war in Gaza isn’t going to end anytime soon. Most Israelis know this,
and know that it can’t end until Hamas is no longer capable of doing what it did
on October 7 of last year. At the same time, it is unacceptable that Israel
suffer such a devastating ongoing assault from a neighboring state as it tries
to deal with the Gaza terrorist threat. Gantz told the
Middle East-America Dialogue Summit (MEAD) in Washington, DC that he’s in favor
of a “painful” compromise to bring the hostages home. But he also seemed to
acknowledge what’s becoming abundantly clear–that Hamas isn’t going to make a
deal unless its under terms Israel simply can’t accept.
That being the case, he stressed that “time for the north has come. …we must go
to war in the north and ensure that we can return the residents to their homes.”
The way to do that is by going on the offensive.
“We can reach this goal, even if it requires damage to Lebanon itself,”
said Gantz. “We must be proactive against any threat to our borders,
particularly the threat of infiltration. We must not continue with the same
security policies that existed before October 7.”
War is unavoidable
Gantz is a politician with hopes of becoming prime minister, so he addresses the
matter in a diplomatic manner. Maj. Gen. (res.)
Gershon Hacohen is not a politician, and so had the luxury of being more direct
in a recent interview with Arutz 7.
Gen. Hacohen cautioned that even if a Gaza deal is reached that explicitly
includes a ceasefire in the north, and even the redeployment of Hezbollah north
of the Litani River in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, that
still won’t negate the need for war.
On October 7, 2023, Israelis finally had their eyes opened to what the jihadists
truly want, and it’s not peace. Groups like Hezbollah and Hamas exist for the
sole purpose of destroying infidels and imposing Islamic rule. And they won’t
ever stop until obstacles like Israel are removed. “The residents of the north
won’t return home,” said Hacohen. “They’ll say that even if Hezbollah is
redeployed, its capabilities are not diminished, and it can return to the border
within 20 minutes whenever it wants.”War is unavoidable, the former general
insisted. And the longer Israel waits, the more difficult and costly it will be.
The head of the snake
Both Gantz and Hacohen reiterated that the conflict in Gaza and in the north are
not an isolated conflicts, but part of a much larger Iranian-directed scheme to
weaken and ultimately destroy Israel, and to achieve regional hegemony. “If we
want to achieve a real victory, it’s not just about resolving the issue with
Hamas and bringing back the hostages, but about forming a regional alliance
against the Iranian axis that has built terror armies around us,” Gantz
explained. “Iran is involved in almost every conflict, from supplying UAVs to
Russia for the war in Ukraine to supporting terrorism in Sudan and Algeria. We
can only imagine what will happen if they have a nuclear umbrella.”Iran, Gantz
emphasized, “is a global and regional challenge, and is certainly not just a
problem for Israel.”Hacohen intimated that it is time for Israelis to wake up
and understand that this is a generational war. The ayatollahs have set 2040 as
the date for Israel’s demise, and “they are not about to abandon that quest.”
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/its-time-to-deal-with-hezbollah-says-israeli-opposition-leader/?mc_cid=9345f44182&mc_eid=3ece879aa9
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 09-10/2024
Israeli strikes on Syrian military sites
kill 16, state media say
David Gritten - BBC News/September 9, 2024
At least 16 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on a number of
military sites in central Syria, the Syrian state news agency reports. Sana
cited a health official as saying that another 36 people were wounded in the
attacks in the vicinity of Masyaf, in Hama province, on Sunday night. A UK-based
monitoring group reported that 25 people were killed and that the five targets
included a scientific research centre allegedly linked to chemical weapons
production. The Israeli military said it would not comment on foreign media
reports of the strikes, which Syria's foreign ministry condemned as "blatant
aggression" and Iran's foreign ministry called a "criminal attack". However,
Israel has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent
years on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran - Israel's main foe -
and allied armed groups. The Israeli strikes have
reportedly been stepped up since the start of the war in Gaza in October last
year, in response to cross-border attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah and
other groups in Lebanon and Syria. Sana's report cited
a Syrian military source as saying that Israeli aircraft flying over
north-western Lebanon launched missiles at “a number of military sites in the
central region” at around 23:20 (20:20 GMT) on Sunday. "Our air defence shot
down some missiles,” the military source added. The news agency said the strikes
also caused damage to the Masyaf-Wadi al-Oyoun highway and that a fire broke out
in the forested Hair Abbas area. Hama province's health director was cited by
Sana as saying that 16 people were killed and that six of the 36 injured were in
a critical condition. State-run Al-Ikhbariya al-Suriyah TV also broadcast
footage purportedly showing a damaged building in the port city of Tartous, west
of Masyaf. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
(SOHR) - a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground -
reported that Israeli strikes destroyed buildings and military facilities in
"the scientific research area in Masyaf", the Masyaf-Wadi al-Oyoun highway and
Hair Abbas. It said at least 25 people were killed, including five civilians,
four members of Syrian government forces and 13 Syrians working with pro-Iran
groups. Another three bodies were unidentified, it added.
The SOHR said Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers had been stationed in
the scientific research area for six years as part of a programme to develop
short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones. Reuters news agency also
cited two regional intelligence sources as saying that a major military research
centre for chemical arms production was hit several times. Western intelligence
agencies have previously alleged that a branch of the Scientific Studies and
Research Centre (SSRC) near Masyaf has been used to produce chemical weapons in
violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The
Syrian government has denied the claim. However, the facility was reportedly
targeted in a suspected Israeli strike in September 2017, a day after a deadly
chemical attack on a rebel-held town in northern Syria that the UN and
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded was carried out
by the Syrian air force. According to the SOHR,
Israeli air and artillery strikes have targeted Syrian territory on 64 occasions
since the start of the year, resulting in the damage or destruction of about 140
targets, including weapons depots, vehicles and Iran-backed militia
headquarters. The strikes have killed at least 205
fighters - including 46 members of Syrian government forces, 40 members of
Hezbollah and 24 Iranian Revolutionary Guards - as well as 25 civilians, the
monitoring group says. In April, Iran accused Israel of carrying out an air
strike on a consulate building in Damascus which killed two senior Revolutionary
Guards commanders. Iran retaliated by carrying out its first direct military
attack against Israel. It launched 300 missiles and drones, but almost all of
them were shot down by Israeli and US-led forces.
Charred cars, burning trees after deadly Israeli strikes
on Syria
AFP/September 10, 2024
MASYAF, Syria: Near the usually quiet Syrian town of Masyaf smoke was still
billowing from trees while burnt-out cars stood nearby, a day after authorities
reported deadly Israeli strikes on military sites.
Syrian health minister Hassan Al-Ghabash told AFP the overnight “Israeli
aggression” killed 18 people and wounded 37 others, during a media tour
organized by the authorities. At the entrance to the
mountainous town, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of the capital
Damascus, a partially burned sign read “Masyaf.”Fire-damaged cars were visible
on both sides of the road, with nearby trees still burning and electric cables
damaged and tangled, reported an AFP correspondent at the scene.
The raids also blew five large craters in the main road to Masyaf, the
correspondent said. Ambulances were still moving
around the area, where one car had been burnt down to its metal frame and a
yellow bulldozer was flipped upside down. Mohammed
Akkari, 47, who lives near the site of the strikes with his wife and two
children, said they were gripped by fear when their house shook near midnight.
“We had never heard such a sound, a terrifying explosion, my children
were terrified,” he told AFP. At the Masyaf hospital, firefighter Mohammed
Shmeil, 36, was being treated for his injured leg and foot. “What we saw during
that incident was something else,” he said, wincing in pain. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said 26 people were killed in what its
chief Rami Abdel Rahman said was “one of the most violent Israeli attacks” in
years. The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources
inside Syria, said the strikes targeted sites “where pro-Iran groups and weapons
development experts are stationed.” The “Israeli
strikes... targeted the area of the scientific research center in Masyaf” in
Hama province and other sites, destroying “buildings and military centers,” the
group said. He said Iranian experts “developing arms
including precision missiles and drones” worked in the government scientific
research center that was hit. Israeli strikes on Syria since 2011 have mainly
targeted army positions and Iran-backed fighters including from Lebanon’s
Hezbollah group. Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in
Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran, a Damascus
ally, to expand its presence in the country. Israeli raids on Syria surged after
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel sparked war in Gaza, then eased somewhat
after an April 1 strike blamed on Israel hit the Iranian consular building in
Damascus. In late August, several pro-Iranian fighters were killed in Syria’s
central Homs region in strikes attributed to Israel, the Observatory had said.
Days later, the Israeli military said it killed an unspecified number of
fighters belonging to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad in a strike in Syria near the
Lebanese border.
UN rights chief urges states to challenge Israel over
occupation
Emma Farge/Mon, September 9, 2024
GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights chief said on Monday that ending the
nearly year-long war in Gaza is a priority and he asked countries to act on what
he called Israel's "blatant disregard" for international law in the occupied
Palestinian territories. Nearly 41,000 Palestinians
have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials, since Israel
unleashed a military campaign in response to cross-border attacks by Hamas
militants on Oct. 7, 2023 in which 1,200 people were killed and a further 250
taken hostage. The conflict has also fuelled a surge in violence in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank. "Ending that war and averting a full-blown regional
conflict is an absolute and urgent priority," the U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in a speech at the start of the five-week U.N.
Human Rights Council session in Geneva. "States must
not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding
decisions of the (U.N.) Security Council and orders of the International Court
of Justice, neither in this nor any other situation."
He cited an opinion released by the U.N. top court in July that called Israel's
occupation illegal and Turk said this situation must be "comprehensively
addressed". Israel has rejected the opinion and called it one-sided.
Turk's comments were given in a broad speech marking the mid-way point of
his four-year term as U.N. rights chief where he described massive challenges
around the world and a crisis of political leadership. The session will also
debate crises in Sudan, Afghanistan and Ukraine. "It seems to me we are at a
fork in the road. We can either continue on our current path — a treacherous
'new normal' — and sleepwalk into a dystopian future," he said in a speech met
with applause from diplomats. He denounced the
increased use of the death penalty and "alarming regressions" on gender
equality, in reference to new morality laws in Afghanistan. In Western countries
like Britain, Germany and the United States, politicians risk spurring violence
by scapegoating migrants and minorities during election periods, he said. Turk,
a former lawyer from Austria, also used the speech to defend his record, after
criticism from some that his policy of engaging China over alleged abuses has
been too soft. "I believe in engagement, frank exchanges and keeping dialogue
open, even more so in the face of fierce disagreement," he said.
The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the
worst he's seen
Edith M. Lederer/UNITED NATIONS (AP)/September 9, 2024
The U.N. chief said Monday that the United Nations has offered to monitor any
cease-fire in Gaza and demanIded an end to the worst death and destruction he
has seen in his more than seven-year tenure. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
said in an interview with The Associated Press that it’s “unrealistic” to think
the U.N. could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the
territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to
accept a U.N. role. But he said “the U.N. will be
available to support any cease-fire.” The United Nations has had a military
monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and “from our
side, this was one of the hypotheses that we’ve put on the table,” he said.
“Of course, we’ll be ready to do whatever the international community
asked for us,” Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept
it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”Israel’s military assault
on Gaza, triggered by Hamas' attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, has stretched
for 11 months, with recent cease-fire talks failing to reach a breakthrough and
violence in the West Bank reaching new highs.
Stressing the urgency of a cease-fire now, Guterres said: “The level of
suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as
secretary-general of the United Nations. I’ve never seen such a level of death
and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.”The war has
killed over 40,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The
ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas government, does not differentiate between
fighters and civilians in its count though it says about half of the dead have
been women and children. Israel says at least 17,000 militants are among the
dead. The war has caused vast destruction and
displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, often multiple
times. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have accused
the U.N. of being anti-Israel and have been highly critical of U.N. humanitarian
operations in Gaza, including accusing U.N. workers of collaborating with Hamas.
He also has voiced skepticism about peacekeeping missions, saying only Israel
can protect itself.
Facing protests at home and increasing urgency from allies, Netanyahu has pushed
back against pressure for a cease-fire deal and declared that “no one will
preach to me.”
Israel’s U.N. Mission spokesperson did not immediately respond to calls or a
text message seeking comment. Looking beyond an agreement, Guterres stressed
that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not
only viable, “it’s the only solution.” The United States and others support
Palestinian statehood in lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, but
Netanyahu, who is leading the most conservative government in Israel’s history,
has opposed calls for a two-state solution. Guterres
asked rhetorically whether the alternative is viable.
“It means that you have 5 million Palestinians living there without any rights
in a state,” he said. “Is it possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we
had in South Africa in the past?"He was referring to South Africa’s apartheid
system from 1948 until the early 1990s when its minority white population
marginalized and segregated people of color, especially Black people. “I do not
think you can have two peoples living together if they are not in a basis of
equality, and if they are not in a basis of respect — mutual respect of their
rights,” Guterres said. “So the two-state solution is, in my opinion, a must if
we want to have peace in the Middle East.”The Palestinians have circulated a
draft U.N. resolution demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza
and the West Bank within six months. The proposed General Assembly resolution
follows a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s
presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
In the wide-ranging interview, the U.N. chief painted a grim global
picture, saying, “Our world is in total disarray — I would say in total
chaos.”Conflicts are spreading and the most dramatic ones like Ukraine and Gaza
have no end in sight, he said. Climate change is having devastating effects and
artificial intelligence is developing without serious guardrails. At the same
time, Guterres said, “we see dramatic inequalities” and developing countries
struggling, many submerged in debt and without resources to educate their
children and or provide basic infrastructure. The secretary-general has invited
world leaders to a summit in the days before their annual high-level meeting at
the U.N. General Assembly later this month to recommit to working together to
meet those challenges and reform multilateral institutions established after
World War II, including the U.N. Guterres said
Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk region shows that the war, now in
its third year, will not end quickly or easily. “The situation in Ukraine is
stuck, and I do not see a cease-fire in the immediate future,” he said. The
secretary-general also said U.N. humanitarian operations are in crisis because
needs have increased dramatically “with the proliferation of conflicts,
proliferation of natural disasters, with climate change moving fast." But
funding has not. Unfortunately, the priorities of the world’s leaders “do not
correspond to the real needs of humankind at the present moment,” he said.
Israel orders more evacuations in Gaza after militants
fire rockets
Associated Press/September 9, 2024
The Israeli military has ordered another evacuation of some residential areas in
northwest Gaza where it says Palestinian militants fired rockets on the nearby
Israeli town of Ashkelon. The orders issued on Monday came after a rocket attack
triggered air raid sirens in Ashkelon the day before. The military said it
intercepted one projectile and another fell in the sea. Israel ordered the
evacuation of all of northern Gaza, including the territory’s largest city, in
the opening weeks of the war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Most residents heeded the orders and headed south, but up to 300,000
remained in the north, where Israel’s air and ground operations have caused
widespread destruction. The north has been surrounded by Israeli forces and
largely isolated since October. Around 90% of Gaza’s
population of 2.3 million people have been displaced in the 11-month-old war,
often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into tent
camps along the coast with few if any public services.
Palestinians' UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and
the West Bank in 6 months
Edith M. Lederer/UNITED NATIONS (AP)/September 9, 2024
The Palestinians have circulated a draft U.N. resolution demanding that Israel
end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within six months. The
proposed General Assembly resolution, which was obtained by The Associated
Press, follows a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said
Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end. In
the sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years
ago, the International Court of Justice said Israel had no right to sovereignty
over the territories and was violating international laws against acquiring the
lands by force. It also said Israeli settlement building must stop.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon denounced the resolution and
described it as a “reward for terrorism.” He called for the resolution to be
rejected. “Let it be clear: Nothing will stop Israel
or deter it from its mission to bring home the hostages and eliminate Hamas,” he
said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The
Associated Press on Monday that International Court of Justice rulings “should
be accepted and should be implemented.” As for the General Assembly resolution,
he said, it's up to the 193 U.N. member nations to make a decision. The draft
U.N. resolution comes as Israel's military assault on Gaza enters the 11th month
after being triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and
as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs. The
proposal, if adopted by the 193-member General Assembly, would not be legally
binding but the extent of its support would reflect world opinion. There are no
vetoes in the assembly, unlike in the 15-member Security Council. A council
diplomat said the Palestinians are aiming for a vote before world leaders of the
General Assembly start their annual high-level meetings on Sept. 22. The
diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions on the draft
resolution have been private.
The proposal demands that Israel comply with international law, including by
immediately withdrawing all military forces from the Palestinian territories.
The draft resolution not only demands an end to all new settlement activity but
the evacuation of all settlers and the dismantling of the separation barrier
Israel constructed in the West Bank. And it calls for all Palestinians displaced
during Israel’s occupation to be allowed “to return to their original place of
residence” and that Israel make reparations “for the damage caused" to all
people in the territories. Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed, the
future of which should be decided in negotiations, while it has moved people
there in settlements to solidify its hold. It has annexed east Jerusalem in a
move that isn’t internationally recognized. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but
maintained a blockade of the territory after Hamas took power in 2007. Since the
Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,900 Palestinians
have been killed there. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians
in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of
Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Meanwhile, settler
violence in West Bank has reached new highs, and Israeli military raids on West
Bank cities and towns have grown more devastating, killing 692 Palestinians,
according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Attacks by Palestinian militants
on Israelis within the territory also have increased. Israel captured the West
Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians
seek all three areas for an independent state. The international community
generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory. Palestinian U.N.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council last month that he planned to
introduce a General Assembly resolution in September to enshrine the ICJ ruling.
“We are sick and tired of waiting,” he said. “The time for waiting is over.” The
proposed resolution includes other demands, including for Israel to be held
accountable for any violations of international law, sanctions against those
responsible for maintaining Israel's presence in the territories, and for
countries to halt arms exports to Israel if they're suspected of being used in
the territories.
UN convoy in Gaza released after being detained by Israel
Reuters/September 10, 2024
UNITED NATIONS/ JERUSALEM: A convoy of United Nations vehicles and staff
detained for more than eight hours by Israel in northern Gaza on Monday has been
released, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.The
Israeli military said on Monday it detained the convoy after receiving
intelligence indicating that a number of “Palestinian suspects” were aboard and
that it wanted to question them. “The convoy was stopped at gun point just after
the Wadi Gaza checkpoint with threats to detain UN staff. Heavy damage was
caused by bulldozers to the UN armored vehicles,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini
said on X. “All staff & convoy are now released & back safely in the UN
base.”Earlier, the Israeli military contested the assertion that the convoy was
carrying polio vaccines for Gaza’s children, saying instead its purpose was to
“exchange UN personnel.”The campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza began
on Sept. 1, following confirmation from the World Health Organization (WHO) last
month that a baby had been partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the
first such case in the territory in 25 years.
Lazzarini disputed Israel’s account, saying that the convoy was en route to roll
out the vaccination campaign in Gaza City and northern Gaza. He added that he
was unsure if the campaign would resume in northern Gaza on Tuesday.
US demands Israel to conclude probe into killing of
American activist in West Bank
Reuters/September 9, 2024
The United States on Monday called on Israel to complete a full inquiry into the
killing of an American Turkish woman last week in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank, saying it believes Israel has begun such a probe. Turkish and Palestinian
officials said on Friday that Israeli troops shot 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi
who had been taking part in a protest against settlement expansion. "Our
understanding is that our partners in Israel are looking into the circumstances
of what happened, and we expect them to make their findings public, and expect
that whatever those findings are, expect them to be thorough and transparent,"
US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a news briefing.
Jordan's Islamists, buoyed by anger over Gaza, seek to
shake up parliament at polls
Suleiman Al-Khalidi/September 9, 2024
AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's main opposition, buoyed by anger over the Gaza war,
says it expects its Islamists to win enough seats in Tuesday's election to
loudly challenge the country's pro-Western stance, a result that could stir up
the kingdom's staid political scene. The opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF),
the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, says its voice is needed in the
assembly to help reverse unpopular economic policies, stand up to laws curbing
public freedoms and oppose further normalisation with Israel, with which Jordan
has a 1994 peace treaty."It's enough that there is a significant bloc that is
able to influence public opinion and the general political scene," Murad
Adailah, the head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood and an ideological ally of the
Palestinian group Hamas, told Reuters.In a country where anti-Israel sentiment
runs high, the Gaza war is expected to help the electoral fortunes of the IAF,
which is Jordan's largest opposition party and has led some of the region's
biggest rallies backing Hamas. Hundreds took to the
streets of Amman to celebrate on Sunday, hours after a gunman from Jordan shot
dead three Israeli civilians at a border crossing in the occupied West Bank. The
IAF, fielding only 38 candidates for the 138-seat assembly, is unlikely to
unseat the tribal, centrist and pro-government deputies who dominate a system
under-representing cities, where their Islamist and liberal opponents do best.
But the Islamists, who have angered the authorities with demands to abrogate the
peace treaty and end commercial ties with Israel, are urging supporters to go
out and vote to show their opposition to Israel's offensive in Gaza. "Today what
is happening in Gaza is an existentialist battle and neither the Jordanian or
Islamic movement can be bystanders. The voice of the Jordanian street was heard
and influential," Adailah said in an interview on Monday. He said the Jordanian
state needed a strong parliament more than ever, arguing that a vocal IAF
parliamentary presence could strengthen Jordan's ability navigate, and if
necessary stand up to, any pressures it might face from Israel and Western
allies. Adailah was echoing sentiments by many
Jordanians across the political spectrum, who fear Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's government seeks a wider war in which Palestinians in the
occupied West Bank could be pushed out to Jordan.
VOTING SYSTEM FAVOURS TRIBAL AREAS
The IAF is contesting the polls despite its reservations at a voting system they
feel is biased against it. They are demanding even broader political
representation following changes introduced under an electoral law passed in
2022. "The law is not up to our ambitions but it presents a recipe for gradual
political reforms," Adailah said, referring to the law that for the first time
directly allocates 41 seats for over 30 licensed and mostly pro-government
parties. Officials say the vote is a milestone in a democratization process
launched by King Abdullah paving the way for political parties to play a bigger
role. The results -- due within 48 hours of polls closing -- are expected to
keep parliament in the hands of tribal and pro-government factions which are
powerless to make deep changes. Nevertheless, the elections could see the
Islamists shaking up Jordan's bland political scene, analysts said. "We expect a
significant bloc from these elections provided we are left without a direct and
blatant interference in the ballot box," Adailah said, without being drawn into
exactly how many seats they expect to capture. The
party, whose slogan is "With Islam we protect the nation", says the authorities
have used clan pressure to persuade tens of IAF candidates to drop out of the
race. "This hurts our chances," Adailah said. Now, the
vote will test the Islamists' grassroots support, politicians and analysts say.
Most other candidates with limited political agendas have focused their
campaigns on economic conditions such as unemployment, public services and
inflation.
Fear of 'lost generation' as Gaza school year begins
with all classes shut
Nidal al-Mughrabi/September 9, 2024
CAIRO (Reuters) - The new school year in the Palestinian territories officially
began on Monday, with all schools in Gaza shut after 11 months of war and no
sign of a ceasefire. In its ongoing assault on the
Palestinian territory, Israel announced new orders to residents of the north
Gaza Strip to leave their homes, in response to rockets fired into Israel.
Umm Zaki's son Moataz, 15, was supposed to begin tenth grade. Instead he
woke up in their tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and was sent to fetch a
container of water from more than a kilometre away. "Usually, such a day would
be a day of celebration, seeing the children in the new uniform, going to
school, and dreaming of becoming doctors and engineers. Today all we hope is
that the war ends before we lose any of them," the mother of five told Reuters
by text message. The Palestinian Education Ministry said all Gaza schools were
shut and 90% of them had been destroyed or damaged in Israel's assault on the
territory, launched after Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli towns in October last
year. The U.N. Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, which runs around half of Gaza's
schools, has turned as many of them as it can into emergency shelters housing
thousands of displaced families. "The longer the children stay out of school the
more difficult it is for them to catch up on their lost learning and the more
prone they are to becoming a lost generation, falling prey to exploitation
including child marriage, child labour, and recruitment into armed groups,"
UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma told Reuters.
In addition to the 625,000 Gazans already registered for school who would
be missing classes, another 58,000 six-year-olds should have registered to start
first grade this year, the education ministry said. Last month, UNRWA launched a
back-to-learning programme in 45 of its shelters, with teachers setting up
games, drama, arts, music and sports activities to help with children's mental
health.
'THE SPECIFIED AREA HAS BEEN WARNED'
Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at
least once, and some have had to flee as many as 10 times. In the latest
evacuation order, Israel told residents of an area in the northern Gaza Strip
they must leave their homes, following the firing of rockets into southern
Israel the previous day. "To all those in the specified area. Terrorist
organisations are once again firing rockets at the State of Israel and carrying
out terrorist acts from this area. The specified area has been warned many times
in the past. The specified area is considered a dangerous combat zone," an
Israeli military spokesperson said in Arabic on X. The United Nations urged
Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to attend medical facilities to get
children under the age of 10 years old vaccinated against polio. Limited pauses
in fighting have been held to allow the vaccination campaign, which aims to
reach 640,000 children in Gaza after the territory's first polio case in around
25 years. U.N. officials said the campaign in the
southern and central Gaza Strip had so far reached more than half of the
children there needing the drops. A second round of vaccination will be required
four weeks after the first. Health officials said on Monday two separate Israeli
airstrikes had killed seven people in central Gaza, while another strike killed
one man in Khan Younis further south. The armed wings
of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said they fought against Israeli forces in
several areas across the Gaza Strip with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire.
The Israeli military said forces continued to dismantle military infrastructure
and killed dozens of militants in the past days, including senior Hamas and
Islamic Jihad commanders. The war was triggered on Oct. 7 when the Hamas group
that ran Gaza attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages,
according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed
more than 40,900 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. The
two warring sides each blame the other for the failure so far to reach a
ceasefire that would end the fighting and see the release of hostages.
Iran rejects Western accusations of arms exports to
Russia
AFP/September 09, 2024
TEHRAN: Iran rejected Western accusations on Monday that it sent arms to Russia
for the war in Ukraine. The EU said its allies had shared intelligence that Iran
supplied Russia with ballistic missiles. It warned new sanctions could be
imposed on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed. “We strongly reject the
claims of Iran’s role in exporting arms to one side of the war,” Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a news conference.
Russia and Iran are both under international sanctions that restrict
trade, but they have forged strong ties in various sectors, including military
cooperation. US media outlets reported last week that Washington believed Iran
had transferred the weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, citing anonymous
sources. “We are aware of the credible information provided by allies on the
delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia,” EU spokesman Peter Stano
said. “We are looking further into it with our member states and if confirmed,
this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s
support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”Stano added that
“the EU leaders’ unanimous position has always been clear. The EU will respond
swiftly and in coordination with international partners, including with new and
significant restrictive measures against Iran.”The Kremlin did not issue a
denial on Monday when asked specifically about the Wall Street Journal report
that Iran had sent missiles. “We have seen this report, it is not every time
that this kind of information is true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic
relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas,
including the most sensitive areas.”The US has said any deliveries would invoke
a “severe” response and damage Tehran’s efforts to improve relations with the
West following the election of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian as president. Faced
with punishing Western sanctions, Moscow has turned to Iran and North Korea for
weapons supplies to keep its war machine going in Ukraine. Ukraine says it has
been attacked with Iranian-designed Shahed drones on an almost daily basis from
Russia, and has found fragments of North Korean missiles on its territory. The
reported delivery of missiles to Russia comes as the Kremlin has once again
stepped up its bombing campaign against Ukraine’s key infrastructure ahead of
winter. Meanwhile, Latvia’s armed forces said on Monday the Russian drone that
crashed on the Baltic state’s territory was an Iranian-designed Shahed equipped
with explosives. Riga had earlier announced that investigators were looking into
a drone that had crashed in the eastern part of the country on Saturday.
Latvia has had tense relations with Moscow following independence, and ties have
further deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia would
be a 'dramatic escalation': US State Department says
AFP/September 9, 2024
Transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia would be a 'dramatic
escalation': US State Department says .The transfer of ballistic missiles
from Iran to Russia would signify a "dramatic escalation" of Tehran's support
for Moscow, and the United States is prepared to respond with "significant
consequences," the State Department said Monday. US media outlets reported last
week that Washington believed Iran had transferred the weapons to Russia for use
in Ukraine, and the European Union has said allies shared "credible"
intelligence that Tehran had done so. "Any transfer of Iranian ballistic
missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," State Department spokesman Vedant
Patel told journalists. "We have been clear... that we're prepared to deliver
significant consequences," he said. Tehran has rejected the accusation that it
transferred the missiles, but the Kremlin has not explicitly denied it.
Kremlin, on report of missile supplies from Iran, says Tehran is its partner
Reuters/Mon, September 9, 2024
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin, asked on Monday about a Wall Street Journal
report that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, said that
Iran is Russia's partner, and that the two countries are developing dialogue in
all areas. The Journal cited unidentified U.S. and
European officials as saying that Iran had sent short-range ballistic missiles
to Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he had seen the report but
that not all such reports were correct. "Iran is our important partner, we are
developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation
and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones," Peskov
told reporters. Tehran and Moscow have drawn closer since Russia ordered tens of
thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, with Iran supplying its
Shahed drones to Russia's military. Reports of Iran transferring missiles to
Russia are "psychological warfare", senior Revolutionary Guards' commander
Fazlollah Nozari said on Monday according to state media.Any Iranian transfer of
ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war,
the United States said on Friday.
Turkey heads to Arab League ministerial for first time
in 13 years, source says
Reuters/September 9, 2024
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will discuss the Gaza war and ties with the Arab
League when its foreign minister attends a ministerial meeting of the group in
Cairo on Tuesday for the first time in 13 years, a Turkish diplomatic source
said on Monday. Turkey, which has condemned Israel for
its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza and joined steps
towards Israel facing genocide charges at the World Court, has had rocky ties
with the Arab League in recent years. While it has mended long-strained ties
with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Ankara remains at odds
with other Arab League members including Syria. After the war in Gaza started,
Turkey joined a joint contact group formed at a summit of the Arab League and
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to seek an end to the war.
The Turkish source said the invitation to Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan
reflected a "growing interest" in Turkey's regional role and improving ties with
Arab League members, adding that Ankara wanted to increase institutional ties
and cooperation with the group. Turkey's ties with Arab League members can help
promote "solutions to current regional problems and concrete future
cooperation," the source said.Negotiations are under way between Ankara and the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on securing a free trade deal by the end of the
year. President Tayyip Erdogan called on Saturday for an alliance of Islamic
countries against what he called an Israeli "expansionism" threat. The last time
Turkey participated in an Arab League meeting was when Erdogan, who was then
prime minister, addressed the group's ministers in Cairo in 2011.
Jake Sullivan had a constructive call with the Saudi
Crown Prince
Reuters/September 9, 2024
A US official said that White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had
a phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Monday. The
official, who requested anonymity, added that the call was constructive and
covered several issues in the Middle East.
US, UK strike Houthi targets for second day
Saeed Al-Batati/Arab News/September 09, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: US and UK jets struck Houthi targets in Yemen’s western province of
Hodeidah on Monday, the second wave of strikes on Houthi-held territory in less
than 48 hours. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah channel reported that US and UK
aircraft carried out one strike on the Al-Jabanah region of Hodeidah but
provided no information on the targeted locations, casualties or damage. The
attack in Hodeidah came a day after the Houthis said that the two countries had
conducted three airstrikes on unidentified targets in the Maytam region, north
of Ibb province. At the same time, US Central Command said on Sunday evening
that over the past 24 hours, its forces had destroyed three Houthi drones and
two missile systems in a Houthi-controlled Yemeni area, all of which were
threatening US-led coalition ships and commercial vessels in international
shipping lanes.
Houthi attacks on ships led the US to form a coalition of marine task forces to
defend vessels, designate the Houthis as a terrorist group and launch strikes
against Houthi-controlled Yemen, including Sanaa, Saada, Ibb and Hodeidah, in
collaboration with the UK. Hodeidah, Yemen’s only major coastal city under
Houthi control, has received most of the US and UK strikes since January, as the
militia is said to have used its coasts to launch explosive-laden and
remote-controlled boats to attack ships.
The Houthis say their forces are only targeting Israeli-linked ships to pressure
Tel Aviv into ending its Gaza war. Meanwhile, Yemen’s government requested
financial assistance from GCC countries on Monday to help shore up its faltering
economy, stabilize the currency and pay public employees. Rashad Al-Alimi,
chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, met UAE Ambassador to Yemen
Mohammed Hamad Al-Zaab in Riyadh on Monday to discuss “necessary” financial
support to boost the country’s economy, improve Yemenis’ living conditions and
assist government reforms, according to the official news agency, SABA. It came
as Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak arrived in Doha on Sunday to
discuss Qatari financial assistance to Yemen, particularly in the electricity
sector. “The government is looking for new support from its brothers in the GCC
countries,” a knowledgeable Yemeni government official who requested anonymity
told Arab News. The Yemeni government has lost almost 70 percent of its revenue
since the Houthis attacked oil terminals in the provinces of Shabwa and
Hadramout, causing a complete halt to oil exports. The Yemeni riyal has
continued to fall against the dollar, reaching about 1900 in
government-controlled areas, compared to 215 riyals in 2015. Public employees,
including teachers and military personnel, have complained that their salaries
have not been increased and that they are paid late.
RSF paramilitaries kill 31 in Sudanese city of Sennar, activists say
Reuters/Mon, September 9, 2024
DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 31 people have been killed and 100 wounded
since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces renewed an assault on the city of
Sennar in southeastern Sudan on Sunday, a legal activist group said. Several
parts of the city including the main market have been targeted by RSF artillery
fire, said Emergency Lawyers, which has monitored civilian deaths and other
humanitarian violations. The progress of the RSF,
which already controls most of Sennar and at least half of the country, has
slowed in the southeast as heavy rains have made movement difficult.
Its war with Sudan's army has created the world's largest hunger and internal
displacement crises, killing tens of thousands of civilians and destroying most
of Sudan's infrastructure and economy. Emergency Lawyers said the army had
killed at least four people in al-Souki, a town near Sennar, during airstrikes.
The RSF killed one person and wounded 17 in artillery strikes on el-Obeid,
another town it has struggled to assert full control of. Both sides in Sudan's
18-month-old civil war have committed abuses that may amount to war crimes, a
U.N.-mandated mission said on Friday, calling for peacekeepers and a
country-wide arms embargo.On Saturday, Sudan's army-aligned foreign ministry
rejected both recommendations, calling the idea of international peacekeepers
"the wish of Sudan's enemies and it will not be fulfilled."
Saudi crown prince meets Russian foreign minister
Arab News/September 09, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov on Monday to discuss strengthening bilateral ties between Saudi
Arabia and Russia. The meeting followed an earlier discussion between Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Lavrov, where they addressed a
range of global and regional developments. Both meetings highlighted the mutual
desire to enhance cooperation on political, economic, and security matters.
During their talks, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepening
diplomatic relations and maintaining open dialogue on issues of shared interest,
reflecting the growing partnership between the two nations.
GCC strengthens ties with Russia, India, Brazil at Riyadh
summit
Lama Alhamawi/Arab News/September 09, 2024
RIYADH: The 161st Ministerial Council meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council,
chaired by Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed
bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and attended by GCC ministers of foreign affairs, was
held in Riyadh on Monday.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the GCC held three separate ministerial
meetings with Russia, India and Brazil to open new horizons for cooperation.
The seventh GCC-Russia strategic dialogue ministerial meeting was held
with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the GCC-India meeting with Indian
Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the GCC-Brazil meeting
with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince
Faisal bin Farhan and Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji attended all the
meetings. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi
underlined that the joint ministerial meetings aim to strengthen strategic
relations with countries and organizations.
Participants examined GCC-Russian relations and explored opportunities to
strengthen and expand cooperation. They also discussed the ongoing
Russia-Ukraine crisis and the international community’s efforts to achieve a
peaceful resolution and support initiatives aimed at ensuring global peace and
security. The meeting emphasized the need for
increased coordination on regional and international issues, as well as the
importance of multilateral cooperation and stronger economic collaboration to
achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals.
Albudaiwi underlined that the meeting is “a continuation of the considerable
efforts made by both sides to strengthen friendly relations that fulfill their
aspirations, particularly given that this dialogue serves as a permanent
platform for discussion at the ministerial level, as it facilitates the exchange
of views on key issues of mutual concern, including threats to regional and
global security, as well as exploring ways to enhance cooperation in various
fields to serve common interests.”He also reaffirmed the GCC’s solidarity with
the Palestinian people, demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an
end to military operations by Israel’s occupying forces, and stressing the
importance of ensuring access to all humanitarian and relief aid and essential
needs for the residents of Gaza, alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian
people.
During the first GCC-India meeting, Albudaiwi said that the relations between
the GCC countries and India are historical and deep rooted, extending over
several centuries and built on foundations of mutual trust and fruitful
cooperation, stating that these relations continuously witness significant
developments, reflecting the strong will of both parties to enhance the
partnership in various fields. The meeting covered a
range of topics, including the joint action plan and ways of bolstering
cooperation between the GCC and India. Discussions also focused on reinforcing
bilateral and multilateral coordination to enhance international security and
peace. Albudaiwi said: “Today's meeting will contribute to strengthen the ties
between us and open new horizons for joint cooperation, as we stand before a
great opportunity to enhance collaboration in the various areas addressed in the
memorandum of understanding and to implement the joint action plan that has been
reached between the GCC and India for the period (2024-2028).”
In his opening remarks, Jaishankar said: “Our meeting today is not just an
occasion to reflect on our achievements but an opportunity to chart an ambitious
and far-reaching course for the future. “The
relationship between India and the GCC is rooted in a rich tapestry of history,
culture, and shared values. These bonds have grown stronger with time, evolving
into partnerships that span economics, energy, defense, technology, education,
people-to-people ties, and beyond,” the Indian minister said. Jaishankar said
that the framework to grow GCC-India cooperation details “the three Ps: people,
prosperity, progress.” He said that close to nine million Indians live and work
in the GCC. “Our interactions are key to driving prosperity in the GCC and in
India.”The Indian minister also emphasized that the GCC is a cornerstone of
energy supply. The meeting discussed several reports regarding the
implementation of decisions made by the Supreme Council of the GCC during the
44th summit held in Doha in December 2023. The meeting also reviewed memoranda
and reports submitted by the ministerial and technical committees and the GCC
General Secretariat, as well as topics related to dialogues and strategic
relations between GCC member states and various countries and global blocs.
House Republicans release report blaming Biden for disastrous end to US war in
Afghanistan
Farnoush Amiri And Ellen Knickmeyer/Mon, September 9, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Sunday issued a scathing report on their
investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, blaming the disastrous
end of America's longest war on President Joe Biden's administration and
minimizing the role of former President Donald Trump, who had signed the
withdrawal deal with the Taliban. The partisan review
lays out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump's
February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America's fundamentalist Taliban
enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S.
officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American
citizens, Afghan battlefield allies, women activists and others at risk from the
Taliban. But House Republicans' report breaks little
new ground as the withdrawal has been exhaustively litigated through several
independent reviews. Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a
systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and
concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame.
Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who led the investigation as
chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the GOP review reveals
that the Biden administration “had the information and opportunity to take
necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so
we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders,
and our brave Afghan allies.”
“At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over
security,” he said in a statement. McCaul earlier in the day denied that the
timing of the report's release ahead of the presidential election was political,
or that Republicans ignored Trump's mistakes in the U.S. withdrawal. A White
House spokesperson, Sharon Yang, said the Republican report was based on
“cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and preexisting biases.”
“Because of the bad deal former President Trump cut with the Taliban to get out
of Afghanistan by May of 2021, President Biden inherited an untenable position,”
either ramp up the U.S. war against a strengthened Taliban, or end it, Yang said
in a statement.
House Democrats in a statement said the report by their Republican colleagues
ignored facts about Trump's role. The more than 18-month investigation by
Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee zeroed in on the months
leading up to the removal of U.S. troops, saying that Biden and his
administration undermined high-ranking officials and ignored warnings as the
Taliban seized key cities far faster than most U.S. officials had expected or
prepared for. “I called their advance ‘the Red Blob,’'' retired Col. Seth
Krummrich said of the Taliban, telling the committee that at the special
operations' central command where he was chief of staff, ”we tracked the Taliban
advance daily, looking like a red blob gobbling up terrain."“I don't think we
ever thought — you know, nobody ever talked about, ‘Well, what’s going to happen
when the Taliban come over the wall?''' Carol Perez, the State Department's
acting undersecretary for management at the time of the withdrawal, said of what
House Republicans said was minimal State Department planning before abandoning
the embassy in mid-August 2021 when the Taliban swept into Kabul, Afghanistan's
capital. The withdrawal ended a nearly two-decade occupation by U.S. and allied
forces begun to rout out the al-Qaida militants responsible for the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks on the United States. The Taliban had allowed al-Qaida's leader,
Osama bin Laden, to shelter in Afghanistan. Committee staffers noted reports
since the U.S. withdrawal of the group rebuilding in Afghanistan, such as a U.N.
report of up to eight al-Qaida training camps there. The Taliban overthrew an
Afghan government and military that the U.S. had spent nearly 20 years and
trillions of dollars building in hopes of keeping the country from again
becoming a base for anti-Western extremists.
A 2023 report by the U.S. government watchdog for the U.S. in Afghanistan
singles out Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban agreeing to withdraw all
American forces and military contractors by the spring of the next year, and
both Trump’s and Biden’s determination to keep pulling out U.S. forces despite
the Taliban breaking key commitments in the withdrawal deal.
House Republicans' more than 350-page document is the product of hours of
testimony — including with former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, U.S.
Central Command retired Gen. Frank McKenzie and others who were senior officials
at the time — seven public hearings and round-tables as well as more than 20,000
pages of State Department documents reviewed by the committees.
With Biden no longer running for reelection, Trump and his GOP allies
have tried to elevate the withdrawal as a campaign issue against Vice President
Kamala Harris, who is now Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential race.
The report by House Republican cites Harris' overall responsibility as an
adviser to Biden, but doesn't point to specific counsel or action by Harris that
contributed to the many failures.
Some highlights of the report:
Decision to withdraw
Republicans point to testimony and records that claim the Biden administration's
reliance on input from military and civilian leaders on the ground in
Afghanistan in the months before the withdrawal was “severely limited,” with
most of the decision-making taking place by National Security Adviser Jake
Sullivan without consultation with key stakeholders. Yang, the White House
spokesperson, denied that, saying the administration had sought input from
officials in Kabul and others across the U.S. government.
The report says Biden proceeded with the withdrawal even though the
Taliban was failing to keep some of its agreements under the deal, including
breaking its promise to enter talks with the then-U.S.- backed Afghan
government. Former State Department spokesperson Ned
Price testified to the committee that adherence to the Doha Agreement was
“immaterial” to Biden's decision to withdraw, according to the report. Earlier
reviews have said Trump also carried out his early steps of the withdrawal deal,
cutting the U.S. troop presence from about 13,000 to an eventual 2,500 despite
early Taliban noncompliance with some parts of the deal, and despite the Taliban
escalating attacks on Afghan forces.
The House report faults a longtime U.S. diplomat for Afghanistan, former
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, not Trump, for Trump administration actions in its
negotiations with the Taliban. The new report says that Trump was following
recommendations of American military leaders in making sharp cuts in U.S. troop
numbers in Afghanistan after the signing. ‘We were still in planning' when Kabul
fell. The report also goes into the vulnerability of
U.S. embassy staff in Kabul as the Biden administration planned its exit.
Republicans claim there was a “dogmatic insistence” by the Biden administration
to maintain a large diplomatic footprint despite concerns about the lack of
security afforded to personnel once U.S. forces left.
McKenzie, who was one of the two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation, told
lawmakers that the administration’s insistence at keeping the embassy open and
fully operational was the “fatal flaw that created what happened in August,"
according to the report. The committee report claims that State Department
officials went as far as watering down or “even completely rewriting reports”
from heads of diplomatic security and the Department of Defense that had warned
of the threats to U.S. personnel as the withdrawal date got closer. “We were
still in planning" when Kabul fell, Perez, the senior U.S. diplomat, testified
to the committee.
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on September 09-10/2024
The Stalemate
Charles Chartouni/This Is Beirut/September 09/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134202/
The truce negotiations have proven their limitations more and more and have
yielded no tangible results. The Iranians are still blocking the venues of
communication throughout the Middle East. The Arab countries are still hobbled
and unable to move on any issues compromising the future of regional peace. The
Israelis are prisoners to their security dilemmas, heavily impacted by the
hostage crisis and its political repercussions. The US has difficulty juggling
the negotiation priorities and controlling the derailments of a highly polarized
regional environment. The continuous deferment and sequencing of objectives set
by the steering mediators are undermining their credibility and their ability to
elicit a sustainable momentum, address the hard-pressing issues, and widen the
scope of negotiations. The sabotaging actors lined up by Iran are promoting
political extremism on the Israeli side and bringing forth a sense of
helplessness, unleashed nihilism, and political apocalypticism amongst
Palestinians. The apocalyptic violence of Hamas is feeding the political
messianism of Israeli settlers and driving extremist political agendas.
Israel has to deal with its hostages’ tragic dilemmas at a time when Hamas
initiates a cycle of targeted assassinations, which betrays the doomsday mood
setting in among its militants. Hamas leadership is tying the hostage release
strategy to unacceptable conditionalities, which mainly revolve around its
political survival. Whereas the assassination cycle confronts the Israelis with
inextricable strategic and ethical dilemmas epitomized by Gaza’s future
governance and Israeli national security and the moral imperative of liberating
the hostages. The political tradeoffs are yet inconceivable while time is
running out, and the Israeli civil concord is hardly tested. Whereas the Hamas
Apocalypticism doesn’t bother about the excruciating travails of the civilian
population in Gaza and its destructive fallouts. Israelis after the late
executions of hostages have to deal with heavy moral challenges, critical
questions of civil concord, and thorny security issues that need to be addressed
all along. The Palestinians are unable to overcome their serious political
differences, reach a consensus over the impending governance of Gaza and the
scope of future negotiations, and extract themselves from the clasp of Muslim
power politics and Iranian moral and political usurpation.
The Lebanese scenery seems to be landlocked, and the future of the
country is mortgaged until further notice. Democratic institutions are at bay as
long as the Shiite domination strategy has set its foreclosures and instrumented
state institutions as political shams designed to provide a simulacrum of
political legitimacy. Lebanon is literally subjugated and its historical and
political narratives are relegated to irrelevance. Lebanese territories are mere
appendages and operational platforms instrumentalized by Iranian power politics.
This state of political limbo and discretionary ambivalence is unlikely to
endure since Israel’s betting on diplomatic and political mediations has come to
an end, 18 years after the 2006 war and the internationalization of security on
the Lebanese southern border. The implementation of the international
resolutions (Armistice Accord 1949, 1701, 1559, 1680…) and the exclusive
monitoring of the UNIFIL seconded by the Lebanese army are strict
conditionalities that should be enforced away from the idle controversies that
have undermined them over the years.
The power asymmetries between Israel and Hezbollah account for its reluctance to
engage in open warfare after the targeted assassination of its chief of staff
and his main lieutenants. Still, Hezbollah’s equivocations perpetuate and can
derail whichever agreements might be reached through diplomatic channels. As
long as Iran is unwilling to normalize by international standards, abide by the
rules of the international community, and keep up with its commitment, the
diplomatic tracks are easily sidelined, let alone subverted. Short of formal
legal and political commitments, the confidence-building measures are unlikely
to sink roots and usher progressively a new political era.
The naked power politics attempted by Iran so far belong to a decaying legacy
that has no chances to thrive with a shriveled and waning internal legitimacy,
the unanimous opposition elicited throughout the Middle East to its politics of
subversion, the defaulting support of the totalitarian power coalition, and the
ravaging effects of the strategic and political wastelands. The intentional
destruction of the regional interstate order and its boomerang effects will not
spare Iran. The Mollahs are determined to avoid the hazards of total war since
their military and strategic vulnerabilities were amply demonstrated in the late
Israeli attacks on Iranian territories, the pervasive crisis of legitimacy, and
the dissuasive US military presence. The fantasies projected in the wake of
October 7, 2023, are unraveling, and the hard facts of the rising geostrategic
dynamic are far from accommodating the unhinged deliriums of a declining Islamic
dictatorship.
The Global Left Shares a Playbook with Islam
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/September 09/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134230/
Once again, the “Left” and Islam are exposing their extreme similarities —
including the similar ways they defend their similar weak points.
The examples are coming in fast and plenty — from Islam, from Western Europe,
and from right here in the good ol’ United States.
Islam Cancels the Truth
First, from the Islamic world: a Muslim convert to Christianity, who has been
imprisoned for more than two years in Egypt, has, according to an August 20
report, been on a hunger strike. USCIRF summarizes his great “crime”:
On December 15, 2021, authorities arrested [Abdulbaqi Saeed] Abdo, a Yemeni
refugee, from his Cairo home. Abdo’s arrest followed his appearance on a
Christian TV channel talking about his conversion to Christianity and alleged
persecution Christians in Yemen face. Abdo had also been involved in Facebook
groups for Christian converts. He was charged with joining a terrorist group
(Art. 86 ECC), contempt of Islam (Art. 98(w) ECC), and discrimination against
Islam (Art. 161 ECC).
Abdo’s experiences are just the tip of the iceberg; at least some in the West
have heard of his plight. Just recently, for example, I translated an Arabic
news report about Yusuf Sa‘d Hanin, a Christian conscript in Egypt who was
recently physically beaten and then sentenced by a military court to three
years’ imprisonment, after he was accused of making “statements offensive to
Islam” while trading insults with a Muslim man during an argument via text. Or
one can turn to Pakistan, where Islam’s blasphemy codes are enforced with
especial vigor. One young Christian man was recently sentenced to death for
supposedly sharing “blasphemous content” on social media.
When they hear of these stories, most Westerners think blasphemy laws in the
Islamic world exist because Muslim passion and zeal for their prophet and
religion run so high. Not really; they exist because, whenever scrutiny is
allowed, Islam and its prophet instantly collapse, taking the Muslim social
order down with them. Their fraud is too obvious, too full of holes, and must
therefore always be guarded against any criticism.
Built atop an easily collapsed pack of cards — namely, the very self-serving and
opportunistic words and deeds of its founder — silencing any criticism against
Muhammad has long been essential to Islam’s survival. Left unsuppressed and
unpunished, this “verbal war”—as Ibn Taymiyya once called it—will have a massive
snowball effect: other Muslims, exposed to such critical thinking, will also
start thinking critically, ultimately rebelling against and overthrowing the
Islamic order.
All of This Applies Equally to the American ‘Left’
Already we have seen that whoever spoke the truth or dared question any number
of leftist mantras — from the source of the COVID-19 virus to the
efficacy/harmlessness of the vaccines that would allegedly protect us against it
to the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop and the 2020 presidential election
results — has been demonized and even prosecuted legally for being a crazy
“election denier” or “science denier,” or a hapless idiot who had been suckered
in by “Russian disinformation.” Till this moment, someone who “misgenders” or
“deadnames” someone who identifies as “transgender” is the one deemed to be out
of touch with reality and punished accordingly (canceled, fired, etc.), by the
science-denying leftists currently running our federal government and many of
our states.
To better understand where America is headed under Leftist leadership, one need
only look to Western Europe, where recent circumstances have forced the worst of
those strategies into the open.
Examples from the East
According to an August 21 report, “German YouTuber “Shlomo Finkelstein” has been
imprisoned for ‘hate speech’ and ‘blasphemy’ … Shlomo faces one year in prison
in Germany’s Stasi state for criticizing Islam and mass migration.” Shlomo has
also had over 30 YouTube channels dedicated to scrutinizing Islam and the ills
of Muslim migration suspended.
The same thing has been happening in the UK. Following the murder of three
little girls by an African son of migrants, lots of Brits rioted, while others
responded with words and supposed “free speech” — only to be arrested and in
some cases given prison sentences.
Thus, according to an August 17 report, Phil Hoban, a “British man has been
jailed for ‘stirring up hatred’ at a non-violent anti-migration protest in
Leeds, during which he allegedly mocked Muslims and made ‘slurs’ against Allah.”
Make no mistake of it. The German and British governments are not arresting and
imprisoning people for hurting Muslim feelings; they are doing so because, in
criticizing Islam and Muslims — and most importantly, mass migration — people
are ultimately criticizing and going against the German and British governments’
mantras that all citizens are expected to drone: namely, that “Islam is peace”
and “diversity is our strength.”
Because those messages, when scrutinized, also immediately collapse like a house
of cards, Western governments are taking a page from the Islamic playbook,
forgetting what made their civilization special in the first place — free speech
and expression, the ultimate panacea against enforced lies — and rather
enforcing lies and draconian forms of censorship to protect them.
Further proof that these Western governments are less concerned about protecting
Muslims from offense and more concerned about guarding themselves from criticism
also keeps coming in. The title of an August 18 report is, “Extreme misogyny to
be classed as terrorism under UK government’s new plans.” Because so much of the
Left’s modus operandi has long depended on subverting the traditional family by
exploiting women, anyone exposing or criticizing this — yet another easily
collapsed house of cards — will be treated as a “terrorist.”
As if any more proof that these Western regimes are more interested in silencing
criticism against the many falsehoods they’ve foisted, on August 13 the BBC
reported that Wayne O’Rourke, another Brit who was sentenced to three years for
stirring up “racial hatred” following the aforementioned murder of three British
girls at the hands of an African, was convicted because his social media posts
“were alleged to contain anti-Muslim and anti-establishment rhetoric.”
Not only does this imply that what goes against Islam is a bedfellow with what
goes against the establishment, it openly confirms that speaking against the
government is enough to get one thrown in jail.
Here’s what it comes down to: Islam and the Left are ideologies — “cults,” if
you prefer — that center around very obvious lies and fictions. To stay in
power, they must ruthlessly suppress anyone who questions, scrutinizes, or
criticizes — and therefore easily discredits — their claims; anyone, in short,
who blasphemes their mantras, which must be accepted as articles of faith.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar, is the
Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith
Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Dire warnings of regional war ... but is anybody
listening?
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/September 09, 2024
If the Gaza protagonists succeed in grudgingly inching toward a ceasefire,
despite most of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conflict objectives
remaining unmet, the question then would be: what next?
Following weeks of intensified skirmishes across Lebanon’s southern border,
Hassan Nasrallah’s speech in late August anticipated this question. In language
wholly disconnected from reality and signaling his desperation to avoid
provoking widened conflict, the Hezbollah leader declared that Lebanon could now
“take a breath and relax.” Several observers noted that, while Tehran was
willing to stand by and allow a major degradation of Hamas’ military
capabilities, it did not want to see a comparable defenestration of Hezbollah,
or other paramilitaries in Syria and Iraq.
This meant that Hezbollah and Iran had to stomach assassinations of their senior
military echelons, including the humiliation of Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh
being killed in Tehran itself, with only token gestures of retaliation. Iran’s
massive April fusillade against Israel was remarkable only for more than 300
missiles failing to reach their targets. An unprecedentedly direct exchange of
fire with Israel may have accelerated Tehran’s drive toward acquiring nuclear
weapons, something that Netanyahu has always been unequivocal about intending to
forcibly prevent.
Extremist Israeli Cabinet hawks are goading Netanyahu into countenancing radical
moves to save his own political skin, including exploiting the conflict’s
momentum to decisively cut Tehran and its paramilitary allies down to size.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a “decisive war against
Hezbollah that will remove the threat in the north and allow the residents to
return home safely,” echoing broader media criticism that Netanyahu has failed
to make Israel’s north and south safe to live in. This is despite incessant
strikes against Lebanon and targeted attacks against Hezbollah, Hamas and
Revolutionary Guards personnel. Israel has specifically indicated that a Gaza
ceasefire would not necessitate a halt to strikes against Lebanon and elsewhere.
Netanyahu knows that, if he triggered war with Iran, it would force America and
its allies to enter the conflict
Although Israel’s armed forces are exhausted from grinding battles on several
fronts, Netanyahu knows that, if he triggered war with Iran, it would force
America and its allies to enter the conflict: just witness how Western forces
instantaneously mobilized to neutralize Iran’s missile barrage in April.
Netanyahu may cynically believe that provoking a war could fatally undermine US
President Joe Biden and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on the eve of the
presidential election, ushering in a more favorable US administration. Sources
categorize relations between Biden and Netanyahu as being in a downward spiral,
as Israel and Hamas escalate their ceasefire demands. The region bristles with
US aircraft carriers, munitions, missile systems and additional forces, ready if
Israel’s war spirals further out of control.
Meanwhile, Israel has been quietly preparing for a regional war: stockpiling
food and water, installing backup power supplies, cybersecurity precautions and
measures for the wider mobilization of reservists and citizens.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a neoconservative US think tank, has
issued an extensive report warning that, while the US has focused on slowing
Tehran’s rush to enrich uranium to 90 percent purity, Iran has pursued other
nuclear weaponization activities — including developing devices for delivering a
nuclear payload. The installation of 1,400 advanced centrifuges at its Fordow
enrichment plant this summer is just one measure for accelerating Iran’s race
toward nuclear breakout.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has meanwhile
been sounding the alarm regarding the curtailed access of its inspectors to
Iran’s nuclear sites. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Iran
required just “one to two weeks” to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for
a nuclear weapon. He had less to say about what the US would do about this.
Iran’s latest consignment of missiles to Russia is a further example of how
Tehran’s large weapons programs pose a direct threat to global security. Iran
has also become a foremost state for cyberwarfare and malicious attacks on
election processes and civil infrastructure.
The US has responded to incessant rocket and drone strikes on its bases in Iraq
by agreeing to a full pullout of its forces during 2025-2026, representing a
major victory for the Iran-backed forces that are increasingly the dominant
power in Iraq — politically, economically and militarily. Disjointed Western
responses to Houthi rocket attacks on shipping have similarly only served to
embolden battle-hardened militants into believing that they can halt global
trade with impunity.
Iraqi paramilitary figures were caught red-handed conducting a surveillance
operation from the office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani. Almost the
entire top echelon of political and judicial leaders was found to have been
under surveillance — excluding Al-Sudani’s closest supporter, Qais Al-Khazali
and his Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, while including several of Al-Khazali’s
paramilitary rivals. Iran hurriedly deployed a delegation to Baghdad to try and
hush up this shocking discovery.
This scandal highlighted the manner in which Tehran-backed militias have
relentlessly expanded their control over the security and intelligence apparatus
in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. As well as exacerbating prospects for civil
strife, this remorselessly expanding power grab also affords these forces
greater freedom of action for staging attacks on their many regional enemies.
Iran’s latest consignment of missiles to Russia is a further example of how
Tehran’s large weapons programs pose a direct threat to global security
Hence, a combination of gradual US disengagement and Israeli saber-rattling has
encouraged Iran and its paramilitaries to become even more brazen in building up
their military and strategic capabilities, weaponizing large parts of the
region.
Nobody knows whether we are genuinely on the cusp of a ruinously destructive
regional conflict, but provocative and escalatory moves by both Iran and Israel
have brought us to the brink. The US and its allies are broadly culpable through
decades of unwillingness to confront or rein in either party, making the
eruption of such a conflict merely a matter of time. As we have seen, that would
immediately bring in Western states, with long-term destabilizing consequences
for global security. Rather than sitting back and hoping for the best, America,
Europe, China, Russia and regional powers should be energetically staking far
more political capital on trying to stave off region-wide Armageddon.
My friend, the journalist Roula Khalaf, conducted a fascinating interview for
The Financial Times with the heads of the American and British intelligence
services, Bill Burns and Richard Moore, in which they both voiced dire concerns
about the risks of regional conflict and emphasized how the chronic absence of a
ceasefire in Gaza — or indeed a two-state solution to the wider
Israeli-Palestinian conflict — has made worst-case scenarios far likelier.
Moore stressed that a broader regional conflagration would be “vastly worse”
than what had already occurred in Gaza. And the two men warned that the world
order was under threat in ways not seen since the Cold War. With these
heavyweight figures issuing such dire warnings, is anybody listening?
**Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
Jordan’s stability is necessary for Palestinians, Arabs
alike
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/September 09, 2024
Whoever knows Jordan knows that its fate is tied to the Palestinians. It cannot
abandon the open Palestinian wound and does not even want to. The establishment
of the two-state solution is in Jordan’s interest. Keeping the bleeding wound
open makes worry a daily part of life in Jordan. The fate of Jordan and the
Palestinians are interlocked and cannot be broken. Whoever knows King Abdullah
knows that the two-state solution is a fixed article on the agenda of all the
meetings he holds with guests and in his vast network of international
relations.
Jordan believes the two-state solution is necessary to end the injustice the
Palestinians have had to endure for centuries. It believes it is necessary for
the stability of Jordan and to repel extremism. It believes that the two-state
solution is a Palestinian, Jordanian, Arab and international need. The
persistence of the conflict will keep the threat of instability alive. It forces
the countries involved to deplete their resources in helping ease or deepen
their concerns.
Jordan believes that the two-state solution is a condition for building
stability in a region that has been on edge since the establishment of Israel. A
Palestinian state will fortify the region against projects that rely on the
Palestinian oppression in order to achieve agendas related to expanding
influence or strengthening roles. The world committed a grave sin when it did
not rush to douse the flames of the war on Gaza
The truth is that the world committed a grave sin when it did not rush to douse
the flames of the war on Gaza. By “the world,” we mean major influential
countries and others involved in the war. It was never a secret that the war on
Gaza is bigger than Gaza and that leaving the war raging for nearly a year now
only raises the risks in other regional arenas. The war took a more horrific
turn when the Israeli army decided to uproot resistance hubs in the West Bank.
The scenes of the open massacre underway in Gaza are fueling rage across the
region. Whoever has followed past Israeli-Palestinian clashes is not at all
surprised that the systematic killing and destruction is threatening to spark
conflicts beyond Gaza.
The most dangerous aspect of Sunday’s King Hussein Bridge incident, which left
three Israelis dead, is that it took place while a reckless, extremist Israeli
government is in power. This government believes that the current confrontation
must end with a knockout blow. Advocates of this position believe that Israel
cannot accept a solution that could leave the possibility of a new war erupting
in the future.
This is why Israel is trying to take Gaza out of the equation and turn it into a
pile of rubble where life is not possible. It has also now turned to the West
Bank to strike fear into its residents of the possibility that the horrors in
Gaza could be replicated in their homes and villages, so that Israel can impose
a new status quo on the ground.
No less dangerous is the Israeli opposition’s inability to oust Benjamin
Netanyahu, whom it accuses of prolonging the war. This internal failure has been
accompanied by an external one. The Biden administration in the US has been
incapable of reining in Netanyahu or of organizing a coup against him. Netanyahu
is growing more extreme and he is taking America along with him, to the brink of
a regional war that Washington has so far averted.
The Netanyahu government is acting as though the current war is an existential
one and that it believes the human and financial losses and the harm to Israel’s
international and regional relations are therefore justified. Netanyahu has
managed to make Israel wage a long war, when it was used to waging short ones.
He has effectively managed to embroil Israel in a multifront war that has
reached Yemen and Iran. It is an open war that has included costly
assassinations in Beirut and Tehran. Jordan sensed the rising danger as Israel
moved its war on Gaza to war on the West Bank
The incident on the King Hussein Bridge took place amid this strained climate.
Israel can exploit the incident to tighten its grip on the West Bank and isolate
it even further as it continues to reel from the raids by Israeli tanks, drones
and bulldozers.
We can say that the Netanyahu government viewed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as a
declaration of war, not an attempt to pressure it to hold a prisoner swap. Since
the operation, it has sought to highlight Iran’s role in the current
confrontation in order to avoid dealing with the essence of the Palestinian
conflict. It has framed the operation as an attempt to uproot the Israeli state
by the Palestinians, with the backing of Iran and Hezbollah and all other
members of the so-called Axis of Resistance. So, Israel decided to launch a war
against the Palestinians, going beyond a response to or punishment for Al-Aqsa
Flood. Since the beginning of the destructive war on Gaza, Jordan has sounded
the alarm on the dangers of the spillover of the conflict in the region. It has
coupled its warnings with constant relief efforts and mounting condemnations of
Israeli policies. Jordan sensed the rising danger as Israel moved its war on
Gaza to war on the West Bank. Its concerns are not limited to fear over the
displacement of West Bank residents, but extend to the fear that Israel will
impose new realities on the ground that will make the two-state solution
impossible. This means eliminating the Palestinian cause and ending all hope,
leaving open confrontation as the only available option.
Jordan is aware that it is being targeted. It has long resisted Israeli calls to
resolve the Palestinian problem at its expense. It is being targeted because it
shares the longest border with Israel. It is being targeted because it has opted
for moderation in its regional and international relations and because it is
firmly committed to the freedom of its decision-making, shunning geographic and
regional pressure, including from Iran.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jordan’s stability is a Palestinian and a
Jordanian need alike. A stable Jordan will help end the oppression against the
Palestinians. A stable Jordan is a pressing Arab need because an absence of this
stability would create a major and dangerous imbalance in regional equations.
Jordan is an example of living amid dangers. Its realistic policies and constant
maintenance of international relations have protected it, so has its united
security institution, which has been trained in living amid regional fires.
Which path will Iran-China economic relations take?
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/September 09, 2024
Over the past few years, China and Iran have expanded their long-standing
cooperation into a robust economic partnership. China has emerged as Iran’s top
trading partner, purchasing significant amounts of Iranian oil and supplying key
industrial goods. This partnership serves China’s energy demands while
supporting its broader development goals. Central to China’s strategy is the
Belt and Road Initiative, which positions Iran as a pivotal player in its
geoeconomic and geopolitical plans. Meanwhile, Iran’s “Turning Eastward” policy
reflects its strategic focus on strengthening ties with China and other Asian
countries. Following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Iran in 2016,
during which he met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the two nations
committed to enhancing cooperation with an ambitious goal of boosting bilateral
trade to $600 billion by 2026. This partnership took a significant step forward
in March 2021, when the two countries signed a “25-year comprehensive strategic
partnership” agreement. According to Iranian sources, China promised to invest
up to $400 billion in Iran’s oil, gas and transport infrastructure as part of
this long-term deal.
Economic relations between Iran and China are often viewed as imbalanced and
facing difficulties. Several recent events, including the war in Ukraine,
conflicts in the Middle East — most notably in Gaza — ongoing unrest in Iran,
the failure to revive the nuclear deal and increasing sanctions on Iran, have
added significant strain to the partnership.
Economic relations between Iran and China are often viewed as imbalanced and
facing difficulties
In January 2023, monthly bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to
$1.26 billion, but by February it had dropped to $842 million, marking a 34
percent decline. Chinese exports to Iran also saw a sharp drop, falling from
$921 million in January 2023 to $489 million in February, largely due to
decreased Iranian purchases of machinery, electrical equipment and vehicles. In
the same month, these three sectors accounted for $307 million in exports, a
$224 million decrease from the previous month. Meanwhile, Chinese imports of
Iranian goods showed little change, rising slightly from $336 million to $352
million. The trade deficit has also further tilted in
China’s favor, partly due to the absence of declared oil imports from Iran.
According to data from the Chinese Customs Bureau, China’s exports to Iran fell
by 8.6 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, when exports totaled $9.27 billion.
Imports from Iran saw a steeper decline, dropping from $6.23 billion in 2022 to
$4.58 billion in 2023, a 27 percent reduction. This resulted in a trade balance
of approximately $5.5 billion in China’s favor. From January to March 2024,
China imported $1.2 billion of goods from Iran, a 3 percent decrease.
However, China’s imports from Iran are likely higher than officially reported,
as purchases of Iranian oil by Chinese refineries are often excluded from trade
data. In 2023, China imported 1.1 million barrels per day of Iranian crude,
which accounted for 10 percent of its total oil imports — the largest annual
volume of Iranian crude ever imported by China. But Chinese customs data showed
no official Iranian oil imports, as Iranian barrels were frequently relabeled
through ship-to-ship transfers in countries like Malaysia before delivery.
In July 2024, China exported $630 million of goods to Iran and imported $337
million, with a trade balance of $293 million. Between July 2023 and July 2024,
China’s exports to Iran dropped by 6.14 percent, while imports decreased by 1.02
percent. Iran ranked as China’s fourth-largest oil supplier, following Russia,
Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Russia’s aggressive discounting of oil drew China’s focus, further impacting its
trade relationship with Iran. The decline in China-Iran economic transactions
can be attributed to several factors, including heightened US sanctions on
Iran’s oil exports, which increased the risks of doing business with Tehran and
complicated financial transactions. Additionally, fluctuations in global oil
prices, China’s economic slowdown and Beijing’s efforts to diversify its energy
sources all played a role in reducing its dependence on any single country.
Russia’s aggressive discounting of oil, following Western sanctions over the
Ukraine crisis, also drew China’s focus, further impacting its trade
relationship with Iran.
In assessing the future of Iran-China economic relations, two potential
scenarios emerge. In the first, new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is
expected to maintain the supreme leader’s focus on cooperation with Eastern
powers, particularly China, while also promoting his own vision of greater
openness to the West, inspired by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in the
late 1970s. This scenario is supported by the long-term strategic partnership
between the two nations, focusing on energy, economic reforms and investment
opportunities.
In the second scenario, economic ties between Iran and China may remain
moderate, with China ensuring a continued flow of Iranian oil but keeping the
relationship at a careful distance. Despite Iran’s enthusiasm for its strategic
partnership with China, Beijing may adopt a more cautious approach to avoid
escalating tensions with the US, while prioritizing its relations with Gulf
states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This could involve reducing visible
economic ties with Iran while maintaining the partnership in less overt ways to
balance broader geopolitical considerations.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is the founder and president of the International
Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). X: @mohalsulami