English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 22/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come
in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray
Matthew 24/01-14: “As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away,
his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he
asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will
be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’ When he was sitting on the
Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when
will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the
age?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will
come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And
you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for
this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes
in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. ‘Then they
will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be
hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will
betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and
lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many
will grow cold. But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good
news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to
all the nations; and then the end will come.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 21-22/2024
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: A Critical Reading of Today’s Speech by
Terrorist Hassan Nasrallah
Elias Bejjani/The Cyber Strike That Exposed Hezbollah’s Delusional Myth
Justifies Its Eradication
U.S. fears war in Lebanon but hopes Israeli attacks push Hezbollah to a deal
What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
Death toll from Israeli airstrike on Beirut suburb rises to 31 as Israel and
Hezbollah trade fire
Joly says about 45,000 Canadians in Lebanon; she's concerned about pager
explosions
EU member Cyprus calls on Lebanon, Israel to show restraint in Middle East
Israel stages heavy strikes on south Lebanon as Hezbollah shells Israeli posts
36 dead, 68 hurt as Hezbollah says 2 commanders and 14 fighters killed in Dahieh
strike
Israeli army says dozens of warplanes striking 'widely' in south Lebanon
UK says working to de-escalate and end cycle of violence in Middle East
Iran condemns 'vicious' Israeli air strike in Dahieh
UN denounces device blasts as Bou Habib slams Israel as 'rogue state'
Hezbollah 'financier' pleads guilty to evading US sanctions
Woman whose firm was linked to exploding pagers is under Hungarian protection
IDF confirms assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, names 15 Hezbollah commanders killed
in strike
Strike that killed Ibrahim Aqil targeted 20 Hezbollah Radwan commanders in
parking lot - report
Netanyahu firm on new phase of Hezbollah war as UN warns of catastrophe
Hungarian intelligence agency interviewed CEO linked to exploding Hezbollah
pagers
Sullivan says Israel-Lebanon escalation worrying, justice served in strike on
Hezbollah
Fires ignited in northern Israel by Hezbollah rockets, IDF strikes terrorist
targets in Lebanon
'The gloves are off': Beirut strike signals end of symmetry with Hezbollah,
expert says
A ground invasion of Lebanon would be a terrible mistake for Israel/Dr. Dania
Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 21, 2024
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 21-22/2024
IDF spokesman: 'We're preparing for an attack by Hezbollah'
IDF reports eliminated terrorists holding six slain hostages
US warplanes, ships and troops ready in the Middle East if the conflict expands
Palestinians say Israeli strike killed 22 in shelter, army says militants hit
Church of England bishops accuse Israel of ‘acting above the law’ in West Bank
Iran withheld launchers for missiles sent to Russia, sources say
Iran's Supreme Leader says Israel is committing 'shameless crimes' against
children
Turkey calls on West to take 'deterrent steps' against Israeli action
The U.S. needs a few good allies. Does it still need Canada?
Quad group expands maritime security cooperation at Biden’s farewell summit
Kyiv says struck ammo depots in southern and western Russia
Crown Prince of Iran: 'The West's best army is the Iranian people - but we need
help'
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on September 21-22/2024
To The EU: Time To Stand Against Iran's Regime,
Terror Groups, Nukes/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 21, 2024
Experts debate the urgency of striking Iran: Is time running out for Israel?/Natan
Geula/Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
Israel has shown ideology is no match for technology/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq
Al-Awsat/September 21, 2024
Africa’s oil exporters struggle as cost of climate change soars/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab
News/September 21, 2024
Israel’s military offensive drives Arab and Muslim vote in US presidential race,
Arab-American convention confirms/RAY HANANIA/Arab News/September 21, 2024
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 21-22/2024
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: A Critical Reading of
Today’s Speech by Terrorist Hassan Nasrallah
Elias Bejjani/September 19/ 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134639/
In analyzing today’s speech by Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s terrorist mouthpiece and
delusional hallucinator—Lebanon’s foremost enemy and traitor—it is wise to be
reminded of the timeless biblical warning:
Isaiah 33:1 – “Our enemies are doomed! They have robbed and betrayed, although
no one has robbed them or betrayed them. But their time to rob and betray will
end, and they themselves will become victims of robbery and treachery.”
Nasrallah’s speech today, like every one before it, was a hollow echo of his
delusions, promoting an evil ideology steeped in death, deception, and
blasphemous distortions. It was an insult to the intelligence of the Lebanese
people, filled with the same tired deceit he has ruminated on for years under
the following four themes:
01-Manipulating religion – Twisting sacred principles to deceive the ignorant,
offering hollow promises of divine victories that are, in reality, catastrophic
defeats.
02-Mocking adversaries – Ridiculing the United States, the West, Israel, and
moderate Arab nations while ignoring the moral and military decay of Hezbollah
itself.
03-Empty threats and bravado – Spewing imaginary threats that far exceed his own
capabilities or those of his Iranian Mullahs’ masters, exposing the impotence of
Hezbollah’s so-called resistance.
04- Demonizing dissent – Vilifying those who oppose Iran’s imperialist and
terror-driven agenda as traitors, labeling them stupid and less than human. This
arrogance is a symptom of his delusional mentality, denying the freedom, rights,
and legitimate sovereignty of others.
His speech of today was nothing more than a nauseating repetition of populist,
bragging, and sectarian rhetoric. He offered nothing new—no acknowledgment of
his terrorist organization Hezbollah’s numerous defeats, and no recognition of
the crumbling credibility it is facing.
Despite repeated calls from numerous politicians and prominent Lebanese figures
to admit defeat, surrender Hezbollah’s arms to the Lebanese state, and comply
with UN Resolutions related to Lebanon (Armistice Accord, 1559, 1701, and 1860),
Nasrallah’s arrogance and deeply rooted Jihadism agenda blinded him to reality.
He ignored the unprecedented Israeli ‘Pager” offensive that crushed his
Iranian-controlled organization, neutralizing 5,000 of its fighters in three
minutes.
Even in the face of such a devastating defeat, he shamelessly declared what he
absurdly calls a ‘divine victory,’ continuing to push for death and war as his
only solution.
In conclusion, Hezbollah—along with its sectarian, ideological puppet masters in
Iran—represents an existential threat, not just to Lebanon and its peace-loving
people, but to the Arab world, civilization, humanity, and global-reginal
stability. Hezbollah is not Lebanon’s defender; it is the enemy within, a
mercenary force serving Iran’s expansionist, delusional satanic ambitions.
Dear Lebanese brothers and sisters: Know your true enemies.
The Iranian mullahs and their proxies—chief among them Hezbollah, the so-called
‘Party of God’—are the real enemies, and the true betrayers of Lebanon. They are
the cause of Lebanese sufferings. The time has come to dismantle this terrorist
Iranian organization, reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, implement the UN
resolutions, and arrest all its leaders to put them on trial for treason,
crimes, and acts of terrorism.
The Cyber Strike That Exposed Hezbollah’s
Delusional Myth Justifies Its Eradication
Elias Bejjani/September 18/ 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134575/
There is no doubt that Israel’s surprising and unprecedented cyber strike on the
terrorist Hezbollah has shattered the myth of its military strength, exposing
its lies and delusions. This strike signals the inevitable and imminent
eradication of this cancerous entity. Propped up by Iran, Hezbollah has occupied
Lebanon, spreading corruption, destruction, and moral decay. Its leaders
terrorize the Lebanese people, particularly the Shiite community, who remain
hostages under the guise of sectarianism.
Driven by madness and arrogance, Hezbollah’s leadership brands anyone who
opposes them as a traitor. Their oppressive actions have debased every Lebanese
national value. Fanatics like Nawaf al-Moussawi, who glorified the assassination
of President Bashir Gemayel and openly threatened future presidents, embody
Hezbollah’s utter contempt for Lebanon’s sovereignty.
This strike on Hezbollah's infrastructure is not a cause for joy, but a rightful
and necessary response to a group that has chosen violence and death as its
path.
Hezbollah’s fighters, who sanctify death and proudly declare themselves mere
pawns for their leaders, have inflicted untold suffering not only on Lebanon but
across Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
The victims of today’s strike were Hezbollah operatives, not civilians. This
decisive blow has laid bare Hezbollah’s vulnerability, signaling the decline of
its military effectiveness.
Since 2005, Hezbollah has held Lebanon hostage, reducing its leaders to mere
puppets.
Lebanon will never reclaim its independence, sovereignty, or freedom as long as
Hezbollah remains in control.
The only path to Lebanon’s liberation is through the immediate implementation of
United Nations resolutions, including the Armistice Accords and Resolutions
1559, 1701, and 1680.
In conclusion, Hezbollah—an Iranian proxy and terrorist organization—is a cancer
devouring Lebanon and dragging it back to the stone ages. Its complete
eradication is the only cure for Lebanon’s grave dilemmas and suffering.
U.S. fears war in Lebanon but hopes Israeli attacks push Hezbollah to a deal
Barak Ravid/Axios/September 21/2024
U.S. officials say the Biden administration is "extremely concerned" about the
risk of an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon, but hopes to use growing
Israeli military pressure on Hezbollah to get a diplomatic deal to return
civilians to their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border.Why it
matters: Israel and the U.S. are both looking for ways to decouple Hezbollah
from Hamas. Despite months of diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration,
Hezbollah hasn't agreed to any deal that would stop the current fighting with
Israel before there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Saturday, concerns of war continued to grow as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
claimed Hezbollah was preparing an imminent retaliation to the series of Israeli
attacks in Lebanon last week. Driving the news: An Israeli airstrike in Beirut
on Friday killed Hezbollah's top military commander Ibrahim Aqil and at least 15
other senior commanders, including those in charge of the elite Radwan force,
according to both the IDF and Hezbollah. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said 37
people were killed in the airstrike in a Beirut suburb, including three children
and seven women.
The airstrike came after Israeli intelligence services remotely detonated pagers
and Walkie-Talkies in attacks earlier in the week that killed dozens of people,
including at least two children, and wounded thousands more. Many were members
of Hezbollah's military units and institutions. Hezbollah leader Hassan
Nasrallah called the attacks "an unprecedented and historic blow."The latest:
Israeli fighter jets conducted numerous airstrikes on Saturday, including
against Hezbollah's medium-range rockets that the IDF claimed the militia was
planning to launch imminently. IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said 400
rocket launchers with thousands of launching barrels were attacked.
Hagari said Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant signed an order
designating all areas from Haifa to the border with Lebanon under emergency
ahead of possible attacks by Hezbollah. White House national security adviser
Jake Sullivan on Saturday said there is "a real and acute" danger of an all-out
war between Israel and Lebanon and that the U.S. is working on preventing that
from happening.
Lebanese acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Saturday he is
canceling his trip to the UN General Assembly in New York next week due to the
tense situation. The big picture: Israeli officials
said their increasing attacks against Hezbollah are not intended to lead to war
but are an attempt to reach "de-escalation through escalation."
The officials said Israel believes putting more pressure on Hezbollah
could push the militia to agree to a diplomatic deal that would return citizens
to northern Israel and southern Lebanon irrespective of the deadlocked
negotiations to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
U.S. officials told Axios they recognize Israel's rational and agree with it,
but stress this is an "extremely difficult calibration" that could easily go out
of control and lead to an all-out war. Behind the scenes: Sullivan, U.S.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Biden advisers Brett McGurk and Amos
Hochstein held several calls with their Israeli counterparts on Friday and
Saturday. "One of the key messages was that we want to keep a path open to a
diplomatic resolution and therefore don't want the Israelis to take steps that
will close such a path," a U.S. official said. Between
the lines: On the one hand, Biden administration officials said the Israeli
killing of Aqil provided justice for his role in the bombing of the U.S. embassy
and Marine barracks in Beirut 40 years ago. "Any time a terrorist who has
murdered Americans is brought to justice, we believe that that is a good
outcome," Sullivan told reporters on Saturday. On the
other hand, the U.S. is concerned the assassination and attacks put the
Israel-Hezbollah conflict on a slippery slope that could lead to war.
The U.S. made clear to Israel that such a war wouldn't help Israel
achieve its goal of returning tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their
homes on the border with Lebanon, U.S. officials said.
The officials admit they have limited influence on Israel's military decisions
and therefore are focused on reaching an understanding with Israeli leaders
about the "escalation dial." The Biden administration
asked Israel to refrain from actions like a ground invasion or wide-ranging
airstrikes in civilian areas that could escalate the conflict to a war and shut
down diplomatic efforts, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
"We have disagreements with the Israelis on tactics and how you measure
escalation risk," McGurk said on Friday. "It is a very concerning situation."
What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
Lee Keath/CAIRO (AP) /September 21, 2024
This week saw a dizzying escalation in the nearly yearlong conflict between
Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. First came two days of exploding pagers and
walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah — deadly attacks pinned on Israel that also
maimed civilians around Lebanon. Hezbollah's leader vowed to retaliate, and on
Friday the militant group launched a wave of rockets into northern Israel. Later
in the day, the commander of Hezbollah’s most elite unit was killed in a strike
in Beirut that killed dozens of others. Many fear the events are the prelude to
an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group
that is Lebanon’s most powerful armed force. A war threatens to bring
devastation in Lebanon, heavy missile fire into Israeli cities and further
destabilization to a region already shaken by the war in Gaza. During more than
11 months of exchanging fire over the Lebanese-Israeli border, both sides have
repeatedly pulled back when the spiral of reprisals appeared on the verge of
getting out of control, under heavy pressure from the U.S. and its allies. But
in recent weeks, Israeli leaders have warned of a possible bigger military
operation with the goal of stopping attacks from Lebanon to allow tens of
thousands of Israelis displaced by the fighting to return to homes near the
border.
Here are some things to know about the situation:
What were the latest strikes?
An Israeli airstrike Friday brought down a high-rise building in Beirut’s
southern suburbs, a Shiite-majority area known as Dahiyeh where Hezbollah has a
strong presence. At least 37 people were killed and more than 60 wounded, the
deadliest Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah
war. The Israeli military said the strike killed Ibrahim Akil, the commander of
Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit, as well as other top leaders of the unit.
Hezbollah later confirmed that Akil was killed, a heavy blow to Hezbollah’s most
effective fighters. Israel said Akil led the group’s campaign of rocket, drone
and other fire into northern Israel. The strike came after the shock of the
electronic device bombings, in which hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used
by Hezbollah detonated on Tuesday and Wednesday. At least 37 people were killed,
including two children, and around 3,000 were wounded. Israel has neither
confirmed nor denied its involvement. The casualties included some fighters from
the group, but many of the wounded were civilians connected to Hezbollah’s
social branches. Analysts say the attack has little effect on Hezbollah’s
manpower, but could disrupt its communications and force it to take tighter
security measures.
What is the situation on the border?
Hezbollah fired 140 rockets into northern Israel on Friday, saying it was
targeting military sites in retaliation for overnight Israeli strikes into
southern Lebanon. There was no immediate report of casualties. It was a
continuation of the near daily drumbeat of exchanges over the border since the
Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. The exchanges have killed around 600 people in
Lebanon – mostly fighters but including around 100 civilians — and about 50
soldiers and civilians in Israel. It has also forced tens of thousands of people
to evacuate homes near the border in both Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah has promised retaliation for the electronic device bombings,
raising fears of an escalation from the group. But Hezbollah also has proved
wary of further stoking the crisis — it hasn't carried out its vows of revenge
after Israel’s killing of a top commander, Fouad Shukur, in July. Hezbollah says
its attacks against Israel are in support of Hamas. This week, Nasrallah said
the barrages won’t end – and Israelis won’t be able to return to homes in the
north – until Israel’s campaign in Gaza ends. As fighting in Gaza has slowed,
Israel has fortified forces along the border with Lebanon, including the arrival
this week of a powerful army division that took part in some of the heaviest
fighting in Gaza. It's believed to include thousands of troops, including
paratrooper infantry units and artillery and elite commando forces specially
trained for operations behind enemy lines. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this
week declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus
toward Hezbollah. “The center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting
resources and forces,” he said.
What is Israel planning?
Israeli officials say they haven't yet made an official decision to expand
military operations against Hezbollah – and haven't said publicly what those
operations might be. This week, the head of Israel’s Northern Command was quoted
in local media as advocating for a ground invasion of Lebanon. A U.N.-brokered
truce to their 2006 war called on Hezbollah to pull back 29 kilometers (18
miles) from the border, but it has refused to, accusing Israel of also failing
to carry out some provisions. Israel is now demanding Hezbollah withdraw eight
to 10 kilometers (five to six miles) from the border – the range of Hezbollah’s
anti-tank guided missiles. Israel and Hezbollah’s 2006 war was a devastating
monthlong fight triggered when Hezbollah fighters kidnapped two Israeli soldiers
in a cross-border raid. In that war, Israel heavily bombarded southern Lebanon
and Beirut and sent a ground invasion into the south. The strategy, later
explained by Israeli commanders, was to inflict the maximum damage possible in
towns and neighborhoods where Hezbollah operated to deter them from launching
attacks. But Israel could have a more ambitious and contentious goal this time:
to seize a buffer zone in south Lebanon to push back Hezbollah fighters from the
border. A fight to hold territory threatens a longer, even more destructive and
destabilizing war – recalling Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation of southern Lebanon.
What would be the impact of a full-blown war?
The fear is that it could turn out even worse than the 2006 war, which was
traumatic enough for both sides to serve as a deterrent ever since. The fighting
then killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and an estimated 1,100 Lebanese
civilians and left large swaths of the south and even parts of Beirut in ruins.
More than 120 Israeli soldiers were killed and hundreds wounded. Hezbollah
missile fire on Israeli cities brought the war to the public, killing dozens of
civilians. Now, Israel estimates that Hezbollah possesses about 150,000 rockets
and missiles, some of which are precision-guided, putting the entire country
within range of Hezbollah fire. Israel has beefed up air defenses, but it's
unclear whether it can defend against the intense barrages expected in a new
war. Israel has vowed it could turn all of southern Lebanon into a battle zone,
saying Hezbollah has embedded rockets, weapons and forces along the border. And
in the heightened rhetoric of the past months, Israeli politicians have spoken
of inflicting the same damage in Lebanon that the military has wreaked in Gaza.
*Lee Keath, The Associated Press
Death toll from Israeli airstrike on Beirut suburb rises to
31 as Israel and Hezbollah trade fire
Bassem Mroue/BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) /September 21, 2024
The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb rose to 31,
including seven women and three children, Lebanon's health minister said on
Saturday, as Israel and Hezbollah traded fire. Firass Abiad told reporters 68
people were also wounded of whom 15 remained in hospital, adding that search and
rescue operations were still ongoing, with the number of casualties likely to
rise. The rare strike hit an apartment block in a densely populated southern
Beirut neighborhood on Friday afternoon during rush hour as people returned
home. It was the deadliest strike targeting the Lebanese capital since the 2006
Israel-Hezbollah war. Among those killed were Ibrahim Akil who was in charge of
Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, and Ahmed Wahbi, another senior commander in the
group's military wing. Wahbi was described as a commander who played major roles
within the group for decades and was imprisoned in an Israeli jail in south
Lebanon in 1984. Hezbollah said he was one of the “field commanders” of a 1997
ambush in southern Lebanon that left 12 Israeli troops dead. Hezbollah announced
overnight Friday that 15 of its operatives were killed by Israeli forces, but
did not elaborate on the location of these deaths. Meanwhile, the Israeli army
spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said on Saturday a total of 16 Hezbollah
fighters were killed in the strike. Israel earlier said Akil had been meeting
with other militants in the basement of the apartment block. Lebanese troops
cordoned off the area preventing people from reaching the building that was
knocked down as members of the Lebanese Red Cross stood nearby to take any
recovered body from under the rubble. On Saturday morning, Hezbollah’s media
office took journalists on a tour of the scene of the airstrike where workers
were still digging through the rubble. The Minister of Public Works and
Transport Ali Hamie told reporters at the scene that 23 people are still
missing. The airstrike on the crowded Qaim street knocked out an eight-story
building that had 16 apartments and damaged another one adjacent to it. The
missiles destroyed the building and cut through the basement where the meeting
of Hezbollah officials was being held, according to an Associated Press
journalist at the scene. In a nearby building, shops were badly damaged
including one that sold clothes and had a sign in English that read:
Friday's deadly strike came hours after Hezbollah launched one of its most
intense bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting, largely
targeting Israeli military sites. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system
intercepted most of the Katyusha rockets.
The militant group said its latest wave of rocket salvos was a response to past
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. However, it came days after mass explosions
of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies killed at least 37 people — including two
children. Some 2,900 others were wounded in the assault which has been widely
attributed to Israel. The Lebanese health minister said Saturday hospitals
across the country were filled with the wounded. Israel has neither confirmed
nor denied involvement in the attack which marked a major escalation in the past
11 months of simmering conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border.
On Saturday, Israel renewed an intense wave of airstrikes on southern Lebanon,
according to an Associated Press journalist in the area. The Israeli military
said its air force was attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, without providing
further details. The militant group responded by firing a large number of
rockets, local media reported. It remains unclear if there were any casualties
in the latest strikes. Earlier this week, Israel’s security cabinet said
stopping Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to allow residents to return
to their homes is now an official war goal, as it considers a wider military
operation in Lebanon that could spark an all-out conflict. Israel has since sent
a powerful fighting force to the northern border. The tit-for-tat strikes have
forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in both southern
Lebanon and northern Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire regularly since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on
southern Israel ignited the Israeli military’s devastating offensive in Gaza.
But previous cross-border attacks have largely struck areas in northern Israel
that had been evacuated and less-populated parts of southern Lebanon.
Five health workers killed in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that
five of its workers were killed, and five others injured, by Israeli fire that
struck the ministry’s warehouses in the southern Musbah area. Israel’s
bombardment of Gaza has already killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according
to the Gaza-based Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters
and civilians. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffery in Jerusalem contributed to
this report.
Joly says about 45,000 Canadians in Lebanon; she's
concerned about pager explosions
Dylan Robertson/The Canadian Press/September 20, 2024
OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says close to 45,000 Canadians
are in Lebanon, months after warning there is no guarantee Ottawa can evacuate
them if the situation deteriorates further. She is also expressing concern that
attacks like exploding pagers are only making the situation worse.
"My message to Canadians who even think of going to Lebanon is don't go, and
I've been saying that for months," she told reporters Friday in Toronto. Since
the brutal Hamas attack on Israel last October prompted Israel to bomb Gaza,
Hezbollah militants have been shooting rockets at northern Israel. That has
caused communities near the border to evacuate, and Israel to strike both
civilian and Hezbollah infrastructure. By late last October, Joly started urging
Canadians to leave Lebanon, saying that the military was assessing how to
conduct a possible evacuation of citizens if needed.
The government has never been clear on how many people may need to be evacuated,
only stating the number of individuals who had proactively registered with
Global Affairs Canada. That stood at around 21,400 people in late July, with
Ottawa cautioning many have not registered.
At that point, Joly had warned that "the situation on the ground may not allow
us to help you" if things get worse. On Friday, she specified how many people
could end up trapped. "We know that we have around 45,000 Canadians in Lebanon,"
she said. "We need to make sure that message (to leave) is clear, that it is
also well-followed by Canadians. And we need to make sure, also, that we're well
prepared." Joly said suffering in all parts of the region needs to end. "We are
very concerned for what is happening in Lebanon and of course, in the wider
Middle East," she said. Joly noted escalating violence in Lebanon including the
deadly attacks, widely attributed to Israel and said to have targeted Hezbollah
militants, which involved exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. The Associated
Press reported that the pager attack killed at least 12 people — including two
young children — and wounded thousands more. "Notwithstanding any form of
tactics or different strategies, at the end of the day we need this war to end,"
Joly said Friday. Her statement follows a social-media statement by Global
Affairs Canada late Wednesday that drew criticism from Israel advocates. "We are
gravely concerned about the reports that civilians, including children, have
been killed or injured," the department wrote, following the pager explosions.
"Canada is calling on all sides to avoid further escalations of violence and to
protect civilians."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.
EU member Cyprus calls on Lebanon, Israel to show
restraint in Middle East
Reuters/Sat, September 21, 2024
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's president called for restraint over escalating
tensions in the Middle East in separate telephone conversations with the
Lebanese and Israeli prime ministers on Saturday, his spokesperson said in a
statement. The east Mediterranean island is the closest European Union member
state to the Middle East, and has good relations with both Lebanon and Israel.
Cyprus was ready to act as a conduit for diplomacy as well as facilitate
contacts between the sides, said spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis. There
has been a sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran-backed
Hezbollah, a dominant force in Lebanon, since explosions of pagers and
walkie-talkies killed 39 and maimed thousands of its members this week, and an
Israeli airstrike on Friday killed 31 people, including 16 Hezbollah members.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides "expressed his strong concern" at the
escalation of tension in the region in phone calls to Lebanese Prime Minister
Najib Mikati and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, said Letymbiotis. "He underlined
the need for an immediate end to actions that may lead to further
destabilisation but also have wider regional effects," he said. Christodoulides
underscored the importance of solving disputes through dialogue and diplomacy,
within the framework of UN resolutions and international law. "To this end the
president referred to the readiness of Cyprus to continue to be a conduit of
such efforts, as well as contact between the sides on the basis of excellent
relations with all countries in the region," said Letymbiotis. Earlier this
year, Cyprus became a bridge in delivering badly-needed humanitarian aid into
Israel-beseiged Gaza. It has also said it would assist in an evacuation of
civilians from the region if tensions were to escalate.
Israel stages heavy strikes on south Lebanon as
Hezbollah shells Israeli posts
Naharnet/September 21, 2024
Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes on areas across south Lebanon
and West Bekaa on Saturday, as Hezbollah rockets targeted north Israel and
reached Safad. Hezbollah said it fired salvos of Katyusha rockets at five
Israeli military positions in northern Israel and another in the Israeli-annexed
Golan Heights, as the Israeli army said it was striking “Hezbollah targets” in
south Lebanon. Hezbollah said its attacks were in response to Israeli attacks
"on steadfast southern villages and civilian houses." TV networks said the
Israeli airstrikes were the heaviest since the eruption of clashes on October 8.
Israel says it has started a new phase in the war with the aim of returning its
displaced residents to their homes in northern Israel. On Tuesday and Wednesday,
pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon,
killing 37 people and wounding around 3,000 others in unprecedented mass attacks
blamed on Israel. On Thursday, Israel carried out two waves of heavy airstrikes
on south Lebanon and a mock raid over Beirut and its suburbs. On Friday, Israeli
warplanes bombed a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing at least 37
people and wounding dozens while many more are still missing. Hezbollah said two
of its commanders and 14 fighters of the elite Radwan unit were killed in that
strike, as caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad said the dead included three
children and seven women.
36 dead, 68 hurt as Hezbollah says 2 commanders and 14
fighters killed in Dahieh strike
Agence France PresseAssociated Press/September 21, 2024
Hezbollah said Saturday that a second senior commander was among 16 fighters
killed in an Israeli air strike on its Beirut stronghold the previous day,
highlighting the scale of the blow to its military leadership. Israel said
Friday's strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital killed the head of
Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Akil, and several other commanders.
Caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Saturday the death toll has risen
to 36, including seven women and three children. Abiad told reporters that 68
people were also wounded of whom 15 remain in hospital, in the deadliest Israeli
airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs since the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah
war. Coming hot on the heels of sabotage attacks on communications devices this
week that killed 37 people in Hezbollah strongholds, the strike raised new
questions about the Iran-backed group's security arrangements and dealt an
apparent heavy blow to its fighters' morale. Hezbollah named the second
commander as Ahmad Mahmoud Wehbi, saying he had headed the group's operations
against Israel from the onset of the Gaza war in October until the start of this
year. Confirming the death of Akil, who was wanted by the United States for
involvement in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Hezbollah hailed
him as "one of its great leaders." Friday's strike left a massive crater and
gutted the lower floors of a high-rise building. It was the second Israeli
strike on the Hezbollah military leadership since the start of the Gaza war. An
Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs in July killed Fouad Shukur, a top
operations chief for the group. It also followed sabotage attacks on pagers and
two-way radios used by Hezbollah on Tuesday and Wednesday, which killed 37
people and wounded around 3,000 others, raising fears of a wider war. Stephane
Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the world
body was "very concerned about the heightened escalation" and called for
"maximum restraint" from all sides. The Israeli military said it conducted a
"targeted strike" against Akil, which a source close to Hezbollah said killed a
total of 16 Radwan Force members. The source said Akil was "at a meeting with
commanders" when he was killed. The United States had offered a $7 million
reward for information on Akil, describing him as a "principal member" of an
organization that claimed the 1983 embassy bombing, which killed 63 people.
Spearhead
Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have battled each other along the
Israel-Lebanon border since Hamas militants triggered the war in Gaza with their
October 7 attack. The focus of Israel's firepower for nearly a year has been on
Gaza, but with Hamas much weakened, that focus has now moved to Israel's
northern border. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's "enemies" would
find no refuge, not even in Beirut's southern suburbs. Israeli military
spokesman Daniel Hagari said after the strike that Israel was "not aiming for a
broad escalation in the region."But Hamas called it a "brutal and terrorist
aggression" and an "escalation."Iran's foreign ministry accused Israel of
seeking to "broaden the geography of the war." Months of near-daily cross-border
exchanges have killed hundreds in Lebanon, most of them fighters, and dozens in
Israel, forcing tens of thousands on both sides to flee their homes. The latest
blow to Hezbollah came after thousands of Hezbollah operatives' pagers and
walkie-talkies exploded over two days, killing 37 people and wounding thousands.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Thursday that Israel would face
retribution for those blasts. Before Friday's Beirut strike, Israel said
Hezbollah had fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon following air attacks that
allegedly destroyed dozens of the militant group's launchers. Speaking to troops
on Wednesday, Gallant said "Hezbollah will pay an increasing price" as Israel
tries to "ensure the safe return" of its citizens to border areas."We are at the
start of a new phase in the war," he said. Akil's Radwan Force spearheaded
Hezbollah's ground operations, and Israel has repeatedly demanded through
international mediators that its fighters be pushed back from the border.
- 'Fear of wider war' -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed by a day his scheduled
departure to the United States, where he is due to address the U.N. General
Assembly. On Friday the U..N's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk,
told the Security Council the attack on Hezbollah communications devices
violated international law and could constitute a war crime. The pagers and
walkie-talkies exploded as their users were shopping in supermarkets, walking on
streets and attending funerals, plunging Lebanon into panic. "I am appalled by
the breadth and impact of the attacks," said Turk, adding that it "is a war
crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians."
International mediators, including the United States, have been scrambling to
stop the Gaza war from becoming an all-out regional conflict.
Israeli army says dozens of warplanes striking 'widely' in
south Lebanon
Agence France Presse/September 21, 2024
The Israeli military said dozens of warplanes were striking Hezbollah targets in
southern Lebanon late Saturday, as cross-border exchanges intensify amid growing
fears of all-out war. Israel also announced additional security measures for
Israel's north. "In the last hour we are attacking widely in southern Lebanon
following the identification of Hezbollah's preparations to fire into Israeli
territory," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised
statement shortly after 8:00 pm (1700 GMT). "Dozens of air force aircraft are
currently attacking terror targets and launchers to eliminate threats against
the citizens of Israel."Another wave of airstrikes followed around three hours
later. Earlier in the day the Israeli military said it had hit thousands of
rocket launcher barrels and other targets belonging to Hezbollah. The barrages
came one day after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed 37
people, according to Lebanese officials, including senior commanders of
Hezbollah. Friday's strike followed sabotage attacks on pagers and two-way
radios used by Hezbollah on Tuesday and Wednesday, which killed 39 people and
wounded around 3,000. Hezbollah blamed Israel, which has not commented.
Hezbollah began cross-border attacks on Israel after Hamas' unprecedented
October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. Tens of
thousands of people have been displaced from both sides of the Israel-Lebanon
border. On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an
expansion of Israel's war goals to include the return of northern Israeli
residents. "It is possible that rockets and additional threats will be launched
towards the country in the near future," Hagari said in his televised statement.
In a separate statement late Saturday, the military said it was tightening
restrictions on public gatherings in northern Israel. "Gatherings will be
limited to 30 participants in an open area, to 300 participants in a closed
space," the statement said. "Arrival to work is permitted as long as there is a
protected space available, and educational activities can continue as long as
there are protected spaces available," the statement added, referring to
shelters.
UK says working to de-escalate and end cycle of violence in
Middle East
Naharnet/September 21, 2024
Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., has
said that the UK is working to de-escalate and end the cycle of violence in
Middle East, during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the latest developments
in the region. "This past year has seen continuous and devastating violence
across the region. Civilians have suffered on a dreadful scale on both sides of
the Blue Line. The explosions in Lebanon this week and Israel’s strike in
southern Beirut today are the latest in a deadly cycle of violence, and we are
deeply concerned by civilian casualties resulting from those incidents. That
children were among them is particularly distressing. Our condolences go to the
families of the civilians killed," Kariuki said. "My Foreign Secretary made our
view clear last night: we need an immediate ceasefire on both sides. We are
working in lockstep with our allies to de-escalate tensions and end this
destructive cycle," he added. "We want to see the implementation of a political
plan, based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which allows both Israeli
and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes and live in peace and security.
We are ready to play our role in a diplomatic process to achieve that," the
envoy said. Accusing Hezbollah of launching an "unprovoked attack on Israel on 8
October 2023," Kariuki added that "since then, Israel has faced a near-daily
barrage of Hezbollah rockets.""We are resolute in our support for Israel’s right
to defend its citizens against such threats. However, in doing so, international
humanitarian law must be fully respected, and all possible steps taken to avoid
civilian casualties," he said. "Now is the time for calm heads and an urgent
focus on an immediate ceasefire to create the space for negotiations," Kariuki
added.
Iran condemns 'vicious' Israeli air strike in Dahieh
Agence France Presse/September 21, 2024
Iran's foreign ministry has condemned an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern
suburbs that killed a top commander of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah and several
others as an attempt to broaden the war in Gaza. "The brutal and vicious air
strike of the Zionist regime on Beirut... is a gross violation of international
law and regulations, as well as the violation of Lebanon's sovereignty,
territorial integrity and national security," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser
Kanani said in a statement. "There is no doubt that the Zionist regime seeks to
intensify the tensions and broaden the geography of war and conflict in the
region," he stated, adding that "such a vicious policy is a clear and maximum
threat to international peace and security." Iran's arch-enemy Israel announced
it had killed Ibrahim Akil, the commander of Hezbollah's elite unit, in a strike
that left at least 31 people killed and scores of others wounded.
UN denounces device blasts as Bou Habib slams Israel as
'rogue state'
Agence France Presse/September 21, 2024
The United Nations said Friday the detonation of hand-held communication devices
in Lebanon could constitute a war crime as Lebanon's top diplomat accused Israel
of orchestrating what he called a "terror" attack. The blasts that killed at
least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday targeted
communication devices used by Hezbollah. Pagers and walkie-talkies exploded as
their users were shopping in supermarkets, walking on streets and attending
funerals, plunging the country into panic. "International humanitarian law
prohibits the use of booby-trap devices in the form of apparently harmless
portable objects," the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk,
told the Security Council during an emergency session on Lebanon requested by
Algeria. "It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among
civilians," he added, repeating his call for an "independent, rigorous and
transparent" investigation. Lebanese authorities blame Israel for the attack and
have said the targeted devices were booby-trapped before they entered the
country. Hezbollah has vowed retribution and launched its own internal probe
into the explosions. "I am appalled by the breadth and impact of the attacks,"
said Turk. "These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where
communication tools become weapons," he added. "This cannot be the new
normal."Speaking at the Security Council, Lebanon's top diplomat Abdallah Bou
Habib called the attack "an unprecedented method of warfare in its brutality and
terror." "Israel, through this terrorist aggression has violated the basic
principles of international humanitarian law," he said, calling Israel a "rogue
state."
'Diplomatic efforts' -
Israel has not commented on the device blasts but has said it will widen the
scope of its war in Gaza to include the Lebanon front. "I can tell you that we
will do everything we can to target those terrorists," Israel's ambassador to
the U.N. Danny Danon told reporters on Friday when asked about the device
explosions. He spoke after Israel announced it had killed the commander of
Hezbollah's elite unit in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday. "We
have no intention to enter a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we cannot
continue the way it is," Danon said. Speaking at the Security Council, Danon
said Israel will do "whatever it takes" to restore security in northern areas.
"If Hezbollah does not retreat from our border... through diplomatic efforts,
Israel will be left with no choice but to use any means within our rights," he
said. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
said the body was "very concerned about the heightened escalation" across the
Lebanon-Israel frontier after Friday's Israeli strike on Beirut. He called for
"maximum restraint" from all sides. Iran-backed Hezbollah is an ally of
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting a war in Gaza since
its October 7 attack on Israel. For nearly a year, the focus of Israel's
firepower has been on Gaza but its troops have also been engaged in near-daily
clashes with Hezbollah militants along its northern border. Hundreds have been
killed in Lebanon, most of them fighters, and dozens in Israel, including
soldiers.
Hezbollah 'financier' pleads guilty to evading US sanctions
Agence France Presse/September 21, 2024
A former Lebanese diplomat accused of being a financier for Hezbollah has
pleaded guilty to evading U.S. financial sanctions against him and his
organization, branded as "terrorist" by the U.S. government. Mohammad Ibrahim
Bazzi, 60, who holds Lebanese, British and Belgian citizenship, pleaded guilty
in a federal court in New York to conspiracy to conduct unlawful transactions
with an international terrorist, according to a statement from the U.S.
Department of Justice. Bazzi had "accepted responsibility for his role in
conspiring to secretly move hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United
States to Lebanon in violation of sanctions placed on him for assisting the
terrorist group Hezbollah," U.S. prosecutor Breon Peace said. Bazzi faces up to
20 years imprisonment, as well as deportation and forfeiture of the $828,528
involved in illegal transactions.
No sentencing date has been set. The State Department in May 2018 had declared
Bazzi to be a "specially designated global terrorist" and offered a $10 million
reward for information leading to his capture. The Treasury Department's Office
of Foreign Assets Control has said Bazzi "has provided millions of dollars to
Hezbollah over the years, generated from his business activities in Belgium,
Lebanon, Iraq and throughout West Africa."In February 2023, he was arrested in
Romania and extradited to the U.S. The U.S. attorney's statement said Bazzi had
worked with an accomplice, Talal Chahine, who remains on the loose in Lebanon.
It said the two men attempted to launder their transactions through purchases
and fictitious loans of equipment for a restaurant in China, a property in
Lebanon and a family loan to Kuwait. According to investigative journalism
outlet ProPublica, Bazzi was appointed honorary consul in Lebanon by the
government of Gambia in 2005. The volunteer diplomat role helped him access
unique connections and benefits.
Woman whose firm was linked to exploding pagers is under
Hungarian protection
Associated Press/September 21, 2024
The woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in
Lebanon and Syria this week is under the protection of the Hungarian secret
services, her mother told The Associated Press on Friday. Cristiana
Bársony-Arcidiacono has not appeared publicly since the deadly simultaneous
attack that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday and that has been widely blamed on
Israel. She is listed as the CEO of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which the
Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers said was responsible for the
manufacture of the devices. Her mother, Beatrix Bársony-Arcidiacono, told the AP
that her daughter had received unspecified threats and "is currently in a safe
place protected by the Hungarian secret services." The "Hungarian secret
services advised her not to talk to media," she said by phone from Sicily.
Hungary's national security authorities did not immediately respond to a request
for comment, and the AP could not independently verify the claim. Two days of
attacks this week, first targeting pagers and then walkie-talkies, have killed
at least 37 people and wounded more than 3,000, including civilians. Hezbollah
and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel, which has neither confirmed nor
denied involvement. Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono's company came under scrutiny
after Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, said it had authorized BAC Consulting to
use its name on the pagers that were used in the first attack, but that the
Hungarian company was responsible for manufacturing and design. On Wednesday, a
Hungarian government spokesman said the pagers delivered to Hezbollah were never
in Hungary, and that BAC Consulting merely acted as an intermediary. Beatrix
Bársony-Arcidiacono, who also uses the name Beatrice, echoed that. "She is not
involved in any way, she was just a broker. The items did not pass through
Budapest. ... They were not produced in Hungary," she said. BAC Consulting
shares the ground floor of a modest building in Budapest with numerous other
enterprises, but has no physical offices and uses the property in Hungary's
capital — like the other companies based there — only as an official address,
according to a woman who emerged from the building earlier this week and refused
to be named. The company's website said it specialized in "environment,
development, and international affairs." The corporate registry listed 118
official functions including sugar and oil production, retail jewelry sales and
natural gas extraction. The company brought in $725,000 in revenue in 2022 and
$593,000 in 2023, according to the company registry. Last year, the company
spent nearly $324,000, or around 55% of its revenue, on "equipment." The
company's website has been unavailable since Wednesday. Beatrix
Bársony-Arcidiacono said her daughter was born in Sicily and studied at the
University of Catania there before pursuing a Ph.D. in London. She worked in
Paris and Vienna before moving to Budapest in October 2016 to care for her
elderly grandmother. In May 2022, she incorporated the company at the heart of
the mystery of the pagers. On social media, the younger Bársony-Arcidiacono
describes herself as a strategic adviser and business developer who has worked
for major international organizations as well as for venture capital firms. Her
company's website said she has a doctorate in physics.
The 49-year-old received the degree from University College London, where she
was enrolled in the early to mid-2000s, according to her LinkedIn page. There,
she worked with Ákos Kövér, a Hungarian physicist and now-retired professor, who
confirmed her enrollment. Kövér said in an email to the AP: "At the time, we
also published some joint articles. I am not aware of her other activities." She
interned at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2008 and 2009, as
confirmed by the agency, and once co-authored a paper for a UNESCO conference
discussing the management of underground water.
On her social media accounts, she posted pictures from France, the U.K and other
places, mostly selfies or photos of places she was said she was visiting. Few
friends interacted with her messages, some inviting her to come visit or
commenting on her appearance.
She speaks English, French, Italian and Hungarian, according to her social
media, where she has occasionally made comments criticizing Ukraine or in
support of children in Gaza.
IDF confirms assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, names 15
Hezbollah commanders killed in strike
Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
These Hezbollah commanders have been orchestrating attacks against Israel for
years. Israel Air Force jets, guided by the Intelligence Directorate, killed
Ibrahim Aqil, in addition to 15 other Hezbollah Radwan Force commanders, during
a meeting in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut on Friday evening, the IDF
confirmed in a statement issued Saturday afternoon. Among the terrorists killed
was Abu Hassan Samir, who served as the head of the Radwan Force training unit.
He held various positions within Hezbollah and was commander of the Radwan Force
for a decade until early 2024. Samir was one of the orchestrators of the
"Conquer the Galilee" attack plan. He was involved in furthering Hezbollah's
entrenchment in southern Lebanon while strengthening the terrorist
organization's ground combat abilities. The Radwan Force commander had planned
and executed numerous shooting attacks and infiltrations into Israeli territory.
Additional Hezbollah commanders who were killed in the strike. The additional
Radwan Force commanders who were killed in the strike were Samer Abdul-Halim
Halawi, commander of the coastal area; Abbas Sami Maslamani, commander of the
Qana area; Abdullah Abbas Hajazi, commander of the Ramim Ridge area; Muhammed
Ahmad Reda, commander of the Al-Khiam area; and Hassan Hussein Madi, commander
of the Mount Dov area. These commanders have been leading attacks against Israel
for years. Additionally, senior officials in Hezbollah and within the Radwan
Force headquarters were killed. These include Hassan Yussef Abad Alssatar, who
was responsible for Radwan Force operations. He led and advanced all of the
force's rocket fire operations. Hussein Ahmad Dahraj, Chief of Staff of the
Radwan Force, was also killed in the strike. He was involved in the transfer of
weapons and the strengthening of the organization.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-821125
Strike that killed Ibrahim Aqil targeted 20 Hezbollah Radwan commanders in
parking lot - report
Maariv Online/September 21/2024
The IDF strike was defined as a "necessary opportunity for execution." The
political leadership approved, and so the strike was carried out. The IDF strike
that killed ten Radwan Force commanders, including Ibrahim Aqil, on Friday was
during a meeting with 20 commanders from the Hezbollah special operations forces
in a parking lot in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut. The meeting comprised of
the exact number of commanders was initially reported by Al Jazeera, which also
reported that the meeting was in the second underground level of the parking lot
and that the IDF strike was carried out with four missiles that caused the
structure to collapse, reaching the floor where the meeting was taking place.
The entire meeting lasted only a few hours, according to Army Radio. This was
not a long-planned assassination but rather the exploitation of an "operational
opportunity" when intelligence came in about Aqil and the senior leaders
gathering in an underground operational apartment. Despite the complexity of
striking an underground apartment, once the intelligence came in, the IAF
quickly planned the operation. The assassination was immediately relayed to IDF
Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who was visiting the northern region at the time.
Halevi approved the strike and submitted it for political approval.
Strike was "a necessary opportunity"
The attack was defined by a Maariv report as a "necessary opportunity for
execution." The political leadership approved, and so the strike was carried
out. Maariv quoted Israeli security officials saying that "Nasrallah is now left
without the two most important people who sat beside him in every situation
assessment. When we talk about a 'new phase in the war,' this is exactly what we
mean. Beirut used to be the red line – now, there are no more red lines."
Netanyahu firm on new phase of Hezbollah war as UN warns
of catastrophe
Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
“Our goals are clear, our actions speak for themselves,” Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu stated.
Updated: SEPTEMBER 21, 2024 02:20 Israel on Friday stood firm on the need for a
new and expanded phase of its almost year-long war with Hezbollah as the UN
warned of catastrophe and the US called for diplomacy. “Our goals are clear; our
actions speak for themselves,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated. Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant also underscored that point in a separate statement,
explaining, “We will continue pursuing our enemies in order to defend our
citizens - even in the Dahieh in Beirut. “The series of operations in the new
phase of the war will continue until we achieve our goal: ensuring the safe
return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” Gallant stated. They
spoke as Israel pivoted in the direction of a military solution to return the
more than 60,000 Israelis to their homes in northern Israel, a move that
appeared to mark a sharp break with the Biden administration. The region was
braced for retaliatory escalation after the IDF claimed it killed ten senior
Hezbollah commanders were killed along with Ibrahim Aqil, leader of the
movement's Radwan special forces unit, during a targeted airstrike in Beirut.
"This elimination is intended to protect the citizens of Israel," an army
spokesperson said in a brief statement to the press, adding that Israel was not
seeking regional escalation. Earlier in the week, an unusual series of
explosions that targeted beepers, radios, and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah
fighters were set off across Lebanon, killing 37 people, including at least two
children, and injuring more than 3,000 people, many of whom were members of
Hezbollah. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the beeper explosions, but
it is widely presumed that it is responsible for those attacks. In light of the
escalating military situation in northern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu delayed his departure for the United Nations until Wednesday, when he
expected to address the high-level opening of the UN General Assembly on
Thursday. The security cabinet is expected to meet on Sunday. US President Joe
Biden told reporters on Friday that Israelis and Lebanese civilians must be able
to safely live in their border communities. “We’ve tried from the beginning to
make sure that the people of northern Israel, as well as southern Lebanon, are
able to get back to their homes and go back safely,” Biden told reporters at the
start of his cabinet meeting at the White House.US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and “Our whole team is working
with the intelligence community to try and get it done, and we are going to keep
at it until we get it done, but we have a ways to go,” Biden said. US National
Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters that the US was not
involved in IDF military attacks on Lebanon, including the one that killed Aqil.
The US had also previously denied any involvement in the beeper explosions.
“There was no US involvement,” Kirby said, adding that “we believe that there is
still time and space for diplomacy to work.”“We don't want to see escalation. We
don't want to see a second war, a second front in this war opened up at the
border with Lebanon,” Kirby stressed, adding that “everything we're doing is
going to be involved in trying to prevent that outcome.”
"There is no reason for an expanded military conflict in Lebanon to be
inevitable,” Kirby stated.
"To protect the citizens of Israel"
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Israel’s actions in Lebanon
this week could spark a regional war in comments delivered by his spokesperson
Stephane Dujarric.“We are very concerned at the heightened escalation across the
blue line, including the deadly strike we saw in Beirut. Today,” Dujarric told
reporters. “We urge all parties to de-escalate immediately. All must exercise
maximum restraint. We also urge the parties to immediately return to the
cessation of hostilities and to fully implement [UN] Security Council Resolution
1701. The region is on the brink of a catastrophe."“All efforts should be made
to spare in urgently pursuing diplomatic activity. All efforts should focus on
urgently finding a diplomatic activity,” Dujarric stated. The UN Security
Council held a special session on the Israeli-Lebanese crisis on Friday in New
York. UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council
that if violence continues between Israel, Palestinian terror group Hamas, and
Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, then "we risk seeing a conflagration that
could dwarf even the devastation and suffering witnessed so far." UN human
rights chief Volker Turk said it was "difficult to conceive how, in these
circumstances, such attacks could possibly conform with the key principles of
distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, under international
humanitarian law."Turk called for an independent, thorough, and transparent
investigation and for those who ordered and carried out the attacks to be held
accountable.Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib accused Israel of
carrying out the attacks and told the council: "No one in this world is safe
anymore." He showed the council a large picture of a bloody hand with missing
fingers. "We came to the council to protect our common humanity and to ask you
to condemn the terrorist Israeli attacks clearly and unequivocally, to hold
Israel accountable for planning and implementing these attacks and for violating
the sovereignty of Lebanon and its territorial integrity," he said.
*Reuters contributed to this report.
Hungarian intelligence agency interviewed CEO linked to
exploding Hezbollah pagers
Reuters/September 21/2024
Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of BAC
Consulting, told NBC News earlier this week that she did not make the pagers and
said she was "just the intermediate."She speaks seven languages, has a PhD in
particle physics, an apartment in Budapest plastered with her own pastel
drawings of nudes, and a career that took her around Africa and Europe doing
humanitarian work. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO
and owner of BAC Consulting, told NBC News earlier this week that she did not
make the pagers and said she was "just the intermediate."
After her company was revealed to have licensed the design for the pagers from
their original Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, Barsony-Arcidiacono told NBC
News that she didn't make them. Hungarian intelligence services have conducted
several interviews with the CEO of BAC Consulting, a Budapest-based company
linked to deadly explosions of pagers used by Hezbollah members this week, the
Hungarian government said on Saturday. Taiwanese pager firm Gold Apollo said on
Wednesday that the model of pagers used in detonations in Lebanon were made by
BAC Consulting, adding it had only licensed out its brand to the company and was
not involved in the production of the devices. Since then, she has not appeared
in public. Neighbors say they haven't seen her. Barsony-Arcidiacono has not
responded to Reuters calls and emails and there was no answer when Reuters
visited her private address in downtown Budapest. Her flat in a stately old
Budapest building, where a door to a vestibule had been open earlier in the
week, has been shuttered. On Saturday the Hungarian government said that its
intelligence services have conducted several interviews with Barsony-Arcidiacono
since the explosions. Hungarian government says that BAC Consulting was a
'trading-intermediary company'
Following publication of this story, Reuters again reached out to her but
received no reply. The Hungarian government said on Wednesday that BAC
Consulting was a “trading-intermediary company” that had no manufacturing site
in the country and that the pagers had never been to Hungary. Discussions with
acquaintances and former work colleagues paint a picture of a woman with an
impressive intellect and a peripatetic career in a string of short-term jobs in
which she never quite settled down. An acquaintance of hers, who like others who
knew her socially in Budapest asked not to be identified, called her
"Good-willed, not a business type." The person said she appeared to be someone
who is always enthusiastic to try something new and readily believed things.
Kilian Kleinschmidt, a veteran ex-UN humanitarian administrator who hired
Barsony-Arcidiacono in 2019 to run a six-month Dutch-funded program to train
Libyans in Tunisia in subjects such as hydroponics, IT and business development,
described hiring her as a big "mistake." After disagreements in how she managed
staff, he said he let her go before her contract was over, which Reuters could
not independently verify.
At her Budapest home, a steel outer gate encloses a small vestibule where life
drawings of nudes sketched in red and orange pastels can be seen taped up on the
wall. An inner door leading into her apartment was ajar when Reuters first
visited the building on Wednesday, and closed when the reporter returned on
Thursday. No one answered the bell. A woman living in the building for the past
two years said Barsony-Arcidiacono was already a resident when she moved in, and
described her as kind, not loud, but communicative. She practiced her drawing as
part of a Budapest art club, though she hadn't attended for a couple of years,
said the organizer of the group, who said she seemed like more of a
businesswoman than an artist but was upbeat and outgoing.
A school mate of Barsony-Arcidiacono said she grew up in a family with a working
father and housewife mother in Santa Venerina, near Catania in eastern Sicily,
and attended high school nearby. He described her as a quite reserved youngster.
In the early 2000s she earned her PhD in physics at University College London,
where her dissertation on positrons - a subatomic particle with the mass of an
electron and a positive charge - remains available on the UCL website. But she
appears to have left without pursuing a scientific career. "As far as I know she
has not done scientific work since then," Akos Torok, a retired physicist who
was one of her professors at UCL and published papers with her at the time, told
Reuters by email. A resume she used to get the job working for Kleinschmidt
included references to other post-graduate degrees, in politics and development,
from the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African
Studies, which Reuters was not able to verify. She then went on to describe a
string of jobs working on NGO projects in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In
a separate CV on the BAC Consulting website, she described herself as a "Board
Member at the Earth Child Institute," an educational and environmental charity
in New York. The group's founder, Donna Goodman, told Reuters
Barsony-Arcidiacono had never held any role there. "She was a friend of a friend
of a board member, and contacted us about a job opening" in 2018, Goodman said.
"But she was never invited to apply."
That CV also described her as a former "Project Manager" at the International
Atomic Energy Agency in 2008-2009, who organized a nuclear research conference.
The IAEA said its records indicated she had been an intern there for eight
months. On BAC Consulting's website, which was taken down by the end of this
week, the company gave little idea of its actual business in Hungary. Its
registered address is a serviced office in a Budapest suburb. "I am a scientist
using my very diverse background to work on interdisciplinary projects for
strategic decision-making(water & climate policy, investments),"
Barsony-Arcidiacono wrote on her CV. "With excellent analytical, language, and
interpersonal skills, I enjoy working and leading in a multicultural environment
where diversity, integrity, and humor are valued."
Sullivan says Israel-Lebanon escalation worrying, justice
served in strike on Hezbollah
Reuters/September 21/2024
Sullivan said the Friday strike served justice to Aqil, who was wanted by the US
for two 1983 Beirut truck bombings that killed more than 300 people at the
American embassy and a US Marines barracks. US National Security Adviser Jake
Sullivan on Saturday said he was worried about escalation between Israel and
Lebanon but that the Israeli killing of a top Hezbollah leader brought justice
to the Iran-backed group. Sullivan, speaking with reporters in Wilmington,
Delaware, said he still sees a path to a ceasefire in Gaza but that the US is
"not at a point right now where we're prepared to put something on the table."
Sullivan said the US is continuing to work with Qatar and Egypt as the two
countries talk with Hamas but that Washington, as it talks with Israel, is not
in a position to propose a deal that could be accepted by both parties. "Could
that change over the course of the coming days? It could," Sullivan said.
Hezbollah overnight said 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil
and another top commander, Ahmed Wahbi, were among the 37 people that Lebanon's
Hezbollah-run health ministry said were killed in an Israeli airstrike in a
Beirut suburb on Friday. The strike served justice to the Hezbollah commander.
Sullivan said the Friday strike served justice to Aqil, who was wanted by the US
for two 1983 Beirut truck bombings that killed more than 300 people at the
American embassy and a US Marines barracks. "Any time a terrorist who has
murdered Americans is brought to justice, we believe that that is a good
outcome.”
Fires ignited in northern Israel by Hezbollah rockets,
IDF strikes terrorist targets in Lebanon
Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
Hezbollah launched over 60 rockets into northern Israel, according to the
group's affiliated Al-Mayadeen. The IDF carried out a series of strikes in
Lebanon on targets belonging to Hezbollah, the military announced Saturday
afternoon. Immediately following Israel's strikes, rocket sirens sounded in a
number of northern Israeli communities, including Safed and Kiryat Shmona, among
others. Hezbollah launched over 60 rockets into northern Israel, according to
the group's affiliated Al-Mayadeen. Israel Police later confirmed that there
were several fallen rockets in the northern district which has resulted in
several fires being ignited. Israel's Fire and Rescue services are currently
tackling the flames. Police are continuing their search for the remains of
rockets and have instructed the public to avoid approaching any remains that
they discover. There are no reports at this time of any injuries or damage.
'The gloves are off': Beirut strike signals end of symmetry
with Hezbollah, expert says
Peled Arbeli/Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
"Part of the decision is that there is no intention to continue playing this
symmetric game that Israel has been playing with Hezbollah so far," Lt. Col.
(res.) Yaron Buskila told Maariv. Friday's IDF strike on Beirut, which killed
nearly a dozen members of Hezbollah's Radwan Force senior commanders, including
the unit's chief, Ibrahim Aqil, sent a message that Israel has decided to "take
the gloves off" in its engagements with Hezbollah, Israel Defense and Security
Forum CEO Lt. Col. (res.) Yaron Buskila told Maariv in the immediate wake of the
strike. "The strike itself in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut is essentially a
statement. It doesn't matter who the target was. The fact that terrorists were
struck in Beirut is a very significant message from Israel to Hezbollah,"
Buskila said. He continued, "Part of the decision is that there is no intention
to continue playing this symmetric game that Israel has been playing with
Hezbollah so far, and Israel understands that Hezbollah can respond
significantly. For Israel, there is readiness for war, and the center of gravity
is shifting to northern Israel. The IDF has decided that the Northern Command
will become the main arena, while Gaza will become secondary. This is not just
an empty statement; it's a real, significant one, saying we are entering a
campaign, even if it means entering a much tougher war." Buskila continued,
saying, "I think if Hezbollah believed that with the pager and radio attacks,
Israel would stop because it didn't want escalation, the strike in the heart of
Dahiyeh is a very clear message to the contrary." He went on to say, "Iran and
Hezbollah can understand that Israel is determined to move forward, and it's
also a message to the Americans. The Americans don't want Israel to go into a
campaign against Lebanon right now." "They are focused on maintaining regional
stability. However, we are unwilling to accept what has been. What was will not
continue to be. Israel is not just saying this in words, but also in actions. We
want to return our residents to their homes safely, without the threat of
Hezbollah sitting right on the border." "Israel will utilize everything at its
disposal to strike Hezbollah and restore peace" In conclusion, he said: "
Negotiations have failed so far, and Hezbollah hasn’t withdrawn or reached any
agreements. As a result, we are prepared to use all available force. Even
without relying on American munitions—since their supply has diminished, as
Kamala Harris clearly stated—Israel will utilize everything at its disposal to
strike Hezbollah and restore peace to the northern border."
A ground invasion of Lebanon would be a terrible mistake
for Israel
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/September 21, 2024
In an unprecedented operation, Israel was able to turn handheld pagers and other
communications devices used by Hezbollah members into explosive weapons.
In a huge blow to the group, Israel detonated the sabotaged devices and put
about 3,000 of its operatives out of commission. Hezbollah’s leader Hassan
Nasrallah described the attack as “harsh and unprecedented.”Following two days
of explosions caused by the booby-trapped devices, Israeli forces intensified
their bombing of southern Lebanon. Israel is buttressed and it has been
speculated that the attacks on Hezbollah might pave the way for a ground
invasion. However, this would be a grave strategic mistake for Israel. Nasrallah
looked pale during his televised speech following the attacks. Despite vowing
that Israel would pay the price for its actions, his tone was unusually subdued.
Though dogmatic, he is not suicidal. He knows that this is not the time to
escalate the conflict. He realizes his house is in a shambles.
The attacks would not have succeeded unless the Israelis had informers inside
the organization. The Lebanese people are divided; a majority blame the group
for directly involving Lebanon in the wider conflict with Israel. On the other
hand, Hezbollah is now so invested in the conflict that halting its attacks on
Israel before a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is in place would be viewed as a
total defeat for the group. Israeli authorities feel emboldened following their
successful operation. Previously, there had been discussions about whether or
not to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon. When the minister of defense opposed
any such wide-scale operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to
replace him. Now that Hezbollah is significantly weakened, Israeli authorities
might feel encouraged to proceed with a ground operation. From their
perspective, it would deliver a decisive knock-out blow on the ground. After
all, Hezbollah’s ability to resist a ground attack has been significantly
compromised by the events of the last four days. Meanwhile the majority of
residents in southern Lebanon have fled their homes and headed north.
The aim of Israeli authorities would be to enter Lebanon and seize and occupy a
buffer zone to prevent cross-border attacks and allow displaced residents of
northern Israel to return to the homes they have been forced to evacuate.
However, this buffer zone would likely turn out to be a death zone for Israeli
soldiers. They occupied such a buffer from 1985 until 2000 and ultimately were
forced to withdraw unilaterally. Continual attacks by Hezbollah resulted in such
high levels of casualties that the public outcry in Israel eventually forced
them to withdraw. In his speech, Nasrallah said that even if Israel had
delivered a blow to his group, it would not achieve its strategic goal of making
northern Israel secure enough for its residents to return to their homes. This
statement is a clear indication of the state of mind among members of the group;
it does not matter how much they suffer as long as the enemy suffers and is
prevented from achieving its strategic goals.
The use of violence will not bring safety to the Israelis of Galilee and this is
a lesson Israel is likely to learn the hard way if it invades Lebanon.
There are two issues that Israeli authorities do not appear to be taking into
consideration. The first is that backing Hezbollah into a corner is not a very
smart strategy. A cat that is cornered will lash out at anyone it perceives as a
threat, even if they are much stronger.
It would be a blessing in disguise for Hezbollah. It would grant the group a
renewed legitimacy. The second issue is the ability of the group to adapt. It is
a guerrilla operation and unlike a conventional army it has a flexible
structure. Even when 3,000 of its operatives have been injured, many of them
blinded, it is always capable of regrouping.
At the beginning of the current conflict Israel targeted group members by
identifying and locating them through their cell phones. The group responded by
abandoning smart devices in favor of pagers and walkie-talkies, which are less
sophisticated and more difficult to detect and access. Israel was able to
compromise those as well. However, Hezbollah will find other ways to communicate
and reorganize its network, rather quickly. Israel’s technological supremacy is
likely to be countered through the use of more primitive and creative
alternatives.
Even if Hezbollah’s capabilities are diminished for now, an invasion of Lebanon
could still trigger a wider regional war. Israel has been lobbying the US for
approval of a limited strike on the country for months. Washington is opposed to
such an attack because it is hard to predict how Hezbollah and Iran would
respond, and it does not want a regional war to erupt, especially in the run-up
to a presidential election. Now, however, Israel is emboldened. It struck at the
very heart of Iran when it assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of
Hamas, in Tehran in July, and there was no significant response. Now it has
delivered a strong blow to Hezbollah, weakening the group significantly.
Nevertheless, Israel should not grow overconfident. Hezbollah and Iran might yet
strike back if they feel the choice is that or death.
Most importantly, an invasion of Lebanon would bestow on Hezbollah a renewed
sense of legitimacy. Prior to May 24, 2000, the date of the Israeli withdrawal
from Lebanon, the group enjoyed unanimous domestic support as it was perceived
as the resistance fighting a much-loathed occupier. When the Israelis left and
Hezbollah became a full-fledged political party, people started questioning its
legitimacy as an armed group. On May 7, 2008, when Hezbollah attacked Beirut and
turned its weapons on fellow Lebanese citizens, people further questioned its
legitimacy. In 2012, when its members were deployed to Syria, people once again
called into question the legitimacy of an armed group that was now protecting a
brutal dictator accused of slaughtering his own people. In 2019, when Hezbollah
repressed popular protests against the government, people questioned the
legitimacy of an armed group that was now using its weapons to protect a corrupt
political class. But if Israel invades Lebanon, it would be a blessing in
disguise for Hezbollah. It would grant the group a renewed legitimacy, help it
attract new recruits, and push the Lebanese people once again to rally behind
it.
After all, if Lebanon is invaded, the various factions there will have no option
but to stand alongside the resistance. This is why the US, which is supposed to
be “the adult in the room” in such situations, must make sure it puts enough
pressure on Israel to ensure it refrains from an invasion and engages in efforts
to reach a diplomatic solution that ends the war on both the Lebanese and Gaza
fronts.
• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on
lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace
Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 21-22/2024
IDF spokesman: 'We're preparing for an attack by Hezbollah'
Israel National News/September 21, 2024
Gatherings from Haifa and northwards limited to 30 participants outdoors, 300
indoors; guidelines for the rest of Israel remain unchanged. On Saturday
evening, following the situational assessment, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari
announced that as of Saturday at 20:30, changes will be made to the Home Front
Command’s defensive guidelines. The changes are relevant for the following
areas: the Lower Galilee, the Upper Galilee, the Haifa Bay area, the Central
Galilee, and some of the communities in the southern Golan Heights (Jordan
Valley) in accordance with the situational assessment. The communities along the
confrontation line, the northern Golan Heights, and the southern Golan Heights
are to follow the guidelines that have been in place until now. As part of the
situational assessment, a number of changes have been made: gatherings will be
limited to 30 participants in an open area, to 300 participants in a closed
space, arrival to work is permitted as long as there is a protected space
available, and educational activities can continue as long as there are
protected spaces available. The instructions published on the official Home
Front Command channels must be followed. The full instructions are updated on
the National Emergency Portal and the Home Front Command app. Responding to
questions following the announcement, Hagari stressed that guidelines for the
rest of Israel remain unchanged. "If there is a change overnight, I will update
the public," he promised. "In the past hour, we have been striking extensively
in southern Lebanon, following detection of Hezbollah preparing to fire toward
Israeli territory," Hagari said during the briefing. "Dozens of Israeli Air
Force aircraft are currently striking terrorist targets and rocket launchers to
remove the threat to Israeli civilians."
"We are methodically targeting and degrading Hezbollah’s launching capabilities,
eliminating commanders and terrorists, as we did throughout the day. Overall,
today we struck approximately 400 Hezbollah launchers, including thousands of
rocket launcher barrels. "In accordance with the situational assessment and our
operations, in the last few minutes, the Minister of Defense signed a special
order for the home front. We are taking all necessary precautions, and this
evening, we are updating the Home Front defensive guidelines from the Haifa area
northwards to 'Level 2.' This means that from Haifa northwards, educational and
work activities can continue in locations where it is possible to reach a
protected space within the required time. Gatherings are permitted indoors for
up to 300 people and outdoors for up to 30 people. Full instructions can be
found on the Home Front Command website.
"If there are any further updates overnight or in the morning, we will notify
immediately. Rockets and other threats may be launched toward Israeli territory
in the near future. We ask you to strictly follow the Home Front Command’s
defensive guidelines. "We are in the midst of a time of warfare, so it is
important to remain vigilant and alert. I will update you immediately here and
on official platforms regarding any changes to the defensive guidelines."He
added, "Yesterday, in a targeted strike in Beirut, we eliminated Ibrahim Aqil,
head of Hezbollah's Operations Unit, along with 15 commanders of Hezbollah’s
elite Radwan Unit. They had gathered in the heart of the Dahieh neighborhood in
Beirut, under the cover of the civilian population. They met to plan terror
attacks and infiltrations into Israeli territory, but we knew where they were,
and preempted them - eliminating them in a precise and powerful operation
conducted by the Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Air Force." "We are
prepared for what’s next and are in a very high state of readiness both
offensively and defensively. IAF aircraft are armed and ready to strike
anywhere, and our aerial defense systems are deployed and on high alert to
intercept threats."
IDF reports eliminated terrorists holding six slain
hostages
Elisha Ben Kimon, Nina Fox/ynetnews/September 21, 2024
IDF Spokesperson RADM Daniel Hagari reported on Saturday that forces have
eliminated two Hamas terrorists who held the six hostages murdered in captivity
in Gaza — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Uri Danino, Almog Sarusi,
Carmel Gat and Alex Lobanov — in a tunnel near Rafah. “This evening, we updated
the families of Hersh, Eden, Ori, Alex, Almog, and Carmel, may their memories be
a blessing, that we eliminated two terrorists who had held them hostage in a
tunnel in the Rafah area," Hagari said. “The day after the hostages were
murdered, troops from the 162nd Division identified two terrorists emerging from
an underground tunnel shaft in the Tel al-Sultan area and eliminated them during
an encounter. After investigating the findings from the tunnel and equipment on
the terrorists, we found DNA evidence and several items belonging to the
terrorists we eliminated,” he added. “Based on the findings and the information
available to us, these terrorists that were eliminated were the same terrorists
who were in the tunnel where the bodies of the six hostages were discovered. The
findings show they were there when they were murdered and we are investigating
their involvement in the murder.
“Should we obtain further information, we will first update the families and
then the public. We will pursue and reach everyone responsible for this heinous
murder, and we will not stop until we reach them all,” Hagari noted. Liel
Avraham, Uri Danino’s partner, said, "We had no doubt that the IDF would hold
the murderers accountable. This closure doesn’t bring satisfaction or comfort.
They were supposed to come back alive. Their elimination is a moral and obvious
duty." The bodies of the six were found on August 31. According to the IDF
investigation, Hamas lookouts noticed soldiers approaching the tunnel and
ordered the terrorists to murder the six hostages a day or two before their
deaths. The terrorists shot the hostages at close range.
US warplanes, ships and troops ready in the Middle East
if the conflict expands
Lolita C. Baldor And Tara Copp/WASHINGTON (AP)/September 21, 2024
The U.S. has kept an increased military presence in the Middle East throughout
much of the past year, with about 40,000 forces, at least a dozen warships and
four Air Force fighter jet squadrons spread across the region both to protect
allies and to serve as a deterrent against attacks, several U.S. officials
said.As attacks between Israel and Hezbollah sharply spiked this week, worries
are growing that the conflict could escalate into an all-out war, even as Tel
Aviv keeps up its nearly yearlong fight against Hamas militants in Gaza.
Hezbollah says Israel crossed a “red line” with explosive attacks on its
communications devices and vowed to keep up the missile strikes it’s launched
since fellow Iranian-backed militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7,
setting off the war in Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — who has
spoken repeatedly this week to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — has
declared the start of a “new phase” of the war, shifting its focus to the
northern front against Hezbollah in Lebanon. So far, the U.S. hasn't signaled a
troop increase or change as a result of the latest attacks, and there is already
a beefed-up force in the region. A military official said the additional
resources have helped as the U.S. patrols various conflict areas, including
operations targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, defending Israel
and countering threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have
targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea and launched ballistic missiles at
Israel. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe U.S. troop
movements and locations. Here’s a look at the U.S. military presence in the
Middle East:
Troops
Normally, about 34,000 U.S. forces are deployed to U.S. Central Command, which
covers the entire Middle East. That troop level grew in the early months of the
Israel-Hamas war to about 40,000 as additional ships and aircraft were sent in.
Several weeks ago, the total spiked to nearly 50,000 when Austin ordered two
aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships to stay in the region as
tensions roiled between Israel and Lebanon. One carrier strike group has since
left and moved into the Asia-Pacific. The beefed-up presence is designed both to
help defend Israel and protect U.S. and allied personnel and assets. Navy
warships are scattered across the region, from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to
the Gulf of Oman, and both Air Force and Navy fighter jets are strategically
based at several locations to be better prepared to respond to any attacks.
Warships
The U.S. is back to one aircraft carrier in the region. Austin has extended the
deployment of carriers several times in the past year so that on a few
occasions, there has been the rare presence of two at once. American military
commanders have long argued that the presence of a formidable aircraft carrier —
with its array of fighter jets and surveillance aircraft and sophisticated
missiles — is a strong deterrent against Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln and its
three destroyers are in the Gulf of Oman, while two U.S. Navy destroyers are in
the Red Sea. The USS Georgia guided missile submarine, which Austin ordered to
the region last month, had been in the Red Sea and remains in U.S. Central
Command, but officials declined to say where. There are six U.S. warships in the
eastern Mediterranean Sea, including the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship with
the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard. And three Navy destroyers are in that
area. About a half dozen of the F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Abraham Lincoln
have been moved to a land base in the region. Officials declined to say where.
Aircraft
The Air Force sent in an additional squadron of advanced F-22 fighter jets last
month, bringing the total number of land-based fighter squadrons in the Middle
East to four.
That force also includes a squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack
aircraft, F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16 fighter jets. The Air Force is not
identifying what countries the planes are operating from. The addition of the
F-22 fighter jets gives U.S. forces a hard-to-detect aircraft that has a
sophisticated suite of sensors to suppress enemy air defenses and carry out
electronic attacks. The F-22 also can act as a “quarterback,” organizing other
warplanes in an operation. But the U.S. also showed in February that it doesn’t
have to have planes based in the Middle East to attack targets. In February, a
pair of B-1 bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and flew more
than 30 hours in a roundtrip mission in which they struck 85 Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force targets in Iraq and Syria in response to
an attack by IRGC-backed militias that killed three U.S. service members.
Lolita C. Baldor And Tara Copp, The Associated Press
Palestinians say Israeli strike killed 22 in shelter, army says militants hit
Dawoud Abu Alkas and Nidal al-Mughrabi/GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters)/September 21, 2024
Palestinians said an Israeli strike killed at least 22 people in a school
sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City on Saturday, while the Israeli
military said the attack targeted a command centre of militant group Hamas. The
Gaza health ministry said most of those killed were women and children. The
Hamas-run government media office said 13 children and six women were among the
dead. The military said it hit a Hamas command centre embedded in the compound
that previously served as a school, repeating an accusation that the group uses
civilian facilities for military purposes. Hamas denies that.
Reuters footage from the site showed blasted walls, wrecked and burnt furniture,
and holes in the ceiling of one room as people tried to salvage what they could
of belongings. "The women and their children were sitting in the playground of
the school, the kids were playing, and suddenly two rockets hit them," said one
witness Said Al-Malahi. Some of the dead were wrapped in blankets and carried
away on donkey carts, as ambulances transferred other bodies. "I couldn't take
it, I did not see a single man that is injured, it was all women and children,
let the Arab countries rejoice, let them rejoice and clap for (Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the United States of America," said another
eyewitness, Ahmed Azzam, bitter that regional neighbours were not taking a
tougher line against Israel.
MEDICS KILLED
In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, the Gaza health ministry said four health
workers were killed by an Israeli strike that hit ministry warehouses. Ambulance
crews could not reach the dead or treat the wounded, it added. In a statement,
the Israeli military said forces, operating in Rafah since May, have killed
dozens of militants in recent weeks and dismantled military infrastructure and
tunnel shafts. Israel's demand to keep control of the southern border line
between Rafah and Egypt has been a major sticking point in international efforts
to conclude a ceasefire deal. Hamas says it is focused on an agreement to end
the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza, while Israel says the war can only
end once Hamas is eradicated. Another sticking point has been the specifics of
an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. This
war in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when
Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages,
according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on the enclave has
killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry,
and displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million-strong population.
Church of England bishops accuse Israel of ‘acting above
the law’ in West Bank
Arab News/September 21, 2024
LONDON: Israel is acting as if it is above the law, four of the most senior
Church of England bishops said in a letter about state and settler violence in
the occupied West Bank. The bishops added that there is now “little distinction
between settler violence and state violence,” The Guardian reported on Saturday.
“There has been a drastic acceleration and intensification of settlement
construction, land confiscation and home demolition in the West Bank,
exacerbating longstanding patterns of oppression, violence and discrimination
against Palestinians,” they said in the letter. “There has always been a close
relationship between successive Israeli governments and the settler movement,
but there now seems to be little distinction between settler violence and state
violence.” The bishops demanded that the Israeli government “stop acting as if
it is uniquely above the law.”
They said the UN General Assembly’s call last week for Israel to end its
unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories “can’t be another
false dawn.”The UN must “move beyond strong words and agree a robust set of
measures to ensure Israel’s compliance” with international law, they added. The
UNGA strongly supported a non-binding Palestinian resolution on Wednesday
demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West
Bank within a year. While the resolution is not legally binding, the extent of
its support reflects world opinion. The resolution also demands the withdrawal
of all Israeli forces and the evacuation of settlers from the Occupied
Palestinian Territories “without delay.” It urges countries to impose sanctions
on those responsible for maintaining Israel’s presence in the territories and
halt arms exports if weapons are suspected of being used there. The letter’s
signatories were Rachel Treweek, the bishop of Gloucester; Guli Francis-Dehqani,
bishop of Chelmsford; Graham Usher, bishop of Norwich; and Christopher Chessun,
bishop of Southwark.
Iran withheld launchers for missiles sent to Russia,
sources say
Jonathan Landay, Phil Stewart and Anthony Deutsch/Reuters/September 21, 2024
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran did not include mobile launchers with the
close-range ballistic missiles that Washington last week accused Tehran of
delivering to Russia for use against Ukraine, according to three sources with
knowledge of the matter. The sources - a European diplomat, a European
intelligence official and a U.S. official - said it was not clear why Iran did
not supply launchers with the Fath-360 missiles, raising questions about when
and if the weapons will be operational. The U.S. official, who like the other
sources spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had not delivered the
launchers at the time of the U.S. announcement about Iran's delivery of the
weapons. The European intelligence official said without elaborating that they
did not expect Iran to provide launchers. Reuters first reported Iran's plan to
send the missiles to Russia. Two experts told Reuters there could be several
reasons why the launchers were not sent. One is that Russia may plan to modify
trucks to carry the missiles, as Iran has done. Another is that by withholding
the launchers. The U.S. National Security Council did not immediately respond to
a request for comment and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request
for comment. Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles or with thousands
of drones that Kyiv and Western officials have said Russia uses against military
targets and to destroy civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s electrical
grid. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sept. 10 that Iran had
delivered the Fath-360s to Russia and would “likely use them within weeks in
Ukraine.”The missile would pose an additional challenge for Ukraine, which is
constantly adapting its air defenses to innovations by Russian forces. Iran's
semi-official Fars news agency says the missile travels at four times the speed
of sound when approaching targets. Blinken said the missiles threatened European
security and would be fired against short-range targets, allowing Russia to
reserve more of its extensive arsenal for targets beyond the front lines. The
Fath-360 has a range of up to 75 miles (121 km). The United States, Germany,
Britain and France imposed new sanctions on Iran, and the EU said the bloc was
considering fresh measures targeting Iran's aviation sector.
The Kremlin at that time declined to confirm its receipt of the missiles but
acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran included “the most sensitive areas.”
Blinken did not say how many Fath-360s Iran supplied to Russia or when they were
sent.Reuters determined through shipping data that a Russian freighter
sanctioned by Washington, the Port Olya-3, made voyages between Iran’s Caspian
Sea port of Amirabad and the Russian port of Olya several times between May and
Sept. 12. Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles with the International
Institute for Strategic Studies, said he could not confirm that Tehran withheld
the launchers. Ballistic missiles require specifically designed launchers in
order to be fired. According to Hinz, one reason Iran didn't send launchers may
be that the civilian trucks that Iran modified to launch these and other
missiles are not robust enough to operate in rough terrain during Ukraine's
harsh winter. Iran modifies trucks made by Mercedes and other companies and
turns them into easily disguised missile launchers, he said. That suggests, he
continued, that Russia could modify its own military-grade vehicles. "A
commercial, off-the-shelf Mercedes truck is just not that off-road capable," he
said. David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector who heads the Institute
for Science and International Security, also could not say whether Iran
delivered the launchers. But he noted that Iran’s new president, Masoud
Pezeshkian, and other Iranian officials will be meeting with European officials
on the sidelines of next week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York to test the
potential for diplomacy on Tehran’s nuclear program, regional tensions and other
disputes. “It could be that they (Iran) are holding back the launchers to
provide a little space for these talks,” he said. “One can imagine that if there
are Iranian missiles raining down (on Ukraine) there would be condemnation at
the General Assembly.”But he was skeptical of any progress, saying he doubted
Iran would make the necessary compromises.
Iran's Supreme Leader says Israel is committing
'shameless crimes' against children
Reuters/September 21, 2024
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday that Israel is
committing "shameless crimes" against children, not combatants. His comments
came a day after an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, killed at
least 31 people, including three children and seven women, according to the
Lebanese health ministry. Friday's strike, which according to a source targeted
a building next to a nursery, was the deadliest in a year of conflict between
Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.It followed two days of
attacks in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded.
Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its
involvement. Khamenei said Israel was not even hiding its different forms of
"shameless crimes" in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. It is not
combating "fighting men, but ordinary people," Khamenei told a group of envoys
from Muslim countries in Tehran in remarks broadcast on state TV. "Unable to
hurt the real fighters in Palestine, they are venting their malicious anger on
small children, on hospital patients, and on schools filled with young
children." Also on Saturday, in a show of strength, Iran unveiled its "Jihad"
single-stage liquid-fuel ballistic missile with a high-explosive detachable
warhead and a range of 1,000 km, according to state TV. The missiles were
displayed, along with other military hardware, during a parade marking the
anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 war with Iraq.
Turkey calls on West to take 'deterrent steps' against
Israeli action
Reuters/September 21, 2024
ANKARA (Reuters) - Attacks on Lebanon this week showed that the Israeli
government planned to spread the war to the region, Turkey's President Tayyip
Erdogan said on Saturday, calling on Western countries to take "deterrent steps"
against Israel's actions.
Erdogan told a press conference that Israel's war in Gaza will top the agenda of
his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. "In order for our region not
to be dragged into a great disaster, the pressure on Israel must be increased
even more," Erdogan told a press conference in Istanbul. He was commenting on
attacks in Lebanon this week, including the explosion of Hezbollah members'
pagers and walkie-talkies that killed 39 people. The attacks on communications
devices were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has
neither confirmed nor denied its involvement. "It is time for all countries with
the mission of protecting world peace to come up with solutions that will stop
Israel," Erdogan said."In order to end this oppression that has been going on
for almost a year, to establish a permanent ceasefire and to ensure the
unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, all of us, the whole world and especially
the UN, have important duties," he said. Turkey has denounced Israel's actions
in Gaza which came in retaliation to Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct.7. Israel
says about 1,200 people were killed and over 250 people were taken hostage in
the assault. Israel's subsequent military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed
more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry.
Ankara has also halted all trade with Israel and submitted a request to join
South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of
genocide. Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case's accusations of genocide as
baseless.
The U.S. needs a few good allies. Does it still need Canada?
CBC/ September 21, 2024
There's a brief, delicious little vignette at the beginning of military
historian Tim Cook's latest book that neatly captures the essence of Canada's
decades-long national security and defence relationship with the United
States.Speaking in Kingston, Ont. with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie
King at his side, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that "the people of
the United States would not stand idly by if domination of Canadian soil is
threatened by any other Empire."King — who obviously didn't know what the
president was going to say ahead of time — was apparently gobsmacked by the
assurance, Cook wrote in The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States
Fought Together to Defeat Fascism During the Second World War.
Roosevelt's promise, made on Aug. 8, 1938 in the face of rising fascism
in Germany, Italy and Japan, has formed the political bedrock of Canada's
national security ever since — much to the delight (and chagrin) of Canada's
political establishment down the decades. At the time,
King apparently saw the remark for what it was — a historic declaration from a
like-minded democracy. He also understood the unspoken aspect.
"It was also a threat of sorts; that the United States would trample Canadian
sovereignty if it saw a foreign menace north of the border," Cook wrote.
In 2024, that aspect of Roosevelt's remarks has lost much of its menace.
It has been replaced with what former top Canadian national security officials
often describe as a deepening sense of exasperation and frustration in
Washington with the shiftless attitude in Ottawa that the pledge seems to have
created. Cook documents in his book, often in vivid
detail, the genesis of the Canada-U.S. security relationship — lately dominated
by American grumbling over Canada's reluctance to hit NATO's military spending
benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product.
His analysis is particularly instructive when you consider the strains on that
relationship today, and the persistent sniping of U.S. lawmakers from both sides
of the aisle.
When the U.S. needed Canada
As the world once again watches the rise of authoritarian dictatorships, the
United States appears to be once again searching for a few good allies. That may
be why the exclusion of Canada from the high-tech submarine deal involving
Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom still stings so much in
Ottawa. The Second World War was "one of the few times
when the United States understood it needed Canada," Cook told CBC News.
Canada's geography, mineral wealth and (at the time) untapped industrial
potential made it a natural defence partner for the U.S.
Cook suggests that complacency set in on both sides of the border in the decades
since, and particularly since the end of the Cold War. Canada's political and
institutional establishments have benefited from the American security umbrella,
allowing this country to invest generously in social development.
But on the flip side, the United States has had to think about security on its
northern border the way it has in the southern region.
"One of the things I have found in reading hundreds of books and documents is
that Canada barely registers in any of these discussions in the United States
about security issues," Cook said. "Canada was a very
good ally to the United States [during the Second World War], acknowledged at
the time, and perhaps we've been too good in that alliance."
If there has been a persistent policy failure (or perhaps a political character
flaw) on Canada's part, it could be its apparent inability to tell its story in
Washington."If we were to talk about today, perhaps we need to shout a little
louder about our own accomplishments and to talk about security and defence,"
said Cook. At last summer's NATO Summit in Washington,
Canada's Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman was careful to
emphasize the lengths Canadian diplomats go to in order to get attention in the
U.S. capital. She insisted that the Canada-U.S.
relationship is as strong as ever, particularly on security and defence.
"We are sophisticated countries with many policies that we're seeking to
develop and many ways in which to contribute, not only our homeland security,
but the security of our world," Hillman said in response to a reporter's
questions in July. "The conversations are not
one-note. They're complicated. They're serious. And we are taken very
seriously." Vincent Rigby, a former national security
and intelligence adviser to the prime minister, agreed with Cook that Canada is
often under-appreciated in Washington and inconsistent in how it presents its
message to the Americans.
Promises, promises
"The challenge, I think, especially currently, is that you don't want to go down
to Washington if you don't have a good story to tell, or if you just have a
series of niggling little asks," Rigby told CBC News.
In a recent policy paper, Rigby argued that Canada's reputation with the United
States is at its lowest point since Roosevelt extended the security umbrella
almost nine decades ago. Much of it, he said, is
related to successive Canadian governments making promises on defence and either
not following through on them or taking a ponderously long time to deliver.
"It's difficult to engage the Americans," said Rigby, now a professor at
the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. "We've lost their
trust, I think, and we are not particularly credible allies."
It's not a question of the U.S. saying jump and Canada asking how high,
Rigby added. It's not even merely a matter of fulfilling our obligations as
members of NATO and NORAD. It's about understanding the lesson of 1938, he said
— what the Americans were looking for then and now.
"The U.S. ... when it comes right down to it, looks through virtually everything
in a bilateral relationship through a national security lens, or a defence lens,
no matter what the issue is," Rigby said. "And if you are not stepping up in
terms of national security and defence, it is going to impact other parts of the
relationship." Roosevelt was a Democrat, of course.
Rigby said there's another lesson Canadians ought to learn from his example:
Democrats are no more likely than Republicans to overlook it when Canada fails
to meet its defence commitments. "If we get into this
world where we think this is all about [Donald] Trump, and that if Trump and the
Republicans do not gain power in the next election that we're going to be okay
and we're going to get a free pass, we are sorely, sorely mistaken," he said.
"The world is going to get worse before it gets better … So Canada, what
can you do for us? I think it's going to come from a [Kamala] Harris
administration, if she wins the election. And I think you're going to see it
become a little bit blunter and a little bit more strident."
Quad group expands maritime security cooperation at
Biden’s farewell summit
Reuters/September 22, 2024
CLAYMONT, Delaware: Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States are
taking new security steps in the Indian Ocean as outgoing US President Joe Biden
hosts counterparts from the Quad grouping established due to shared concerns
about China.
Biden welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a four-way meeting
near his Delaware hometown on Saturday to stress the importance of maintaining
the Quad, which he sees as a signature foreign policy achievement, before he
leaves office after the Nov. 5 US presidential election. Leaders from the four
nations were rolling out plans to expand an Indo-Pacific Partnership for
Maritime Domain Awareness launched two years ago to include the Indian Ocean
region, senior Biden administration officials said.
The leaders are planning joint coast guard operations that will see Australian,
Japanese and Indian personnel spend time on a US coast guard vessel. The
countries also plan increased military logistics cooperation, the officials
said.
While the White House said the Quad summit was directed at no other country and
that Beijing should find no issue with the initiative, Biden started the
summit’s group session with a briefing on China. He described the country as
shifting tactics, but not strategy, while continuing to test the United States
in the South China and East China Seas as well as the Taiwan Strait. “We believe
(Chinese leader) Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges
and minimize the turbulence in China diplomatic relationships, and he’s also
looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue
China’s interest,” Biden said in remarks carried on an official event feed.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including territory inside
exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It
also claims territories in the East China Sea contested by Japan and Taiwan.
China also views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory. Xi has objected to the
Quad grouping, seeing it as an effort to encircle Beijing and ramp up conflict.
Analysts said new maritime security initiatives would send a message to Beijing.
They said it also represents a further shift of emphasis of the Quad’s
activities to security issues, reflecting growing concerns about China’s
intentions. The leaders are also stepping up work to provide critical and
security technologies, including a new open radio access network, to the Pacific
Islands and Southeast Asia, regions of intense competition with China. A health
initiative by the leaders is aimed at combating cervical cancer, officials said.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert at the Center for a New American Security,
and a former administration official, said India, which is not part of any
military alliance, has been worried about perceptions that the Quad could be
militarizing the Indo-Pacific. “But I think China’s recent maritime aggression
could be changing the equation for India and could be prompting India to become
a bit more open to the idea of Quad security cooperation,” she said. Analysts
and officials say Biden hosting the Quad is part of efforts to institutionalize
the body ahead his departure from office and that of Kishida, who is stepping
down after a leadership contest next week and elections in Australia by next
year.
Asked about the group’s staying power, Biden grasped Modi by the shoulder and
said the group was here to stay. The Quad met at foreign minister level under
the previous administration of Donald Trump, who is running against Vice
President Kamala Harris in November, and enjoyed bipartisan support, as
reflected by the formation of a congressional Quad Caucus ahead of the summit.
Biden elevated the Quad to the leader level in 2021.
Kyiv says struck ammo depots in southern and western
Russia
AFP/September 21, 2024
KYIV, Ukraine: Kyiv said Saturday it struck two weapons depots in southern and
western Russia — including a key site for Moscow’s forces — with Russian
authorities announcing some evacuations and declaring a local emergency
situation. Kyiv also said a Russian nighttime strike on President Volodymyr
Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rig killed a 12-year-old boy and two elderly
women. The attacks came ahead of an upcoming trip by Zelensky to the United
States, where he is due to present his plans on how to end the nearly
31-month-long war. Kyiv’s army said it had hit an arms depot near the city of
Tikhoretsk in the southern Krasnodar region, calling it one of Moscow’s “three
largest ammunition storage bases” important to the Russian army’s logistics for
its Ukraine invasion. It also said it struck an arsenal in the western Tver
region. Authorities in Tver and Krasnodar said they had been attacked but Russia
did not say exactly what was struck. Krasnodar governor Vieniamin Kondratyev
announced the evacuation of 1,200 people from villagers, saying a drone attack
caused a fire that “spread to explosive objects” near Tikhoretsk. He later said
a state of a “local emergency situation” was introduced in Tikhoretsk — a city
of some 50,000 people — in the southern region. Authorities said most villagers
were staying with relatives, while others were in temporary accommodation in
Tikhoretsk. “It is important that there is no threat to people. But it will take
time to fully check the territory,” Kondratyev warned. Videos on social media
showed a massive explosion in the dark resembling fireworks at first before
blowing up loudly. Footage online later showed sirens ringing around Tikhoretsk,
a city of some 50,000 people in daylight, with smoke rising into the air in the
distance. Authorities said villagers had been evacuated, with most staying with
relatives while others were placed in temporary accommodation in Tikhoretsk.
Authorities published footage of villagers — mostly elderly people — arriving to
a room with set-up beds, as well as volunteers greeting evacuees arriving by
bus. The local government said they are being provided with medical and
psychological assistance. The Krasnodar region is separated from occupied
Ukraine by the Azov sea and has been relatively spared from the type of attacks
on Russian border or other southern regions.But over the last year it has seen
increased assaults. In the western Tver region, authorities announced the
temporary closure of a major federal road after the Ukrainian attack near the
city of Toropets. In the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig, authorities said
Russia had struck “private houses” at night, releasing images of brick houses
razed to the ground. “The boy killed by Russians in Kryvyi Rig was
12-years-old,” the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lisak, said on
Telegram. “The missile strike also ended the lives of two women, aged 75 and
79,” he added. Authorities earlier said that a night-time strike had destroyed
two houses and damaged “two dozen,” also damaging a school. Kryvyi Rig, where
Zelensky was born, has been targeted by Russia throughout its more than
two-year-long invasion.Ukraine also said two people were wounded in a Russian
drone attack in the southern Kherson region on Saturday.
Crown Prince of Iran: 'The West's best army is the
Iranian people - but we need help'
Yoni Kempinski, Arutz Sheva/September 22/2024
Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran, says that the Iranian people will overthrow
the Islamic regime if the West can give them the support to do so. Reza Pahlavi,
Crown Prince of Iran, spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News at the IAC
summit in Washington about the need for the world to differentiate between the
Iranian people and the Iranian regime. "The paradigm has to shift, and I think
some key governments - including the United States - have to understand that
while the regime remains a hostile enemy, they have a partner in the Iranian
people," he said. "The Iranian people will seek friendship and cordial
relationships with our neighborhood. The relationship between Iran and the Jews
is biblical - it was Cyrus who freed the Jewish slaves in Babylon and helped
them rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem. Iran gave asylum to Jews fleeing Hitler.
It is embedded in our sense of natural identity we celebrate our diversity of
ethnicity of religious groups, from Christians to Zoroastrians to Jews, as
opposed to the regime that is categorically against all that's different."
Regarding the current conflict, Reza noted that the people could be the solution
the world has been looking for. "The best army in place are the people of Iran
themselves. All they need in is the extra support so they can better organize
their strikes, their demonstrations, and and be able to rely on the kind of
support that we witnessed towards the end of the Cold War. Iranians have been
calling for a long time for support from the outside world, particularly the
Western world. The best response is not to fight the war - Iranians are ready to
fight, but they cannot do it alone."Reza insists that there is no need for
outside attacks on Iran: "I cannot as a patriot as a nationalist accept any kind
of military intervention against my country. I think there's a much better
solution - this regime is scared of the people themselves. That's why they're
cracking down on people, that's why they're shooting our kids, but if they saw
that Iranians are actually being backed and supported by the outside world, then
they will think twice."Reza called for other world leaders to go beyond words:
"In the past 100 years we witnessed the free world prevailing in some major
conflicts. The first time was WWII, the second was in the Cold War. You had
strong leaders then, and we need strong leaders now, and all will have to do
their part."
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on September 21-22/2024
To The EU: Time To Stand Against Iran's Regime,
Terror Groups, Nukes
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/September 21, 2024
Moreover, maintaining... economic ties grants legitimacy to the regime,
signaling that the European Union is willing to overlook Iran's role in
supporting aggression against Ukraine.
To stanch this, the EU urgently needs to stop its economic dealings with Iran.
Along with cutting economic ties, the EU would also do well to list the IRGC as
a terrorist organization and close all Iranian embassies in Europe. The IRGC is
the primary force behind Iran's military support for Russia. Isolating it would
be a crucial step in weakening Tehran's capacity to destabilize the entire
Middle East.
It [the EU] really has become a principal enabler of Russia's war against
Ukraine.
The longer the EU allows the Islamist regime of Iran to operate with no
repercussions, the more it strengthens both Iran's and Russia's war machines.
For the wellbeing of the EU, the Middle East and the Free World, the EU severing
its ties with Iran cannot take place soon enough.
Maintaining economic ties grants legitimacy to the Iranian regime, signaling
that the European Union is willing to overlook Iran's role in supporting
aggression against Ukraine -- and what is ultimately likely to be aggression
against itself. The EU really has become a principal enabler of Russia's war
against Ukraine. Pictured: Firefighters in Kyiv, Ukraine try to put out a fire
in a four-story residential building, in which three people were killed when it
was hit by a "kamikaze drone" (many of which are supplied to Russian forces by
Iran), on October 17, 2022. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
It is hardly a secret that without the Iranian regime's financial, military, and
operational backing, its affiliated terror groups -- such as Hamas, Hezbollah,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis as well as its own militias, and the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) -- would not have been able to launch
the kind of large-scale attacks against Israel that have upended the broader
region. Iran's support not only provides these groups with financial resources
but also with crucial intelligence and military training. Without this support,
the military capacity of these groups would be significantly diminished, and the
extent of the chaos in the region far less severe.
Iran's reach extends, of course, far beyond its proxies and militias. Some
national governments, notably Russia, have relied on Iran's support to sustain
their military campaigns. Iran's backing of Russia's war against Ukraine, for
example, only prolonged and intensified it.
At the outset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, endorsed Moscow's aggression. After Iran announced its support,
the EU did absolutely nothing. The Iranian regime, seeing no consequences in
taking sides against Ukraine, immediately became more involved in the conflict.
Iran's role in the Ukraine war quickly moved from verbal support to direct
military involvement. Iran began supplying Russia with kamikaze drones, which
Russia has been used to strike civilian targets as well as to destroy important
infrastructure in Ukraine. The Iranian drones, modified with advanced
explosives, have reportedly caused massive devastation, and only underscores
Iran's expanding military influence in the war.
Despite the EU itself acknowledging that Iran was indeed "provid[ing] military
support for Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against
Ukraine," no country took any action of any kind. The ruling mullahs responded
to Europe's inaction by deepening their role. Iran sent troops to Crimea to
assist Russia in its attacks on Ukraine and its civilian population, as well to
see how best to increase the effectiveness of the suicide drones.
On September 10, the US Department of Defense announced that Iran had also
supplied Russia with missiles. "The United States has confirmed reports that
Iran has transferred shipments of Fath 360 close-range ballistic missiles to
Russia, which we assess could employ them within weeks against Ukraine, leading
to the deaths of even more Ukrainian civilians," said Pentagon Press Secretary
Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder in a briefing. He explained that this would give
Russia the opportunity to leverage the missiles' lethal ability while
safeguarding its own long-range assets for prolonged use in combat. Iran's
missiles would bolster Russia's stockpile and further enable strikes on various
targets, including civilian ones.
To stanch this, the EU urgently needs to stop its economic dealings with Iran.
Continuing trade only empowers Tehran financially, giving it the resources
needed to support Russia's military operations and its terror proxies. In
addition, maintaining these economic ties grants legitimacy to the regime,
signaling that the European Union is willing to overlook Iran's role in
supporting aggression against Ukraine -- and what is ultimately likely to be
aggression against itself.
Along with cutting economic ties, the EU would also do well to list the IRGC as
a terrorist organization and close all Iranian embassies in Europe. The IRGC is
the primary force behind Iran's military support for Russia. Isolating it would
be a crucial step in weakening Tehran's capacity to destabilize the entire
Middle East.
Finally, the EU needs to make it clear that all military options are on the
table. While diplomatic and economic measures are important, they may not be
enough to deter Iran. By openly discussing potential military strikes against
IRGC assets, the EU would send a strong message to Tehran, showing that its
continued support for Russian aggression could have severe consequences.
The EU really needs to confront the Iranian regime now, the sooner the better.
It really has become a principal enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine. The
longer the EU allows the Islamist regime of Iran to operate with no
repercussions, the more it strengthens both Iran's and Russia's war machines.
For the wellbeing of the EU, the Middle East and the Free World, the EU severing
its ties with Iran cannot take place soon enough.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated
scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and
president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has
authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at
Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Experts debate the urgency of striking Iran: Is time
running out for Israel?
Natan Geula/Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134719/
Experts discuss whether attacking the Islamic Republic will lead to regional war
that could ruin Israel, or whether now is the time to cut off the octopus’s head
– before it is too late
Since October 7, Israeli citizens have been holding their collective breath,
knowing that the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and incessant fire exchanges on
the northern border could escalate into a full-scale regional war at any moment.
The mysterious attack in Lebanon on Tuesday, in which thousands of pagers in the
use of Hezbollah operatives exploded, apparently killing at least 11 and
wounding thousands more, has made that possibility more likely than ever. A war
with the Iranian-backed militia to Israel’s north could quickly expand into war
with Iran, which has yet to avenge the assassination of Hamas’s political leader
Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July, despite Islamic Republic leaders vowing a
response. Israel, in turn, stated it would exact a heavy price from the Iranian
regime were it to carry out a significant attack against the Jewish state.
Security expert Yair Ansbacher is convinced that war with Iran at this point is
a must – to avoid Israel’s destruction. This is the fork in the road that Israel
faces today, 11 months after Hamas initiated the horrific October 7 attack, in
which 1,200 Israelis and other nationals were murdered and 250 more were taken
hostage. Additional factors such as the apparent exhaustion of negotiations
between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire agreement, and the Israeli government’s
decision earlier in the week to make the return of displaced northern residents
an official war goal, have increased the likelihood of a regional war. Speaking
to The Jerusalem Post on the phone earlier in the week, Brik warned that Israel
is not prepared for a multifront war. “Iran and its proxies have 250,000
missiles, rockets, and drones encircling Israel. Which means about 4,000
munitions hitting the Israeli home front on a daily basis: population centers,
Haifa Bay, water and electricity facilities, gas fields [in the Mediterranean
Sea], IDF bases, and strategic civilian infrastructure. A regional war can ruin
the State of Israel,” he stressed. Brik further warned that Israel would enter
this all-out war alone, without the aid of the United States. “Iran is backed by
Russia, China, and North Korea, who don’t want to lose their [Iranian] asset,”
he said, explaining that the US will avoid getting involved in a war that could
develop into a world war.
What Israel should do, he advised, is build a strategic alliance with Western
and moderate Arab nations that will form a “deterrence balance” against Iran and
its partners. Trying to thwart the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capacity is
futile, he added, which “is a development that can’t be stopped.”Ansbacher views
the situation differently. He is certain that now is the right time to strike
Iran, before it makes its final nuclear breakthrough. “If today the West has
little success in taming the ayatollahs, it will have zero success when they
obtain nuclear weapons,” he said via Zoom with the Post last week.
“Iran will provide a nuclear umbrella to terrorists across the globe. Imagine
Hezbollah kidnaps [IDF] soldiers on [Israel’s] northern border, and before
Israel launches a rescue operation, Hezbollah sends a message that this could
result in a nonconventional missile attack. This is a scenario that we cannot
accept,” Ansbacher stipulated.
In addition, the possibility of a hostile US administration come the November
election, along with the inferior position Iran found itself in after the
October 7 attack – exposing its plan to annihilate Israel – means that Jerusalem
must now use this narrow opportunity to strike Iran, he noted. “Tehran’s
original plan was to attack Israel simultaneously [on all fronts], and that
would have brought us to the brink of extinction. But their plan was disrupted
when [Hamas head] Yahya Sinwar jumped the gun. This puts Iran in a weakened
position. If the plan had fully worked, Israel would have been caught unawares,
with all arms of the octopus around its neck. Then it’s checkmate. But the
plan’s disadvantage was its extended period of implementation where many things
could go wrong,” Ansbacher said. Attacking Iran now is Israel’s last chance
before it faces an existential threat of a nuclear Islamic Republic, he
stressed. If Israel hits Iran in its two centers of power, Tehran and Qom, he
added, the Iranian regime, largely unsupported by the nonreligious population,
will very likely fall.
The 'prophet of wrath'
Brik, 76, is a decorated IDF general who fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
He was badly burned in the face from a flare of an anti-tank missile when a tank
company under his command encountered Egyptian commandos in the Sinai Peninsula.
Despite his wound he regained control over the battlefield and destroyed the
commando company. In 2008, he served as IDF ombudsman, and it is during this
10-year tenure that Brik gained the public image of a “prophet of
wrath.”Formulating scathing reports in his new role, he argued that budget
constraints compelled irresponsible cuts in the IDF’s size. He warned that IDF
ground forces could not fight on more than one front, and accused the military
of bolstering the air force at the expense of other military corps. Many
considered Brik’s criticisms exaggerated, even if partly true. Others viewed him
as a scaremonger with questionable motives. But October 7 made many say that he
was right all along. “Over the past 20 years, we reduced the [IDF] by six
divisions, thousands of tanks, 50% of artillery shells; and we narrowed our
infantry capacity,” Brik told Post. “IDF chiefs spoke of a ‘small,
technological, and smart military.’ They declared that the big wars are over
with; we have peace with Egypt, we have peace with Jordan, the Syrians are
irrelevant – hence we can cut the military and erode its ground forces,” he
lamented. “If Israel can’t handle Hamas,” he continued, “because it doesn’t have
enough manpower to stay in Gaza, imagine what would happen in a war on five
fronts.”
Brik stated that if a regional war broke out, Israel could face enemies from
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank, including radical Arab Israelis who
could be called into action within Israel. “God forbid if the Egyptians decided
to join in, too.”Brik noted that pro-Iranian militias are awaiting Iran’s orders
in Syria, while the Syrian Army is rebuilding itself. Meanwhile, the 300
kilometers-long Jordan-Israel border is “practically defenseless,” he added.
“Hundreds of thousands of weapons are being smuggled from Iran through the
Jordan border into Israel and the West Bank. Iran is forming pro-Iranian
militias inside the Hashemite Kingdom, which are underground for now.”One of
Israel’s biggest problems, Brik relayed, is its ammunition shortages. “Bullets,
tanks, artillery shells – all missing. Emergency warehouses that the US held
here in Israel were delivered to Ukraine,” he said. “Israel needs to build
factories for the [independent] production of ammunition. But even then,
Jerusalem needs to cooperate with Washington because Israel is a small country
and its resources are limited. We must strike a defense alliance with the US,
both in terms of resources and war.”
Iran’s 'brilliant' strategy
Ansbacher, 41, was a fighter in Maglan, an IDF commando unit part of the 89th
“Oz” Brigade. He served as an adviser in the Defense Ministry and in the IDF,
and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the contribution of special operations
forces in modern warfare.
His attitude toward Iran is that of cautious optimism. He respects it as a
formidable enemy, but believes that, ultimately, Israel has the upper hand.
“What is so dangerous about Iran, which is a terrible and menacing foe, is that
it combines wisdom with extreme religion,” Ansbacher said. “On the one hand the
Iranians have great pride in their ancient civilization, including the
ayatollahs, with imperialist aspirations in their DNA, and on the other hand
they are radically religious. Their mullahs pass very cruel religious rulings...
like sending young women into prison for esoteric reasons, then raping them so
they don’t reach heaven when they die. These are the kind of insane things that
they do in the name of religion. “They are also very fond of technology and
progress. Unlike other peoples in the region, their technological and scientific
capabilities are advanced. They strive for knowledge, they studied in top
universities across the West, and they studied the West as well. Unlike us who
don’t understand other cultures too well, they understand modern liberal
culture, including its fears,” he stipulated. As for Iran’s strategy against
Israel, Ansbacher said it was “brilliantly” executed. “Iran built three circles
of threats around Israel. “The first is its proxies comprising militias and
terrorist armies, ready to invade Israel when given the order, and also to deter
Israel from attacking the Iranian nuclear facilities. “The second threat is its
large arsenal of rockets. [Former Mossad head] Yossi Cohen named it the “ring of
fire,” which consists of rockets, missiles, drones, and other munitions,”
Ansbacher noted. “The idea is to attack Israel from all directions and cover
every piece of land with rocket fire,” he added. “The third threat, which is the
most strategic and critical, is to place Iran and terrorist acts under the
protection of nuclear weapons.”
Projectiles – not a strategic threat
Although Ansbacher considers a nuclear Iran a grave threat, he wished to dispel
some of the misconceptions about Iran’s military strength. “Missiles are scary.
They cause damage. Precision missiles can hit infrastructure and cause serious
economic damage. They even kill. But statistics show that they do not
annihilate. Israel was hit throughout its history with enormous quantities of
rockets, missiles, and shells. At the end of the day, projectiles are not a
strategic [threat],” Ansbacher emphasized. Hebrew media reported that on October
7 Hamas launched the largest rocket attack on Israel in its history, consisting
of about 3,000 rockets in four hours and almost 10,000 in one month. For
context, Hezbollah launched 4,400 rockets in the 34 days of the Second Lebanon
War in 2006.“I believe that 10 people died from the rocket attack on October 7,”
Ansbacher said. “And you know how many died from the ground invasion. So rockets
are mainly a psychological threat. And unfortunately, it works, because for
years Israel was deterred from preemptively striking Gaza and Lebanon. It’s not
that I like the prospect of rockets exploding in Tel Aviv, but I also understand
the full context of their damage.”He further mentioned that launching great
numbers of projectiles requires thousands of operatives, which to maintain on a
daily basis in time of war is extremely challenging and requires many resources.
Ansbacher pointed to the Gulf War in 1991, in which Iraq launched approximately
44 ballistic missiles at Israel. “Coalition forces hunted down the Scud
launchers and missiles and made life very difficult for the Iraqis. Also, the
logistics of preparing and launching ballistic missiles is complex. These ‘fat’
targets can be detected by Israeli and Western eyes and are susceptible to
counterattacks, especially [in the case of] repeated launching.” On Israel’s
nemesis in the north, Hezbollah, Ansbacher said that it is already worn down by
the series of IDF attacks in the past 10 months, despite perhaps a contrary
perception by the Israeli public. “And like Iran, Hezbollah is threatened by
internal Lebanese forces waiting for an opportunity to overthrow it. [Hezbollah]
doesn’t want war right now,” he said. As for Iran, “If Israel attacks the
ayatollah regime or elements within the regime that suppress the population,
such as the Basij [a domestic militia that brutally enforces Islamic rules],
then there’s a high probability that a rebellion will break out inside Iran and
topple the government. And even if it doesn’t, it will be enough to paralyze
Iran’s efforts to attack us,” he noted. “We shouldn’t think about what Iran can
do, but [about] what it already did. It revealed all its cards. Hamas can’t harm
us strategically. Hezbollah is limited. This is the time to strike Iran. Cutting
off the head of the octopus will dry up its arms in a domino effect that will
deter all our enemies. The entire world will benefit from this, and I believe
that the US will join the war effort, too. This will send a clear message to
those challenging the West – China, Russia, and North Korea – that it is still
as powerful and as decisive as ever.”
Time off from war
Brik does not believe that the Iranians will drop nuclear weapons on Israel. “If
they use nuclear bombs maybe they’ll destroy Israel, but they will also destroy
themselves. Even [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, who threatened to use
nuclear weapons in Ukraine, didn’t do it, because he understands that the first
to drop a nuclear bomb will lead to a world war in which everybody eventually
gets annihilated,” he said.Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear capacity is to provide
cover for its conventional war efforts, Brik asserted. “Those who talk about
stopping a nuclear Iran don’t know what they’re talking about,” he continued.
“Israel can’t do it. In 2008, when Iran’s nuclear project was still defenseless
– unlike today when it’s dispersed across many sites and developed deep beneath
the ground and under mountains – Israel had a plan to carry out an attack that
would foil the Iranian nuclear project. NIS 11 billion were invested in
exercises and training, but in the end it did not come to fruition.” The veteran
officer related that the senior officials who carefully crafted the operation
realized that even if it were successful, it could only delay the project for a
year in the most optimal outcome.
“The Iranian response, however, could have potentially killed 400 [Israeli]
civilians, and that’s when [the Iranians] had fewer capabilities than they have
today,” he added. “Today, if Israel attempted striking Iran’s nuclear sites, it
could only cause a minuscule delay, while [starting] a regional war.”What Israel
should do, Brik went on to say, is pause the war in the Gaza Strip so it can
dedicate its time in preparations for conventional war, “which is like a nuclear
bomb only without nuclear fallout. We should have already prepared for this,
with our own missile corps and a powerful defense laser system [against
rockets].”Brik projected a future similar to that of the Cold War: a Western
bloc versus an Eastern bloc that balances each other out and prevents global
war. “Israel today, in its war against the Arab world, without a superpower
aiding and fighting alongside it, will not survive. Not that we seek war, but
once the world knows that the US stands with Israel, come hell or high water, in
times of peace and in times of war, this will make our enemies think twice
before starting a world war.”
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-820938
Israel has shown ideology is no match for technology
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 21, 2024
When the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was asked why he was
defeated in the 1967 war, he said it was due to Israel’s air superiority. “That
is why it fought us (Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) simultaneously.”A journalist
responded: “But Egypt also has a large fleet of fighter jets?” At the time,
Egypt had 420 fighter aircraft, including the superior MiG-21. Nasser answered:
“They have more pilots than Egypt, three Israeli pilots for each fighter jet,
meaning they can fly the same plane several times a day.”
His justification was correct, but Israeli superiority was not based on
acquiring advanced aircraft; it stemmed from developing the entire Israeli
military institution and its support networks based on highly advanced programs.
More than 4,000 people were killed or injured in recent days in two
sophisticated technical operations carried out by Israel against Hezbollah,
using pagers and walkie talkies. We are in the age of technological wars, not
wars of bravery, and the concept of conflict is “civilizational,” not
historical.
Phones, as well as other communication devices, computers, televisions, electric
cars, and drones are all potential weapons. A car such as a Tesla, equipped with
eight cameras, could be hacked by someone who can monitor everyone inside and
outside the vehicle and even hack it from a distant country, turning it into a
weapon. Using wireless phones and pagers as tools for killing widens the gap and
makes it impossible to win conflicts through military means. Nasser complained
about Israeli superiority half a century ago, and today the gap has doubled,
making the idea of change through armed force almost impossible, if not naive.
Throughout history, technology has played a decisive role in wars and in one
empire’s superiority over another. The Mongols designed composite bows that
allowed their horsemen to shoot arrows accurately and continuously while on
horseback, enabling them to conquer half the world at unprecedented speed. The
Arabs crossed continents after developing chemical incendiary weapons made from
tar. Similarly, the Ottomans excelled by inventing massive cannons that allowed
them to demolish formidable fortresses like Constantinople.
Scientific superiority is the key to human victories. Britain, a small, distant
island, conquered the world by utilizing the technology of cannons mounted on
ships that could destroy fortresses from the sea, building armored ships, and
extending railways that accelerated the transportation of supplies and soldiers.
We cannot forget the nuclear bomb, the pinnacle of human intellect in
destruction, which decisively ended the Second World War in favor of the US and
its allies — its effects still resonate today. Scientific superiority is the key
to human victories, and the development of war machinery is a direct result of
the advancement of institutions and society.
What makes Israel superior is its focus on intellect in the field of technology,
which has granted it continuous victories to this day in both peace and war, and
distinguished it economically despite the small size of its markets. Israel
advances in the fields of cybersecurity, military manufacturing, artificial
intelligence, autonomous vehicles, medical technology, and irrigation and
agricultural technology. As for Hezbollah, like Iran, its strength lies in its
willingness to sacrifice its fighters, as well as recruiting cheap fighters from
Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen, and adapting cloned weapons from Russia
and China, naming them “Martyr,” “Conqueror,” “Al-Qassam,” and “Al-Zalzalah.”Like
Al-Qaeda, the party relies on bravery and ideological preparation for sacrifice.
Yet even this strategy is ineffective in modern wars, as one analyst remarked on
the shock and heavy casualties within Hezbollah ranks due to the detonation of
booby-trapped pagers by Israeli intelligence: “You cannot fight technology with
ideology.”
All the dead from both sides, Hezbollah and Israel, believe they are going to
heaven, but the most important thing in wars is who wins. These wars will
continue without a decisive result because one side is diligently working to
develop its capabilities, and using its war with its adversaries as a field for
experimentation, while the other side is entrenched in metaphysical beliefs and
places no value on the loss of human life.
**Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a Saudi journalist and intellectual. He is the former
general manager of Al-Arabiya news channel and former editor-in-chief of Asharq
Al-Awsat, where this article was originally published.
Africa’s oil exporters struggle as cost of climate change soars
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/September 21, 2024
Africa’s major oil-producing countries face an ironic predicament. Despite high
global oil prices, their production is on a steep decline, hemorrhaging economic
opportunities, and impeding overdue transitions to low-emission economies. These
petrostates, including Nigeria and Angola, have lower trade surpluses today than
in 2010, even though oil prices are significantly higher. It raises the
question: Why aren’t these resource-rich nations reaping the benefits of the
current oil boom?
On the surface, the answer appears to be multiple years of under-investment and
systemic challenges. Outdated legislation, strained relations with local
communities, and competition from emerging oil exporters such as Guyana have
stymied anticipated growth. Countries such as Congo Brazzaville and Equatorial
Guinea have seen significant contractions in oil output, while nations such as
Nigeria have recorded dramatic declines. Meanwhile, non-African OPEC peers such
as Saudi Arabia and Russia have increased oil production, further accentuating
the disparity.
More worryingly, the rapid decline in global oil demand growth in recent months,
particularly driven by China’s economic slowdown, has triggered a sharp sell-off
in oil markets. This sudden drop is already having crippling effects far beyond
Asia. In Africa, where petrostates have already been grappling with
long-standing issues, including obsolete infrastructure and fluctuating
political stability, the consequences are even more acute. Countries such as
Nigeria and Angola, which are heavily reliant on oil revenues, now face a
double-edged sword: diminishing demand globally and internal production
challenges. This dual pressure is destabilizing their already over-burdened
economies, impeding their ability to invest in critical sectors, while also
facilitating a transition to more sustainable energy sources.
Furthermore, shrinking global oil demand has also led to reduced investments in
the African oil sector, further exacerbating challenges posed by decreasing
output. With global financial institutions and oil companies diverting their
capital elsewhere, African countries are left with few options but to rely on
aging oil fields that yield less and less each year. For instance, Nigeria’s oil
production fell to record lows in recent years, unable to compete with more
efficient oil jurisdictions. The struggle is not merely about maintaining
output, but about surviving in an increasingly competitive and shifting global
oil market landscape. A sustained fall in demand means lower revenues, making it
even more difficult for the continent’s oil-dependent countries to finance
necessary upgrades and exploration projects.
Moreover, the impact stretches beyond mere economic concerns. With dwindling oil
revenues, African petrostates struggle to fund public services, social programs,
and infrastructure projects. Worse, debt levels in many African nations are
already alarmingly high, often hovering around 85 percent of gross domestic
product. The reduced fiscal space from ballooning repayments curtails
governments’ ability to invest in alternative energy sources and sustainable
development initiatives, thereby risking their long-term economic stability. The
plummeting oil demand globally and production deficits intrinsically tie these
countries’ fates to an increasingly uncertain oil market, raising vital
questions about their future economic strategies and resilience in a
transitioning energy economy.
Thus, what can African petrostates and, similarly, the continent’s less
affluent, oil-importing neighbors do to manage this impending crisis?
Equatorial Guinea presents a compelling case study of a petrostate grappling
with the dual pressures of declining oil output and the urgent need for economic
diversification. The country’s economic boom, heralded by the discovery of oil
in the mid-1990s, has seen a marked shift from agriculture-led growth to an
economy heavily dependent on hydrocarbons. This transformation was bolstered by
substantial foreign direct investment, thanks to favorable fiscal terms and
promising prospects. Infrastructure projects flourished, accompanied by
substantial investments in social and civil amenities. Yet, the precipitous drop
in oil production in recent years paints a troubling picture of Equatorial
Guinea — and by extension, other oil-dependent African nations.
African countries are left with few options but to rely on aging oil fields.
The multifaceted issues bedeviling African petrostates go beyond aging
infrastructure or dwindling investments. A lack of new discoveries, and high
exploration costs are also complicating prospects of even finding stop-gap
solutions to this complex and enduring challenge. In Equatorial Guinea’s case,
oil production has dwindled, ranking among the lowest in OPEC, primarily due to
declining output from mature fields, such as Aseng and Alba. The country’s
production peaked just over a decade ago, but the absence of new discoveries has
rendered the sector extremely volatile to the combined impact of declining
output and decreasing global consumption. Meanwhile, increased domestic demand
for natural gas, contrasted with decreasing export capacity, showcases the
inherent contradictions within the hydrocarbon sector. As governments scramble
to attract new investments through tax incentives and policy revisions, the
long-term sustainability of these initiatives remains uncertain.
African petrostates, albeit wealthier in some respects, face perplexing
challenges in transitioning to low-emission economies without undermining the
financial backbone provided by crude exports. It is several magnitudes worse for
poorer oil-importing countries on the continent, struggling with socioeconomic
challenges, complicated further by frequent climate change-induced extreme
weather events — increasing pressure on oil exporters to accelerate their
ambitious plans to lower their own emissions footprint. Thus, while Africa’s
wealthier petrostates, replete with resources, face fewer financial hurdles in
funding transitions — declining outputs, revenues, and shrinking global demand
are placing more pressure on less affluent countries.
Yet, the need for substantial investment persists. Equatorial Guinea, for
instance, has embraced an “open door” policy to draw smaller players into the
sector, mitigating risks of failed bidding rounds. However, this strategy,
though pragmatic, highlights the desperate measures required to maintain
economic equilibrium, which may require stalling climate related interventions.
In turn, the burden of climate change weighs even more heavily on poorer African
nations which contend with the worst impacts of a warming planet without the
buffer of oil wealth. Excessive rainfall, unprecedented floods, prolonged heat
waves, and escalating droughts exacerbate water insecurity and food scarcity.
These challenges force these countries to divert increasingly scarce resources
toward immediate relief and recovery, leaving little room for building
resilient, low-emission infrastructure. The stark juxtaposition between
cash-strapped states and oil-rich equivalents emphasizes the disproportionate
impact and uneven opportunities across the continent, which demands serious
attention not just at a continent level, but globally as well.
The next opportunity to deal with this perplexing challenge is most likely the
29th UN Climate Change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Here, Africa’s declining
oil output and its collision course with climate imperatives must be tackled
head-on. Otherwise, efforts by countries such as Nigeria to diversify their
economies away from oil are doomed. In sum, the paradox faced by Africa’s
petrostates is as complex as it is urgent. Without intervention, countries risk
falling into a financial and environmental trap, caught between the dwindling
wells of today and the uncertain, greener horizons of tomorrow.
• Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa
Initiative at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
X: @HafedAlGhwell
Israel’s military offensive drives Arab and Muslim vote
in US presidential race, Arab-American convention confirms
RAY HANANIA/Arab News/September 21, 2024
Speakers were pressed by attendees on whether they would denounce Israel’s
violence
DEARBORN, IL: Community anger over US support for Israel’s bombardment in the
Gaza Strip spilled open among Arab and Muslim voters and activists during a
convention organized by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in
Dearborn, Michigan last week. The ADC’s Annual National Convention, which ran
from Sept. 12-15, was hosted outside Washington for the first time — an
intentional choice aimed at answering the Wall Street Journal’s accusations that
Dearborn was the city of terrorists in the US, ADC Chairman Safa Rifka told Arab
News. Dearborn is a “city of fantastic citizens, proud American citizens” and
“we wanted to make a statement that it is the capital of Arab America,” he said.
The majority of the nearly 1,000 attendees demanded that Democratic
officeholders support the third-party candidacy of Dr. Jill Stein, who many
believe is the only presidential contender to strongly criticize the actions of
Israel’s government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More than 50,000
Gazans have been killed during the near yearlong war, but independent sources
banned by Israel’s government from entering Gaza contend the number is in excess
of 150,000. Speaker after speaker were pressed by audience members on whether
they would stand up and denounce Israel’s violence. “The Gaza war dominates our
concerns,” Rifka said “Clearly the community is concerned about how the elected
officials in this country will respond to the carnage.”
Several attendees, activists and elected officials told The Ray Hanania Radio
Show that the US government needed to do more than simply criticize Hamas for
its assault on Oct. 7, which provoked Israel’s invasion of Gaza. A few attendees
expressed support for Republican candidate Donald Trump and others said they
were hoping for Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris to not only
condemn Hamas’ violence but also expand it to condemn the military campaign by
Netanyahu’s government. Michigan State Rep. Alabas Farhat said that when he and
his colleagues called for a ceasefire, “dozens of representatives and elected
officials” signed the letter. “I think the Arab community right now has said
very loudly, very clearly, they want a nominee for a ceasefire,” he said.
Many attendees believe it is still not too late for candidates to take action.
With roughly six weeks until the election, Illinois State Rep. Abdelnasser
Rashid said that not only was the door open but there was a need for candidates
to “change policy, protect lives and to earn the support of so many people who
care deeply about this issue.”
“People need to vote in November and people need to engage with their elected
officials to let them know where they stand,” he said. Amid growing frustrating
and political uncertainty, Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman said it was important
not to give up.
Her biggest concern, she said, was the growing idea of “nihilism” and “cynicism”
and “the idea that nothing matters, nothing will change, so there’s no point in
trying.”
“That is making us surrender before we’ve even tried. My goal is to make sure
nobody gives up,” she said.
**The Ray Hanania Radio Show is broadcast on the US Arab Radio Network on
Thursday at 5 p.m. EST and again on Mondays in Michigan on WNZK AM 690 radio. It
is also broadcast on Facebook.com/ArabNews and on Youtube, and podcast at
ArabNews.com/rayradioshow. For more information on the host, visit
www.Hanania.com
Experts debate the urgency of striking Iran: Is time
running out for Israel?
Natan Geula/Jerusalem Post/September 21/2024
خبراء يناقشون أولوية الضرورة الطارئة لضرب إيران ويسألون إن كانت إسرائيل ستضيع
الفرصة
ناتان جيولا/جيروزالم بوست/21 سبتمبر/أيلول 2024
خبراء يناقشون ما إذا كان مهاجمة الجمهورية الإسلامية سيؤدي إلى حرب إقليمية قد
تدمر إسرائيل، أو ما إذا كان الوقت قد حان لقطع رأس الأخطبوط - قبل فوات الأوان
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134719/
Experts discuss whether attacking the Islamic Republic will lead to regional war
that could ruin Israel, or whether now is the time to cut off the octopus’s head
– before it is too late