English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For September 23/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are
to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at
that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10/16-25/:”‘See,
I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents
and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils
and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and
kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you
over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what
you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak,
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother
to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and
have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the
one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town,
flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the
towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ‘A disciple is not above the
teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like
the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of
the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on September 22-23/2024
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: Urgent Call to Neutralize the Iranian Mullah
Regime Before It’s Too Late/Elias Bejjani/September 23/2024
Israeli Army Adds Nasrallah to Its Assassination List
Weakened and infiltrated, Hezbollah vows ‘battle without limits’ against Israel
Lebanon Health Ministry Says Separate Israeli Strikes on South Kill Several on
Sunday
Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an 'open-ended battle' with
Israel
Three Rocket Salvos on Haifa and Three Dead in Lebanon
Zoom in on Hezbollah’s Fadi Rockets
IDF Chief Halevi threatens more Hezbollah assassinations, but not explicit
invasion
Several hurt as Hezbollah fires over 100 rockets deep into northern Israel
US embassy in Lebanon urges citizens to leave
Hezbollah attack on northern Israel: Ramat David airbase targeted
Israel Pushes Situation in South Lebanon to the Brink of Major Explosion
Hezbollah Declares 'Open-ended Battle' with Israel
How Israel could invade Lebanon and wage all-out war with Hezbollah
Israel's Imminent War on Lebanon: What Will it Look Like?
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 22-23/2024
Pro-Iranian militant group in Iraq says it launched drone attack on Jordan
Valley
White House: Military Escalation Not in Israel's 'Best Interest'
The Houthis probed Israeli defenses with a ballistic missile, and Iran is likely
taking notes
Amid escalation in the North, the hostages in Gaza are fading into memory -
editorial
Boom… boom, boom
Netanyahu, Macron exchange harsh words over escalation in war with Hezbollah
US officials: Little chance of Israel-Hamas deal before Nov. election
Israeli Strike Kills Seven in Gaza School Compound
Iran Says Arrests 12 People for Collaborating with Israel
Iran Reveals Ballistic Missile, Suicide Drone amid Rising Regional Tensions
At Least 31 Dead in Iran Coal Mine Blast
UK FM Says More Sanctions against Israeli Settlers Possible over West Bank
Violence
Irish president accuses Israeli embassy of leaking letter sent to Iran president
UAE Leader Seeks to Deepen ‘Strategic’ Ties in US Visit
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on September 22-23/2024
Title: "French Intelligence Reveals How and Who Looted Lebanon"
Oralix website/September 22, 2024
World leaders are gathering in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. The
outlook is gloomy/Edith M. Lederer/UNITED NATIONS (AP)/September 22, 2024
It Is Biden and Harris Who Are Not Doing Enough to Free the Hostages/Alan M.
Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/September 22, 2024
Netanyahu Changes Hezbollah/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on September 22-23/2024
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video: Urgent Call to Neutralize
the Iranian Mullah Regime Before It’s Too Late
Elias Bejjani/September 23/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134766/
The Iranian mullahs’ regime stands as the head of the snake, a regime that,
unless decisively overthrown, will continue to be the central force of
instability in the Middle East. Under its leadership, with Hezbollah and its
vast network of terrorist arms, Iran foments division, incites conflicts, and
destabilizes Arab nations while exploiting the Palestinian cause and maintaining
a relentless hostility toward Israel.
The urgency of this threat cannot be overstated. The regime in Tehran, under the
guise of its so-called “jihadist revolution,” is working tirelessly to expand
its influence, with the ultimate goal of regional hegemony under the pretext of
reviving the Persian Empire. And now, Iran stands perilously close to acquiring
the world’s most devastating weapon: the atomic bomb.
In a critical analysis published recently by The Jerusalem Post, Israeli
policymakers, academics, and Western strategists have raised alarm bells about
the immediate and dangerous ramifications of allowing Iran to develop nuclear
weapons. This isn’t a distant hypothetical; it is an imminent crisis. Years of
debate within Israel and Western circles have highlighted two starkly different
perspectives on how to handle the Iranian threat.
On one side, some fear that any preemptive strike on Iran could ignite a
catastrophic global conflict, possibly even leading to Israel’s destruction.
This viewpoint, however, underestimates the catastrophic consequences of
inaction. The other, more pragmatic and visionary view—shared by many high-level
officials and supported by moderate Arab allies—argues that the only way to
prevent regional and global disaster is to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities
as swiftly and forcefully as possible. This faction believes that the survival
of Israel, the stability of the Arab world, and indeed, global security, depend
on a full-scale effort to dismantle the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.
Waiting for Iran to achieve nuclear capability would be a fatal miscalculation.
Once armed with a nuclear arsenal, Iran will not only solidify its stranglehold
over the Middle East but will also wield unprecedented leverage over the West.
Such power would embolden its terrorist proxies, particularly Hezbollah, and
ensure decades of unchecked Iranian aggression across the globe. The
consequences would be devastating, not just for Israel but for Arab nations that
have long suffered under Iranian interference.
The only viable solution is a coordinated military and diplomatic effort, led by
the United States, Israel, and moderate Arab nations, to strike the Iranian
regime at its core. This would involve not only destroying Iran’s nuclear
infrastructure but also empowering the Iranian people in their ongoing struggle
against the theocratic tyranny that has oppressed them for over four decades.
The Iranian people have demonstrated their thirst for freedom and democracy, and
the West must stand firmly with them.
The fall of the mullahs' regime would not only remove the immediate nuclear
threat but also dismantle the network of terror that Iran has carefully
cultivated. Hezbollah, already weakened by its entanglements in Syria, would
lose its primary benefactor, rendering the group vulnerable and ultimately,
powerless. Furthermore, the collapse of the mullah regime would restore the
chance for regional peace, allowing Arab nations to rebuild and pursue
prosperity without constant interference from Tehran.
In conclusion, the world is at a critical juncture. The decision to act against
the Iranian regime must be made now, before the window of opportunity closes.
Failure to do so will result in an irreversible shift in the balance of power in
the Middle East, with disastrous consequences for global security. The Iranian
people deserve better, the region demands stability, and the world cannot afford
to allow a nuclear Iran to become a reality. It is time to strike before it is
too late.
Israeli Army Adds Nasrallah to Its Assassination List
Ramallah: Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al
Awsat/September 22/2024
Israel has decided to increase pressure on Lebanon's Hezbollah through new
"preemptive" attacks, aiming to either push the group toward a settlement in the
north that would allow residents to return to their homes or to escalate into a
full-scale war. Israeli reports hinted that entering into a comprehensive war
would mean the assassination of Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah,
following the killing of two-thirds of the party’s central leadership.
An Israeli source told Yedioth Ahronoth that Israel, in this new phase,
has decided to continue striking Hezbollah, adding: "There are no red lines, and
the only goal now is the safe return of the residents to their homes, and we
understand the costs involved in that."These Israeli threats came after the
assassination of Hezbollah's senior military official, Ibrahim Aqil, along with
several members of the Radwan Force command, in a strike in the southern suburbs
of Beirut. According to the newspaper, Israel is ready for a full-scale war, and
the ball is in Hezbollah's court. It added that Tel Aviv is still giving
Nasrallah a chance to respond to the American mediation proposal for a
settlement that would allow the return of residents to the north. Israel’s
intention to continue escalating against Hezbollah was highlighted by a strained
call between Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron. Channel 12 reported
that Macron had a tense conversation with Netanyahu, which was confirmed by
Yedioth Ahronoth. The French president accused the Israeli premier of pushing
the region toward war, insisting that Israel must take a diplomatic path. He
added that this is the right moment to show leadership and responsibility.
Netanyahu responded by saying: “Instead of pressuring us, it’s time you put
pressure and talk to Hezbollah. We will return our people to their homes, this
is a decision we made this week, and we will carry it out.”On Saturday, Israel
raised the level of threats by broadcasting an image through the Israeli army
indicating that Nasrallah is at the top of the assassination list. The army
released a poster featuring the Hezbollah military leadership, showing the
images of nine people, six of whom had been assassinated, including Ibrahim Aqil
and senior leader Foad Shukr. The three remaining on
the assassination list are Nasrallah, Ali Karaki (commander of the southern
front), and Abu Ali Reza (commander of the Badr Unit). According to Walla news
agency, Israel’s intent is to force Hezbollah into a settlement and avoid a
full-scale war. However, if such a war breaks out, Nasrallah will be in the
crosshairs.
Weakened and infiltrated, Hezbollah vows ‘battle without
limits’ against Israel
Analysis by Tamara Qiblawi, CNN/September 22, 2024
An Israeli airstrike reduces a nine-story apartment building in Beirut’s
southern suburb to a large mound of rubble. A man covered in dust flails
lifelessly in the arms of a rescuer. A corpse in a body bag is whizzed past
parked ambulances on the back of a quad bike.
Suspicion pierces through the catastrophic aftermath of the attack. Plainclothes
Hezbollah members snatch the phones of people snapping photos, demanding they be
deleted. “Get the cell phones out of here!” screams one woman.
It was Iran-backed Hezbollah’s darkest hour. A meeting that gathered
commanders of the group’s elite Radwan force in the basement of a residential
building had been struck down by Israeli warplanes. At least 45 people,
including women and children, were killed, along with 16 Hezbollah militants,
including the Radwan force leader Ibrahim Aqil and senior commander Ahmad Wehbe.
Just two days earlier, hundreds of walkie-talkies belonging to the Lebanese
militant group’s members detonated in a single minute. A day before that,
thousands of exploding Hezbollah pagers maimed hundreds of people. Overall, at
least 80 people have been killed in attacks since Tuesday. Most were Hezbollah
operatives, but the casualties also include women and children.
Now, one of the world’s largest non-state fighting forces is reeling from the
biggest-ever hit to its military structure, as well as the most visible Israeli
infiltration of its ranks and communications infrastructure in its more than
40-year history. The internal breach enabled the successive blows this week and
sowed panic within Hezbollah, according to Lebanese security sources. In a
Saturday news conference, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi gave an impassioned
speech, declaring that the country was in the throes of an Israeli “breach” and
vowing to ramp up the monitoring of “foreigners, hotels and Syrian camps.”
Israel’s firepower had pursued Hezbollah to its lair, attacking rank-and-file
and military leadership alike. Weakened militarily and stripped of its cloak of
secrecy, Hezbollah has arrived at the most delicate phase of its decades-long
fight against Israel. It hoped that a low-level fight on the border on behalf of
the Palestinians would prop up Hamas’ position in the negotiations, but a
ceasefire in Gaza seems more elusive than ever before. Now its limited
confrontation with Israel has exacted a seemingly unlimited price from the
militant group. Yet the compulsion to lash out has
rarely been greater, bringing the region even closer to the brink of a
catastrophic war. In its most high-level statement since the Israeli airstrike
on Friday, Hezbollah’s second in command Naim Qassem declared “a new chapter” in
the confrontations which he called “a battle without limits.”Emergency personnel
work at a site of houses damaged following a rocket attack from Lebanon, amid
cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in Kiryat Bialik, Israel,
September 22, 2024. - Shir Torem/Reuters. Hezbollah’s
retaliation in the early hours of Sunday appears to be its most forceful attack
since confrontations at the Israel-Lebanon border began last October. The group
said it targeted the Ramat David airbase in southeast Haifa, and the Rafael
military industries site, north of Haifa. The Israeli military did not respond
to questions about whether the site was impacted but officials confirmed direct
hits nearby.
This was one of the deepest hits by Hezbollah since the last all-out war between
Lebanon and Israel in 2006. The group also said it used new missiles it calls
Fadi-1 and Fadi-2, believed to be medium-range rockets. If confirmed, this would
mark one of the first time Hezbollah has fired weapons outside of its
short-range arsenal. The group will hope to have restored some of its deterrence
power, and to force an end to Israel’s “new chapter” in its fight against
Hezbollah. What is certain is that there are new
unwritten rules of engagement between Hezbollah and Israel. Until a few months
ago, an Israeli strike in Beirut was believed likely to provoke a Hezbollah
retaliation in a major Israeli city. After Israel killed a Hamas leader in
southern Beirut in January, that turned out not to be true. Since then, Israel
has attacked Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital five times. Hours before
the Israeli airstrike on Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the
strikes on the wireless devices “unprecedented and severe.” The group had lost
this battle, he seemed to say, but not the war. Hezbollah’s supporters are
trying to put on a brave face. “War is a boxing match. One day you win, another
day you lose,” said Hussein, attending the funeral of three Hezbollah fighters
slain in Friday’s strike. “We are strong in our faith
… We are all ready to spill blood for Nasrallah.”Ben Wedeman, Sarah Sirgany and
Charbel Mallo contributed reporting.
Lebanon Health Ministry Says Separate Israeli Strikes on
South Kill Several on Sunday
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
Lebanon's health ministry said three people were killed in separate Israeli
strikes on south Lebanon on Sunday, as Israel said it was striking Hezbollah
targets in Lebanon. In separate statements, the health
ministry said one person was killed in "Israel enemy" strikes in three different
south Lebanon villages. Hezbollah on Sunday announced two fighters had been
killed, without specifying where they died. The Iran-backed group said it
launched "explosive laden drones" towards two troop positions in northern Israel
"in response to the enemy attacks" on south Lebanon. Early Sunday, it said it
fired dozens of rockets at military production facilities and an air base near
the north Israel city of Haifa. The Israel military said a barrage of rockets,
cruise missiles and drones were launched overnight towards Israeli soil, mostly
from Lebanon to the north. Hezbollah has traded near daily cross-border fire
with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's
October 7 attack triggered the Gaza war. Tensions have
spiked dramatically in recent days, with several dozen killed and thousands
wounded in Lebanon when Hezbollah pagers and two-way radios exploded on Tuesday
and Wednesday. Hezbollah has blamed Israel, which has not commented. On Friday,
an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs that targeted Hezbollah military
commanders killed 45 people, the health ministry said.
Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an
'open-ended battle' with Israel
Natalie Melzer And Kareem Chehayeb/NAHARIYA, Israel (AP)/September 22, 2024
Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets early Sunday across northern Israel, with some
landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on
Lebanon. A Hezbollah leader declared an “open-ended battle” was underway as both
sides appeared to be spiraling closer toward all-out war.
The overnight rocket barrage was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that
have killed dozens, including a veteran Hezbollah commander, and an
unprecedented attack targeting the group’s communications devices. Air raid
sirens across northern Israel sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling
into shelters. One struck near a residential building
in Kiryat Bialik, a city near Haifa, wounding at least three people and setting
buildings and cars ablaze. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said four
people were wounded. Avi Vazana raced to a shelter with his wife and 9-month-old
baby before he heard the rocket hitting. Then he went back outside to see if
anyone was hurt. “I ran without shoes, without a
shirt, only with pants. I ran to this house when everything was still on fire to
try to find if there are other people,” he said.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three people were killed and four wounded in
Israeli strikes near the border, without saying whether they were civilians or
combatants.
Hezbollah responds to unprecedented blows
The rocket attacks followed an Israeli airstrike Friday in Beirut killed at
least 45 people, including Akil, one of Hezbollah’s top leaders, several other
fighters, and women and children. Hezbollah was
already reeling from a sophisticated attack that caused thousands of pagers and
walkie-talkies to explode just days earlier. But it faces a difficult balance of
stretching the rules of engagement by hitting deeper into Israel, while at the
same time trying to avoid large-scale attacks on civilian areas and
infrastructure that could trigger a full-scale war that it would rather not
start and take the blame for. Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem said
Sunday's rocket attack was just the beginning of what’s now an ″open-ended
battle” with Israel. “We admit that we are pained. We
are humans. But as we are pained — you will also be pained,” Kassem said at the
funeral of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil. He vowed Hezbollah will
continue military operations against Israel in support of Gaza but also warned
of unexpected attacks “from outside the box,” pointing to rockets fired deeper
into Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
Israel would take whatever action was necessary to restore security in the north
and allow people to return to their homes.
“No country can accept the wanton rocketing of its cities. We can’t accept it
either,” he said.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby remained hopeful for a
peaceful resolution, telling “Fox News Sunday” the U.S. has been “involved in
extensive and quite assertive diplomacy."“We are watching all these escalating
tensions that have been occurring over the last week or so, with great concern,
and we want to make sure that we can continue to do everything we can to try to
prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that
Lebanese border," he said.
Israel says it thwarted an even larger attack from Hezbollah
The Israeli military said it struck about 400 militant sites, including rocket
launchers, across southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, thwarting an even
larger attack. “Hundreds of thousands of civilians
have come under fire across a lot of northern Israel,” said Israeli military
spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. "Today we saw fire that was deeper into
Israel than before.”The military also said it intercepted multiple aerial
devices fired from the direction of Iraq, after Iran-backed militant groups
there claimed to have launched a drone attack on Israel. School was canceled
across northern Israel, and the Health Ministry said all hospitals in the north
would begin moving operations to protected areas within the medical centers.
Separately, Israeli forces raided the West Bank bureau of Al-Jazeera, which it
had banned earlier this year, accusing it of serving as a mouthpiece for
militant groups, allegations denied by the pan-Arab broadcaster.
U.N. envoy says the region is on the brink of catastrophe
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire since the outbreak of the war in Gaza
nearly a year ago, when the militant group began firing rockets in solidarity
with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas. The low-level
fighting has killed dozens of people in Israel, hundreds in Lebanon, and
displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the frontier.
Until recently, neither side was believed to be seeking an all-out war,
and Hezbollah has so far stopped short of targeting Tel Aviv or major civilian
infrastructure. But in recent weeks, Israel has shifted its focus from Gaza to
Lebanon. Hezbollah has said it would only halt its attacks if the war in Gaza
ends, as a cease-fire there appears increasingly elusive.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel, in which
Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others
hostage. They are still holding about 100 captives, a third of whom are believed
to be dead. Over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's
Health Ministry. It doesn't say how many were fighters, but says women and
children make up more than half of the dead. “With the
region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough:
there is NO military solution that will make either side safer,” Jeanine
Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. envoy for Lebanon, said in an X post. Families of
Israeli hostages and residents of Gaza expressed fears the fighting in Lebanon
will direct international attention from their own plights.
“I’m incredibly concerned with the increased tensions with Hezbollah
because, my biggest concern is that, all the public’s attention and the world’s
attention” would be distracted, said Udi Goren, a relative of Tal Haimi, an
Israeli man who was killed Oct. 7 and whose body was taken into Gaza. Enas
Kollab, a Palestinian displaced from Gaza, voiced similar fears. “We are afraid
that the situation in Lebanon will affect us -- that all attention will turn to
Lebanon and we will become forgotten,” she said.
Hezbollah says it's using new weapons
Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles — a new
weapon the group hadn't used before — at the Ramat David airbase, southeast of
Haifa, “in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various
Lebanese regions and led to the fall of many civilian martyrs.”In July, the
group released what it said was video it had taken of the base with surveillance
drones. Hezbollah also said it had targeted the facilities of the Rafael defense
firm, headquartered in Haifa, calling it retaliation for the wireless devices
attack. It didn't provide evidence, and the Israeli military declined to comment
on the statement. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for
a wave of explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah
members on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37 people — including two
children — and wounding about 3,000. The attacks were widely blamed on Israel,
which hasn't confirmed or denied responsibility. An Israeli airstrike Friday
took down an eight-story building in a densely populated neighborhood in
Beirut’s southern suburbs as Hezbollah members met in the basement, according to
Israel. Among those killed was Akil., who commanded the group's special forces
unit.
Three Rocket Salvos on Haifa and Three Dead in Lebanon
This Is Beirut/September 22/2024
Tensions are on the rise in south Lebanon after a tense night as Hezbollah
announced “raiding military industrial complexes specializing in electronic
equipment, north of Haifa with dozens of rockets.” Hezbollah declared that this
operation is “an initial response to the brutal massacre committed by Israel on
Tuesday and Wednesday.”In a separate statement, the pro-Iranian group claimed
responsibility for “targeting Ramat David base and airport for the second time
with a salvo of rockets.”According to the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot,
“rockets fell in Kiryat Bialik, causing damage to several houses and injuring
three people in the Lower Galilee.” In this context,
AFP reported that Israel’s Home Front Command announced that it had ordered “the
closure of all schools in the country’s northern regions near the border with
Lebanon, after Hezbollah fired batches of rockets early Sunday.” According to
the Home Front, schools and other educational institutions will remain closed
until 6 PM on Monday. In response, the Israeli army retaliated by targeting
several towns in south Lebanon and killing three people in Aitaroun, Khiam and
Maaliyeh. Israel also carried out a series of raids on Malikiya, Zibqine, Wadi
Hassan and the outskirts of Majdel Zoun. Additionally, Markaba, Khiam, Aitaroun,
Aita al-Shaab and Ain Qana were targets for Israel’s fighter jets. Yater,
Taybeh, Khardali, Oddaisseh, Yaroun and Zahrani were bombed by the Israeli air
force. Israel also extended its shelling to reach Kfar Milki, Labaya and Zalaya
in the Western Bekaa. Later, the Israeli army declared that their defenses are
in a state of “high alert and maximum readiness to thwart any attacks by
Hezbollah.”In another statement, the Israeli army affirmed that “around 85
rockets were fired from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted, while others
landed in Kiryat Bialik, Tsur Shalom and Morsht,” revealing that “firefighters
are working to extinguish the fires.”
Zoom in on Hezbollah’s Fadi Rockets
This Is Beirut/September 22/2024
Hezbollah claimed on Sunday that it had targeted Israeli military production
facilities and an airbase in the Haifa region in response to the deadly
explosions that hit its communications equipment earlier this week. Notably, the
pro-Iranian group revealed that it had used projectiles for the first time since
October 8: the Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 ground-to-ground rockets.
According to al-Mayadeen, the rockets are named after Fadi Hassan Tawil,
a Hezbollah leader born in 1969 in Beirut, who died in 1987 while fighting
Israeli forces during their occupation of Lebanon. His brother, Wissam Tawil, a
commander of Hezbollah’s elite al-Radwan force, was also killed on January 8 in
ongoing clashes along the Lebanese-Israeli border, which have continued since 8
October. According to Hezbollah propaganda videos, the
Fadi-1 rocket has a caliber of 220 mm, is 6 meters long and is equipped with an
83-kilogram explosive warhead. It is typically launched from a vehicle-mounted
multiple rocket launcher, with a range of up to 70 kilometers.
The larger Fadi-2 is similar in size but has a 302 mm caliber and carries
a more powerful 170-kilogram explosive charge, with a range reportedly exceeding
100 kilometers. Both projectiles are described as unguided by the pro-Iranian
group. These ranges therefore enable them to target
areas beyond the border zone, while launching the rockets from deep within
Lebanese territory, which would explain their use against Haifa. Hezbollah
reportedly had used these rockets previously during the 2006 war.
According to media sources affiliated with Hezbollah, the rockets launched on
Sunday morning were fired from the infamous “Imad-4” underground network, which
is believed to house multiple rocket launchers. While Hezbollah had mainly
relied on short-range rockets, such as Katyushas, the use of projectiles like
the Fadi-1 and Fadi-2, which offer much greater destructive capability and
range, sends a strong message: Hassan Nasrallah’s group is now ready to target
deeper into Israeli territory. This move is a direct response to Israeli
escalation, but it also carries the risk of further inflaming tensions.
IDF Chief Halevi threatens more Hezbollah
assassinations, but not explicit invasion
Jerusalem Post/September 22/2024
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Halevi threatens increased strikes against
Hezbollah, emphasizing the group's rising costs amid escalating tensions.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi on Sunday threatened more
assassinations and destroying more of Hezbollah's capabilities but did not
explicitly threaten a ground invasion of southern Lebanon or anywhere else in
the country. Speaking hours after Hezbollah tried to
harm Israelis deeper into the country than ever with around 150 rockets and
drones, but so far has mostly failed, Halevi said, "We have killed [over the
whole war] over 600 terrorists [in Lebanon], dozens of them from the command
echelon of the organization Hezbollah. "The price that Hezbollah will pay will
only grow, and the intensity of our attacks will increase," he added. Further,
he said that if all of the escalating attacks on Hezbollah since last week do
not convince it to agree to a deal that ensures security for Israel's northern
residents, "it will be hit again and again until the organization understands."
Strategic initiative against Hezbollah
He then noted that the IDF has many capabilities, both on offense and defense,
which it still has not used, but he made no explicit reference to any kind of
invasion. An increasing number of experts and former military officials have
said that short of an invasion of some kind, Hezbollah is unlikely to reverse
its aggression against Israel. Moreover, Halevi said that when the IDF killed
Radwan special forces chief Ibrahim Aqil, he may have been planning an invasion
of Israel's North. But he said that the IDF had kept the initiative and
eliminated Aqil and many of his sub-commanders before they could act.
Several hurt as Hezbollah fires over 100 rockets deep into
northern Israel
Joshua Marks/Israel Today/September 22/2024
The IDF said that it was attacking terror sites in Lebanon following the waves
of attacks on Israeli communities.
Several people were hurt when Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets and drones at
northern Israel in multiple waves of attacks overnight Saturday and Sunday
morning.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, rockets impacted Kiryat Bialik, near
Haifa, and Moreshet, a community in the Lower Galilee. The IDF’s aerial defense
array intercepted some of the projectiles. The IDF said that Israel Fire and
Rescue Services were operating to put out numerous blazes ignited in the area.
Three people suffered shrapnel wounds when Hezbollah rockets hit several
homes in Kiryat Bialik. The Magen David Adom emergency service said that its
medics and paramedics treated and evacuated a 76-year-old man to Haifa’s Rambam
Hospital in moderate condition with a shrapnel wound to the eye, a 70-year-old
man and a 16-year-old girl in mild condition with shrapnel wounds.
According to the IDF, 85 rockets were detected following sirens that
sounded between 6:24 and 6:32 a.m. local times and between 6:52 and 7 a.m.
Before that, sirens sounded in the Jezreel Valley area at 4:48 and 5:10 a.m.
local time, with 20 rockets detected crossing from Lebanon into Israeli
territory. Most of those rockets were intercepted, with the rest falling in open
areas. No injuries were reported, according to the IDF.
The IDF said overnight at 1:48 a.m. that 10 projectiles were detected
crossing from Lebanon into the Jezreel Valley area, with most intercepted and a
fallen projectile identified in the area. MDA said
that at 1:20 a.m., it received a report about a 60-year-old man with a minor
head injury, likely from a small interception fragment, near a village in the
Lower Galilee. He was transported to the Scottish Hospital in Nazareth.
Additionally, several people were lightly injured running to bomb shelters,
including a month-old infant, two women in their 30s and men and women in their
70s and 80s. They were evacuated to the Emek Hospital in Afula and to the Holy
Family (Italian) and English Hospitals in Nazareth.
Firefighting planes try to extinguish a large fire after missiles launched from
Lebanon hit the Biriya Forest in Northern Israel, on Sept. 21, 2024. Photo by
Ayal Margolin/Flash90. In total, the IDF said that
Hezbollah launched 115 “aerial threats” towards civilians in northern Israel in
recent hours. Hezbollah took responsibility for the overnight and morning waves
of attacks, stating that it had sent “dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles” at
the Ramat David airbase southeast of Haifa and the Rafael Advanced Defense
Systems north of Haifa. It was reportedly the first time since Oct. 8 when the
terror group began attacking Israel in support of Hamas that it has used this
type of weapon. The Iranian-backed terror army said that the missiles launched
were “in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese
regions and led to the fall of many civilian martyrs,” about last week’s series
of communication device explosions that killed and wounded thousands of
Hezbollah terrorists. Hezbollah has vowed revenge for
the deadly pager and walkie-talkie blasts last week across Lebanon, attributing
the attacks to Jerusalem, which has denied culpability.
A targeted strike by the IDF in Beirut on Friday killed senior Hezbollah
terrorist Ibrahim Aqil.
Following Hezbollah’s attack on northern Israel, the IDF said on Sunday morning
that it was currently striking terror targets in Lebanon. “The IDF defensive
arrays are deployed in the area, and on high preparedness to thwart threats,”
the military said, adding that “IDF strikes will continue and will intensify
against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.” Since
Saturday afternoon, Israel has struck 290 targets in Southern Lebanon, including
thousands of launcher barrels and additional terrorist infrastructure. In an
additional series of strikes, the IDF said that it struck 110 Hezbollah terror
targets, including launchers and terrorist infrastructure.
The IDF also announced changes to the Home Front Command defensive
guidelines, which effect “the northern Golan Heights, the Confrontation Line,
the southern Golan Heights, Upper Galilee, Central Galilee, Lower Galilee, the
Haifa Bay and the Valleys (HaAmakim).”
The updated guidelines prohibit educational activities, limit work activities to
those taking place near bomb shelters and limit gatherings and services to up to
10 people outdoors and up to 100 people indoors. Additionally, beaches are
closed to the public. The guidelines are in effect from Sunday at 6 a.m. until
Monday at 6 p.m., with the possibility of an extension.
US embassy in Lebanon urges citizens to leave
JNS/Israel Today Staff /September 22/2024
The new advisory notes that commercial flights are still available now, but may
stop in the very near future. The U.S. Embassy in
Beirut issued an updated advisory on Saturday calling on all American citizens
to leave Lebanon. “Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between
Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut,
the U.S. embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options
still remain available,” the advisory read. “At this time, commercial flights
are available, but at reduced capacity. If the security situation worsens,
commercial options to depart may become unavailable,” added the mission. In late
July, the U.S. elevated its travel advisory for Lebanon to the highest level,
“do not travel,” following a strike in southern Beirut that killed top Hezbollah
terrorist Fuad Shukr. Germany called on its citizens to leave Lebanon following
the elimination of Shukr in retaliation for the murder of 12 children in a
Hezbollah rocket attack on Majdal Shams on July 27. The United Kingdom issued a
similar advisory on July 29 and France issued one on Aug. 4.
The United States, however, had only called on its citizens at that time
to make plans for leaving Lebanon. On September 17 and 18, hundreds of pagers
and other gear used by Hezbollah terrorists exploded, killing dozens and
wounding thousands in what the Iranian proxy said was an attack by Israel. On
Friday, Israel bombed a building in Beirut, killing over a dozen Hezbollah
officers including Ibrahim Aqil, 61, who was the second top commander of
Hezbollah killed since Oct. 7. On Saturday, Israel struck multiple targets in
Lebanon in what it said were precision strikes on sites preparing to fire into
its territory. On Sunday, Hezbollah terrorists fired rockets deep into Israel,
wounding several people and hitting a home in a northern suburb. One person died
in a traffic accident that coincided with a warning siren.
Hezbollah attack on northern Israel: Ramat David airbase
targeted
Israel Today Staff /September 22/2024
Hezbollah fires dozens of rockets at northern Israel, targeting the Ramat David
airbase. Missile defence over Nazareth. Suspicious flying objects intercepted
over Iraq. At around 1:10 on Sunday morning, sirens
went off in more than 70 locations in northern Israel as the Hezbollah terrorist
group launched a massive wave of rockets at Israel. Among the targets was the
Ramat David airbase. Towns such as Yokne’am, Nazareth, Afula, as well as areas
in the lower Galilee, the Jezreel Valley and around Mount Carmel were affected.
According to initial reports, Hezbollah used Fajr-5 missiles for the first time
since the 2006 Lebanon war. Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israeli
defences. One man was lightly wounded by shrapnel in the Lower Galilee.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying: ‘We fired
rockets at the Ramat David airbase in response to the Israeli attacks’. Power
cuts were also reported in several towns around Afula. The Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) confirmed that around ten rockets had entered Israeli territory from
Lebanon. Most were intercepted, but one hit the Jezreel Valley.
Later, at around 4 o’clock in the morning, sirens went off again in the
south of the Golan Heights. The IDF announced that suspicious flying objects
from Iraq had been intercepted. These objects had not entered Israeli airspace
and there were no reports of injuries. At around 5am,
rockets were again fired into the Jezreel Valley, hitting a cowshed. Several
cows were killed and there was significant material damage. Police reported
explosions at several locations. According to the IDF, a total of 24 rockets
were fired at Ramat David and the Jezreel Valley region in three waves. All were
successfully neutralised by the defence system. In light of the escalating
situation, the IDF has revised its security guidelines for the northern and
southern Golan Heights, the Upper Galilee, the Haifa region and the Jezreel
Valley. At 6.30 am, sirens also sounded in Acre and the Kiriyat region.
Overnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security meeting with senior
ministers and military officials. The airspace north of Hadera will remain
closed until at least Tuesday. Israel’s security
cabinet will meet in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 17:30 to discuss the latest events.
Shortly after midnight, the IDF announced that it had bombed a total of
290 targets in southern Lebanon during the day. These included rocket launchers
and terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah. The IDF stressed that
operations would continue in order to further degrade and destroy Hezbollah’s
capabilities and infrastructure.
Israel Pushes Situation in South Lebanon to the Brink of
Major Explosion
Tehran: Asharq Al Awsat London/September 22/2024
Israel has pushed the situation in southern Lebanon to the brink of a "major
explosion" after launching unprecedented airstrikes on valleys and riverbeds in
southern villages, some of which were targeted for the first time.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah expanded the range of its rockets, hitting new areas
that had been safe during nearly a year of confrontations between the two sides.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati canceled his trip to New York, where
he was scheduled to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, in light
of the significant Israeli escalation and the aerial bombardment that included
nearly 100 airstrikes targeting dozens of valleys. New
areas in the Nabatieh and Zahrani regions, north of the Litani River, were also
struck for the first time. Tel Aviv claimed the strikes targeted Hezbollah's
rocket launchers. In a statement, Mikati said: "I had
intended to travel to New York as part of intensifying Lebanese diplomatic
efforts during the United Nations General Assembly to stop Israel's ongoing
aggression against Lebanon and the massacres the enemy is committing."
He added: "However, in light of the developments related to Israel's
aggression against Lebanon, I have decided to cancel the trip. After
consultation and coordination with the Foreign Minister (Abdullah Bou Habib), we
have agreed on the urgent diplomatic actions needed at this stage."Following the
targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut and the assassination of leaders
from Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit, the Israeli army launched a new wave of
airstrikes, hitting wide areas north and south of the Litani River. The strikes
formed an arc extending from the northern Zahrani coast at Tfahta, toward the
valleys of Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Tuffah, the Litani River, and down to the coast of
Adloun. Israeli media reported on Saturday that the Israeli army attacked
Hezbollah positions 32 kilometers deep inside Lebanon, mentioning more than 100
airstrikes on South Lebanon. The National News Agency
reported that Israeli warplanes carried out a series of intense airstrikes in
Nabatieh, targeting valleys surrounding the towns of Ansar, Zrarieh, Sharqia -
Nimrieh, Zefta, Deir al-Zahrani, Roumine, and Wadi al-Kfour, as well as the
outskirts of Jbaa in Iqlim al-Tuffah. The planes dropped several air-to-ground
missiles, causing loud explosions and thick smoke to rise over most of Nabatieh
and Iqlim al-Tuffah. The Israeli army, in turn, said
that after projectiles were fired toward Israeli territory, it carried out heavy
strikes targeting about 180 sites, hitting thousands of rocket-launching points.
In response, Hezbollah targeted Israel's primary missile defense base in
the northern region, positions of Brigade 300 of Division 146 in the Adamit
barracks, as well as the headquarters of Division 210 in the Nafah base, the
newly established headquarters of the Galilee Division in Eilabun, and the Gal
Al-Lam site. Hezbollah's rockets also hit the command center of the Sahl
Battalion in the Beit Hillel barracks, and the scouting battalion's positions of
Golani Brigade 631 in the Ramot and Zarit barracks.
Hezbollah Declares 'Open-ended Battle' with Israel
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, declared on Sunday that the group is now
in an “open-ended battle of reckoning” with Israel, and he vowed to prolong the
misery of those displaced from the country's north. Qassem spoke at the funeral
of Hezbollah's senior commander and founder of the elite Radwan forces Ibrahim
Aqil. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said operations would continue until
it was safe for evacuated people on his side of the border to return. The
conflict - which sharply escalated over the past week - has raged since
Iran-backed Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, saying it was acting
in solidarity with Palestinians facing an Israeli offensive further south in
Gaza. On Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by
Hezbollah members exploded in an attack widely blamed on Israel. The next day,
Israel launched its heaviest bombardment of Lebanon yet. Friday saw Aqil killed
along with several other senior Hezbollah military figures in a strike on
Beirut's southern suburb. Saturday again saw unprecedented bombardment that the
Israeli military said struck around 290 targets, including thousands of
Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels. Qassem said Israel was seeking to paralyze
the group, but would not succeed. He added that
Israel's escalation of the conflict would lead to further displacement of its
own citizens. “We admit that we are pained. We are humans. But as we are pained,
you will also be pained,” Qassem warned. He has said Hezbollah will stop
attacking northern Israel only if the country can reach a ceasefire in the Gaza
Strip with Hamas. Israel has closed schools,
restricted gatherings in the north and ordered hospitals there to move patients
and staff to protected areas - many have secured or underground facilities
designed to withstand rocket fire. Air raid sirens sounded constantly in Israel
on Sunday. About 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones were fired at Israel
overnight and into Sunday, most of which were intercepted by air defenses,
including an "aerial target" that came from the east, the military said. Several
buildings were struck, including a house badly damaged near the Israeli city of
Haifa. Rescue teams treated wounded but there were no reports of deaths.
Residents had been instructed to stay near bomb shelters and safe rooms.
Hezbollah said it hit a barracks and another Israeli position with
squadrons of attack drones on Sunday, and also launched rockets at
military-industrial facilities in an "initial response" to the device attacks
last week.
How Israel could invade Lebanon and wage all-out war
with Hezbollah
Roland Oliphant/The Telegraph/September 21, 2024
Maj Gen Ori Gordin, head of Israel’s northern command, says he and his troops
are ‘determined to change the security reality as soon as possible’Even before
Tuesday’s exploding pager attack on Hezbollah, war seemed to be looming on the
Israel-Lebanon border.
Benjamin Netanyahu began the week promising to return 60,000 evacuees to the
north of the country. After the pager blasts Yoav Gallant, the defence minister,
announced a “new phase” of the conflict. Maj Gen Ori Gordin, head of Israel’s
northern command, said he and his troops are “determined to change the security
reality as soon as possible”.
So will there be a wider war? And what, if anything, could it achieve?
Days before the pager attacks, Israeli’s security cabinet updated its official
war goals to include the return of around 60,000 residents to parts of northern
Israel they were evacuated from following Hezbollah’s attacks in the aftermath
of Oct 7. Hezbollah has linked its rocket attacks to a ceasefire in Gaza. So in
theory, there is a diplomatic solution: stop the war in Gaza, and the problem
will go away. That is clearly the solution that Israel’s key allies, including
the United States and Britain, prefer. They have publicly and privately urged
restraint and warned against derailing peace talks. But rhetoric from Mr
Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, the pager attacks, escalating air strikes, the
redeployment of troops from Gaza to the north – and The Telegraph’s
conversations with serving and retired IDF officers – suggest an Israeli action
in Lebanon is a question of when, not if.
Three options
There are three options for Israeli planners to consider: air strikes; a
massive, Gaza-style invasion; and a “limited” incursion to set up a “buffer
zone”. The first is, of course, the safest. Mr Gallant, the defence minister –
no dove, even by Israeli standards – is said to have argued for this option. It
does not commit troops on the ground, avoids the risk of a quagmire, and would
not require committing ground forces while the main effort in Gaza (and,
increasingly, the West Bank) is still under way. Compared to Israel’s first
invasion of Lebanon in 1982, or even its last in 2006, aerial targeting
technology has made a quantum leap. On Friday morning, Israel said its strikes
had destroyed 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers. But, as the 11-month war in Gaza
shows, even modern, relentless air strikes cannot win a war alone. In the end it
is the infantry who must engage the surviving enemy to take and hold ground.
“There is no scenario where we can bring citizens back to the towns along the
border, if Hezbollah is on the border,” said Brig Gen Amir Avivi, former IDF
deputy commander of the Gaza Division and founder of Israel Defense and Security
Forum. “This means that if Hezbollah doesn’t willingly withdraw, according to UN
Security Council resolution 1701, Israel is left with no choice but to do a
ground incursion.” But any ground invasion is fraught with risk and overshadowed
by the memory of previous bloody, and ultimately unsuccessful, adventures north
of the border.
In the semi-desert landscape of Gaza, Hamas has had to tunnel into earth and
sand. Hezbollah’s tunnels are dug into the solid rock of imposing mountain
valleys, said Maj Moshiko Giat, an IDF special forces soldier who fought in
Israel’s last incursion into Lebanon in 2006.
“So the infrastructure in Lebanon is pretty solid and very, very hard to break
into. And that was one of our dilemmas, how we’re going to basically attack all
this infrastructure that was built from 1982 to 2006,” he said. Hezbollah, he
added, is a country mile ahead of Hamas in both numbers and military prowess.
Independent observers believe Hezbollah can field between 20,000 and 40,000
fighters. It is believed to have amassed an arsenal of up to 150,000 rockets and
missiles, many of them advanced Iranian designs able to fire deep into Israel.
And it will have massively expanded the minefield, ambush sites and tunnel
systems that caused Maj Giat and his troops so much bother 18 years ago. “They
act like an army and we would treat them like an army,” he said. “They have
undergone training, including in Iran, and they have a lot of combat experience,
more than they had in 2006, because they fought in the civil war in Syria on the
side of the Assad regime. “We are not going to meet a militia, we’re going to
meet a proper force.” Opposing this force is the IDF’s 98th Division, an elite
paratroopers and commando outfit, and the 179th and 769th armoured brigades,
which have already been deployed to the border and are waiting for orders. Mr
Netanyahu must now decide what those orders will be. There are two options:
Invasion
A full-scale, Gaza-style invasion, fighting house-to-house and tunnel-to-tunnel
in pursuit of the total destruction of Hezbollah and its (supposedly) enormous
arsenal of rockets, holds an emotional appeal to Israelis who would like to
secure the northern border once and for all.
But the IDF has still not destroyed the much less formidable foe of Hamas after
11 months of war in the much smaller territory of Gaza. Trying to do the same to
Hezbollah would mean repeating the bloody 1982 march on Beirut. Military
casualties would be high, civilian ones probably much higher, and the patience
of key allies like the United States tested to breaking point. And if progress
in Gaza is anything to go by, fighting building-to-building for years, and
suffering heavy casualties. The war that began on Oct 7 last year is already the
longest in Israeli history. How much longer the economy, and public and
international sentiment, can take is now a serious consideration.
Buffer zone
So that leaves the so-called third option. A more “limited” incursion to
establish a buffer zone.
Even that would be a major operation. It would take “several divisions”, or
around 30,000 troops, to clear southern Lebanon, said Assaf Orion, a retired
brigadier general and former head of the strategy division for the IDF general
staff. That would drop to one or two divisions – between 10,000 and 20,000
troops – to occupy and hold afterwards, he said.
It is not exactly clear how deep that zone would be. Maj Giat said he understood
the objective of any ground offensive would be to clear and hold a buffer-zone 6
to 12 miles deep.
Brig Gen Avivi said the goal would be to “destroy them in South Lebanon and push
them north of the Litani river”. That is only a rough guide: The Litani is 18
miles from the border at its mouth but further inland comes within little more
than a mile of the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan heights. Brig Gen
Avivi insisted such an operation would be more than manageable. “Lebanon is not
as densely populated as Gaza, and the towns and villages in southern Lebanon are
pretty empty. This is not going to be as complicated as what we saw in Gaza. “I
think it can take a few weeks because it’s going to be very, very intensive. And
also there will be huge pressure inside Lebanon on Hezbollah to stop, because,
obviously, Lebanon is going to pay a heavy price here.
“I would assume that the war is not going to be long.”
Memories of wars past
But the ghosts of the 1982 and 2006 wars loom over any talk of fighting in
Lebanon.
The first, also directed at creating a buffer zone, reached Beirut but ended in
public disillusionment over high casualties.
It also catalysed the birth of Hezbollah.
The 2006 war, triggered by the Hezbollah abduction of three Israeli soldiers on
the border, lasted 34 days and claimed the lives of 121 Israeli soldiers, an
estimated 250 Hezbollah fighters, and around 1,200 civilians. After it was over,
a public inquiry concluded that Hezbollah had successfully resisted a superior
force; that the war had been entered into without any clear strategy; and that
the ground offensive came late, was not completed, and did not achieve its
goals.
Another way?
Maj Giat says he’s not worried about repeating the same mistakes this time.
Lessons have been learned, the soldiers have been training hard for the
operation, and there will be a greater emphasis on speed, aggression, and
precisely identifying and then pursuing targets than in 2006.
“We know what we are doing,” he said.
The infantry battle is one thing though.
It is not clear how, if at all, Hezbollah’s anticipated massive rocket barrage
would be dealt with. Another salvo of missiles and drones could be expected from
the group’s allies in Syria and Iran. And there is a strange dichotomy in
Israeli rhetoric, and possibly thought. On the one hand, brash confidence in the
IDF’s superiority on the battlefield. On the other, a recognition that this is a
much more serious and difficult problem than such bravado would suggest.
The bottom line is that from the Israeli point of view, none of the options of
invasion are good ones. And Mr Netanyahu, for all his rhetoric, is considered by
observers to be a cautious and even indecisive politician. That’s led some to
conclude that war is not inevitable.
Amos Yadlin, former Israeli military intelligence chief, told The Telegraph: “I
am not sure either side wants a full-scale war and there are other ways for
Israel to damage Hezbollah. We’ve seen that so far.” There are those who argue
the bloodshed of recent days – the device attacks, air strikes on the border and
in Beirut – are meant to achieve something else.
Could the prospect of a full-scale war force Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah chief,
to tell his fighters to cool down the rocket attacks? Could he and his patrons
in Iran could even lean on Hamas to sign a ceasefire in Gaza on Israeli terms?
If that is the Israeli strategy, it is a high-risk one.
And it is not – yet – bearing fruit.
Israel's Imminent War on Lebanon: What Will it Look Like?
Hanibaal Atheos/lebanoniznogood.blogspot.com
Warning: The Telegraph is an extremist right-wing conservative pro-Zionist
English rag. It oten propagates its wishful thinking as "factual analysis".
Exercize caution when reading. When analyzing the events in Palestine and
Lebanon, pundits and experts rarely mention the fundamental issue that is behind
all this 75-year old torment. As you will see below, the discussion meanders
into tactical details but never asks the ultimate question: And then what? What
will Israel achieve by demolishing Hezbollah? Sure, it might get a reprieve from
the immediate threat along its border that might last a decade or so, but then
the cycle repeats itself, which means that Israel is condemned to always be in a
state of war, and that is not what a "safe homeland" is supposed to be.
In 1982 it invaded Lebanon and demolished the PLO, then made a treacherous peace
with its erstwhile "terrorist" enemy. Is this what we should expect this time
too? Make some deal with Hamas and Iran that will last a few years, until
another radical resistance movement emerges to continue the torment?
In order to achieve the objective of a "safe homeland" in Israel, there has to
be genuine good intentions on both sides. Unfortunately, neither side has good
intentions because how can the raped victim ever accept to live in peace with
its rapist? Jews arrived in Palestine not as refugees from barbaric Europe
seeking a temporary shelter in the midst of what could have been a welcoming
Palestinian population. They arrived as Zionists, as supremacist conquering
colonial settlers intent on massacring and displacing the native Palestinian
population and taking their land. How can anyone ask the Palestinians to forget
and forgive?
The injury done to the Palestinians by the creation of the state of Israel will
NEVER heal. Welcome to Dante's Nine Cirlces of Hell. Having
borne the brunt of the cataclysmic creation of the state of Israel, the Lebanese
have no love for either side. The Palestine-Israel problem is not of their
making, they just happen to live next door to two highly unpleasant and
disagreeable peoples: Ultra-religious Jewish fanatics with a fictional text from
the Bronze Age, and equally ultra-religious Muslim fanatics who, like the Jews,
hold an ancient grudge and wallow in a never-ending swamp of victimhood.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on September 22-23/2024
Pro-Iranian militant group in Iraq says it launched drone attack on Jordan
Valley
Reuters/September 22, 2024
(Reuters) - The pro-Iranian Islamic Resistance in Iraq militant group said on
Sunday it had launched a drone attack on a target in the Israeli-occupied Jordan
Valley. After Hamas militants launched their attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last
year triggering the war in Gaza, Iraqi Shi'ite armed factions, like other
pro-Iranian groups, pledged to carry out attacks in solidarity with the
Palestinians. Islamic Resistance in Iraq vowed to escalate its attacks. In a
statement, the Israeli military said interceptors were launched towards a UAV
(drone) that was launched from Iraq and was identified crossing from Syria into
Israeli territory. No injuries were reported. The
pro-Iranian militant group said its drones hit a location in the Jordan Valley
in the "occupied Palestinian territories" but did not elaborate. Tensions in the
Middle East have shot up since thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by
Lebanon's Hezbollah members exploded in an attack widely blamed on Israel.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fire in a
conflict running in parallel to the almost year-long Gaza war.
White House: Military Escalation Not in Israel's 'Best Interest'
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
A regional military escalation is not in Israel's "best interest," White House
national security spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday, as heightening
cross-border tensions between Israel and Lebanon have led to fears of an all-out
war, AFP reported. "We don't believe that escalating this military conflict is
in their best interest," Kirby said on ABC's "This Week," adding that the United
States was "saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts." Meanwhile,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel has in
recent days hit Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon in ways it could not imagine.
"If Hezbollah has not understood the message, I promise you, it will understand
the message," Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
The Houthis probed Israeli defenses with a ballistic
missile, and Iran is likely taking notes
Paul Iddon/Business Insider/September 22, 2024
How the Iranian-backed Houthi militia compares to the US-led task force in the
Red SeaScroll back up to restore default view. A Houthi ballistic missile
reached Israel from Yemen, disintegrating after air defenses activated. The
attack highlights the threat posed by Houthi rebels and offers Iran insights on
Israel's defenses. Israel's Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems intercepted the missile,
questioning its hypersonic claim. A Houthi ballistic
missile reached Israel from Yemen for the first time on Sunday, disintegrating
in the air after Israel activated its air defenses. While the attack failed to
cause any casualties or significant damage, it shows the heightened threat the
Houthi rebels can pose and likely offers their Iranian backers insights about
Israel's missile defenses. "I believe Iran will view
the attack as having symbolic value, but still reflecting the limited
capabilities of Iranian-produced ballistic missiles in actually threatening
Israel," Sim Tack, a military and geopolitical analyst, told Business Insider.
The Israeli military confirmed Tuesday that it had launched several
interceptor missiles at the Houthi projectile on Sunday morning. These include
Arrow 2, part of the upper tier of Israel's multilayered air defenses. "It has
become known now that at least one Arrow interceptor managed to hit but only
damaged the incoming missile, but this was still sufficient to prevent the
missile from reaching its target," Tack said. "On the part of Israel, the attack
will likely spur additional thought on procedures to address these recurring
threats and the possibility of large ballistic missiles falling on Israeli soil
in case interceptions are not entirely successful."
The Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 both made their first-ever combat intercepts against
Houthis missiles on October 31 and November 9, 2023, respectively. The Arrow 3
fires an intercept missile that strikes an incoming ballistic missile outside
the Earth's atmosphere, and boasts superior range and speed over its Arrow 2
predecessor. It is also a hit-to-kill missile, while the Arrow 2 destroys
incoming targets by exploding nearby. The Israeli
military, which said it would probe why the Arrow failed to destroy the incoming
threat on Sunday, also disputed the Houthis dubious claim that the missile is
hypersonic – the group even painted the word "hypersonic" in English on it.
The missile the Houthis fired Sunday at Israel appears to be an
Iranian-made weapon with solid fuel. Hypersonic missiles are a class of
developing weapons that can maneuver at speeds faster than Mach 5 to evade
intercept missiles; there's no evidence the Houthi-fired missile is in the class
beyond its paint job. The Houthis dubbed the missile
Palestine 2, which analysts believe might be a "hybrid" of the short-range
Iranian Fateh-110 and Kheibar Shekan medium-range ballistic missiles. The group
has previously paraded mockups of both the Fateh-110 and Kheibar Shaken.
The first Palestine missile, which closely resembles the one used in Sunday's
attack, was unveiled in June, with the Houthis claiming it was used for an
attack against the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. The Palestine missiles
are solid-propellent, making them more advanced than the liquid-propellent
ballistic missiles hitherto used by the group.
"I assume that the Houthis are always hopeful that their missiles may break
through the Israeli air and missile defenses, but this missile was not
fundamentally different from previous types that were launched at Israel," Tack
said. "So at best it would appear this was a repeat attempt, and of course a
source for propaganda statements regardless of the outcome of such attacks."
Sunday's missile went on a straight trajectory, traveling approximately
1,200 miles from Yemen and reaching Israeli airspace in under 12 minutes. In
July, the Houthis managed to hit Tel Aviv with an extended-range Samad drone for
the first time, killing one. The drone flew on a less direct and predictable
16-hour route of 1,600 miles, approaching Israel from the west and catching its
air defenses off guard. "At least at the moment, it seems more probable that the
isolated nature of the attack — one missile — may not have been seen as a threat
by Israel's air defense network to spur a sustained response," Ryan Bohl, a
senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at the risk intelligence company
RANE, told BI.
"Israel does claim to have intercepted the missile, so I don't think anyone can
conclude that it slipped by on its own accord," Bohl said. "Rather, its
geographic range from Yemen is probably the most notable part, as it indicates
that Yemen is a viable pathway for such long-range attacks by Iran and its
allies and proxies." Most Houthi missiles and drones are based on Iranian
designs. Iran attacked Israel directly for the first time in April 2024,
launching an enormous ballistic missile and drone barrage in retaliation for
Israel's assassination of Iranian officers in Syria. Iran telegraphed that
unprecedented attack in advance, and Israel, with help from its allies,
intercepted the vast majority of the incoming munitions successfully. The few
Iranian Emad missiles that did reach their target, a large airbase in southern
Israel, also proved significantly less accurate than previously estimated.
"When it comes to large-scale drone and missile attacks, Iran has to rely on
large volumes to try and overwhelm Israeli air and missile defenses," Tack said.
"If Tehran could achieve strategic surprise in such an overwhelming attack, it
is possible that even more missiles would make it through the Israeli defenses,
but the recent attacks hardly impact that reasoning or knowledge," Tack added.
Unless the Houthis are capable of firing more advanced missiles simultaneously,
it's doubtful they can achieve anything more than an "occasional lucky hit"
against their distant enemy, Tack said.
"For the Houthis, the attack — successful or not — is a political achievement
that serves their domestic goals. It will drive recruitment and allow them to
deploy this as propaganda," Bohl said. "They certainly have learned that
Israel's air defenses are robust, but they probably didn't glean much more from
the incident than they already knew from the April 2024 incident with Iran." For
Israel, the RANE analyst pointed out that using other, less expensive systems
than the Arrow 3 makes sense for attacks with singular or small numbers of
missiles. By doing so, Israel can preserve the Arrow 3 for combating larger,
more challenging, and technologically sophisticated attacks. In addition to
Arrow and the short-range Iron Dome, Israel operates the David's Sling system,
which covers the mid-tier of its air defense. It decided to begin retiring its
older, American-made Patriot PAC-2 systems earlier this year.
Given their geographical distance from Israel, the Houthis are unlikely to
become a priority over other Iran-backed militias in the current conflict,
especially Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has a vast arsenal of surface-to-surface
missiles. "The Houthis are growing as a threat against Israel, and if there is a
sustained supply of such missiles from Iran, it could rival Hezbollah in terms
of threat with major attacks," Bohl said. "But that requires a sustained
build-up that I think is still far-off," Bohl added. "For now, Iran, followed by
Hezbollah, are the most direct threats to Israel via rockets and
missiles."Steven Horrell, a senior fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and
Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, believes Sunday's
attack was "very illustrative of the overall positions" in both Iran and Israel.
"For Iran, the Houthi proxies and others remain a cost-effective and
consequence-free way to disrupt the international rules-based order and to hit
at Israel," Horrell told BI. "For Israel, there is a high level of confidence in
the multi-layer missile defense — but this is a reminder that it is not perfect;
the risk is never brought down to zero," Horrell said. While the US Navy has
intercepted numerous Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea, the CEPA fellow
argued these measures equate to "shooting down arrows and not taking out the
archer."
Amid escalation in the North, the hostages in Gaza are
fading into memory - editorial
Jerusalem Post Editorial/September 22/2024
It shouldn’t need to be said, but perhaps some have forgotten in the fog of the
Northern front that there are still 101 innocent hostages being held in death
tunnels in Gaza, now for nearly a year. Headlines were
rife last week with the brilliant and devastating surprise beeper attacks on
Hezbollah members throughout Lebanon, and some reportedly in Iraq and Syria.
This landed Hezbollah the largest blow it has experienced in years.
And while the US, Qatar, and Egypt, the mediators of the hostage and
ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, put out various announcements and
statements saying that talks are progressing – and are nearly complete – the
dragging out is breaching beyond unbearable and unacceptable to ludicrous.
If you read announcements from military and defense officials, they will
confidently say that Israel is winning against Hamas, which is now barely
functional as an organized group.
Yet, with those successes – so much so that troops have been rerouted to the
North – rockets are still being fired at the South, and it is still unsafe to
live there. Soldiers are still dying in combat, with
four in Rafah this past week. It shouldn’t need to be
said, but perhaps some have forgotten in the fog of the Northern front that
there are still 101 innocent hostages being held in death tunnels in Gaza, now
for nearly a year. Negotiation teams are working night and day, yet there is no
final deal on the table at the present time. The disinformation is out of
control, and the people in the room where it happens are scrambling.
Hamas’s handbook
Part of Hamas’s handbook – inspired and led directly by Iran – is to divide
Israeli society where it hurts it the most: in its underbelly. This was the case
even before the war with the aggressive push for judicial reform legislation.
Sadly, it seems like they are succeeding. The focus
and priority of the government has been the military and the security it
provides. That is what dictated the next steps all along the way.
This past week, the wind of focus shifted North.
When government officials say that there are three main goals – disabling
Hamas as a military and governing power, bringing the hostages home, and
returning the displaced residents to their northern towns and cities – they
can’t all be priorities at once. Something’s gotta
give, and when both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant made sure to make public statements this week that the goal of returning
the northern residents to their homes is of utmost urgency, that goal just slid
up the scale in terms of weight on the next decisions.
This is not to take a stance on which goal is more noble, or more important. It
is merely to note that the focus and energy of this government, and the bodies
of manpower it commands, cannot truly be split equally.
When reports emerged this week that a possible hostage deal is under
consideration that would do away with phased stages, and return all 101 hostages
at once, this was a light in the tunnel of darkness for the hostage families and
former hostages. That is, until it was shown to be
false, with statements to the like both from Gallant and Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan
Alon, the military official overseeing the hostage.
The report was rare and meaningful in a way we hadn’t seen in a long time, so
much so that it brought both hostage family forums together in a statement of
blessing. So, while all of the attention moved to the
North, the hostage families were given a punch in the gut, hope for a second
that was very soon crushed, after months and months of being told that
negotiations were underway. The sad fact is that the
hostages are fading from the national consciousness and ethos. Tragically,
civilians who see the issue as partisan and people in power have shown – whether
it was intentional or not – that the hostages are simply not the priority. Over
350 days is a long time to keep such momentum going.
Leaders will have to answer for this one day – to explain why this took so long.
Was it Hamas, which took its time, the Israeli government, the American
mediators who didn’t understand the Middle Eastern mentality, or all of the
above?
The hostages used to unite us, then they divided us – and now they are fading
into memory.
Boom… boom, boom
David Shishkoff/Israel Today/September 22/2024
Well that was quite a night here in Northern Israel!
My family lives in a small town between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Like
most Israelis, last night we were still trying to understand the explosions of
thousands of enemy beepers held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, not to mention a
possible IDF ground invastion. We have sons in the armed forces. So we are
always walking a thin line between hoping for maximal defeat over our foes,
while quietly preferring that our own family doesn’t have to be in unusual
danger for it to happen. So, last night we watched the
news on television, which we usually do NOT do. It was all about the beepers and
the precision strike to eliminate senior Hezbollah commanders. Then after the
news there was a program documenting the rise of Hezbollah and its present
leader Nasrallah. We left our cell phones on while sleeping in order to be able
to hear any emergency communication from people we know, and to hear warnings of
incoming rockets. In the small hours of the night, the response to these two
latest blows we struck in Lebanon, came indeed. Our “friendly” neighbor decided
to pull out heavier weapons that they have received from the “peace loving”
sponsor of international terrorism known as Iran. These longer-range missiles
were sent in several salvos towards areas just west and just east of us.
Since none of these weapons were aimed directly toward where we live, we
did not hear sirens, but rather only the smartphone app notifications for other
areas. Each time this happened, within less than a minute we heard a series of
thuds, muffled “boom… boom, boom.” The bombs were aimed at Ramat David Air Force
Base, and many other civilian centers in the North including the town where my
parents live, and including Nazareth and its suburbs. We heard the Nazareth
booms, and the Cana village boom – closer than others we have heard in the past
months over Tzfat and the Golan Heights. Sometimes we can’t tell if the faint
thuds are normal noises of trucks and highway work. Last night it was very
clear, especially when the windowpanes rattled. Inexplicably, I was able to fall
back asleep quickly, my wife less so. And then while it was still dark, our son
had to wake up and get ready to go back to his army base for more basic
training. During all those booms, we did not go to our
bomb shelter room, blithely trusting the army computer trajectory predictor that
those particular rockets were not headed our way! (For if the trajectory
predictor had predicted the bombs would fall on our town, our sirens would have
sounded.) Later, after waking up and sipping coffee,
when the next “booms” arrived, we did sit in the bomb shelter for the designated
10 minutes, next to our emergency food, water and blankets. Unfortunately, we
also have quite a few books there, which give the room a musty smell when we
close the thick metal covering over the window to seal ourselves in. It’s so
surreal to realize day after day that: no, life is not as it was. No, the jets
overhead are not doing practice flights to get young pilots up to speed. Rather
this war is with us to stay – for months and maybe years. The pilots are not
practicing. They are again and again, all throughout the day and night, leaving
Israeli airspace, to venture into enemy territory on their varieties of
missions. How can life go on, you ask? After months
(and years) of constant bombardment. I’ll tell you. I don’t know. But life does
go on. The world-famous Jewish thinker Max Nordau, saw this dystopian future in
the late 1800s – that human progress was “progressing” towards less civility and
not more, less love among nations and not more. Wars
and rumors of war, anyone?
Netanyahu, Macron exchange harsh words over escalation
in war with Hezbollah
(JNS)/Israel Today Staff/September 22/2024
The French president accused his Israeli counterpart of pushing the region to a
wider conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron
held a difficult conversation last week over the escalating situation in
Lebanon, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Friday. According to the report,
Macron, who initiated the call, hurled harsh accusations at the Israeli premier
for leading Israel and Lebanon to the brink of a full-scale war. “The
responsibility to prevent escalation is yours. You can opt for a diplomatic
solution. This is the moment to show leadership and responsibility. Your
activity in the north is pushing the region to war,” Macron was quoted in the
report as saying. Netanyahu replied: “Instead of putting the pressure on us,
it’s about time you pressured Hezbollah. We will bring our residents back home
[in the north]. This is the decision we made this week and we will act on it.”
On Thursday, France voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly
resolution proposed by the Palestinian Authority to impose sanctions and an arms
embargo on Israel. Israeli officials expressed their disappointment over Paris’s
stance, including its inability to put diplomatic pressure on Hezbollah to end
its hostilities, Channel 12 reported. “You, the French, do what you still think
you must diplomatically do and we will do what we must do,” senior officials in
Jerusalem said in the report. A French source noted that “a diplomatic agreement
in the north is still possible, on condition that all sides take responsibility.
The latest security developments are worrying because they fuel a new dynamic of
escalation.” Macron expressed his sympathies with the Lebanese people in footage
uploaded to X, saying that “escalation is in no one’s interest.” In the wake of
the two-day attack across Lebanon in which pagers and walkie-talkie
communication devices held by Hezbollah operatives exploded, killing dozens and
injuring thousands more, Macron noted that Lebanon should not “live in fear of
an imminent war.”He said that “nothing—no regional adventure, no private
interests, no faithfulness to any cause whatsoever—is worth launching a conflict
in Lebanon over. Lebanon’s integrity, security and sovereignty must be
preserved,” he added.This was not the first time Macron has been critical of
Israel and Netanyahu. In March, he said that the forcible transfer of Gazans
from Rafah ahead of a prospective Israeli military operation in the city would
constitute a “war crime.”The French president further stated that Paris was
planning to circulate a draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council calling
for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire.”
US officials: Little chance of Israel-Hamas deal before
Nov. election
JNS/Israel Today Staff /September 22/2024
“No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done,” one of the officials was
quoted as saying.
U.S. officials believe it is highly unlikely that a hostages-for-ceasefire
agreement between Israel and Hamas will be reached before the November
presidential election, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday,
citing staff from the White House, State Department and Pentagon.
“No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done,” one of the officials was
quoted as saying. The recent flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah has further
reduced the chances of a successful diplomatic effort to halt the war in the
Gaza Strip. “There’s no chance now of it happening,” an anonymous official from
an Arab state told the Journal. The American officials
foremost blamed Hamas’s negotiation tactics for the impasse, with the terror
group repeatedly sending a list of demands and then refusing to progress in
talks even when Jerusalem agrees to the terms, according to the report. The
report dovetails with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s harsh
criticism last week of accusations he was “torpedoing” a potential deal, saying
the claims echoed Hamas’s terror propaganda. “The fact
that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acceded to every American proposal
for releasing the hostages despite the ultimatum from elements in the coalition
completely refutes the claim that he has torpedoed any deal whatsoever due to
political considerations,” his office said in a statement in response to the
Channel 12 report. The PMO provided a timeline of
Netanyahu’s actions, starting with a proposal sent to mediators on April 27
which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “very generous.”
On May 31, the premier agreed to U.S. President Joe Biden’s ceasefire
proposal, and then on Aug. 16, he agreed to the American “final bridging
proposal,” according to the statement.
The statement points out that on June 12, Blinken confirmed that Jerusalem had
agreed to the proposal, while Hamas rejected it. The
PMO pointed to other similar statements from U.S. officials, including Deputy
CIA Director David S. Cohen, who said on Aug. 28 that Israel was showing
seriousness in the negotiations and that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar would have to
respond. On Sept. 9, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle
East McGurk said that Hamas was to blame for the lack of a deal. On the same
day, Israel’s National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz said, “Hamas has not
accepted the framework for months and the world is expected to back Israel.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Egypt on
Wednesday that a ceasefire deal was the “best chance” to restore stability in
the Middle East.
“We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian
crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability,” Blinken told reporters
at a joint press conference in Cairo, speaking alongside Egyptian Foreign
Minister Badr Abdelatty. Washington’s top diplomat said the sides had agreed on
15 out of 18 paragraphs of the agreement, but that outstanding issues needed to
be resolved.
Israeli Strike Kills Seven in Gaza School Compound
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
An Israeli airstrike killed seven people in a school sheltering displaced
families in Gaza City on Sunday, Palestinian health officials said, with the
Israeli military saying it had targeted militants operating from the compound.
The strike hit Kafr Qasem School in Beach camp at around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT), the
officials said. Among those killed was Majed Saleh, the director of the
Hamas-run Public Works and Housing ministry, they added.
Israel's military said the strike targeted Hamas fighters there, and that
it had used aerial surveillance and taken other steps to limit the risk to
civilians, reported Reuters.
Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, has regularly denied Israeli
accusations that it uses hospitals and other civilians buildings for military
purposes in the near year-old war. The attack and
other reported violence in Gaza came amid a surge of strikes further north
between Israel and the Iran-backed forces of Hezbollah across the border with
Lebanon - a parallel conflict that had stoked fears of wider regional unrest.
Six other Palestinians were killed in separate airstrikes in central and
southern parts of Gaza, the medics said. They put the number of Palestinians
killed in Israeli strikes so far on Sunday at 16.
In Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt, residents said Israeli tanks advanced
towards the western parts of the city, where the army has operated since May,
and took positions over some hilltops overseeing the coastal road.
Israel's demands to keep control of the southern border line between
Rafah and Egypt have been a major sticking point in international efforts to
conclude a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas's armed wing said
fighters have mounted several attacks against Israeli forces in Rafah, firing
anti-tank rockets and detonating bombs in houses where Israeli troops had taken
positions. In a statement on Saturday, 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. On Sunday, Gaza's
health ministry warned that all services in all hospitals could halt in 10 days
because of the shortages in essential spare parts, and oil needed to operate the
fuel-powered generators. Adding to the turmoil and misery, heavy rain flooded
tent encampments overnight. "Ten minutes of rain were enough to sink the tents.
What if it rained all day? Tents are already worn out and can't stand winter,"
said Aya, displaced with her family in the central city of Deir Al-Balah, where
around a million people are sheltering. "We don't want
new tents. We want the war to end. We don't want temporary solutions in hell,"
the 30-year-old told Reuters via a chat app. More
shelters and supplies to help people cope with the coming winter were needed,
Juliette Touma, Director of Communications of the UN Palestinian refugee agency
UNRWA, said. "With rain and temperatures dropping,
people are likely to fall ill especially children who are most vulnerable to
colds and flu," Touma told Reuters. 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 41,300 Palestinians, according to the local health
ministry, and displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million-strong population.
Iran Says Arrests 12 People for Collaborating with Israel
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that 12 people had been arrested for
being operatives collaborating with Israel and planning acts against Iran's
security. "As the Zionist regime (Israel) and their
Western backers, most notably the United States, have not succeeded in their
sinister goals against the people of Gaza and Lebanon, they are now seeking to
spread the crisis to Iran with a series of actions planned against our country's
security," the statement said. Tensions in the Middle East have shot up since
thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Lebanon's Hezbollah members
exploded in an attack widely blamed on Israel. Hezbollah and Israel have
exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fire in a conflict running in
parallel to the almost year-long Gaza war. According to Reuters, the
Revolutionary Guards added that members of the network of 12 operatives were
arrested in six different Iranian provinces, but did not say when. In late July,
the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran in an
assassination blamed on Israel by Iranian authorities. Israel has made no claim
of responsibility.
Iran Reveals Ballistic Missile, Suicide Drone amid
Rising Regional Tensions
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
Iran's Revolutionary Guard unveiled on Saturday a new ballistic missile and
drone during its annual military parade commemorating the Iran-Iraq War,
attended by President Masoud Pezeshkian. Units from the regular army and the
Revolutionary Guard showcased various military equipment, including 23 ballistic
missiles, on a highway near the grave of the first Iranian Supreme Leader, south
of Tehran. The display also featured naval vessels from both the Iranian army
and the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian news agencies reported that the
suicide drone, "Shahed-136B," is the latest version of the "Shahed-136"
manufactured by the IRGC. Additionally, the Guard's missile unit revealed the
"Jihad" missile, which uses liquid fuel and has an operational range of 1,000
kilometers, equipped with a highly explosive warhead, according to the Tasnim
news agency. The agency added that trucks carried 23 ballistic missiles during
the annual military parade, which is the most significant promotional event for
the IRGC, commemorating what Iran calls the "Sacred Defense Week." This term
refers to the 1980s war between neighboring countries Iran and Iraq. For the
first time since his election, Pezeshkian sat among senior leaders of the
Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian army, defending the expansion of the
country's military arsenal and what he referred to as its "deterrent power."In a
speech broadcast on state television, the Iranian president stated: "No
malicious power dares to attack our land thanks to our deterrent strength, and
we appreciate our armed forces." He claimed that Iran "no longer needs anyone to
arm it." He continued: “Today, Iran's defensive power and deterrence
capabilities have reached a level that does not allow any enemy to even think
about attacking our territory.” Pezeshkian also delivered a regional message,
stating: "We can maintain peace and security in our region through unity and
harmony among Islamic countries."
At Least 31 Dead in Iran Coal Mine Blast
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
A gas explosion in a coal mine in Iran's South Khorasan Province killed at least
31 people and injured 16, the country's interior minister Eskandar Momeni told
state media on Sunday. Local media had reported
earlier in the day that 51 people were killed following the accident they said
was caused by a methane gas explosion in two blocks, B and C, of the
privately-owned mine operated by the Madanjoo company. Momeni added that 17
miners were still missing and their fate remained unknown as rescue teams were
still 400 meters away from their likely location. They were expected to reach it
by tomorrow after removing rubble and excess gas, Reuters reported. There were
69 workers in the blocks at the time of the explosion, state TV reported. "76%
of the country's coal is provided from this region and around 8 to 10 big
companies are working in the region including Madanjoo company," the governor of
South Khorasan Province Ali Akbar Rahimi told state TV on Sunday. The mine went
through inspections last month and complied with all safety regulations, labor
minister Ahmad Meydari told state media, denying any case of negligence and
adding that such "sudden events also happen in the most advanced mines
globally.” An investigation into the incident has been ordered by the country's
public prosecutor. The explosion occurred at 9 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Saturday,
state media said. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President
Masoud Pezeshkian sent their condolences to the victims' families.
UK FM Says More Sanctions against Israeli Settlers Possible over West Bank
Violence
Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
Britain will keep under review possible new sanctions against Israeli settlers
in the West Bank and will act if it has to, foreign minister David Lammy said on
Sunday, adding he was concerned by actions that were inflaming tensions, Reuters
reported. Britain announced sanctions against Israeli settlers in February and
May this year over what it said was extremist groups perpetrating settler
violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Lammy, who became foreign
minister in July after a Labour election victory, indicated the new government
would take a similar approach and said that further sanctions were possible. He
added that, notwithstanding Israel's genuine security concerns in the West Bank,
"we are very worried about escalatory behaviour, very worried about inflamed
tensions." "I'm absolutely clear: if we have to act, we will act, and I'm in
discussions with G7 partners particularly and European partners on that," Lammy
said. "I'm not announcing further sanctions today, but that is kept under close
review, and as you would expect, I am deeply, deeply concerned."
Irish president accuses Israeli embassy of leaking letter
sent to Iran president
Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA/September 22, 2024
President of Ireland Michael D Higgins has accused the Israeli embassy of
leaking a letter in which he sent his “best wishes” to the new president of
Iran. Israel’s embassy in Dublin rejected the claim and called the remarks
“highly inflammatory and potentially slanderous”.
Mr Higgins is in New York where he addressed the UN Summit of the Future at the
organisation’s headquarters. Speaking to journalists after his address, Mr
Higgins was asked about criticism he received for sending a courtesy letter to
Masoud Pezeshkian, who became Iran’s president after his predecessor Ebrahim
Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May. The Israeli
embassy in Dublin criticised the letter to Mr Pezeshkian at the time, saying it
sent “the wrong message to the people of Iran living in fear under this brutal
regime”. Mr Higgins said on Sunday that the
correspondence to Mr Pezeshkian was “standard” for when someone is a “newly
elected head of state”. He added that the letter, which was leaked online in
August, emphasised peace in the Middle East and the importance of diplomacy.
When asked about the letter by the Irish Independent, Mr Higgins said:
“Why don’t you ask where it came from? … Where the criticism came from and how
the letter was circulated and by whom and for what purpose?” When pushed on the
matter, Mr Higgins said: “It was circulated from the Israeli embassy.” He added
that he did not know how Israeli authorities would have obtained the letter and
noted that Israel’s ambassador to Ireland was not “in residence” to consult.
Israel recalled its ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich in May in response to
Ireland’s recognition of a Palestinian state. Ms Erlich has not returned to
Ireland since, with the embassy stating earlier this month that it hopes “under
different, more friendly conditions, Ambassador Erlich will resume her duties in
Dublin”. In a statement to the PA news agency, the Israeli embassy in Dublin
said: “Unfortunately in Ireland, since the October 7 invasion by Hamas and
massacre in Israel, which triggered this awful war, Israel has been subjected to
a high level of malicious statements and accusations that have often manifested
as incitement to hatred. “This baseless accusation is highly inflammatory and
potentially slanderous and the embassy rejects it completely. “The fact remains
that the letter was written and (therefore) it is the burden of the author to
defend its content, which did not mention the threat Iran poses in the region,
that it calls for Israel’s destruction, that it arms and funds terrorist
organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah, not to mention the violations of human
rights against its own citizens.”
UAE Leader Seeks to Deepen ‘Strategic’ Ties in US Visit
This Is Beirut/AFP/September 22/2024
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is due on Monday in Washington
for a first official visit at a time of soaring tensions in the Middle East,
seeking to highlight economic and technological cooperation.
Presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said the Emiratis, who want to
reorient their economy away from oil and towards new technologies such as AI,
were thinking “economy first, prosperity first” in their “strategic
relationship” with the United States. With his
upcoming trip, Sheikh Mohamed will become the first sitting president of the
oil-rich Gulf monarchy to make an official visit to Washington.
He is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala
Harris, who is running to succeed Biden, the White House said.
US officials said the top agenda items were the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza
and the conflict in Sudan, where the UAE has been accused of backing one of the
warring parties – a charge it denies. Speaking to journalists this week, Gargash
said that without ignoring “things happening in Gaza or things happening in
other areas,” the president’s visit will focus on deepening business and
technological ties.
The “UAE is trying to move more along an economic and technological view, with
the full realisation that we are in the fall (season) of the hydrocarbon age,”
the adviser said. He said the UAE’s ties with the
United States were “our most important strategic relationship,” even as
“sometimes people like to talk about some tensions in the relationship.”
The UAE, expected to be a key contributor to the Gaza Strip’s post-war
reconstruction, also has close ties with Russia and refused to condemn the 2022
invasion of Ukraine. Sheikh Mohamed’s trip follows a
sharp escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that raised fears
of a widening Middle East war. The UAE, a federation
of sheikhdoms, is one of a handful of Arab states to recognize Israel and enjoys
growing clout in the Middle East owing to its oil wealth, business environment
and reputation for stability. It also neighbors oil
giant Saudi Arabia, which the US has been pressing to forge relations with
Israel in the hope of calming a region pushed to the edge by the Israel-Hamas
war. Sheikh Mohamed, who became president in May 2022
after several years of de facto rule, has strong relations with China and India
and has visited both countries this year.
In April, Microsoft announced a $1.5 billion investment in UAE artificial
intelligence firm G42, as Abu Dhabi simultaneously shifted away from Chinese
partnerships in AI. “Why are we betting on technology?
If we believe that hydrocarbon is on the way out, slowly but surely, then we
have to replace the revenue stream through something else,” Gargash said.
He added, “A lot of things are in the pipeline. We’re laying a map… and
we need to partner with you (US) in order for us to achieve these things.”
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources
on September 22-23/2024
Title: "French Intelligence Reveals How and Who
Looted Lebanon"
According to the "Oralix" website, the French intelligence revealed how and who
looted Lebanon.
We don't spare anyone when we open some sensitive files, especially after it was
revealed that the political team of the Minister of Finance is seeking to
smuggle in the issue of forensic auditing of the accounts of the Central Bank of
Lebanon.
A report by the French intelligence, titled "How They Looted Lebanon," was
submitted to Al-Arabiya.
The report, based on sources from the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank
of Lebanon, provides a detailed inventory of figures that confirm how Riad
Salameh conspired with the late Rafik Hariri, Nabih Berri, Walid Jumblatt,
Michel Aoun, President Elias Hrawi, Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora, and the
Association of Banks to loot Lebanon. They put it in debt exceeding one hundred
billion dollars and looted the deposits of Lebanese citizens, which amount to
186 billion dollars. As a result, the funds disappeared without a trace.
The story began in 1992 when Rafik Hariri assumed the presidency of the first
government during President Elias Hrawi's tenure, as part of a
Syrian-Saudi-American settlement.
Hariri introduced a dangerous project that was warned about by President Hussein
al-Husseini at the time, emphasizing its danger, despite Hariri being one of the
architects of the Taif Agreement along with al-Husseini.
The exchange rate plummeted to 1,500 Lebanese pounds and was fixed there as part
of the impoverishment project that Hariri Sr. initiated to control Lebanon, its
resources, and prevent its rise, leaving it weak in the face of a strong Israeli
economy and military power nearby.
Lebanese financial whales bought all the foreign currencies in the Central Bank
after the appointment of Riad Salameh as its governor at a rate of 2,400
Lebanese pounds per dollar. When the exchange rate rose to 3,000 Lebanese
pounds, they started selling the dollar and buying the Lebanese pound at the
same value as the currency they had exchanged before, resulting in their profits
reaching 1,200%.
Salameh then issued treasury bonds in Lebanese pounds with an interest rate
reaching 45%, which is considered unprecedented and has never been paid by any
global banking system before.
After stabilizing the bonds, the exchange rate of the dollar was fixed at 1,500
pounds. Their profits also doubled by 100%.
During ten years until the bonds' maturity date, the Lebanese treasury had
depleted 90% of its assets. In the first five years, the Hariri government
started borrowing from banks, both local and foreign, to meet the obligations of
the public debt that exceeded the state's revenues by tens of times.
This was the first step taken by Rafik Hariri, Riad Salameh, the banks, and
major depositors, and one of the reasons that bankrupted the state treasury and
subjected it to a massive internal debt that reached trillions. After that, they
started borrowing from banks and abroad.
The second reason was squandering through fraudulent contracts, inflating
expenses, intentional electricity shortages, and mismanagement.
The troika and its allies shared everything: waste management, oil, gas,
infrastructure, according to the formula "you scratch my back, I scratch yours."
This continued until we reached the brink of collapse.
The detailed audit reveals the most important secrets of their dangerous and
vile game, which Riad Salameh and his partners continued even after the
departure of Hariri Sr., as follows:
The Lebanese state collected taxes from people's pockets from 1993 to 2018,
totaling a staggering $149 billion. Additionally, during the same period
mentioned above, they borrowed $86 billion from abroad and banks, according to
documented and reliable numbers.
The treasury also has debts to social security, schools, hospitals, contractors,
and displaced people, amounting to $15 billion. Therefore, the total is 149 + 86
+ 15 = 250 billion US dollars.
It is worth noting that all these payments were made without accounting since
1993. The Lebanese state spent $24 billion on electricity from 1993 to 2018, in
addition to approximately $12 billion in collection. Yet, electricity is still
available for less than 12 hours in some regions, while Lebanon needs a billion
dollars to have 24/7 electricity production and become self-sufficient. However,
they do not want that.
The Lebanese state also paid $84 billion in interest to banks over 26 years for
the debt it owes them.
They paid $86 billion in interest! All of this was agreed upon between Riad
Salameh and the banks as part of a deliberate policy to loot the state,
impoverish it, and destroy its economy.
In detail, how did they do it?
The central bank approves massive financial loans to banks in US dollars with a
long-term interest rate of 2%.
The banks then deposit the same amounts in the central bank at an interest rate
of 8%, resulting in a 6% difference, which is profits taken from the state
treasury, wasted and stolen according to Riad Salameh's financial engineering.
Many benefited from it, such as Najib and Taha Mikati, Mazen Mekkawi, some
judges, and influential individuals and their children, while the majority of
the Lebanese people suffer under the poverty line!
The total amount of loans that the central bank lent to banks and individuals
reached $32 billion at an interest rate of 2%. They deposited it back into the
same bank at an interest rate of 8%, causing the treasury to lose 6%. Over 27
years, this loss amounted to $70.2 billion, approximately 60% of the total
government spending. They shared it among themselves, not to mention the
interest-free loans that they deposited with high interest rates, profiting from
the pockets of citizens.
These criminal whales continued their game while the people became increasingly
impoverished, and these heartless criminals remained untouched.
Out of 76 banks, only 11 individuals own 16 banks, which account for
approximately 80% of the total deposits in Lebanese banks, thanks to Riad
Salameh's financial engineering plans that were pre-determined by the World Bank
to starve and subjugate Lebanon.
World leaders are gathering in New York for the U.N.
General Assembly. The outlook is gloomy
Edith M. Lederer/UNITED NATIONS (AP)/September 22, 2024
Facing a swirl of conflicts and crises across a fragmented world, leaders
attending this week’s annual U.N. gathering are being challenged: Work together
— not only on front-burner issues but on modernizing the international
institutions born after World War II so they can tackle the threats and problems
of the future. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
issued the challenge a year ago after sounding a global alarm about the survival
of humanity and the planet: Come to a “Summit of the Future” and make a new
commitment to multilateralism – the foundation of the United Nations and many
other global bodies – and start fixing the aging global architecture to meet the
rapidly changing world. The U.N. chief told reporters last week that the summit
“was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster
than our ability to solve them.” He pointed to “out-of-control geopolitical
divisions” and “runaway” conflicts, climate change, inequalities, debt and new
technologies like artificial intelligence which have no guardrails.
The two-day summit started Sunday, two days before the high-level meeting
of world leaders begins at the sprawling U.N. compound in New York City.
The General Assembly approved the summit's main outcome document — a 42-page
“Pact of the Future” — on Sunday morning with a bang of the gavel by Assembly
President Philémon Yang signifying consensus, after the body voted 143-7 with 15
abstentions against considering Russian-proposed amendments to significantly
water it down. The pact is a blueprint to address
global challenges from conflicts and climate change to artificial intelligence
and reforming the U.N. and global institutions. Its impact will depend on its
implementation by the assembly's 193 member nations. “Leaders must ask
themselves whether this will be yet another meeting where they simply talk about
greater cooperation and consensus, or whether they will show the imagination and
conviction to actually forge it,” said Agnès Callamard, the secretary-general of
Amnesty International. “If they miss this opportunity, I shudder to think of the
consequences. Our collective future is at stake.”
This is the UN's biggest week of the year
The summit is the prelude to this year’s high-level meeting, held every
September. More than 130 presidents, prime ministers and monarchs are slated to
speak along with dozens of ministers, and the issues from the summit are
expected to dominate their speeches and private meetings, especially the wars in
Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and the growing possibility of a wider Mideast war.
“There is going to be a rather obvious gap between the Summit of the Future,
with its focus on expanding international cooperation, and the reality that the
U.N. is failing in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director
for the International Crisis Group. “Those three wars will be top topics of
attention for most of the week.”
One notable moment at Tuesday’s opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe
Biden’s likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has
tread upon and reveled in for decades. At the upcoming meetings, U.S. Ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters this week: “The most vulnerable around
the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a
sense of hope for them.” To meet the many global challenges, she said, the U.S.
focus at the U.N. meetings will be on ending “the scourge of war.” Roughly 2
billion people live in conflict-affected areas, she said.
Last September, the war in Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took
center stage at the U.N. global gathering. But as the first anniversary of
Hamas’ deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is
certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the
Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle
East. Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants. Its
new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, will address world leaders on Tuesday
afternoon. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday
morning and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon.
Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday at a high-level
meeting of the U.N. Security Council — called by the United States, France,
Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain — and will address the General Assembly on
Wednesday morning.
They're trying to counter ‘a world of grim statistics’
Slovenia, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, chose the
topic “Leadership for Peace” for its high-level meeting Wednesday, challenging
its 15 member nations to address why the U.N. body charged with maintaining
international peace and security is failing — and how it can do better.
“The event follows our observation that we live in a world of grim statistics,
with the highest number of ongoing conflicts, with record high casualties among
civilians, among humanitarians, among medical workers, among journalist,"
Slovenian U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar told reporters. He cited a record-high
100 million people driven from their homes by conflict.
“The world is becoming less stable, less peaceful, and with erosion of
the respect for the rules, it is sliding into the state of disorder,” Zbogar
said. “We have not seen this high need to rebuild trust to secure the future
ever before.”
A key reason for the Security Council’s dysfunction is the deep division among
its five veto-wielding permanent members. The United States, Israel’s closest
ally, is a supporter of Ukraine alongside Britain and France. Russia invaded
Ukraine and has a military and economic partnership with China, though Beijing
reasserted its longstanding support for every country’s sovereignty without
criticizing Russia in a recent briefing paper for the U.N. meetings.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s new prime minister, Keir
Starmer, will be at the United Nations this week along with Biden. But Russian
President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping are sending their
foreign ministers instead. Neither Putin nor Xi attended last year, either.
Guterres, who will preside over the whole affair this week, warned that
the world is seeing "a multiplication of conflicts and the sense of impunity” —
a landscape where, he said, “any country or any military entity, militias,
whatever, feel that they can do whatever they want because nothing will happen
to them.”“And the fact that nobody takes even seriously the capacity of the
powers to solve problems on the ground," he said, “makes the level of impunity
(on) an enormous level.”
It Is Biden and Harris Who Are Not Doing Enough to Free
the Hostages
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/September 22, 2024
Why should Hamas agree to a ceasefire when its refusal is blamed on Israel by
the president of the United States? In addition, when Biden blames Israel, he
encourages other allies, such as Great Britain, Canada, France and Germany, to
do the same.
[Biden] blamed Netanyahu alone without even mentioning Hamas. And this was after
Hamas terrorists had murdered six hostages, including an American.
Although Biden did say that the Hamas killers would pay a price for the murders
of the hostages, he did not say that Iran— which controls Hamas— would pay any
price, including increased sanctions, or worse, unless the hostages, including
the Americans, are released, unharmed, immediately.
[Biden and Harris] should warn Iran that if Hamas harms any American hostages,
we will regard that as an attack on the US that warrants a military response
against Iranian military targets.
Instead, Biden is demanding that Israel compromise its security by allowing
Hamas to return to its terrorist tunnels under the critical Philadelphi
Corridor.
Iran's proxies are its human shields. Unless Iran itself is punished for the
terrorism of its surrogates, the mullahs will have no incentive to stop, and we,
the Middle East, and South America will all be less secure – especially after
Iran unveils its nuclear bombs.
Biden should be placing maximum pressure on the criminals — Hamas and Iran — who
continue to endanger our citizens and those of our ally. Instead, he is
pressuring and blaming the victim, Israel, which has no control over the
perpetrators.
When Iranians took American diplomats hostage in 1979, and then ordered its
surrogates to kill hundreds of US Marines in Lebanon in 1983, it essentially
declared war on our nation. Now their surrogates have kidnapped and murdered
more Americans. Our responses to these acts of belligerency have been woefully
insufficient. Instead, the Obama administration enriched the Iranian mullahs in
exchange for a controversial nuclear deal that would have enabled Iran to have
as many nuclear weapons as it liked after about a dozen years...
The message sent by this administration's weakness and lack of will is being
heard loud and clear not only by Iran but by our other enemies as well.
President Joe Biden should be placing maximum pressure on the criminals — Hamas
and Iran — who continue to endanger our citizens and those of our ally. Instead,
he is pressuring and blaming the victim, Israel, which has no control over the
perpetrators. Pictured: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a citizen of the United States and
Israel who was murdered by Hamas after being held hostage by in Gaza for almost
10 months, appears, with his left hand amputated, in a Hamas propaganda video
published on April 24, 2024.
US President Joe Biden's off-the-cuff, one-word answer — "no"— to the question
of whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to free
Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity and get a cease-fire, will only encourage
Hamas to up its demands and refuse to agree to a reasonable deal. So far, it
appears as if Hamas, instead of negotiating, has just been saying, "no." The US
is reportedly no longer expecting a ceasefire before the November 5 US
presidential election.
Biden's remark sends a dangerous message to Israel's and America's enemies that,
by continuing to terrorize and hold hostages, they can turn the Biden
administration against Israel.
Why should Hamas agree to a ceasefire when its refusal is blamed on Israel by
the president of the United States? In addition, when Biden blames Israel, he
encourages other allies, such as Great Britain, Canada, France and Germany, to
do the same.
Netanyahu responded to Biden's false accusation by quoting Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and Deputy CIA Director David Cohen to the effect that it was
Hamas and not Israel that was refusing to agree to a ceasefire. Netanyahu cited
chapter and verse to document Hamas's rejection of Israeli offers. Biden,
however, in election mode, seemed to care more about placating the anti-Israel
flank of his party than telling the truth about the complex ongoing
negotiations. He blamed Netanyahu alone without even mentioning Hamas. And this
was after Hamas terrorists had murdered six hostages, including an American.
Although Biden did say that the Hamas killers would pay a price for the murders
of the hostages, he did not say that Iran— which controls Hamas— would pay any
price, including increased sanctions, or worse, unless the hostages, including
the Americans, are released, unharmed, immediately.
It is Biden and Harris who are not doing enough to secure the release of the
hostages. They could be doing far more in the way of issuing credible threats —
economic and military — against Iran, which has the power to influence Hamas.
They should warn Iran that if Hamas harms any American hostages, we will regard
that as an attack on the US that warrants a military response against Iranian
military targets.
Instead, Biden is demanding that Israel compromise its security by allowing
Hamas to return to its terrorist tunnels under the critical Philadelphi
Corridor. Iran, on the other hand, could pressure its surrogates Hamas to agree
to the deal that Israel has agreed to. But Biden believes he can have more
influence over our ally Israel than over our enemy Iran. That is not true. By
threatening tough measures, Biden could certainly influence Iran to persuade
Hamas to accept a deal.
When Americans are being held hostage and murdered by Iranian surrogates, our
president must do more to protect them. He should be placing maximum pressure on
the criminals — Hamas and Iran — who continue to endanger our citizens and those
of our ally. Instead, he is pressuring and blaming the victim, Israel, which has
no control over the perpetrators.
Rather than making domestic political points, Biden and Harris, by accusing
Israel of not doing enough, should look in the mirror and see the reality: that
it is they who are not doing enough to save the lives of American and Israeli
hostages.
Failing to pressure Iran will only encourage the mullahs to deploy their
terrorist surrogates to attack additional American interests and allies even
more. Iran has already attacked US troops in the region at least 170 times just
since last October, in strikes that have killed three service members and
wounded scores of others. The US has responded with pinpricks. Iran's regime has
little to lose and much to gain from its win-win strategy of using surrogates
such as Hezbollah and the Houthis, in addition to Hamas. Iran's proxies are its
human shields. Unless Iran itself is punished for the terrorism of its
surrogates, the mullahs will have no incentive to stop, and we, the Middle East,
and South America will all be less secure – especially after Iran unveils its
nuclear bombs.
When Iranians took American diplomats hostage in 1979, and then ordered its
surrogates to kill hundreds of US Marines in Lebanon in 1983, it essentially
declared war on our nation. Now their surrogates have kidnapped and murdered
more Americans. Our responses to these acts of belligerency have been woefully
insufficient. Instead, the Obama administration enriched the Iranian mullahs in
exchange for a controversial nuclear deal that would have enabled Iran to have
as many nuclear weapons as it liked after about a dozen years, and which was
subsequently rescinded by the Trump administration. The message sent by this
administration's weakness and lack of will is being heard loud and clear not
only by Iran but by our other enemies as well.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at
Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of War Against the Jews: How to
End Hamas Barbarism, and Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process,
and Our Constitutional Rule of Law. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation
Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.
© 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.
Netanyahu Changes Hezbollah
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/September 22/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/09/134747/
In a pre-recorded televised speech following the "pager attack" that targeted
his party on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hassan Nasrallah said: "We are rational" in
a broken tone. He acknowledged Israel's technological superiority, justifying
this disparity by pointing to the fact that the United States, the West, and
NATO are backing Israel. Nasrallah also affirmed that the "pager attack" was a
"heavy and bloody blow that has tested us." He then added that "we certainly
suffered a significant intelligence and military blow unprecedented in the
history of the resistance and in the history of Lebanon."
He pledged to retaliate. "As for the severe reckoning, you will see it on the
news, not hear about it, and we will share our plans with only a small circle."
However, after his speech, his party was dealt a crippling blow: Israel
liquidated the commanders of the Radwan Force as they were holding a meeting in
the heart of the southern suburbs (Dahiyah) of Beirut. These successive blows
Israel dealt to Hezbollah in just three days tell us one thing: Benjamin
Netanyahu is not only changing the facts on the ground in Gaza but also
reshaping and restructuring Hezbollah. Moreover, not only is he (Netanyahu)
changing the rules of engagement in Lebanon, he is changing the rules of war
across the region, savagely using Israel’s military machinery and playing all
his strong intelligence cards by targeting leaders previously thought to be
untouchable.
Israel’s superior intelligence capabilities were also evident from the
assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as well as the assassinations of
Hamas’s Saleh al-Arouri and Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the heart of Beirut’s
southern suburbs. Then, last Thursday, Israel eliminated the leaders of the
Radwan unit at the highest levels. Yes, the technological gap between Israel and
its adversaries is clear, but so is the power imbalance. The scale of
international support for Israel is even more obvious, especially from
Washington, which announced that it would be deploying the USS Harry Truman
aircraft carrier near the Lebanese coast. This support is not only reflected in
actions. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made a noteworthy statement
yesterday (Saturday). He expressed concern about the escalation between Israel
and Lebanon but made clear that justice was served when Israel killed a senior
Hezbollah leader, according to Reuters. Accordingly, the question becomes: is
Hassan Nasrallah, or the party, as rational as he claimed? I doubt it! It is
even less rational than Iran, which has been doing the impossible to avoid a
confrontation with Israel that would drag the United States into the battle,
which is clearly an Israeli objective. To that end, the Iranian Supreme Leader
said that negotiating with the enemy is acceptable and that there is no harm in
tactical retreat. We also heard Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian say that
"with its assassination of Haniyeh, Israel sought to drag us into a regional
war, but we exercised restraint," describing the Americans as "brothers."
Thus, Netanyahu is now proceeding to impose new facts on the ground, change the
rules of the conflict, and seek to drag Washington into the battle. Everyone
understands this, including Iran, and the only party caught between the jaws of
provocation, humiliation, and signaling strength is Hezbollah.
This is the opportunity Netanyahu has been seeking. If a broader war on Lebanon
breaks out, the party will be structurally devastated. If it does not, Netanyahu
will still have transformed Hezbollah, or rather, destroyed it systemically.
This is the clear picture that the party cannot see right now due to the
severity of the blows and shocks it has been dealt.