Tuesday, 31 October 2023

United States refuses to call for a ceasefire

The United States, stressing the right of Israel to defend itself, has so far refused to call for a ceasefire or place limitations on weapons it has shipped to the country should civilians continue to bear the brunt of the Israeli strikes.

A series of Israeli airstrikes hit the densely packed Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza Tuesday in what Israel said was an attempt to take out a senior Hamas commander in the area.

At least six Israeli airstrikes hit residential dwellings in the heart of the refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City, The Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

Gaza officials told Reuters that 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 more wounded, with footage from the scene showing people searching through gutted concrete apartment blocks for loved ones.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday claimed the airstrikes killed Ibrahim Biari, the commander for Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, along with neutralizing an estimated 50 other terrorists, a claim that Hamas has pushed back on.

Asked about the Israeli attack on the Jabalya camp late Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said he could not speak to individual Israeli strikes, but that the US believes taking civilian safety into account is both a moral and a strategic obligation.

Defense officials do care about civilian casualties, and we’ve made it both clear publicly and privately about our concern for the protection of innocent life and the respect for the law of war, he told reporters.

Ryder also said that the Israeli military is not deliberately targeting civilians, unlike Hamas, which is creating this extra challenge for Israel as they conduct their operations.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday pressed IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht on why Israel’s military moved forward with the attacks knowing there were refugees and innocent civilians in the area.

“This is the tragedy of war, Wolf,” Hecht responded. “I mean, we as you know, we’ve been saying for days — move south. The civilians, who are not involved, please move south.”

Israeli forces stepped up their military incursion into northern Gaza over the weekend, attacking Hamas militants and infrastructure north of Gaza City. IDF claimed it also has intensified air and naval strikes as part of its ramped up counteroffensive.

At least 8,525 Palestinians have died in the violence in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. More than 21,500 civilians have been wounded since October 07, the ministry reported, pushing hospitals to the brink of collapse.

 

 

Isolating Iran No Longer Possible

The US President Joe Biden is convinced that one of the reasons Hamas launched the attack on Israel was the announcement during the G-20 Summit in New Delhi on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor .

Biden has been telling so many lies to reclaim its leadership role in the Muslim Middle East. The two most compelling realities rejecting the American leadership are: one, a strong united regional solidarity cutting across sectarian divides to seek a settlement on Palestine, like at no time before, and, two, the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement. 

The latest developments involving Hamas and Israel undermined the US efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel. No doubt, the Saudi stance on the Palestine problem has hardened.

Do these words sound as if Biden is preparing for a war with Iran? For the first time, perhaps, there is a ray of hope that the US will no longer work around the Palestine problem. The bottom line, as the deliberations at the UN Security Council also testify, is that all responsible powers understand that the Middle East continues to be the centre of gravity in world politics and a conflagration in the region could easily turn into a world war. And none of the big powers wants such an apocalyptic outcome. 

That said, while the US still has unrivalled power in the Middle East, its influence has diminished, as new realities emerged which include:

Israel has grown more powerful militarily and economically vis-a-vis Palestinians, but no longer enjoys regional dominance. 

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two dominant powers in the Middle East, are increasingly asserting their own interests. 

China, although a relatively new player, is no longer confining itself to economic diplomacy. 

US has lost the capacity to leverage the world oil market, as Russia works closely with Saudi Arabia within the ambit of OPEC Plus to calibrate oil production level and prices. 

Consequently, petrodollar is weakening.  

The Abraham Accords have been shelved practically. 

The Arab-Israeli conflict has assumed new dimensions in the recent years, thanks to the ascendance of the axis of resistance, which require new postures and operational thinking on the part of the US. 

Israeli politics has swung sharply to extreme right. 

The global environment is highly complicated; the peace process can no longer be under US mentorship.

Russia hosted a trilateral meeting in Moscow with Iran’s deputy foreign minister  and a Hamas delegation. Later, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, announced that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will soon arrive on an official visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

In an all-out war with Iran, the US will take heavy casualties and the state of Israel may face destruction.

Iran may opt for nuclear deterrent capability. It is a near-certainty that a US-Iran war will turn into a world war. Clearly, war is not an option. 

There is high risk, therefore, in an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. If Israel gets bogged down in Gaza, which by no means cannot be ruled out, there is a high possibility that Hezbollah may open a second front. And that, in turn, can trigger a chain reaction that may spin out of control. There is a danger if a ceasefire is not agreed upon early enough in the conflict, the repercussions could be very serious.

 

Monday, 30 October 2023

Hezbollah surprises Israeli regime again

Hezbollah has taken an iron fist approach to defend Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Lately, it has targeted Israeli military installations, troops and destroyed a sophisticated spying network. 

Since the Palestinian resistance launched the al-Aqsa Storm Operation, hostilities have gradually flared up between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine. 

The Lebanese organization, which forced the Israeli occupation out of Lebanon in the year 2000 and defeated the regime again when it launched a war on Lebanon in July 2006, is now engaging the regime again militarily. 

Experts believe events on the border are not exactly tit-for-tat exchanges, but far from a full-blown-out war. 

The exchange of fire has inflicted losses and casualties on both sides. 

On Monday, Israeli media reported that another regime’s soldier has been killed, and three others have been injured after their tank was overturned in the north, on the border with Lebanon. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of Mohammad Najib Halawi from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. 

It's been this way for some two weeks now.

Hezbollah is a formidable force in Lebanon, and its impressive military capabilities have been on show once again. 

On Friday, the organization published a video detailing the functions of Israel's technical and spying equipment in 42 locations on the border, how they operate and the security threat they pose to all Lebanese people, across all of Lebanon and its borders with other Arab countries. 

The Israeli equipment includes day and night thermal monitoring and surveillance cameras, different types of radar towers, embedded systems, and naval monitoring systems. 

The Israeli intelligence systems that contact traitors in Lebanon are also shown in the video as well as sophisticated spying network technology, all of which are controlled by Israeli military operators far away from the border. 
The four-minute clip, which begins with a narration stating "These are not defensive positions that the Zionist entity portrays them to be", concludes with Hezbollah missiles, rockets and gunfire either destroying the Israeli equipment or damaging them to the extent they are out of service. 

At one point, a precision-guided missile is shown being fired toward a radar tower with a direct hit.  

Hezbollah says the damage it inflicted in destroying the equipment is a huge blow to the Israeli spying and monitoring network in Lebanon. 

Hezbollah says the calculated attacks go a long way to serving Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its people. 

The organization has also been targeting Israeli military vehicles, tanks, and troops in response to Israeli attacks on Southern Lebanon. 

The men it has lost are being labeled as the martyrs on the path to al-Quds, in reference to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city that hosts the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Jerusalem. 

Israeli occupation forces continue to target forests in various areas of the Lebanese border with incendiary shells, which has led to the outbreak of a number of fires.

On Monday, the occupation regime acknowledged the death of a first sergeant in the Israeli army on the northern front, announcing that he was killed as a result of another tank being hit in the area. 

On Sunday, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted points of the Israeli army on the Lebanon-occupied Palestine border.

Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that after careful follow-up and monitoring its forces located an Israeli infantry force in the al-Malikiyah area and its surroundings (in southern Lebanon), which was immediately targeted with appropriate weapons, inflicting confirmed casualties.

In a separate statement, the group said that it had targeted the al-Samaqa area in the occupied Lebanese Sheba'a farms with appropriate weapons that led to direct hits on Israeli forces.

The group also announced that its forces targeted an Israeli drone with a surface-to-air missile, hitting it directly, and it was spotted within eyesight as it fell into the occupied Palestinian territories.

Reports suggest countries around the world, in particular the West and the United States at the forefront, have been trying their best diplomatic efforts to prevent the merciless Israeli war on Gaza from spilling over to Lebanon or elsewhere in the region. 

The regime's mass killing of children in Gaza is making that very difficult. 

Military bases belonging to the illegal American presence in Iraq and Syria have come under attack dozens of times by local forces already. 

Experts have said the silence of the Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, since Hamas staged the October 07 Storm operation, has frightened the Israeli regime, as it remains clueless whether another front will open in the north. 

The occupation regime may not have to wait too much longer. 

The Hezbollah secretary-general will deliver a speech on Friday, November 3, 2023, at 15:00 local time, during a ceremony honoring the martyrs on the path to al-Quds.

It is a widely anticipated speech in which the Hezbollah chief will no doubt address his party's position on the war on Gaza as well as the devastating Israeli bombardment on the completely blockaded coastal enclave.

 

United States unveils bill to fund Israel

According to Reuters, the US House of Representatives Republicans on Monday introduced a plan to provide US$14.3 billion in aid to Israel by cutting funding for the Internal Revenue Service, setting up a showdown with Democrats who control the Senate.

In one of the first major policy actions under new House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Republicans unveiled a standalone supplemental spending bill only for Israel, despite Democratic President Joe Biden's request for a US$106 billion package that would include aid for Israel, Ukraine and border security.

Johnson, who voted against aid for Ukraine before he was elected House speaker last week, had said he wanted aid to Israel and Ukraine to be handled separately. He has said he wants more accountability for money that has been sent to the Kyiv government as it fights Russian invaders.

"Israel is a separate matter," Johnson said in an interview on Fox News last week, describing his desire to bifurcate the Ukraine and Israel funding issues.

Johnson has said bolstering support for Israel should top the US national security agenda in the aftermath of the October 07 attack by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,400 people and saw more than 200 others taken hostage.

Democrats accused Republicans of stalling Congress' ability to help Israel by introducing a partisan bill.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement accusing Republicans of politicizing national security and calling their bill a non-starter. To become law, the measure would need to pass the House and the Senate and be signed by President Biden

"House Republicans are setting a dangerous precedent by suggesting that protecting national security or responding to natural disasters is contingent upon cuts to other programs," Representative Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

The House Rules Committee is expected to consider the Republican Israel bill on Wednesday.

Trust me, western media is dishonest

I started this blog in June 2012 and the focus has remained on Geopolitics in South Asia and MENA. Over the years my conviction has got stronger that western media is dishonest. Since media is supported by conglomerates, especially ‘Military Complexes’ the focus remains on creating conflicts that can lead to proxy wars and ultimately sale of arms. Referring to two mantras: Presence of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Iraq building weapons of mass destruction (WMD) may help the readers understand my assertion.

I am listing titles of some of my blogs and their links with a request o readers to spend a few minutes in reading these blogs and then decide does the western media publishes/ airs real stories or these are tweaked to achieve their ultimate objective of selling lethal arms to facilitate their military complexes working at the best capacity utilization.

To read details click the following links

Ten dumbest things propagandists want people to believe

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2023/10/ten-dumbest-things-propagandists-want.html

Dishonest western media not reporting correct situation of oil market

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2022/07/dishonest-western-media-not-reporting.html

Media in United States in the grip of intelligence agents

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/10/media-in-united-states-in-grip-of.html

Time to mend Saudi-Iranian relationship

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/08/time-to-mend-saudi-iranian-relationship.html

Trump acts touching insanity

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/06/trump-acts-touching-insanity.html

As world faces Armageddon, west seems leaderless

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/06/as-world-faces-armageddon-western-world.html

Western Media is Key to Syria Deception

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/05/western-media-is-key-to-syria-deception.html

Syria planning another chemical attack, another hoax call by the US

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2017/06/syria-planning-another-chemical-attack.html

Anti Iran stance of western media

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2017/01/anti-iran-stance-of-western-media.html

What are the motives behind alleging Russia of hacking US election?

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2016/12/what-are-motives-behind-alleging-russia.html

The Long History of Lies about Iran

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-long-history-of-lies-about-iran.html

 

Sunday, 29 October 2023

Need to stop violence by West Bank settlers

The Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence.

With international focus on the horrors of Israel's assault on Gaza, 30 Israeli human rights and anti-occupation organizations on Sunday aimed to draw attention to a surge in settler violence against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank.

The coalition of groups—including B'Tselem, Breaking the Silence, and the Israeli arms of Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights—released a joint statement calling on the international community to act urgently to stop the state-backed wave of settler violence which has led, and is leading to, the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

In retaliation for a Hamas-led attack earlier this month—in which over 1,400 Israelis were killed and around 200 others were taken hostage —Israel has waged what some legal scholars are calling a genocidal  war, killing more than 8,000 people in Gaza.

"Settlers have been exploiting the lack of public attention to the West Bank, as well as the general atmosphere of rage against Palestinians, to escalate their campaign of violent attacks in an attempt to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities," the coalition noted.

"During this period, no fewer than 13 herding communities have been displaced. Many more are in danger of being forced to flee in the coming days if immediate action is not taken."

"Palestinian farmers are particularly vulnerable at this time, during the annual olive harvest season, because if they are unable to pick their olives they will lose a year's income," the groups explained.

"Lately Bilal Muhammed Saleh from the village of As-Sawiya south of Nablus was murdered while tending to his olive trees. He was the seventh Palestinian to have been killed by settlers since the current war began."

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that 111 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed since October 07.

Jewish settlers have recently tried to scare Palestinians into fleeing the West Bank by displaying dolls covered in blood or a substance meant to mimic it and distributing leaflets with messages like "Run to Jordan before we kill our enemies and expel you from our Holy Land, promised to us by God."

The coalition said Sunday, “Unfortunately the Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence. On the contrary: government ministers and other officials are backing the violence and in many cases the military is present or even participates in the violence, including in incidents where settlers have killed Palestinians."

Over the past three weeks, Israeli forces fatal violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has included raids and an airstrike on a mosque in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp.

"Moreover, since the war has begun there has been a growing number of incidents in which violent settlers have been documented attacking nearby Palestinian communities while wearing military uniform and using government-issued weapons," the coalition continued. "With grave concern and with a clear understanding of the political landscape, we recognize that the only way to stop this forcible transfer in the West Bank is a clear, strong, and direct intervention by the international community."

In response to the statement, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said on social media that the "world must act."

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli forces have moved to a second stage of the war with ground operations, despite global demands for a cease-fire—though notably not from the US government, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in annual military support.

"Israel's major ground offensive in Gaza, following weeks of bombardment that have reduced large parts of neighborhoods to rubble, raises grave concerns for the safety of all civilians caught in the fighting," HRW executive director Tirana Hassan said in a statement Sunday. "Thousands of children and other civilians have already been killed."

"Palestinian armed groups are continuing to indiscriminately launch rockets at Israeli communities," she added. "All civilians, including the many who cannot or do not want to leave their homes in northern Gaza, retain their protections under the laws of war against deliberate, indiscriminate, or disproportionate attacks."

Over objections from Israel and the United States, the U.N. General Assembly on Friday adopted a nonbinding resolution demanding that "all parties immediately and fully comply with their obligations under international law," and calling for "an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."

Iran votes in favor of Arab-drafted resolution

The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York has defended its vote in favor of the Arab-drafted resolution on the situation in Palestine, saying any vote otherwise would have played into the hands of the Israeli regime. 

The resolution in question was passed overwhelmingly at the UN General Assembly on Friday, with 120 countries voting in favor, 14 voting against, and 45 abstaining.

The resolution called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

Iran’s UN mission said that the resolution was proposed by the Arab League, and its text had not even been put into debate at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, adding that the Islamic Republic did not approve of some parts of the resolution as they were in conflict with Iran’s principled and definite policies towards Palestine, according to IRNA.

Iran voted in favor of the resolution, because the Zionist regime and its allies were attempting to portray the October 07 resistance operation as a terrorist act, the mission said in reference to the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm that Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas launched against Israeli positions from the Gaza Strip.

That attempt was foiled through strong efforts by Islamic nations and a number of other states, the Iranian mission said, adding that the Zionist regime and its allies were also trying to create division among countries so that the resolution was approved with the least number of votes.

Considering all these, the mission said, any Iranian vote other than a positive one would have been playing into the hands of the Zionist regime and its supporters, IRNA reported. 

 

Saturday, 28 October 2023

Qatar playing complex role between United States, Israel and Hamas

Intense US diplomacy to secure the release of hundreds of hostages held by Hamas is shining a spotlight on the complicated role held by the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar.

At times a pariah among its immediate neighbors, the gas and oil-rich monarchy has managed for years to straddle the line between being a close US partner while enraging Gulf countries over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement of political Islam that helped inspire Hamas’s founding. 

US officials are putting increasing pressure on Qatar to distance itself from Hamas following its abhorrent terrorist attack against Israel on October 7. 

But Qatar’s track record as a reliable mediator between authoritarian states, terrorist groups and democracies make it one of the only countries that can help retrieve hundreds of innocent people from the Gaza Strip. 

“We’re using every connection we can to try to get the release of the hostages. Qatar has avenues that we think are helpful,” Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Hill. 

“We have been very clear about Qatar’s role in allowing Hamas reign in their country — it’s wrong. And we have pointed that out and we’ll continue to point that out,” he said.

The relationship is complicated, Cardin added, pointing to the Al Udeid Air base in Doha, owned by Qatar but home to US Central Command and US Air Force Central Command. The base is the epicenter of American military power overseeing the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and countries of the former Soviet Union.  

Hamas is estimated to have kidnapped more than 200 people from Israel during the October 07 massacre that also killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel. Americans are among those being held and their families have advocated for their release in Israel and in Washington D.C.

Qatar has allowed Hamas to operate a political office in Doha since 2012 and it has mediated between Israel and Hamas in previous rounds of conflict, also helping with the transfer of money and goods to the Gaza Strip that came out of such deals.

The scale of the current hostage crisis is unlike anything in recent memory. Among those kidnapped are toddlers, a nursing baby, the elderly, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, all being held in locations and conditions unknown. 

Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said this week that dozens of the hostages have been killed in Israeli air strikes, but they offered no proof. The US-designated terror group has otherwise provided little to no information on the captives and no visitation from international aid groups. 

“Something very basic, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders are not allowed to get in, we don’t even know if our loved one is alive or dead,” said Ruby Chen, a US-Israeli citizen whose 19-year-old son Itay, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is believed to be held by Hamas. 

“Want to think about that for a second? Make it happen.”

Qatar has so far helped facilitate the release of four of Hamas’s hostages, an American-Israeli mother and daughter, and two elderly women.

Gerald Feierstein, a former ambassador to Yemen and four-decade veteran of the foreign service in the Middle East and Gulf, said that Qatar likes to view itself as a Switzerland-like mediator in the Middle East and that provides them clout and protection in a hostile environment.

“They see that they can play a role by keeping channels of communication open to people that the world despises. Whether it’s the Taliban or Hamas, or the Iranians for that matter, they see that they can be useful by being able to communicate or pass messages,” Feierstein said.

“They really see themselves as playing a role much larger than their size and impact would suggest.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has thanked Qatar for playing a very important role in securing the release of the American-Israelis. But the secretary has also said in Doha that there can be no more business as usual with Hamas.  

He reportedly called on the Qatari government to tone down rhetoric in news coverage about Israel on Al Jazeera, the nominally private but Qatari-funded English and Arabic news group. 

“I don’t think that — forced to choose — there’s any question that the Qataris value the relationship with the US more highly than with Hamas”, said Feierstein, now a distinguished senior fellow on US diplomacy at the Middle East Institute.

Feierstein also spoke to the Qatari’s track record in diplomacy, pointing to their role in the early 2000s of trying to mediate between warring factions in Yemen; mediation efforts between Ethiopia and Eritrea; and offering Doha as a venue for the US to hold talks with the Taliban. 

“I can’t think of any time where the Qataris said that they would do something and didn’t do it. I think that they are reliable,” he said. 

“Generally speaking, their word is good. And obviously if you want to play the role that they want to play, that’s an absolutely essential component. If people didn’t trust you then they wouldn’t turn to you to undertake these things.” 

It’s unclear what it might take for Hamas to release the hostages, who are among a wide range of factors that is seemingly delaying an Israel ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

Among possible Hamas demands are a ceasefire amid heavy Israeli airstrikes, asking Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, money or some type of immunity.

Rep. Haley Stevens, co-chair of the ​​Congressional Task Force on American Hostages and Americans Wrongfully Detained Abroad, called the task of rescuing the hostages unprecedented, speaking to The Hill after a press conference with the families whose loved ones are being held by Hamas.

The task force was an initiative started in 2021 to help congressional offices navigate the support available for constituents and their families in circumstances of their loved one being unjustly arrested or detained abroad, or even taken captive by a terrorist group.

But she called this situation very different.

“This was an act of lawlessness. It wasn’t even an act of war because it’s outside of the rules of war to do what has been done here. And this has been part of the head spinning terror that was descended upon the Israelis on October 7th,” she said

Asked about Qatar’s role as a mediator, Stevens called for the administration to be open about how the US is carrying out its diplomacy.  

“Our diplomacy is going to be essential, the work of our ambassadors, the work of our State Department, and that’s a place that we as members of Congress can lend oversight and, if need be, appropriating authority to our federal agencies to assist in those negotiations,” she said.

Haley raised concern that the administration’s pending transfer of US$6 billion in frozen Iranian funds — facilitated in exchange for the release of Americans wrongfully detained — has raised the cost for hostages.

“While we don’t want to slow things down by any stretch of the means, engaging members as the administration can in classified settings is very helpful,” she said.  

Israel multifaceted failure

The Israeli lack of preparedness for, and weak initial response to, the Hamas attack on October 07 encompassed four key failures.

First, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict crumbled. While never officially articulated, Netanyahu’s approach since 2009 had involved sidelining the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) and allowing the strengthening of Hamas in Gaza, within certain limits.

This approach enabled Netanyahu to avoid meaningful negotiations with the PA, which might have led to the establishment of a Palestinian state, a prospect he opposes. The ascent of Hamas in Gaza aided Netanyahu in his effort to fragment the Palestinian national movement. It also allowed him to claim he could not negotiate with a significant part of the Palestinian national movement, due to its extremist Islamist rejectionist stance. The combined effect was that Netanyahu did not face significant international pressure to resume talks with the Palestinians. Moreover, the state of affairs limited international efforts (in particular by the European Union and the United States) to advance Palestinian unification. Due to Hamas’ nature, such efforts were deemed too sensitive.

The prime minister’s policy went largely unchallenged for over a decade, in part because it wasn’t fully disclosed. Ongoing clashes with Hamas every few years signaled deep hostility between the parties; although behind closed doors, Netanyahu admitted that the status quo, including Qatari funding to Hamas, serves his policies. In a 2019 Likud faction meeting, the prime minister said that if one opposes a Palestinian state, he should favor the (Israeli approved) Qatari transfer of funds to Hamas in Gaza because maintaining the wedge between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Shifting political conditions in Israel — such as the decline of the Israeli left, which had been advocating for a two-state solution — further helped the prime minister. Finally, Netanyahu’s increasingly populist leadership style led to the removal of strong figures who might have dissented in both his party and the cabinet.

The second pillar of the October 07 debacle was the intelligence failure. Israeli security agencies, especially the Directorate of Military Intelligence (AMAN) and the Israeli Security Agency (SHABAK, also widely known as Shin Bet), acknowledged their shortcomings. SHABAK’s head, Ronen Bar, took responsibility on October 16, followed a day later by Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliwa of AMAN. The intelligence failure was systemic. At a strategic level, Israel misunderstood Hamas’ goals, with some in the security establishment wrongly believing that the necessity for quasi-sovereignty in Gaza would make the organization more pragmatic and potentially alter its ideology. The 2017 policy paper released by Hamas was viewed by some in Israel and abroad as a potential sign of change. Hamas’ choice not to engage Israel during its two last major armed clashes with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza were regarded by many in Israel as further proof of Hamas’ pragmatic approach. Additionally, Israel’s security agencies failed to anticipate the attack pattern and its timing. The bitter taste of failure in Israel is especially pronounced, considering that the country’s intelligence agencies have enjoyed ample resources and demonstrated their effectiveness in near and distant arenas for decades. As in previous Israeli and international intelligence failures, it seems that Israel had some information, but its intelligence agencies did not piece it together and issue a warning.

The third aspect of the failure pertained to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operational preparedness. It appears that the organization lacked clear plans for how to handle such a widespread attack. Israel was caught off guard by the large and brutal assaults on civilian communities, or the massive rave party that took place near the border. Another surprise was Hamas’ influence campaign accompanying the attacks, which included the extensive use of cameras by the attackers, documenting their actions, which members of the international human rights community have already begun to identify as war crimes. Others in the international community, such as US President Joe Biden, compared Hamas’ actions to the brutality displayed by ISIS. Israel was further taken aback by some of the tactical military aspects of the attack, including the dismantling of sensors, assaults on Israeli command-and-control posts, and the easy breach of the barrier constructed on the Israel-Gaza border.

The fourth failure involved the state’s weak response to the crisis, at least in the initial phase. Many Israelis were deeply disappointed by the military’s inability to come to the aid of the 1,000 civilians who were murdered, the thousands wounded, and the approximately 220 abducted to Gaza. In some cases, military forces were only able to retake control more than 24 hours after the attack began. This general sense of ineptitude was accompanied by an underwhelming leadership response, including in providing information and reassuring the public as the crisis unfolded, facilitating the absorption of internally displaced people, or offering financial support and social services. The prime minister, normally a brilliant speaker, did not effectively engage with the public and — to date — has yet to take any responsibility for what transpired on his watch.

 

Israeli ground operation risks endless violence in region warns Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia issued a stark warning against the dangers of Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A Saudi official emphasized that such a ground invasion could plunge the region into a prolonged and endless cycle of violence.

The Kingdom expressed concern that the operation would have serious and grave repercussions for international peace and security.

He highlighted the real challenge and ethical responsibility facing the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, urging swift and binding action to halt the violence, protect civilians, and address the ongoing conflicts.

Saudi Arabia called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation and underscored the need for urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan conducted multiple calls with Arab counterparts, including those from Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt.

The discussions focused on intensifying collective efforts to halt military escalation, prevent forced displacement of Gaza citizens, and engage the international community in providing consistent relief aid and medical assistance.

Furthermore, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General, Jassem Al Budaiwi, stressed the absence of a political solution contributing to worsening conditions in Gaza, emphasizing the Security Council's responsibility for achieving peace and security in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Israel continued its military actions, urging Palestinians in Gaza to move south temporarily for their safety. The Israeli army accused Hamas of using civilian areas for military purposes, widening its air and ground attacks.

The death toll in Gaza has risen significantly, with a disproportionate impact on women and children. The UN General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce, a resolution supported by 120 states but rejected by Israel.

Gaza's 2.3 million residents face severe shortages of essentials due to the ongoing conflict and blockade.

Two-state solution for lasting peace in Middle East

Israel hasn’t expressed interest in following the advice of world leaders that it revives the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

In the past wars against Hamas, Israel moved quickly to invade Gaza, seeking to degrade the militant group’s ability to fire rockets into the country, now Tel Aviv’s stated aim is Hamas’s destruction.

In the three weeks since the group killed 1,400 people in Israel, it has staged several limited ground incursions into Gaza, the latest on Friday night.

The stakes are high for Israel, from the lives of some 200 hostages to worries about triggering a regional war.

While US President Joe Biden has expressed strong support for Israel’s professed goals, he also advised delay of any full-scale invasion as he seeks to win release of the hostages and insure the flow of much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.

The Pentagon is also scrambling to put defensive measures in place for US assets that may come under attack (Iran has warned of such escalation, and skirmishes between the two are increasing).

At the same time, global outrage has been rising at the massive number of Palestinian casualties inflicted by Israel, with more than 7,000 dead—including thousands of children.

As the Israel Defense Forces lay waste to large swathes of the Gaza Strip, Biden has urged Israel to consider America’s mistakes after the 9/11 attacks–and to have a clear plan for the aftermath.

“Anything that could lower risks and collateral damage, while still attaining the goal of crippling Hamas, is worth consideration.” Marc Champion writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

Friday, 27 October 2023

Massacres in Gaza being done in total darkness

The intense bombing in the last few hours has destroyed the remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world. People have lost access to internet and communication services across the Gaza Strip on Friday night as Israel intensified its ground attack and launched what observers described as the largest aerial assault since its latest bombing campaign began nearly three weeks ago.

Al Jazeera reported that it has only sporadic communication with its correspondents on the ground in the besieged Gaza Strip. The outlet has been able to go live intermittently via satellite phones.

Reporting from Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum said, "We don't know anything that is happening in other districts in the territory."

"We are now in a hospital and we are going to be live by satellite as much as we can and every single hour," he continued. "So please, if you can hear us, send that message to the world that we are isolated now in Gaza. We don't have any phone signals. We don't have any internet connections."

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it has "completely lost contact with the operations room in Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there due to the Israeli authorities cutting off all landline, cellular, and internet communications."

"We are deeply concerned about the ability of our teams to continue providing their emergency medical services, especially since this disruption affects the central emergency number '101' and hinders the arrival of ambulance vehicles to the wounded and injured," the group said.

"We are also worried about the safety of our teams working in Gaza Strip as the continuous and intense Israeli airstrikes around the clock indicate that the Israeli authorities will continue to commit war crimes while isolating Gaza from the outside world."

Like Al Jazeera and other outlets, The Associated Press reported trouble contacting people in the Gaza Strip.

"The Associated Press' attempts to reach people in Gaza did not go through," the outlet said Friday.

"We are likely to soon find out about the biggest massacres we've seen yet."

Friday's onslaught came at the tail end of a particularly deadly week in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 7,000 people in just three weeks. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari announced Friday that in addition to ramping up its airstrikes, the Israeli military is "expanding ground operations" in Gaza ahead of an expected full-scale invasion.

Israel has also largely kept up its illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, depriving the territory of critical necessities—including fuel and electricity—and intensifying the enclave's humanitarian crisis.

Israel's airstrikes have severely damaged Gaza's internet and telecommunications infrastructure, hampering people's ability to communicate with their families and undermining journalists' efforts to inform the world about events on the ground.

On Friday, the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel announced "a complete disruption of all communication and internet services" due to the Israeli bombardment.

"The intense bombing in the last hour caused the destruction of all remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world," the company said.

The London-based watchdog group NetBlocks wrote on social media that "live network data show a collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip with high impact to Paltel."

Amid the intense bombing and communications blackout on Friday, Medical Aid for Palestinians director of advocacy Rohan Talbot relayed a message that a colleague delivered just days earlier.

"I'm afraid that there will be massacres and those massacres will be done in total darkness," the unnamed colleague said, according to Talbot.

Palestinian-American political analyst Yousef Munayyer issued a similar warning on Friday.

"The Israeli military is carrying out its biggest strikes since the start of its war on Gaza right now, all the lights and communications are knocked out," he wrote on social media. "We are likely to soon find out about the biggest massacres we've seen yet."

 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party aligns with US Indo-Pacific Strategy

In South Asian pre and post colonial political history, no political party has faced as much oppression as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has under the current Awami League regime except what the latter faced during the war of liberation. There is a difference though between the oppression that the Awami League faced in 1971 under Pakistan’s military regime and what the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has faced since January 2009, when the Awami League assumed office.

In 1971, the Awami League’s top leadership crossed the border into India after Bangabandhu had surrendered to the Pakistan military on the night of March 25–26. Thus, the Awami League’s top leadership was in safety in Kolkata. The Indian government and its intelligence looked after the Awami League’s top leadership during the nine months that the Pakistani military carried out its crimes against inhumanity inside Bangladesh.

The BNP leadership as well as its grass roots has had no such luck. The Awami League regime has relentlessly persecuted them because they had no friendly country to flee. The extent of such persecution was revealed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party at a seminar for foreign diplomatic missions and the civil society held in Dhaka recently.

The seminar chaired by the BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was titled ‘A Democratic Future for Bangladesh and the Indo-Pacific Strategy.’ The BNP’s foreign affairs committee chairman Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury presented the paper.

The BNP’s seminar also flagged the need for Bangladesh to embrace the Biden administration’s IPS, which has everything not just to save democracy and rights that are on the slippery slope but also to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country and beyond as a liberal democracy.

The paper came up with mind-boggling statistics on the persecution that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has faced in leading people’s movement against the Awami League regime’s efforts to turn the country into a one-party state.

Thus far, 1,204 BNP leaders and activists have been victims of enforced disappearances; 1,539 have died in political killing in crossfire and 799 in extrajudicial killings. The Awami League regime has filed 141,633 ‘fabricated and unfounded cases’ involving 4,947,019. These figures, reprehensible as they are, abated significantly following the US sanctions in December 2021 on the Rapid Action Battalion and the police for serious rights violations.

Khaleda Zia, the BNP chairperson, is in the twilight zone between life and death for her life-threatening medical condition and incarceration since 2018 through politically motivated cases. The regime has not allowed her to go abroad for treatment not available at home. Tareq Zia has been exiled and is running the BNP as the acting chairman from London. He has kept the party united and energized. In between, the Awami League regime has tried to break the BNP through the proverbial ‘Mir Jafars’ that has failed.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is leading today the most courageous and determined movement for democracy and human and political rights against odds that few political parties in the history of such movements in developing countries have faced.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has successfully brought the entire opposition parties and forces under one umbrella without resorting to violence. The Awami League regime’s efforts to use every imaginable and unimaginable way to break the BNP have only enhanced the latter’s resolve and determination to fight the regime in the same spirit and determination with which the people fought the Pakistani military in 1971. Thus, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party today is more united and determined to fight and defeat the Awami League regime that has systematically thwarted people’s political, democratic and human rights.

The seminar flagged the BNP’s role in the nation’s fight for democracy, and human and political rights. It also gave a vision for the nation that would help Bangladesh to get back on its feet in a post-AL regime where whichever party assumes office will have to rebuild Bangladesh institutionally, politically and in the context of critical foreign relations from scratch.

It is now an open secret that the Awami League regime has systematically weakened all institutions of nation-building to make Bangladesh and the Awami League one with the interests of the party dominating over and subservient to the interests of the country. Today, the civil bureaucracy, the law enforcement agencies and even constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission are indistinguishable from the ruling party. Or else, the deputy commissioner of Jamalpur would not have openly and unashamedly sought people’s support for the ruling party or ambassadors abroad would not have been present and anchored the prime minister’s political meetings abroad with the Awami League diaspora.

The Awami League regime has, meanwhile, managed to turn the United States, in particular, and the west, in general, into Bangladesh’s adversaries. It did so oblivious of the fact that it would need the US-west in an indispensable manner for graduating to a middle-income country.

The Awami League regime has, thus, damaged Bangladesh’s critically important relations with the Biden administration although the United States is pursuing democracy and human and political rights in its bilateral relations with Bangladesh because these are against its interests in Bangladesh’s current politics.

The regime has also deliberately brought the US’s 1971 role into the equation to create an anti-US sentiment although the Biden administration is pursuing the issues for which Bangladesh fought its liberation war.

The Awami League regime also stated for the same reason, to create an anti-US sentiment in Bangladesh, that the Biden administration would stop opposing if it gave it St Martins Island to the United States to build a military base although it was told to the contrary by the high delegations that visited Dhaka in recent times.

The Awami League regime also tried to derail the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, which is a win-win strategy for Bangladesh and the nations in the Indo-Pacific. The regime gave lip service to the IPS with its Indo-Pacific Outlook that it announced in April. The Biden administration ignored the Awami League regime’s Indo-Pacific Outlook because it knew that if the regime was serious, it would not have accused the United States of seeking a military base after senior US officials had informed the AL regime to the contrary.

The BNP’s seminar on embracing IPS was, therefore, a smart move for the future of Bangladesh and the region as an examination of the strategy would reveal. The IPS is free and open with ‘governance that is transparent and responsive to the people.’ It is based upon connectivity in all its facets to bring nations closer to one another. The IPS is also based upon a free, fair, open and reciprocal trade regime to make the region prosperous. It stresses resilience for improved health security and economic ability to help nations ‘withstand climate change, pandemics and transnational threats.’ Finally, the IPS is secure as it ensures ‘movements of people, ideas, and goods across the international sea, land, and air borders and cyberspace are made legally.’

The Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy is, thus, the USA’s soft power approach for the Indo-Pacific region to deal with China’s expansion by avoiding the military path. Its present involvement in Bangladesh in pursuit of democracy and rights is also in pursuit of its Indo-Pacific Strategy which is why it is so determined to ensure that Bangladesh succeeds in holding its next general election freely, fairly, and peacefully for democracy, human and political rights to succeed.

The BNP’s seminar on democracy and the IPS was, therefore, extremely important. It flagged the need for the country to commit itself again to the causes for which millions embraced martyrdom in 1971.

 Courtesy: The Bangladesh Chronicle

 

 

 

Iran: Chinese investment in railway and renewable energy projects

First Vice President of Iran on Thursday discussed the strengthening Tehran-Beijing ties with Premier of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 22nd session of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Iran officially became a full member of the SCO in April 2023.

Mohammad Mokhber said the relations between Iran and China rooted in history and culture and said Iran has extensive capacities and capabilities that can be put to use in the two countries’ ties. 

Mokhber announced that Iran sees the development of ties with China as extremely important. “The development of Makran and Chabahar coasts, the construction of 15,000 megawatts of renewable power plants, mining development, Tehran-Mashhad and Tehran-Isfahan high-speed train projects, and transit cooperation in the west and east are all on Iran's agenda, and we welcome China's participation and investment in these areas,” the official noted. 

The vice president also emphasized the full implementation of the 25-year cooperation agreement between Iran and China. The deal signed in 2021 includes economic, military and security cooperation.

Mokhber also took the time to thank Beijing for its stance on Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza which have so far resulted in the death of more than 7,000 civilians. 

“The bitter events in Gaza and Palestine hurt the heart of every noble, free, and conscientious person, and unfortunately, in the current chaotic situation and war crimes being committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza, most of the casualties are among civilians, women, and children”. 

The Chinese premier, for his part, described Iran as one of the major and influential countries in the West Asian region. “Iran's full presence and membership in Shanghai and BRICS will strengthen these organizations and be very useful for regional and global peace and stability,” he said. 

“The relations between the two countries have always had a growing trend since the establishment of political relations fifty years ago, and this year important agreements have been concluded between Tehran and Beijing with two meetings between the presidents of the two countries,” Li said, adding that Beijing regards Tehran as an important partner and seeks to further enhance ties with the West Asian country. 

 

Thursday, 26 October 2023

US should stop backing Israeli genocide in Gaza

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian accused the US of siding with the occupying regime of Israel in its relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

He also said the resistance forces that are fighting to liberate their stolen lands are branded as terrorists but say the Israeli regime that has occupied the Palestinian lands is defending itself.

“They call the Palestinian self-liberation movement, which has a right to self-defense, terrorists, but they refer to the occupying and war criminal regime ‑ Israel, that is committing genocide in Gaza, as having the right to self-defense,” Amir Abdollahian lamented.

“The US and several European countries are watching and supporting the killing of about 7,000 civilians in less than three weeks by the Israeli regime. They help this regime militarily and financially,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

“We recommend that the US works for peace and security, not war against women and children … and to stop sending rockets, tanks and bombs to be used against the people of Gaza. The US should stop supporting genocide in Gaza and Palestine.”

US President Joe Biden visited Tel Aviv on October 18 to express unwavering support for Israel in its relentless onslaught on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The night before his arrival in Tel Aviv, Israeli fighter jets exploded Al-Ahli al-Arabi in the city of Gaza killing 500 civilians, including the injured, medical staff, and citizens who had taken shelter there from the Israeli bombardments. 

The bombardment of the hospital prompted Arab leaders, including the Palestinian Authority president and the king of Jordan, to cancel a meeting with Biden in Egypt.

The US has also aborted draft resolutions at the UN Security Council to halt the war.

The Israeli war on Gaza, which is home to over 2 million people, has been described as genocide and war crime in terms of international law. 

After the Biden visit to the occupied territories, the leaders of Germany, Britain and France have visited Israel to express their solidarity with the occupation regime of Israel.

The war started after the Hamas resistance group launched a surprise attack on portions of lands occupied by Israel in 1948 in retaliation to the regime's brutal attacks on the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.

Richard Falk, an international law scholar who taught at Princeton University for forty years, has said the West's refusal to call for a ceasefire is a green light to Israel’s ethnic cleansing.

“By failing to advocate for a ceasefire, western states have given a green light to Israel’s agenda of collective punishment, which might itself be grotesque cover for the regime’s end goal of massive dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Falk wrote in Middle East Eye on October 24.

 

Arab states support two-state solution for lasting peace

The participating nations, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Mauritania, and the United Comoros Republic, collectively condemned and rejected the targeting of civilians, all acts of violence and terrorism against them, and any violations or transgressions of international law, including international humanitarian law, by any party. This condemnation extends to the targeting of civilian infrastructure.

They stressed the importance of the international community, especially the Security Council, assuming its responsibilities to seek peace in the Middle East. This includes expeditious, genuine, and collective efforts to resolve the conflict and implement a two-state solution based on relevant UN resolutions, ensuring the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with contiguous territory, viable for life, along the lines of pre-June 4, 1967, borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

The statement denounced forced individual or collective displacement and policies of collective punishment. It strongly opposed any attempts to settle the Palestinian issue at the expense of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region. The forced displacement of the Palestinian people is deemed a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

The signatories underscored the need to fully commit to ensuring the complete respect for the Geneva Conventions of 1949, particularly concerning the responsibilities of the occupying force. They also stressed the importance of the immediate release of hostages and civilian detainees, ensuring safe, dignified, and humane treatment for them in accordance with the international law. The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in this regard is highlighted.

The statement emphasized that the right to self-defense, as outlined in the UN Charter, does not justify flagrant violations of international law and humanitarian law, or the deliberate neglect of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination and an end to the decades-long occupation.

The signatories called on the UN Security Council to compel parties to the conflict to an immediate and sustainable ceasefire. They stressed that hesitation in characterizing blatant violations of international humanitarian law serves as a green light for the continuation of such practices and complicity in their commission.

Furthermore, the statement urged action to ensure and facilitate rapid and sustainable access for humanitarian aid to Gaza without obstacles, in accordance with relevant humanitarian principles. It called for the mobilization of additional resources in collaboration with the UN and its affiliated organizations, especially UNRWA.

Expressing deep concern over the possibility of the current confrontations expanding and the conflict spreading to other areas in the Middle East, the signatories appealed to all parties to exercise maximum restraint. They underscored that the expansion of this conflict would have severe consequences on the peoples of the region and international peace and security.

The statement also expressed profound concern about the escalating violence in the West Bank and called on the international community to support and enhance the Palestinian Authority. Financial assistance to the Palestinian people, including through Palestinian institutions, is deemed to be of utmost importance.

The signatories affirmed that the absence of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict led to the recurrence of violence and suffering for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and the peoples of the region.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023

Palestinians 56 years of suffocating occupation, says UN Chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the October 07 military operation against Israel did not happen in a vacuum, noting that the Palestinians have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.

The remarks by the world’s top diplomat angered Israel. The regime’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called for the resignation of Guterres, saying Israel must rethink its relations with the world body.

“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” Guterres said.

Following such remarks, the foreign minister of Israel also canceled his scheduled meeting with the UN chief.

Also, in a post on X, Guterres said, "The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the horrific attacks by Hamas. These horrendous attacks also cannot justify subjecting the entire Palestinian population to collective punishment."

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in an annual report on Palestine has said Gaza has endured 16 years of de-development, as well as suppressed human potential and the right to development.

 

Israel preparing for ground invasion of Gaza, says Netanyahu

Israel is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Wednesday, but he declined to provide any details on the timing or other information about the operation.

He said the decision on when forces would go into the Palestinian enclave, controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, would be taken by the government's special war cabinet, which includes the leader of one of the centrist opposition parties.

"We have already killed thousands of terrorists and this is only the beginning," Netanyahu said.

"Simultaneously, we are preparing for a ground invasion. I will not elaborate on when, how or how many. I will also not elaborate on the various calculations we are making, which the public is mostly unaware of and that is how things should be."

Israel has carried out days of intense bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip following the October 07 Hamas attack on Israeli communities that killed some 1,400 people. More than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in the bombardments, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Netanyahu, who has so far not taken responsibility for the security failures that led to the Hamas attack, said all involved would be called to account.

"The scandal will be fully investigated," he said. "Everyone will have to give answers, me too. But all this will happen only after the war."

Earlier, citing US and Israeli officials, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had agreed to delay the invasion of Gaza for now, so the United States could rush missile defences to the region.

Reuters reported on Monday that Washington advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault and is keeping Qatar - a broker with the Palestinian militants - apprised of those talks as its tries to free more hostages and prepare for a possible wider regional war.

Pro Israeli remarks trigger walkout at IPU meeting

The inaugural speech at the 147th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Luanda, Angola, drew an angry reaction from several Muslim delegations that deemed President Duarte Pacheco’s remarks in favor of the Israeli regime unjust and misleading.

On Monday the president, who is wrapping up his three-year term, kicked off his speech by commenting on “Israel’s right to defend itself”, referring to the regime’s heavy and relentless bombardment of Gaza in recent days.

The attacks have so far resulted in the death of more than 5,000 people, with children making up half of the casualties. Israel has also begun a full siege of the territory not allowing any food, water, fuel, and medicine inside Gaza. 

Delegations from South Africa, Iran, Kuwait, Palestine, Algeria, and some other Muslim countries reportedly walked out of the opening ceremony after a member of the Iranian delegation shouted “Israel is a terrorist entity” to protest the president’s remarks. 

The Parliamentary delegations returned to the ceremony once the speech was over and once again voiced their strong opposition to the rhetoric against the Palestinian Resistance. 

After the incident, Pacheco’s past interactions with the regime were brought to the limelight. The IPU president, who is supposed to represent 179 parliaments from around the world, visited the occupied territories in 2021 a year after being elected. 

During an interview with Israeli media, the official expressed regret that the IPU has chosen to condemn the regime at some instances. “I regret that there are such condemnations against Israel, because I don’t believe that they contribute to a spirit of dialogue,” he said while talking to the Jewish News Syndicate. 

Pacheco was also called a true friend of Israel during a meeting with the Knesset speaker Mickey Levy. 

 

Tuesday, 24 October 2023

Human Rights Activists condemn calls for war with Iran

Nearly 60 activists warned that a military attack on Iran would damage the legitimate struggle of the Iranian people for democracy and peace.

Dozens of Iranian human rights activists, including the husband of jailed 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, released a joint statement Tuesday condemning recent calls for war against Iran, warning that a military attack on their country would undermine the legitimate struggle of the Iranian people for democracy and peace.

The 57 activists published their statement as politicians in the United States, Europe, and Israel continued to lash out at Iran in the wake of Hamas' October 07 attack on Israel, claiming without evidence that Tehran was involved in planning the assault and—in some cases—pushing for a military response.

The new statement calls out by name the Union Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a group chaired by former US Senator Joe Lieberman. Two days after Hamas' attack, Lieberman and UANI CEO Mark Wallace urged the US, Israel, and their allies to launch strikes against military and intelligence targets in Iran.

The Iranian activists warned that such an attack would bring a massive avalanche of suffering and destruction upon our country.

While denouncing the Iranian government's "tyranny and oppression at home and tension-causing policies abroad, the activists said they oppose the direct and indirect call for a military attack on Iran, under any guise and with any pretext.

"We ask all Iranians not to allow opportunists to tie the struggle of the Iranian people for democracy, freedom, and peace with warmongering and calling for a military attack on our country," they wrote.

The statement was released amid mounting fears that Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip could soon become a wider regional conflict, particularly once Israel launches its expected ground invasion of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

In recent days, the Biden administration has mobilized missile defense systems and aircraft carriers to the Middle East, placed thousands of US troops on higher alert, and sent additional arms to Israel in what's been described as an effort to deter Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah from getting involved in the war on Gaza. Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire intermittently since October 07.

US officials have blamed Iran for recent drone attacks on American troops stationed in Syria and Iraq, even while acknowledging it's not clear that Iran ordered the attacks. In a speech to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that the United States does not seek conflict with Iran and does not want this war to widen.

"But if Iran or its proxies attack US personnel anywhere, make no mistake, we will defend our people, we will defend our security‚—swiftly and decisively, said Blinken.

Iranian leaders, for their part, have said they could be forced to act if Israel invades Gaza.

During a news conference earlier this week, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that if Israel and the US do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control.

 

 

Saudi Crown Prince stresses importance of ensuring Palestinian rights

According to Saudi Gazette, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman engaged in a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden, highlighting the imperative for de-escalation in Gaza and a commitment to international humanitarian law in light of the current regional tensions.

The Crown Prince, expressing deep concern over the situation, underscored the necessity to halt the current escalation, preventing any further deterioration that could adversely affect the security and stability of the entire region.

He emphasized the importance of upholding the principles of international law, particularly in protecting civilians and vital infrastructure.

President Biden, in turn, extended his appreciation to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for his efforts in reducing and containing escalation in the region.

Furthermore, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman affirmed Saudi Arabia's rejection of all forms of targeting civilians and infrastructure, emphasizing the need for a swift resolution to the crisis.

He stressed the urgency of restoring peace and ensuring the Palestinian people's legitimate rights.

The diplomatic conversation also touched upon the vital need to lift the blockade on Gaza, a move seen as essential for addressing the humanitarian crisis in the region

The Crown Prince asserted that such measures are crucial for fostering a just and comprehensive peace, echoing a sentiment of peace and stability for the entire Middle East.