Syria: Insurgents Enter Aleppo

Insurgents breached Syria’s largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.

The advance on Aleppo followed a shock offensive launched by insurgents Wednesday, as thousands of fighters swept through villages and towns in Syria’s northwestern countryside. Residents fled neighborhoods on the city’s edge because of missiles and gunfire, according to witnesses in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country’s unresolved civil war, said dozens of fighters from both sides were killed.

The attack injected new violence into a region already experiencing wars in Gaza and Lebanon involving Israel, and other conflicts, including the Syrian civil war that began in 2011.

Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighborhoods in 2016 following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

But this time, there was no sign of a significant pushback from government forces or their allies. Instead, reports emerged of government forces melting away in the face of advances, and insurgents posted messages on social media calling on troops to surrender.

Robert Ford, who was the last US ambassador to Syria, said the attack showed that Syrian government forces are “extremely weak.” In some cases, he said, they appear to have “almost been routed.”

This week’s advances were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, and represent the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by the opposition.

 

Israel stuck in Gaza and bleeding

The Israeli army’s former head of operations has criticized the continuing war in Gaza saying the regime is “stuck in Gaza and bleeding”. Major General Israel Ziv described the war as a “dire quagmire”.

Ziv, who previously led the Gaza Division, asserted that the war has become a source of political stability for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, Al Jazeera reported. 

He suggested that Netanyahu might be prolonging the war to maintain his political position and delay his corruption trial, which could lead to imprisonment.

Ziv added that after a year of what he called the longest and most exhausting war in Israel’s history, the regime finds itself trapped in a continuous security crisis with no end in sight.

He noted that the situation is not improving and lacks a clear path towards resolution.

He emphasized that the war, which Netanyahu claimed was on the verge of victory six months ago, now appears endless.

 

Activists to defy Israeli blockade of Gaza

Peace activists from several countries are setting out on a converted trawler to defy an Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"The purpose of this mission is to send a message that civil society is not OK with what's happening in Gaza," said Fellipe Lopes, the Portuguese media coordinator of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on board the ship Handala during a stopover in Malta.

It will be a trip fraught with danger. Another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010 was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, and nine activists died. Other ships were similarly stopped and boarded, without loss of life.

"We expect to encounter resistance throughout our mission," said Australian activist Michael Coleman.

"Ours is not an illegal activity in any shape or form. The International Court of Justice has asked them to grant unfettered access to aid into Gaza and I implore them to let us and other aids through immediately," he said.

The Handala was visited in Malta by 78-year-old retired US Army Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, who was on board another coalition ship boarded by Israeli troops in 2010, in the incident in which nine activists died.

"These people are very brave, because we don't know what's going to happen. If the Israelis stop them, we know it'll be brutal," Wright said.

The brightly colored Handala carries activists from Italy, France, Norway, Australia, the Netherlands, Syria and a number of Palestinians. It has made several port calls around Scandinavia and the Mediterranean to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza.

Its hull carries slogans reading: "Free Palestine," "Gaza you are not alone" and "Stop the Genocide," while its humanitarian aid cargo consists mostly of medicines.

The trip along the Eastern Mediterranean to Gaza will take a week but organizers said they might stop over in another harbor on the way.

What after Haniyeh killing?

The targeting of two senior militant leaders in two Middle Eastern capitals within hours of each other — with each strike blamed on Israel — risks rocking the region at a critical moment.

The strikes come as international mediators are working to bring Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire that would wind down the devastating war in Gaza and free hostages. Intense diplomatic efforts are also underway to ease tensions between Israel and Hezbollah after months of cross-border fighting.

The assassination of Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the strike against senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut could upend those painstaking attempts to defuse a Middle East powder keg. Iran has also threatened to respond after the attack on its territory, which could drag the region into all-out war.

Here’s a look at the potential fallout from the strikes:

Gaza cease-fire negotiations

Haniyeh’s assassination could prompt Hamas to pull out of cease-fire negotiations being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, though it has yet to comment on the issue.

But given Haniyeh’s role, a senior Egyptian official with direct knowledge of the negotiations said the killing will highly likely have an impact, calling it “a reckless act.”

“Haniyeh was the main link with (Hamas) leaders inside Gaza, and with other Palestinian factions,” said the official, who met with the Hamas leader multiple times in the talks. “He was the one we were meeting face-to-face and talking about the cease-fire.”

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani condemned the attacks.

“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” he wrote on the social media platform X.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he didn’t want to speculate on the effect, but the events renewed the “imperative of getting the cease-fire,” which he said they are working toward on a daily basis

Hezbollah has said that it will halt its fire on Israel if a Gaza cease-fire is reached.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that military pressure will prompt Hamas to agree to a deal, but previous killings of senior figures have not appeared to increase the chances for an agreement.

People in Gaza expressed sadness and shock over Haniyeh’s killing and worried that a cease-fire deal was slipping away.

“By assassinating Haniyeh, they are destroying everything,” said Nour Abu Salam, a displaced Palestinian. “They don’t want peace. They don’t want a deal.”

The increasingly desperate families of hostages held in Gaza urged for their loved ones to be released.

“I’m not interested in this assassination or that assassination, I’m interested in the return of my son and the rest of the hostages, safe and sound, home,” said Dani Miran, whose son Omri, 46, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 07, 2023.

Risk of broader war

The strikes also raised alarm among some diplomats working to defuse tensions in the region.

“The events in Tehran and Beirut push the entire Middle East to a devastating regional war,” said one Western diplomat.

The diplomat — whose government has engaged in concerted diplomacy to prevent an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, but is not directly involved in cease-fire or hostage negotiations — called the killing of Haniyeh a “serious development” that has “almost killed” a possible cease-fire in Gaza, given its timing and location.

She said that Haniyeh’s killing inside Tehran while attending the inauguration of an Iranian president “will force Tehran to respond.”

The assassination in Tehran is not the first time that Israel has been blamed for a targeted attack on Iranian soil, but it’s one of the most brazen, said Menachem Merhavy, an expert on Iran from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Israel hasn’t taken responsibility for the strike, though it vowed to kill all of Hamas’ leaders over the Oct. 7 attacks. Merhavy thinks it’s unlikely that Iran will respond directly to Israel, such as with the barrage of 300 rockets in April after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building.

He believes Iran is more likely to send its response via Hezbollah.

“Iran knows that its capability of hurting Israel is much more significant from Lebanon,” said Merhavy.

The location of Haniyeh’s assassination was just as important as the strike itself, he said.

“The message was to Iran and the proxies, if you thought in Tehran you’re protected, we can reach you there as well,” said Merhavy. “Reconsider your relations with Tehran, because they cannot protect you on its own soil.”

Finding the replacement

Although Haniyeh’s name has more international recognition, the strike on Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, if successful, is “much more important from a functional point of view,” said Michael Milshtein, an Israeli analyst of Palestinian affairs at Tel Aviv University and a former military intelligence officer.

He said Shukur was involved in the day-to-day management of Hezbollah’s strikes on Israel, including, according to Israel, the rocket attack on Majdal Shams that killed 12 youths on Saturday. Israel said its hit in Beirut on Tuesday killed him but Hezbollah has not confirmed that.

“If Hezbollah is considering how to act or to respond, one of the main question marks is how they’re going to manage a war without Shukur,” said Milshtein.

Others said Shukur, if he is in fact killed, will easily be replaced.

“Hezbollah has thick layers of commanders and leaders, and the killing of 1 or 10 or 500 will not change the equation,” said Fawaz Gerges, of the London School of Economics.

Gerges said Haniyeh is a much more symbolic leader and is far removed from the day-to-day operations in Gaza.

“Even though the assassination of Haniyeh is a painful blow for Hamas, it will make no difference in the military confrontation between Israel and Hamas,” and Gerges.

He noted that Israel has a long history of assassinating leaders of Palestinian groups, but those strikes have little impact as the leaders are quickly replaced.

Courtesy: Associated Press

 

 

Gaza deepening humanitarian crisis

Hundreds of trucks loaded with food and water have been stranded on a scorching Egyptian road, some for nearly two months, awaiting permission to deliver the much needed humanitarian supplies to war-torn Gaza.

About 50 kilometers from the Gaza border, trucks carrying flour, water and other aid line a dusty road in both directions. The drivers say they have been waiting for several weeks in the searing Egyptian summer heat.

The standstill is exacerbating Gaza's dire humanitarian crisis after nine months of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. Aid groups warn there is a high risk of famine across the besieged coastal territory.

The truck drivers, parked on the outskirts of the Egyptian city of al-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula, say they have been unable to deliver humanitarian supplies ever since Israel expanded its offensive on the Gaza-Egypt border in May.

Some food has had to be discarded, they said.

"I swear to God, before this load, we came here and stood for more than 50 days and eventually the load was returned because it had expired," said truck driver Elsayed el-Nabawi.

"We had to turn around and return it. We loaded another batch, and here we are standing again and only God knows if this load will make it before it expires or what will happen to it."

The Israeli military started its assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah in May. The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a lifeline to the outside world for Gazans, allowing the delivery of aid and the evacuation of patients, has been shut since then.

Talks involving Egypt, the United States and Israel have failed to reopen Rafah, where Egypt wants a Palestinian presence restored on the Gazan side of the border. Israeli flags now fly over Gazan buildings destroyed along the border with Egypt.

"We've been stranded here for over a month waiting to deliver this load. We've waiting for our turn but nothing yet" said Ahmed Kamel, another of the truck drivers, who sit by their vehicles drinking tea and smoking cigarettes.

"We don't know our fate - when we will be able to enter? Today? Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? Only God knows. Will the stuff we're carrying hold up or most of it will go bad?"

Aid and commercial supplies have still entered Gaza through other land border crossings, through air drops and by sea, but aid groups and Western diplomats say the supplies are far below needs. The drivers say they are waiting for Israeli permission.

 

US military repairs Gaza pier

A top US military official said humanitarian aid would begin flowing again in the coming days through the maritime corridor. The pier has been attached back to the Gaza beach after the causeway, the part that connects to the shore, was broken apart during high winds and heavy seas on May 25.

Vice Admiral, Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, said the US military was moving with a sense of urgency to re-open the pier to deliver critical humanitarian aid to Gaza.

"We want to seize this opportunity and get the aid to the people as quickly as possible," he said. 

The pier is just one point of access for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, but in its roughly weeklong operation before it broke apart, more than two million pounds of aid entered the territory. 

Cooper said he expects one million pounds of aid to be delivered over every two-day period once operations resume.

The Gaza pier has cost the US about US$230 million, which includes the cost of repairing it. Still, that figure is down US$90 million from an initial estimate.

Sen. Roger Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said continuing operations with the pier was a bad idea. "It continues to put US troops in harm's way without any plan for ensuring that aid is delivered successfully to Gazans in need," said Wicker, calling it an "irresponsible" and "expensive experiment."

Cooper acknowledged concerns that the pier could face more trouble from bad weather but stressed the US military had backup plans.

"We do have a series of contingency plans to adjust and adapt to the weather,” he said. 

Israel controls all of the crossings into Gaza, where Palestinians are struggling to access food and water as Israeli forces wage war against militant group Hamas, and says it is doing everything possible to get aid into the strip.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update that 9 out of 10 children are experiencing severe food poverty in Gaza.

The office also said that recent Israeli military activities, including in the southern city of Rafah, "have significantly destabilized humanitarian aid flows, forcing UN and partners to reorganize the entire operation."

 

Gaza the most expensive war in Israel’s history

When Israel vastly ramped up defense spending in the 1970s to address security risks exposed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the economic side effects were devastating. Economists are now worried about a repeat.

The ongoing war in Gaza is the most expensive in the country’s history: The central bank has estimated the total cost of the conflict will run to 250 billion shekels or US$67.4 billion through 2025.

Defense spending before the war was at an all-time low of 4.5% of GDP. It’s set to double this year to 9%, according to Manuel Trajtenberg, a professor emeritus in the economics department of Tel Aviv University.

“The decisive test will be the government’s ability to lower the defense-spending-to-GDP ratio back to reasonable levels within several years,” he says. “Otherwise, we may slide back into another lost decade.”

Working in Israel’s favor is that its starting point was strong. Over the past 15 years, the nation’s per-capita GDP has risen above that of Britain, France and Japan.

But costs are apparent. When Hamas attacked and some 300,000 reservists rushed into uniform, Israel’s powerhouse tech industry suddenly found itself short of labor, while businesses in and around the Tel Aviv area lost some of their best customers.

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having committed billions of shekels for spending demanded by his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, many economists worry of a “spiral of collapse” — where Israel’s better-educated, high-earning citizens choose to emigrate rather than shoulder the fiscal burden of supporting large Orthodox families.

Scores of economists conveyed that message recently to the government, in a letter calling for an end to public support for schools that don’t train students for the modern labor market and requiring ultra-Orthodox to be drafted.

Israel already underinvests in areas such as education and health compared with developed economies. If policymakers look to free up funds for military upgrades by paring back those priorities, along with transportation and welfare, it’s the economy that may pay the price.

 

Rafah: Food distribution suspended

The United Nations said it has suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering.

A spokesperson for the UN's World Food Program (WFP) announced that food aid would halt in Rafah because of a lack of supplies and insecurity, according to The Associated Press.

Writing on X, the WFP wrote that the rest of Gaza was also at risk. "Our stocks are fast running out without continued access."

Palestinians are struggling to access basic necessities in Gaza as Israel carries out its war against Hamas.

Israeli troops seized a border crossing that had facilitated supply deliveries in Rafah earlier this month, and Israel now controls every aid checkpoint. Humanitarian aid groups have accused Israel of impeding aid efforts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Tuesday that Israel has been trying to get aid into Gaza but Hamas has been "looting" it.

"They were taking it for themselves or extorting the population. We were letting the aid in from the start," Netanyahu said. "We're getting hundreds of trucks every day in."

A State Department review earlier this month said the US has "deep concerns" about Israel potentially impeding aid into Gaza, though it did not reach a conclusion on the matter. It also found the country is taking steps to improve the situation, even if still inadequate.

To address the crisis, the US military constructed a pier that connects to a beach in Gaza. It allows aid coming from the island nation of Cyprus to reach Gaza through a maritime corridor.

But for the past two days, no aid has gotten into Gaza from the pier area, U.N. officials told Reuters.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said more than 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been delivered through the pier, though that means it has arrived for distribution and not all of it has been delivered yet.

Noting the difficulties, Ryder said there are discussions to find alternative routes for the safe movement of staff and cargo from the pier distribution area but said Gaza was a combat zone, complicating distribution. 

"We've been very clear from the beginning that we are going to take a crawl-walk approach to make sure that we are implementing this system in a way where we're working out the processes, the procedures," he said.

"You're going to see as we work together the amount of aid increase and the ability to get it distributed increase."

 

US military pier moving towards Gaza

According to Reuters the US military has started moving a pier towards the Gaza coast, a US official said on Wednesday, one of the last steps before the launch of a maritime port promised by President Joe Biden to speed the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The US military opted to pre-assemble the maritime pier at Israeli port of Ashdod earlier this month due to weather conditions at the Gaza site where it will now be installed.

Officials hope the pier can be anchored to the coast of Gaza and aid can start flowing in the coming days.

"Earlier today, components of the temporary pier ... along with military vessels involved in its construction, began moving from the Port of Ashdod towards Gaza, where it will be anchored to the beach to assist in the delivery of international humanitarian aid," a US official said.

A British shipment of nearly 100 tons of aid has left Cyprus bound for a new temporary pier in Gaza, the British Foreign Office said on Wednesday.

Israel launched a relentless assault on Gaza, killing more than 35,000 Palestinians, local health authorities say, in a bombardment that has reduced much of the enclave to a wasteland and triggered UN warnings of looming famine.

Over time, the civilian toll from the Israeli offensive has triggered global protests and strained relations with Washington, Israel's biggest backer.

Israel has sought to demonstrate it is not blocking aid to Gaza. Although the US officials and aid groups say some progress has been made, they warn it is insufficient.

Dan Dieckhaus, the response director at the US Agency for International Development, told reporters earlier on Wednesday Israel still has more work to do to address concerns about the killing of aid workers in Gaza.

"Overall we are still not satisfied. And we won't be satisfied as long as we continue to see aid worker deaths and injuries," Dieckhaus said.

 

Call for single Palestinian government

In a joint statement, issued at the end of the meeting, the foreign ministers and representatives of the Arab and European countries pledged full support to the efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire, as well as to release hostages, and end the war in Gaza. The meeting also called for ending all illegal unilateral actions and violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem as well as for addressing the ongoing catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Foreign Minister of Norway Espen Barth Eide co-chaired the meeting between the Ministerial Committee, assigned by the Joint Arab- Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Developments in the Gaza Strip, and the European foreign ministers and representatives, to discuss the urgent need to end the war in Gaza and to take steps to implement the two-state solution.

The meeting stressed the need to intensify support for state-building efforts, support the new Palestinian government, and the importance of having a single Palestinian government in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

The meeting underscored the importance of moving the conflict into a political track so as to enable a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Concrete steps towards realization of a Palestinian State in the context of the two-state solution were figured high in the meeting. An increased urgency to take such steps and the importance of coordinating positions were emphasized. The meeting also discussed the matter of recognition of a Palestinian State by countries that have not yet done so, and the timing and context of such recognition.

The ministers emphasized the importance of the need to adopt a holistic approach towards a credible irreversible track for the implementation of the two-state solution. This needs to be in accordance with international law and agreed parameters, including United Nations Security Council Resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, among other initiatives.

The objective is to achieve a just and lasting peace that fulfills the rights of the Palestinian people and the security of Israel and the region. In return, this will pave the way for normal relations between countries in a region, where stability, security, peace and cooperation prevail.

The meeting was attended by foreign ministers and representatives of Algeria, Bahrain, Belgium, Egypt, the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Arab League, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran and Russia: Deepening security relations

The analyst of the American think tank, Foundation for Defense Democracies (FDD), has expressed alarm over the deepening of security relations between Tehran and Moscow.

The think tank warned that Ukraine and Israel are two battlegrounds where Tehran and Moscow not only benefit from strengthening their relationship but also use them to rearrange the global order.

According to the Russian state media RIA Novosti recently reported that Russia has expressed readiness to expand military and technical cooperation with Iran. 

Russian and Iranian defense ministers discussed strengthening security relations between the two countries during a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Kazakhstan. The SCO is a security group with members including Russia, India, China, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

The think tank, citing media reports, stated that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu emphasized the significant increase in military contracts between Tehran and Moscow during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart.

Senior FDD analyst Behnam Ben Taleblu believes that Russia and Iran have increasingly been able to set aside areas of tension and disagreement between them in order to confront common enemies. 

He went on to point out that the decision of the two countries to strengthen their relationship is not in response to Western pressure, raising alarm bells for the West to increase pressure and raise the costs of this relationship for both sides. The West must work on a strategy that focuses on magnifying the differences between Moscow and Tehran and highlighting them.

Ivana Stradner another analyst from FDD believes that with the approval of new packages by the United States for Ukraine, Russia is seeking to attract more assistance from its allies. 

In fact, Russia’s victory is also a success for Iran. Tehran and Moscow believe that the United States is their common enemy, and for this reason, both countries have united against Washington.

This analytical report stipulated that the confrontation with America forms the basis of cooperation between Russia and Iran. 

The meeting of the defense ministers of the two countries took place after the disclosure of confidential Russian government documents on April 17. These documents emphasized the need for greater coordination between Moscow, Iran, China, and North Korea to change the global order under US tutelage. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin also welcomed cooperation with Iran in the energy, trade, agriculture, and technology sectors in December, following increased economic cooperation between Moscow and Tehran to bypass Western sanctions.

The FDD also mentioned Russia and Iran’s cooperation in drone technologies, stating that the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada imposed new sanctions on April 25 against entities supporting Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry.

The final part of this report claimed that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Tehran has provided hundreds of UAVs to Moscow in exchange for advanced military equipment.

Russia and Iran have both vehemently refuted allegations that Tehran sent Moscow drones to use in the conflict in Ukraine.

In July 2022, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made the first anti-Iran claims, saying purportedly that Washington had information indicating that the Islamic Republic was getting ready to give Russia up to several hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline for use in the conflict.

Experts and the media both emphasized the significance of Iranian drones, with much of the media coverage focused on increasing pressure on Iran. The Western media cannot deny the positive role of Iranian drones in the country's foreign policies.    

In an analysis, titled “Can Iran’s Shahed drones in Ukraine help ease tension with Russia?” military affairs expert and journalist Anton Mardasov discussed the impact of Iranian drones on the relations between Iran and Russia on the Al-Monitor website on August 06, 2023. 

According to Al-Monitor, low-cost Iranian drones have significantly impacted the battlefield. “Delivery of drones gave Iran the right to talk to Moscow on an equal footing,” Nikolay Kozhanov, a professor at the Persian Gulf Studies Center of Qatar University, told Al-Monitor. 

 

 

Demands for imposing sanctions on Israel

The Arab –Islamic Ministerial Committee called on the international community to impose effective sanctions on Israel, including halting arms export in response to its violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and its ongoing war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The meeting of the Ministerial Committee, assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit, was presided over by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh on Sunday. The ministers also stressed the need to activate international legal tools to hold Israel accountable for these crimes and the need to stop settler terrorism and take clear and strict positions against it.

The meeting discussed the mechanisms to intensify joint Arab and Islamic action to reach an immediate cessation to end the war on the Gaza Strip and ensure the protection of civilians by international humanitarian law, in addition to continuing all efforts aimed at international recognition of an independent Palestinian state, to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinian people and sustainable and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip.

The meeting also discussed taking the necessary steps to implement the two-state solution and recognizing the State of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The ministers emphasized that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory and renewed their categorical rejection of any attempts to displace the Palestinian people outside their land and any military operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah.

The ministers also expressed their concern about the measures taken against peaceful demonstrators in the Western countries demanding an end to the war in Gaza and the severe crimes and violations being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.

The committee members who participated in the meeting included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan Ayman Al-Safadi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye Hakan Fidan, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein Al Sheikh, and Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Dr. Mohammed Al Khulaifi.

Meanwhile, the developments in Gaza dominated in the discussions held by Prince Faisal bin Farhan with his counterparts in Arab, Asian and European countries, on Sunday, on the sidelines of the special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.

During his meeting with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, and ways to strengthen and develop them in a way that achieves common interests. Prince Faisal discussed with his Norwegian counterpart Espen Barth Eide the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the efforts made to address them.

During the meeting with Malaysian counterpart Mohamed Hassan, the two sides reviewed ways to enhance bilateral relations and joint cooperation in various fields.

The Saudi foreign minister also discussed with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Ali Sabry bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop them, in addition to discussing the consolidation of bilateral coordination in many fields, and exchanging views on regional and international issues

 

First step to make Gaza a US military base

A maritime corridor is expected to commence operations early May. Construction began in the Mediterranean Sea Thursday off the coast of Gaza to assemble the pier.

Once assembled, the pier will facilitate 90 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid a day into Gaza, with up to 150 when fully operational.

A senior US military official said around 1,000 US Army and Navy soldiers and sailors will work on the mission and live out of a British ship called the Cardigan Bay.

The mission will not involve US boots on the ground, and the military is coordinating closely with Israel to ensure safety and security.

"We believe we have developed a comprehensive integrated security plan with the Israeli Defense Forces to address force protection of American troops," the official said.

Another US administration official said the pier comes amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.

"This is a humanitarian initiative with a humanitarian purpose," the official said.

Aid will be coming in off pallets from the island of Cyprus through the transport of commercial ships, and arrive at a large floating dock miles from Gaza.

Small Army boats will transport trucks with cargo to a pier anchored to Gaza's shore and drive into the strip and a secure area.

The United Nations has warned of a coming famine in northern Gaza unless the humanitarian crisis is addressed.

President Biden first announced the pier in March and initial estimates were slated to be completed by the end of April or early May.

 

Excerpts from the speech of Abu Obeida

Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas, gave a speech on the 200th day of war, to illustrate the achievements of the Resistance and the failures of the criminal Israeli army.

We call on the masses of our nation to escalate their movement in support of the resistance. The criminal enemy is trying to restore its image 200 days after the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood

 “The criminal enemy continues to try to salvage its image, only to further receive shame and disgrace.

200 days have passed and the Zionist army is still trapped in the quagmire of Gaza, exploiting its predicament on the ground for more killing and destruction.

 The occupation army failed against our resistance and our people after its image was shattered in front of the world.

We say to Netanyahu, Your death, the end of your occupation, and your downfall are inevitable, and your lamentations before the world will not change your image.

We in Al-Qassam Brigades have documented only a fraction of our heroes’ strikes against the enemy.

Our strikes and resistance will continue as long as the aggression of the occupation or its presence persists on any inch of our land.

The world witnessed the might of our fighters and their painful strikes not only in repelling enemy attacks but also during its withdrawal.

Among the lies of the enemy government is attempting to deceive the world into believing that it has eliminated the Al-Qassam Brigades and only the Rafah Brigade remains.

The occupation forces are trying to deceive the world into believing that they have eliminated all factions of the resistance, and this is a big lie.

In 200 days, the enemy could only achieve mass killings, destruction, and murder.

The defeat suffered by the occupation army in 60 minutes couldn’t defeat us in 200 days. They search for an imaginary victory everywhere, but wherever they look for it, they find us there shedding their soldiers’ blood.

Our strikes against the enemy will continue, adopting renewed tactics as long as they remain present on every inch of our land.

The occupation’s claims of linking victory to entering Rafah and destroying what remains of the brigades there are merely attempts to feel a false sense of triumph.

The army that focuses on killing children and women, destroying graves, seeking revenge against the martyrs’ bodies, targeting innocent civilians, bombing aid trucks, and assassinating members of international and local humanitarian aid organizations is the mark of an army feeling significant defeat and disappointment, not one confident in its alleged achievements.

We will not relinquish the fundamental rights of our people, foremost among them withdrawal, lifting the siege, and the return of the displaced to their homes.

The occupation is trying to evade all its promises in negotiations and wants to gain more time.

The scenario of Ron Arad may perhaps be the most likely scenario to be repeated with the enemy’s prisoners in Gaza. The ball is in the court of those concerned, namely the occupation’s public, but time is short, and opportunities are few to release the prisoners.

The so-called military pressure will only push us to stand firm on our positions and preserve the rights of our people without compromise.

To the families of the Israeli prisoners, We are more truthful than your government.

The blood toll paid by our people will only be met with the snatching of our natural rights and the rights of our resistance.

One of the goals of Al-Aqsa Flood is to unify our peoples and arenas after attempts by the occupation to isolate the Palestinian cause.

We appreciate every military and popular effort that joins Al-Aqsa Flood, and we salute the fronts of fighting in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.

The hysterical reaction of the Zionists towards resistance actions from various fronts indicates the importance of resistance action.

The foremost front of resistance is the West Bank front, and we salute every inch of our steadfast free bank.

Jordan is from us and we are from it; it is one of the most important Arab arenas in terms of popular and public engagement and it occupies the enemy’s mind significantly.

Iran’s response in its size and nature, setting new rules and disrupting the calculations of the occupation, and we call on the masses of our nation to escalate their supportive movement for the resistance.

Abu Obeida concluded the speech by calling on the masses of our nation to escalate their supportive movement for the resistance.

Courtesy: Information Clearing House

Multiple explosions reported in Iran

Explosions were reported inside of Iran while unconfirmed reports indicated multiple Iranian sites were struck, possibly by Israel.

The semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency reported explosions near the city of Isfahan in central Iran. The state-run Iranian news agency Press TV also reported explosions in Isfahan but noted the reasons were still unknown.

Other unconfirmed reports indicate potential strikes near the cities of Daraa in Syria and Baghdad in Iraq.

Flights were being diverted around western Iran early Friday morning local time, according to the Associated Press.

It’s not clear what the immediate targets were if the strikes happened and if Israel is behind them, but Isfahan is home to Iranian nuclear facilities and sites.

Iran warned earlier on Thursday that the targeting of nuclear sites could result in the change of the nuclear doctrine in Tehran, which does not have nuclear weapons but possesses enriched uranium and holds the capacity to obtain them.

The alleged Israeli strikes will likely inflame tensions even further in the Middle East, which is already embroiled in conflicts in Gaza and in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials pledged earlier this week to respond to Iran, which sent a flurry of some 300 missiles and drones at Israel last weekend.

That attack, which was largely defeated by Israeli and allied defense systems, came in response to an alleged Israeli strike near the Iranian embassy in Syria that killed two high-ranking commanders.

The Biden administration pushed Israel not to respond to Iran, but Israeli officials were publicly arguing that such a brazen Iranian attack must be answered.

Iran, in turn, publicly warned that any Israeli attack would be met with a much harsher response than last weekend’s assault.

 

Nicaragua asks ICJ to end German support of Israeli

Nicaragua has asked the International Court of Justice to order Germany to halt military arms exports to Israel and to resume its funding of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, saying there is a serious risk of genocide in Gaza.

Nicaragua's agent ambassador Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez told the court Berlin had violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by continuing to supply Israel with arms after ICJ judges ruled it was plausible that Israel violating some rights guaranteed under the genocide convention during its assault on Gaza, Reuters reported. 

He told the judges that Berlin was ignoring its obligations under international law by continuing to provide military assistance to Israel.

The German government rejected Nicaragua's allegations.

Berlin is one of the major arms exporters to Israel, sending 326.5 million euros (US$353.70 million) in military equipment and weapons in 2023, according to Economy Ministry data.

 

 

 

 

Ismail Haniyeh’s sons killed in Israeli airstrike

Reuters reports the death of three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the attack, describing the three sons as operatives in the Hamas armed wing.

The three sons - Hazem, Amir and Mohammad - were killed when the car they were driving in was bombed in Gaza's Al-Shati camp. Four of Haniyeh's grandchildren, three girls and a boy, were also killed in the attack.

The Israeli military said there was "no information on that right now."

Haniyeh, based in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of Hamas' international diplomacy as war with Israel has raged on in Gaza, where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike back in November.

"The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people," Haniyeh, 61, who has 13 sons and daughters according to Hamas sources, told pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV.

The three sons and four grandchildren were making family visits during the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday in Shati, their home refugee camp in Gaza City.

Hamas said on Tuesday it was studying an Israeli ceasefire proposal in the more than six-month-old Gaza war but that it was "intransigent" and met none of the Palestinian demands.

"Our demands are clear and specific and we will not make concessions on them. The enemy will be delusional if it thinks that targeting my sons, at the climax of the negotiations and before the movement sends its response, will push Hamas to change its position," Haniyeh said.

In the seventh month of a war in which Israel's air and ground offensive has devastated Gaza, Hamas wants an end to Israeli military operations and a withdrawal from the enclave, and permission for displaced Palestinians to return home.

Haniyeh's eldest son confirmed in a Facebook post that his three brothers were killed. "Thanks to God who honoured us by the martyrdom of my brothers, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad and their children," wrote Abdel-Salam Haniyeh.

Appointed to the militant group's top job in 2017, Haniyeh has moved between Turkey and Qatar's capital Doha, avoiding Israeli-imposed travel restrictions in blockaded Gaza and enabling him to act as a negotiator in the latest ceasefire negotiations or communicate with Hamas' main ally Iran.

Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh and other leaders of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organization".

But how much Haniyeh knew about the October 07 cross-border attack on Israel by Gaza-based militants beforehand is not clear. The attack plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials abroad seemed shocked by its timing and scale.

 

 

 

 

Israel Faces Irremediable Defeat

Historically, wars unite Israelis, not anymore. Not only that Israelis do not agree with Benjamin Netanyahu’s war; they simply do not believe that the prime minister is the man who could win this supposedly existential fight. 

An end to the Gaza war, even if branded as a ‘victory’ by Netanyahu, will only further the polarization and deepen Israel’s worst internal political struggle since its founding on the ruins of historic Palestine. A continuation of the war will add to the schisms, as it will only serve as a reminder of an irremediable defeat.

Netanyahu’s war remains unwinnable simply because liberation wars, often conducted through guerrilla warfare tactics, are far more complicated than traditional combat.

Nearly six months after the Israeli attack on Gaza, it has become clear that Palestinian Resistance groups are durable and well-prepared for a much longer fight. 

Netanyahu, supported by far-right ministers and an equally hardline Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, insists that more firepower is the answer. Though the unprecedented amount of explosives, used by Israel in Gaza, killed and wounded over 100,000 Palestinians, an Israeli victory remains elusive. 

What do Israelis want and, more precisely, what is their prime minister’s end-game in Gaza, anyway? 

Major opinion polls since October 07 continued to produce similar results: the Israeli public prefers Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity Party, over the prime minister and his Likud party. 

A recent poll conducted by the Israeli newspaper Maariv also indicated that one of Netanyahu’s closest and most important coalition partners, Finance Minister and leader of the Religious Zionist Party, Bezalel Smotrich, is virtually irrelevant in terms of public support. If elections were to be held today, the far-right minister’s party would not even pass the electoral threshold. 

Most Israelis are calling for new elections this year. If they are to receive their wish today, the pro-Netanyahu coalition would only be able to muster 46 seats, compared to its rivals with 64. 

And, if the Israeli coalition government – currently controlling 72 seats out of 120 Knesset seats – is to collapse, the rightwing dominance over Israeli politics will shatter, likely for a long time. 

All of Netanyahu’s political shenanigans, which served him well in the past, would fall short from allowing him to return to power, keeping in mind he is already 74 years of age. 

A greatly polarized society, Israelis learned to blame an individual or a political party for all of their woes. This is partly why election outcomes can sharply differ between one election cycle to another. Between April 2019 and November 2022, Israel held five general elections, and now they are demanding yet another one. 

The November 2022 elections were meant to be decisive, as they ended years of uncertainty, and settled on the “most right-wing government in the history of Israel” – an oft-repeated description of Israel’s modern government coalitions. 

To ensure Israel does not delve back into indecision, Netanyahu’s government wanted to secure its gains for good. Smotrich, along with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, wanted to fashion a new Israeli society that is forever tilted towards their brand of religious and ultranationalist Zionism. 

Netanyahu, on the other hand, simply wanted to hold on to power, partly because he became too accustomed to the perks of his office, and also because he is desperately hoping to avoid jail time due to his several corruption trials. 

To achieve this, the right and far-right parties have diligently worked to change the rules of the game, by curtailing the power of the judiciary and ending the oversight of the Supreme Court. They failed at some tasks, and succeeded at others, including an amendment to the country’s Basic Laws to curtail the power of Israel’s highest court, thus its right to overturn the government’s policies. 

Though Israelis protested en masse, it was clear that the initial energy of these protests, starting in January 2023, was petering out, and that a government with such a substantial majority – at least, per Israel’s standards – will not easily relent. 

The Palestinian Al-Aqsa Flood Operation is often examined in terms of its military and intelligence components, if not usefulness, but rarely in terms of its strategic outcomes. It placed Israel at a historic dilemma that even Netanyahu’s comfortable Knesset majority cannot – and most likely will not – be able to resolve.

 Complicating matters, on January 01, 2024 the Supreme Court officially annulled the decision by Netanyahu’s coalition to strike down the power of the judiciary. 

The news though significant, was overshadowed by many other crises plaguing the country, mostly blamed on Netanyahu and his coalition partners: the military and intelligence failure leading to October 07, the grinding war, the shrinking economy, the risk of a regional conflict, the rift between Israel and Washington, the growing global anti-Israel sentiment, and more. 

The problems continue to pile up, and Netanyahu, the master politician of former times, is now only hanging by the thread of keeping the war going for as long as possible to defer his mounting crises for as long as possible. 

Yet, an indefinite war is not an option, either. The Israeli economy, according to recent data by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics, has shrunk by over 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023. It is likely to continue its free fall in the coming period. 

Moreover, the army is struggling, fighting an unwinnable war without realistic goals. The only major source for new recruits can be obtained from ultra-Orthodox Jews, who have been spared the battlefield to study in yeshivas, instead. 

70 percent of all Israelis, including many in Netanyahu’s own party, want the Haredi to join the army. On March 28, the Supreme Court ordered a suspension of state subsidies allocated to these ultra-Orthodox communities. 

If that is to happen, the crisis will deepen on multiple fronts. If the Haredi lose their privileges, Netanyahu’s government is likely to collapse; if they maintain them, the other government, the post October 07 war council, is likely to collapse as well. 

Courtesy: Information Clearing House

Why Israel withdrew troops from Gaza?

Stunning appears to be the only appropriate word for Israel’s withdrawal of troops from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Sunday. Some political and defense officials tried to offer apologetics for how it was hinted to, or consistent with Israel’s strategy to date – but it simply was not.

The clock is running out on Hamas’s potential return, invading Rafah, and the fate of the hostages.

For months, Israel’s consistent strategy was that the only way the IDF could convince Hamas to return more hostages would be to pressure it in its hometown of Khan Yunis.

Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar and military chief Muhammad Deif are both from Khan Yunis; it would be personal for them.

The best Hamas fighters were from Khan Yunis – losing them would be unspeakably demoralizing.

An intricate tunnel network, which puts the northern Gaza tunnels to shame, was in Khan Yunis. Overtaking them after millions of dollars and years were invested in them by Hamas would take the air out of the terrorists’ sails once and for all.

This is especially true after witnessing the fall of Gaza City in northern Gaza, Hamas’s capital.

Over the last two months, the line has been that as long as the IDF kept its forces in Khan Yunis, it acted like a stranglehold on Hamas, and at any moment, the terrorist group would gasp for air badly enough to agree to a deal.

The withdrawal of forces from Khan Yunis on Sunday, then, ends this strategy, and is an admission of failure.

But, this doesn’t mean the hostages will not come home. The IDF did defeat Hamas in both northern and southern Gaza, destroyed much of its tunnel network, and killed many senior officials.

Leaving Khan Yunis now does not negate those tremendous gains, gains that have set Hamas back years in terms of military capabilities.

Now, Israel will either need a new strategy or make bigger concessions to Hamas to get back more hostages, including opening up the north of the enclave.

A new strategy could be the hope that invading Rafah will bring Hamas to its knees. By this logic, once the IDF closes in on Rafah – something Hamas believes Israel is afraid to do – Hamas will finally crack and agree to a more reasonable deal. It could even work.

There is no specific reason why Israel cannot send its forces into Rafah.

If the IDF has no presence in Khan Yunis, large numbers of Palestinian civilians may voluntarily leave Rafah and go back there without needing to be formally evacuated.

This may alleviate America’s concerns about whether Israel can successfully evacuate 1.4 million Palestinian civilians.

The IDF could lure Hamas into a false sense of security and pull off a Shifa Hospital-style clean-up operation, just as soon as the terrorist group concentrates too many of its forces in one place.

The problem with this line of thinking is that even if it is true, there was no hint to it until US President Joe Biden dropped the hammer on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

Netanyahu opened Erez Crossing for transferring humanitarian aid, which was never going to open again after Hamas destroyed it on October 07.

He had also opened the port of Ashdod for transferring humanitarian aid, another action he had vowed never to take.

By Friday, the IDF had fired or dismissed several very senior officers under pressure from the US and the international community for killing seven aid workers. And on Sunday, the military suddenly pulled out of southern Gaza.

Even if this truly is a new strategy and even if it might work, there is very little credible way to argue that a significant cause for the radical shift was US pressure and that the shift is an admission that the old strategy of a bunch of months has failed.

There is also an outside shot that it was part of some unofficial Cuban Missile Crisis-style secret informal deal, where if the IDF withdraws from southern Gaza, Hamas will be able to claim enough victory to make concessions to the IDF regarding the hostages and northern Gaza.

The big question now is whether this shift will be sufficient to maintain at least lukewarm US support for invading Rafah or whether America may already have decided to force Israel into a hostage deal, even if it potentially undermines finishing off Hamas.

Washington supported Jerusalem for almost six months and through 33,000 dead Palestinians, but finally hit its breaking point.

While people wait for that question to be answered, Hamas will at minimum be able to restore some of its governance in southern Gaza simply because Israel never decided to allow anyone else in to take over.

 

Qatar: Al Udeid US Air Base

According to a CNN report the United States has quietly reached an agreement that extends its military presence at a sprawling base in Qatar for another 10 years.

The deal, which has not been announced publicly, highlights Washington’s reliance on the tiny Gulf country that has recently played a central role in mediating the release of Americans from captivity in Gaza and Venezuela.

The Al Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, is the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and can house more than 10,000 American troops.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin personally visited Al Udeid and thanked Qatar for their increased spending on the base.

Austin made no mention of the renewal and the Biden administration has not publicized it – at a time when Qatar has come under growing scrutiny for hosting senior Hamas leaders.

Qatari officials have countered that it was only after a US request during the Obama administration that Hamas was allowed to open a political office in Doha.

The base has been a pivotal hub for the US Central Command’s air operations in or around Afghanistan, Iran and across the Middle East. The Qatari and British Air Forces also operate from the base.

The extension comes as the US has bolstered its presence in the region amid escalating threats from Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

After Hamas kidnapped some 240 hostages from Israel on October 07, 2023 Qatar has been the primary go-between with Hamas to broker the initial release of scores of the Israeli and international hostages. It continues to be central in the talks to try to revive hostage negotiations, coordinating with the CIA and Israel’s Mossad, as well as Egypt.

Their part in the months of negotiations over Americans detained by Venezuela was less public but came to light after President Nicolas Maduro released 10 Americans last month in exchange for a close ally accused by the US of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars.

Qatar’s involvement in both sets of negotiations has been seen as an extension of the mediating role the country has taken on with other US enemies, including Iran and the Taliban. 

Its vast oil and natural gas wealth, coupled with ability to act as a facilitator, allow Qatar to punch above its weight.

While their hosting of Hamas leadership was no secret, the brutality of the October 7 massacre in Israel has ignited criticism of Qatar and calls for them to expel Hamas.

President Joe Biden has spoken about his conversations with Qatar’s emir but at times hasn’t given them the credit they feel they deserve.

Biden did not mention Qatar in a November op-ed in The Washington Post, while Egypt and other Middle East allies were referenced. Nor did Biden highlight Qatar’s part in the release of the detainees in Venezuela in his official statement.

Thousands of Afghans were flown from Kabul to Al Udeid during the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. US military personnel struggled to provide for the massive influx of refugees from what Biden called “one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history.”

Qatar has committed billions of its own funds upgrade the facilities for US Airmen at the base. Al Udeid became CENTCOM’s main air base in 2003, shifting forces and assets from the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where the presence of a large number of American military personnel was more sensitive and controversial.

“We’ll do this through Qatar’s commitment to contribute significant resources to increase capabilities here at Al Udeid Air Base, and that will support both of our forces for years to come,” Austin added.