Israel decides to invade Rafah in Ramadan

Israeli officials appear to have set a deadline to invade Rafah, the largest refugee camp in the coastal territory, during Ramadan, which begins on March 10.

Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war Cabinet, delivered an ultimatum at a Sunday event with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group for the American Jewish community.

“The world must know — and Hamas leaders must know — that if by Ramadan the hostages are not home, then the fighting will continue, including in Rafah,” Gantz said at the event.

Israel has argued it must move into Rafah, which hosts more than a million Palestinians sheltering from the war, to ensure the complete military defeat of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But the looming offensive is spurring major concerns from human rights groups and emergency responders on the ground, who warn that any invasion of Rafah could trigger a huge loss of civilian life and upend humanitarian efforts in the Gaza strip.

Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the only place where humanitarian aid is consistently entering Gaza, and Israeli military operations there could hinder what few basic necessities many Palestinian civilians have access to, including food, water and medical aid.

“Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza," said Martin Griffiths, the UN emergency relief coordinator, in a statement last week. “They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door.”

To address those concerns, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered his military to draft a plan to evacuate civilians before the invasion. Israel’s main ally, the US, has backed a move into Rafah, but only if a plan is created to keep civilians safe.

With the Rafah operation imminent, Israel is facing pressure from the Biden administration to protect civilian lives with an evacuation plan.

Meanwhile, Arab neighbors are pushing Israel not to invade the refugee camp. Egyptian officials have reportedly threatened to shatter a decades-old peace treaty with Israel if troops move into Rafah, which could send Palestinians over the border into Egypt and possibly displace them permanently.

 

Billions for War, little for people without food

Following the passage of a US$95 billion foreign aid package that includes funding for Israel's relentless assault on Gaza, economists and policy experts this week are expressing alarm over the failure of the US Congress to ensure a federal program for low-income parents and their babies — a gap that could leave 2 million children and parents without sufficient food.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has never turned away eligible families in its 50-year history, but analysts say that with Congress deadlocked over whether to fully fund the program, states may soon be forced to place up to 2 million families on waiting lists—jeopardizing access to this highly effective program during an important window for child development," the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in December last year.

The program, which has been linked to a decrease in infant and maternal mortality in the past five decades, is currently being funded by a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that Congress passed in January to keep the government running until early March.

While lawmakers have not agreed on funding for WIC, which is estimated to cost US$6.3 billion in 2024 and faces a US$1 billion shortfall, the Senate on Tuesday did pass the US$95 billion foreign aid package, including US$14.1 billion for Israel.

Israel's bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 28,000 people since October, including more than 12,000 children.

The Senate's 70-29 bipartisan vote in favor of the package, wrot defense analyst William Hartung of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, "lays bare the skewed priorities of the federal government."

"Despite deep divisions, it is possible to get bipartisan support for a package that mostly involves funding weapons exports," Hartung wrote at Forbes on Wednesday.

"Don't expect any such emergency measure to address record levels of homelessness, or aid the 1 in 6 American children living in poverty, or accelerate investments in curbing the climate crisis. In the view of the administration and a majority of members of Congress, some emergencies count more than others."

At the Institute for Policy Studies, National Priorities Project director Lindsay Koshgarian pointed to WIC as a prime example of the kind of program the federal government should be prioritizing over military aid for Israel, which has garnered growing condemnation from US allies for its indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

"There's huge discrepancies in where the resources are going," Koshgarian told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. "It's an incredibly important program; there are many families that have depended on it. US$1 billion to make up the shortfall would be easy to come up with."

Last week, Democrats on the US House Education and Workforce Committee warned congressional leaders that they must ensure full funding for WIC, which "currently serves over half of all infants born in the country and continues to be a lifesaving nutrition intervention program that minimizes avoidable health and developmental issues for low-income, nutritionally at-risk women, infants, and children."

"To prevent any disruption to a program that is crucial to supporting new parents and young children, it is vital that WIC is fully funded and continues to align with projected participation and food costs," wrote the lawmakers.

The 19th reported last month that state WIC agencies are currently spending money "assuming the needed funds will eventually be appropriated."

"By early March," wrote journalist Amanda Becker, "the fiscal year will already be half over, so there will be a shorter window of time to make up any budget shortfall, potentially leading to more people being waitlisted en masse than if the shortfall was spread across a full fiscal year."

At Forbes, Hartung called on the federal government to "put less emphasis on war planning and military buildups and more on reassurance and dialogue designed to set clear rules of the road and avoid a conflict."

"If peace in the Middle East is truly a goal of this administration," he wrote, "a radical shift in priorities is urgently needed."

Courtesy: Common Dreams

The Corridor of Betrayal

On November 19, 2023 as the world was still struggling to take in the sheer brutality of Israel against Palestinians in Gaza, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on Islamic countries to cut ties with the regime for at least a “limited period of time” to help save Palestinian lives.

Before governments, people all over the world seemed to follow the advice in a bid to pressure Israel in any way they could. Store shelves in West Asia and beyond began to see an accumulation of Israeli products as citizens refused to spend their money to fund the genocide. Many not only avoided purchasing Israeli-produced goods but also boycotted brands associated with the regime, causing giant companies like Starbucks and MacDonald’s to suffer heavy revenue losses. 

Among Arab states, some felt obliged to act against Israeli onslaughts more than others. The biggest display of solidarity toward Palestinians was undoubtedly seen in Yemen. The impoverished country’s Ansarullah movement began to target Israeli ships in the azure depths of the Red Sea, choking off a lifeline extremely vital to Israel - the bustling port of Eliat. Yemen’s courageous stance in support of Gaza, however, did not come at a low price.

Israel’s biggest patrons, the United States and Britain, launched airstrikes against Yemeni positions saying they were acting to “protect” the interests of ordinary people. Western media outlets jumped out as stenographers, arguing that Ansarullah’s attacks in the Red Sea would eventually cause prices to surge in the West and hence needed to be dealt with. Nothing though was mentioned about the fact that only Israeli ships were getting targeted and that these attacks too would come to an end once the regime agreed not to kill Palestinians anymore. 

The Western aerial assaults on January 12, 2024 unleashed haunting echoes of years of unrelenting Saudi bombardments for Yemenis. People were reminded of a harrowing symphony that has left vast swathes of the country in ruins, and incited famine across the Arab nation. 

The people of Yemen, however, could not care less about the flashbacks they got that night.  “Honestly, I was ashamed that Palestinians in Gaza were getting bombed while I spent the night at my safe home. Now I feel less ashamed. I don’t care that we are getting attacked. All I want is to be able to help our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” said a man who had joined millions of demonstrators in Sana’a to express unyielding support for the Palestinians a day after the Western attacks.

Yemen continues to get pounded by American and British fighter jets today as it has refused to halt its operations against Israeli vessels. It hopes that by dealing economic blows to Israel, the regime would eventually have to stop its attacks on Gazans before it’s too late. 

Across the Muslim world though, Ayatollah Khamenei’s request seems to have fallen on deaf ears. After Turkey increased its shipments to the occupied territories, certain Arab countries rushed to Israel’s rescue, essentially squandering everything the Yemenis have been working for. 

Startling revelations surfaced on Israel’s Channel 13 in early February, revealing footage of how Israel bypasses Yemen’s blockade in the Red Sea with the help of three Arab countries: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. It reported that hundreds of trucks of goods and fresh food were traveling from Saudi Arabia and Jordan and eventually reaching the port of Haifa in the occupied territories through Dubai. 

While the three Arab states have not yet rejected or confirmed the Israeli report, analysts believe their explanations would not make any difference anyway. 

“Most Arab states have not taken any steps to help the Palestinians. Even if they end up denying the corridor exists, people would still accuse them of inaction because they really haven’t done anything,” Ahmad Dastmalchian, Iran’s former envoy to Jordan and Lebanon, told the Tehran Times. 

The former diplomat believes that the Arab states harbor aspirations of reviving the two-state proposals in order to maintain or even enhance their relations with the Israeli regime once the war ends.

“Jordan has constraints in supporting the Palestinians due to its dependence on Washington. But Saudi Arabia and the UAE are making strategic mistakes here,” he explained adding that even if a Palestinian state ends up being formed, Palestinians will never accept to live alongside people who have stolen their lands and identity. 

“As long as Israel remains on occupied territories there will be resistance. So normalization with the regime is never going to work. Arabs should instead respect Palestinians’ right to self-determination and let them decide what they want to do with their ancestral lands”. 

Meanwhile, some figures in the Arab world have warned the states that passivity in the face of Israeli crimes will have far worse consequences for regional rulers than just disappointment. A renowned Egyptian journalist says the corridor amounts to Arab collusion in the Gaza genocide and could eventually send the public in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE into a furor with reverberating effects.  

“We are not asking these three countries to take the same valiant stance as the Yemenis and confront the US and British warships. But we do ask them to listen to their people who are seething over this feigned impotence,” Abdel Bari Atwan warned in an article.

 Courtesy: Tehran Times

 

Ethnic cleansing about to start in Rafah

Humanitarian groups are warning that any invasion of Rafah will severely threaten the last remaining safe zone in Gaza, where around 1.5 million Palestinians are huddled.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared his troops to prepare an evacuation plan for civilians in the city of Rafah, a major refugee camp called the last safe zone in Gaza.

Netanyahu said troops must fight against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the southern Gaza refugee camp, where the United Nations has warned more than 600,000 children are sheltering.

"It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war without eliminating Hamas," Netanyahu said, accusing the militant group of hiding battalions in Rafah.

Humanitarian groups warn that fleeing civilians have nowhere else to go and that Rafah is a major hub for humanitarian aid from Egypt that will be endangered by Israel moving in.

Avril Benoît, executive director of Doctors Without Borders USA, said the "needs are overwhelming" in Rafah.

"Israel’s declared ground offensive on Rafah would be catastrophic and must not proceed," Benoît said.

The Israeli push into Rafah also threatens to increase tensions between Israel and the US, which is trying to get Israel to reduce civilian casualties after the deaths of more than 27,000 people in Gaza.

President Biden offered his most critical remarks yet when he said Thursday night that Israel's offensive in Gaza is "over the top."

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US would not support a push into Rafah.

“To conduct such an operation right now with no planning and little thought in an area where there is sheltering of a million people would be a disaster,” he told reporters.

 

Gazans fear Israeli assault on last refuge

Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip on Friday, where the displaced, penned against the border fence in their hundreds of thousands, said they feared a new assault with nowhere left to flee.

More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are now homeless and crammed into Rafah. Tens of thousands more have arrived in recent days, carrying belongings in their arms and pulling children on carts, since Israeli forces launched one of the biggest assaults of the war last week to capture adjacent Khan Younis, the main southern city.

If the Israeli tanks keep coming they will be left with two choices: stay and die or climb the walls into Egypt.

Most of Gaza's population are in Rafah. If the tanks storm in, it will be a massacre like never before during this war."

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said late on Thursday that troops would now turn to Rafah, which along with Deir al-Balah just north of Khan Younis is among the last remaining areas they have yet to storm in an almost four-month assault.

"We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us," Gallant said in a statement.

As the only part of Gaza with access to the limited food and medical aid trickling across the border, Rafah and nearby parts of Khan Younis have become a warren of makeshift tents clinging to the winter mud. Wind and cold weather added to the misery, blowing tents down, flooding them and the ground between them.

"Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a briefing in Geneva.

Israel says Hamas must be eradicated before it pulls its troops out of Gaza or frees detainees. Hamas says it will not sign any truce deal unless Israel agrees to pull out and end the war.

Genocide in Gaza by Israel would have not been possible without silence of Muslim rulers

Many analysts, including me, have not been able to comprehend the reasons of silence of Muslim rulers on the genocide going on in Gaza for more than 100 days. Today, I read a post at LinkedIn and sharing it with readers of my blog.

In November 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "I say to the Arab leaders, if you want to preserve your interests, you must do one thing, Remain silent."

They have complied with this demand as if it were a command revealed by Allah (God). Abdullah of Jordan has mobilized his armed forces to protect the border for the IDF, Sisi of Egypt has ensured the Israeli terrorist genocide continues in all its forms including starvation and preventing aid from reaching Gaza. Even Erdogan from Turkey did not want to be left out in serving Netanyahu, he has increased trade with the Zionist entity ensuring they have essential resources such as steel for weaponry and munitions.

It will not be wrong to say that the Muslim rulers have played a pivotal role in this genocide and have worked tirelessly to silence their own populations and have threatened their own armed forces from even thinking of taking action to save the people of Gaza.

It is easy to infer that these rulers are truly loyal servants of Israel and without their help genocide in Gaza would not have been possible.

Israeli President Herzog should confer the most prestigious award, ‘The Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor’ to these rulers.

 

United States supporting Israel, accuses Iran

Iran has denounced the United States for its undeniable participation in the war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Washington has given Tel Aviv additional weaponry to use in the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking on Monday at a weekly press conference in Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the US has essentially sided with the occupying regime, which has killed thousands of Palestinians to make up for its loss in the war on Gaza, rather than taking a stand to stop the catastrophe.

He also stressed, “The US has a direct and undeniable role in the Zionist regime’s war crimes against the Palestinian people. It is clear that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was a legitimate and defensive action by the Palestinian nation against the occupiers and that it exposed Israel’s fake claim to enjoy security capability.”

“The new round of attacks started when US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was present at the Zionist regime’s war cabinet... the US has provided new weapons and equipment to the Zionist regime and has filled its hands to continue crimes,” he added. 

Additionally, Kanaani cited remarks made on Saturday by Lloyd Austin, who reiterated that Washington’s commitment to Israel is not negotiable.

Also in his remarks, the top diplomat warned that action against Iran’s interests and security, as well as the country’s military advisors in Syria, will not go unanswered.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on Saturday that two of its members, Mohammad Ali Ataee Shoorcheh and Panah Taqizadeh, were killed by the Israeli regime while on an advisory mission.

Speaking briefly about recent Western charges over Iran’s missile program, Kanaani also said certain groups aim to mislead the people and conceal the bitter reality in Palestine by bringing up petty matters and baseless worries.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also commented on a bipartisan bill approved by the US House of Representatives that would prevent Iran from obtaining US$6 billion in cash that had been unfrozen and moved to Qatari banks a few months ago, saying, “The plan to block Iran’s money needs the approval of the Senate and the signature of the US president. The US government must honor its commitments in the agreement with Iran. We got necessary guarantees in this regard as the US has shown that it is not reliable.” 

Kanaani further emphasized that the Iranian government has access to the funds, saying, “We can use them according to our needs.”

Kanaani also expressed regret that the UN Security Council has succumbed to US pressure and failed to carry out its mandate in relation to the barbaric Israeli attacks against Gaza.

“The United Nations Security Council has shown itself unable to carry out its mandate to protect Palestinian lives and maintain calm in Gaza, which has been subjected to weeks of ruthless Israeli bombings.”

Kanaani also took issue with the US government misusing their hosting of the UN headquarters.

“The US government has practically stood by the occupying Zionist regime. Reports substantiate US has provided Israeli regime with arms in the war on Gaza,” he added.

Kanaani also condemned as an outright lie American claims that the US is not interested in the expansion of the Gaza war.

The US cannot arm the Israeli regime and send its Secretary of State to the Israeli war room in Tel Aviv and then claim to defend civilians, the ministry spokesman pointed out.

Kanaani emphasized Iran’s efforts to stop the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, saying it is the international community’s obligation to defend Palestinians.

“If the Israeli crimes go unpunished, they will pose a threat to humanity.”

Western media whitewashing Israeli genocide in Gaza

While the Israeli regime, with the support of the west, has killed over 11,000 people in Gaza in more than 40 days - two-thirds women and children - Western media is busy in justifying the crimes of Israel.

Of course, propaganda and psychological operations in war are not a strange phenomenon, and Western media must also be considered part of the unequal forces involved in this war. Western media is trying to support Israel's crimes in Gaza with flimsy and unacceptable excuses such as the right to self-defense.

One of these psychological operations was exposed by Reuters on November 15. Reuters claimed in a news report, citing three informed sources in Iran, that Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of Iran, complained in a recent meeting with Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran that Hamas had refused to inform Iran about the "Al-Aqsa Storm" operation.

It may be said that this is a tendentious and unprofessional news report. Accurate information received by the Tehran Times indicates that such a claim was not true and such a matter was not even discussed in the meeting.

This fake news can be examined from two perspectives. First, sowing discord on the enemy's front is an old and perennial technique. Both sides of a conflict strive to weaken the unity and cohesion of the opposing party through various methods, especially through psychological operations.

The Reuters fake news can also be analyzed from this angle; an attempt to create discord between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Palestinian resistance front. In fact, Reuters tried to portray, Hamas does not trust Iran and Iran is also complaining about this lack of trust.

Second, the discussion is related to Reuters' history in this regard. Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister of Iran - who has always tried to take a balanced approach toward foreign media - could not remain silent in the face of baseless reports by Reuters.

On July 24, 2018, Zarif had said, "Know that Reuters produces 50 lies about Iran's economy every day."

A very long list of Reuters' lies about Iran can be presented: the claim of 1,500 deaths in the events of November 2019, the claim of Iranian snipers shooting Iraqi protesters in October 2019, the claim of transferring ballistic missiles from Iran to Iraq in August 2018, the claim of a drone attack on Aramco from southern Iran in November 2019, etc.

There are just a few examples of Reuters' lies against Iran. Interestingly, Reuters often attributes its lies to three anonymous sources. It's as if a lie becomes believable if it is attributed to three people!

The fact that most rooted and professional media in the West, when it comes to Iran and its issues, set aside their principles and frameworks and turn their dreams into a tool of vile propaganda, is a separate and important issue that must be addressed independently and deeply.

 

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.