Cyprus to Gaza corridor to start this weekend

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she expected a maritime aid corridor to start operating between Cyprus and Gaza this weekend, taking desperately-needed aid to besieged Palestinians.

Von der Leyen said a pilot test run of food aid collected by a charity group and supported by the United Arab Emirates could be leaving Cyprus as early as Friday from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus.

"We are launching this Cyprus maritime corridor together, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States," Von der Leyen said after a visit to facilities in Cyprus.

"We are now very close to opening this corridor, hopefully this Saturday-Sunday and I'm very glad to see an initial pilot will be launched today," she said alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

One aid group, World Central Kitchen (WCK), is currently gathering food supplies in Larnaca for the people of Gaza, with support from the UAE.

Earlier, Prime Minister of Palestine, Mohammed Shtayye, announced that the Palestinian authorities have proposed to organize a maritime humanitarian corridor between Cyprus and the Gaza Strip. 

"We demand that a humanitarian corridor be opened to Gaza and not limited to the Rafah checkpoint. We have proposed to open a maritime humanitarian corridor between Cyprus and the Gaza Strip," Al Hadath TV channel quoted him as saying.

 

 

 

US to build emergency port on Gaza shore

The United States military plans to build an emergency port off the Gaza coast to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and help alleviate the hunger crisis in the enclave.

“The port can receive large ships carrying food, water medicine, and temporary shelters,” top US officials told reporters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government welcomed news of the plan, an Israeli official said, while others in the Defense Minster expressed surprise.

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce the initiative during his annual State of the Union speech on his domestic and foreign policy.  

Biden faces pressure to help those in Gaza

It comes as Biden’s re-election campaign for the White House is kicking into full gears and as he is under pressure to do more to help Palestinians in Gaza, particularly in light of United Nations reports of hunger and possible starvation in the enclave.

The Biden administration's decision to jump into hyper gear over humanitarian aid to the enclave was taken as American officials worked with Egypt and Qatar for a hostage deal that would include a six-week pause to the Israel-Hamas war and allow for Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. 

The Biden administration has been blunt in the last week about its frustrations with Israel, charging that the IDF could and should do more to ensure that humanitarian aid is distributed within Gaza, a move that has been complicated by the IDF’s military campaign to destroy Hamas. 

“The aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough,” US officials told reporters, as they explained that Biden now wanted to take matters into his own hands.

“The President has directed that we look at all options [and] that we do not wait for the Israelis. We are pursuing every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza. So we will do it by air by sea by land however we can get the maximum amount in as possible,” the US officials said.

Pak US relationship a saga of ‘Marriage of Convenience’

Soon after the results started pouring in following the February 08 general elections in Pakistan, several members of the US Congress, as well as the US State Department, expressed concern over alleged interference in the polls, with the former even calling on President Joe Biden not to recognize the incoming government until a transparent investigation into the allegations. I invite the readers to read a blog posted as back as on May 03, 2022.

In today’s blog I am daring to negate an impression created by an article written by Ms Maleeha Lodi (Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, United Kingdom and United Nations) and published in Pakistan’s leading English newspaper. I am taking an extreme position by saying, “Pakistan’s foreign policy has always remained subservient to the US mantra”.

Please allow me to begin with the U2 incident, when the US pilot-less planes used to takeoff from a Pakistani airbase near Peshawar for spying USSR. At one point the situation got so nasty that USSR threatened to attack Pakistan.

Badaber: A secret US intelligence facility in Pakistan

In July 1958, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower requested permission from the Pakistani Prime Minister Feroze Khan Noon for the United States to establish a secret intelligence facility in Pakistan and for the U-2 spy plane to fly from Pakistan. The U-2 flew at altitudes that could not be reached by Soviet fighter jets of the era; it was believed to be beyond the reach of Soviet missiles as well. A facility established in Badaber (Peshawar Air Station), 10 miles (16 km) from Peshawar, was a cover for a major communications intercept operation run by the United States National Security Agency (NSA). Badaber was an excellent location because of its proximity to Soviet central Asia. This enabled the monitoring of missile test sites, key infrastructure and communications. The U-2 "spy-in-the-sky" was allowed to use the Pakistan Air Force section of Peshawar Airport to gain vital photo intelligence in an era before satellite observation.

I would also invite the readers to recall last-minute cancellation of the visit of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan to USSR and going to the United States around the same dates.

This also reminds me the US ditching Pakistan at the time of creation of Bangladesh. State-owned Pakistani media kept on telling the US feet could arrive any minute, which never arrived. This creates an impression that the US supported creation of Bangladesh.

Now coming to Afghan proxy war, Pakistan played two opposite roles: first it supported Taliban in averting USSR attack in a quest to reach warm water and then supporting US/Nato troops in crushing the same Taliban.

Please also allow me to share conspiracy theory, “Pakistan and United States have enjoyed cordial relationships due military rule”. The readers are invited to read details of Ayub, Zia and Musharraf eras.

I am also inclined to share another public opinion, The US-Pakistan relationship is a saga of ‘Marriage of Convenience’.

It is often said, ‘Pakistan is a frontline allay of United States in war against terrorism’. Some analysts interpret it ‘Pakistan is partner in proxy wars but when it comes to Investment and trade India is the US darling’.

I tend to subscribe to this theory based on my follow up of the construction of Chabahar Port in Iran. Despite economic sanctions on Iran, India invested millions of dollars in the construction of this port and allied road and rail links to connect with Afghanistan and Central Asian states. Please also note that Pakistan was not allowed to import oil from Iran during this period.

The United States was more than smart in facilitating India in the construction of Chabahar Port and allied infrastructure. The prime US motive was to create an alternative access to land-locked Afghanistan, extended to Central Asian states.

But the real objective was to undermine Pakistan’s importance in Afghan transit trade. There is no denying to the fact that Pakistan still offers cost effective and shortest route to Afghanistan.

Before I conclude let me say, “Pakistan under the influence of the United States has not recognized Taliban Government in Afghanistan”. While Afghans are facing shortage of food and medicines, the two countries are not allowed to trade in local currencies; the United States has not released foreign exchange reserves of Afghanistan.

 

Yemen hits Israeli vessel and US warships

The spokesperson for the Sanaa government’s armed forces has announced that Ansarullah has carried out more operations in support of Gaza, targeting an Israeli container ship and US warships.

The latest attacks come as US officials acknowledge the American and British bombardment of Yemen over the past seven weeks has been made difficult due to insufficient US intelligence on Ansarullah’s arsenal and capabilities. 

Earlier, the British security firm Ambrey said a container ship was struck and issued a distress signal. The vessel was identified as a Liberia-flagged, Israeli-affiliated container ship en route to Djibouti. 

“The vessel was listed as operated by the Israeli company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services,” Ambrey added.  

Ansarullah said the targeting of the Israeli container ship occurred alongside the execution of a qualitative operation involving ballistic missiles, drones against several American warships in the Red Sea.

Ansarullah’s military spokesman, Colonel Yahya Saree, noted in a brief statement that Ansarullah’s armed forces struck the Israeli ship MSC SKY in the Arabian Sea using several naval missiles, confirming that the hit was accurate and direct.

In a press release, the Container Group MSC acknowledged one of its vessels has been hit by a missile while sailing in waters off Yemen. 

The Swiss headquartered operator MSC stated on Tuesday that the Israeli container ship will proceed with its voyage to Djibouti for further assessment after being struck by a missile on March 04 near Yemen’s southern region of Aden. 

The statement further read, “The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured.”

Saree revealed that the targeting of the Israeli ship came after the execution of what he described as a qualitative operation during which the Yemeni missile force and air force launched a number of ballistic missiles and drones against several American warships in the Red Sea. 

Saree pointed out that these operations show the capability of Ansarullah’s armed forces to target both combat and non-combat ships simultaneously.

He emphasized that the movement’s operations are escalating and ongoing in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el Mandeb strait, with the aim of preventing Israeli navigation or vessels heading to the occupied Palestinian ports until the cessation of Israeli aggression and the lifting of the blockade on the Palestinian people of Gaza.

He affirmed that the Yemeni armed forces will not hesitate to carry out more military operations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea against all hostile targets in defense of Yemen, and as a confirmation of support for the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Ansarullah reiterated its commitment to ensuring the safe movement of navigation in the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Bab el Mandeb strait for all ships, except Israeli vessels and those heading to the occupied ports, until the cessation of aggression on Gaza. 

Recently, the targets have also included American and British ships and warships due to the US-British aggression on Yemen. 

The Sanaa government has blacklisted the US and Britain as states hostile to Yemen. 

The American and British militaries responded to the Yemeni naval embargo on Israeli navigation in the Red Sea on January 12 by bombing sites across Yemeni provinces that Washington says belong to Ansarullah in a bid to deter the movement from its maritime operations. 

The airstrikes by the US and the UK have continued on a regular basis over the past seven weeks but have failed to deter the Sana’a government from enforcing a ban on Israeli navigation. 

Instead, US and British warships and vessels have found themselves the target of Ansarullah’s range of fire. 

Current and former American officials have told the Financial Times that the US military’s attempts to halt Yemen-based operations in the Red Sea are being strongly hindered by insufficient intelligence about Ansarullah’s arsenal and its full capabilities.

Washington has also been unable to assess the damage caused by its airstrikes on Yemen, according to the paper. 

Ted Singer, a recently retired senior CIA official, told the Financial Times that acquiring on-the-ground intelligence has been more difficult since the U.S. evacuated its embassy in Sanaa in 2015. 

Just days ago, the Ansarullah leader Seyyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned the Israeli regime, the US, and Britain of surprises that will begin soon, while emphasizing that Yemenis continue to prevent ships heading to the occupier entity through Bab el Mandeb until the aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.

The Sana government's foreign ministry says all Yemeni-based naval operations will come to a halt as soon as a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, and humanitarian aid is allowed into the enclave. 

 

Indian farmers getting ready to enter capital

Indian farmers are planning to escalate their protests from Wednesday by entering the capital New Delhi by bus and train and increasing their numbers at border points that are currently blocked by tractors.

Thousands of farmers began the "Delhi Chalo" (Let's go to Delhi) march last month but were stopped by security forces about 200 km north of the capital with teargas and water cannon.

The farmers, who are demanding higher prices for their crops, intensified their protest after several rounds of failed talks.

Farmers from various states, from Kerala in the south to Madhya Pradesh in central India, will arrive in New Delhi by trains and buses on Wednesday, Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farmer leader, told Reuters.

"Farmers from Punjab and Haryana will continue protesting at the existing protest sites with tractor trolleys. They will attempt to enter New Delhi with tractors only," he said.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, with around 3,000 tractors, are stuck at three borders that were blocked by police and paramilitary troops with barricades.

Clashes between farmers and security forces, including cane charges and tear gas canisters dropped by drones, have played on television screens for several days. The farmers say at least one protester has died in the clashes while dozens have been injured on both sides.

The protesting farmers will also block railway lines across the country for four hours during the afternoon of March 10, Mann said.

Farmers are determined to continue protesting until their demands for higher support prices, backed by law, are met, Mann said.

The government announces support prices for more than 20 crops each year, but state agencies buy only rice and wheat at the support level, which benefits only about 6% of farmers who raise those two crops.

 

Kamala-Gantz meeting

According to the Associated Press, the US Vice President Kamala Harris, on Monday is hosting a member of Israel’s wartime Cabinet who is visiting Washington in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu, is scheduled to meet several senior Biden administration officials including Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. President Joe Biden is at Camp David, the presidential retreat just outside Washington, until Tuesday.

An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party said Gantz did not have approval from the prime minister for his meetings in Washington and that Netanyahu gave the Cabinet official a “tough talk” — underscoring the widening crack within Israel’s wartime leadership nearly six months into the Israel-Hamas war.

In her meeting with Gantz, Harris plans to press for a temporary cease-fire deal that would allow for the release of several categories of hostages being held by Hamas. Israel has essentially agreed to the deal, according to a senior Biden administration official, and the White House has emphasized that the onus is on Hamas to come on board.

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said during an appearance in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday. “This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.”

Harris continued, “This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination.”

For his part, Gantz intends to strengthen ties with the US, bolster support for Israel’s war and push for the release of Israeli hostages, according to a second Israeli official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t allowed to publicly discuss the disputes within the Israeli government.

The meetings also come as the US begins a series of airdrops of aid into Gaza, just days after dozens of Palestinians were killed as they were trying to get food from an Israel-organized convoy.

The first drop on Saturday included about 38,000 meals into southwest Gaza, and White House officials have said those airdrops will continue to supplement truck deliveries, while they also work on sending aid via sea.

In Selma on Sunday, Harris called on Israel to “do more to significantly increase the flow of aid.”

“No excuses,” she said. “They must open new border crossings. They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid.”

Harris previously met Gantz at the Munich Security Conference in 2022.

 

 

US Veterans Demand Termination of Weapons Sales to Israel

 In a letter to the Inspector General of the US State Department, a national veterans’ organization has demanded the State Department terminate weapons shipments to Israel and called on the Inspector General to investigate alleged criminal acts by senior Biden administration officials in violation of US law, including ratified treaties, which are the supreme law of the land. 

Josh Paul, former State Department senior official who resigned over weapons shipments to Israel said, “The Secretary and all relevant officials under his purview should take this letter from Veterans for Peace (VFP) with the utmost seriousness. It is a stark reminder of the importance of abiding by the laws and policies that relate to arms transfers.” 

Mike Ferner, VFP National Director said, “Just as any good soldier can recognize when they are given an unlawful order, we believe some State Department staff are horrified at the orders they’re given and will decide to uphold the law, find the courage to speak out and demand an end to the carnage.

VFP enthusiastically supports Josh Paul for what he did and we believe the public does, too. The IDF has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and is utterly destroying Gaza. These actions amount to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and VFP wants them investigated.” 

“Unless no one in the entire US State Department has seen the news in the last four months, they have to be aware of Israel’s illegal activity. But just in case, our letter to the Inspector General spells it out in chapter and verse. We believe the State Department – from the Secretary down to every staff person working on arms transfers to Israel – is in criminal violation of U.S. statutes regarding how U.S. weaponry can be used. There’s no ‘Israel exception’ that makes it okay for U.S. weapons to be used in genocide even if it’s labeled self-defense,” Ferner concluded. 

The letter from Veterans For Peace alleges violations by the US government and its officials of: 

• The Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, which prohibits US weapons transfers when it’s likely they will be used by Israel to commit genocide; crimes against humanity; and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including attacks intentionally directed against civilian objects or civilians protected or other serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, including serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against children. Dozens of authoritative complaints and referrals made by hospital administrators in Gaza, as well as by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Palestine Authority, South Africa, Turkey, Medicins san Frontieres, UNRWA, UNICEF, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the World Food Program, have confirmed that there is an ongoing human rights and humanitarian disaster due to Israel’s cutoff of water and electricity, deliberate destruction of sewage infrastructure and delaying of aid shipments by Israeli forces. 

• The Foreign Assistance Act, which forbids the provision of assistance to a government which “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” 

• Arms Export Control Act, which says countries that receive US military aid can only use weapons for legitimate self-defense and internal security. Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza goes way beyond self-defense and internal security. 

• The US War Crimes Act, which forbids grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and unlawful deportation or transfer, perpetrated by the Israeli Occupying Forces. 

• The Leahy Law, which prohibits the US Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights. 

• The Genocide Convention Implementation Act, which was enacted to implement U.S. obligations under the Genocide Convention, provides for criminal penalties for individuals who commit or incite others to commit genocide. 

Human rights attorney, Terry Lodge, who drafted the VFP letter, pointed out what he called, “The State Department’s double standard to determine war criminality,” citing a December 6, 2023, determination by Secretary Blinken, “that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan had ‘committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.’ As horrible as the crimes of the RSF may be, they pale compared to what Israel is doing in Gaza.” 

Veterans For Peace has over 100 chapters in the US and since 1985 has exposed the true costs of war and militarism. Its goal is to abolish war as an instrument of national policy.