A pier for Gaza can change almost nothing

A few observations on US President Joe Biden building a “temporary pier” – or what his officials are grandly calling a “port” – to get aid into Gaza:

1. Though no one is mentioning it, Biden is actually violating Israel’s 17-year blockade of Gaza with his plan. Gaza doesn’t have a sea port, or an airport, because Israel, its occupier, has long banned it from having either.

Israel barred anything getting into Gaza that didn’t come through the land crossings it controls. Israel stopped international aid flotillas, often violently, from reaching Gaza to bring in medicine. The blockade also created a captive market for Israel’s own poor-quality goods, like damaged fruit and vegetales, and allowed Israel to skim off money at the land crossings that should have gone to the Palestinians in fees and duties.

2. It will take many weeks for the US to build this pier off-shore and get it up and running. Why the delay? Every western capital, including the United States, has supported the blockade for the past 17 years.

The siege of Gaza caused gradual malnutrition among the enclave’s children, rather the current rapid starvation. By helping Israel inflict collective punishment on Gaza for all those years, the US and Europe was complicit in a gross and enduring violation of international law, even before the current genocide.

With his pier, Biden isn’t reversing that long-standing collusion in a crime against humanity. He has stressed it will be temporary. In other words, it will be back to business in Gaza as usual afterwards: any children who survive will once again be allowed to starve in slow-motion, at a rate that doesn’t register with the establishment media and put pressure on Washington to be seen to be doing something.

3. Biden could get aid into Gaza much faster than by building a pier, if he wanted to. He could simply insist that Israel let aid trucks through the land crossings, and threaten it with serious repercussions should it fail to comply. He could threaten to withhold the US bombs he is sending to kill more children in Gaza. Or he could threaten to cut off the billions in military aid Washington sends to Israel every year. Or he could threaten to refuse to cast a US veto to protect Israel from diplomatic fallout at the United Nations. He could do any of that and more, but he chooses not to.

4. Even after Biden buys Israel a few more weeks to further aggressively starve Palestinians in Gaza, while we wait for his temporary pier to be completed, nothing may actually change in practice. Israel will still get to carry out the same checks it currently does at the land crossings but instead in Lanarca, Cyprus, where the aid will be loaded on to ships. In other words, Israel will still be able to create the same interminable hold-ups using “security concerns” as the pretext.

5. Biden isn’t changing course – temporarily – because he suddenly cares about the people, or even the children, of Gaza. They have been suffering in their open-air prison, to varying degrees, for decades. If he had cared, he would have done something to end that suffering after he became president. If he had done something then, October 7 might never have happened, and all those lives lost on both sides – lives continuing to be lost on the Palestinian side every few minutes – might have been saved.

And if he really cared, he wouldn’t have helped Israel in its efforts to destroy UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinians and a vital lifeline for Gaza, by freezing its funding, based on unevidenced claims against the agency by Israel.

No, Biden doesn’t care about Palestinian suffering or about the fact that, while he’s been busy eating ice cream, many, many tens of thousands of children have been murdered, maimed or orphaned – and the rest starved. He cares about the polls. His timetable for helping Palestinians is being strictly dictated by the schedule of the presidential election. He needs to look like Gaza’s saviour when Democrats are deciding who they are voting for.

He and the Democratic Party are betting voters are dumb enough to fall for this charade. Please don’t prove them right.

 

Pakistan: Kitchen Cabinet of PM Shehbaz Sharif

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday administered the oath to the 19-member federal cabinet of newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The PML-N’s main ally, the PPP, has refused to become part of the federal cabinet.

The cabinet includes 12 MNAs and three senators as federal ministers, as well as a minister of state. Three technocrats — Muhammad Aurangzeb, Mohsin Naqvi and Ahad Cheema are also included in the cabinet.

A press release from the information ministry elaborated on the various portfolios assigned to the federal ministers.

Federal ministers

·         Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA — defence, defence production, aviation

·         Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Senator — foreign affairs

·         Ahsan Iqbal Chaudry, MNA — planning, development and special initiatives

·         Rana Tanveer Hussain, MNA — industries and production

·         Azam Nazeer Tarar, Senator — law and justice, human rights

·         Chaudhry Salik Hussain, MNA — overseas Pakistanis and human resource development

·         Abdul Aleem Khan, MNA — privatisation, Board of Investment

·         Jam Kamal Khan, MNA — commerce

·         Amir Muqam, MNA — states and frontier regions, national heritage and culture

·         Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, MNA — railways

·         Attaullah Tarar, MNA — information and broadcasting

·         Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, MNA — science and technology, federal education and professional training

·         Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, MNA — maritime affairs

·         Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, MNA — housing and works

·         Musadik Masood Malik, Senator — petroleum, power

·         Muhammad Aurangzeb — finance, revenue

·         Ahad Khan Cheema — economic affairs, establishment

·         Mohsin Naqvi — interior, narcotics control

Minister of state

·         Shaza Fatima Khawaja

Familiar faces returning include Khawaja Asif, Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Musadik Malik.

 

Netanyahu hurting Israel more than helping it

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undermining the values on which Israel was founded and is harming the country with his handling of the Gaza war, US President Joe Biden charged during an interview he gave to MSNBC on Saturday.

“He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

“He is hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world … it is contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden said.

He spoke amid growing tensions between Israel and the United States over Israel’s conduct of its military campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza, an operation which it supports in principle, but has otherwise opposed elements of its operation.

The United States has been concerned in particular by the high fatality count, with Hamas asserting that over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war.

Israel has stated that over 11,000 of the fatalities have been combatants.

The US has also argued that Israel has not done enough to contain the humanitarian disaster that accompanied its military campaign, during which it has taken out roads, infrastructure, and the governance system, making it difficult to distribute and in some cases impossible to distribute aid.

Biden was careful to stress to MSNBC that irrespective of his thoughts on Netanyahu, he supported Israel, particularly concerning defensive weapons.

"I am never going to leave Israel,” Biden emphasized.

“The defense of Israel is still critical, so there is no red line where I am going to cut off all weapons so they do not have the Iron Dome to protect them,” Biden said.

Within that framework there are still red lines Israel should not cross, such as a military operation in Rafah, Biden said. He has stressed in the past that the US would only support such an operation if Israel presented a plan to protect the over 1.3 million Palestinians located in the area of that southern city, many of whom fled there to escape Israeli aerial bombings in the northern part of the enclave.

Israel builds road across width of Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has finished building a new road which runs across northern Gaza from east to west, reports Saudi Gazette.

The IDF told, they were attempting to gain an operational foothold, and facilitate the movement of troops and equipment. But some experts fear it will used as a barrier, preventing Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north. Others said it appeared to be part of an Israeli plan to remain in Gaza beyond the end of current hostilities.

In February, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a post-war vision in which Israel would control security in Gaza indefinitely.

International leaders have previously warned Israel against permanently displacing Palestinians or reducing the size of Gaza.
The road runs across north Gaza, with central and southern areas lying below it. It starts at Gaza's border fence with Israel near the Nahal Oz kibbutz and finishes near the coast.

It also intersects with the Salah Al-Din and Al-Rashid roads, the two major arteries running through the territory.

Although there is a network of roads which connect east and west, the new IDF route is the only one which runs uninterrupted across Gaza.

Satellite imagery analysis by the BBC reveals that the IDF has built over 5km (3 miles) of new road sections to join up previously unconnected roads.

The initial section of the road in eastern Gaza near the Israeli border was established between late last October and early November. But most of the new sections were built during February and in early March.

The new route is wider than a typical road in Gaza, excluding Salah Al-Din.

Imagery analysis also shows that buildings along the route, which appear to be warehouses, were demolished from the end of December until late January. This includes one building several stories high.

The road spans an area which previously had fewer buildings and was less densely populated than other parts of Gaza. It also sits below a makeshift and winding route which the IDF had been using to move from east to west.

An Israeli TV channel reported on the route in February, saying it was code named "Highway 749". A reporter from Channel 14 traveled along parts of the route with the Israeli military.

In the video, road construction vehicles and diggers were seen preparing for the construction of new sections of the route.

Analysts at Janes, a defense intelligence company, said the type of unpaved road surface seen in the Channel 14 footage, was suitable for tracked armored vehicles.

The IDF did not go into this type of detail in its statement. "As part of the ground operation, the IDF uses an operational route of passage," it said.

Retired Brig. Gen. Jacob Nagel, former head of Israel's National Security Council and a former security adviser to Netanyahu, told BBC Arabic that the objective of the new route was to provide fast access for security forces when dealing with fresh threats.

"It will help Israel go in and out... because Israel is going to have total defense, security and responsibility for Gaza," he told BBC Arabic.

He described it as "A road that divides the northern part from the southern part".

"We don't want to wait until a threat is emerging," he added.

Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, formerly of the IDF, had a similar view. The primary purpose of the new road was to facilitate logistical and military control in the region, he said.

Justin Crump, a former British Army officer who runs Sibylline, a risk intelligence company, said the new route was significant.

"It certainly looks like it's part of a longer-term strategy to have at least some form of security intervention and control in the Gaza Strip," said Crump.

"This area cuts off Gaza City from the south of the strip, making it an effective control line to monitor or limit movement, and has relatively open fields of fire."

Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the US-based Middle East Institute, also thinks the road is a long-term project.

"It appears that the Israeli military will remain in Gaza indefinitely," he told the BBC.

"By dividing Gaza in half, Israel will control not only what goes in and out of Gaza, but also movement within Gaza," said the analyst.

"This includes quite possibly preventing the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians in the south from returning to their homes in the north”.

Fund raising by Singaporian charity for Gazans

A fund-raiser to provide aid for communities in Gaza raised over US$8 million just slightly under a month after it was lauOn the same day, RLAF said in a Facebook post, “We thank all individuals and groups who have come forward to generously contribute to provide aid in the form of health, relief and shelter for communities affected in Gaza.”

The foundation added that it has been monitoring and working closely with its partners on updates about delivery of aid to the beneficiaries in Gaza.

This included a session for various donors and donor organizations where the foundation’s partners provided updates and responded to questions via a video call.

Masagos, who is also Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said that RLAF will hold another round of fund-raising for Gaza during the upcoming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The sum of US$8,114,422, collected from October 19 to November 17, is the highest raised by the Rahmatan Lil Alamin (Blessings to all) Foundation, or RLAF.

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said at the sidelines of an event at the Assyafaah Mosque on March 9 that the sum has been dispensed to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA.

“This new fund-raising campaign aims to rally Singaporeans to continue to donate as the situation in Gaza has become direr,” said Masagos, who added that the campaign was slated to take place from March 20 to 26.

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, Israel’s ensuing bombardment of the small Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people has killed more than 30,800 people.

Nations and humanitarian groups have been racing to bring more aid to Palestinians, with the population on the brink of famine. The UN had earlier estimated that 300,000 Palestinians are living with little food or clean water.

Singapore has sent a medical team to treat civilian casualties who have been taken to Egypt, and supplies such as medicine, sanitation items and food for civilians.

Singapore Red Cross had earlier sent medical supplies, food and water worth at least US$250,000 to civilians in Gaza.

Padma Bridge: Contractor resumes work

Chinese contractor for the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project halted some major work for 25 days since February 10 over pending payments.

Railway authorities say the contractor resumed working on Wednesday following fruitful talks. But several officials say that physical work for the fast track project, the biggest of Bangladesh Railway, is still progressing at a slower-than-usual rate.

The project authority has sought a two-year extension — including a year of defect liability period — of the deadline to complete the project, the current deadline is June this year.

The project approved in March 2016 will connect the capital with Jashore with a 169km rail line through the Padma Bridge under a government to government initiative between Bangladesh and China.

The original cost of the project was Tk 34,989 crore and the deadline was June 2022. But the cost rose to Tk 39,246 crore and the deadline was extended after the first revision of the project.

The Chinese Exim Bank was supposed to lend Tk 21,036.69 crore. The contractor is China Railway Group Ltd, better known as CREC.

The Dhaka-Bhanga section of the rail line was opened in October last year.

Project Director Afzal Hossain said on February 10 the contractor stopped working at the sites of the third line between Kamalapur and Gendaria, a junction at Bhanga, and station at Singia.

Quamrul Ahsan, director general of railway, said Bangladesh Railway had earlier written to the contractor asking it to resume working.

Asked whether the issue was discussed at yesterday’s meeting between the Chinese ambassador and the railways minister, Quamrul replied in the negative.

Contacted, Li Lin, director (public relations and administration) of CREC for the project, said, “It is true that we had stopped works of the project, but the extent of the works was very small, not any major work. Besides, we have already resumed the works from March 5.

“We did not get our payment since October last year, though we have been requesting BR and the project authority to clear our dues. Since they did not pay our dues, we stopped some small works.”

Replying to another question, he said although BR did not give any assurance about paying the dues soon, the contractor resumed working considering the friendly relationship between Bangladesh and China.

The issue over payment surfaces at a time when the project authority has returned Tk 700 crore from its total allocation of Tk 5,500 crore in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for this fiscal year.

“We would not be able to spend the money in this fiscal year,” said Afzal, the project director.

As of last month, physical work made 91 percent progress, said Afzal.

Trains can be operated from one end to another after June, he said, adding that all the stations would not be ready by then.

The work will be fully complete by December this year, he said, adding that the one-year defect liability period would be counted from then. The contractor will fix the defects that appear within this period for free.

This is why they have sought time up to June 2026 for completion of the project, he added.

The cost of the project would not be increased due to the time extension, he said.

Aramco joins Adnoc in lithium extraction

According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates' national oil companies plan to extract lithium from brine in their oilfields, in line with efforts to diversify their economies and profit from the shift to electric vehicles (EVs).

Other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, opens new tab and Occidental Petroleum, opens new tab, plan to take advantage of emerging technologies to filter lithium from brine, as the world seeks to move away from fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabian economy for decades has relied on oil, is spending billions on trying to turn itself into a hub for EVs as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's attempts to find alternative sources of wealth.

Saudi Aramco opens new tab and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were in the very early stages of work to extract lithium, regarded as a critical mineral by many major economies because of its use in battery manufacture.

DLE technology is in its infancy and its economics are far less certain than those of oil.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE can draw on expertise in handling oil brine and wastewater at oil production sites.

An advantage of filtering the ultra-light battery metal from salt water is that it avoids the need for costly and environmentally challenging open pit mines or large evaporation ponds, as employed in the world's leading producers Australia and Chile.

China is the biggest processor and consumer of lithium, needed for electric and hybrid vehicles.