Middle East Press on: Cold War, Terror, Hezbollah, Nakba, UNRWA: New Age Islam's Selection, 19 November 2024
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
19 November 2024
Divided And Militarized: Cyprus' Role In Mediterranean's New Cold War
What On Earth Is Israel Barrelling Towards?'
Palestinians Must Accept That Violent Terror Tactics Have Failed To Stop Israel
How Will Hezbollah Factor Into Lebanon’s Future?
Palestinians Displaced From Northern Gaza Fear This New Nakba
The EU Cannot Stand Idle As Israel Dismantles Gaza’s Lifeline: UNRWA
Rebranding Old Fantasies Will Not Save Israel
Israel’s Annexation Juggernaut Unlikely To Be Stopped
Trump’s Appointments Offer Clues On Middle East Policy
The Return Of Hochstein And The Return Of The Lebanese State
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Divided And Militarized: Cyprus' Role In Mediterranean's New Cold War
By Cenk Kaan Adasoy
Nov 19, 2024
Cyprus has often found itself the reluctant belle of the Eastern Mediterranean, a magnet for regional and global powers eager for diplomatic maneuvering – or, if that fails, a struggle for influence. As the island’s strategic allure intensifies, so does the parade of military alliances and geopolitical courtships, with Cyprus caught squarely at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. This strategic allure isn't new; Cyprus has long been viewed as a sought-after outpost. The current militarization of this small Mediterranean island is not merely another move in the chess game of regional power; it’s a shift with serious implications for Mediterranean stability – or, potentially, its opposite.
Historically, Cyprus has been a prized outpost for powers eager to monitor the Middle East. The British, with their ever-expanding imperial footprint, claimed the island as a colonial possession in 1878, establishing it as a sentinel over nearby regions. Even after granting independence in 1960, Britain retained two sovereign bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, transforming them into intelligence hubs and military launchpads throughout the Cold War. While the Union Jack no longer flies over all of Cyprus, these bases remain Western footholds, facilitating surveillance across the Middle East. In essence, Cyprus was built for its current role in military escapades – even if the island might prefer a different, less fraught path.
However, the island has faced internal division since 1974, when a coup backed by Greece aimed at unifying it with Greece, leading to a subsequent Turkish military intervention. This intervention established a Turkish Cypriot-administered north and a Greek Cypriot-administered south – a division that endures today, monitored by the U.N.-patrolled “Green Line.” New alliances have only intensified this divide, as recent Western partnerships reinforce the Greek Cypriot orientation, often at the expense of relations with Türkiye. The result? Cyprus, a militarized outpost for Western powers, grows increasingly entrenched in opposition to Turkish influence.
Cyprus as a 'must-have' ally
With the Soviet Union’s collapse, Cyprus quickly became a hotter commodity for the West. Its prime real estate near volatile Middle Eastern hot spots made it an ideal partner for the U.S., France and Israel – all eager for a staging ground for surveillance and training exercises. Joint military exercises blossomed in the 2000s, symbolizing this newfound strategic camaraderie. The expansive 2019 military exercise among the Greek Cypriot administration, Greece and Israel underscored Cyprus’ rising value in Western military strategy. In 2020, the U.S. lifted a longstanding arms embargo on the south – a Cold War relict meant to limit militarization on the island and prevent an escalation between Greece and Türkiye. Initially allowing only non-lethal exports, the policy shifted to full military support in the subsequent years. In return, the southern Cyprus administration agreed to ban Russian vessels from ports, inching the island closer to NATO’s orbit.
In the grand geopolitical playbook, France’s recent moves in Cyprus read like a classic power pivot. Confronted with Türkiye’s expanding influence in Africa, France turned to Cyprus (and its former colony Lebanon) as a Mediterranean counterbalance. By 2017, France had signed a defense pact with the Greek Cypriot administration, granting its naval vessels access to Greek Cypriot ports like Limassol and laying the groundwork for air force collaboration. Joint exercises with southern Cypriot troops and Greece followed, bolstering France’s presence in the region and symbolizing a broader Western front – often at odds with Türkiye.
However, France’s interest in the Eastern Mediterranean isn’t purely political. French energy giant Total has extensive gas exploration ventures in the region, making southern Cyprus’s stability integral to France’s economic interests. Securing access and protection for these resources is a priority for France, linking its military presence directly to economic ambitions.
Additionally, France regards the Eastern Mediterranean as a region of strategic interest for the European Union. The country has actively lobbied in Brussels to shape EU policies toward Türkiye and other regional players, aiming to align EU strategy with its own regional objectives. Thus, the island has become more than a base; it’s a badge of allegiance to Western – and particularly French – interests.
For Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration is a natural ally and, arguably, an extension of its historical legacy. The trilateral pact among Athens, South Nicosia and Tel Aviv has effectively tied southern Cyprus to Greek foreign policy ambitions, much to Türkiye’s chagrin. As Türkiye asserts itself in the northern part of the island, Greece counters by backing South Cyprus’s alliances with France, the U.S. and Israel. The militarization of the island thus fits neatly into Greece’s broader strategy, establishing a new axis of influence that shapes the region’s security dynamics while positioning southern Cyprus as a barrier against Türkiye.
U.S. and Israel’s calculations
South Nicosia’s role as a military collaborator with Israel stems from both economic ambition and strategic necessity. Amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza and tensions in the region, Tel Aviv has considered using Cypriot bases for contingencies, further embedding Cyprus within the region’s military framework. Then there’s the gas. The discovery of gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean has drawn Israel and the southern Cyprus administration into a cooperative venture for the East Med Pipeline – a project promising Europe an energy supply route independent of Türkiye. But Ankara responded swiftly, culminating in a 2019 maritime agreement with Libya that stakes a Turkish claim to Mediterranean waters, effectively blocking the pipeline. For Cyprus, energy security has become a flashpoint for regional rivalry, deepening its military alliances and adding another layer of conflict with Türkiye.
With the U.S. lifting its arms embargo, the Greek Cypriot administration militarization gains a powerful Western sponsor eager to counter both Russian and Turkish influence. The Cypriot administration’s inclusion in programs like International Military Education and Training (IMET) underscores its role as a U.S. ally and regional linchpin. The island offers the U.S. and its allies prime access to Mediterranean resources and a front-line position in managing regional tensions, aligning it firmly with NATO’s agenda. Enhanced cooperation between the U.S. and British bases in Cyprus for operations in the Middle East has now intensified, with U.S. naval units deployed to support Israel and regional allies.
Germany, too, has entered the Cypriot stage with recent deployments, including special forces ostensibly preparing for evacuations amid Middle Eastern tensions. This follows the first Bilateral Defense Cooperation Program signed in May 2022. Also, while subtle in its approach, Italy has quietly integrated itself into Cyprus’ defense scene. The recent “Eunomia 5-2024” exercise underscored Italy’s interest in protecting its regional investments, notably in energy exploration. Italian energy giant Eni has a vested interest in Cyprus, aligning economic goals with a regional security strategy.
More than a Western garrison
As the Greek Cypriot administration leans into its military partnerships, it becomes the Western front line, either for stability or confrontation in the Eastern Mediterranean. The question is whether this militarized stance will ultimately serve the island’s best interests or merely deepen its divisions. While alliances may bolster security for some, they risk turning southern Cyprus into a military stronghold, potentially distancing it from regional neighbors, including Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot north, both of whom have a vested interest in regional cooperation.
For a sustainable and balanced future, South Nicosia could benefit from a shift toward inclusive diplomacy that considers the perspectives of all key stakeholders. Recognizing Ankara's strategic importance and fostering a balanced alliance could help to defuse regional tensions and promote mutual interests. This approach might also better serve the island’s future stability, aligning security goals with a shared vision for prosperity and cooperation that includes all parties in the Eastern Mediterranean.
By doing so, South Nicosia could seize this moment to step away from the clutches of distant powers and champion a balanced vision for peace and cooperation – a novel role for a region that has, for a long time, been more war-zone than bridge.
https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/divided-and-militarized-cyprus-role-in-mediterraneans-new-cold-war
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What On Earth Is Israel Barrelling Towards?'
By Sherwin Pomerantz
November 19, 2024
I love this country, have lived here for 41 years, and would not want to live anywhere else, but... I have the uncomfortable feeling that we are barreling full speed towards the edge of a cliff, not knowing how to apply the brakes and, even worse, with no plan as to what we will do after we apply those brakes and come to a stop short of the cliff’s edge.
The war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of many hundreds of our best young people, seems to just continue, although it is difficult to understand for what purpose. Does anyone know? The strip has been virtually denuded, Hamas has been defanged, and its leader was killed. We know there is no way to eliminate Hamas 100% and there are still about 100 of our citizens being held there as hostages whose situation deteriorates by the day. Is there anything we can achieve by continuing the war? If so, have such objectives been shared with us, and are they even achievable? Doubts abound.
Reservists, who a year ago reported to duty at the rate of 130% of those who were called, are now not reporting in numbers large enough to concern the IDF. In the last few weeks, reporting percentages were down 15-25%, according to one source, and it is being felt by the fighting units in both Gaza and Lebanon.
In the midst of it all, Justice Minister Yariv Levin has just cynically issued a call to put the matter of judicial reform back on the table, conveniently forgetting that it was that issue that created the monumental cleavage in our society in the run-up to October 7th. And on the far right, of course, there are new calls for establishing sovereignty over all of biblical Israel and reoccupying Gaza.
Concomitantly, our economy is being degraded not only by the incredibly high financial cost of the multiple wars we are fighting but also by the reluctance of investors to fund smaller start-ups that, traditionally, have been the engine of growth for Israel’s technological development. A number of such companies have already made plans to locate elsewhere.
All of this is worrisome for sure. More and more, it becomes clear that as long as we live here, we will need to be continually vigilant and do everything to protect our borders while understanding that the next war will always be right around the corner.
Given all of this, the most worrisome aspect is that we who live here have no idea if the government has a plan for this country once the current wars end, as they surely will. For example: Is there a government agency charged with the responsibility of how best to bring Israel back to a functioning post-war state?
Does the government have a plan?
Does the government have a planning group in place to envision how we deal with Judea and Samaria after the war? Or Gaza? Or Lebanon?
Are there people at the highest levels of the political echelon thinking about how to reestablish our financial credibility in a world where antisemitism has become rampant and normalized, Israel is spoken about as the oppressor, and Israelis are the bad guys?
It is well past time where our brightest minds need to be corralled into temporary government service to, at a minimum, accomplish the following goals:
Determine how to unilaterally end the war in Gaza (which, hopefully, will also end the other wars we are fighting) and create a multinational governing authority that will work for the good and welfare of the population remaining there. Nobody is going to do this for us, so we better get to it.
Develop an economic recovery plan that will address how best to recapture Israel’s productivity as close as possible to what it was before October 7. People who are suffering financially right now need hope that a better day will come, so someone should start figuring out how to make that happen.
Craft a program to address the war’s emotional toll on families whose functioning has been impaired either by the loss of a loved one or the long-term absence of the head of the household. Relationships are falling apart, children of affected families need the assistance of mental health professionals, and large numbers of adults will need to be in therapy for some time to cope with the effects of a long war. Planning for this should start now.
We who live here do not need to know all the details of every plan. What we need to know is that there are groups of responsible people working on these plans. Individuals and families who feel that their very lives are barreling toward the edge of a cliff need to know that such plans are in the works. If not, they will have every reason to question why to put on the brakes at all; maybe it would be better, like in the movie Thelma and Louise, to just let the car go over the cliff and end it all.
We dare not let that happen. We are obliged by our faith not to let that happen. We are smart enough not to let that happen. We don’t want that to happen. However, preventing that from happening will take the kind of work and commitment that Israel has drawn on in the past. And we need to plan big.
Former US president Harry Truman, who is credited as being the first head of state to recognize Israel at its creation in 1948, said, “You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don’t believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation which we can’t possibly foresee now.” We need to follow that advice, and the sooner the better.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-829694
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Palestinians Must Accept That Violent Terror Tactics Have Failed To Stop Israel
By Yisrael Medad
November 19, 2024
The American elections have ended. Donald Trump is now president-elect. He has appointed Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel and Pete Hegseth is to be the defense secretary. The latter two have visited locations throughout Judea and Samaria. And Israel-supporter John Ratcliffe has been picked to direct the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 2015, Huckabee visited the ancient Shiloh site and announced, “Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the State of Israel and everyone needs to understand that.” In another interview, he said that “Israel needs to control Judea and Samaria” and a Jewish presence on the ground is “a factor leading to regional peace.”
On another occasion, he noted that with its 3,500-year history in the area, Israel has a much stronger link to those areas than Americans have to Manhattan. In 2017, he told CNN: “I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria” and admitted: “There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They are communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
Those are voices from afar. Up until now, Arabs-cum-Palestinians could have depended on other opinions from presidents and prime ministers, international diplomats and heads of all sorts of NGOs. In the past, even senior Israel politicians have addressed what they would think as a Palestinian Arab.
One, Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet, stated to Maariv newspaper on September 24 that if he were Palestinian, he would have fought those who stole his land “without limits.” Earlier, in March this year, speaking to the ABC television network, he declared that if he were Palestinian, he “would fight against Israel” and “would do everything” to achieve liberty.
Back in March 1998, on the Educational TV Channel in a program called Personal Encounter, Ehud Barak, just before becoming prime minister, told interviewer Gideon Levy: “If I was [a Palestinian] at the right age, at some stage I would have entered one of the terror organizations and have fought from there.” He did, however, attempt to mitigate his words, noting the methods employed by the terrorists were “heinous” but he awarded legitimacy to their “resistance.”
NEEDLESS TO say, statements like those of Barak and Ayalon were not only foolish but incredibly unhelpful to Israel’s efforts to achieve some sort of peace as they reinforced the mystique of the legitimacy of a “Palestinian resistance.”
But today’s situation with the incoming Trump administration, to speak in an understatement mode, has been vastly altered. In this new political, diplomatic and strategic reality, if I were an Arab Palestinian, what would I do now?
One sign that at least one prominent figure is giving the matter some thought is the fatwa issued by Salman al-Dayah, former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza. In it, he condemned Hamas’s October 7th 2023 attack on Israel. True, he may be unrepresentative, as he is a quietist Salafi, but salvation can come from odd directions.
According to the MEMRI site, Dayah urged Hamas leaders to be “humble” and focus on the welfare of Gazans, and to establish a government that unites Palestinians and provides for their needs, while refraining from antagonizing a much more powerful Israel.
However, the situation demands a broader public opinion consensus, especially, given the authoritarian nature of the politics of Palestine’s Arabs, among the leadership, from PA President Mahmoud Abbas to his successor and the other PLO chiefs who still rule, not to mention a change in the entire educational system.
If I were a Palestinian...
IF AN Arab of Palestine would ask me what he should do now, this is my advice to him or her.
Accept the fact that for over a century, the armed violent terror campaign against the returning Jews to Zion has failed. You killed people and destroyed property, yet that did not halt or discourage the Jews from reconstituting their national home. We came, even clandestinely, and we resettled our patrimony. In truth, your campaign has only resulted in causing more damage to the Arabs.
If “to live peacefully in the area, [Israelis] have to reach an agreement with the Palestinians” – as Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh was quoted saying in a Reuters report from July 20 this year – then he and his employer need to grasp that it works the other way around. Arabs need to reach agreement with Israel. Enough playing the victimization card by attacking, losing and then dictating conditions for an agreement.
Israeli willingness to compromise and yield – as demonstrated by multiple partition plans rejected by the Arab world before the State of Israel was founded; withdrawals and, throughout the post-1967 years, plans for autonomy; various supposed options such as a condominium sharing of administration with Jordan; and then Oslo and even the Trump “Peace to Prosperity” outline – has been met with responses from indifference to the “Three No’s” (No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel) to walkaways from hand-drawn maps on napkins, and worse: renewed violence and terror.
The situation, I would hope our counterpart would realize, is that a true peace arrangement needs to be seen as one that should improve the lives of Arabs and therefore, he must truly desire it. He must value his own people’s livelihood more than a position of ideological extremism.
Resistance must be renounced. The incitement needs to stop. The pay-for-slay program is to be halted. Peace and coexistence educational programs are to be instituted to undo 30 years and more of hatred of Jews and the goal of eliminating Israel.
A new Palestinian must develop. He need not be submissive. He must be awarded all civil rights and social privileges, and he should fulfill all commensurate requirements, from taxes to national service.
I would hope that if I were a “Palestinian Arab,” that’s what I would do. Will he?
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-829695
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How Will Hezbollah Factor Into Lebanon’s Future?
By Neville Teller
November 19, 2024
No doubt Israel would ideally like to see Hezbollah completely removed as a military presence in Lebanon, and its dominance within the nation’s political life ended. Neither seems fully achievable in the present circumstances.
Hezbollah is a significant presence within Lebanon. Its military strength and capabilities are larger and more powerful than Lebanon’s armed forces. It draws popular support from its vast network of schools, clinics, youth programs, and other social services.
Financed partly by Iran, it is also funded by sympathetic Lebanese business interests, by the business enterprises that it runs itself, and via the financial institutions that launder the money it earns from organized criminal activities, including narcotics trafficking and counterfeiting European currency.
Politically, also, it is a force to be reckoned with. The group has participated in Lebanese elections since 1992. It entered the cabinet for the first time in 2005 and has held seats in each Lebanese government since. The situation in which current government is an interim one, and the country lacks a president, is very largely, though not entirely, the result of Hezbollah manipulation. Although Israeli policymakers want to clip Hezbollah’s political wings, they know better than to become entangled in the arcane complexities of Lebanon’s political system.
In any case, there is every sign that the Lebanese themselves are becoming disillusioned with Hezbollah. An Arab Barometer survey published in September found that 70% of the Lebanese population does not trust Hezbollah, and the 30% who do are almost entirely Shi’ite citizens. Only 9% of Sunnis and Druze, and just 6% of Christians have any trust in Hezbollah.
The best that Israel can hope for in the short term is to push Hezbollah’s armed forces far enough from the border to allow the displaced Israeli families of the North to return to their homes.
Until the Litani?
LEBANON’S LITANI river runs north to south through the country, then takes a sharp turn toward the Mediterranean sea. Hezbollah operates from the territory between the river and Israel’s northern border, known as the Blue Line. Varying in width between 6 and 28 km., it also houses 10,000 UNIFIL troops engaged in ineffective attempts to control an openly defiant Hezbollah.
A word about the Blue Line: Since Lebanon never signed a peace treaty with Israel after the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, no international border separating them has ever been agreed. In 2000, however, a demarcation line was drawn by the UN to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon following the 1978 and 1982 conflicts.
Along certain sections, UNIFIL has marked the position of the line on the ground with blue barrels – more than 270 of them – giving rise to the “Blue Line” designation. Stretching for about 120 km. from the Mediterranean coast in the west up to the Golan Heights in the east, it has been serving as a de facto border.
On October 30, Lebanon’s MTV website reported that intensive ceasefire talks had been taking place led by Amos Hochstein, US President Joe Biden’s special envoy to Lebanon. As a result, the website claimed, Hezbollah had agreed to move all its weapons to north of the Litani and establish a demilitarized zone in the area south of the river.
It also claimed that Hezbollah was no longer insisting on being directly connected to events in Gaza. The group’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had insisted that Hezbollah’s assault on Israel was in support of Hamas, and that a ceasefire in Lebanon would be tied to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri is reported to have insisted that the terms of UN Resolution 1701 must be the basis of any agreement: “It’s out of the question to change the wording of UN Resolution 1701 even by one word,” he said. Hochstein has been traveling between Lebanon and Israel seeking an agreement that abides by the resolution.
Adopted unanimously in 2006, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 notably does not mention Hezbollah. It refers directly only to the two UN member states, Lebanon and Israel, maintaining the fiction that Lebanon is in a position to control rogue militias operating within its sovereign territory. In the UN’s fantasy world, the Lebanese government can order Hezbollah to stop attacking Israel and enforce its order.
So the resolution calls for all armed groups in Lebanon to be disarmed, maintaining that the only armed force in the country must be that of the Lebanese state. As for an agreed border between Israel and Lebanon, the resolution says that ultimately it is up to the states concerned to determine its exact path but that in the interim the Blue Line must be respected. UNIFIL was charged with ensuring compliance.
THAT, OF course, was where the well-intentioned resolution failed. Like the Lebanese government, UNIFIL found itself impotent against the rampant Hezbollah military machine. Starting on October 8, 2023, Hezbollah started firing missiles indiscriminately into Israel. With tens of thousands of residents being evacuated from their homes, the least Israel could do was to try to deter Hezbollah by meeting fire with fire.
At the same time, Israel began effectively weakening both Hezbollah and Hamas by eliminating its leaders, destroying its command and control centers, and depleting its manpower. Now, with the whole of Hezbollah’s senior command structure, including its long-time leader Nasrallah, removed, the organization may well be prepared to negotiate a deal.
Hochstein must have been heartened to receive a call from president-elect Donald Trump on November 8. Israeli media, quoting a Lebanese MTV channel report, said Trump told him: “Go and finish your work and make a deal with Lebanon.”
On November 11, the media reported that Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had flown to the US for talks with senior White House officials regarding a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire deal. Washington officials had already confirmed that there had been progress in the Hochstein-led discussions. “The chances are increasing for a settlement in Lebanon,” they told Ynet.
Then, on November 13, The Washington Post reported that Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had been told by one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close aides that Israel is intent on finalizing a ceasefire deal in Lebanon. The idea is to provide an early foreign policy win to the president-elect as he assumes office. Two days later, sure enough, Reuters reported that the US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, had submitted a draft truce proposal to Lebanon’s speaker Berri.
As the saying goes: “Half a loaf is better than no bread.” If the half-loaf includes an end to Hezbollah’s missiles and its troops being removed north of the Litani River, then it is a compromise worth accepting.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-829692
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Palestinians Displaced From Northern Gaza Fear This New Nakba
By Motasem A Dalloul
November 18, 2024
The most well-known football stadium in the Gaza Strip is chaotic, with masses of people flooding the pitch and seating. Everyone is carrying a bag on their back and some clothes. Some are helping sick people or carrying wounded relatives, while others are walking alone, struggling along on bare feet.
“We left the bodies of our children killed in Israeli air strikes either under the rubble or on the street,” an old man explains. He fled northern Gaza under heavy Israeli bombing.
Today, the people are not rushing to take their seats and enjoy a football match or a circus. They look for an empty place to rest after fleeing relentless Israeli bombing. The stadium is an encampment for displaced persons.
“Thanks be to Allah, we are safe,” said 72-year-old Hassan Abu Wardeh, who arrived in the stadium along with his sick wife and 13 children and grandchildren. “After the start of the third Israeli ground incursion into our area, we remained 25 days in our home,” he told me. “They were the worst days I have ever lived.”
That started on 6 October, when the Israeli occupation forces attacked Jabalia, concentrating on its refugee camp. Then the incursion was extended to the other north Gaza cities, including Beit Hanoun in the east and Beit Lahiya in the west.
“Since the start of their incursion, the Israeli occupation forces have been targeting homes and refugee shelters in Jabalia refugee camp, the beating heart of the city, clearly to put pressure on the inhabitants to run away,” explained Abu Wardeh. “However, most people persisted and stayed in their homes. We know that there is an Israeli plan to force us out of our land.”
Day after day, the Israeli occupation forces have targeted homes and refugee shelters alike, killing and wounding hundreds of people. The intensity of the bombardment meant that all rescue teams in the north had to suspend their services, including the Civil Defence and Ambulance teams.
Putting further pressure on Palestinian civilians to force them to leave, the occupation state has also targeted the three major hospitals in northern Gaza. Anyone seeking medical assistance and treatment has to go south to Gaza City.
Not content with dropping bombs and missiles on northern Gaza, said Abu Wardeh, the occupation forces have also used barrel bombs in the streets to displace the local population.
The sheer cruelty and brutality of the occupation forces saw Abu Wardeh ask his sick wife, his children and grandchildren to leave the house and move to Gaza City. His brother, who lived next door, moved 19 members of his family north to Beit Lahiya.
“I stayed at home along with two of my children and one of my grandchildren,” he said. “Five hours after the evacuation of the house, an Israeli missile turned it into rubble. It was a miracle that we survived.” It took another five hours for volunteers and neighbours to pull him and his children out from under the rubble.
“My grandson suffered from light bruises. I was happy that we were alive, but was very sad to hear that seven homes in our neighbourhood were bombed at the same time and 27 neighbours were killed. Only seven bodies were retrieved; the rest are under the rubble.”
This is how the Israeli occupation regime has been forcing the displacement — “evacuation” — of the northern Gaza Strip. People are killed, wounded or abducted. Hospitals have been destroyed, medical staff have been killed or arrested, and humanitarian aid is stopped from reaching the area. At the same time, the regime destroys entire residential compounds and is building massive sand barriers to separate northern Gaza from Gaza City.
Abu Wardeh, whose parents were forced out of Al-Majadal during the 1948 Nakba, is afraid that he is facing a new Nakba. The regime drops leaflets telling the people that they must leave their homes because they are in the middle of an “operation area”.
Then the occupation forces destroy their homes and destroy their refugee shelters.
During the ongoing incursion, the Israeli forces have killed more than 2,200 people in northern Gaza alone. A further 6,300 have been wounded while more than 1,000 have been detained — basically abducted — including children.
Spokespersons for the Israeli occupation army have declared several times that they will not allow the Palestinian residents of northern Gaza to return to their homes. According to Haaretz, the Israeli regime is carrying out ethnic cleansing as part of the “Generals’ Plan” laid out by one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military aides. Fanatical Jewish settlers are waiting expectantly to build illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory.
“I am afraid that we will never return to Jabalia,” added Abu Wardeh. “In any case, I am still hoping to return not to Jabalia, but to Al-Majdal.”
The right of return upon which his hope depends is entirely legitimate. It still seems a long way from happening though.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241118-palestinians-displaced-from-northern-gaza-fear-this-new-nakba/
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The Eu Cannot Stand Idle As Israel Dismantles Gaza’s Lifeline: Unrwa
By Monia Ben Jemia
November 18, 2024
As the EU Foreign Affairs Council convenes today, European leaders face a pressing choice: will they stand by as Israel dismantles UNRWA, a lifeline for over 2.5 million Palestinian refugees, or will they act before time runs out? With only 63 days left before Israel’s new legislation halts UNRWA operations within its so-called “sovereign territory”, including unlawfully occupied Palestinian territory, European leaders must act to prevent an irreversible humanitarian crisis.
The consequences of such an act will not only be detrimental to any negotiated political solution grounded in Palestinians’ right to self-determination, but they would reverberate throughout our shared international commitments, weakening the principles that the United Nations, and indeed the European Union, stand to uphold.
The Knesset’s 20 October bills ban Israeli officials from interacting with UNRWA, halt its operations, and void a 1967 agreement, jeopardising essential services for millions of Palestinian refugees and threatening hundreds of schools, clinics and shelters.
UNRWA operates 384 schools, serving over 342,000 students across the occupied territories, and operates dozens of health clinics that see millions of patients visits every year. In Gaza alone, where the agency provides emergency food, healthcare and shelter to a beleaguered population, UNRWA’s work is not simply a service; it is survival.
Israel based human rights organisation Adalah, a key member of EuroMed Rights, issued a formal letter to the Knesset, stressing that the proposed legislation against UNRWA directly threatens the rights and welfare of Palestinian refugees, underscoring Israel’s ongoing attempts to dismantle Palestinian refugees’ legal protections.
Israel has long sought to erase the issue of Palestinian refugees from the international agenda, and the recent bills are just the latest act in a systematic campaign to do so. Israeli officials openly admit that these bills are intended to prevent any discussion of the Palestinian right of return. The right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes is enshrined in the UN General Assembly resolution 302 (IV) that mandates UNRWA since 1949. Therefore, the bills do not merely halt the operations of UNRWA, but dismantle the body that protects Palestinian refugees, effectively erasing their right to return to their ancestral homeland.
The justification for this action rests on a small number of accusations against individual UNRWA employees, out of a staff of 30,000 and allegations of the military use of UNRWA premises by Palestinian armed groups. In Gaza, now a combat zone under widespread evacuation orders, verification of these claims is impossible. Israeli authorities are capitalising on recent conflicts to push through longstanding political goals. But make no mistake: the goal is not accountability; it is erasure of Palestinians.
The EU’s moral obligation
The EU has both a moral and legal responsibility here. As a major supporter of UNRWA – a legitimate construct of international law and its order – the European Union and its member states have an obligation to prevent the complete destabilisation of essential services in Gaza and the West Bank, services that the EU itself has identified as crucial to peace and stability.
Commissioner-designate Dubravka Suica recently affirmed during her hearing that the EU’s commitment to continuing its support for UNRWA, following the review that was conducted by independent actors. The EU and its Member States bear a responsibility vis a vis its citizens and taxpayers. Together, they fund around 60 per cent of UNRWA, which sustains crucial services that protect Palestinian lives in the face of unimaginable hardship. If Israel pursues its intentions unchallenged, it will be not only an incredible waste of efforts and resources, but also of a considerable amount of taxpayers’ money.
The humanitarian catastrophe resulting from this legislation would deepen Israel’s existing violations of ICJ rulings. In January, the ICJ issued provisional measures, ordering Israel to ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. Yet, by obstructing UNRWA, Israel is not only violating these measures but actively worsening conditions that have been classified as potential genocidal acts under the 1948 Genocide Convention. There is no replacement for UNRWA’s work, nor has Israel proposed an alternative plan for the 2.5 million refugees it serves. As an occupying power, Israel is legally bound under the Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention to maintain public order and ensure access to essential services in occupied territories. No other institution could feasibly reopen the 691 schools in Gaza in the aftermath of war. Yet, Israel’s refusal to meet these responsibilities speaks volumes. It does not merely fail to uphold the law, it dismisses it outright.
The international community cannot allow Israel to dismantle UNRWA while hiding behind claims of security concerns. The EU, as a critical funder of UNRWA and a steadfast advocate for human rights, must hold Israel accountable.
Israel’s legislative attack on UNRWA is an attack on every principle the EU claims to uphold. The disintegration of the international order may feel abstract until we recognise that, with each unpunished violation, we inch closer to a world where no rules govern conflict. Today, as the international community’s gaze is fixed on Gaza, Europe must stand for accountability, for human rights and for the children whose futures depend on it.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241118-the-eu-cannot-stand-idle-as-israel-dismantles-gazas-lifeline-unrwa/
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Rebranding Old Fantasies Will Not Save Israel
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
November 18, 2024
The paradoxical phrase “running away forward” is one of the most apt descriptions of the state of Israeli affairs right now. It seems that everything that Israel has done in the past year or so has been a mere attempt to deny, distract from or escape imminent scenarios — all of which are bleak.
Indeed, the last year has repeatedly proven that Israel’s military supremacy is no longer enough to win wars or decide political outcomes.
Moreover, the genocide in Gaza and the rapid theft of Palestinian land in the West Bank have exposed, like never before, the ugly face of Zionist settler-colonialism. Only those who are wholly indoctrinated or are paying no attention still argue that Israel stands for any kind of moral ideals or is a “light unto the nations.”
Also, incessant attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to marginalize, if not entirely erase, the Palestinian cause have completely failed. The suffering, resistance and pride of the Palestinian people have made their cause a global one and, this time around, irreversibly so.
Yet, despite all of this, Israeli leaders continue to drag their people into endless quests toward arbitrary destinations, making promises of “total victory” and the like.
Monitoring the statements made by Israeli leaders and conversations in the right-wing Israeli press would leave one bewildered.
While more than 55,000 Israeli soldiers have failed over the course of several weeks to finally subdue northern Gaza, Israeli settler leaders are busy making plans to auction real estate, envisaging new settlements and beach resorts inside the destroyed Strip.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported last month that Israel wants to build several settlement blocks inside Gaza. But how would Israel protect these areas when they could not protect southern Israel itself just a year ago?
In the West Bank, where an armed rebellion has been brewing but is yet to actualize on a mass scale due to the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu’s right-wing government is speaking of full annexation.
“The year 2025 will, with God’s help, be the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week, referring to the West Bank. Whether or not Israel turns its de facto annexation of the West Bank into a de jure annexation, it will not alter its international legal status as an illegally occupied Palestinian territory. The same applies to the Palestinian city of East Jerusalem, which was officially annexed by the Israeli Knesset in 1980 under the so-called Jerusalem Law.
Not many in the international community are willing to accept Israel’s scheme in the West Bank anyway, as they — save for Washington — still refuse to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem. In fact, the opposite is true, as determined by the International Court of Justice in July. Its ruling, which was backed by international consensus, resolved that “the state of Israel is under the obligation to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible.” The UN General Assembly subsequently fully embraced the court’s decision.
That aside, by annexing the West Bank, Israel would have fired a mercy shot at the PA, thus turning the entire territory into a platform of Palestinian popular resistance. How could Israel withstand that new war front when it is already struggling, if not outright failing, to secure any victories in Gaza and south Lebanon?
In a recent article, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe wrote about “Fantasy Israel” — a decades-old political construct that believes that the “West supports Israel because it adheres to a Western ‘value system’ based on democracy and liberalism.” This fictional Israel has been collapsing for years, long before the current war on Gaza, though the genocidal conflict accelerated the process. The collapse of “Fantasy Israel” “has exposed cracks in the social cohesion and in the readiness of many Israelis to devote as much time and energy to military service as they did in the past,” Pappe argued.
Israel is now under the control of a different breed of politician, one that is armed with a massive and growing super-structure of an equally closed-minded and extremist intellectual base. These people are struggling with a whole different set of illusions, as they continue to convince themselves that they are winning when they are not; that they can impose their will on the Palestinians and the rest of the world when they cannot; and that the continuation of the war would allow them to finish a job — the total destruction of the Palestinian people — that, in their minds, should have been finished a long time ago.
Since this crowd is motivated by extremist religious ideologies, they are unable to abide by any form of rational thinking, even if it emanates from well-regarded Zionist figures inside Israel itself. “This war lacks a clear objective and it’s evident that we’re unequivocally losing it,” former Mossad deputy chief Ram Ben-Barak said in May.
None of this matters to Netanyahu and his right-wing ministers, of course. They continue to reference and recycle old religious dogmas, while fervently praying for miracles. In doing so, they insist on constructing a new “Fantasy Israel,” which is also set to collapse, as fantasies often do.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2579788
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Israel’s Annexation Juggernaut Unlikely To Be Stopped
Chris Doyle
November 18, 2024
It was only a matter of when. It has always only been a matter of when. For years, Israeli leaders have craved the West Bank. Few hid their desire to annex it either wholly or in large part.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last week announced plans to annex the West Bank in 2025. There was little pushback in Israel or internationally.
Back in 2019-2020, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last veered down this dangerous path, it was more of a political gambit. He used it to advance normalization with Arab states. It was a condition of the Abraham Accords that Israel suspend its annexation plans, though Netanyahu insisted they were only delayed.
What is different this time around?
The settler movement is today even more firmly established at the heart of Israeli politics. The annexationists are in charge and not just the racist firebrands like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.
The incoming Trump administration is packed full of potential appointees who, if not devoted annexationists, are firmly in the Israel can do no wrong camp. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s choice to be the American ambassador to Israel, has said: “I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria. There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.” He is of course defiantly opposed to any two-state solution.
Watch out for Israeli plans to annex areas of Gaza as well. Given the trajectory of Israeli crimes there, some ministers might be dreaming of devouring all of the Strip. Southern Lebanon might even follow.
But none of this is written in stone. Trump will be keen to reassert his claim as dealmaker-in-chief. He knows a full-scale annexation of the rest of the West Bank is contrary to getting any peace deal. Netanyahu will stake out the maximalist position on territory to make it look like a concession if he only annexes Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the territory.
The settlers, in cahoots with the Israeli army, have prepared the ground. The last decade has seen a rise in targeted violence against Palestinians in communities they aim to displace. But nothing has compared to 2024. More than ever, Palestinians live in fear of the unrestrained violence of their illegal neighbors.
The regional war also increases the opportunity for Netanyahu. As Israel is bombing Gaza and Lebanon daily, with regular strikes in Syria and even on Iranian territory, the West Bank segment of the war has been given backwater status in the global media. Yet the future of the West Bank is what fires up Israeli leaders. It is what they see as the historical heartland of Israel. Everything else is secondary.
Would annexation be a disaster? It would have to be annulled if there were to be a Palestinian state. It could lead to the dismantlement of the emaciated, impotent Palestinian Authority and the restoration of direct Israeli control over Palestinians in cities like Ramallah and Nablus.
Ethnic cleansing would accelerate. Settlers enjoy sovereignty as it is, living under Israeli civil law while Palestinians in the West Bank live under martial law. But they want the rural and herding communities corralled into ever more crowded Palestinian cities. Given the asymmetry of this conflict, it would be years or even decades before this could be reversed.
Others argue that, given annexation has already effectively been in place for years, Israel being in full day-to-day control of the West Bank would force the world to confront the one-state reality.
Annexation would formalize Israel’s system of apartheid, which is at its most intense in the West Bank. Palestinians living under Israeli domination are not going to be given a right to vote. Laws would be decided in a parliament they have no access to. One minister made clear this month that Palestinians would not be allowed voting rights. The privileged position and superior rights of Israeli Jews would be hard to ignore.
It would focus the Palestinian rights movement behind the anti-apartheid struggle. If Israel wants a single-state reality, then the campaign for full equal rights will gather strength. What has long been a hollow piece of public relations — that Israel is a democracy — would be shredded in front of the world. Perpetual occupation and the domination of another people is the antithesis of a democracy.
Even the most boneheaded of bigots might have to concede that controlling the lives of nearly 7 million Palestinians and denying them the vote would end this illusion. Such a system will inevitably fall. It is just a question of when.
Sadly, annexation may not be the most horrific aspect. It will be the mass ethnic cleansing that accompanies it that may go down in history, in Gaza as well as the West Bank. It is hard to see who or what will stop Israel’s criminal juggernaut.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2579782
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Trump’s Appointments Offer Clues On Middle East Policy
Kerry Boyd Anderson
November 18, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump has announced several planned appointments for senior positions in his administration that will shape US foreign policy. Some of the nominees do not have a lengthy record regarding their foreign policy views, but it is possible to examine their previous statements to get a sense of how they will approach some issues. In terms of their views of the Middle East, they are united by absolute support for Israel.
Most of the positions will require confirmation by the Senate — at least eventually. A couple of the nominees might face a challenging confirmation process but, with Republicans holding a majority in the Senate, most of Trump’s picks are likely to receive the chamber’s approval.
Key nominations include Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, media commentator Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, Rep. Michael Waltz as national security adviser, Rep. Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the UN, businessman Steven Witkoff as special envoy to the Middle East, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and John Ratcliffe as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency.
When looking through their previous statements on issues related to the Middle East, the clearest commonality is unwavering support for Israel. Rubio has criticized the outgoing administration for trying to persuade Israel to practice more restraint in how it pursues the war in Gaza, expressed support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and referred to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria.” He recently wrote that “Israelis rightfully living in their historic homeland are not the impediment to peace; the Palestinians are.”
Other Trump nominees have expressed similar sentiments. Hegseth hosted a Fox News series called “Battle in the Holy Land: Israel at War,” which provided a pro-Israel perspective. Waltz has called Israel “the greatest ally we've ever known” and repeatedly criticized the outgoing administration for pressuring Israel to use restraint in attacks on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Stefanik gained media attention for grilling university leaders about campus protests against the war in Gaza and, in a speech in Jerusalem in May, she criticized the White House for providing insufficient backing to Israel. She has used strong language to condemn the UN for its criticisms of Israel, including recently stating that “once again the UN’s anti-Semitic rot is on full display.”
Witkoff helped to raise funds from pro-Israel donors for Trump’s campaign and has praised Netanyahu. Gabbard has expressed support for Israel’s war against Hamas and Ratcliffe has criticized the outgoing administration for not doing more to oppose Hamas.
Though Trump has not yet named many ambassadors, he has said that Mike Huckabee will be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is an evangelical Christian who shows religious devotion to Israel, including frequently visiting the country. He opposes a two-state solution and supports Israeli settlement in the West Bank; indeed, he has said that “there is no such thing as the West Bank — it’s Judea and Samaria,” that “there is no such thing as an (Israeli) occupation,” and that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
Beyond support for Israel, it is more difficult to assess the Trump team’s likely approach toward the Middle East. Many of the appointees lack deep experience with policy toward the region, so the appointment of other senior officials in the State Department, Defense Department, National Security Council and intelligence agencies will be important in shaping the Trump administration’s policies toward the region.
Nonetheless, there are some clues to how the Trump team will approach global issues that directly affect the Middle East. Foreign policy under Trump will likely include a mix of assertive unilateralism and isolationism and his advisers are likely to often disagree on the appropriate balance between the two approaches. The nominees tend to share a hawkish approach toward China. Some of them, particularly Waltz, would prefer to focus more resources on opposing China and less on the Middle East — although the last several presidential administrations experienced how difficult that can be to accomplish. Middle Eastern leaders might find it increasingly difficult to balance relations between Washington and Beijing.
Some of the future officials have individual interests and experiences in the Middle East. Waltz called for naming the Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which the White House later did. Gabbard faced much criticism when she visited Syria and met with President Bashar Assad while she was a member of Congress. Hegseth, Waltz and Gabbard are military veterans who were deployed to the Middle East.
Assuming that the Senate confirms Trump’s nominees, they will play key roles in shaping and implementing the president’s policies in the Middle East. Much is uncertain about how the president’s team will approach foreign policy, but unconditional support for Israel will be an important characteristic.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2579776
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The Return Of Hochstein And The Return Of The Lebanese State
Ghassan Charbel
November 18, 2024
A home is meant to protect you and your children. It is meant to protect you from rain, storms and fears. It is meant to harbor dreams and safeguard memories. Homes are meant to be there when children go to school and when they get back. Home is your nation inside the nation.
But you have grown too comfortable. War has come back, as it always does. The roof of the home is fragile, like the nation. Avichay Adraee issues an open warning: leave or be ground into the rubble. Become displaced or a corpse. Adraee is backed by a terrible arsenal. The Israeli killing machine does not take long to arrive with its artificial intelligence and American missiles. You have no choice but to seek a displacement shelter and await Amos Hochstein’s return.
This has been our case for decades. The Israeli jet and American envoy. Where can we go?
Luckily, the wounds of the past two decades have not erased the Lebanese people’s sense of national and humanitarian solidarity, despite the deteriorating relations between various Lebanese “islands.” These islands do not hide their opposition to the “unity of arenas.” They believe that the weapons must be limited to legitimate forces alone, as should the decision of war and peace. They believe that the support front did not save Gaza, but rather led Lebanon to the situation it is in right now. They believe that Israel’s hostile intentions are clear for everyone to see and, so, we must not give it any excuse to act on them. They also believe that the unity of arenas is much greater than Lebanon’s ability to withstand and the same goes for Hezbollah’s regional role.
The regular Lebanese citizen knows what Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati know: the only number they can call now is Hochstein’s. The same Hochstein whose proposals Lebanon rejected months ago. There can be no delusions over this issue. Hochstein is not a representative of a charity or a relief agency. He is the envoy of the American administration that was quick to contain the repercussions of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and condemned the “support front” from day one. The Lebanese citizen knows that the US is a partner with Israel in dismantling the unity of arenas and in taking southern Lebanon out of the Israeli military conflict. The Lebanese people know this, but they have no choice but to deal with Hochstein.
Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its destructive war. Its goal is clear: make Hezbollah’s popular support base pay a terrible price for embracing the party, the unity of arenas and the support front. Israel wants the popular base to drown in rubble, displacement and its ensuing tensions.
Drowning one segment of the population means drowning the whole of Lebanon with it. No Lebanese segment can abandon the other. The fate of the Lebanese people is connected no matter how much they are divided. Israel has displaced more than a million Lebanese people. It is as if it wants to destroy the entire popular environment. Some believe that Israel wants to reignite internal strife in Lebanon and lead the Lebanese to fight each other amid the rubble of their country when the war stops.
Lebanon awaits Hochstein as the entire world awaits Donald Trump to officially assume the US presidency in two months. The fate of the American envoy’s mission cannot be separated from the discussions going on about what will happen to Iran during Trump’s second term in office.
Lebanon urgently needs a ceasefire to avert a total collapse. No one can withstand the consequences of the exchange of blows between Iran and Israel, especially as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government threatens to expand its targets in Iran to include highly sensitive locations. So, we must turn to Hochstein, who currently holds the only key, which is implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
The implementation of Resolution 1701 is extremely important, but it would not be enough to save Lebanon. Lebanese officials have repeatedly heard from international parties that rebuilding Lebanon demands the establishment of a normal Lebanese state and that the world will not offer aid if its results will only turn to dust in the next war. This means that the Lebanese people find themselves confronted with the need to take bold and painful decisions.
The first decision should be returning decision-making to the Lebanese state and its institutions. This clearly means returning from the era of arenas to the era of the state. This means the Lebanese must return to the Taif Accord and return normality to state institutions.
Hochstein may be able to stop the war in southern Lebanon, but rebuilding the Lebanese home demands that the Lebanese unite under its institutions and that they overcome the bitter experiences of the past. Hezbollah, which has been dealt devastating blows to its leadership and popular base, is therefore demanded to take painful decisions.
Israel’s barbarity knows no bounds. We need Hochstein and we need to make painful decisions. Taking these decisions today is better than taking them after Lebanon’s total collapse. Hochstein’s return is not enough. We must return to the state. The state alone can tend to the wounds of the targeted segment and the fears of all others.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2579794m
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/middle-east-press/cold-war-terror-hezbollah-nakba-unrwa/d/133749
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