Middle East Press On: Hostage, Syria, Assad, UK Intelligence, Hamas-Iran Ties, Children in Gaza, Israeli Genocide, and US Foreign Policy: New Age Islam's Selection, 18 March 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
18 Mar. 25
· Syria’s 100 days of opportunities and obstacles after Assad
· UK intelligence warned of Hamas-Iran ties but ruled out Tehran’s influence on the Palestinian group’s policies over 30 years ago
· Children in Gaza defy trauma to return to school
· Palestine question a key test of US foreign policy
· Iran’s painful scenes and decisive moment
· Evidence of Israeli genocide keeps stacking up
· Israel's Gaza policy should focus on vital interests, not regime change
· Did leftists in the Gaza Envelope affect the political elite's decision-making?
· Trump's unpredictability means Israel cannot rely on him
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Syria’s 100 Days of Opportunities and Obstacles after Assad
March 17, 2025
By Zaki Kaf Al-Ghazal
In politics, “the first 100 days” is generally considered to be a marker as to how well a politician has settled into office, how they’re getting on with advancing their agenda, and how much trouble might lie ahead. The first 100 days have passed since the Assad regime was deposed on 8 December last year, and there are a number of matters to consider. Whilst there are huge challenges, there are encouraging signs that interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and his administration can build an inclusive and democratic Syria.
The clashes on the coast which have dominated recent news headlines are an early challenge for the new administration. On Thursday, 6 March, remnants of the deposed Assad regime, many of them in civilian clothes, ambushed the state’s security forces in a coordinated assault which was easily the biggest challenge to post-Assad Syria. This led to vigilante attacks by groups in the local area which escalated the violence. It was, essentially, an attempted coup, and the pro Assad terrorist forces held Jableh, near Latakia, for a few hours until the security forces wrested control back. Early indications are that Iran and Hezbollah had a role to play; the pro-Assad forces were kitted out with foreign communication systems. And whilst Al-Sharaa was quick to respond with the announcement of the formation of an independent committee to investigate the killings and a warning to security forces and civilians not to engage in sectarian bloodshed — with repercussions for those who do — there are examples of this taking place.
With emotions still running high in post-Assad Syria, this is no surprise, but people must be held accountable, and misinformation over the days of the killings inflamed matters further. The use by pro Assad remnants of old videos showing Assad regime Shabiha killing civilians is ironic, but led to a frenzy of posts on social media.
The adrenaline is still running high; cooler heads must prevail and the terrorist groups that attacked the security and police forces as well as many civilians in Latakia, Tartus, Baniyas and Jableh must be arrested and held accountable. Interestingly, some of those who were responsible for these attacks were initially pardoned after Assad’s fall.
Moreover, the Israeli threat in the south west is extremely concerning, and occupation regime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made no secret of his disdain for Syria’s new direction. Israel has essentially invaded a small portion of Syria and has stated that it will seek to control the area for an “unlimited” time and also control the buffer zone. This is a flagrant breach of international law, and it is worth noting that the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981 (which were occupied in 1967) was never truly resisted by the Assad regime.
Israel’s belligerence poses a risk to Syria’s stability and territorial integrity, but with the international community quiet on the matter, it is an issue that Al-Sharaa and his regional allies will need to manage.
Israel has also been encouraging minorities to resist and oppose the new government. This was seen in Jableh, with some Alawite groups on the Syrian coast asking for international support, and the Druze head cleric in Suwaida in south Syria, Hikmat Al-Jajri, refusing to fully recognise the new Syrian administration despite many of the local population being keen to do so. Interestingly, at the same time, some Druze clerics accepted an Israeli invitation to visit a religious site in the north of historic Palestine in a move to demonstrate a measure of normalisation with the occupation state.
With regard to territorial integrity, the agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate the group into the new national army and achieve a nationwide ceasefire is welcome. The Kurdish led authority has been ruling the north east since 2012, and the agreement stipulates that all public institutions will be governed by the state. Furthermore, it will recognise Kurdish rights which were long denied under Assad. This is a positive step towards national unity and builds on the engagement with other minority groups over the past few weeks. As Syria rebuilds itself after a regime that weaponised minorities and used sectarianism to rule, the collaboration and engagement between different groups and the state is crucial for a genuinely inclusive state.
It is seen as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and the number of bilateral meetings that Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Al-Sharaa have had with regional states and beyond is impressive, given that the new administration has only been in place since December.
Al-Sharaa attended the first Arab League meeting of the post Assad era last month, and whilst not all heads of states would have been happy to see him there in, there is an acceptance that a new administration governs Syria now. He has made it clear that Syria does not want any problems with its neighbours, and that a state bruised after 50 years of brutal Assad rule and a 14-year war waged by the regime against Syrian civilians will in no way be used as a launch-pad to attack Israel.
There has been progress in lifting sanctions, with the UK and EU both agreeing to do so in a number of areas, conditional upon good governance and evidence of progress towards an inclusive state being built. Al-Shaibani might be attending a donor summit in Brussels in the coming days, whilst Al-Sharaa has been invited to Paris to meet Emanuel Macron. Both are positive signs.
The US is yet to announce any lifting of sanctions however, and its economic and political power means that unless this happens, reconstruction will struggle. The new Syrian administration has been vocal in its lobbying efforts in this space.
The recent national dialogue conference in Syria in late February was a step in the right direction as the administration consults citizens on the creation of a new state. As with any new initiative, the results were mixed. Concerns were raised about the last-minute nature of the conference, with some participants being invited just two days in advance, and the fact that a day was felt to be insufficient. However, the opportunity for discussion and debate and the efforts to start building a national framework whilst the state rids itself of the remnants of the Assad regime and the Baathist institutions is to be commended.
Syria needs time. Like any patient who has endured significant, long term trauma, recovery is a process, and institutional challenges will not be solved overnight. Legal accountability for Assad-era officials is at a standstill, and citizens still await news of the preservation of Sednaya and other prisons to mark the crimes of the Assad regime. The new constitutional declaration is welcome and eagle-eyed observers will notice an interesting piece of symmetry: the old constitution through Law 49 stipulated that membership of the Muslim Brotherhood was punishable by death, whilst the new declaration through Article 49 stipulates that glorifying or denying Assad regime crimes — the Syrian Holocaust — is a criminal offence.
There is more work to do, but early signs are positive. A new state is slowly and surely being built in Syria.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250317-syrias-100-days-of-opportunities-and-obstacles-after-assad/
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Uk Intelligence Warned of Hamas-Iran Ties but Ruled out Tehran’s Influence On The Palestinian Group’s Policies over 30 Years Ago
March 17, 2025
By Amer Sultan
More than 30 years ago, UK intelligence predicted that relations between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Iran would grow. However, they ruled out the possibility that Tehran would influence Hamas’s policies, according to recently released British documents.
Since Hamas and other resistance groups in Gaza launched the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on 7 October 2023, Hamas leaders have repeatedly praised Iran’s full support for their armed struggle against Israeli occupation. However, there has been ongoing controversy over allegations of direct Iranian involvement in the planning for the events of that day.
In October 1992, a Hamas delegation visited Tehran, where they held talks with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. During the discussions, Khamenei reportedly reaffirmed Iran’s “commitment to the honourable mission of spreading the revolution around the world starting with occupied Palestine.” During this visit, Hamas established an official office in Tehran, headed by Imad Al-Alami, a senior member of the movement’s political bureau. PLO officials later claimed that Iran provided Hamas with nearly $40 million in funding and agreed to support a Hamas-run radio station.
Days after the visit, a Hamas leader reportedly stated that Iran had “offered support” for the First Intifada – between 1987 and 1993. He also remarked that Iranian officials had assured the delegation that the Palestinian cause was now “their number one priority in the region,” predicting further meetings between Hamas and Iranian leadership in the future.
Both Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) separately sought to discourage Western powers, including the UK, from engaging with Hamas, warning of its ties to Iran. The documents reveal that, after internal discussions involving British security agencies, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Middle East Section (MES) acknowledged that Israel and the PLO had “made much of” the Hamas-Iran connection.
While MES recognised in a briefing report that there had been “substantive improvement” in Hamas-Iran relations, it concluded that the “developed links” were primarily at the political level. Addressing rumours of Iranian support for Hamas military operations, MES clarified that there was no intelligence confirming a “particular relationship” between Iran and the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing.
Hamas’s capabilities and its relationship with Iran were key topics in a meeting involving the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Near East and North Africa Department (NENAD), the Security Coordination Department (SCD), MI5, the Ministry of Defence and the Research and Analysis division.
In his assessment, Mike Manning, head of the SCD, concluded that despite Iran’s “increasing attempts” to exert influence over Hamas, the group was unlikely to accept such influence. He argued that Hamas was “unlikely to target non-Israeli entities or operate outside Israel and the occupied territories”, as doing so would risk undermining the Western sympathy it had garnered — particularly following Israel’s controversial deportation of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members to Lebanon in December 1992.
However, British security officials recommended closely monitoring Hamas-Iran relations. Manning stated: “In the long term, all agreed that increasing Iranian support and the unpredictability of the political situation warranted continued close observation of Hamas.”
Janet Hancock, head of MES in the Research and Analysis Department, warned of the potential consequences of Hamas’s evolving relationship with Iran. While she acknowledged that Iran’s influence over Hamas was still “unclear”, she cautioned that if the relationship deepened, elements within Hamas “could become radicalized” and “expand their scope of activities.”
In late November 1993, a high-level Hamas delegation, led by Mousa Abu Marzouk, then head of the group’s political bureau, visited Tehran. During this visit, they held meetings with senior Iranian officials, including the president, speaker of parliament and foreign minister.
A top-secret British embassy cable from Tehran reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati told Abu Marzouk that Iran “had come under pressure to change its stance” on the Middle East peace process. However, Velayati insisted that Iran’s position was “unalterable”, describing the proposed peace solutions as “disgraceful” and predicting that they “would not bear fruit.”
On 7 December 1993 — five days after the Hamas delegation’s departure — European Community (EC) heads of mission in Tehran met to discuss the visit. The German ambassador informed the meeting that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, confirmed Hamas had come to Iran “simply to talk” and stressed that “Iran could not and would not give them orders.” Vaezi also clarified that the visit was not initiated by Iran and “didn’t mean a tilt on their part towards Iran”. Addressing the extensive media coverage of the visit, he remarked, “It is impossible in Tehran to keep such a visit quiet.”
By late December 1993, the FCO sought to analyse Hamas’s relations with Middle Eastern countries, including Iran. During a meeting in London with Hancock, senior Hamas member Muhammad Nazzal described the group’s relationship with Iran as “special”. He explained that Hamas’s ties with Iran were “slightly different” from its relationships with Arab states, as Iran was “the first country to welcome Hamas” and had provided an official office.
Asked about Hamas’s presence in Arab countries, Nazzal said the group had “presence” in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen, and some Gulf States, primarily “talk to press”.
He also suggested that Hamas was “useful” to many Arab and Islamic governments that “did not like” Yasser Arafat, the leader of PLO, arguing that relations with Hamas helped these governments “boost their popularity with their people by supporting the Palestinian cause.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250317-uk-intelligence-warned-of-hamas-iran-ties-but-ruled-out-tehrans-influence-on-the-palestinian-groups-policies-over-30-years-ago/
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Children In Gaza Defy Trauma To Return To School
March 17, 2025
Children have returned to school in Gaza, taking classes in tents or in the rubble of schools where families sheltered during the war, but trauma, aid blockades and the threat of more fighting could derail their drive to learn.
At least 14,500 children have been killed in the war to date, and thousands wounded, according to UNICEF. More than 400 teachers were also killed, says the UN, and now most of Gaza’s children need mental health support for trauma, say aid agencies.
Children are not necessarily just picking up from where they left off when the war began on 7 October, 2023, “because of all the learning loss and the deep psychological impact of the war,” explained Kate McLennan, Middle East regional advisor on education at rights group War Child. “There is also trauma attached to schools, which are generally understood as places of learning and safety and where you go to play with your friends [but have] been used as shelters. So, there is that alternative use of a school which has a psychological impact on children.”
A fragile truce was declared between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel in January and, as of 3 March, more than 150,000 students had enrolled in 165 government schools, with over 7,000 teachers mobilised, the UN pointed out, citing the Education Ministry in Gaza.
However, the challenges are huge.
More than 658,000 school-aged children do not have access to formal education and almost 95 per cent of school buildings have been damaged by Israeli air strikes and fighting, with 88 per cent of them needing major reconstruction, according to a report by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster, which includes UN agencies and other international aid groups.
Desks and chairs have been pulverised and teaching materials destroyed while reconstruction has been delayed by aid blockades imposed by Israel. The blockades have impeded efforts to establish more learning spaces and rebuild damaged schools, said Alun McDonald, head of media and external relations at Islamic Relief, a British-based charity. “Hundreds of large tents that were meant to be used for temporary learning spaces have been blocked from entering [Gaza], even during the ceasefire period,” he added.
The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that there could be another hunger crisis if the blockades continue. Israel says that the blockades are designed to pressure Hamas in ceasefire talks.
“Children can’t learn when they are being starved and bombed,” said McDonald. “Getting children back into school is an urgent priority, but the challenges are absolutely massive.”
The war began when a Hamas-led incursion on 7 October, 2023, triggered an Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Israel says that 1,200 people were killed by Hamas, which also took 251 hostages.
This month Israel stopped deliveries of food, medicine and fuel into Gaza and cut the supply of electricity in a bid to put pressure on Hamas. Aid agencies said the power cut could threaten clean water supplies.
Around 32,000 students have registered to take their final high school exams, according to the UN, but there is a lack of tablets, internet access and charging stations to facilitate the process.
There is also a shortage of large tents and recreational and psycho-social kits to help students learn because of restrictions on aid, including the blocking of 10 pre-approved trucks carrying basic education supplies in February, said UN agencies. However, it is not just the physical damage and shortages that are holding children back.
“One of the things that we know from our work in all conflict and post-conflict and development contexts is that the psychological trauma and the psychosocial support needs of children are so high that it’s related to brain development as well,” said McLennan. “The academic content is not going to stick if the conditions of the brain are not ready to… deal with that.”
A study by academics and UNRWA last year said the war could set the education of children in Gaza back by up to five years. “The lost education will affect an entire generation of children in Gaza for the rest of their lives,” concluded War Child’s McDonald.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250317-children-in-gaza-defy-trauma-to-return-to-school/
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Palestine Question A Key Test Of Us Foreign Policy
Dr. Ramzy Baroud
March 17, 2025
It is crucial for any US administration to recognize that, regardless of political agendas, the views of the American public regarding the situation in Palestine and Israel are undergoing a significant shift. A critical mass of opinion is rapidly forming and this change is becoming undeniable.
Paradoxically, while Islamophobia continues to rise across the US, sentiments supporting Palestinians and opposing Israeli occupation are steadily increasing.
In theory, this means that the pro-Israeli media’s success in linking Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people to the so-called war on terror — a narrative that has demonized Islam and Muslims for many years — is faltering.
Americans are increasingly viewing the situation in Palestine as a human rights issue, and one that is deeply relevant to domestic politics. A recent Gallup poll underscored this shift. The poll, released on March 6, was conducted between Feb. 3 and 16. It found that American support for Israel was at its lowest point since polling began 25 years ago, while sympathy for Palestinians had reached its highest level. Having 46 percent of Americans sympathize more with Israelis and 33 percent with Palestinians would have seemed inconceivable in the past, when the plight of Palestine and its people was largely overlooked by the general public.
Even more remarkable is that this shift continues to gain momentum, despite the fact that the mainstream media and American politicians are more biased than ever, promoting a dehumanizing discourse of Palestinians and unprecedented, uncritical support for Israel.
While the growing shift in favour of Palestine — particularly as a result of the genocide in Gaza, which played a role in influencing the outcomes in several states during the 2024 presidential election — went largely unnoticed by the Biden administration, it is clear that the dissatisfaction with the government’s position remains unchanged since the change of presidency.
The previous administration approved significant military aid to Israel, topping $17.9 billion in the first year of the genocidal war on Gaza alone. This blatant disregard for Palestinian lives and rights has persisted under the new administration, who has appointed some staunchly anti-Palestinian, pro-Israel figures to key positions in his government.
Trump did this despite making repeated, though often contradictory, promises to end the war and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, the US president has approved the release of a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs and passed the sale of arms worth nearly $3 billion to Israel.
The White House also introduced a new US policy based on “taking ownership” of Gaza and displacing its population. However, this position was inconsistently articulated and Trump last Thursday seemed to reverse it altogether. This left many wondering whether US foreign policy was truly independent or simply a reflection of the influence of Israel and its Washington lobby.
Unlike President Joe Biden, whose support for Israel was consistent, the new administration’s stance has been confusing and contradictory. The US news portal Axios reported on March 5 that direct talks between the US, led by hostage envoy Adam Boehler, and Hamas had taken place in Doha. In an interview four days later, Boehler made the striking statement that US and Israeli foreign policies should be seen as separate. “We’re the United States. We’re not an agent of Israel,” he said.
However, as analysts began mulling over this unprecedented language, it was soon revealed that Boehler had been removed from his position and America’s traditional, unwavering support for Israel quickly returned.
As US policymakers continue to swing between their unwavering commitment to Israel and “America First” rhetoric, they must keep in mind the following four factors.
First, the American public is increasingly aware of events in Palestine, so masking Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights under the guise of “Israel’s right to defend itself” no longer suffices.
Second, US and Israeli interests are not identical: the US seeks geopolitical dominance followed by stabilization and so-called containment, while Israel thrives on provocations, destabilization and long-lasting conflicts.
Third, Palestine has become a domestic issue in the US and the debate on Palestine and Israel is no longer one-sided. Growing support for Palestine means that more US voters will base their future political decisions on how the country engages with Israel and its disregard for Palestinian rights.
Fourth, crackdowns on dissent, arrests of activists and funding cuts will only deepen the polarization around this issue, rather than fostering an open, informed and productive debate on a matter of great importance to millions of Americans. Such actions are quickly eroding the reputation of the US as a democratic state and undermining confidence in its commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Palestine may not be the sole measure by which the Trump administration will be judged, nor the only factor shaping future voting patterns. Yet, it is undoubtedly a crucial test. If the contradictions persist and the US continues to provide unwavering military support for Israel, Palestine could become the defining issue that contributes to the unravelling of US foreign policy, not only in the Middle East but around the world.
It is not too late for this trajectory to shift or for some degree of balance to emerge. The lives of millions of people are at stake.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2593895
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Iran’s Painful Scenes And Decisive Moment
Ghassan Charbel
March 17, 2025
The veteran politician said the latest American strikes against Houthi positions may be the last message from the Trump administration to Iran before the decisive moment arrives for its nuclear program. He said the region may be headed toward a major crisis should the Iranian supreme leader fail to take a big and painful decision that would “dismantle the nuclear program and abandon the regional proxies, especially after the blows they were dealt.”
Donald Trump’s message to the Iranian leadership reminded me of what took place in the early 2000s between the US and Libya. At that time, Muammar Qaddafi requested that Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham convince his friend, Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, to intervene with George W. Bush to improve relations between Washington and Tripoli. Bouteflika agreed and came back to Shalgham with the following message: “You either remove the weapons of mass destruction or he (Bush) will destroy everything without discussion.” Shalgham relayed the message to Qaddafi, who told him: “You are afraid and a coward.”
After considering his options, Qaddafi ultimately went with the one that would save his regime instead of kick off a confrontation with America. Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi contacted British intelligence with a message: “I am Saif Al-Islam, Muammar Qaddafi’s son. I want to talk to you about the weapons of mass destruction.” When a meeting was set up, he said he wanted an improvement in relations in return for cooperation. After that, Libya dismantled its centrifuges and handed them over to the Americans. Libya also severed ties with organizations and parties that were viewed as its proxies.
Iran is nothing like Libya, not in its regime or the way it takes decisions. It is a major regional power that boasts human, military and economic means. But it is approaching the moment of truth now that Trump has returned to the White House. It has for decades avoided sliding into a direct confrontation with the American military machine, preferring instead to undermine American influence in the region by mobilizing its proxies.
But what if it finds itself in the same situation faced by Libya: having to choose between the safety of its regime or waging a confrontation with a foregone conclusion?
Politicians and analysts say that Iran is now facing its most difficult challenge since the victory of Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution, or at least since the end of the long war with Saddam Hussein’s regime. Ever since his return to the White House, Trump has been taking decisions that impact the whole world. He is running the world through social media posts. He is breaking rules that were previously viewed as unbreakable, from launching trade wars, imposing tariffs and sanctions, and threatening to change maps and balances of power.
The veteran politician spoke of painful images that Iran must pause at. Hamas launched its Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and the residents of Gaza made unimaginable sacrifices, but the enclave is completely destroyed and the issue of Hamas’ weapons is on the table. If the disarmament of Hamas is not possible at the moment, then the international community will demand its removal from the military conflict with Israel for several years to ensure that the Gaza reconstruction starts on the right path. It is evident that Hamas has agreed to a reduced role in Gaza after the hostage and prisoner exchange phase is complete.
The politician noted that Iran has been generous in supporting Hamas, but it is incapable of saving it. He also noted that Hezbollah launched its “support front” but could not change the course of the war in Gaza and lost its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah — who it is seemingly incapable of replacing. Moreover, the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons is on the table, not just in the demands of the international community, but the majority of the Lebanese people too. Iran could not save Hezbollah and its military presence in Syria. It could not prevent the collapse of the regime of its ally Bashar Assad and Russia did not volunteer to help.
The politician then highlighted two more painful images facing Tehran. The first is its inability to continue to trade direct blows with Israel. The war on Gaza and Lebanon demonstrated Israel’s military and technological superiority. It can run rampant across the skies of countries near and far. The second is the vow by the man who ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring an insurance policy for its regime: a nuclear bomb.
The politician noticed that a new balance of power has emerged in the region and that Iran appears incapable of changing developments in its favour, not in Syria, Lebanon or Gaza. He noted that Iran’s diminished role in Syria was coupled with Turkiye’s rising influence there, which only makes things more complicated for Tehran.
Trump has also reimposed his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran. The outcomes of the wars in the region all favour this policy. The latest American raids against the Houthis are like a demand on Iran to quickly reach realistic conclusions from the painful scenes it is witnessing.
Soleimani had at one point drawn up his country’s line of defence in the region. He was able to breach Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The uprooting of the Syrian link from the so-called resistance axis has severed this line of defence.
Developments are unfolding rapidly in the region. New balances of power and roles are emerging. America’s Trump is playing a decisive role in the region. Russia is focused on reaping a greater reward in Ukraine. The supreme leader is confronted with a difficult choice to receive a certificate of good behaviour when it comes to its nuclear file and refraining from rebuilding its resistance axis and mobilizing its proxies. The decisive moment is approaching.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2593893
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Evidence Of Israeli Genocide Keeps Stacking Up
Chris Doyle
March 17, 2025
r crimes, crimes against humanity and, yes, genocide against Palestinians grows thicker by the day. UN agencies, human rights groups, doctors, aid agencies and other professional outfits have overloaded our inboxes with heavily footnoted, weighty reports.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the conflict contributed a 49-page report into the mix. It covered sexual and gender-based violence carried out by Israeli forces and settlers.
It shakes up the narrative of the Western establishment. Anti-Palestinian groups want the focus to be solely on Israeli victims of sexual crimes — those carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. This has to change. The huge number of Palestinian women killed undermines Israeli claims that their operations were targeted. October 2023 may have been the deadliest month for Palestinian women ever recorded, with 1,213 killed. Children make up a third of all casualties, women another third. These percentages are much higher than in the 2008-09 conflict, the report argues, because of Israel’s far greater use of heavy air bombardment.
Prominent Israeli figures are not ashamed of sharing genocidal views, including against Palestinian women. Take Eliyahu Yosian, a commentator from the Misgav Institute for National Security, who told Israeli TV that, in Gaza, “the woman is an enemy, the baby is an enemy and the pregnant woman is an enemy.” This alone should be punishable as incitement under the Genocide Convention.
The report also covers another aspect of genocide, namely the intent to impose measures intended to prevent births within the group. To back this up, the report covers the shelling of an in vitro fertilization clinic in December 2023. Israeli commanders knew the purpose of the clinic.
The report also details the remarkable number of Israeli strikes on maternity wards —part of the broader Israeli decimation of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza. As one Palestinian doctor told me: “Not only do you not want to get sick in Gaza, you do not want to get pregnant.” Giving birth without proper medical facilities has become so dangerous that many women opt to risk giving birth at home. Because of Israel’s policy of starvation as a weapon of war, women and newborns are typically malnourished and many women say they cannot produce milk to breastfeed.
Nobody needed Nostradamus-like powers to predict the Israeli leadership’s reaction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired off his usual fusillade of condemnation so fast that it is doubtful he got past the first page of the report, if he looked at it at all. This was “an anti-Israel circus.” As for the UN Human Rights Council, Netanyahu fumed that it “has long been exposed as an anti-Semitic, corrupt and pro-terror body that has no legitimacy.” He was not so critical last June, when the same UN body produced an excoriating report on the Oct. 7 attacks, including Hamas’ use of sexual violence.
Netanyahu rejects the UN report as blood libel. Listen to him and practically the whole world is anti-Semitic. The Israeli PM has called the UN a “house of darkness” and a “swamp of anti-Semitic bile.” US student protests are anti-Semitic. The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan was described as one of “the great anti-Semites in modern times.” Netanyahu said: “The anti-Semitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.” In fact, he also accused the ICC of antisemitism back in 2019.
One group Netanyahu is quiet about is what can be called the anti-Semites for Israel — those who indulge in anti-Jewish hatred and conspiracies but support Israel.
The grotesque way unevidenced smears of antisemitism are hurled at entire institutions to intimidate and distract from the reality of Israel’s war crimes and genocide has to be challenged. Genuine antisemitism is rising but what Netanyahu et al are doing undermines that cause.
The challenge is to ensure the overwhelming deluge of evidence of genocide counts — a tough ask given the tidal wave of career-ending pile-ons against those in power who dare to utter the “G” word.
The eminent genocide scholar William Schabas, who lost family in the Nazi Holocaust, summed it up perfectly: “One day, Western countries will all recognize what happened in Gaza as a genocide. It will be like apartheid South Africa, when the West stayed silent for decades and then suddenly grew conscious when they think it is safe to.”
Those who are prepared to stand up and be counted should be honoured. The legions of politicians, advisers and officials who know the truth but cower in fear must step forward. A day of reckoning will come when those who have been complicit in Israel’s crimes will be held to account. It is time to be on the right side of history.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2593890
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Israel's Gaza Policy Should Focus On Vital Interests, Not Regime Change
By Robbie Sabel
March 18, 2025
Former British prime minister Lord Palmerston famously stated: “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”
Any examination of Israel’s policy in Gaza should therefore start with a clarification and definition of Israel’s vital interests. In the Gaza operation, these interests are the prompt return of the hostages and ensuring Israel’s future security, namely so that October 7 does not recur.
Presumably, proper preparations by the IDF can prevent a future land incursion by terrorists; such preparations were woefully absent in October 2023.
In addition, Israel has to ensure that whoever controls Gaza can no longer import or manufacture rockets or other types of weapons or artillery, as well as strategic materials that can threaten the country. This requires supervision by an outside body; the Western states and Egypt have apparently expressed willingness to carry out such supervision.
Hamas is an autocratic, anti-Semitic regime that imposes an extreme form of Islam on its population. It would be in Israel’s interest to see Hamas replaced by a moderate regime, but it is questionable whether this is indeed a vital interest or an attainable one.
None of Israel’s neighbours, except perhaps Lebanon, are democratic. Israel succeeded, for many years, to maintain a quiet border with Syria, although it was subject to the cruel dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. It is hoped that we will be able to continue to maintain quiet on the border with Syria now under the rule of Ahmed al-Sharaa, himself hardly a paragon of democracy.
Changing regimes in Gaza
If Hamas does not pose a security threat, then is it our business to determine what regime Gaza will have? Are we capable of doing so? Israel’s attempt to try and change regimes in our neighbours, as we did in Lebanon, was not a success.
It is highly unlikely that Hamas can be replaced by a liberal democracy. Therefore, it is recommended that Israel’s policy in Gaza should concentrate on our vital security interests; it is doubtful whether a regime change in Gaza is one of them.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-846369
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Did Leftists In The Gaza Envelope Affect The Political Elite's Decision-Making?
By Yisrael Medad
March 18, 2025
Parallel to the war Israel is currently engaged in on multiple fronts, there is another ongoing battle Israelis are fighting over the investigation of the defence and security establishments’ failures as well as that of the political echelons. Who was responsible for what?
At stake in this internal battle is when the investigative body will be appointed, who will be doing the investigating, what the parameters of the investigation will be, and, of course, who will be investigated.
That Israel suffered a horrendous debacle is only a part of the picture. As Haaretz’s Amos Harel has noted, “There was indeed a multisystem collapse, in which most of Israel’s defensive layers ceased to operate at a critical moment.” That situation was not solely the result of the IDF’s current senior command.
Underestimating Hamas
It developed due to the decisions of a half-dozen chiefs of staff who, over the years, progressively reduced the armoured corps and selected technology over hands-on operations.
In addition, it would appear they adapted themselves to what they perceived as the political atmosphere developing since the Oslo Accords of 1993: peace in our time.
Gili Cohen reported for KAN news on October 1, 2023, that both senior army and GSS officials pressed the government to continue with economic measures and easing restrictions to ensure quiet. She reported the same policy when working for Haaretz on November 25, 2015, regarding Judea and Samaria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and all of his predecessors since the 2005 Gaza Disengagement at the least, as well as those who were defence ministers, chairmen of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, and others, of course, will need to have their records and decisions reviewed.
An example of this need to understand how politicians arrived at their conclusions is Naftali Bennett’s June 21, 2022, statement in which he declared, “After a year [of being prime minister], I return a South that is quiet and blooming… Hamas is deterred. We’ve altered the reality completely.” Deterred? How did he arrive at that conclusion?
One group of influential people, however, that will most probably need to justify or explain their actions and pronouncements is the “peace camp.” This group consisted of the activists on the ground, the pundits, the military correspondents, and defence affairs’ panelists who trumpeted their messaging in the media.
For example, Amit Waldman and Udi Segal at the N12 website on May 1, 2017, reported from “sources in the Arab world” that Hamas has “surrendered its goal of destroying Israel.”
A month later, on June 5, 2017, Shaul Arieli published a column in Haaretz referring to the “pragmatic and realistic, clear-eyed leadership of Hamas under Sinwar… seeking to yield on the right of return for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.”
Did these pie-in-the-sky analyses, and many dozens more like them, affect the IDF? Did they influence politicians? Was there a genuine exchange of ideas on the intentions and strategy of Hamas, or did all involved speak only to each other at internal brainstorming and the well-publicized conferences held annually to great fanfare?
These experts, brought into the conversation by the media, thus increasing their influence, were bolstered by the actions of those who believed peace and security could be achieved even with Hamas. Their belief led to tragic circumstances.
Betrayed by those they spent their lives helping
Gideon Segal, a “Road to Recovery” volunteer driver from Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, was interviewed by Haaretz on December 22, 2023, and expressed his feelings of “frustration, rage, and also of vengeance.”
He admitted he was aware that “Gazans will not give up their national dream because of transportation and treatment in our hospitals. Everything we are doing is only for the sake of our own conscience.”
The murdered Oded Lifshitz lived in Nir Oz. In the 1970s, he was campaigning against the removal of the Bedouin population from the Rafiah Salient area.
His wife, Yocheved, was kidnapped and released in November 2023. She related she had confronted Yahya Sinwar during a visit to hostages in a tunnel and had asked him, “Aren’t you ashamed of having done this to people who have always worked for peace with the Palestinians?”
After her husband’s murder, she spoke publicly and admitted, “We fought all through the years for social justice, for peace. To my sorrow, we were hit by a terrible blow by those we helped on the other side.” At his funeral, her eulogy included that “we were betrayed by those we spent our lives helping.”
A survivor, Amit Siman-Tov-Vahaba, who lost her entire family in the attack, stated, “My deepest beliefs were turned upside down. I thought the Gaza Strip was full of people who looked like us... But this was all false.”
Batia Holin of Kibbutz Kfar Aza admitted, “They not only killed friends of mine; they killed my beliefs.” Avida Bachar of Be’eri also felt a “betrayed Leftist” and admitted that had the massacre taken place in Gush Etzion, his reaction would have been that if they lived there, “they deserved it.”
There are those who cannot provide any testimony, such as Hayim Katsman, who was murdered at Kibbutz Holit. He had been active in Machsom Watch. In a paper posthumously published in Jacobin, he envisioned a “non-exclusivist non-ethnonationalist state” for both “Israelis and Palestinians.”
Another was Vivian Silvers. A resident of Be’eri, prior to the 2007 Gaza border closure, she worked with Gazan residents on cross-cultural projects such as fostering connections between Arab and Israeli artisans. Silver was a former board member of B’Tselem. Her incinerated remains were identified only five weeks after October 7.
None of these people are guilty or responsible for Hamas’s al-Aqsa Flood massacre in any way. But their words and actions affected the thinking and decisions of the political and defence elite and its emasculation. The people of Israel deserve to know how the decision-makers were influenced by this atmosphere.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-846384
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Trump's Unpredictability Means Israel Cannot Rely On Him
By Michael J. Salamon
March 18, 2025
The conventional wisdom in some Israeli and American political circles regards Donald Trump’s presidency – past and present – as an unalloyed positive for Israel.
But spend time talking to American Jews and Israelis, and a more nuanced picture emerges – one that challenges simplistic narratives about his relationship with the Jewish state.
While Trump’s administration took several high-profile actions favouring Israel, including relocating the American Embassy to Jerusalem and his grand gestures in Gaza, which he has flip-flopped, many view his impact through a more critical lens.
They see Trump as a destabilizing force in global politics whose unpredictability has created as many challenges as opportunities for Israel’s security interests.
Trump's successes
Take Iran, for instance. Trump’s maximum pressure campaign and withdrawal from the nuclear deal earned cheers from many quarters in Israel.
But many Israeli security experts privately acknowledge that these moves, while bold, failed to meaningfully alter Tehran’s regional behaviour or nuclear ambitions.
Instead, they arguably accelerated Iran’s uranium enrichment program while straining relationships with European allies whose cooperation is vital for containing Iranian influence.
The embassy move to Jerusalem, though celebrated by some as a historic recognition of Israel’s capital, yielded few tangible diplomatic benefits. Rather than catalyzing progress in Palestinian negotiations as promised, it removed American leverage as an honest broker without securing meaningful concessions from either side.
This exemplifies a pattern in Trump’s approach: dramatic moves that generate headlines but little lasting positive impact on the ground.
More troubling to many Israelis is Trump’s cavalier deployment of anti-Semitic tropes and stereotypes, even as he proclaims himself Israel’s greatest ally.
His recent attack on Senator Chuck Schumer, labelling him “a Palestinian” as a slur, reveals a dangerous willingness to weaponize Jewish identity for political gain. We don’t necessarily support Schumer’s positions, but calling him names is a bullying move that only encourages anti-Semites.
His unbounded attacks on political foes suggest a lack of stability, and while accusations of personal antisemitism may go too far, Trump’s rhetoric is hypocritical and thus provides cover for actual anti-Semites to express their bigotry more openly.
Trump's approach too erratic
This dynamic highlights a broader concern: the conflation of unwavering support for Israeli government policies with genuine support for Jewish people and their security.
Many Israelis recognize that their nation’s interests are best served by nuanced, substantive policies rather than performative gestures that inflame tensions and complicate the pursuit of regional stability.
The reality is that Israel’s security challenges require careful diplomacy, consistent policy, and the maintenance of strong international alliances.
While Trump’s first administration delivered some policy wins for Israel, in particular, the Abraham Accords navigated by Jared Kushner, Trump’s erratic approach to international relations and casual trafficking in white nationalistic tropes left many Israelis questioning whether such victories were worth the broader costs to global stability and the fight against antisemitism.
There are inherent risks for Israel. If Trump perceives that Israel is not aligning with his broader political agenda, he could reduce support, as he has done with other allies.
While he was tough on Iran during his first term, he has also suggested he could negotiate with them. A sudden change in stance could impact Israel’s security. Trump may try to force Israel into a deal with the Palestinians that Netanyahu or other leaders might find unacceptable.
If Trump’s actions cause a rift between Israel and the US Democrats, Israel could lose long-term bipartisan support. However, if he remains committed to his pro-Israel stance, the Jewish state could see continued US military and diplomatic backing, and his pressure tactics on Iran and the Palestinians could align with Israel’s interests.
As Israel navigates an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, many of its citizens prefer leaders who can advance their interests through steady diplomacy rather than provocative tweets.
They understand that their nation’s security depends not on grand gestures but on the patient work of building coalitions, strengthening democratic institutions, and pursuing peace through principled engagement with both allies and adversaries.
The bottom line is that Israel may benefit in the short term if Trump stays on its side, but his unpredictability means the country cannot fully rely on him. It will need to hedge its bets by maintaining bipartisan support in the US and strengthening independent security capabilities.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-846374
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