The untold terms of the new American ceasefire proposal
By Motasem A Dalloul | MEMO | August 21, 2024
A new leader for the next phase of Palestinian resistance
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas ,in Gaza City on 14 April 2023 [Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]
By Sayid Marcos Tenório | MEMO | August 20, 2024
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, announced on 6 August the election of Yahya Sinwar as the new head of the movement’s Political Bureau, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in an Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran. Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Sinwar is one of the most prominent figures in the Hamas political sphere, known for his heavy hand and for making big changes. His unanimous election is a strong message that Hamas has become stronger and more resilient despite the severe blow it received from the political murder of Haniyeh. The movement expressed its confidence in Sinwar, known as Abu Ibrahim, to lead this new delicate phase in a complex local, regional and international context.
Known for his steadfast leadership style and his resistance-focused approach to the occupation state, Sinwar has played a crucial role in shaping the resistance movement’s strategies and managing Gaza’s complex political and social relations.
Hamas wanted a replacement for Haniyeh who would send strong messages to the enemies of the Palestinian people.
Sinwar was elected head of the Hamas Political Bureau in Gaza in February 2017, also succeeding Ismail Haniyeh. He was re-elected for a second term in 2021. He led the Great March of Return in 2018, a peaceful attempt to break the siege of Gaza, as well as the Sword of Al-Quds campaign in 2021. He has also played a prominent role in strengthening relations with the axis of resistance.
The new political bureau head was the mastermind and commander of the epic Al-Aqsa Flood, which has lasted more than 300 days. In a speech at the commemoration in Gaza on 14 December 2022 of the 35th anniversary of the creation of Hamas, he foreshadowed the events of 7 October when he declared: “We will come to you [Israel], God willing, in a thunderous flood. We will go against you with endless rockets, we will go against you in an endless onslaught of combatants, we will go against you with millions of our own, like an endless tide.”
The other Palestinian factions and leaders of the axis of resistance expressed their support for Sinwar’s election, demonstrating confidence in his ability to overcome the loss of Haniyeh and to continue his legacy and that of all the martyred leaders, especially those who fell during Al-Aqsa Storm.
Yahya Sinwar was born in 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip after his family was ethnically cleansed from the city of Majdal Asqualan (“Ashkelon”) by the Zionists in the 1948 Nakba. He completed his secondary education at Khan Younis Boys Secondary School. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in Arabic from the Islamic University of Gaza, where he was one of the leaders of the Student Council for five years, serving as Secretary of the Artistic Committee, then of the Sports Committee, Vice-President, President of the Council, and then Vice-President again from 1982 to 1987.
He began his political activity in his youth, leading numerous popular clashes against the Zionist occupation state between 1982 and 1988. His participation was instrumental in the founding of Majd, the Hamas internal security apparatus tasked with exposing Israeli spies. Along with Salah Shehada, he was one of the founders of the Hamas military wing, the Izz Ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in 1991.
Arrested by Israel in 1982, Sinwar spent six months in Fara’a Prison for his resistance activities. In 1988, he was arrested again and given four life sentences, serving 23 consecutive years in the enemy’s prisons.
He spent four years being held in solitary confinement.
In prison, he repeatedly assumed leadership of the Hamas prisoners’ High Command, leading a series of hunger strikes, with significant examples in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. He learnt and still speaks fluent Hebrew and has numerous writings and translations related to political and security issues.
He translated the books Shabak Among the Remains and Israeli Parties in 1992, for example, and authored Hamas: Experience and Mistakes and Al-Mayd, which documents the work of the occupation state’s Shin Bet internal security agency. He is also the author of a novel, Thorns and Carnations, which covers the experience of the Palestinian struggle from the 1967 Naksa to the First Intifada (1987-1993).
After his release in 2011 under the prisoner exchange deal which saw 1,027 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, he was elected to the Hamas political office in Gaza and assumed responsibility for the security cabinet in 2012. He was later elected to the general political office and assumed responsibility for the military cabinet in 2013.
Now, the legitimate resistance for the liberation of the historic land of Palestine from occupation, with Jerusalem as its capital, continues under the leadership of Yahya Sinwar, a selfless anti-colonial, anti-occupation fighter.
Hamas reveals details of latest US proposal for Gaza ceasefire: Report
The Cradle | August 18, 2024
Sources in the Hamas movement revealed details of the newest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire between the Palestinian resistance movement and Israel, Al-Sharq newspaper reported on 18 August.
An official source in the movement told Al-Sharq that the US proposal included reducing the presence of the Israeli army on the strategic Gaza-Egypt border area known as the Philadelphia Corridor but not a full withdrawal of the Israeli army. The proposal also included the returning management of the Rafah crossing to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Israeli supervision.
The source added that the US proposal also includes allowing Israel to monitor displaced Palestinians at the Netzarim Corridor as they return to the north of Gaza.
Washington’s proposal also includes deporting outside of Palestine a large number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released by Israel in the exchange deal, according to a source in the Hamas movement.
The source also pointed out that the proposal gives Tel Aviv the right to refuse the release of at least 100 Palestinian prisoners now held in Israeli prisons in any exchange for the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas.
The US proposal additionally states that “a permanent ceasefire will be discussed in the second phase within a specific limit, and if Hamas does not agree to the Israeli demands, the army will return to the war and carry out its military operations,” according to the source.
He explained that according to the proposal, an agreement on the reconstruction of Gaza and lifting of the 17-year blockade on the enclave would be discussed only after the implementation of the first phase of the deal.
The US proposal comes as Israel continues to carry out regular massacres of women and children in Gaza and amid reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to sabotage a possible ceasefire deal.
Documents cited by the New York Times (NYT) on 13 August confirmed that Netanyahu has continued to add new conditions to Israel’s demands each time a deal for a ceasefire is close to being reached.
The unpublished documents show that Israel “relayed a list of new stipulations in late July to American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators that added less flexible conditions to a set of principles it had made in late May,” NYT reported.
It added that the documents “make clear that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Netanyahu government has been extensive.”
Hamas has stated that Netanyahu continues to delay a ceasefire agreement to give the Israeli army more time to kill Palestinians and destroy homes and infrastructure in Gaza. The resistance movement called in a statement on 12 August for mediators to push Israel into accepting the proposal it had agreed to in early July, which was an updated version of Biden’s May proposal.
“We demand that the mediators submit a plan to implement what they presented to the movement and that we agreed to on 2 July 2024, based on Biden’s vision and the Security Council resolution, and oblige the occupation to do so, instead of going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation’s aggression and give it more time to perpetuate the war of genocide against our people,” Hamas said on 11 August.
This week, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza exceeded 40,000, according to the health ministry. The number may be much higher due to indirect deaths from the destruction of Gaza’s health and sanitation infrastructure and due to those people who remain missing, buried under the rubble of buildings and homes destroyed by Israeli bombs.
Hamas responds to Doha proposal, says Netanyahu ‘obstructing’ ceasefire deal
Press TV – August 18, 2024
Hamas has squarely blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, following two days of talks in Doha that concluded on Friday, in which the Palestinian resistance movement did not participate
Hamas gave its official response in a statement on Sunday after reviewing the outcomes of the negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt as well as the United States.
Hamas called on the mediators to present a concrete plan to implement the proposals agreed upon on July 2, emphasizing the need to avoid a continuous cycle of stalled negotiations due to Netanyahu’s delaying tactics and new conditions.
The resistance movement accused Netanyahu of employing a strategy to buy time and prolong the aggression in Gaza.
“We became certain that Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement,” Hamas said in its statement.
The group emphasized that the latest proposal presented during the talks aligns with Netanyahu’s conditions, which notably include his rejection of a permanent ceasefire and any withdrawal from Gaza.
The resistance movement highlighted that the proposal also reflects Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining control over strategic areas of Gaza, including the Netzarim Junction, the Rafah Crossing, and the Philadelphi Corridor.
Furthermore, Hamas criticized the new conditions that Netanyahu imposed on the prisoner exchange negotiations.
“We hold Netanyahu fully responsible for thwarting the mediators’ efforts and obstructing the path to an agreement,” it reiterated.
Hamas asserted that they have approached the mediation efforts in Qatar and Egypt responsibly, and have considered all proposals intended at stopping the aggression against Palestinians and concluding a prisoner exchange deal.
This approach, Hamas noted, is driven by a desire to spare the blood of their people and end the ongoing violence and genocide against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The movement also reaffirmed its commitment to what it agreed upon on July 2, which was outlined by US President Joe Biden at the end of May and approved by the UN Security Council.
“We call on the mediators to fulfill their responsibilities and oblige the occupation to implement what has been agreed upon,” it added.
The latest round of ceasefire talks on Gaza concluded in Doha without a breakthrough on Friday, but a new date has been set for further discussions next week.
A statement from the White House, issued by co-mediators Qatar and Egypt, described a fresh proposal that they said builds “on areas of agreement” and seeks to bridge remaining gaps, allowing for “a swift implementation of the deal.”
In a separate statement late Friday, President Biden expressed optimism about a deal, saying that the “bridging proposal” provides a foundation for a final agreement on a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal.
Despite the optimistic tone, dozens of rounds of indirect talks between Hamas and Israel have failed to produce an agreement since a short-lived truce collapsed in December.
The mediation efforts have suffered several setbacks, chief among them the assassination of Hamas’ political leader and chief negotiator, Ismail Haniyeh, in an Israeli strike in Tehran late in July.
Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Doha Concluded: New Proposal Said to Be on Table
Al-Manar | August 16, 2024
Two days of negotiations in Doha failed to end Gaza woe caused by a Zionist genocidal war ongoing for the 315th consecutive day despite the various political statements and media reports which claim a remarkable progress in this regard.
Political and security officials representing Qatar, Egypt, US and ‘Israel’ met amid the absence of Hamas representatives in order to mull a US truce proposal.
The U.S. presented a new bridging proposal to Israel and Hamas on Friday in an effort to close the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt claimed in a joint statement.
US President Joe Biden told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that “we are closer to a deal than we have ever been,” adding he doesn’t want “to jinx” it but “we might have something there.” Biden said, “we are not there yet but we are closer than we were three days ago.”
Biden also spoke on the phone with the Emir of Qatar and the President of Egypt on Friday about the deal.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt said in the statement that the talks over the last two days in Doha “were serious and constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere.”
“The U.S. with support from Egypt and Qatar, presented to both parties a bridging proposal that is consistent with the principles laid out by President Biden on May 31, 2024 and Security Council Resolution No. 2735,” they said.
“This proposal builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”
A source with knowledge of the talks told Axios : “We got more progress over the last two days than the last six weeks combined.”
Working teams from the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Israel will continue technical work over the coming days on the details of implementation of the deal, the statement said.
According to the statement, the issues that still need to be concluded are the arrangements for extensive humanitarian provisions to Gaza and the specifics relating to the hostages and Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of the deal.
Another summit between the senior mediators and negotiators — CIA director Bill Burns, the Qatari prime minister, director of the Israeli Mossad and the Egyptian head of intelligence — will take place in Cairo before the end of next week “with the aim to conclude the deal under the terms put forward today,” the statement said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to the region on the weekend to continue pushing for a deal, sources briefed on the trip said.
On Sunday, Blinken is expected to land in Israel and meet Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said.
Cracks in the Dome: Israel’s security mirage
The Cradle | August 14, 2024
The Iron Dome, touted as Israel’s most-effective defense shield, was designed to project an image of security and technological superiority. Promoted as a cutting-edge mobile air defense system, it was intended to symbolize an impenetrable barrier safeguarding the occupation state from external threats.
However, the reality reveals a different picture: much like a child in a knight costume – impressive against plastic swords but utterly defenseless against real weapons – the Iron Dome excels mainly against the relatively crude weapons of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
Israel’s carefully-crafted image of its most prized defensive weapon is part of a broader branding effort, rooted in techniques pioneered by Edward Bernays. The occupation state has positioned itself as a cosmopolitan, progressive, and democratic society – in stark contrast to neighboring West Asian states, which it portrays as violent and repressive.
The Iron Dome is not just a defense system but also a psychological construct designed to reinforce the image of an invulnerable entity under constant threat from less enlightened neighbors.
A crumbling shield in the north
Despite its reputation, the Iron Dome’s performance has often fallen short. Numerous videos have surfaced showing malfunctions – the Tamir missiles performing erratic maneuvers, exploding near civilian areas, or being triggered by false alarms and causing damage to infrastructure.
These failures contrast starkly with Israel’s claims of a 90–99 percent interception rate. Professor Emeritus Theodore Postal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a vastly different assessment. “I would say that the intercept rate is at best 4 or 5 percent,” Postal said in an interview with the Boston Globe last October.
In a 2018 study published in the Journal of Global Security Studies, Michael Armstrong also questions the Iron Dome’s touted “90 to 99 percent” interception rate. For starters, he clarifies that “the interception rate is the percentage of rockets destroyed before they hit defended areas; it ignores rockets over undefended areas.”
In other words, the defense system is, from the onset, only targeting a small portion of the rockets fired. For example, Israeli officials claimed that of the approximately 1,000 projectiles fired into Israel by Hamas during November 2012’s Operation Pillar of Defense operation, Iron Dome identified two-thirds as “not posing a threat” and only intercepted 90 percent of the remaining 300 rockets. Armstrong points out further holes in the calculations of Iron Dome proponents:
The empirical analysis suggests that Iron Dome batteries intercepted less than 32 percent of all hazardous rockets during Pillar of Defense, but between 59 and 75 percent during Protective Edge … The calculations further suggest the number of rockets hitting populated areas during Pillar of Defense may have been understated. The number of threats to populated areas, on the other hand, may have been overstated. This implies that Iron Dome’s effective interception rate may have been significantly lower than reported.
The situation is particularly dire in northern occupied territories, where the town of Kiryat Shmona – a settlement once believed to be under the Iron Dome’s protection – has seen its population flee from rising threats.
Thousands of residents have abandoned their homes, exposing the vulnerabilities the Iron Dome was supposed to eliminate. With Hezbollah expanding its rules of engagement, the number of displaced persons is likely to rise, further exposing the system’s inadequacies.
As Israel desperately scrambles to expand its defense options, the new solutions prove equally flawed, leaving the population vulnerable beneath a defense system that no longer lives up to its myth. The once-vaunted shield is crumbling, and with it, the carefully constructed narrative of invincibility that has long underpinned Israel’s security strategy.
Iron Dome’s cancer curse
Beneath the surface of Israel’s Iron Dome lies a darker, more ominous reality – one that threatens not just the myth of invincibility but the lives of those operating this shield. A 2021 investigation by Yediot Ahronoth revealed serious allegations about the health risks faced by occupation soldiers stationed near the Iron Dome’s powerful radar systems.
These radar systems, nicknamed “the chipper” and “the toaster” by those who work near them, emit intense heat, turning their surroundings into an invisible crucible. Several soldiers have come forward with harrowing testimonies of life-threatening illnesses they believe are linked to their service.
Ran Mazur, who was diagnosed with bone cancer a year after his discharge, described the excruciating pain that gnawed at him during his service, pain that military doctors all too easily dismissed.
Yonatan Chaimovich likened the experience of standing near the radar to his body “boiling from the inside,” a haunting metaphor that captures the unseen dangers of their exposure. Shir Tahar and Omer Hili Levy, both of whom developed cancer after their service, are among several who believe their illnesses are inextricably linked to their time spent in the shadow of the Iron Dome.
Despite these accounts, the Israeli military has steadfastly denied any unusual increase in cancer rates among Iron Dome personnel. They claim that their extensive monitoring and safety protocols have shown no significant difference in morbidity between Iron Dome soldiers and those in other military units.
But the numbers tell a different story: in 2011, out of 240 soldiers who enlisted in three training cycles for the Iron Dome, at least six developed cancer either during or shortly after their service – a statistic that raises questions about the true cost of operating this defense system.
Since 7 October, no new investigation has ventured to uncover how many within Israel’s occupation forces have fallen victim to the silent menace of tumors during this latest surge of conflict.
High-tech illusions
If the Iron Dome was not riddled with flaws, Israeli military strategists would not be rushing to explore alternatives to maintain the state’s illusion of invulnerability. Hezbollah’s Katyusha barrages, though seemingly primitive, have been tactically deployed to overwhelm the Iron Dome and pinpoint its locations, forcing Israel to reconsider its defense strategy.
Enter the “Magen Or,” or Iron Beam – a name that translates to “Shield of Light” in Hebrew. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, this represents the latest attempt by the occupation state to stay ahead of the Axis of Resistance and exposes Israel’s growing insecurity.
Unlike the Iron Dome, which relies on costly interceptor missiles – at around $50,000 each – the Iron Beam promises to neutralize threats using a high-powered laser – a concept that seems straight out of science fiction.
The Iron Beam, however, is still largely experimental and untested in real combat. Deployed on the Gaza front in late 2023, it has yet to prove itself as a reliable defense system in the chaos of war.
Israel’s embrace of laser technology, such as Magen Or, is part of a broader trend in the defense industry, driven not just by innovation but also by substantial aid packages from the US. These foreign funds, funneled through powerful lobbies like AIPAC and J Street, contribute to Israel’s portrayal as a technological powerhouse.
Yet, this image is less a testament to domestic ingenuity and more a product of vast financial resources often spent on costly projects that may not withstand the test of real-world conflict.
High-stake risks
The Iron Beam’s range is limited to about 10 kilometers and falters under adverse weather conditions – an Achilles heel that could prove disastrous in a full-scale conflict. The system requires vast amounts of energy, provided by a large generator, to produce the laser beams necessary for its operation.
This logistical challenge and the necessity of maintaining sophisticated infrastructure make the Iron Beam seem doomed to fail under real combat pressures.
Tel Aviv’s shift toward advanced technologies like the Iron Beam reveals a deeper issue within its military strategy. By focusing on high-tech defenses, Israel addresses symptoms rather than the root causes of its ongoing conflict. Reliance on unproven technology carries the risk of catastrophic failure, especially when combined with Israel’s recent shift toward riskier strategies.
Adding to the complexity is the Scorpius G electronic warfare system, another high-tech solution touted by Israel. Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Scorpius G is designed to detect, classify, locate, and jam advanced radar systems.
However, like the Iron Beam, Scorpius G’s performance in the field remains unproven, further illustrating the precariousness of Israel’s defense posture – one that could ultimately leave it vulnerable in its rushed quest to maintain a strategic edge.
As the region’s Axis of Resistance continues its operations with precision and effectiveness, and as Israeli settlers in occupied territories face mass evacuations, the pressure on these new defense systems to deliver is immense.
Whether they will provide the promised protection or collapse under the weight of expectations remains an open question – one with potentially dire consequences for Israel’s security and stability.
Israeli regime’s actions against civilians ‘blatant example of terrorism’: Iran envoy
Iran’s permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva, Ali Bahraini.
Press TV | August 14, 2024
Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva has called for Israeli institutions to be recognized as “terrorists,” stressing that the regime’s inhumane actions against Palestinian civilians constitute “a clear example of terrorism.”
Ali Bahraini made the appeal in three separate letters to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, the UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz as well as UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese on Wednesday.
According to Article 2.1 of the international convention to prevent the financing of terrorism, the institutions of “the Zionist regime” must be identified as terrorists, he said, adding that “the actions carried out by the Israeli regime against civilians and Palestinian areas are a clear example of terrorism.”
Bahraini also noted that from Iran’s point of view, Hamas is “a liberation organization” that fights for the freedom and independence of Palestine.
Therefore, he said, the assassination of Hamas leaders is aimed at undermining the morale of the Palestinian people in their struggle to end the occupation and achieve the right to self-determination.
The Iranian diplomat also emphasized that by eliminating the Palestinian leaders, Israel seeks to destroy the Palestinian political identity and the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to have an independent state.
He further referred to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICC), which recognizes the right of Palestinians to self-determination, and described any action that violates this right as illegal.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Bahraini strongly denounced as “a gross violation of international law” the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the capital Tehran.
He also urged UN officials to condemn the assassination decisively and to document it in their future reports.
The top Iranian diplomat also stressed the need for more efforts to achieve justice for the Palestinian people and to hold the Israeli regime accountable for its crimes.
Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, alongside other Axis of Resistance leaders, was martyred in an attack early on July 31.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Israeli regime of a “harsh response” for Haniyeh’s assassination, calling it the Islamic Republic’s duty to avenge the Palestinian resistance leader’s blood.
Hamas demands return to agreed-upon ceasefire deal, calls new talks ‘cover for Israeli massacres’
The Cradle | August 12, 2024
Hamas has called on mediators in the ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks to present a plan to implement the proposal agreed to by the resistance movement in early July and to oblige Israel to do so as well.
“We demand that the mediators submit a plan to implement what they presented to the movement and that we agreed to on 2 July 2024, based on Biden’s vision and the Security Council resolution, and oblige the occupation to do so, instead of going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation’s aggression and give it more time to perpetuate the war of genocide against our people,” Hamas said on 11 August.
The Hamas statement also said Israel’s assassination of political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and the continuation of its massacres against civilians in Gaza prove its intentions of preventing a ceasefire deal.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al-Araby on Sunday that if there is no real pressure by the US president on Israel, “he does not have anything to bet on to make the [upcoming] negotiations successful].”
He added that Washington falsely guaranteed Israel’s acceptance of the proposal presented by Joe Biden, adding that “it is time” to oblige Israel to do so.
Biden unveiled a permanent ceasefire plan in late May, claiming Israel had also agreed to the proposal. Yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained insistent on having the right to continue the war and pursue Hamas after the captives’ exchange, a position which he has stuck to until now.
US and Qatari mediators eventually updated the Biden plan and presented it to Hamas in early July. The resistance movement proposed amendments to the revised plan on 3 July, which Israeli sources said were positive and could enable a deal to pass.
Yet Netanyahu’s position on pursuing the war’s goals, despite talks for a permanent ceasefire, obstructed the negotiations and prevented an agreement from being reached.
Israel had also rejected a proposal agreed to by Hamas on 6 May.
“The plan I put together, endorsed by the G7, endorsed by the UN Security Council, et cetera, is still viable. And I’m working literally every single day – and my whole team – to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can,” Biden said on 11 August.
Washington has been beefing up its presence across the region to defend Israel from the Resistance Axis, which has vowed to respond to the recent Israeli attacks on Tehran and Beirut.
Hamas’ statement came two days after Netanyahu’s office said Israel would send mediators to upcoming ceasefire talks, scheduled for 15 August, “to finalize the details of the implementation of the agreement framework.”
In a statement on Monday, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said, “It is unreasonable to hold any negotiations while the occupation’s crimes continue in shelters, schools, displacement tents, and hospitals.”
New negotiations are “meaningless as long as the aggression government and war criminals have not provided clear and declared approval of the formulation that was originally presented by them and adopted by US President Joe Biden,” the PFLP added.
Israel is a state built on lies and will continue promoting lies
By Motasem A Dalloul | MEMO | August 12, 2024
Additionally, [the named targeted included] “three elderly civilians who had no connection to the military action were also among the victims, including a school principal … an Arabic language teacher, … and six civilians, some of whom were even Hamas opponents.”
Iran finesses its deterrence strategy
By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | Indian Punchline | August 12, 2024
The latest Israeli spin has it that Iran cannot make up its mind whether to retaliate or not for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 28 while on a visit to Tehran for the inaugural of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The hypothesis here is that there must be a standoff between Pezeshkian and hardliners of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with the new president pushing back against any aggressive strategy against Israel.
Prima facie, it is a ridiculous spin. But Iran rebutted it, nonetheless, with the Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani stating as recently as on Saturday night that Tehran “will make the aggressor Israeli regime pay the price for its aggression in a legitimate and decisive action.” Those were carefully chosen words.
But how come Iran didn’t act for a fortnight already? Several factors are in play here. First, Pezeshkian has not yet formed his government. He submitted his list of proposed ministers to the Parliament for approval only yesterday. The executive branch of the government is carrying on with day-to-day functioning.
Nonetheless, according to Russian media, Pezeshkian did speak about Iran’s retaliatory strike against Israel at a meeting with the visiting Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu on July 5 in Tehran.
That said, do not rule out that there could be some calibration in the timing. After all, Israel is in panic and reports say people stay awake at night fearing Iranian attack. According to IRNA, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for all his bravado, evacuated four of Israel’s important intelligence and security bases in Tel Aviv.
Second, Iran will not act as “spoiler” when regional states and the US are pulling all stops to pick up the threads of the Gaza ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel. The fact that Israel agreed to the talks on Thursday suggests that Netanyahu also sees advantages in returning to the negotiating table.
Of course, Iran will also be carefully weighing the scale of its attack on Israel. After all, Haniyeh was killed in a covert operation in which there was no Iranian casualty.
However, the clincher is going to be the progress in the upcoming talks. Iran may altogether postpone the operation if the Israeli side gives guarantees at the talks not to invade Lebanon and withdraws troops from the Gaza Strip.
Tehran could potentially reconsider its position if a radical change occurs in the situation in the region following the conclusion of a truce between Hamas and Israel. Expectations are running high. And, make no mistake, Tehran has a much closer equation with Yahya Sinwar than it had with Haniyeh.
Therefore, the high-stakes diplomacy this week leading to the talks scheduled for Thursday to secure a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza becomes an inflection point.
Iran’s UN mission in New York said in a statement on Friday, “Our priority is to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. Any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognised by us.” The statement reiterated Iran’s right to self-defence against Israel but also added, “However, we hope that our response will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential ceasefire.”
Tehran is intensely conscious that the outcome of the Hamas-Israel talks (with the participation of CIA Director William Burns) in terms of the release of American hostages is the stuff of Joe Biden’s presidential legacy as much as it holds the potential to burnish the prospects of the Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris in the November election.
Jordan is acting as go-between to enable Washington and Tehran to sensitise each other their respective problematic borderlines. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi visited Tehran on August 4 for talks with Ali Bagheri. They met again on the sideline of the OIC extraordinary meeting in Jeddah on August 7 (which was by the way, a diplomatic coup for Tehran.) In between, Biden spoke with King Abdullah of Jordan.
The White House readout said Biden and Abdullah “discussed their efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal. The President thanked His Majesty for his friendship, and affirmed unwavering US support for Jordan as a partner and ally in promoting regional peace and security.”
Meanwhile, Biden is using all channels available to moderate Iran’s attack on Israel. The Americans have also openly dissociated themselves from the killing of Haniyeh. They have reportedly conveyed to Tehran that an escalation is fraught with the risk of a US-Iran conflict, which is avoidable.
Finally, in the range of discourses over Iran’s retaliation, what is overlooked generally is that Iranians invariably have a strategy, unlike Israelis who resort to knee-jerk reactions. Therefore, the ‘big picture’ becomes important here.
Iran is not looking for war, especially when it has done exceedingly well so far to cut losses and turn the table on Israel in a cost-effective manner. Israel’s international image is in the mud and not all the freshwater in the Sea of Galilee can wash off the filth.
Iran’s number one priority will be to have the western sanctions removed. Supreme Leader Khamenei’s deal with Pezeshkian quintessentially narrows down to improving the economy by getting rid of sanctions and making it possible for Iran to gain its rightful place in the international order by using its vast resources optimally.
All major pronouncements by Pezeshkian have signalled his prioritisation of Iran’s relations with the West. Quite obviously, Pezeshkian is walking a tight rope, as Javad Zarif’s announcement of his resignation as the president’s deputy for strategic affairs shows. Zarif is reportedly peeved that the steering committee responsible for candidate selection picked only three out of the 19 names he had proposed for the cabinet posts!
Be that as it may, Abbas Araghchi, introduced as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, had served for 8 years as the deputy to Zarif during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, playing a key role in the nuclear negotiations (JCPOA) with the Obama administration. The European powers see Araghchi as a ‘moderate.’ Indeed, he makes an effective interlocutor for Tehran in western capitals — and it is the clearest signal so far that Iran’s foreign policy trajectory is leaning toward constructive engagement of the West.
Smart thinking involves the brain getting precedence over brawn. That is where Iran scores over the die-hard Zionists in Tel Aviv who are still wallowing in the culture of the Nakba.
Iran shrewdly assessed at a very early stage that contradictions were inevitable in Biden-Netanyahu equations post-October 7 and the Greater Israel agenda and the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy are pulling in opposite directions.
Equally, Iran has drawn the correct conclusions out of the standoff in April where it displayed its formidable military capability to inflict pain on Israel while also prompting the US to prevail upon the latter not to react! In the entire chronicle of US-Iran tango since 1979, such a thing never happened before.
Why should Tehran give up that pathway leading to the rose garden? For sure, Tehran will inflict even greater pain on Israel than in April. But, fundamentally, the 900-pound gorilla in Tel Aviv has to be tamed with a smart admixture of hard and soft power — and, it also involves the West. And to that end, Iran will restrain itself and remain a nuclear threshold state.
Hamas rejects Israeli claim of having command center in bombed Gaza school
Press TV – August 11, 2024
The Palestinian Hamas resistance group has dismissed the Israeli military’s allegations that it had set up a “command and control center” at a school compound housing displaced Palestinian families in Gaza City, where more than 100 people were killed and dozens wounded in a dawn strike.
The Gaza-based group, in a statement, also denied the Israeli claim that 19 resistance fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements were killed in the assault on the al-Tabin school in Gaza City’s al-Daraj neighborhood as “false and baseless.”
“Such claims have made been in an attempt to justify the heinous crime amid widespread international criticism,” the statement read.
“We emphasize there was not a single armed individual among those martyred in Saturday’s massacre. They are all civilians who were targeted while performing morning prayers. The victims include children, civil servants, university professors and religious figures, most of whom have no connection whatsoever to any political or military party,” Hamas noted.
The Palestinian resistance group went on to describe the Israeli attack on the Gaza school as “among thousands of massacres committed by the criminal and Nazi Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip. The Zionist entity deliberately and intentionally targets unarmed civilians,” in the coastal sliver.
“The occupying regime purposely spreads such lies after every massacre it perpetrates [in Gaza] in order to justify the horrendous crimes, which are now conspicuous to all,” Hamas added.
Palestinian activist succumbs to injuries after release from Israeli detention
This file photo shows female Palestinian activist Wafa Jarrar
Press TV – August 5, 2024
A female Palestinian activist has succumbed to injuries she sustained during an Israeli raid on her home back in May.
Wafa Jarrar died on Monday from injuries she had sustained when Israeli forces detained her on May 21.
Jarrar suffered severe injuries, and as a result underwent above-knee amputations.
The Israeli authorities reportedly released her shortly after her legs were amputated to avoid responsibility for her treatment.
The Israeli army claimed that Jarrar was injured in a blast while inside the military vehicle, where she was kept detained for four hours.
Despite its claim, the regime issued an administrative detention order against Jarrar before releasing and handing her over to the Palestinian Liaison Office, while she was in a critical condition.
Last month, the Euro-med human rights monitor said the Israeli army bears full responsibility for the life and safety of Wafa Jarrar.
“This is a clear effort by Israel’s army to avoid taking responsibility for the serious injuries Jarrar sustained during her detention, which resulted in the amputation of her legs above the knees as well as damage to her spine and lungs, and to avoid its legal obligation to provide the necessary medical treatment,” the Euro-med human rights monitor said on July 1.
“What Jarrar, age 49, was subjected to from the first moment of her arrest until her release reflects the repeated and systematic violations faced by Palestinians during their detention by Israeli forces, including arbitrary arrests, abuse, use as human shields, torture, and denial of medical care,” it added.
Wafa is the wife of Hamas leader Abdul Jabbar Jarrar who has been held in Israeli jails since February 2022 under administrative detention.
There are reportedly more than 8,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, with hundreds of the inmates incarcerated under the so-called practice of administrative detention.
Human rights organizations say Israel violates all the rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Fourth Geneva Convention, noting administrative detention violates their right to due process since the evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.
Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express outrage at their detention. Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions without proper hygienic standards. Palestinian inmates have also been subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza last October, the regime has also intensified arrest campaigns in the West Bank and al-Quds.
In a report issued over the weekend, the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said Israeli forces had arrested about 9,920 people, including 345 women, 690 children and 93 journalists, since October 7.
More than 7,500 administrative detention orders have been issued since October 7, including new orders and renewals, according to the report.
The Israeli arrest campaigns, the groups said, were also accompanied by physical assaults, threats against detainees and their families, destruction of the detainees’ houses, and seizure of their properties.
The Israeli forces also carried out field executions against detainees and their family members, the report added.
“Since October 7, at least 20 detainees were martyred in Israeli prisons and their identities have been revealed,” the report said, adding that dozens of detainees from Gaza also lost their lives in Israeli prisons and detention centers, but the Israeli authorities refrained from declaring their names or the causes of the their death.
“The bodies of 18 detainees who were martyred after October 7 are still withheld” by the Israeli regime, the report said.
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Russian gas sector should not be sanctioned – EU energy chief
RT | August 28, 2014
Russian gas sector should not be subjected to EU sanctions despite the situation in Ukraine, EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said Thursday.
“Gas is not a suitable sector for sanctions, as in this case everyone will lose – Russia, Ukraine and the European Union,” RIA Novosti cites Oettinger as saying.
EU Energy Commissioner insisted on a quick resolution of the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
“We need a solution that prevents an escalation between Ukraine and Russia,” he told German broadcaster ARD. “We need Ukraine as a transit country. Ukraine needs gas in winter. In a long and cold winter, Ukraine will not have enough stored gas of its own.”
He also acknowledged that in case Ukraine is left without gas supplies in winter it may steal Russian transit gas on its way to the West.
According to Oettinger by the end of October the European Union should develop a concept that provides each bloc member with warm homes, financing of infrastructure and maintenance of industry for the period from November to March. … Full article
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