For the first time since the conflict in Gaza began earlier this month, Israel has officially accused Iran of being directly responsible for the attack by Hamas, which triggered the outbreak of the war. Tel Aviv is claiming that Tehran was involved in both training and planning. The Israeli government has launched an international campaign against both Hamas and Iran, considering them responsible for the Oct. 7 attack, which they believe was part of a plan for a “regional war that threatens global peace.” 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry gathered 100 foreign media correspondents for a meeting on Monday, during which it presented a video showing acts of cruelty and staged scenes involving bodies during the Hamas attack on Israeli towns near Gaza. Spokespersons at the meeting stated that Iran trained Hamas operatives and devised the attack plan for them as part of a “broad regional battle” against Israel, involving all of its militias across the Middle East, from Yemen to Iraq, as well as from Lebanon and Syria. Veteran Israeli diplomat Itamar Rabinovich regards the current Gaza conflict as the “first Iran-Israel war.”

Rabinovich, who previously served as the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Israel’s ambassador to Washington, and who chaired the Israeli delegation for negotiations with Syria, affirmed that the conflict being witnessed since Oct. 7 is a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.“ 

However, this war is taking place within a broader context primarily shaped by Iranian efforts to challenge Israel on multiple fronts,” noted Rabinovich. He explained that “currently, there is an ongoing war of attrition between Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, and Israel, and at any given moment, Iran and the leadership of Hezbollah could determine the shift towards a full-scale war.” 

Source: Al Sharq Al Awsat

A depleted workforce, constant sirens warning of the threat of missiles, and a feeling of shock due to the unexpected attack - all contribute to the size of the cost to the Israeli economy as a result of the war with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and is expected to be different from anything else the economy has been exposed to since Contracts.

The cranes that dot the Tel Aviv skyline stopped several days ago after the city closed construction sites. An industry report stated that these sites were reopened this week under stricter guidelines to ensure safety, but the cessation of activity in this sector alone is costing the economy an estimated 150 million shekels (about 37 million dollars) per day.

“This is not a blow to contractors or industrialists alone,” said Raul Sarojo, president of the Association of Builders of Israel. “It is a blow to every family in Israel.”

Israel was shaken on October 7 when the Palestinian resistance launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” and since that date Israel has responded by carrying out continuous raids on the Gaza Strip and mobilizing its forces in preparation for a ground attack.

Israel's roughly $500 billion economy - the most developed in the Middle East thanks to its inherent strengths in technology and tourism - was healthy for most of 2023. Growth was on track to reach 3% this year as unemployment fell.

But with a ground war in Gaza likely imminent and the war potentially turning into a regional conflict, Israelis are holed up and spending less on everything but food, while rating agencies have already warned that they may lower their assessment of Israel's creditworthiness.

A huge gap in the workforce

Hundreds of thousands of army reservists have been called up, causing a huge gap in the workforce and disrupting supply chains from seaports to retail stores, while retailers are furloughing employees, amid the decline in the value of the shekel.

The conflict also halted the movement of thousands of Palestinian workers from Gaza to Israel and reduced their flow from the occupied West Bank.

The escalators and walkways of Jerusalem's main shopping mall were empty during the first two weeks of the war, although customers slowly returned.

“There is a significant decrease in traffic,” said Nathaniel Shraga, manager of Columbia Sportswear. He added that some of his employees were called up for military service. Others feel very afraid to come to work.

Hotels are now half full of Israelis evacuated from the border areas, and the rest of the rooms are mostly empty.

Work is still continuing in factories, even those close to Gaza, but there is always a problem related to the insufficient number of truck drivers who carry out regular deliveries.

Credit card purchases fell 12% last week compared to the same period a year ago, with sharp declines in almost all sectors except for a significant rise in retail shopping.

The high-tech industry, which has boomed during the Covid pandemic, is facing difficulties. This industry usually represents 18% of Israel's GDP and half of total exports.

“Productivity drops dramatically because it's hard to focus on daily work when you have existential concerns,” said Barak Klein, CFO at fintech company Thetaray.

12 of the company's 80 employees residing in Israel were recruited into the reserve forces. Others - with children - remained at home, while the constant fear of missile launches remained.

Thettarai has set up a daycare center for employees who need to take their children with them, and has relied on its overseas offices to shoulder part of the workload.

Al-Aqsa flood losses to Israel's economy in numbers

An estimated 10 to 15 percent of the high-tech workforce has been called up to serve in the reserve forces, said Dror Ben, CEO of the state-funded Israel Innovation Authority.

“We are in contact with hundreds of technology companies, especially early-stage projects,” he added, explaining that many of them are in the middle of their financing cycle and are running out of money.

In order to provide assistance, the Innovation Authority established a fund worth 100 million shekels (about 25 million dollars) to help 100 technology startups weather the storm.

The Ministry of Economy established an operations room in times of war and issued an appeal for assistance. Its database has so far matched at least 8,550 people to distressed companies.

When a major supermarket chain's logistics center came under severe pressure, 38 people were sent in to fill the night shift.

Psychological crisis

The government promised "not to set limits" on spending on financing the war and compensating affected families and businesses, which means a larger budget deficit and more debt.

Past conflicts may not be a correct guide to the course of the economy. GDP fell by as much as 0.5% in the 34-day war with Lebanon's Hezbollah in 2006 as exports fell and manufacturing slowed, but the recovery that followed was rapid.

Officials say what is happening today is different.

Leo Lederman, chief economic advisor to Bank Hapoalim - one of the largest banks in Israel - said that there is a "psychological crisis" among the Israeli public and that its negative effects have already begun.

He added, "People will reduce consumer spending due to the uncertainty and atmosphere" prevailing.

Since consumer spending represents more than half of economic activity, the damage to the economy could be significant.

A senior official at the Israeli Ministry of Finance told Reuters, "Israel was able to recover significantly from all the recent hostilities... This event seems to be more exciting, although it is too early to confirm that."

On Monday, the Central Bank of Israel reduced its economic growth estimates for 2023 to 2.3%, down from 3%, and to 2.8%, down from 3% in 2024, assuming the war in Gaza is contained.

Bank Governor Amir Yaron - who currently opposes lowering interest rates - expects a recovery. He said, "We knew how to recover from difficult periods in the past and (we knew how to) return to prosperity quickly... I have no doubt that it will happen this time as well."

The Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said that the war in Gaza will have economic repercussions on Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

She explained, during a session at the “Future Investment Initiative” forum, held in Riyadh, that there are changes in the “Monetary Fund’s” directions after the pandemic, and “our policies will focus on prevention and protection of the international economy.”

She added: “There must be proactive steps for any growth plans, and there must be good use of new financial policies,” noting that the IMF “has begun building a strong financial system to confront crises.”

She said that interest rates will continue for a long time, and that dealing with inflation will be costly next year.

Syria announced today (Wednesday) that eight soldiers were killed and seven others were injured as a result of Israeli bombing that targeted points in the Daraa countryside in the south of the country.

The Syrian News Agency (SANA) quoted a military source as saying, “At approximately 1:45 a.m. today, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of our military points in the Daraa countryside.”

The source added that the bombing "led to the death of eight military martyrs and the wounding of seven others, in addition to some material losses."

On Sunday, Syria warned that continuing Israeli attacks on its territory would “push the region into a broader spiral of violence that will be difficult to contain.”

The Syrian warning came after an attack on Damascus and Aleppo airports, which put them out of service and left one dead, according to Syrian official media.

Sunday's attack was the third attack targeting Aleppo Airport, and the second targeting Damascus Airport this month, amid escalating tension in the region in light of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7th.

Israel has repeatedly launched attacks on targets in Syria during the years of conflict that has been ongoing in the country since 2011, and the attacks have repeatedly targeted Aleppo and Damascus airports.

The occupation forces arrested more than 1,350 Palestinians from the West Bank, and this number does not include the detained workers and the Gaza detainees, whose identities and numbers of detainees have not yet been accurately known to the Palestinian authorities and institutions.

Last night and at dawn on Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces launched an arrest campaign that targeted at least 80 Palestinians from the West Bank, including two women from Jerusalem, with the continued systematic arrests and comprehensive aggression launched by the occupation against the Palestinian people.

The arrests were concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, and the rest of the arrests were distributed across the majority of the governorates of the West Bank.

The Prisoners' Commission and the Prisoners' Club stated that the occupation forces have escalated their arrest campaigns since October 7, the date of the resistance battle, "Al-Aqsa Flood." In an unprecedented way.

The occupation forces arrested more than 1,350 Palestinians from the West Bank, and this toll does not include the detained workers and the Gaza detainees, whose identities and numbers of detainees have not yet been accurately known to the Palestinian authorities and institutions.

The Prisoners' Authority and the Prisoners' Club pointed out that the occupation began carrying out systematic assassination operations against prisoners with premeditation, in light of the martyrdom of two detainees in the occupation prisons, who were arrested after the seventh of this October as part of the widespread arrest campaigns, namely Arafat Hamdan and Omar Daraghmeh. .

Based on the testimonies and accounts received from detainees who were recently released, and in light of the data reaching the institutions that reflect the level of crime, including assaults, death threats, and operations of abuse at several levels, the occupation authorities are carrying out the systematic assassination of prisoners.

It is noteworthy that the number of prisoners in the occupation prisons, according to available data, reached about 6,600 after the escalating arrest campaigns since October 7, including at least 50 female prisoners, and more than 1,600 administrative detainees.

Source: Agencies

The occupation authorities "hide" thousands of Gazan workers in detention centers, and concentrate them in the open without water or food for two days, with their hands and feet shackled and blindfolded, before the difficult journey of the post begins. Degrading treatment of the elderly and continuous attacks.

The Israeli occupation authorities arrested thousands of Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip under inhumane conditions, even though they remained in Israel legally, on the eve of the attack on October 7, and before the start of the war launched by the occupation against the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday evening, Haaretz newspaper reported that the Gazan workers are being detained in detention centers at Israeli army bases in the occupied West Bank, under extremely difficult conditions and in violation of international humanitarian law, noting that they were working in Israel under a legal permit.

In the testimony of one of the detainees who were released, it was stated that the occupation authorities kept the workers in the open without food for two days, with their hands tied and their eyes blindfolded. Thousands of workers were later transferred to “cage-like facilities” and detained them in large numbers and with a high density, even though none of them were Suspected of any charge.

"Haaretz" said that the Israeli Ministry of Justice is "concerned" about the "inappropriate" detention conditions for the Gazan workers, and describes their situation as "extremely difficult," in conjunction with the petitions submitted by human rights organizations, earlier this week, to the Israeli Supreme Court, demanding "the extradition of... Names of detainees and informing their families of their whereabouts.”

The numbers revealed by Israeli media regarding the number of detainees vary, and range between 3,000 and 1,500 detainees.

The report stated that the government's deputy attorney general, Gail Lemon, contacted the Ministry of Security last week and "alerted it of the workers' conditions." Haaretz quoted informed sources as saying that Lemon called “a senior political-security official and asked him to deal with this issue,” while the Ministry of Security held deliberations on “the conditions of the workers’ imprisonment.”

Officials in the Ministry of Justice consider that responsibility in this file lies with officials in the Ministry of Security and the Israeli Army, and that the Ministry of Justice and the Public Prosecution are “awaiting the directives and decisions” of the Ministry of Security to “deal with this case,” while “Haaretz” quoted a senior security official that The occupation intends to "keep the workers in detention until they can be returned to Gaza."

The sane workers do not have access to their phones, none of them were allowed to meet with a lawyer, and the Red Cross was not allowed to visit them. The report noted that the occupation authorities worked to "disappear thousands of Gaza Strip residents who were residing here legally."

The report indicated that the fate of many workers is unknown, and explained that in one case of arrest, the occupation authorities arrested a Gazan worker at the Ni’lin checkpoint, when he tried to enter the West Bank; He was taken to a room where at least 100 other workers were detained for three hours, not allowed to use toilets and prevented from drinking water.

The detainees were also subjected to illegal procedures in transferring them from one detention center to another using the Busta buses of the occupation prisons service, noting that among the detainees there were elderly people, who were treated in an inhumane manner and insulted with insults, insults, and physical attacks.

One of the workers who was released said: “The bus passengers were handcuffed and taken to a military base. The soldiers there replaced the handcuffs on their hands with plastic ones, untied the detainees’ legs and covered their eyes. They were detained for two days in the sun, without water or food, and if you asked for something they would tell you 'Shut up you son of a bitch.'

Two days later, the detainees' handcuffs were removed, their blindfolds were removed, and they were transferred to a "cage-like compound or chicken coop with an area of approximately 300 square meters."

Katz calls for the "execution" of captured Qassam fighters

In a related context, the Israeli Minister of Energy, Yisrael Katz, called on Tuesday for the establishment of a special military court to “impose the death penalty” on those involved in the events of October 7. He said in a tweet on the “X” platform: “This evening I contacted Justice Minister Yariv Levin, with the aim of establishing a special military court that applies the law of crimes committed by Nazis and their associates against Hamas,” as he put it.

He added: "Death sentences will be imposed on those involved in the attack on the State of Israel on October 7." The occupation authorities announced that they arrested dozens of Palestinians in Israeli towns surrounding the Gaza Strip on October 7 and in subsequent days during clashes with fighters in the resistance factions.

Source: Arab 48

The Arab Center for Alternative Planning said, “The Arab community in Israel must be careful not to pass planning decisions during this particular period.”

On October 12, 2023, the District Planning and Building Committee published an announcement about the submission of a “Regional Structural Plan (Tamam) for the Southern District - No. 6/23/14/4 named Mevovot Arad,” for objections for a period of 60 days.

The plan proposes establishing 5 new settlements in the Negev region, in the south of the country, one of which will be designated for the Arab Bedouin population in the Negev.

The plan to establish five new settlements in the Negev is a continuation of Government Resolution No. 3782 of October 30, 2011, which stipulates the establishment of a village settlement complex in the Mevovot Arad area.

Accordingly, District Planning and Building Council recommended the establishment of five settlements, one of which would be allocated to gather the Bedouin population from villages deprived of recognition in the region.

On March 27, 2022, the Israeli government approved Government Resolution No. 1325 to establish settlements based on the above Council decision.

This plan (exact 6/23/14/4) comes in the context of the Netanyahu government’s strengthening of the policy of expanding settlement in the Galilee and the Negev, which emerged in the coalition agreement with the “Religious Zionism” party, which pledged to accelerate the establishment of 14 settlements in the Negev.

The Arab Center for Alternative Planning said, “The plan contains several problems, which are:

The settlements proposed in the plan are located on areas on which deprived villages stand. These villages have been in the region for a very long time and are struggling to gain recognition and obtain rights and basic necessities of life.

Instead of recognizing and regulating existing Arab Bedouin villages, the plan proposes grouping the Bedouin population within the proposed settlement of Mevovot Arad 3.

The proposed plan for the Mevovot Arad 3 settlement ignores the existing population and community character of the area, and the existing rural and communal character of the villages.

The plan proposes converting the area surrounding the Mevovot Arad 3 settlement into an area defined as a “desert landscape,” thereby limiting the possibility of its expansion in the future.

The plan proposes that the settlement designated for the Bedouin population accommodate approximately 5,000 citizens, on an area not exceeding 800 dunums. In contrast, it is proposed that the four Jewish rural settlements accommodate approximately 1,800 citizens only, without specifying their area.

In addition, only the detailed map of the Bedouin settlement is subject to the approval of the representative of the “Minister of Security” in the district committee.

The Arab Center for Alternative Planning warns local authorities and Arab community leaders of “planning decisions that may be passed during this period in which the media does not pay much attention to planning issues.”

Source: Arab 48

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that 2,360 children were killed in Israeli counterattacks in the Gaza Strip, in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.

The organization stated, citing reports without naming sources, that 5,364 children were injured, and spoke of “relentless attacks.”

Since the sudden Hamas attacks on October 7, the Israeli army has bombed targets in the Gaza Strip and is preparing a ground invasion of the besieged Strip.

Adele Khader, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The situation in the Gaza Strip is a growing stain on our collective conscience. “The rate of death and injury to children is simply astonishing.”

UNICEF indicated that the Gaza Strip suffers from a severe water shortage, with dire consequences for children, who constitute about 50 percent of the population.

UNICEF urged all parties to agree to a ceasefire, provide humanitarian access, and release all hostages.

The proposal that French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about, during the joint press conference he held after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to expand the scope of work of the international coalition to combat ISIS to include fighting Hamas, raises several questions.

Macron said verbatim: “Israel’s priority, but also the priority of France and all democracies, is to defeat terrorist groups. So, we who have been targeted by these groups want to say something simple: You are not alone. Therefore, France is ready to “work” until the “International Coalition to Combat ISIS,” within which France is active in operations in Syria and Iraq, also fights “Hamas.”

Macron added: “I will offer to our international partners, as I indicated this morning, that we build a regional and international coalition to fight the terrorist groups that threaten us all. I believe that this is in the interest and security of Israel, as well as the interest and security of your neighbors who are threatened by these or similar groups.”

Macron's "surprise".

Political sources in Paris believe that what Macron brought was a “surprise,” and that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or the Minister of Defense had never referred to it in any of their interventions and statements since October 7th. In her lengthy speech before the French Parliament, on Monday afternoon, French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne discussed at length her country’s policy and stopped at all the files that Macron brought with him to Israel and which he discussed with Netanyahu, and also with the President of the State of Israel and with the former Minister of Defense and the opposition.

French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne in a conversation with the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the National Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the war in Gaza (AFP)

But what was most absent was specifically the issue of international force and its push to fight ISIS. Moreover, nothing to this effect emerged from all the contacts that Macron had with the majority of Arab or European leaders or with the American President. Then, the Elysee sources, in their presentation of Macron’s expected visit to Israel, never mentioned the international force and the fight against “Hamas” and France’s role in it.

Clarifying blur

Because Macron’s proposal was vague, the sources accompanying him sought to clarify it, and said after the press conference that the intention was “either to build a new coalition, or (to expand the scope of work of the international coalition to combat ISIS) that currently exists, and its mainstay is the United States of America through its bases in Iraq to include (agitation)". These sources added that this matter “depends on what Israel requests.”

Political sources believe that achieving something like this would be far-fetched for several reasons, the first of which is that “nothing links Hamas to ISIS,” and therefore placing them on the same side is both a political and military mistake. The second reason is that the Arab countries participating in the war on ISIS within the framework of the international coalition will refuse to work alongside the Israeli, American and Western forces in general in the war that will be waged on the Gaza Strip.

The third reason is that adopting a plan like this will marginalize the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas more than he is marginalized, and therefore it will hinder him from playing any political role later, especially since thinking about the so-called “next day” that follows the end of the war, notes a major role for the Palestinian Authority and its restoration. To Gaza after the “elimination” of “Hamas”. Fourth, the French proposal does not take into account what the position of the residents of Gaza will be, nor the position of the Arab street when they see American aircraft participating in the strike on Gaza, and what repercussions this will have. Finally, no one can predict in advance what Hamas's reaction will be and how the file of hostages or kidnapped persons in its possession will develop. Macron has made their release a major goal of his communications.

Improvise the proposal

What indicates the improvisation in the French proposal is that sources accompanying Macron later indicated that what is required is “to be guided by the experience of the international coalition against ISIS, and to consider what can be borrowed from it against Hamas.” Therefore, we are in the process of thinking with our partners and with Israel in this context, and therefore it will be up to our partners and Israel in the first place to express their needs.”

Finally, these sources indicated that the work of the “International Coalition against ISIS” “is not limited to field operations, as it includes training Iraqi forces and exchanging intelligence information...”

The above shows that the French proposal is “immature,” and it is not certain that it may see the light while Israel is preparing to invade Gaza by land. The first reaction from Paris came from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the former presidential candidate and leader of the hard-left “Rebel France” party, who criticized Macron’s proposal and saw in it a “return to the theory of the war on terrorism” promoted by former US President George W. Bush, which... French diplomacy confronted him at the time.

Ignoring the “humanitarian truce”

What is also striking in the course of Macron’s talks, who held a closed meeting with Netanyahu and then an expanded meeting that included the delegations of both parties, did not refer, either remotely or remotely, to the issue of the “humanitarian truce,” which the Prime Minister and the Elysee’s advisors focused on, and saw in it as a “prelude.” possible” for a cessation of hostilities.

Likewise, in the joint press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, the French President did not make any reference to the victims of the multi-faceted bombing operations carried out by the Israeli army, which left more than 5,000 Palestinians dead and many times more wounded, in addition to the demolition of entire areas in the Gaza Strip.

One of the Elysee advisors said that it would be difficult for the Israeli army, which is preparing to invade Gaza with the aim of destroying Hamas, to do so while respecting international law, noting that Macron repeated to Netanyahu “the necessity for Israeli democracy to respect a number of standards, including Not to harm civilians who were described as (Hamas) hostages.”

Source: Al-Sharq Al- Awsat

By Arwa Damon

As the often-quoted sentence goes, “The first casualty of war is the truth.”

I would argue that “casualty” is not merely an innocent byproduct of war but deliberately targeted.

As a twenty-year veteran of the journalism industry—two decades spent mainly covering war and violence—I can attest to that and how each “side” is trying to lure and manipulate with their messaging—what some might even call propaganda. I can attest to how each “side” will lie or try to cover up the truth, even when a “side” claims to have a higher moral standing.

I can also attest to just how hard it is to navigate through the many pieces of information hurling themselves in your direction, coming from sources on the ground, eyewitnesses, officials, and social media, which is a beast of its own with its trolls and state-sponsored cyber armies. Add to that journalists’ emotional reaction to the images the world sees and the words heard from survivors.

As the media, we need to realize the role we play in the trajectory of events. Our role can either inflame or educate and explain by building bridges of empathy and understanding.

Arwa Damon in Gaza in 2012 (Courtesy of Arwa Damon)

Looking at the coverage of what is happening between Israel and the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack by the militant group Hamas, it feels like we’re catapulting ourselves toward this abyss of sheer and utter inhumane madness.

The events take me back to the drums of the Iraq war after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks—a runaway train where many Western, especially American media, cheered this effort and the US narrative of “good versus evil.” Oversimplification is so dangerous.

I was in New York City on September 11 and not yet a journalist. My body trembled in fear and confusion as I witnessed the second World Trade Tower come down. I remember how the streets were so eerily deserted at first; the only people out were those looking to donate blood or somehow help. At the time, I thought, “This is how we should treat each other. This is the sort of kindness I want to be a part of.”

But then it all changed.

I remember the hatred and vitriol spewed towards Muslims and people of Middle Eastern and North African descent. It was something that I was spared being a direct target of, despite being an Arab-American of Syrian heritage, simply because I am blond with green eyes.

I also remember watching how, somehow, all Arabs and Muslims got painted with this terrorist brush; watching coverage that lacked nuance and understanding. It was what pushed me to become a journalist.

I remember how Arab rage at the Iraq war was somehow twisted by many in the media as Arab support for al-Qaeda, which could not be further from the truth. How the calls of the few compared to the entire population of the Arab world of “death to America” and “death to Israel”—for the two are magnetically connected in the minds of Arabs—somehow ended up being the loudest voice. The reality was that Arabs did not want an American war in Iraq; not because they supported al-Qaeda; not even because they supported Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein—for most did not—but because they did not support war. Back then, the Western media played a role. It aided and abetted the United States and its allies in their campaign to villainize and dehumanize Iraqis, Arabs, and Muslims.

Despite being so deeply reminded of the past, this present that we are living in is very different and arguably even more dangerous. Military commanders and even President Joe Biden are warning of the lessons of the past; of the point in time when “victory” will be declared and how there needs to be a plan for “peace.”

I fear that, in that planning, based on everything I am seeing and hearing now from heads of state to people on the street, the intense impact of the emotions generated now is not being planned for at all. Or even more disturbing, it is being planned for: a complete and total meltdown of humanity, which we will all be complicit in bringing around. 

For it is not quite the same as the post-9/11 era. This juncture we are in is potentially more divisive, dangerous, and destructive. There is a much deeper, darker history here with a deeply embedded generational trauma, all of which makes the emotional component of this even more intense. Make no mistake: emotions play such a big part in warfare. There is a reason why there’s an “information war.” It’s because a significant component of military strategy is not just troop movement on the ground nor striking strategic targets but psychological operations. These psychological operations target not just the population against whom war is being waged but all of us.

We need analysts to break down the information war and how it plays and preys on emotions and trauma. I am not talking about military or other analysts who talk about the mechanics of the information war or state that it’s a big aspect of war, but rather psychological analysts who can explain how that impacts our psyche and thinking towards each other. We need to show and analyze the human reaction to hearing words like “human animals,” “rats,” and “children of light versus children of darkness,” and break down how that can dehumanize an entire population and what the risk of that is.

No armed entity can gather support and power without being able to point to pain in the past and say, “Look what has been happening. Look at the pain you suffered. I am the only one who can protect you from your biggest fear.”

No nation can gather support for war within its borders or from its global allies without painting its enemy as “less than.” A life worth less than yours. A life that is not human; not human in the way that you are. A life that doesn’t love like you, laugh like you, hurt like you. This is how we end up, consciously or not, accepting the significant loss of civilian life.

We cannot allow this to happen again. As the media, we cannot let ourselves be a pawn in a dehumanization campaign.

As the media, we need to dive into the emotional aspect of all of this as part of the coverage. Every one of our actions is driven by an emotional reaction—a desire for revenge, anger, hatred, and fear. We need to include emotional analysis, experts who can talk about collective and generational trauma, and the impact that that has had on getting us to this point. It is one thing to analyze events that lead us to a certain point, and it is another, deeper, and necessary thing to talk about how emotions drove the actions that led us to that point.

The polarization that I see is frightening, whether it’s antisemitism on the rise or growing Islamophobia. It is utterly appalling to hear about a six-year-old Palestinian-American child being stabbed to death in a hate crime. It cuts me to listen to an Arab friend tell me about her relative living in the West spat on and told, “You should all be killed.” It is sad to see a Jewish mother post on social media that she is losing followers because she posted about her son’s Bar Mitzvah, a celebration of their faith. It is wrong to hear about some Jewish schools in London closing because of fear.

The Western media needs to give more space to Palestinians, and we all need to really listen and treat their words as if we are hearing them for the first time. There is this very wrong “normalization” of the “plight of the Palestinians”—perhaps because it has been going on for so long—for more than seven decades—and the media “spotlight,” being as limited as it is, kept moving on. Palestinians are right when they question why the outcry and the coverage of their pain is muted. To those networks who do think they are covering “both sides” because they have the one package out of the Gaza Strip and one guest, it’s not enough when the rest of your coverage is leaning so heavily into military operations or, even worse, consists of a lineup of mostly older white men who have not tasted, smelled, nor felt what war feels like on the other end of an American or an Israeli bomb. They are experts who have not lived or experienced, in this scenario, the “Arab” side of it.

On the flip side, non-Western media—especially Arab and Arab-owned media—should not continue to bypass the pain and trauma of the survivors of the Hamas attack and the parents, friends, and family of those taken hostage. I have watched a lot of different networks’ coverage of these events, and while I might have missed it, I did not once see the pain that the Hamas attack caused in Israel reported on. Space needs to be made for Jewish and Israeli voices on such outlets. Not all Israelis support their government’s policies, the illegal settlements, or the oppression or occupation of Palestine. And not all Jews across the world support Zionism or what Israel has done.

We cannot abdicate our fundamental responsibility as the press: to question, confront, and probe all sides; to call out lies and crimes no matter who is committing them. All media outlets need to rise above this notion that, if you cover a person’s pain, you somehow take a “side.” Pain is pain. We must be allowed to see the pain of our “enemy.” For some—and I do believe it is the few; I want to believe it is the few—it will bring them joy and a sense of vengeance to see the pain of the “enemy.” But, for the majority, perhaps, it will make them question and probe why they reacted a certain way, hopefully leading to more understanding.

We need to be allowed to see that the “enemy” is not monochrome. I believe that, for the majority, it will make them realize that perhaps what they have been conditioned to believe might not be the whole picture.

The media needs to realize and recognize the role we can play in fueling polarization and hate, whether that be through simply negating or disregarding a person or a population’s pain. We did play a role in fomenting the deep hatred post-9/11 that ultimately led to a more violent world. We need to be hyper-conscious not to play that role again.

I can see the trajectory we are on—this spiral of animosity and the growing monster that fuels a madness we will not be able to control. I can see a world filled with more hate and violence that will impact not just our generation but generations to come. And I can see the media’s role in preventing that. There are many aspects of this that we cannot alter, but we can ensure that we are not pushing divisions. We need to be stronger and better than the pressures on us—be it pressure from our government, our bosses, and even our own emotions.

We must build a world with more power in the truth than in the lie.

Arwa Damon is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and president and founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief, and Assistance (INARA), a nonprofit organization that focuses on building a network of logistical support and medical care to help children who need life-saving or life-altering medical treatment in war-torn nations. She is also a former CNN senior correspondent with two decades of experience.

Since the start of the aggression against the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Israeli occupation forces have continued to tighten their military measures in the occupied West Bank governorates, by closing checkpoints and entrances to cities, towns and villages, and obstructing the movement of citizens.

In Qalqilya, the occupation forces set up a military checkpoint on the main Qalqilya-Nablus road, stopped vehicles, and checked the identities of passers-by, which led to the obstruction of traffic in the area. They also continue to close the two main entrances to the town of Azzun and Kafr Laqif, east of Qalqilya, with the iron gate, for a week, which Citizens are forced to take alternative, secondary routes to reach their destinations.

In Tubas, the occupation soldiers stationed at the Tayasir checkpoint in the east obstructed the movement of citizens heading to the northern Jordan Valley, by checking their personal identities, and detaining vehicles for a long period before allowing them to enter, causing a stifling crisis and delaying the arrival of students and teachers to schools in the Jordan Valley.

The checkpoint has witnessed suffocating crises and traffic obstruction every day for more than two weeks, causing delays in the arrival of employees, workers, and farmers to their workplaces in the Jordan Valley.

While the occupation forces continue to tighten their closure on Bethlehem Governorate, by closing the entrances to the western countryside, the town of Beit Fajjar, Marah Rabah, the northern entrance to Teqoua with iron gates, the Qabr Hilweh junction leading to the colonial road to Hebron with cement cubes, the western Beit Jala with an iron gate, and the entrance to Beit Housing. They toured with cement cubes, to Zaatara to the east with dirt mounds, and to Masjah in the town of Janata to the east with the iron gate.

The occupation soldiers also search citizens' vehicles and verify their identities, causing a stifling traffic crisis.

The settlers, protected by the occupation forces, also prevent farmers from reaching their lands to pick grapes and olives, and even steal them, as happened in the town of Al-Khader and in the Al-Makhrour area in the city of Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem.

Today, Wednesday, Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished a house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources, the occupation bulldozers stormed a house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and began demolishing it, which was housing ten people.

The sources added that the occupation municipality imposed a large fine on the owner of the house, after it demolished the house with its vehicles, accompanied by large forces of the occupation police.

In the same context, the occupation authorities forced another citizen to demolish his house this morning in the town of Beit Hanina, north of Jerusalem.

It is noteworthy that Jerusalemites are forced to demolish their homes themselves under pressure from the occupation authorities, in order to avoid paying heavy financial fines imposed on them by the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, if its vehicles carry out the demolition.

Today, Wednesday, settlers, protected by the Israeli occupation forces, opened fire on farmers in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, northwest of Salfit.

According to local sources, settlers, protected by the occupation forces, stormed the “Nuwaitf” area in the town and opened fire on the olive pickers, forcing them to leave their lands.

Last night and today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces launched a massive arrest campaign in the West Bank and Jerusalem governorates, targeting 72 citizens.

In Jerusalem, the occupation forces arrested: Atta Jaffal, Majed Hajjaj, Baraa Jawhar, and the stationed Hanadi Khweis, Khadija Khweis, and Adel Hassan Al-Sharif, and from the Qalandiya camp 14 citizens, namely: Aseed Abdel Rahman, Muhammad Anwar Zaidiyah, Anwar Zaidiyeh, and Ahmed Lafi. , Muhammad Abu Khamsa, Naji Shehadeh, Muhannad Rayan, Dhiaa Abdel Qader, Moatasem Buaital, Mustafa Al-Kasba, Malek Zayed, Maher Naji, Tawfiq Al-Zeer, and Ahmed Al-Zeer.

From Ramallah, the occupation forces arrested three citizens from the village of Budrus, northwest of Ramallah, namely: Nadi Obaid, Bahaa Awad, and Musa Al-Asmar, and from the village of Deir Nizam, Osama Muhammad Saleh Al-Tamimi, Reda Muhammad Asfour from the village of Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah, and Mahmoud Muhammad. Ahmed Asteeh from the village of Deir Qadis Gharbah.

From Qalqilya, the occupation forces arrested the citizen Alaa Al-Duwairi, in his fifties, and his son Muhammad, in his twenties.

From Salfit, the occupation forces detained a freed prisoner, Saqr Rayyan, from the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan.

From Jenin, the occupation forces arrested three citizens: Abdullah Aweidi, Mahmoud Qasrawi from the town of Burqin, and Atallah Al-Jabali from the Al-Hadaf neighborhood in the Jenin camp.

From Tubas, the occupation forces arrested Firas Sawafta, Moamen Abdel Fattah Salim Dhabbat (24 years old), and Majdi Ghassan Ghannam from the town of Aqaba.

From Hebron, the occupation forces arrested 26 citizens, namely: the three brothers Iyad, Amid, and Tariq Al-Jabarin, Muhammad Salim Abu Aisha from the city of Hebron, Muhammad Ismail Abu Arqoub, Nafez Al-Shawamreh, Kayed Ibrahim Al-Amayra, Muhammad Fares Abu Arqoub, Ismail Amr, Moataz Hassan Amr, Wissam Youssef Amr, and Raafat Turki. From the town of Dura.

From the town of Beit Awa, these forces arrested 11 citizens, namely: Ibrahim Saba Al-Suwaiti, Hatem Ahmed Al-Suwaiti, Muhammad Nabil Al-Masalma, Moataz Mahmoud Al-Masalma, Mahmoud Farouk Al-Suwaiti, Jihad Mahmoud Al-Suwaiti, Ismail Abdullah Salama, Uday Nayef Abdel Fattah Abu Al-Ghalasi, and Ramzi. Abdel Fattah Abu Al-Ghalasi, Bilal Mahmoud Al-Suwaiti, and Mahmoud Ismail Al-Suwaiti.

In the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, the occupation forces arrested 8 young men, namely: Ali Issa Musa Awad, Riyad Issa Younis Arar, Abdul Aziz Shaaban al-Hindi, Anwar Youssef Khudair Awad, Muhammad Ali Issa Awad, Amr Riyad Issa Arar, and Kayed Walid Kayed al-Salibi. And Muhammad Salim Shaaban Al-Hindi.

From Bethlehem, 11 citizens were arrested, and they are: the young man Murad Mustafa Al-Zaghari (34 years old), from the Dheisheh camp, Muhannad Ahmed Ghayatha from the town of Nahalin, Munis Ibrahim Malsh (25 years old), Azmi Tayseer Manasra from the town of Doha to the west, and Hamza Awad Atallah ( 26 years old), Ibrahim Wajih Atallah (24 years old) from the village of Harmala in the east, Awad Hassan Al-Khatib (45 years old) from the Wadi Shaheen area in central Bethlehem, Anwar Ahmed Al-Sheikh from the village of Marah Rabah in the south, Ahmed Ramadan from the Dheisheh camp, and Musa Ahmed Abd. Rabbo (36 years old) from the village of Al-Walaja, and Mustafa Ashraf Salah (19 years old) from the town of Al-Khader in the south.

The October 7th operation was called the Al-Aqsa Flood, and when Israel formulated its response, it called it the Iron Swords.
With the first aerial bombardment of Gaza, the facts went beyond the two labels, to give rise to more realistic labels, such as the war of revenge, the war of displacement, the war to liquidate Hamas, the war to liquidate the Palestinian cause, and standing on the brink of a regional war that might lead to a global war.

A war whose titles were many and whose extensions were wide-ranging, until it became the most important in the world, including the Ukraine war, which no one mentions anymore.

In the midst of this war with multiple titles and even objectives, focus is being placed on its operational course, and the central question is: Will Israel invade Gaza by land? This calls for another central question: If you do that, will things develop into a regional war?

According to the deteriorating morale in Israel, ground war seems to be one of the remedies offered to restore it, especially since the urgent mobilization since the start of the aerial bombardment has reached the point of being inevitable. However, what has seemed clear, at least so far, is that although it was easy to make a decision to do so, it is difficult to implement it, and there are many reasons for this, perhaps the most important of which is... the American reservation about it, which produced a sharp disagreement within the Israeli decision-making institutions, and in this case the American influence is doubled, whose level had already risen through the administration’s incursion into its institutions to the point of participation, and from the position of supreme master in the main decision-making process.

This participation has prevented the military establishment from initiating a pre-emptive war against Hezbollah, and it is working hard to prevent the war from expanding beyond its current level: a destructive war on Gaza under the title of destroying Hamas, and controlled clashes with Hezbollah, and America has sought help for that. With heavy reserve work, such as sending an aircraft carrier to the vicinity of the current and potential war, sending forces and equipment, and providing additional funds, the priority of all of this is to prevent the spillover into a regional war that does not suit America, which has drawn its strategic policies in different directions, not including the war in the Middle East.

No matter how different the headlines were and whether the declared or hidden goals developed, what emerged automatically from this war was the progress of the status of the Palestinian issue from neglected to being under discussion, the return of the political solution to the Palestinian issue to a broader scope and more important levels, and the removal of the thick dust that had enveloped the two-state solution and turned it into a mere slogan. Dying, the world repeats it without making any effort to work towards it.

On the sidelines of the raging war on Gaza, and its permanent side, albeit at a lesser pace in the West Bank, new facts have emerged, the most important of which is the crystallization of a unified Arab position, which was demonstrated at the Cairo International Summit, based on pushing for an end to the war on Gaza, the results of which are not expected to be immediate, and the provision of effective support to its people through The United Nations, establishing a truce, then opening the political path to resolve the Palestinian issue in a “fairer and more effective” manner. This is taking shape, and it has appeared that it has many supporters and opponents as well. It will put the ball back in the Arab court after the internal and inter-state conflicts pushed it away from its natural place, when everyone was embracing the principle that the Palestinian issue is the central issue of the nation.

The war on Gaza and its possibilities will not affect the existing status of the Palestinian cause, with more than fifteen million Palestinians embracing it, and providing it with continuity of life and influence... and they are not isolated from a huge public depth, Arab and international, and this was clearly demonstrated in the powerful demonstrations that swept the capitals of the world. These demonstrations reinforced among the neutral, hesitant, and spontaneous supporters of Israel the fact that without a political solution to the Palestinian issue after stopping the brutal, destructive war on Gaza, there will be no security and stability in the Middle East, and the world will not escape the storm of recurring wars and their direct security and economic impact. Politically and morally.

The pain is deep and severe as we have lost thousands in Gaza in bulk, and thousands in the West Bank in installments. However, this pain should not result in wailing and tears, but rather a Palestinian effort befitting the great development that has occurred since October 7 of this year.

What should Palestinians do during and after this war? This will be the topic of the second part of this article.

Today, Wednesday, settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.

According to local sources, settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the direction of the Mughariba Gate, carried out provocative rounds, and performed Talmudic rituals in its courtyards.

In the same context, the occupation police tightened their military measures in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, stopping students at the doors of the mosque and searching them, and obstructing their access to schools inside the mosque.

The occupation police also set up a checkpoint near the Lions' Gate in Jerusalem, searched vehicles, and caused a stifling crisis.

According to eyewitnesses, the occupation police prevented many of those coming to Al-Aqsa from entering and sent them back, despite keeping the doors open to suggest that the situation was proceeding normally in the mosque.

The national activities in Qalqilya and the national and Islamic forces in Jenin called on citizens to go on a comprehensive strike in the two governorates today, Wednesday, to mourn the spirit of the martyrs.

In Qalqilya, national activists called on citizens in a statement read over loudspeakers to go on strike to mourn the soul of the young martyr, Hamza Sayel Taha (19 years old), who died at dawn after being critically wounded by live bullets from the occupation. They called for the widest participation in the funeral of his body after the noon prayer. In front of the old mosque in the city.

The Ministry of Health had announced the death of the young man, Taha, by live bullets from the occupation forces in the chest, after the occupation forces stormed the city and besieged his family’s home.

In Jenin, the national and Islamic forces announced a comprehensive strike for all aspects of life, with no working hours permanently, in mourning for the souls of the city’s martyrs, and in solidarity with the steadfast families of the martyrs in the Gaza Strip.

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, met with the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad al-Nakhalah, and Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, to discuss developments in Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood.”

A statement issued by Hezbollah’s military media said: “The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, received the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Mr. Ziad Nakhla, and the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas Movement, Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, where the recent events in the Gaza Strip since The start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the subsequent developments at every level, as well as the ongoing confrontations on the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine. An assessment was made of the positions taken internationally and regionally and what the parties of the resistance axis must do at this sensitive stage to achieve a real victory for the resistance in Gaza. And Palestine and stop the treacherous and brutal aggression against our oppressed and steadfast people in Gaza and the West Bank, and it was agreed to continue coordination and permanent follow-up of developments on a daily and permanent basis.”

This is the first media appearance of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah since the outbreak of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.

Earlier, a Hezbollah official revealed the reason why its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, did not appear in the media to address public opinion, stressing that this was part of his management of this battle.

Member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Hassan Fadlallah, said in statements to Al-Mayadeen channel, “The resistance knows the path it has chosen to defend its country well, and it knows which enemy it is fighting, and who stands behind it, and it has a solid environment that is not affected by all disinformation and intimidation campaigns.” . He stressed that "The Secretary-General of the Party, Hassan Nasrallah, is following the course of this confrontation here in Lebanon and what is happening in Gaza, hour by hour and moment by moment. He is supervising the management of this battle in direct communication with the field leadership of the resistance, and supervising all field and political developments."

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that a naval force of its fighters was able to infiltrate the beaches of Zikim, south of Ashkelon, and clash with the occupation forces, while the Israeli army announced that it had killed a number of infiltrators.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said that a force of "frogmen" was able to "infiltrate by sea and land on the beaches of Zikim, south of occupied Ashkelon, and armed clashes are now taking place with the occupation army in that area."

Al Jazeera said that this sea penetration may be the largest by the resistance since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, which also witnessed the infiltration of resistance fighters to Zikim Beach, northwest of the Strip.

Sirens sounded twice in the settlements of Zikim and Karmiya as reports of the infiltration continued.

The channel indicated that previous infiltration operations were carried out by a few members of the resistance, but the number of infiltrators this time appears to be large, according to Israeli media reports.

For his part, an Israeli army spokesman announced that the infiltration operation at Zikim Beach had been thwarted, and said that his forces were still combing the area, but he did not reveal details regarding the size of the operation and the number of participants in it.

The spokesman said that Palestinian naval commandos infiltrated through a tunnel into the sea and then to Zikim Beach.

Israeli Channel 12 said that at least 10 militants were killed by Israeli naval fire, while Channel 14 said that clashes were still continuing in the area.

A video clip showed what appeared to be flash bombs fired by the occupation forces in the area to detect intruders.

On the 19th day of the war on Gaza, Israeli aircraft continued to bomb civilians, and 4 Palestinians were killed in a missile strike launched by Israeli aircraft on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

According to data issued by the Ministry of Health and Gaza Strip hospitals, the number of killed civilians in the Gaza Strip has risen to about 6,000 martyrs, the majority of whom are women and children.

16 killed in separate Israeli night raids in Gaza

The Ministry of the Interior in Gaza said that 16 citizens were killed as a result of Israeli raids on the areas of Jabalia, Tal al-Hawa, the Nuseirat camp, and Khan Yunis, south of the besieged Strip.

It seems that the stagnation of the situation has begun to raise many questions about Israel's intention and the readiness of its army and its ability to achieve the ambitious goals of the war set by the political leadership, and about the realism of these goals and the possibility of achieving them in the first place and how to get down from the tree of these lofty goals.

It was clear from the beginning that the Israeli statements about “crushing Hamas” and “wiping out Hamas” were a spontaneous reaction motivated by revenge for the recent painful blow it dealt to Israel, and that they were not based on rational and realistic thinking and were not based on a post-Hamas political plan in the Gaza Strip. It is also not based on a realistic military plan capable of carrying out this mission.

In the midst of the atmosphere of “against them” that swept the Israeli arena, some voices could be found that warned against this rush and saw that revenge was not a strategy. Some of them even mocked the threats of “crushing,” “crushing,” and “terminating,” recalling that they were repetitive. This was echoed by statements made by the same leaders since 2008, some of whom believed that the issue of eliminating Hamas was not possible, because it is an idea, an ideology, and a religious-social movement that permeates the structure of Palestinian society.

Today, after 18 days of deadly and devastating aerial bombardment that turned into a war of genocide and displacement, we hear that the Biden administration fears that Israel has no military objectives and is not ready for a ground attack supported by a practical plan, and that the US Secretary of Defense urges his Israeli counterpart on the necessity of conducting a careful review of the plan. Ground entry into the Gaza Strip.

Senior officials indicated that the US administration is concerned that the Israeli army has no way to implement the goal set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to eliminate the authority of Hamas. Senior officials who have been in telephone contact with their Israeli counterparts since October 7 said that they did not see action plans whose goals were achievable, at a time when Biden himself had warned during his visit to Tel Aviv last week that Israel must set clear goals. And a real appreciation of whether the path you take will lead to achieving those goals.

It seems that the stagnation of the situation has begun to raise many questions about Israel’s intention and the readiness of its army and its ability to achieve the ambitious goals of the war set by the political leadership, and about the realism of these goals and the possibility of achieving them at all, and how to get down from the tree of these lofty goals and rationalize them before failure to achieve these goals turns into defeat. .

In light of the dispute between Netanyahu and the army leadership and the public crisis of trust between the two parties, Netanyahu met in recent days with more than one military figure from outside the security staff managing the war, including the former chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, Gallant’s rival and arch friend of Gantz.

Netanyahu also met with Reserve General Yitzhak Brik, who had previously warned that the Israeli army was not ready to fight a war, and he warns today that the ground “maneuver” is a trap that Hamas has been preparing for a decade, and that it will also shed a lot of blood of Israeli soldiers. It will lead to Hezbollah, which will enter the war, being bombarded with five thousand missiles daily and causing destruction and death parallel to the destruction and death that Israel will cause to Lebanon, in addition to attacks from the West Bank and a Palestinian uprising within the Green Line.

Yedioth Ahronoth attributed the delay of the ground operation mainly to the fact that Netanyahu was not concerned with it, and pointed out that those close to him published videos praising the effectiveness of the aerial bombardment only, as military commentator Avi Issakharov wrote that Netanyahu is doing a lot to delay the ground operation, under logical reasons. Sometimes, such as "hostages" and "international credibility", but in reality he knows that this operation will not bring him much good, in reference to the investigation committee that is waiting for him and other officials for their failure in this war.

In this context, The Marker newspaper revealed that those close to Netanyahu are behind the “secret media campaign” that is sweeping social media and aims to put a brake on the ground operation, claiming that there is a need to destroy all Hamas tunnels from the air first.

This campaign includes WhatsApp groups, a Facebook page, and extensive explanations of the campaign in which it appears that a lot of money has been invested. It lacks the signature of the responsible party, but it refers to a Facebook group that was launched last Friday, showing that the organization is An association whose members are anonymous, and after excavations and investigation carried out by the newspaper, it became clear that the person behind the campaign is a public relations office close to Netanyahu.

But although Netanyahu, as is clear, takes into account the first day after the war and attaches great importance to his political future when he postpones or disrupts the ground operation and tries to descend from the tree of lofty goals that he himself set, such as “crushing Hamas,” we know that the latter did not go. To this option in “better days” than these days, perhaps because he also realizes that this goal is also expensive and unrealistic.

To realize this, it is enough to read what Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times, stating that Israel’s invasion of Gaza may turn the humiliating tactical defeat that Tel Aviv suffered at the hands of Hamas into a long-term strategic moral and military crisis, indicating that it has not yet been eliminated. On any of the Islamic/jihadi movements; Because it has deep cultural, social, religious and political roots in its societies.

Source: Arab 48

A number of reasons explain the absolute bias of Biden and his administration towards Israel, which are:

Biden's personal passion for Zionism and Israel, and he keeps repeating a statement he made decades ago bragging about his Zionism, "You don't need to be a Jew to be a Zionist." He always repeats that "If there had been no Israel, we would have had to invent Israel." He reiterated these positions in his speech on the 10th of this month, which was the most closely aligned with Israel, and he absolutely adopted its position.

political calculations: The approaching presidential elections next year represents an opportunity for Biden and the Democrats to present themselves as strong supporters of Israel and its security, after years of tension with Netanyahu and his right-wing government, and Republicans exploiting this to accuse them of abandoning Israel, especially in light of the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran. Opinion polls show a decline in Democratic support for Israel, specifically among the progressive wing of the party. Biden's relations with Netanyahu were marred by great tension, this year in particular, against the backdrop of the latter's government's insistence on passing a package of "judicial reform" laws, which caused a sharp Israeli division. Republicans claim that the prisoner exchange deal between Iran and the United States, last month (September), and the conditional release of six billion frozen dollars belonging to Iran, contributed to financing the Hamas operation, although Iran has not received it yet. 

The Biden administration also found itself in a position of defending its Middle East policy. 

Some experts held it responsible for what happened on October 7, and considered it evidence of the failure of its approach to the Middle East, which was based on expanding the Abrahamic Accords, initiated by the Donald Trump administration, for normalization between Arab countries and Israel, while ignoring the Palestinians. Critics here cite a statement by the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, on September 29, 2023, in which he praised the administration’s approach to the Middle East, saying: “The Middle East region is calmer today than it was two decades ago.” The existing assumption was that achieving some kind of peace between the Arabs and Israel would force the Palestinians to accept what Israel wants to impose on them, after they find themselves isolated under Arab-Israeli political and economic normalization, while events prove that the suffering of the Palestinians and their legitimate demands cannot be overlooked. With freedom, dignity and independence.

The close American-Israeli alliance relationship; The United States views Israel as an advanced base in the region, and it constitutes the cornerstone of its security approach in the Middle East. However, the security and military fragility that Israel appeared to exhibit on the morning of October 7 surprised Washington, shocked it, and shook its confidence in it. In this sense, direct American intervention aims to prevent a possible Israeli collapse if the conflict expands, and the resulting repercussions on American strategic calculations. Since the Biden administration came to the White House declaring that China was the primary “geopolitical challenge” to the United States, and to a lesser extent Russia, it sought to reduce American commitments in the Middle East. 

To achieve this, this administration attempted to build on the Trump administration’s approach to expanding the scope of Arab-Israeli normalization, especially at the level of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and to build a new regional security structure linked to it, and strengthened it with an economic component, represented by the economic corridor between India and the Middle East. And Europe, which was proposed on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in New Delhi, last month (September), to compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In all of this, the Biden administration assumed that Israel would serve as a lever for its Arab allies to offset Iranian influence and capabilities in the region, but this seemed to be crumbling after the recent Hamas attack. This is what prompted the Biden administration to return to the region to enable Israel to restore its image of deterrence, which had suffered a major blow, and to prevent the opening of new fronts against it, which might cause a regional war that Israel may not be able to confront.

Conclusion

The military operation carried out by the Hamas movement and the approach adopted by the Biden administration in confronting it threaten to undermine the American strategy in the Middle East region. The Israeli collapse in the first hours of the operation and the increase in the American military presence in the region, with the aim of deterring Iran and its agents from opening a new front with Israel, if its aggression against Gaza continues, may drag the United States into a regional war that it does not want, as it wants to focus on China’s challenge to it. In addition, the absence of a clear American vision in the region and the tense situation there may destabilize some allied Arab countries, which fear popular protests, in addition to the concerns of Egypt and Jordan that Israel will push the Palestinians into new waves of asylum towards their borders. At the level of Biden’s electoral calculations, his absolute bias towards Israel in its brutal aggression against the Gaza Strip, although it may benefit him in terms of his relationship with the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, may cost him dearly in terms of the support of the progressive movement for him and the youth base in the Democratic Party, as well as votes. Arabs and Muslims are in favorable states, such as Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, and Arizona, and from here, his calculations may turn against him. The position of Biden and his administration, which is excessively biased towards Israel and their disregard for the suffering of the Palestinians, has resulted in resignations and widespread dissatisfaction in the State Department, and this dissatisfaction has expanded to include employees and members of Congress, specifically from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, as well as divisions in society, in universities, and even in American technology companies, and its repercussions have reached Hollywood.

Source: Arab 48

The official Israeli channel refers to a “systematic deception operation” through which the Hamas movement was able to “mislead” Netanyahu’s office and exhaust it with “intensive negotiations” during which it made him feel that he was “close to a prisoner exchange deal,” before the October 7 attack.

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (“Kan 11”) revealed what it described as the “trick” that Hamas practiced on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the weeks preceding the attack on October 7, which was launched by members of the Palestinian Brigades. Al-Qassam, on Israeli military sites and towns adjacent to the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to the official Israeli channel, the Hamas movement sent letters to the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, expressing its readiness to proceed with a prisoner exchange deal through which the two Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Shaul Oron, who have been detained by the Hamas movement since the aggression on Gaza in 2014, will be released, in addition to the citizen Avra Mengistu. .

The channel considered that the Hamas movement tried to distract Israeli officials from the situation on the ground, and occupied them with indirect “intensive negotiations” that took place through several mediators, at the highest political level in Israel, and were managed by officials in Netanyahu’s office, while the movement’s military wing was preparing for the largest attack that would take place. It was carried out on Israeli targets.

The channel's report stated that intense negotiations took place during the past two years in an attempt to reach a prisoner exchange deal between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation authorities, and added, quoting Israeli officials, that these negotiations "intensified and escalated over the past months."

According to “Kan 11,” these negotiations took place through several mediators on the one hand, and the Prime Minister’s Office on the other hand, and under the supervision of Netanyahu’s military secretary, General Avi Gil. The channel indicated that Netanyahu refrained from appointing a new coordinator for "prisoners and missing persons" affairs after Yaron Blum ended his service in the position about a year ago.

The channel considered this to be further evidence that the recent negotiations initiated by the Hamas movement “were managed by Netanyahu himself, and his military secretary coordinated the file.” The channel quoted informed sources as saying, “The negotiations witnessed ups and downs, but on several occasions, Hamas made Israel feel that... "Very close to reaching a deal."

After the start of the war on Gaza, and in the wake of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” Netanyahu appointed Gal Hirsch, coordinator of prisoners and missing persons affairs, amid a state of Israeli dissatisfaction with the latter’s performance and his treatment of the families of prisoners and hostages held by Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip, noting that Israel appreciates The number of prisoners and hostages in the Gaza Strip is 222 people

Source: Arab 48

The raids come amid the occupation army's continuous hints that it will launch a ground invasion, while the humanitarian situation in Gaza is witnessing an unprecedented catastrophe, with the health system reaching the worst stage in its history.

For the 18th day in a row, Israeli warplanes continue to bomb populated areas and civilians in various areas of Gaza. 110 Palestinians were killed, including children and women, while the Ministry of Health in the besieged Strip confirmed that more than 700 people were killed during the last 24 hours, including more than 300 children. While the occupation army said that it would not allow fuel to enter Gaza, despite UNRWA warning that it would be forced to stop working throughout the Gaza Strip on Wednesday if it did not supply fuel. The occupation also repeated its call for civilians to flee south.

This comes amid the occupation army's continuous hints that it will launch a ground invasion, while the humanitarian situation in Gaza is witnessing an unprecedented catastrophe, with the health system reaching the worst stage in its history, while the number of displaced people in the Strip has reached one million and 400 thousand people, half of whom are in shelter centers.

The number of dead rose to 5,791, including 2,360 children and 1,292 women, and the death toll rose to 18,000, according to the media office in the besieged sector.

According to the information office in Gaza, the occupation army committed 597 massacres against Palestinian families, in which 3,813 were killed, the majority of whom were women and children, and the number of displaced people reached about 1,400,000 citizens.

According to what was reported from a Hamas leader in Lebanon, who was speaking, a few days ago, at a press conference in Beirut, “the movement’s demand to stop the war is an end to the occupation, the return of refugees, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.” Thank you, Mr. Osama Hamdan. There are two reasons for gratitude: The first is old, and the second is new. The first is to remind you of what was known, before the emergence of “Hamas,” Khawatim, in 1987, on the eve of the launch of the first intifada against the Israeli occupation from the Gaza Strip, in a spontaneous manner that surprised even the leaders of the Palestinian factions at that time, and then it spread throughout the entire occupied territory. What is known here is the demand of the Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, within the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, after the withdrawal of all Israeli occupation forces, on the basis that its establishment will in turn lead to a comprehensive peace that will establish An end to the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole.

The second reason is that a Hamas leader set the required condition to stop the movement’s latest war against Israel, after it began with a surprise attack that was unprecedented in size, planning, implementation, and impact, on the seventh of this month. Defining the condition is important in itself. If it proves to be truly strategic, it will tell people that Hamas has a target for its attack. The goal here is what specialists refer to as “ENDGAME,” meaning that every party that participates, or is involved in any political game, must not mess around, but rather enter the field aware of the consequences of what it is approaching. In light of the above, it is possible to reconcile Osama Hamdan’s words with the statement of Mr. Khaled Meshal, “the head of the movement abroad,” during an interview conducted with him by Al-Arabiya channel, that the attack was a “thought-out adventure,” stressing the following: “We know very well the consequences of our operation on the day of October 7.

The words of the two, Mishal and Hamdan, are very important, as they may help to understand the purpose of what is happening, and therefore it is necessary that they be documented historically, as no one knows, until now, with certainty, the results of the endings of the series whose chapters began rolling nineteen days ago. As a result of the confusion, you see and hear how people multiply fifths by sixths, and engage in speculative adventures, some of which are expected to have an ending no less disastrous than the First Nakba of Palestine (1948), and some of which indicate the possibility that it will result in a new map of the region between Rafah, the Gaza Valley, and Al-Aqsa. In the northern Gaza Strip, it imposes a reality that surprises everyone.

It is also important to note Hamas’s words about the demand for an “independent Palestinian state.” What is assumed is that the movement’s charter contradicts this perception fundamentally, based on its rejection of the “two-state solution,” which was accepted by the Palestine Liberation Organization and approved by the international community, while Israel rejects it. Hamas’s objection is based on the fact that the land of Palestine is an indivisible whole, and according to those who adhere most closely to the same approach, it is an “Islamic endowment,” and the Palestinians themselves do not have the right to dispose of it alone. Within this context, it can be concluded that the demand for an “independent Palestinian state” was not invented by Hamas. Rather, it rejected it in the past, even before its inception, when everyone preceded it. Was it necessary for what has happened so far to become this? What is the requirement to stop the war? Maybe the answer is yes. Regardless of agreement or disagreement with the Hamas leadership, it is clear that it has succeeded in reminding the world of the necessity of finding a solution to the Palestine issue, even if the return is to push it into a kind of liquidation, especially if the solution comes in the form of creating a “statelet” for what remains. From the rubble of the Gaza Strip, after the guns fell silent. How terrifying are the questions that seek convincing answers?

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he has recognized the State of Israel and its right to exist for 40 years, and asks Israel to recognize a Palestinian state and its right to exist as well. In a conference held with French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited him in Ramallah from Israel after a major solidarity visit following the attack launched by Hamas on the 7th of this month, Abbas demanded a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the opening of permanent corridors. For humanitarian relief to introduce medical supplies and food, and provide water, electricity, fuel and other basic needs.

Abbas called on France to use its influence in the Security Council to immediately stop this aggression, provide urgent international protection for the Palestinians in Gaza, hold an international peace conference, and move to a political solution instead of military and security solutions, by implementing the two-state solution in accordance with international legitimacy.

Abbas accused Israel of choosing a destructive military machine instead of peace. He asked: “Who in this world would accept the annihilation of entire families, the bombing of hospitals, and the cutting off of water to an entire people?” Abbas held Israel and the countries of the world that encouraged it to continue deepening its aggressive practices responsible for what turned out. Abbas renewed his refusal to displace Palestinians from their homes and land outside Palestine, whether from Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem, stressing: “We will not accept more military or security solutions, which have brought us to where we are today, which may lead the region to a regional and global war.”

Abbas said: “The Gaza Strip is part of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, and we reject any partial or security solutions for the Strip, and we adhere to the comprehensive political solution.” Abbas stressed the commitment of the Palestinian side, “represented by the State of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization, to international legitimacy and signed agreements, policies of non-violence and peaceful popular resistance, and following political and legal methods to achieve our people’s national goals.” He added: “We also condemn the killing of civilians on both sides, and call for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees on both sides.”

But Macron focused on an international coalition against Hamas. Macron, while standing next to Abbas, said: “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, and we think about the suffering of civilians in Gaza, and there is no justification for this suffering.”

Macron stressed that “civilian lives have the same value, regardless of nationality.” Macron described Hamas as terrorist, and told Abbas that there must be a security and peace initiative based on combating all terrorist groups, including Hamas. Macron arrived in Ramallah, at a time when Palestinians in Ramallah demonstrated against receiving him, as he was completely biased towards Israel. Macron pledged to support the Palestinians financially in the West Bank, and to accelerate the sending of aid to the Gaza Strip, on the basis that civilians should not be harmed.

Palestine TV said that four people were killed and 20 others were injured in an Israeli bombing on the vicinity of the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Wednesday. 

For its part, the Israeli army said that it carried out a drone strike on Palestinians who opened fire on its forces during a raid in the city of Jenin early on Wednesday morning. The Israeli army added that its forces arrested two people “suspected of involvement in terrorist activities” and shot others in Wadi Burqin.

Russia confirmed on Tuesday that the basis for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and compliance with Security Council resolutions in this regard.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a press conference: “Russia stresses that it is necessary to ensure a ceasefire as soon as possible and to resolve the issue, which must be based on ensuring the establishment of an independent state for the Palestinians.”

The head of humanitarian affairs at the United Nations, Martin Griffiths, stressed on Tuesday the need for fuel to enter the Gaza Strip as soon as possible.

Griffiths said on his page on the “AX” website, “The aid delivered to Gaza so far is barely making an impact,” adding, “We need more, now.”

"We need the aid to go to civilians in need wherever they are," he added.

For her part, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine, Lynn Hastings, said in her speech during the UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, that fuel is important for delivering aid to all areas of Gaza.

She added: "We will not limit humanitarian aid deliveries to one place, and we do not want humanitarian aid to be used as an attraction to transport people, and for this reason we need fuel to deliver aid to all parts of Gaza."

Today, Tuesday, Israeli occupation artillery bombed several villages in southern Lebanon, where an atmosphere of tension prevails over the villages of the western sector, after a number of its outskirts were subjected to violent enemy bombardment.

The occupation fired flares, while UNIFIL forces sounded sirens at their positions in Naqoura, Alma al-Shaab, and Labouneh. The artillery shelling also targeted Aita Al-Shaab Public School.