The „Committee for the Evaluation of the Defense Establishment Budget and the Balance of Power“ is led by former National Security Council head Yaakov Nagel, and is often referred to in Hebrew media as the Nagel Commission or Nagel Committee.
The commission was established in 2023 before the outbreak of the war, to create recommendations for the defense ministry regarding the possible areas of conflict facing Israel in the years ahead.
The Nagel Committee issued a report on Monday detailing the defence budget and security strategy, where they raised concerns over Turkey’s aspirations and possible future tensions with Israel, according to Israeli media.
The committee said these tensions could escalate into conflict and highlighted the risk of Syrian factions aligning with Turkey and creating further threats to Israel‘s „security“.
(January 3. 2025)
Although the majority of high-ranking officials in the HTS-led administration refrain from making categorical claims about Israel, they constantly stress that Iran and Hezbollah, not Israel, are Syria’s main enemies.
(…)
Ayman Al-Asimi, a senior member of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and former spokesperson for the Syrian opposition delegations during the Astana talks, made headlines with his remarks to BBC Arabic. He stated unequivocally that Syria’s only opponent is Iran.
(December 12, 2024)
In 2003, he went to Iraq to fight against American forces. After three years of war, he was captured by the U.S. military and spent over five years in prison, including a stint at the notorious Abu Ghraib torture center.
While in Iraq, Jolani fought with ISIS and was even a deputy to its founder. Immediately upon release in 2011, ISIS sent him to Syria with a rumored $1 billion to found the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda and participate in the armed protest movement against Assad that arose out of the Arab Spring.
Syrian sources told Reuters that the foreign fighters appointed to the military include Uyghurs, a Jordanian, a Turk, and an Albanian. “This is a small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamist jihadists gave to our struggle for freedom from Assad’s oppression,” an HTS source told the media outlet.
(…)
HTS is still designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization, but the Biden administration has celebrated its takeover of Syria. The US has also made clear it’s willing to work with the new government and its de facto leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who has been going by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.
(December 19, 2024)
“They did not tell us how it would happen,” Bashar al-Mashadani, an RCA commander, told The Telegraph. “We were just told: ‘Everything is about to change. This is your moment. Either Assad will fall, or you will fall.’ But they did not say when or where, they just told us to be ready.”
In October, the US brought several other Sunni Muslim militias under the command of the RCA, swelling the force from 800 fighters to about 3,000. All of the fighters are armed by the US, and the US pays their salaries of $400 per month.
(December 18, 2024)
RCA fighters who captured the Russian-controlled Syrian air base on the outskirts of the town last week said they had been told to prepare for Assad’s possible fall in early November, nearly three weeks before the offensive began.
Until one month earlier, Capt Mashadani had been second-in-command of the Abu Khatab brigade. This small unit of 150 men was created by US Special Forces and trained by their British counterparts in Jordan until 2016, to hunt down Isis fighters near Deir ez-Zor, a city in eastern Syria.
Julani fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq against American soldiers during the Iraq War. He then founded al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, the al-Nusra Front. In recent years, he has attempted to soften his image by giving friendly interviews to Western journalists, often appearing in a suit and with a trimmed beard to obscure his jihadist ideology.
Leaf said of Julani after the meeting, who is also going by Ahmad al-Sharaa, “I heard him on his priorities, which are very much rooted in getting Syria on the road to economic recovery.”
“We’ve been hearing this for some time, some very pragmatic and moderate statements on various issues, from women’s rights to protection to equal rights for all communities,” she added. “It was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds, not just by words.”
The State Department said early Friday that three senior American diplomats had arrived in Damascus, the capital of Syria, to meet with leaders of the militias that have seized control of the country, and to look for signs of the journalist Austin Tice and other missing U.S. citizens.
Since Assad’s downfall, the US, Turkey, and Israel have all been bombing Syria. On December 8, the day Assad fled, the US launched heavy airstrikes in Syria, saying it hit 75 ISIS-related targets.
US officials justify the strikes by saying they don’t want ISIS to reconstitute itself following the regime change. But on the other hand, the US has supported the HTS takeover even though the group is designated by the US as a terrorist organization and has a similar ideology to ISIS.
The US has also made clear it has no intention of withdrawing the approximately 900 troops that it has occupying eastern Syria.
Germany plans talks with representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said, joining the United States and Britain in establishing contact with the group after it led the overthrow of Syria‘s Bashar al-Assad.
„Using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to.“
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has had direct contact with HTS.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States was communicating directly with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant rebel faction, despite its designation as a terrorist group.
The U.S. government would “recognize and fully support” a future Syrian government that results from an inclusive and transparent transition process, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, outlining a first set of principles regarding the Biden administration’s hopes to influence discussions over Syria’s future after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
The United States army announced on Sunday that it carried out airstrikes against 75 Islamic State (ISIS) camps in Syria, to prevent the group from taking “advantage” of the recent kerfuffle in the country.
“The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS,” read a statement from the army’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US troops in the Middle East.
President Biden: „After 13 years of civil war in Syria, more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office, flee the country.“
(18.8.2011)
As Obama issued his statement, the leaders of France, Germany and Britain joined him in calling on Assad “to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside.”
Obama had spoken to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron over the past two weeks to discuss calling for Assad’s resignation and to coordinate steps on sanctions.
(December 2, 2024)
US officials have not been shy in the past about their preference for HTS and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, over other factions in Syria. James Jeffrey, an American diplomat who served as a special envoy to Syria under the Trump administration from 2018-2020, said in a 2021 interview that HTS was “an asset” to the US’s strategy in Idlib, a northwestern Syrian province that’s been under HTS control since 2017.
The United States spent billions over years arming and training militants in Syria, many linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Current US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted back in 2012 that “AQ [Al-Qaeda] is on our side in Syria”.
Der Text war von allen zehn nicht ständigen Mitgliedern des mächtigsten Gremiums der Vereinten Nationen eingereicht worden. Nach wochenlangen Verhandlungen und Änderungen auf Wunsch des Israel-Verbündeten USA blieb am Ende Uneinigkeit vor allem über eine Formulierung: Im Entwurf hieß es, der Sicherheitsrat „verlangt eine sofortige, bedingungslose und dauerhafte Waffenruhe, die von allen Parteien zu respektieren ist; bekräftigt ferner seine Forderung nach der sofortigen und bedingungslosen Freilassung aller Geiseln“.
Unlike several previous resolutions regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, Wednesday‘s measure was brought forward by all 10 elected members of the Security Council.
The veto was the fourth time the United States blocked an effort by the Council to demand a cease-fire since the war began over a year ago when Hamas attacked Israel and took more than 200 people hostage. In the months since, more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the local health authorities.
(September 27, 2024)
The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.
Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation
(November 16, 2024)
“Secretary Blinken has continued to lie to Congress and should resign,” she said. “U.S. law is very clear. No nation blocking U.S. humanitarian assistance can receive U.S. weapons. The Biden administration cannot pick and choose when they comply with our own laws.”
“Children are forced to eat pet food and bug infested flour,” she went on. “But Blinken says there is no need to change our own policy. Shameful.”
The present report contains information regarding the efforts of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories to implement its mandate and documents human rights concerns in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan from October 2023 to July 2024. The Special Committee was not able to conduct visits to the occupied territories, but did conduct its annual consultations in Geneva and undertook a visit to Amman, and met with government officials, United Nations organizations and mechanisms, representatives of civil society organizations, youth representatives, human rights defenders, and Palestinian families.
The report raises serious concerns of breaches of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including starvation as a weapon of war, the possibility of genocide in Gaza and an apartheid system in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It documents the impact of the conflict escalation since 7 October 2023 on Palestinians’ rights to food; to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; to physical integrity, liberty and security of persons; as well as the disproportionate effects on the rights of women, children, and future generations more broadly. The report also highlights the ongoing attacks against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and refers to developments in the occupied Syrian Golan. The report provides recommendations to the General Assembly and Member States; to the State of Israel; and to businesses operating with Israel, that in any way contribute to maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied territories.
(…)
IX. Conclusions
69. The developments in this report lead the Special Committee to conclude that the policies and practices of Israel during the reporting period are consistent with the characteristics of genocide. The targeting of Palestinians as a group; the life-threatening conditions imposed on Palestinians in Gaza through warfare and restrictions on humanitarian aid – resulting in physical destruction, increased miscarriages and stillbirths – and the killing of and serious bodily or mental harm caused to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are violations under international law. Civilians have been indiscriminately and disproportionally killed en masse in Gaza, while in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli colonial settlers, military and security personnel have continued to violate human rights and humanitarian law with impunity. Senior Israeli government and military officials must be held accountable, including for using dehumanizing language and inciting violence.
Less than 48 hours after the Biden administration said it does not believe Israel is unlawfully obstructing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, a United Nations special committee issued a report Thursday arguing that the Israeli military‘s actions in the Palestinian enclave bear „the characteristics of genocide.“
(November 12, 2024)
Last month, the Biden administration—which has approved tens of billions of dollars in military aid for Israel and provided nearly unconditional diplomatic support since October 2023—sent a letter to the Israeli government threatening to cut off U.S. arms transfers if it failed to take „urgent and sustained actions“ to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza within 30 days.
Asked during a Tuesday press conference if the Israeli government has met the letter‘s demands, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said that „we have not made an assessment that they are in violation of U.S. law.“
After being ambushed with demands for him to call for a ceasefire in December last year, he replied: “No, I will not. On the contrary … I want [Israel] to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on.
“These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes.” To the activists, he added: “I hope you guys post that, because that’s my position.”
US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state and Rep. Michael Waltz as national security adviser, The New York Times reported Monday, pushing the emergent cabinet in a hawkish, pro-Israel direction.
The Israeli response was yet another example of what Austin privately characterized as Netanyahu’s government “playing with house money”: taking big shots at its adversaries, knowing that the United States, as Israel’s chief ally, would throw its military and diplomatic weight behind it.
Some speculated that Biden’s new lame-duck status had further emboldened Netanyahu, who thought a possible Trump return to the White House would mean more U.S. support for Israel and less complaining. Just days before the attacks on Shukr and Haniyeh, after giving a table-thumping speech to Congress, Netanyahu had visited the former president and newly crowned Republican presidential nominee at his Florida residence.
The U.S. government’s handling of USAID’s memo led to internal conflict, with one official in the State Department, Stacy Gilbert, resigning in May over Blinken’s statement to Congress.
“There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid,” Gilbert wrote in a statement at the time. “To deny this is absurd and shameful. That report and its flagrant untruths will haunt us.” (mehr …)
Blinken’s decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the delivery of U.S.-backed aid.
Blinken told Congress, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting” aid, even though the U.S. Agency for International Development and others had determined that Israel had broken the law.
A war zone is a collapse in law and order where might makes right and whoever has the guns makes the rules. People who normally wouldn’t risk imprisonment for acting out their fantasies of torture and murder have the opportunity during wartime to become one of the people with the guns who make the rules. They have a helpless population at their fingertips to whom they can do anything they like.
War is the worst thing in the world. It’s the most insane thing humans do. So, so much of the trauma and dysfunction of our species are the lingering reverberations from wars which ended decades ago, passed down from generation to generation by soldiers returning home and by civilians who’ve been subjected to unfathomable abuse by those who found themselves free to do anything they want to them.
(10.04.2024)
U.N. resolutions that are written without enforcement measures obviously cannot force Israel to stop what its leadership insists is a justified war necessary to remove Hamas and prevent another Oct. 7 massacre. But it’s just as obvious what entity can make Israel stop and isn’t doing so: the United States.
Whatever the Biden administration might have thought it was doing by permitting the resolution to pass and then undermining it, the maneuver exposed the continuing damage Israel’s war in Gaza is doing to the United States’ longstanding justification for being a superpower: guaranteeing what U.S. administrations like to call the international rules-based order.
Blinken claimed that Tel Aviv had taken steps towards accountability and clarified the finding that five Israeli units committed “gross human rights violations” would have no impact on US aid to Israel.
“The Israeli government has presented new information regarding the status of the unit and we will engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit,” Blinken wrote.
Israel is in violation of a White House directive requiring recipients of American military assistance to comply with international humanitarian law and permit the unimpeded delivery of U.S.-funded humanitarian support, USAID officials concluded in a confidential United States paper reviewed by Devex.
The findings earlier this month follow the Feb. 8 issuance of a national security memo from the White House instructing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “obtain credible and reliable written assurances” from U.S. weapons recipients that they will abide by international humanitarian law, and report those findings to the White House and Congress. In Israel’s case, it would only apply to offensive weapons.
United States State Department’s spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa, Hala Rharrit, has resigned in protest of America’s policy on Gaza — at least the third high-profile resignation from the department, as pro-Palestinian demonstrations at university campuses across the country grow.
“Do we have a double standard? The answer is no,” Blinken said in response to questions about the Biden administration’s handling of allegations of abuses by Israeli forces in Gaza, compared with those attributed to Hamas.
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„I‘ve seen those reports and we are inquiring about it with the government of Israel,“ Miller said.
When asked in a follow-up question if the U.S. will „press the Israelis to find out more about this issue,“ Miller replied: „that‘s exactly what we are doing.“
Newsweek has also contacted the State Department for further comment.
In a vote of 12 in favour to one against, with two abstentions, the Council did not adopt a draft resolution that would have recommended the General Assembly to hold a vote with the broader UN membership to allow Palestine to join as a full UN Member State.
The draft resolution is among the shortest in the Council’s history: “The Security Council, having examined the application of the State of Palestine for admission to the United Nations (S/2011/592), recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”
(22. März 2011)
Am 19.März, dem Tag des Angriffs von Frankreich, Großbritannien, Kanada, Italien und den USA auf Libyen, wurde in Moskau eine der erbärmlichsten Erklärungen in der russischen Geschichte veröffentlicht (Angriffskrieg gegen Libyen beginnt: Ticker). Das russische Außenministerium von Sergei Lawrow:
“In Moskau bedauern wir diese bewaffnete Intervention im Rahmen der UN Resolution 1973, die hastig beschlossen wurde.”
Die Weltöffentlichkeit konstatiert: Russlands Staatsführung ist ein Haufen Tölpel, dem – wenn er schon nicht lesen kann und deshalb nicht weiss was vor sich geht – selbst das Wort „Veto“ mit einem einfachen Armhochhalten schon zu viel ist. Das Gleiche gilt für die Atomschwachmacht China, deren leseunkundige kommunistische Staatspartei immerhin 1.3 Milliarden Menschen herumkommandiert. In der Parteizeitung „People´s Daily“ redete man sich heute nun selbst in ein Gewissen, was man nicht hat (1):
„Die blutgetränkten Gewitter, denen Irak seit acht Jahren unterzogen wurde und das unaussprechliche Leiden seines Volkes sind ein Spiegel und eine Warnung. Die militärischen Attacken auf Libyen, folgend den Kriegen in Afghanisten und Irak, sind das das dritte Mal, dass einige Länder bewaffnete Aktionen gegen souveräne Staaten gestartet haben. Es sollte augenscheinlich sein, dass jedes Mal, wenn militärische Mittel benutzt werden um Krisen zu begegnen, dies ein Schlag gegen die Charta der Vereinten Nationen und die Regeln der internationalen Beziehungen sind.“
Die Weltöffentlichkeit versteht: früher hiess es in China „Bombardiert das Hauptquartier“, letzten Freitag hiess es „Bombardiert Libyen“ und heute wieder anders herum. Mal sehen, zu was sich Chinas Staatsführung am Donnerstag entscheidet. Vielleicht der Einfachheit halber zu „Bombardiert irgendwas“.
(17 March 2011)
Adopting resolution 1973 (2011) by a vote of 10 in favour to none against, with 5 abstentions (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Russian Federation), the Council authorized Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory — requesting them to immediately inform the Secretary-General of such measures.
(14.09.2023)
When CIA-trained terrorists tried to overthrow the Sandinista government in the 1980s, the left erupted in protest. Now the left is cheering for the CIA.