The grim reality of Gaza's hunger crisis appears to be shifting U.S. public opinion
Criticism of Israel's conduct in the conflict grew after Israel instituted a new aid distribution system. Under this scheme, which only has four aid distribution centers, was brought in to replace the old one run by the United Nations which organized across hundreds of sites.
Since then, Israeli troops have fired into crowds of desperate Palestinians, more than 1,000 of whom have been killed during that time, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last week.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of stealing aid and disrupting shipments in Gaza. Last week, an internal U.S. government review concluded that the militant group was not responsible for systematically looting aid.
Recently, Netanyahu and his government have made some concessions by announcing a limited pause in fighting in some areas of the Gaza Strip and allowing the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and some other countries to airdrop aid packages into Gaza.
However, aid groups and humanitarian organizations have questioned the strategy, saying this will do little to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. Air drops in general are notoriously unreliable, it is impossible to say where they will land and they could drop into dangerous parts of the enclave.
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Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Stanford newspaper challenges legal basis for student deportations
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UPI
17 minutes ago
- UPI
Analysis: Lebanon's decision on weapons corners Hezbollah
The weapons decision, adopted during a Cabinet session chaired by President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday, not only ends the political cover Hezbollah has enjoyed for decades, but also undermines its legitimacy as a 'resistance organization,' according to military and political analysts. Photo by Wael BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Lebanon, caught between mounting international pressure and the risk of another devastating war with Israel, made a game-changing decision by tasking the Army with preparing a plan to enforce a state monopoly on weapons by the end of the year. The move poses a new challenge to the once-powerful Hezbollah, which has been left with almost no options after being significantly weakened during last year's war with Israel. The decision, adopted during a Cabinet session chaired by President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday, not only ends the political cover Hezbollah has enjoyed for decades, but also undermines its legitimacy as a "resistance organization," according to military and political analysts. Addressing Hezbollah's weapons had long been a taboo topic; until September, when Israel escalated its attacks on the group, killing its longtime leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, along with many of its top military commanders. In addition, the Iran-backed Shiite group reportedly lost the bulk of its military capabilities in ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeting its positions in southern and eastern Lebanon. Hezbollah had no alternative but to accept the Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and France, to end the 14-month war with Israel that killed or wounded more than 20,000 people and left border villages in southern Lebanon in ruins. However, the agreement marked an opportunity for Lebanon to reclaim its long-lost sovereignty after decades of lawlessness, military occupation and the dominance of armed non-state actors. Tuesday's decision was "certainly a historic" one, according to Riad Kahwaji, who heads the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. "Hezbollah has lost the political cover that has given it legitimacy as a resistance organization," Kahwaji told UPI. He maintained that the militant group is now viewed as an armed militia that must comply with the 1989 Taif Accords -- which ended the 1975-1990 civil war -- and U.N. Resolution 1701, both of which call for the disarmament of all armed groups and affirm that only the Lebanese Armed Forces should hold a monopoly on weapons in the country. While Hezbollah implicitly agreed to discuss its weapons as part of a national defense strategy, it resisted government efforts to set a timetable for disarming -- a key U.S. condition for unlocking much-needed international and Gulf Arab funding to support Lebanon's reconstruction and economic recovery. In line with the government decision, the Army was to submit its implementation plan on disarming Hezbollah and other Palestinian armed factions to the cabinet by the end of August for discussion and approval, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said after the Cabinet meeting. Hezbollah and its main ally, the Shiite Amal Movement led by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, rejected in separate statements Wednesday the Cabinet's decision as a "grave sin" that offers "free concessions to the Israeli enemy" and weakens Lebanon, rather than ending Israel's ongoing attacks, its occupation of Lebanese territory and securing the release of Lebanese prisoners. Hezbollah has maintained that it is unwilling to lay down its arms as long as Israel continues to occupy parts of Lebanese territory -- an argument that was considered legitimate until the recent Cabinet decision. "Its weapons will become illegitimate by the end of the year, in accordance with Lebanese law," said Abdul Rahman Chehaitli, a retired major general and author of The Lebanese Land and Maritime Borders: A Historical, Geographical, and Political Study. "But it still enjoys popular legitimacy." Chehaitli noted that Lebanon still faces "external threats" from Israel and from armed groups operating outside the control of the new Syrian leadership and that are deployed along the eastern border. He explained that Lebanon would need an agreement similar to the 1949 Armistice Accord to guarantee Israel's withdrawal and to demarcate the border, as well as a separate border agreement with Syria to enable the Lebanese Army to carry out its mission. "The government is serious, but no one can say what will happen the next day or what additional demands the U.S. and Israel might push forward," he told UPI, referring to concerns among Lebanon's Shiite community about their future and political role in the country. The question remains whether Hezbollah is still capable of fighting Israel after losing much of its power. Kahwaji said the group was "trying to put on a strong face," but clearly, "the Hezbollah we knew is no longer there. ... It's much weaker." He argued that Hezbollah's "calculations have continuously and miserably failed" since Oct. 7, 2023, which is why the group was "badly defeated and degraded." "It has lost the halo it carried for years. All its attempts to recreate the illusion of deterrence and to intimidate the state have also failed," he said. While Israel claimed to have destroyed 70 percent of Hezbollah's arsenal, Chehaitli said, "no one really knows. ... It remains a mystery." "It could still have military capabilities it hasn't used -- or it could have none," he added, emphasizing that Hezbollah, in any case, would not initiate a war but could fight back if one is imposed. The devastating blows Hezbollah suffered during the war with Israel have reportedly prompted the group -which has been fighting Israel since its establishment after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982- to engage in a comprehensive internal review. The situation has shifted significantly due to the accelerated developments in the region following the Gaza war. Hezbollah, which was the principal component of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" carrying out missions outside Lebanon, has been forced to shift its focus. Kassem Kassir, a political analyst who specializes in Islamic movements and is close to Hezbollah, explained that the group is engaged in internal discussions, as well as talks with other political forces in the country, to develop "a new vision." "But so far, it hasn't produced a comprehensive or complete one," Kassir told UPI. What is clear, however, is that Hezbollah is now focusing on Lebanon and its future role as part of the state.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Don't fall for their lies': Herzog slams int'l media on falling for Hamas starvation propaganda
Herzog expressed outrage that staged images of hunger in Gaza were gaining more global attention than videos of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavsky. President Isaac Herzog urged the world "not to fall for Hamas's lies," during a diplomatic meeting with Estonian President Alar Karis on Wednesday. The Israeli president and First Lady, Michal, attended the meeting at the Presidential Palace in Tallinn, Estonia's capital. During the meeting, Herzog expressed outrage that staged images of hunger in Gaza were gaining more global attention than videos of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavsky. Standing beside Karis, Herzog displayed photos of the two emaciated hostages, who remain captive under Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). "This is an image of Evyatar David, a young kid who was at the party, at the Nova Festival, and he is now skin and bones. His situation is life-threatening. And you see the fat hand of his captor – they have food there. The other room is full of food – the hostages who came out of this tunnel told us," Herzog stated. "And this is Rom Braslavski, another hostage they aired in a video two days ago. All the other hostages – they are in a life-threatening situation," he added. Herzog emphasized Israel's recent humanitarian efforts in Gaza while stressing the urgency of resolving the hostage crisis: "Therefore, in order to resolve the situation, we tell the world: You want to move forward? Get a hostage deal, get a ceasefire. In the last two weeks, Israel has overhauled the entire approach to the humanitarian situation, pushing in major quantities of humanitarian aid, 30,000 tons in the last week, 30 tons only by air drops yesterday, hundreds of trucks." He also criticized the United Nations for logistical failures, stating, "The UN is holding hundreds of trucks, almost 800 trucks. The UN can distribute and is failing to distribute." Herzog then drew attention to a staged Gaza photo that appeared in a German newspaper, depicting Gazans holding empty pots for the cameras rather than waiting for food distribution. "Instead of that, we see a PR campaign like this one revealed in a German newspaper. You see a photographer staging the Gaza people to show that they are lacking food. This is staged. We don't shy away from the humanitarian need to help the people of Gaza, but we ask the world not to fall for the lies. Condemn Hamas and say to Hamas, 'You want to move on? Get the hostages out.'" Solve the daily Crossword
