Weekend long read

1) The ITIC reports on terrorism from Palestinian Authority controlled areas in 2023.

“In 2023 there was a significant increase in the extent of terrorism and violence, with 179 critical terrorist attacks carried out, compared with 86 in 2022. Twenty-seven were carried out on Israeli territory (16 in 2022); 43 people were killed, 37 civilians and six members of the security forces, compared with 30 killed during 2022. Shootings were prominent, with 108 attacks which accounted for about 60% of the total number (46 in 2022).”

2) The Alma Center provides an updated estimation of Hizballah’s weapons arsenal.

“It should be noted that weaponry transfers to Hezbollah via the Iranian corridor take place continuously. Furthermore, the Iranians have transformed the Syrian CERS Center into a crucial anchor in the armaments corridor, with the goal of researching and manufacturing sophisticated, extremely precise weaponry for Hezbollah. To this, we add that Hezbollah has the potential to produce its own weapons on Lebanese soil. It is quite possible that Hezbollah (with Iranian help) is renewing and preserving its weapons.”

3) At the FDD, Seth Frantzman explains ‘How Iranian weapons are smuggled to the Houthis’.

“The UN was supposed to implement a resolution that bans smuggling of weapons to the Houthis, the report said. Considering the role of the UN in Gaza and Lebanon, where the UN watched as Hamas and Hezbollah became exponentially more powerful, the role of the UN in Yemen, watching arms flow to the Houthis, should not be surprising.”

4) AT WINEP, David Schenker discusses Iran’s attempts to destabilise Jordan.

“To be sure, the Gaza war has placed Jordan in a precarious position. Not only has the kingdom been at peace with its neighbor Israel since 1994, but Amman maintains close ties to Washington, the Hashemite monarchy plays a “special role” administering Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, and nearly 60 percent of its population is of Palestinian origin. Protests in Jordan have been ubiquitous since the war started in October. While the kingdom appears to have a handle on the demonstrations, however, the increasing Iranian focus on Jordan is concerning. Tehran sees Jordan as vulnerable and is seeking to exploit the war to shake the kingdom’s stability.”

5) UN Watch reports on ‘Francesca Albanese’s Global Influence Network Targeting Israel’.

“Francesca Albanese is well known as the Special Rapporteur appointed in 2022 by the UN Human Rights Council with the mandate to “investigate Israel’s violations of the bases and principles of international law.” Less well known is that Albanese has been running a global influence network of more than 100 individuals and NGOs to target Israel by orchestrating lawfare campaigns, whitewashing Hamas terrorism, and cynically manipulating governments into funding UNRWA.”

6) At the Washington Examiner, Gabe Kaminsky reports on ‘How Palestinian terrorists train ‘journalists’ in Gaza’.

“In November 2012, in Gaza City, officials from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine welcomed an “elite group of young women and men” to celebrate them passing a course on “journalistic investigation, photojournalism, the art of public speaking, and new media.” At the ceremony, according to the PFLP, attendees stood for a moment of silence “to mourn the souls of the martyrs.”

They were handed certificates and “shields of appreciation” from Gaza Bureau Chief Wael al Dahdouh of the Qatari-backed Al Jazeera website, the PFLP said of the Nov. 8 event. One person in attendance, the U.S.-designated terrorist faction said, was Samar Abu Elouf — a freelance photographer for the New York Times.”

7) At the Times of Israel blogs, Jonathan Greenblatt discusses ‘The hard bigotry of no expectations’.

“Over the weekend, in the reaction to the heroic rescue of four Israeli hostages in the middle of Gaza, it became clear that many world leaders, commentators and protesters in the street have zero expectations for moral, ethical behavior for Hamas and those supporting them in the streets of Gaza or in the streets of cities around the world. They assign no agency to Gazans, relegating them to the role of perpetual victim – a soft bigotry – while at the same time, seeing Israel and the Jewish people as eternally evil – a hard bigotry to be sure.”