1) At the Times of Israel, Nurit Yohanan reports on the infiltration of hospitals in the Gaza Strip by terrorist organisations.
“Currently, according to sources familiar with the humanitarian situation in Gaza who spoke to The Times of Israel, 14 government hospitals are operating under Hamas control in the Strip, in addition to 14 field hospitals established during the war with international funding from humanitarian organizations and Arab states. Many hospitals were damaged and closed during the war.
This represents a relatively high number of hospitals per capita for a population of 2 million. In comparison, Israel, with a population of approximately 9.9 million, has about 20 general hospitals and a few additional hospitals without emergency departments.”
2) Writing at the Jewish Chronicle, Kobi Michael explains why ‘Neutering Turkish ambition is key to peace in the Middle East’.
“Turkey positions itself as leader of the Sunni axis, challenging both Iran’s Shiite axis and Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Sunni world. Qatar, a close Turkish ally governed by Muslim Brotherhood sympathisers, supports this bid as part of political Islam’s vision to revive the Caliphate. In response, Saudi and the UAE are trying to draw Al-Julani away from Turkey’s orbit. It’s a complex power struggle.
The Israeli concern is twofold. The first is from jihadist elements near its border that could carry out cross-border terror attacks. The second is the more strategic threat posed by the possibility of Turkey’s entrenchment in Syria, which could threaten Israel’s operational freedom – especially in countering Iranian threats. To counter the jihadis, Israel has seized control of a buffer zone in southern Syria and targeted Syrian military infrastructure to keep it from being used against it.”
3) At Commentary magazine, Jonathan Schanzer discusses ‘Catering to Qatar’.
“In 2012, Qatar became the home of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, along with other Hamas figures. The Palestinian terror group’s external leadership moved to Qatar after being jettisoned by the Jordanian and Syrian regimes over the preceding years (even as Hamas itself remained the governing body in Gaza). Qatar was a natural place for Hamas to land, given the regime’s longstanding support for the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas is a splinter faction of the Islamist movement).”
4) At WINEP, David Schenker explains why ‘There Is No Better Time to Disarm Hezbollah’.
“Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced that Beirut would not forcibly disarm the Iran-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah as part of its effort to gain a state monopoly on weapons. Instead, Aoun said Hezbollah would be convinced to give up its arms on its own, through dialogue and negotiations. Moreover, the president suggested the militia’s troops could then be integrated into the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). This approach, which avoids a potentially bloody face-off, will be unacceptable to both the US and Israel, and will ultimately undermine the hopeful progress Lebanon has made toward reasserting its sovereignty.”
5) At the Counter-Extremism Project, Edmund Fitton Brown and Ari Heistein look at how ‘The Houthi Propaganda Machine Meets Reality’.
“How can the gap between the Houthis’ powerful image and their lackluster response to painful strikes be explained?
The primary explanation for this dissonance is the group’s intensive focus on information operations. The goal of this effort is clear: to convince both the Yemeni public and the international community that resisting the group’s extremist ambitions is futile. To that end, the Houthis’ complete dominance of Yemen’s information space has enabled them to monitor and control both domestic narratives and the material transmitted abroad. “
Wishing all our Druze friends celebrating Ziyarat al-Nabi Shu’ayb a very happy holiday!
