MIDEAST UPDATE: 12.17.16 - Palestinians preparing new Security Council draft

Palestinians preparing new Security Council draft - http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-preparing-new-security-council-draft-report/

 

Aim is to win UN approval for resolution condemning settlements before Obama leaves office

 

The Palestinian delegation to the United Nations has reportedly circulated a new draft of a resolution condemning Israel settlements that they hope to bring to a vote before US President Barack Obama leaves office next month.

 

The draft is reportedly softer than one circulated earlier in the year, but still calls all the settlements, including Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, illegal, Israel Radio reported, noting that Egypt would submit the text for the Palestinians.

 

The Palestinians pushed for the Security Council to adopt a resolution against settlements in February 2011 but it was vetoed by the United States. The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, reflecting the wide support for the draft which had over 100 co-sponsors.

 

Palestinians have said that the new resolution would draw from the 2011 text.

 

There was speculation that Obama would not veto the new resolution, however, the chances of that are thought to have gone down significantly since the election of Donald Trump to succeed him on January 20.

 

Following a meeting in Washington on Tuesday between a Palestinian delegation and US Secretary of State John Kerry, State Department spokesman John Kirby said that as regards any potential UN action relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "nothing's changed about our view on that."

 

Longstanding US policy has been for years that any resolution to the conflict should come from direct negotiations between the parties and not be imposed from the outside.

 

However, speaking to the Saban Forum in Washington earlier this month, Kerry did not completely rule out the possibility that the US would support a move at the United Nations.

 

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu said Israel remains concerned that Washington could back a Palestine-related resolution at the Security Council before January 20. "With every passing day that possibility becomes less likely, but until then it's still there," Netanyahu said.

 

Netanyahu to Iran: 'Don't threaten Israel, we're a tiger not a rabbit' - Yossi Melman and Daniel J. Roth - http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Liberation-of-Palestine-remains-first-priority-in-Muslim-world-says-Khamenei-475365

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu conveyed a message to Iran on Wednesday, warning the Islamic Republic's leaders, "Don't threaten us, we are not a rabbit we are a tiger. If you threaten us you endanger yourself."

 

Netanyahu sent the message after being asked during his visit to Kazakhstan by President Nursultan Nazarbayev if he wants to send a message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was scheduled to visit Kazakhstan next week.

 

Netanyahu added that if Iran changes its policy and its attitude to Israel, "We will change ours."

 

When he was asked by his host if he sincerely believed that Iran means what it says, that it wants to destroy Israel, he answered, "Yes, I do believe it."

 

Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel will not exist 25 years from now.

 

Hours before Netanyahu's statement, Khamenei claimed that the "liberation of Palestine" remains the number one issue facing the Muslim world despite the numerous conflicts currently destabilizing the Middle East.

 

Khamenei made the comments during a meeting with the head of Palestinian terror organization Islamic Jihad in Tehran, according to semi-official Iranian news agency Press TV.

 

"Despite being engaged in certain regional issues, the Islamic Republic has always announced explicitly that Palestine is the number one issue in the Muslim world and has fulfilled its obligations in this regard," Khamenei told the group's leader, Ramadan Abdullah Shalah.

 

The Iranian leader continued by stating that the "only way to liberate the holy city of al-Quds is struggle and resistance," while adding "other solutions are useless and futile."

 

Al-Quds is the Arabic word for Jerusalem.

 

Khamenei also rejected claims that religious issues were at the heart of regional tensions, casting blame on the United States and its allies.

 

"The Sunni people of Aleppo, Mosul and other cities are being slaughtered by the Takfiri criminals, therefore, these crises have nothing to do with Sunnis or Shias," the leader said.

 

Takfir is a Muslim who accuses another Muslim of apostasy. 

 

Instability in the region, Khamenei insisted, was the fault of the United States and its interference in the affairs of Middle East countries, describing Washington as "the most arrogant [power] and the Great Evil." 

 

The comments came a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the only option left for Palestinians in the pursuit of an independent state was "jihad," Iranian news agency Fars reported.

 

"Today, the world public opinion is faced with this strong argument that the Zionist regime has never been after peace, and this argument and reasoning should be used to show that there is no way, but jihad and resistance for the Palestinians against the usurper regime," he said to  Shalah during their meeting on Tuesday.

 

According to Fars, Rouhani blamed Israel for increased sectarian conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and North Africa.

 

Iran's supreme leader and president frequently rail against the United States and Israel, making threats specifically against the Jewish state with promises of annihilation.

 

 

Hamas says it now has 'real army' to fight Israel, is 'leading' missile-maker in Arab world - http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-says-group-is-now-leading-missile-maker-in-arab-world/

 

Member of terror group's political bureau praises Gaza leadership under which he claims 'nobody has died of hunger or anything'

 

A senior Hamas official said that the terror group has built a so-called "real army" to fight Israel and that it has become the leading manufacturer of missiles in the Arab world.

 

Fathi Hammad, a member of the group's political bureau and a former interior minister in Gaza, said Hamas "has made a resolute decision to remain steadfast and wage jihad, as the only means to liberate Palestine," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) which picked up a media interview he gave on Al-Aqsa TV on December 8.

 

Hammad called Israel's 2005 Disengagement from the Gaza Strip a liberation "under the watch of Hamas," thanks to its "Jihad [holy war]."

 

Two years after Israel's withdrawal, the Islamist group carried out a violent coup to seize power from Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority and has tightly controled the Palestinian enclave since. Israel and Egypt maintain a security blockade on Gaza in an effort to prevent Hamas, which has fought three recent wars against Israel, from importing weaponry. The blockade has affected the Gazan economy and the Strip maintains one of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the world, according to the World Bank.

 

Hammad, however, claimed in the interview that Hamas "has proven itself through its rule" and that under its leadership "nobody has died of hunger or anything."

 

On the contrary, he went on, "following the liberation of Gaza, [Hamas's armed wing] the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam units have become an army" with "its own industry."

 

"We are now ready to sell our missiles to Arab countries. These are advanced missiles. If you look into the missile or weapon industries of developed countries, you will find that Gaza has become the leading manufacturer of missiles among Arab countries. We are prepared to sell them (to Arab countries) - so that they will launch them against the Jews, not for infighting among themselves."

Hammad said Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, should "not cooperate with any settlement deal" with the Jewish state,. There is an expected international peace conference set to take place in Paris next year.

 

  Israel's northern front - Hezbollah's supply lines - Sarit Zehavi - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Israels-northern-front-Hezbollahs-supply-lines-475078

 

Twice in the past week, Syria has reported an Israeli attack on military targets in the Damascus region, around 25 kilometers from the Lebanese border and approximately 50 kilometers from the border with Israel.

 

During the first attack, a truck convoy on the Beirut-Damascus Highway that, according to the news reports, was transporting weaponry or even rockets from Syria to Lebanon, and a Syrian army arms cache were hit. A week later, an apparent arms cache was targeted at the Mazzeh Military Airport, and the ammunition caused secondary explosions that were heard and seen for many hours throughout the region.

 

The Al-Jazeera TV station even reported that the weaponry at Mazzeh included barrel bombs, similar to those used by the regime against the rebels. It is unclear whether anyone was hurt in the two attacks.

 

This is not the first time reports have been received regarding Israeli attacks on Hezbollah weapons convoy and arms caches in Syria, aiming to thwart the transfer of Syrian weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Up until approximately a year ago, Hezbollah even tried to create a tit-for-tat equation for some of these attacks; however the IDF's tough and cautious policy has apparently caused it to reconsider.

 

The number of attacks against Hezbollah's arms convoys and caches has dwindled over the past year, and it was assumed that this was a consequence of the Russian presence in the area, including the positioning in Syria of advanced air defense systems and later the arrival of the Russian aircraft carrier and missile boats to the Mediterranean Sea.

 

This latest incident, however, was irregular in several respects, including the non-kinetic way in which the sides are conducting themselves: Hezbollah and Syria have clearly laid the blame for the attacks on Israel. That was followed by announcements by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who clarified that although Israel has no interest in intervening in Syria's civil war, it acts to preserve its citizens' security and protect its sovereignty, and attempts to prevent the transfer of smart weapons, military equipment and weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Hezbollah.

 

Liberman emphasized that this is Israel's policy and Israel "will make decisions according to this policy without taking other circumstances or restrictions into account." The IDF generally refrains from referring, or even hinting, to these attacks, and reference to Israel's red lines by political ranks in the past was only general.

 

The statement that Israel will not take restrictions into account is presumably intended to refute the premise that the Russian presence prevents the IDF from acting freely. The two most recent attacks, if they were indeed carried out by Israel, prove that the coordination mechanism between the two countries is working at the highest levels. This is manifested, among other things, by the many visits of the highest Israeli echelons to Moscow. Senior officials in the Israel Air Force have even clarified that Israel understands that the anti-aircraft weapons that Russia has positioned in Syria are not directed at Israel and, therefore, the IAF "flies [regardless of] their presence."

 

However, this is not the end of the story.

 

At the same time, and seemingly not coincidentally, the IDF published - in English - a map of Hezbollah's military infrastructure in Lebanon - marking 10,000 structures and underground positions the IDF has identified in recent years. The map's publication on the morning of the second attack was intended to serve as a message not only to the international community, but also to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as part of the efforts to discourage the Shi'ite alliance from retaliating over the attacks in Syria.

 

The IDF and Hezbollah have been waging this type of psychological war for years. Hezbollah repeatedly threatens that it has new abilities to attack Israel, including occupying communities or IDF posts close to the border and firing rockets at Haifa's ammonia tanks.

 

On the other hand, the IDF reveals that it knows where Hezbollah's "capabilities" lie, and that everyone knows their location is a breach of international law.

 

As part of this strategy, the IDF has published video clips of Hezbollah depicting its clearing of arms caches inside villages that exploded as the result of accidents, maps and aerial photographs of Hezbollah's deployment in villages in southern Lebanon and much more.

 

After the civil war broke out in Syria, Israel sought to emphasize that despite the sending of Lebanese manpower to aid the war in Syria, the supply of Syrian weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon has not stopped.

 

Incidentally, Israel takes Hezbollah's threats very seriously. Along the border with Lebanon, one can see the fortifications the IDF has built to protect the border communities and farmers.

 

Reports are constantly published in Israel regarding the Home Front's readiness for rocket attacks, and the IDF frequently holds training exercises for such scenarios.

 

During a week when Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime is about to emerge victorious in Aleppo, and the confidence among the Shi'ite alliance is on the rise, one might ask how the Shi'ite leaders will choose to react.

 

Will they not respond to the incidents and focus on northern Syria? Will they respond in a way that in their assessment will deter Israel from keeping to its red lines and allow them to continue transferring weaponry to Lebanon? Or will they respond mildly, merely to transmit the message that every Israeli action will be met with retaliation, or in other words, return to last year's equation of action-reaction? The last two options might, in certain scenarios, lead to regional escalation.