MIDEAST UPDATE: 1.30.21 - Nukes, terror, Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah - Iran's tentacles are spreading

The Palestinian Plan to Dupe the Biden Administration - by BassamTawil - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16976/palestinian-plan-dupe-biden One week after he entered the 17th year of his four-year term in office, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas finally announced new parliamentary and presidentialelections, scheduled to take place in May and July 2021. His announcement was carefully timed to coincide with the inauguration week of President Joe Biden and in response to immense pressure from the European Union. Abbas's announcement, which many Palestinians take as seriously as they would take the alleged sighting of a UFO, is part of an attempt to curry favor with the Biden administrationand the EU. There is only one word to describe Abbas's announcement: deception. The proposed Palestinian elections are part of a scheme designed to deceive the international community, specifically the US and EU, into believing that the Palestiniansare serious about implementing major reforms, ending financial and administrative corruption, and engaging in another peace process with Israel. Abbas, who boycotted President Donald Trump's administration since December 2017, is hoping that the Biden administration will, among other things, resume financial aidto the Palestinians and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); reopen the PLO diplomatic mission in Washington, DC., and cancel the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Abbas did not call for elections because he suddenly believes in democracy and pluralism or because he wants to pave the way for new and young leaders to rise to power.Abbas did not call for elections because he wants to give the Palestinians the opportunity to elect new leaders through a free and fair electoral process. Perhaps the 85-year-old Abbas called for elections because he wants to retire and spend his time playing with his grandchildren. Better not count on that. Not only does Abbas have no plans to depart from the political scene anytime in the near future, he is even said to be considering running in the presidential election,if and when it takes place on July 31. There is one reason, and one reason only, why Abbas is now talking about holding general elections: to continue milking the cash cow he has in the form of American and Europeangovernments. Abbas wants the money to ensure his continued dictatorial rule over the Palestinians. He knows that without money from the US and EU, his regime would not survive for one day. Abbas also knows that without Israel's security presence in the West Bank, Hamasand his political enemies would easily remove him from power. Abbas is trying to show the Biden administration and the Europeans that he is not an autocrat or an illegitimate leader whose tenure ended in January 2009. In addition to money, Abbas is apparently hoping that his election farce would persuade the Americans and Europeans to support his plan to hold an international conferencefor "peace" in the Middle East. Abbas does not want to return to direct negotiations with Israel: he knows that Israel cannot comply with 100% of his demands (a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines andthe "right of return" for "millions" of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to Israel). Abbas is hoping that such an international conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, European Union, Russia and China, would impose a solution on Israel. Abbashas only one solution in mind: one that would see Israel fully withdraw to the pre-1967 lines, including east Jerusalem, and the establishment of a Palestinian state that would undoubtedly be used in the future as a launching pad to wage war on Israel. If Abbas's rivals in Hamas win the parliamentary and presidential elections, the future Palestinian state that Abbas is aspiring to establish will be an Iran-backed Islamistterror entity, similar to the mini-state that already exists in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. In 2006, Hamas defeated Abbas's Fatah faction in the parliamentary election, triggering a bitter and bloody power struggle between the two rival parties. At the peak ofthe conflict in the summer of 2007, Hamas militiamen threw Fatah activists from the rooftops of tall buildings and killed hundreds of others. Since then, the Palestinians have had two independent and sovereign mini-states: one to the east of Israel, on the "West Bank" of the Jordan River; and one to the west ofIsrael, on the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terrorist groups, is being used as a launching pad for carrying out various forms of terrorist attacks against Israel, including firing thousandsof rockets into Israel over the past 15 years. Hamas leaders have welcomed Abbas's announcement They say they intend to participate in the general elections. Hamas is now hoping to repeat the victory it scored in the2006 parliamentary election. Public opinion polls have shown that more than 60% of the Palestinians would like to see Abbas quit. This means that a vast majority of Palestinians do not believe in Abbasand his Fatah lieutenants. In 2006, many Palestinians voted for Hamas because they were fed up with Fatah's corruption and incompetence. The polls now show that the views of many Palestinians toward Abbas and Fatah have not changed, which means Hamas has a good chance of winning another victory in the upcomingelections. Another Hamas victory means that the West Bank would become another terrorist entity ruled by Iran's Palestinian allies and proxies. Thanks to the presence of Israel in the West Bank, there is less terrorism there. If Israel pulls out, the WestBank will fall into the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who will start firing rockets at Israeli in the same way they have been doing from the Gaza Strip for years. A reminder of Hamas's dangerous ambitions was provided on January 18, 2021, by none other than its leader, Ismail Haniyeh. Addressing a conference in Tehran, Haniyeh said that the "resistance" against Israel remains an "ideal choice" and the "strategic option" of his group. "Resistance" is a euphemism for continuing the war of terrorism against Israel by using rockets, suicide bombings, car-rammings, stabbings and shootings, as well as throwingrocks and firebombs at Israeli soldiers and civilians. In early February, leaders of Fatah and Hamas are expected to meet in Egypt's capital, Cairo, to discuss preparations for the elections. The two sides are saying they wantto reach agreement not only on the issue of elections, but "real partnership." Fatah and Hamas are ready temporarily to lay aside their differences to form a unified front against Israel. Abbas wants money, while Hamas wants legitimacy and recognition from the international community. Hamas, of course, also wants to extend its control to the West Bank, overthrowAbbas and proceed with its plan to destroy Israel. For Abbas and Fatah, the talk about elections is important because they want to dupe the US and EU into giving them more money. Hamas, for its part, is hoping that the electionswill legitimize it in the international community it and turn it into an acceptable player in the Palestinian arena. If Fatah and Hamas really cared about elections and the interests of their people, they would have held elections a long time ago. The two parties, however, have spent thepast 15 years torturing and arresting each other, denying their people both free elections and basic public freedoms. The Palestinians live under two dictatorships: one in the West Bank and one in the Gaza Strip. Elections, even if they are held, will not produce new leaders. They willproduce Fatah flunkies and Hamas henchmen who bow obediently to their corrupt bosses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nukes, terror, Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah - Iran's tentacles are spreading � Seth J Frantzman - https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/what-is-the-real-problem-with-irans-threats-to-israel-and-the-region-656524 Israel is preparing a full-court press to discuss Iran�s threats with the new US administration, according to various media reports. National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbatspoke on Saturday with Jake Sullivan, his counterpart in the Biden administration, and Mossad head Yossi Cohen is expected to travel soon to Washington to present Israel�s concerns to his counterparts in the intelligence community. The discussions are expected to be wide-ranging. According to the report, they will likely include Iran stopping uranium enrichment, ending production of advanced centrifugesand stopping support for various terrorist proxies and militias. The proxies include Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, as well as Iran�s threatening posture in Syria and Iraq. There are other concerns as well. Sometimes in negotiations, one side outlines its ideal demands at the outset to get only some of them fulfilled at the end. This laundry list looks like that. Throw enoughproblems at the wall, and surely the US and Israel can work some of them out. On the other hand, what Israel is sketching out also looks a lot more like an Iranian elephant in the room than just a nuclear problem. Iran has often used the nuclear programto distract from its real desire: to achieve regional hegemony. The nuclear program is just one part of a vast military-industrial complex in Iran that involves advanced precision-guided ballistic missiles, sophisticated drones, newnaval assets and a coterie of militias across the region. Iran funds and arms Hezbollah, including secret production facilities for weapons. Iran has placed drones in Syria and even tried to put its Khordad air-defense system there.It has moved weapons to the T4 and Imam Ali bases and other centers in Syria. It is trying to move precision-guided munitions production to Lebanon or Syria, has moved drone and missile technology to the Houthis in Yemen, and in 2018, it moved ballistic missilesto western Iraq. Never in history has a country taken such a multilayered approach so quickly to try to place a footprint across the region. In contrast to Western arms sales to countriesin the Middle East, Iran has moved quickly to deploy its systems across the region. It has acted in contravention of international law, mining ships in the Gulf of Oman, attacking Saudi Arabia with drones in 2019 and moving weapons illegally across sovereigncountries to illegal militias. This is Iran�s method. Iran�s nuclear program is, therefore, not sui generis and has wrongly been examined as its own entity instead of part of a larger Iranian game plan. Iran has often enjoyedletting the world talk about the nuclear program and the rate of enrichment and number of centrifuges, while it focused efforts on putting its first military satellite in orbit and improved its range of solid- and liquid-fueled missiles. Iran turns the nuclear program on and off depending on how it wants to heat up negotiations. The program is a kind of bogeyman and form of blackmail all rolled into one. Over the past several years, Israel�s focus shifted to deal with Iran�s entrenchment in Syria. With relative quiet in Lebanon and Hezbollah focused on the Syrian civil war,Israel has launched more than 1,000 airstrikes against Iran�s presence in Syria. Recent reports note Iran may have withdrawn some IRGC assets from Syria, and that some militias may be moving from Deir Ezzor and Albukamal in the northeast to across the borderin Iraq. However, reports have also noted increased threats from Yemen. The US designated the Houthis as terrorists, which the new administration is expected to review, and similarlydesignated militias in Iraq and key figures, including Abu Fadak of Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq. US officials also pressed to enable Israel more operational freedom to confront Iran�s militia presence. This happened, to some extent, after James Mattis left his role as secretary of defense in 2018. It is believed that James Jeffrey and others at the State Department pressedfor more support for Israel in its campaign against Iran in Syria. That means that between 2018 and the end of 2020 there was a kind of hand-in-glove approach: Israel was the fist that hammered the Iranians in Syria, and the US was theglove around the fist, encouraging and supporting it. For the US, this was a win-win because the administration could say it didn�t start any new foreign wars � it just outsourced them to Israel. For defense experts, some of whom were reportedly skeptical about the abilities of the F-35, there has been a boon as well, with three joint training exercises between USand Israeli F-35 pilots last year. According to an Al Arabiya report last May, Israel has used the F-35 against Iranian targets in Syria. The first reports of the F-35 being used in combat date back to 2018. Iraq�s government and its pro-Iranian militias blame Israel for carrying out airstrikes in July and August 2019 against Iranian militia targets in Iraq. This caused tensionsbetween Iraq and US air operations. It has also caused the pro-Iran militias to look skyward. An explosion in Iraq earlier this month led militias to spread rumors of another mysterious strike. That was proven to be false, but the initial blame game illustrates howIsrael is viewed. In the fall of 2017, Qais Khazali, an Iraqi pro-Iran militia leader, went to Lebanon and said Iraq�s militias would support Hezbollah if a war broke out with Israel. Current and future discussions with the Biden administration will focus on the larger Iranian octopus spreading its tentacles across the region. How to deal with that octopusand all its threats is the real hurdle. The nuclear program is just the kind of distracting dress that the octopus wears to distract from the larger looming problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iran Turns Gaza Into Storehouse for Weapons- by Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17007/iran-gaza-weapons s many in the international community express more and more concern about the economic and humanitarian crisis in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the Palestinian terrorgroups there seem less and less concerned about improving the living conditions of their people. These groups, specifically Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), are not doing anything to secure vaccines against COVID-19 for the two million Palestinians livingunder their rule in the Gaza Strip. Instead, Hamas and PIJ are continuing to do what they have proven themselves experts at doing: prepare for war against Israel and endanger the lives of innocent civilians,Israelis and Palestinians alike. In preparing for war, the two Iranian-backed groups are manufacturing and smuggling various types of weapons, including rockets and explosive devices, that they plan touse in their attacks on Israel. Instead of storing medicine and vaccines, Hamas and PIJ are busy storing rockets and explosive devices. The weapons are stored in the homes of Palestinians and public institutions throughout the Gaza Strip, including schools, hospitals and mosques. Hamas and PIJ do not storeweapons in their offices and installations because they are afraid of being targeted by Israel. By storing weapons among local civilians, Hamas and PIJ exhibit their total disregard for the lives of their people, who are being used as both cannon-fodder andhuman shields in a jihad (holy war) against Israel. Significantly, international human rights organizations and "pro-Palestinian" advocacy groups around the world -- by ignoring the dangerous actions of Hamas and PIJ, notonly against Israel, but against Palestinians as well -- are also showing disregard for the safety and lives of the Palestinians. In the absence of international attention, Hamas and PIJ have turned the Gaza Strip into one big warehouse for stockpiling weapons of all kinds. The Palestinian terror groupsthat moan about a crippling economic crisis in the Gaza Strip somehow always seem to find enough money to purchase, smuggle or manufacture weapons. The voices of the international human rights organizations and "pro-Palestinian" activists around the world are also not heard when Palestinians fall victim to the recklesspractices of Palestinian terror groups. Take, for example, the explosion that rocked Bet Hanoun, a Palestinian town in the northern Gaza Strip, the morning of January 23, 2021. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the explosion that occurred inside a house completely destroyed two houses and damaged 100 others. At least 47 Palestinians, including nine children and 15 women, were wounded in the explosion, according to the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Palestinian organization. The explosion, which Palestinians refer to as an "accident," was caused by weapons that were stored inside a house belonging to a member of PIJ from the Alkafarna familyin Beit Hanoun. Such "accidents" are not uncommon in the Gaza Strip. In 2009, a rocket fired by Palestinian terror groups toward Israel hit a house in the town of Bet Lahiya in the GazaStrip, killing two Palestinian girls, aged five and 12. In addition, Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups have frequently violated the laws of war by firing rockets from within populated areas. On January 2, another three children and a woman were injured in another "accident" in the Shajjaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City. The explosion was apparently caused by weaponsstored by Palestinian terror groups in a house. In April 2020, a Palestinian man was killed and three others injured in yet another "accident" in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. Again, the explosion was apparentlycaused by weapons belonging to Hamas and PIJ. Four months later, four PIJ militiamen were killed when a rocket they were handling accidentally exploded east of Gaza City. The militiamen were apparently preparing tofire the rocket into Israel from a residential area in the Gaza Strip. Most residents of the Gaza Strip are too terrified to criticize the Palestinian terror groups for storing weapons in residential areas. After the Bet Hanoun explosion, however,several Palestinians condemned Hamas and PIJ for endangering the lives of innocent civilians. according to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm: "Social media users and citizens directed sharp criticisms against the Islamic Jihad for its reckless behavior and its lack of concern for the safety of innocent civilians,due to its concealment and storage of explosive materials in the homes of citizens, which caused many victims in the past." The newspaper quoted an unidentified witness as saying that the Bet Hanoun explosion occurred inside a house belonging to a family known for its close relations with Hamasand PIJ. Maysara Alkafarna, a Palestinian who lives in the area where the explosion occurred, took an unusual and brave step by attacking the Palestinian terror groups over theirdisregard for the safety of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In a post on Facebook, Alkafarna wrote: "Until when will this disregard for the lives of people continue? Why should the hearts of an entire neighborhood be killed out of fear and their shouting reach the sky?Isn't it enough that they are already living in hunger and poverty? To our leaders: enough of your carelessness. You have destroyed us. We are not a field for experiments." The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, meanwhile, called for an investigation into the explosion. The organization revealed that a three-storey house was completely destroyed,while six adjacent houses were partially damaged, including a school, a youth club and a police station. "The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights views the explosion with concern," it said in a statement, adding that similar incidents have taken place in the past in residentialareas in the Gaza Strip. "These incidents violate human rights and international humanitarian law. Al-Mezan reiterates its call for a comprehensive and serious investigation into this incident,and for publishing the results of the investigation and taking the necessary measures to prevent their recurrence." The explosion in the Gaza Strip occurred as leaders of Hamas, PIJ and other Palestinian factions are expected to meet in Egypt in the coming weeks to discuss preparationsfor holding new general elections. The Palestinian factions are not scheduled to discuss the consequences of the explosion, mainly because it is seen as an embarrassment for the terror groups that use the homes of civilians to store weapons. Hamas has already expressed a readiness to participate in the upcoming elections. It is hoping to repeat its victory in the 2006 parliamentary election. It is important to stress that Hamas is planning to participate in the election while continuing to store weapons in residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas can rest easy, knowing that the international community does not care if more Palestinians continue to pay the price for "accidents" caused by explosives and rocketsstored inside the homes of Palestinians. Had the explosion in Bet Hanoun been caused by Israel, international media outlets would have been falling over themselves to shout about another Israeli "war crime." Perhaps it is time to heed the postings like thoseof the Alkafarna -- postings that call out the true enemy: Hamas, PIJ, and other Palestinian terrorist groups. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Even Europe Is Losing Patience with Iran's Nuclear Antics - by Con Coughlin - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16987/europe-iran-nuclear-antics When the European Union starts warning the ayatollahs that the Iran nuclear deal is at a "critical juncture", it is a clear sign that Tehran's increasingly aggressive conductin relation to its nuclear activities will make US President Joe Biden's hopes of reviving the deal almost impossible. From the moment the nuclear deal was agreed to between Iran and six of the world's leading powers -- the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- in 2015, the EUhas been an enthusiastic champion of the deal. Even though neither Iran nor the EU itself was a signatory to the deal, the organisation's then foreign policy chief, the British Labour politician and veteran Campaignfor Nuclear Disarmament activist Catherine Ashton, led a sustained campaign on behalf of the EU to support the agreement. Consequently, the EU has remained a dogged supporter of the deal, even when incontrovertible evidence has emerged that Iran has been in breach of the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA), the deal's official title. The EU's devotion to the flawed agreement was highlighted when, in response to the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose sanctionson Tehran, Brussels responded by attempting to set up its own trading mechanism with Tehran -- the so-called "special purpose vehicle" -- to enable European companies to continue trading with Iran without being hit with US sanctions. Even though the initiative ultimately failed, as business leaders were more concerned about incurring US sanctions than trading with Iran, the EU has remained an enthusiasticchampion of the nuclear deal, to the extent that, prior to Mr Biden's inauguration, the commission had already expressed its hopes for reviving the deal. "We welcome President-elect Biden's positive statements on the JCPOA, and look forward to working with the incoming US administration," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrellsaid in a statement on behalf of the bloc earlier this month. The EU supported "intensive diplomacy with the goal of facilitating a US return to the JCPOA and Iran's return to full JCPOA implementation," Borrell added. The EU's unfettered enthusiasm for the nuclear deal, however, has been dealt a significant blow as a result of Iran's increasingly aggressive conduct on the nuclear front,to the extent that Mr Borrell has been forced to concede that the future of the agreement has now reached a "critical juncture". In recent weeks, Iran announced that it had begun work on enriching uranium to 20 percent -- just short of the level required to produce nuclear weapons -- as well as informingthe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN-sponsored body responsible for monitoring Iran's nuclear activities, that it was to resume work on producing uranium metal. Both these developments represent a clear breach of the JCPOA. Under the agreement, Iran committed to keep uranium enrichment at 3.5 percent, the level required for civilianuse, and signed up to a 15-year ban on "producing or acquiring plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys". Iran's announcement that it was proceeding with the production of uranium metal has prompted a furious response from the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany,who, in a joint statement earlier this month, warned that there is "no credible civilian use" for the element, and that "The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications." The EU, too, has been forced to issue its most critical condemnation to date of Iran's blatant breaches of the JCPOA, with Mr Borrell issuing a statement warning that the"very concerning developments on the nuclear side... risks undermining diplomatic efforts, including ours, to facilitate a US return to the JCPOA." When an organisation as totally committed to the nuclear deal as the EU voices grave concerns about Iran's wilful disregard for the terms of the agreement, it raises seriousquestions about the ability of the Biden administration to revive the deal. Many of the appointments Mr Biden has made to his foreign policy team to date include veterans of the Obama administration who helped to negotiate the original, flawed deal. Now, not even the most enthusiastic supporters of the nuclear agreement, whether in Europe or the US, can entertain the hope of reviving a deal with Tehran so long as theayatollahs remain determined to ignore their international obligations. Most importantly, what makes anyone think Iran would honour a new deal any more than they honoured the old one? Why enter a new sham deal at all? ------------------------------------------------------------------ VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM