Tag: Benjamin Netanyahu

U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It + Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It

Rafah has been at the center of a growing rift between Israeli and U.S. political leaders. Those tensions boiled over on Monday, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit to Washington by top aides to discuss U.S. concerns over the planned offensive on Rafah, where Hamas fighters are making a final stand. The tit-for-tat move was in response to the U.S. abstaining from a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire while also demanding the release of hostages.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, however, proceeded with his meetings at the White House and Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday, which had been previously scheduled. Gallant is part of Israel’s three-member war cabinet that includes Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, the prime minister’s chief political rival.

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Both sides also agreed that the Hamas battalions in Rafah must be dislodged so that the militants cannot attempt a comeback or continue to smuggle weapons into the enclave, which are prerequisites for ending the war and paving the way for a new political authority in Gaza. And that means trying to find ways to work with Israel on its Rafah strategy, for lack of better options.

Related:

Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah

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Who is Mohammad Mustafa, the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Who is Mohammad Mustafa, the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority?

Mohammad Mustafa is taking over the role in a move seen as an attempt to appease U.S. demands for reform so that the Palestinian Authority could govern Gaza in a postwar era.

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Mustafa also has ties to the United States. He received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at Washington, D.C.’s George Washington University. He previously worked for the World Bank as well.

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The White House’s National Security Council said it welcomed the appointment of Mustafa as prime minister, according to spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

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A majority of Palestinians are still not supportive of this governmental body. A recent study from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that nearly 60% of Palestinians want the Palestinian Authority dissolved and that 88% want Abbas to resign.

…In his announcement of the appointment, Abbas asked Mustafa to create plans to reunite the administration of the West Bank and Gaza, reform the government and address corruption.

Related:

Who is Mohammad Mustafa, the Palestinian Prime Minister-designate?

Throughout his tenure in Palestine, Dr. Mustafa has been a driving force behind the establishment and launch of numerous leading companies and investment funds, including the Palestinian Telecommunications Company Paltel, the Palestinian National Mobile Company in 2008, the Ammar Real Estate and Tourism Investment Company in 2009, Ammar Al-Quds in 2018, the Rasmala Palestinian Equity Fund in 2011, the Palestinian Leasing Company for Islamic Finance in 2013, Aswaaq Asset Management Company in 2014, focusing on Palestinian stock markets, Masdar Company for Natural Resource Development and Infrastructure Projects in 2015, and Palestine Power Generation.

In his public roles, Dr. Mustafa has participated in key organizations such as the World Economic Forum and served as Governor of Palestine at the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development in Kuwait. He led the Ministerial Committee at the Donors’ Conference for the Reconstruction of Gaza in Cairo in 2014. Additionally, he is a member of the boards of trustees of the Institute for Palestine Studies and the Yasser Arafat Foundation.

The Gaza Maritime Route Was Netanyahu’s Idea, Maritime Aid Corridor Will Advance the Overthrow of Hamas, & When Will US boots be on the Ground in Gaza?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Diplomatic source to ‘Post’: Gaza maritime route was Netanyahu’s idea

According to the source, on October 22, two weeks following the war’s outbreak, Netanyahu discussed with President Biden the concept of “delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via the sea, contingent on an Israeli inspection in Cyprus.”

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Years before the Gaza war, Israel Katz, now the Foreign Minister, had drawn up plans for a maritime route via Cyprus involving a floating island.

The project was never executed. But he revived it after the war began on October 7. 

Related:

Gallant: Maritime Aid Corridor Will Advance Overthrow of Hamas

“The process is designed to facilitate aid directly to civilians and in this way, it advances [our goal] of overthrowing Hamas’ rule in Gaza,” the minister said.

“We will facilitate aid via the maritime route that is coordinated with the United States (security and humanitarian aspects), with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates on the civilian side,” he said. “It will include the appropriate inspections in Cyprus, and the goods will be brought by international organizations with American assistance.”

Air, sea, and land: When will US boots be on the ground in Gaza? Authored by Yonah Jeremy Bob*

Then suddenly, last Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced that the US would also supply maritime aid to Gaza, including building a makeshift artificial port off the coast.

This already imposes a long-term US military footprint in Israeli-Gaza territorial waters rather than a “mere” series of fly-throughs.

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How hard would it be for a small complement of US Marines accompanying the aid deliveries to travel a kilometer or so into Gaza and to place themselves squarely in the middle of where Israel does not want them?

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Moreover, US forces have been and are already on the ground.

US generals and counter-terror experts have been in and out of Israel since the start of the war, including visits to Gaza.

There are also a variety of US military personnel regularly in Israel on military and intelligence exchange programs.

US attempts to reform the PA

Speaking of intelligence, multiple times when a decision was made to try to improve and reform the Palestinian Authority security forces, it was the CIA and US special forces who came to the West Bank and Gaza to help train and prepare these forces.

It seems quite likely that the Jewish state, at some point, will ask Washington to perform the same service again in Gaza.

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A broader version could involve a US-led peacekeeping force handling internal Gaza security for an indefinite period until enough Gazan Palestinians disconnected from Hamas can be convinced that taking on this role will not lead to them being slaughtered later by a resurgent Hamas.

From this perspective, the question about US forces on the ground in Gaza seems less of an if than it does a when, how many, and under more or less coordinated circumstances with Israel.

*Yonah Jeremy Bob was raised in Baltimore and graduated from Columbia University and Boston University Law School, respectively. He previously worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Military International Law Division, and the Israeli Justice Ministry. – Wikipedia

Veterans Burn Their Uniforms at Vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments
Source

A group of veterans from the US armed forces burnt their uniforms in a show of solidarity with the airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington in a protest over the war in Gaza.

Veterans Burn Their Uniforms at Vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell

Related:

The Air Force identified the Airman who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy on Feb. 25 as Senior Airman Aaron James Bushnell, a cyber defense operations specialist assigned to the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing.

Originally from Whitman, Mass., the 25-year-old Bushnell first joined the Air Force on May 5, 2020. His duty station was the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. His duty title was innovation services technician, and his decorations included the Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Air Force Training Ribbon.

Source

Man Who Died After Self-Immolation At Israeli Embassy Put Palestinian Fund In Will: Reports

Aaron Bushnell’s Protest Reflects A Much Deeper Crisis In the US Military

Aaron Bushnell’s Extreme Act of Protest & Why the World Would be Better if He was Still With Us

Palestinian resistance pays tribute to martyr, Aaron Bushnell

‘I Will No Longer be Complicit in Genocide’: U.S. Soldier Dies of Self-Immolation in Protest of War on Gaza

Aaron Bushnell’s Extreme Act of Protest & Why the World Would be Better if He was Still With Us

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

One of the last things Aaron Bushnell wrote was: “Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during Slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or the apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?” The Answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.” The world would be a better place if people like Aaron Bushnell lived on, fought day after day, onward into the future. The courage Aaron Bushnell possessed to do what he did, would better serve us all if he had used it day after day, for as long as possible. Waking up to the reality of US foreign policy leaves one isolated, angry, frustrated, and confused. We all have to work on creating a path from there to here today, where we all work together to make the world a better place tomorrow.

Aaron Bushnell’s Extreme Act of Protest & Why the World Would be Better if He was Still With Us

Israel gets closer to prohibiting foreign press

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Israel has moved a step closer to potentially banning Al Jazeera after accusing one of its reporters, Mohamed Washah, of working for Hamas. The Israeli parliament voted 25-4 to advance the ‘Al Jazeera Law,’ a bill that would allow the temporary outlawing of foreign media outlets designated as harmful to state security by the defense ministry. The legislation, colloquially known as the ‘Al Jazeera Law,’ specifically targets the Qatar-based network.

Israel gets closer to prohibiting foreign press