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

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.

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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Prospects shaky for Philippines’ government and communist peace talks

CIA World Factbook

Prospects shaky for Philippines’ government and communist peace talks

Manila, Philippines – Fighting continues between the Philippine military and communist rebels despite an agreement to resume peace talks this month in an effort to end the world’s longest-running communist armed rebellion.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr surprised many when, in November, his government announced an agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the rebels’ political wing, to restart peace talks that his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte had ended shortly after taking office.

Considering that the Millennium Challenge Corporation just gave the Philippines a grant, I doubt that they’ll see any positive economic reforms. MCC’s support for “democratic reform” is akin to the “democracy promotion” advanced by the National Endowment for Democracy. My guess is that it’s to keep the Philippines in line with US foreign policy against China.

Smashing the Iran Myth (Hasbara)

In the early morning of December 31, 2023, the commercial freighter Maersk Hangzhou came under attack by Houthi fighters from Yemen who were attempting to board it. US Navy helicopters responding to its distress calls were fired upon by the small Houthi boats, according to the US Central Command, and “returned fire in self-defence,” sinking three of the four boats and killing their crews

Smashing the Iran Myth: From Houthi to Hezbollah

Previously:

Ukraine: Preparing for capitulation

Since the beginning of the disaster of the Ukrainian counter-offensive against the Russian troops, followed by the understanding by the Western partners of the bankruptcy of their project on the territory of Ukraine, the power in Kiev has been confronted with an appalling reality: the refusal of the continuation of the investments coming from the sources which previously ensured them to be imperishable – the beginning of the end of the reign of Zelensky and his entourage.

Ukraine: Preparing for capitulation

Venezuela and Guyana to Maintain Direct Dialogue Amid Essequibo Dispute

Venezuela and Guyana to Maintain Direct Dialogue Amid Essequibo Dispute

On Thursday evening, both nations published the “Joint Declaration of Argyle for Peace Between Guyana and Venezuela.”* The eleven-point document establishes that neither nation will threaten the use of force against the other, that both committed to “resolving controversies in accordance with international law” and to “refrain[ing] from escalating any conflict.”

The first block of talks included the participation of CARICOM, the regional body of Caribbean states that includes and backs Guyana’s position that would have the International Court of Justice (ICJ) settle the territorial dispute over the Essequibo region.** Venezuela holds “observer” status in CARICOM.

Caracas, on the other hand, views the 1966 Geneva Agreement,** which commits the countries to work out a mutually satisfactory solution, as the only binding instrument to solve the border issue.

The Guyanese president added that he viewed the intervention of the ICJ as “part of the Geneva agreement” since the case was taken to the World Court following a referral by the United Nations secretary general.**

Related:

*The joint declaration of Argyle for dialogue and peace between Guyana and Venezuela

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Ex-Pentagon Analyst: West Nixed Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal, Now Seeking Way Out

Source.

Davyd Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People faction in the Ukrainian parliament has spilled some beans about the March 2022 Russo-Ukrainian talks, hinting that it was then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson who brought the negotiations to naught.

Ex-Pentagon Analyst: West Nixed Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal, Now Seeking Way Out

Related:

Ukrainian Official Confirms Russia Was Ready to End War in March 2022 If Kyiv Agreed to Neutrality

US and EU officials discuss possible negotiations with Russia with Ukraine

US and EU officials discuss possible negotiations with Russia with Ukraine

Background: In September, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Kyiv could not conduct peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin because he could not be trusted.

Kuleba also stated that the war started by Russia could not be stopped by sitting down at the negotiating table.

H/T: Emil Cosman

Related:

US and Europe in Talks With Ukraine on Possible ‘Peace Deal’ With Russia – Report

As for ‘peace’ talks with Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly indicated that it is ready for negotiations, but Kiev has introduced a ban on them at a legislative level. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized at the UN General Assembly in September that Moscow would not consider any proposals of a ceasefire, “because the one time we did consider it, you [Kiev] deceived us.” Speaking about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10-point “Peace Formula,” Sergey Lavrov noted it is not remotely realistic, although the West regards it as the only basis for peace in Ukraine.