Author: M Barbu

Unless and until a ceasefire comes into effect, the Gaza war’s destabilising impact is set to spread further across the Middle East – to say nothing about the horrifying situation inside the besieged enclave.

At this point, more than seven weeks after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion into southern Israel, it is increasingly important for the various parties directly and indirectly involved in the war to begin considering key questions about the “day after” and focus on Gaza’s future.

Following is the October 2023 installment of “ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency,” a monthly chronicle of attacks by the terrorist group ISIS in central Syria.

ISIS carried out at least 19 confirmed attacks in October in the Homs, Hama, Raqqa, and Deir Ez Zor governorates. These attacks killed at least nine pro-Assad regime soldiers and wounded at least three more. There were also six high quality* attacks during October, all of which occurred in eastern Homs. ISIS activity in central Syria increased in October, reaching levels similar to those in August, although with fewer confirmed deaths. As in September, ISIS maintained an aggressive posture this month. At least 12 of October’s 17 confirmed attacks were carried out using small arms or heavy weapons, and often involved attempted or successful assaults on regime positions. Only one attack this month involved a mine or improvised explosive device (IED).

The record is clear: Iran uses murder as a weapon of statecraft — and it does so, in part, via its commercial aviation sector, which Tehran has suborned to its goals of exporting revolution and sowing chaos.

Iran arms Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, who threaten to open a second front with Israel on the Lebanon border; it supplies drones to Russia, which deploys them against Ukrainian civilians; it props up the murderous Maduro regime in Venezuela, trying to turn that country into its forward operating base in the Americas. The common denominator in each of these endeavors? Iran’s commercial aviation sector.

Since October 7, the Israeli authorities have greatly reinforced their instruments of repression, as a form of vengeance for the Hamas attacks.

Since October 7, Israel has declared war on Gaza, killing more than 15,000 Palestinians, including more than 6,150 children, and destroying civilian infrastructure that could sustain life in the future. However, Israel has also been mounting a silent war on Palestinians in the West Bank and within the 1948 borders, to repress and contain them, quell any expressions of collective Palestinian identity, and make the occupied Palestinian territories unlivable for Palestinians.

An open letter to President Biden from MSF-USA executive director Avril Benoît

Dear President Biden,

I am writing to you on behalf of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), our staff, and our patients to urgently request that the United States call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza. MSF has delivered medical aid in many high-intensity conflicts over more than 50 years, yet rarely have we encountered such a catastrophic combination of escalating humanitarian and medical needs, ravaged infrastructure, and intentionally limited humanitarian access. We urge you to use your influence to secure an end to the widespread and indiscriminate attacks against civilians, forced displacement, and siege of Gaza. Vital humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip at scale.

Latest Developments

Two terror tunnels shafts in the West Bank were uncovered during an overnight operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on December 6. Terror tunnels are used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to a limited degree by Hezbollah in Lebanon, but their use in the West Bank is a relatively new development. During the operation, the IDF detained 10 Palestinian terrorists and found three bomb-making labs. The IDF also confiscated illegal weapons. During the operation, clashes took place with Palestinian gunmen, injuring one IDF soldier.

The Digital Front of the Israel-Hamas Conflict Is a Preview of Fights to Come

The Israel-Hamas war began in the early hours of Saturday, October 7, when Hamas militants and their affiliates stole over the Gazan-Israeli border by tunnel, truck, and hang glider, killed 1,200 people, and abducted over 200 more. Within minutes, graphic imagery and bombastic propaganda began to flood social media platforms. Each shocking video or post from the ground drew new pairs of eyes, sparked horrified reactions around the world, and created demand for more. A second front in the war had been opened online, transforming physical battles covering a few square miles into a globe-spanning information conflict.

Latest Developments

Israeli forces entered Khan Younis — the largest city in southern Gaza — on December 5 after several days of intensified shelling of Hamas targets. The head of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, said that IDF troops are engaged in the “most intense” battles since the war began as battles raged in southern Gaza.