The Fallout in Chad from the Fighting in Darfur

What is happening?

Chad was facing a turbulent time even before April, when fighting broke out in Sudan’s Darfur region on its eastern border, and things have only got worse since then. President Mahamat Déby Itno, who took over on an ostensibly interim basis after his father unexpectedly died in 2021, appears set on staying in power. Discontent with his regime is growing, despite efforts led by the Economic Community of the Central African States (ECCAS) to facilitate an agreement among key political parties on how to handle the transition after, in October 2022, a police crackdown killed more than 200 demonstrators. The repression has weakened the political opposition and civil society, prompting several leaders to leave the country. Key Chadian rebel groups remain excluded from the transition, while others are dissatisfied with the government’s disarmament and reintegration program, which is supposed to be their bridge back to civilian life. Since May, the military has clashed with armed groups in the northern Tibesti region and in the north of the neighbouring Central Africa Republic (CAR), near Chad’s southern border, while the late July coup in Niger threatens to unsettle the western frontier.

The Gaza War Reverberates Across the Middle East

As war rages in Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to escalate, causing grievous harm to civilians and threatening stability across the Middle East. Crisis Group experts offer a 360-degree view of how various capitals in the region view this crisis and their own interests therein.

Article In Qatari Daily: Israel’s Demise Is A Divine Promise

Mansour Al-Mutlaq with Jassim Bin Hamad, the brother of Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Aal Thani, who serves as the Emir’s personal representative.[3]

In an October 20, 2023 article in the Qatari daily Al-Arab, journalist Mansour Al-Mutlaq wrote that “what is happening in Palestine” (i.e., Hamas’ October 7, 2023 large-scale terrorist attack on Israel and the war that broke out in its wake) is the fulfillment of Allah’s words in Surah 17 of the Quran. Some Muslims interpret certain verses in this surah as conveying a divine promise regarding Palestine: the Jews will come from all over the world to settle in Palestine, and will sow corruption there and gain power, but will ultimately be defeated by the servants of Allah who will humiliate them and recapture the Al-Aqsa mosque. Based on this interpretation, Hamas officials have envisioned a war against Israel called “the Promise of the Hereafter,” involving the Palestinians and other Arab countries and organizations, who will together eliminate Israel. [1] Al-Mutlaq expresses hope that Allah’s promise for the defeat of the Jews in Palestine will come to pass in the near future.

Forty-Five U.S. Troops Report Injury in Iraq, Syria Drone Attacks, More Than Twice the Number Disclosed by Pentagon

At least 45 Americans claim to have been injured in recent attacks in Iraq and Syria, more than twice as many as the Pentagon previously disclosed, according to a new report.

The Pentagon initially claimed that 21 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of two drone attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, but an additional 24 troops have since reported such injuries, NBC reported Monday, bringing the total number of injured troops to 45. That number may rise as more troops come forward.

IntelBrief: Iran’s Proxy Network Provides Tehran with Strategic Depth in the Middle East

With Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza underway and Houthi rebels in Yemen firing missiles toward Israel, the risk of regional escalation by Iran’s various proxies has reached dangerous new heights.

A day before today’s planned speech by Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, the group claimed to have simultaneously attacked nineteen positions in Israel, representing the largest escalation of fighting along the Israeli-Lebanese border yet.

Comment l’Iran mobilise son « Axe de la Résistance » face à Israël

L’attaque dévastatrice du Hamas le 7 octobre a changé la donne au Moyen-Orient. Le dossier israélo-palestinien, relégué au second plan depuis au moins une dizaine d’années, est brutalement revenu au cœur de la géopolitique régionale.

Alors que la guerre en cours entre le Hamas et Israël enhardit les mandataires de l’Iran dans la région, tous les acteurs impliqués (étatiques ou non étatiques) manœuvrent dans un jeu de pouvoir très complexe qui peut conduire à une guerre régionale à part entière ; mais un tel scénario peut être évité par une fin négociée.

Profile of Saleh al-Arouri, a Senior Hamas Terrorist

On the morning of October 31, 2023, in the village of ‘Arura (north of Ramallah), Israeli security forces demolished the home of Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau and in charge of the Hamas terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria. Palestinians rioted during the activity, throwing rocks and IEDs at the forces, who responded with riot control measures. Al-Arouri has not lived in the house for the past 15 years. After the Israeli forces left, residents came carrying Hamas flags to express their solidarity and see the destroyed house up close (QudsN Twitter account, October 31, 2023).

Saleh al-Arouri, Turkey-based senior Hamas operative who handles military-terrorist networks in Judea and Samaria, admitted that Hamas was behind the abduction and murder of the three Jewish youths from Gush Etzion

Saleh Muhammad Suleiman al-Arouri is a senior Hamas operative based in Turkey. On August 20 2014, he told the participants of the fourth conference of the World Union of Islamic Sages (held in Turkey) that Hamas’ military-terrorist wing was behind the abduction and murder of the three Jewish youths in Gush Etzion (June 12, 2014). He read his speech, saying that he was speaking on behalf of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal (calling him the “head of this resistance”). He was apparently recorded without his knowledge and his speech was uploaded to YouTube and received much feedback.

Portrait of Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Abdallah al-Qaradawi, senior Sunni Muslim cleric, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood

Overview

  1. Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Abdallah al-Qaradawi is a central figure affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. He was expelled from Egypt and found refuge in Qatar, and operates from there throughout the Muslim world.
  2. After President Hosni Mubarak was ousted al-Qaradawi returned to Egypt and delivered the Friday sermon at a mass rally held in Al-Tahrir Square in Cairo. Many consider him the supreme religious and ideological authority for the Muslim Brotherhood, although he is not officially its leader (in the past refused to accept the title of the Muslim Brotherhood’s General Guide). He is influential in Egypt and considered one of the most important Sunni Muslim clerics of our generation and a spiritual authority for millions of Muslims around the world, including the Hamas movement.
  3. Al-Qaradawi’s popularity among the Sunnis has grown because of the massive use he makes of electronic media, mainly television and the Internet. One of his most important tools is the Al-Jazeera TV channel, which broadcasts his popular program “Life and Islamic Law,” viewed by tens of millions of Muslims.
  4. Al-Qaradawi has often exploited the program for blatant anti-Semitic propaganda and incitement (see below). He was also one of the founders of the IslamOnline website in 1997, which often quotes him.