Palestinian Territories

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, White House, April 23, 2015. John Earnest, White House Spokesperson:  I can tell you that Mr. Gadahn was not specifically targeted.  But in a fashion that was similar to the operation that we were discussing that resulted in the death of Dr. Weinstein and Mr. Lo Porto, the operation was against an al Qaeda compound.  So again, this is a scenario where U.S. officials had determined with near certainty that an operation could be carried out against an al Qaeda compound that was frequented, or at least where at least one al Qaeda leader was located.  And that operation did result in the death of Mr. Gadahn… What I would also readily admit to you is that in the aftermath of a situation like this, it raises legitimate questions about whether additional changes need to be made to those protocols. Again, to put it more bluntly, we have national security professionals who diligently follow those protocols based on everything that we know so far.  They follow those protocols, and yet it still resulted in this unintended but very tragic consequence.  And that’s why the President has directed his team to conduct a review of this particular operation to see if there are lessons learned, reforms that we can implement to this process. (3PA: This is the first time the White House has anthropomorphized a compound as being equal to an al-Qaeda leader. U.S. drone strike policy does not say that a “compound” can pose an imminent threat. Moreover, the tragic incident will result in a review of one counterterrorism operation in January 2015, but not of the thirteen-year drone program itself.) Jeremy Scahill, “Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America’s Drone War,” The Intercept, April 17, 2015. Amid fierce European criticism of America’s targeted killing program, U.S. and German government officials have long downplayed Ramstein’s role in lethal U.S. drone operations and have issued carefully phrased evasions when confronted with direct questions about the base. But the slides show that the facilities at Ramstein perform an essential function in lethal drone strikes conducted by the CIA and the U.S. military in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa… “Ramstein carries the signal to tell the drone what to do and it returns the display of what the drone sees. Without Ramstein, drones could not function, at least not as they do now,” the source said. The new evidence places German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an awkward position given Germany’s close diplomatic alliance with the United States. The German government has granted the U.S. the right to use the property, but only under the condition that the Americans do nothing there that violates German law. “U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Forces Korea,” Senate Armed Services Committee, April 16, 2015. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): The likelihood of an armed conflict between South Korea and North Korea, how would you evaluate that on 1 to 10 scale, 1 being very unlikely, 10 being highly likely. Say in the next 10 years, general? Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, commander, UN Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea: Well, sir, I caveat by saying I think that if K.J.U. [Kim Jong-Un] knows that if he were to conduct a conventional attack on South Korea it’d be the end. So I don’t think that’s his purpose. I think it’s to maintain his regime. But I think over a 10-year period it’s above a 5. It’s a 6 probably. “Military Cyber Programs and Posture,” Senate Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, April 14, 2015. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL): In your planning, do you plan to hit non-military targets? Eric Rosenbach, principal cyber advisor to the secretary of defense: Sir, I can talk about more detail in a close session, but yes, but in a very, very precise and confined way, they would always adhere to the law of war and all of the things we think about for collateral damage and other targeting. And I’m sure, General McLaughlin can speak more to that and in particular in a classified environment. Nelson: Such as if, for example, that you wanted to take out the enemy’s air defenses, you could go in and knock out power stations, the civilian stations. Rosenbach: Sir, you know, I think talking in a classified environment would be better for specifics and then I can go into great detail about things like that. Alon Ben-David, “Israel Learns About Close Air Support In Gaza,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, March 27, 2015. The fiercest fighting occurred as Israel’s Golani infantry brigade approached the Shejaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, where Hamas ordered the Palestinian population to stay put. After 4 hr. of combat, the Israelis suffered 13 casualties. Most of the Golani senior command was either killed or wounded. Under heavy fire and unable to pull back, the brigade begged for heavy air support. IAF [Israeli Air Force] commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel decided to act against all safety procedures and ordered the Golani forces to take cover in their armored vehicles. Then, the air force began dropping dozens of 2,000-lb. Joint Direct Attack Munitions on the building sheltering Palestinian combatants, within 100 meters of friendly forces. In 2 hr., Shejaiya absorbed more than 100 tons of explosives, which inflicted massive destruction on the neighborhood. Israeli forces were able to pull back and evacuate their casualties. Palestinians reported that 40 people, both combatants and civilians, were killed in the bombing. The following day, the Golani brigade reentered Shejaiya to complete its mission. Word about the extremely close air support that the brigade received quickly spread to other brigades, which then asked the air force to provide them with the same support. The air force did that at several other locations, practically destroying the first few rows of buildings on the outskirts of Palestinian urban areas. “Those days taught us that from now on, any ground maneuver into a dense urban area will have to be very closely supported from the air,” says an air force official, “and that the entry ticket into a serried [compact] urban area is 100‑200 tons of munitions.” Stephen Watts, “Identifying and Mitigating Risks in Security Sector Assistance for Africa’s Fragile State,” RAND Corporation, 2015, p. 29. DoD [Department of Defense] planners do not themselves, however, have formal processes designed to identify risks ahead of time and take steps to mitigate them. State Department personnel are highly sensitive to the potential political risks of such assistance, but they typically think about risk identification and mitigation in highly informal, intuitive ways—ways that at least some at the State Department contend are inadequate to the many challenges posed by SSA [security sector assistance]. Moreover, the State Department does not have adequate resources to oversee its current commitments, much less an expanded approach to risk identification and mitigation. Neither DoD nor the State Department, in other words, appears well positioned to identify and mitigate SSA risks. (3PA: This paragraph, which is based upon interviews with Pentagon and State Department staffers, makes clear why the U.S. government is so unable to identify and prevent conflict.)

Israel’s next government will assume the mantle of a strong and prosperous country. While facing a range of security challenges and tremendous regional turmoil, Israel today enjoys a preponderance of power over any likely regional threat or adversarial coalition. Its national economy is robust, and the country’s national cohesion remains exceptionally strong. Nonetheless, Israel’s overall strategic posture is vulnerable. Its national power and economic strength depend on less tangible factors, such as foreign relations, global alliances, and perceived international legitimacy. The Israeli government formed after the March 17 election will face four significant and interrelated challenges: First, relations between the Jewish state and the United States, its superpower ally and patron, are poor. Six years of bickering over Israeli settlement activities, Palestinian peace efforts, and the best way to contain if not counter Iran’s nuclear program have challenged bilateral relations. The next Israeli government will need to reestablish its traditional bipartisan base of support in Washington or risk becoming a party to domestic U.S. political squabbles. Second, Israel sees its largest regional threat coming from an Islamic Republic of Iran that openly calls for its eradication. While continuing to project influence regionally, Iran has advanced its decades-long effort to develop an indigenous nuclear enrichment program. With or without a P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council—the United States, China, France, Russia, and UK—and Germany) agreement, Israel will see Iran and its regional allies as the greatest military challenge to its security. Israel’s next government will prioritize countering Iran’s nuclear and regional ambitions. Third, Israel faces challenges from two different and rival Palestinian leaderships. Israel has fought Hamas, Gaza’s de facto government, in three deadly yet inconclusive rounds of conflict in the last decade. Left isolated and unattended, Gaza could erupt, with violence spilling over into Israel. Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which administers the West Bank’s major population centers via the Palestinian Authority, has shifted away from cooperation with Israel toward diplomatic confrontation in international fora, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. While Israel has a preponderance of military power, the Palestinians are attempting to level the playing field on the international stage. The PLO also threatens to suspend on-the-ground security cooperation with the Israeli Defense Forces. It is unlikely to desist absent an Israeli government that seeks to make peace and end the occupation of the West Bank. Fourth and closely related, Israel faces a trend toward international delegitimization in parts of Europe and the United States, where Israel has traditionally enjoyed unrivaled support. The growing perception that Israel opposes Palestinian national aspirations accelerates Israel’s isolation. The next Israeli government will face a Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions movement that is gaining momentum and threatens to take root with a new generation of academics and politicians, among others. Only a credible move to establish two states in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean could help thwart this. Israel has been largely reactive in the face of the upheavals sweeping the Middle East for the past five years. Yet the enormity of its most critical challenges may force the next Israeli government to adopt new initiatives and a more activist approach. For a comprehensive take on the upcoming Israeli election of which this posting is one part, check out CFR.org’s Expert Roundup by Benedetta Berti, Shlomo Brom, Natan Sachs, and Yossi Klein Halevi.

Significant Developments ISIS. Ashton Carter, wrapping up his first overseas trip as secretary of defense, met with top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Kuwait on Monday to review the U.S.-led international coalition’s strategy against ISIS. Carter announced that the Obama administration had “the ingredients of the strategy” to defeat ISIS militarily in Iraq and Syria, but that further efforts were required to combat ISIS’ use of social media. Meanwhile, the Pentagon on Tuesday walked back its earlier CENTCOM announcement of a spring offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS after Iraqi officials reacted angrily to the disclosure. A senior CENTCOM official had briefed reporters on details of the offensive, including dates and the number of fighters likely to be involved. The White House also distanced itself from the announcement, with spokesperson Josh Earnest telling reporters that he was not aware of the briefing and that the offensive “[wouldn’t] begin until the Iraqi security forces are ready.” Israel. Opposition Labor Party head Isaac Herzog today called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his planned Congressional address next Tuesday saying it would cause “strategic damage to Israel’s standing and to the relationship with the United States.” U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice last night strongly criticized the Israeli leader’s planned Congressional speech, calling it “destructive to the fabric of the [U.S.-Israeli] relationship” in an interview with Charlie Rose. Meanwhile, Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) reported on Tuesday that Netanyahu had declined to attend a private meeting with Democratic senators, calling Netanyahu’s refusal “disappointing to those of us who have stood by Israel for decades.” However, Israeli officials said today that Netanyahu will meet with Democratic and Republican Senate leaders in a closed-door meeting. Turkey-Syria. Turkish military forces entered Syria for the first time since the start of the Syrian civil war last weekend to secure the remains of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire and to evacuate the thirty-eight soldiers guarding his tomb. ISIS had threatened to destroy the tomb unless its guards lowered the Turkish flag adorning it. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that over five hundred troops, forty tanks, and over a hundred and fifty vehicles entered Syria through Kobani and successfully removed Shah’s remains and rescued the guards posted to the shrine who had been trapped by ISIS militants for several months. The Syrian government issued a statement on Sunday calling the operation a “flagrant aggression,” alleging that Turkey undertook the excursion without gaining permission from Damascus. Prime Minister Davutoglu told reporters on Sunday that he had notified the Syrian government, rebel leaders, and the coalition forces battling ISIS about the operation. U.S. Foreign Policy Qatar. Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday, in his first ever visit to the White House. President Obama stressed the “strong security relationship” between the United States and Qatar, and said that Qatar was a “partner on a whole range of security initiatives, [including] in the [U.S.-led international] coalition to degrade and ultimately defeat [ISIS].” The leaders also discussed the situation in Syria, agreeing that the country could only be stabilized after securing the stepping down of President Bashar al-Assad. Iran. Secretary of State John Kerry testified on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee to explain the State Department’s budget request. In hearings heavily focused on the ongoing negotiations with Iran, Kerry denied reports that the United States would accept a nuclear agreement that would constrain Iran’s ability to achieve break out capacity after ten years. He declined to offer further details on the talks. Kerry’s testimony came a day after he returned from the latest round of high-level talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program. While We Were Looking Elsewhere Palestine. A U.S. District Court awarded over $ 218 million on Monday to ten U.S. families who were among the victims of six terrorist attacks perpetrated by Palestinian groups between 2002 and 2004. The jury found the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) liable for their role in knowingly supporting the attacks. The attacks killed thirty-three people and wounded over four hundred and fifty, including U.S. citizens. The final damages will amount to over $655 million under a special legal provision that provides for tripling the amount of damages awarded by the court. The PLO and PA announced they were “deeply disappointed” with the verdict, while Palestinian deputy information minister, Mahmoud Khalifa, vowed Tuesday to appeal the decision. Syria. ISIS militants have kidnapped over two hundred Assyrian Christians over the last three days after storming several villages in northeast Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based watchdog. Thousands of Christians have resorted to fleeing the town of Tal Tamr in an effort to avoid abduction. ISIS has taken command of ten Assyrian villages around Tal Tamr that were previously under Kurdish militia control, and has also kidnapped militants fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) during an assault on Tal Tamr. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch released a report on Tuesday documenting the Syrian regime’s use of barrel bombs on at least fifteen hundred sites in rebel-held areas since the Security Council specifically censured their use in February 2014. Barrel bombs are prohibited under international law as they indiscriminately injure civilians upon explosion. Meanwhile, the Syrian authorities have released a prominent Syrian dissident, Louay Hussein, on bail. Hussein, who is the head of the pro-democracy “Building the Syrian State” movement, is charged with “spreading false news” and “weakening national morale.” His next trial is scheduled for March 3. Lebanon. Lebanese military experts and analysts announced yesterday that ISIS and the Nusra Front, who are mostly located near the northeastern border with Syria, are planning a large-scale attack on Lebanon, most likely in the second half of March, once the weather improves. The Nusra Front’s main goal for the offensive is to secure new supply routes, while ISIS seeks to gain traction in a bid to set up an Islamic “emirate” in Lebanon. ISIS’ leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, first announced his plans to create such an “emirate” last year in Iraq. ISIS announced recently that the command for the emirate in Lebanon would be led by Khalaf al-Zeyabi Halous, a Syrian militant who played a key role in the ISIS offensive to capture Raqqa in Syria in 2013. Yemen. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi withdrew his resignation from Yemen’s presidency on Monday after he escaped from a month-long house arrest at the hands of Houthi rebels. He has since relocated to the southern city of Aden, and is seeking the support of political parties and southern tribes to retake power from the Houthi rebels. According to a Hadi aide, Saudi Arabia has relocated its ambassador to Aden and promised unlimited political and logistical support to him. Houthi rebels issued an official statement on Tuesday, saying Hadi had “lost his legitimacy to act as president.” Egypt-GCC. President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi on Monday applauded the support offered by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, and stressed that efforts to cause friction between Egypt and the Gulf States would fail. The statement appeared to be a thinly veiled reference to the recent discord between Egypt and Qatar over Egypt’s airstrikes against ISIS factions in Libya last week in retaliation for ISIS beheading twenty-one Egyptian Copts near Benghazi. The situation also caused friction between the various members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last Thursday, after the GCC publicly endorsed Qatar for announcing it had reservations about the Egyptian air strikes without the support of all members of the Council, prompting its secretary-general to issue a new statement in support of the strikes in Libya later that day. Egypt. A prominent Egyptian blogger and activist, Alaa Abd El Fattah, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $13,000 on Monday by an Egyptian court. He was convicted for participating in an unauthorized demonstration against the use of military trials for civilians in November 2013. Two -dozen other defendants received more lenient sentences during the same trial. Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi authorized an anti-terrorism law on Tuesday, which authorizes officials to ban groups or individuals that are deemed to be a threat to national security, including people who disrupt public transportation. The law also gives officials the authority to freeze the groups’ assets. Tunisia. Tunisian officials announced on Tuesday that their security forces had arrested around one hundred suspected Islamist militants in Tunisia since the weekend, including some allegedly influenced by ISIS. At present, there are an estimated 3,000 Tunisians fighting in Syria.

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published its first issue today since gunmen stormed the magazine’s headquarters in Paris last Monday, killing twelve people. The new cover depicts the Prophet Muhammad cryingand holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign under the words: “Tout est pardonné” (“All is forgiven”). The surviving editors of the magazine held a press conference today claiming that the cartoon is an act of forgiveness. The cartoonist of today’s provocative cover, Renald Luzier, stated, “we have confidence in people’s intelligence and we have confidence in humor.” Immediately, the Charlie Hebdo cover precipitated widespread condemnation across the Middle East invoking accusations of blasphemy, though reactions varied. In a statement to the New York Times today, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula reacted to Charlie Hebdo cartoons , saying, “We have warned you before about the consequences of these deeds that your governments collude with under the pretext of ‘freedom of press’ or ‘freedom of ideas…We tell you once again, stop your insults on our Prophet and sanctities. Stop spilling our blood. Leave our lands.” Below are some other reactions from political and religious leaders and media institutions across the Middle East: Algeria Journalist Habib Rashdim, writing in the Arabic language daily newspaper Echourouk, condemned the French government for helping to fund today’s edition of Charlie Hebdo, saying this “violates all red lines, and is an open crusade against Muslims… It has become every Muslim’s right today to file a lawsuit against the country’s ambassadors over charges of ‘insult and contempt for religion.’” Algerian anti-Islamist newspaper Ennahar responded to today’s Charlie Hebdo cover with a front page cartoon showing a man carrying a “Je suis Charlie” sign next to an army tank crushing placards from Palestine, Mali, Gaza, Iraq and Syria. The headline at the top of the image says: “Nous sommes tous… Mohamed” (“We are all Muhammad”). Egypt Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam warned Charlie Hebdo against publishing a new caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, saying: “This edition will cause a new wave of hatred in French and Western society in general and what the magazine is doing does not serve coexistence or a dialogue between civilizations…This is an unwarranted provocation against the feelings of…Muslims around the world.” Secretary General of Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate Karem Mahmoud: “Insistence on hurting the feelings of millions of Muslims across the world undoubtedly serves the interests of extremists…[the new cover will] embarrass moderate voices who had viewed the Paris crime as treacherous and unlinked to Islam.” Ibrahim Negm, spokesperson for Dar al-Ifta, the fatwa-issuing institution of Al Azhar, said in a lecture at the Martin Luther Church in New York: “The ‪‎world must listen to the wise voices from among the ‪followers of different faiths and pay attention to the demands they repeat after each incident of offense against religious symbols and beliefs…the best way to respond to any offense against the Messenger [of God] is to ignore it and show kindness instead, just as he used to do along his lifetime.” Iran Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, a leading cleric in Iran, said the publication of further satirical images of Mohammad “amounts to declaring war on all Muslims.” Tabnak, a conservative news site in Iran, stated “Charlie Hebdo has once again insulted the Prophet.” Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif, while waiting for nuclear talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said: “Unless we learn to respect one another, it will be very difficult in a world of different views and different cultures and civilizations, we won’t be able to engage in a serious dialogue if we start disrespecting each other’s values…we believe that sanctities need to be respected…” Jerusalem Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti Mohammed Hussein criticized the Charlie Hebdo editors’ decision to publish a new cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad saying: “This insult has hurt the feelings of nearly two billion Muslims all over the world. The cartoons and other slander damage relations between the followers of the (Abrahamic) faiths." Jordan Former Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal said: “If the cartoon had read “Je suis Ahmed,” given that many were carrying that badge after the police [killed] Ahmed Merabet, might not have put more salt to the wound but taken it to another level.” Turkey Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said in a message on Twitter, as a Turkish court banned some web sites from showing the most recent Charlie Hebdo cover: “Those who publish imagery referring to our esteemed prophet with complete disregard for Muslims’ holy beliefs are engaging in an open provocation.” Utku Cakirözer, editor-in-chief of pro-secular newspaper Cumhuriyet, wrote on Twitter: “When publishing this selection [of latest Charlie Hebdo cartoons], we paid attention to the freedom of belief and the religious sensitivities of societies…After multiple consultations, we decided not to publish on the cover.”

Significant Developments CIA Torture Report. Official reaction in the Middle East to the release yesterday of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on torture has been muted so far, with protests concentrated primarily on social media. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday said that the report revealed the United States to be a “symbol of tyranny against humanity.” ISIS and al-Qaeda eagerly decreed that the report showed the United States’ hypocrisy, with Dutch jihadist Israfil Yilmaz writing: “They call us monsters? Slap yourself, read some of the @CIA torture reports and wake up.” Yemen’s legal advisor Nazeeh Alemad said the publication of the report “makes no difference” as “people here [in Yemen] are not looking for more proof of torture [...] they deal with it as a fact.” He added, “what makes a difference is what happens here, not some report published over there.” Secretary of State John Kerry had urged Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein to delay the publication of the report, Kerry warning that its release would have adverse foreign policy implications for the United States’ “ongoing efforts aginst ISIL and the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world.” Yemen. U.S. hostage Luke Somers was killed on Saturday night by militants affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) during a rescue attempt by an American Special Operations team. A South African hostage, Pierre Korkie, was also killed. Nasr bin Ali Al-Ansi, a top AQAP commander in Yemen, blamed President Obama today for the death of the two hostages, describing the rescue attempt as an “execution order” and warning the president that al-Qaeda would “continue to put the lives of all Americans in danger inside and outside of America […].” Earlier in the week, Al-Ansi denounced the act and promotion of beheading prisoners as “barbaric” and “not acceptable whatever the justifications are” in response to a reporter questioning whether al-Qaida was mirroring ISIS’ tactics. Israel-Palestine. Thousands of Palestinians marched to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s headquarters in Ramallah today as part of the funeral procession of senior Fatah official Ziad Abu Ein. He died yesterday after inhaling tear gas and a violent altercation with Israeli security forces during a protest in the West Bank to mark International Human Rights Day. Abbas called Abu Ein’s death “an intolerable crime in every sense of the word.” However, the autopsy report on the cause of death was interpreted differently by Israeli and Palestinian forensic experts today. According to the Israeli forensic expert today, the cause of death was a stress related heart attack. The Palestinian expert, Dr. Saber al-Aloul, determined that Abu Ein died of violence and not natural causes, due to wounds and bruises on his teeth, neck, tongue and windpipe. A spokesperson for the Palestinian government, Ehab Bessio, stated earlier: “Today, based on the autopsy results, we hold the Israeli government accountable for the murder of Ziad Abu Ein.” Israel. Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni announced yesterday that they intend to run on a joint ticket in the upcoming March 17 Israeli elections in an effort to deny Benjamin Netanyahu a fourth term as prime minister. Herzog leads Israel’s center-left Labor Party, which currently has 15 seats in the 120-member parliament. Livni, who was dismissed as justice minister by Netanyahu last week, leads the centrist Hatnua party, which has six seats in parliament. Livni and Herzog are proposing to rotate in the role of prime minister, with Herzog serving the first two years of the term and Livni taking over for the second two. U.S. Foreign Policy ISIS. Secretary of State John Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, where he requested that Congress refrain from banning the use of ground forces to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Kerry stated that “the president has been crystal clear that his policy is that U.S. military forces will not be deployed to conduct ground combat operations […], [but] it doesn’t mean that we should pre-emptively bind the hands of […] our commanders in the field in responding to scenarios […] that are impossible to foresee.” Iraq. Unspecified allies in the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS pledged on Monday to send 1,500 military troops to support American military advisors in Iraq. American officials declined to identify the countries contributing the additional forces. The United States has already guaranteed to send 3,000 soldiers to train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish troops. The new pledge would bring the total number of military advisors to 4,500. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi requested that the United States provide additional air power and heavy weaponry during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Tuesday. Hagel was visiting Baghdad to discuss the military progress against ISIS. While We Were Looking Elsewhere Israel-Syria. Syria’s Armed Forces General Command confirmed Sunday that Israeli warplanes earlier in the day struck at least two areas near Damascus, including the international airport. The Syrian Army stated that the attack “proves Israel’s direct involvement in supporting terrorists in Syria,” while Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers called it an act of “aggression.” Israeli officials neither confirmed nor denied reports of the attacks, though Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday that Israel “will not allow red lines to be crossed that endanger Israel’s security.” Syria did not retaliate, but called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to impose sanctions on Israel. Iran. A UN Panel of Experts report on Iran alleges that Qassem Soleimani, leader of the military Quds force, has been photographed in Iraq where he is allegedly providing assistance to militants fighting ISIS. The Quds force is the international branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Soleimani’s presence in Iraq is a violation of an international travel ban and asset freeze imposed upon him by the UN Security Council since 2007. Under this resolution, UN member states must prevent blacklisted individuals from entering their state. Iraqi diplomats have not respondent to questions. Syria. António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, announced on Tuesday that the number of Syrian refugees to be resettled in third countries outside the region will double. The pledge comes after twenty-eight countries pledged to accept over 60,000 refugees and eleven more states agreed to investigate the possibility of expanding their current resettlement programs. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program announced on Monday that it will resume its food voucher program for Syrian refugees after its online campaign raised $80 million. The funds raised will enable the UN to sustain the program from mid-December until January. However, UN emergency aid coordinator Valerie Amos warned on Monday that without further large contributions from donors, the World Food Program would be “lurching from month to month.” Bahrain. Two deadly bombs exploded in Bahrain in less than twenty-four hours earlier this week. The first explosion killed a policeman in Damistan, a village southwest of Manama, the Bahraini capital on Monday. The second explosion detonated on Tuesday in Karzakan, southwest of Mananma, killing a Bahraini national and injuring another civilian. Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid al-Khalifa held Hezbollah responsible for making the bombs used in the attack on Monday, and called the explosions a “terrorist act.” Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group Al-Wefaq publicly distanced itself from the attack. Libya. UN Special Envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon announced on Monday that the UN would postpone talks to end the political crisis in Libya until next week. The talks, which were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, have been deferred to give the two rival political factions a longer opportunity to construct a compromise. The internationally recognized government exiled in Tobruq, and Libya Dawn, the armed groups allied with the self-declared Islamist-affiliated authority in Tripoli led by Omar Hassi, refused on Sunday to include the other party in discussions with the UN. Palestine. The 122 members of the Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) awarded the Palestinian delegation “observer status at their annual meeting on Monday. The move is mostly symbolic and gives Palestine the same status as the United States which is not a signatory. Palestinian ambassador Riyad H. Mansour said that the Palestinians “want to strengthen [their] presence in international fora, […] not only in the General Assembly.” Qatar. High-level officials from the Gulf states arrived in Doha on Tuesday for the start of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Qatar. The diplomats included Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. This meeting was scheduled after Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reinstated their ambassadors in Qatar last month. U.A.E. A court sentenced eleven people to prison terms between three years and life for attempting to establish an al-Qaeda affiliate group in the United Arab Emirates. They were also charged for joining al-Qaeda affiliate groups al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham in Syria. Four defendants were acquitted, and the accused denied all charges brought against them.  

Significant Developments ISIS. ISIS released video footage on Sunday claiming responsibility for the beheading of American aid worker Peter Kassig. President Barack Obama confirmed the death of the American hostage and called the beheading “an act of pure evil.” A National Security Council spokesperson announced on Monday that Obama had ordered a comprehensive review over the summer of how the United States government addresses the issue of releasing hostages. In a report released on Monday, a panel of experts urged the UN Security Council to order states to capture oil trucks entering and exiting parts of Iraq and Syria controlled by Islamist groups, and to impose a global freeze on the sale of antiquities from Iraq and Syria. The measure would be aimed at cutting off crucial sources of funding from ISIS and al-Nusra. The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the topic when it meets today. Israel-Palestine.Two Palestinians killed four worshippers, three of them rabbis, and wounded five more congregants praying Tuesday morning in a synagogue in an ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood in West Jerusalem. Israeli security forces shot dead the two attackers. Two police officers were shot and one died of his injuries late Tuesday evening.Three of the victims held dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, while the fourth held British-Israeli citizenship. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to “respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray.” The Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning the killings. Hamas spokesperson Mushir al-Masri called the attack “heroic and a natural reaction to Zionist criminality against our people and our holy places.” President Barack Obama released a statement condemning the terrorist attack and called on the Israelis and Palestinians to lower tensions after violence has surged in Jerusalem in the past month. Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain decided to return their ambassadors to Qatar after a surprise meeting by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Sunday night in Riyadh. The Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini governments recalled their ambassadors from Doha last March after accusing Qatar of interfering in their domestic affairs and of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiya warned the Obama administration on Sunday that U.S.-led airstrikes alone are increasingly being viewed by Sunnis in the Middle East as “helping Assad.” He called on the United States to expedite the training and arming of moderate Syrian rebels. President Barack Obama, speaking at the G-20 summit in Australia on Sunday, said that the United States will not work with the Assad regime. However, when pressed, Obama said that he is not currently considering policy options to remove Assad either. US Foreign Policy Iraq. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for his first visit since the start of the U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS. Dempsey told Reuters that he wanted “to get a sense from our side about how our contribution is going.” Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced on Sunday that the Pentagon would accelerate the mission to train Iraqi troops against ISIS and that special operation forces were beginning the training in Iraq’s Anbar province. Iran. The last round of nuclear negotiations before the November 24 deadline began between Iran and the P5+1 countries in Vienna on Tuesday. Secretary of State John Kerry called it a “critical week,” while Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made it clear that Iran would be “resisting excessive demands.” Saudi Arabia. Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s national guard minister, visited the United States on Tuesday to meet with President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the minister is scheduled to discuss “joint cooperation between the two countries, especially the development of Saudi National Guard forces systems in the field of armament and training.” While We Were Looking Elsewhere Egypt. The Egyptian army announced on Monday that it plans on doubling the size of the buffer zone with Gaza in the town of Rafah, after discovering smuggling tunnels that were longer than expected. The announcement reflects the Egyptian government’s increased concern about the threat of attacks by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, Egypt’s most prominent militant group. On Friday, the terrorist organization released footage of its October 24 attack on Egyptian security forces in the Sinai Peninsula in its first formal claim of responsibility for the attack that killed 31 soldiers. The extremist group also promoted its affiliation with ISIS in the video, calling themselves the “Sinai Province,” after pledging allegiance to the group last week. UAE. The United Arab Emirates released a list of more than 80 designated terrorist organizations on Saturday. The list includes the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, al-Qaeda and its affiliates, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The UAE also designated two American organizations--the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society--that the United States does not officially consider terror groups. Anyone found to be participating in or encouraging the activities of the organizations listed by the Emirati government could be sentenced to capital punishment or fines of up to $27 million, under an anti-terrorism law promulgated last August. Lebanon. The Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reported on Tuesday that Lebanon agreed to a Jabhat al-Nusra’s prisoner exchange proposal. Al-Nusra has held twenty-seven Lebanese servicemen since August and has proposed to release each serviceman in exchange for five prisoners detained in Lebanon and for fifty women detained in Syria. The Lebanese mediators responsible were concerned that this proposal would require cooperation from the Syrian regime, but “official sources” within the Lebanese government are reportedly investigating the possibility of negotiating with the Syrian government. Yemen. Sadeq Mansur, assistant secretary general of Yemen’s Sunni Al Islah party, was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday in Taez. No party has claimed responsibility so far. Supporters of Al Islah have been resisting Houthi fighters. Libya. UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon announced this morning that opposing factions in Libya have agreed to a twelve hour ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, effective immediately. The truce, which according to Leon is a “much needed reprieve from violence,” will enable humanitarian workers such as the Red Crescent to evacuate civilians and remove bodies from combat areas. It remains unclear whether the parties actually ceased to fight after the truce was announced.

Belal Fadl characterizes Egypt as a state-sponsored nation of informers. Anna Jacobs explores the complexities of the Algerian political system. Yael Even-Or dismisses the claim that another intifada is in the making and situates the recent hostilities in a larger context of incitement.