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Arab World Condemns Netanyahu's Support for 'Expansionist Colonial' Vision of 'Greater Israel'
In supporting the notion of "Greater Israel," the prime minister suggested he supported efforts to expand Israel's borders by conquering large parts of several of its neighboring countries.
Aug 15, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing condemnation after he endorsed the goal of establishing "Greater Israel."
Many interpreted that as a promise to further expand Israel's borders into other parts of the Arab world.
As the Times of Israel explains:
The term Greater Israel refers to Israel in expanded borders in accordance with biblical or historical descriptions, and has many versions, some of which include parts of today's Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia...
It is still adopted by some far-right figures in Israel who express a desire to annex or eventually control many of those territories.
In an interview Tuesday on Israel's i24 TV network, interviewer Sharon Gal—a former right-wing member of the Knesset—handed Netanyahu an amulet depicting what he said was "the Promised Land."
"This is my vision," said Gal, before asking Netanyahu, "Do you connect to the vision?"
Netanyahu responded, "Very much."
Gal then stressed that the map "is Greater Israel."
"If you ask me, we are here," Netanyahu responded. "You know I often mention my father. My parents' generation had to establish the state. And our generation, my generation, has to guarantee its continued existence. And I see that as a great mission."
Though the pendant itself was not visible onscreen, it was likely the one sold by Gal's company, which the Times of Israel says depicts a "relatively maximalist" map containing territory stretching from the Nile River to the Euphrates—an area encompassing swathes of Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.
i24 has cut this provocative exchange from the video of the interview on its Hebrew or English language YouTube channels. However, it can still be viewed on i24's Hebrew-language website.
The idea of colonizing other parts of the Arab world according to historic Jewish texts is popular among the far-right portion of Netanyahu's governing coalition.
Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's minister of finance, has said he wants a Jewish State "according to the books of our sages" that will "extend to Damascus," the capital of Syria, and suggested Israel will "slowly" conquer the other side of the Jordan River.
At a conference in March 2023, before Israel's current military assault on the Gaza Strip began, Smotrich spoke at a conference behind a podium depicting a map of "Greater Israel," which encompassed parts of Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week, Smotrich unveiled a new 3,000-person settlement in the illegally-occupied West Bank known as E1, which he said "buries the idea of a Palestinian state" because "there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize."
Netanyahu has long sought to downplay the idea that Israel has waged the destruction of Gaza or its attacks on Syria and Lebanon with the goal of expansion. Even as his government talks openly of permanently exiling the people of Gaza to make room for Jewish settlers, the prime minister has maintained that his goals are purely defensive.
Mustafa Barghouti—the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, a liberal party in the West Bank's legislature—said Netanyahu's endorsement of "Greater Israel" means "he is on a mission to violate all international laws, commit crimes against humanity, and annex Palestinian and other Arab countries' territories." The Palestinian Authority likewise said Netanyahu's comments were an expression of Israel's "expansionist colonial policies."
That outrage has echoed across the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia expressed its "complete rejection of the settlement and expansionist ideas." Egypt said the remarks had "implications of provoking instability and reflecting a rejection of the pursuit of peace in the region, as well as an insistence on escalation."
Qatar, which has often tried to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, called the comments "an extension of the occupation's approach based on arrogance, fueling crises, and conflicts."
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What’s So Dangerous About Trump’s Plan for Ethnically Cleansing Gaza?
The risk is less that the U.S. would actually invade and more that Trump’s words would give Israel the green light to push Palestinians out of the West Bank or renew its offensive in Gaza.
Feb 18, 2025
Let’s be clear: The forced displacement of Palestinians is not a new idea. U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest proposal to take “long-term ownership” of Gaza, to “clean out” the “mess,” and to turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East” is just the latest iteration of efforts aimed at ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their homeland.
What makes Trump’s comments dangerous is not the immediate threat of U.S. military intervention in Gaza followed by the expulsion of its 2.2 million residents. The real danger lies elsewhere.
First, Israel may interpret Trump’s words as a green light to push Palestinians out of Gaza or the West Bank. Second, the U.S. could tacitly endorse another Israeli offensive under the guise of fulfilling the president’s wishes. Third, Trump’s remarks suggest his foreign policy on Palestine will remain largely unchanged from his predecessor’s.
Trump’s so-called “humanitarian” ethnic cleansing proposal will similarly go down in history as another failed attempt, particularly as Arab and international solidarity with the steadfast Palestinian people is stronger than it has been in years.
Some Democrats have seized this moment to criticize Arab and Palestinian Americans who voted for Trump or abstained from supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the last elections. However, the idea of ethnic cleansing was already being floated during the Biden administration.
While then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that “Palestinian civilians... must not be pressed to leave Gaza,” former President Joe Biden created the conditions for displacement through unconditional military support for Israel. This allowed one of the most devastating wars in modern Middle Eastern history to unfold.
Just days into the war, on October 13, 2023, Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned Blinken in Amman against any Israeli attempt to “forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian territories or cause their internal displacement.”
The latter displacement became a reality as most of northern Gaza’s population was crammed into overcrowded refugee encampments in central and southern Gaza, where conditions have been and remain inhumane for over 16 months.
At the same time, another displacement campaign is underway in the West Bank, particularly in its northern regions, accelerating in recent weeks. Thousands of Palestinian families have already been displaced in the Jenin governorate and other areas.
Despite this, the Biden administration has done little to pressure Israel to stop.
Arab concerns over Palestinian expulsion were real from the war’s outset. Almost every Arab leader raised the alarm, often repeatedly.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi addressed the issue multiple times, warning of Israeli efforts—and possibly U.S. involvement—in a “population transfer” scheme.
“What is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to force civilian residents to seek refuge and migrate to Egypt,” Sisi stated, insisting that such an outcome “should not be accepted.”
Fifteen months later, under Trump, he repeated his rejection, vowing that Egypt would not participate in this “act of injustice.”
The Saudi statement was issued almost immediately after Trump doubled down on the idea during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 4. The Saudi foreign ministry went further than rejecting Trump’s “ownership” of Gaza but articulated a political discourse that summarized Riyad’s, in fact, the Arab League’s position on Palestine.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s position on the establishment of a Palestinian state is firm and unwavering,” the statement said, adding that the Kingdom “also reaffirms its unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”
The new U.S. administration, however, seems oblivious to Palestinian history. Given the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948, no Arab government—let alone the Palestinian leadership—would support another Israeli-U.S. effort to ethnically cleanse millions into neighboring states.
Beyond the immorality of expelling an Indigenous population, history has shown that such actions destabilize the region for generations. The 1948 Nakba, which saw the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, ignited the Arab-Israeli conflict, whose repercussions continue today.
History also teaches us that the Nakba was not an isolated event. Israel has repeatedly attempted ethnic cleansing, starting with its intense attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza in the early 1950s, and ever since.
The 1967 war, known as the Naksa or “Setback,” led to the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, both internally and externally. In the years that followed, various U.S.-Israeli initiatives throughout the 1970s sought to relocate the Palestinian population to the Sinai desert. However, these efforts failed due to the steadfastness and collective resistance of the people of Gaza.
Trump’s so-called “humanitarian” ethnic cleansing proposal will similarly go down in history as another failed attempt, particularly as Arab and international solidarity with the steadfast Palestinian people is stronger than it has been in years.
The key question now is whether Arabs and other supporters of Palestine worldwide will go beyond merely rejecting such sinister proposals and take the initiative to push for the restoration of the Palestinian homeland. This requires a justice-based international campaign, rooted in international law and driven by the aspirations of the Palestinian people themselves.
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Shock, Awe, and Ethnic Cleansing: Trump's Policy in Gaza
The U.S. president's "suggestion" that Palestinians be moved to Egypt and Jordan seems to be nothing less than a blessing for a new Nakba.
Feb 03, 2025
President Donald Trump’s “shock and awe” assault on virtually every major institution in Washington has been, to a degree, successful. There’s a perverse logic behind his radical cabinet appointments, widespread firings and threats to the federal workforce, and his seemingly scattershot Executive Orders that upset apple-carts up and down the street. Like President George W. Bush’s 2003 “shock and awe” blitz of Baghdad at the start of the Iraq war, Trump’s intent is an overwhelming show of power, hitting on multiple fronts in order to disorient and demoralize his opponents.
While most of Trump’s actions have been focused on the domestic front, and have served their purposes, he upped the ante by throwing in a few foreign policy zingers for good measure. He threatened to take back the Panama Canal, to force Denmark to sell him Greenland, and to annex Canada into the US. As reactions from Panama, Denmark, and Canada have made clear, none of Trump's foreign policy “tests” and challenges have had the same impact or success as his bullying forays into domestic policy.
In yet another quixotic foreign policy venture, Trump threw a bombshell into the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He proposed that before the reconstruction of Gaza could begin it would be necessary to “clean out Gaza.” It’s been reported that in separate conversations with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Sisi, Trump pressed both to accept the bulk of Palestinians from Gaza, with Albania and Indonesia being tapped as backups to resettle others.
If Trump’s goal was to shake things up and provoke a reaction, it flopped. None of the countries mentioned have agreed to participate in this bizarre scheme. And beyond a simple rejection, Palestinians have pretty much ignored Trump’s bait, largely owing to their preoccupation with the emotional return to “their rubble” in Gaza’s north and with fighting off an increasingly aggressive occupation in the West Bank.
Let’s be clear: If phase one of this ceasefire holds and moves on to phases two and three, when reconstruction is supposed to begin, some serious issues must be confronted. For example, there are two million homeless Palestinians and hundreds of thousands of demolished homes and buildings. It is estimated that it will take at least two or three years to remove or repurpose the rubble, and decades to build sufficient housing to accommodate those whose homes have been destroyed.
If one didn’t know Trump, or his allies in Israel, one might think he was making a compassionate appeal to neighbors to shelter the homeless Palestinians until Gaza was ready to receive them. But that assumption doesn’t pass the smell test for several reasons. Trump hasn’t given any indication that he is moved by the suffering of the Palestinians. What he finds more appealing are the prospects of building a resort on Gaza’s shores. At the same time, Netanyahu’s coalition has made it clear that they want to evict the Palestinians from Gaza.
Given this, Trump’s “suggestion” that Palestinians be moved to Egypt and Jordan seems to be more like providing his blessing for a new Nakba. The first Nakba of 1948 saw the forced eviction of 700,000 Palestinians from their homes followed by Israel’s demolition of over 420 Palestinian villages to ensure that they couldn’t return. This second Nakba would reverse the process, with Israel first demolishing entire residential areas in Gaza and then “transferring” 2,000,000 Palestinians out of their country.
If we’ve learned anything in dealing with Netanyahu, his coalition and their enablers in Washington, it’s best never to assume that they won’t do the worst thing possible. Trump may be attempting to transfer his “shock and awe” to the Middle East or innocently floating an idea of transfer to facilitate reconstruction. But more likely he is floating a “trial balloon” for his friend Netanyahu, to test the region’s acceptance of a genocidal transfer plan to “solve” the Palestinian problem.
As I noted, with so much demanding their attention, neither Palestinians nor their supporters across the Arab World have reacted in full fury to Trump’s “suggestion.” Nor has a plan been proposed to address how to clear the rubble and rebuild with two million Palestinians under foot.
For any such relocation and reconstruction plan to be accepted, at least two conditions must be met. Israel must fully withdraw from Gaza, surrendering control of access and egress from the territory. This precondition is imperative so that Palestinians can feel confident that if they leave Gaza, they are guaranteed the right to return. Another problem to be addressed is that some Palestinians returning from the south to the north are having difficulty identifying where their homes once stood. To avoid confusion or conflict, if municipal records no longer exist, an effort must be made to map Gaza, so that Palestinians can establish the location of their residence or business.
Without ironclad assurances of return and a plan to facilitate return to specific locations, efforts at relocation and reconstruction instead of solving a problem will only create deeper ones.
For over a century, Palestinians have been pawns played by Western powers and the Zionist movement. They have been dismembered, dispossessed, and dispersed among the nations. Through it all, their national identity and attachment to their lands has only become stronger. Because of this, they’ve remained a persistent thorn in the side of those who oppress them. It’s time for the US to recognize this reality and instead of compounding Palestinian suffering, we should develop a humane plan to end Israel’s veto over ending the occupation and implementing long-denied Palestinian rights.
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Israeli Forces Kill at Least 24 People Trying to Go Home in Southern Lebanon
The killings came as Israel and Lebanon reportedly agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli forces to leave the country until mid-February.
Jan 27, 2025
Israeli forces killed at least 24 Lebanese and injured more than 130 others as they tried to return to their homes in occupied southern Lebanon, the country's Ministry of Public Health said Monday.
The ministry said in a statement that the dead include six women. One Lebanese soldier was also reportedly killed. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops opened fire on residents desperate to go home after the 60-day deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon expired.
The Washington Post reported Monday that an IDF spokesperson claimed that Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah sent "agitators" into the southern part of the country in a bid to inflame tensions. No evidence was provided to support the claim.
IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee
warned Lebanese on Sunday that, while Israeli forces "do not intend to target you... at this stage you are prohibited from returning to your homes... until further notice," and that "anyone who moves south" of an Israeli-designated line along the Litani River "puts themselves at risk." Scores of villages are located south of the IDF "red line."
The White Housesaid Sunday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to an extension of the deadline for Israel's withdrawal from the country, with IDF troops now having until February 18 to leave. Lebanese and international media reported several Israeli cease-fire violations since the extension was announced.
Last month, Amnesty Internationalcalled for a war crimes investigation into IDF airstrikes in Lebanon, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel over its attacks on the country, and on Gaza and the illegally occupied West Bank in Palestine.
Israeli forces—which had been attacking Lebanon since October 2023, when Hezbollah began launching rockets and other projectiles at targets in northern Israel in solidarity with Gaza—initiated a major bombing campaign and invasion of the northern neighbor last October 1 that killed more than 4,000 people, wounded over 16,000 others, and forcibly displaced more than 1.2 million more, according to Lebanese officials.
Meanwhile in Gaza, where a fragile cease-fire took effect earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel's 15-month war on the coastal enclave—which local officials say has left around 170,000 people dead, maimed, or missing—are in the process of returning home to scenes of utter destruction.
Several Arab leaders including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah, and officials in Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's government on Sunday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Jordan and Egypt to take "about a million-and-a-half" Palestinian refugees from Gaza after "we just clean out that whole thing," with some observers accusing the Republican of endorsing ethnic cleansing.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also called out Trump, saying Monday: "There is a name for this—ethnic cleansing—and it's a war crime. This outrageous idea should be condemned by every American."
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Hezbollah's Nasrallah Says Israel Crossed 'All Red Lines' With Remote Bombings
The Hezbollah leader stressed that "the only way" to peace "is by stopping the aggression in Gaza and the West Bank" and "not escalation" or "all-out war."
Sep 19, 2024
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday accused Israel of having "violated all red lines" by killing at least 37 people and injuring thousands more in surprise bombings of pagers, walkie-talkies, and other devices across Lebanon, calling the audacious attack "an act of war" that will not go unpunished.
In a televised speech during which Israeli warplanes flew over the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Nasrallah condemned the attack as "a major terrorist operation, an act of genocide, and a massacre," adding that it "amounts to a declaration of war."
"The enemy used a civilian method used by a large segment of society and did so again on Wednesday by blowing up wireless devices without caring who was carrying them," the chief of the Iran-backed political and paramilitary group said.
Numerous figures including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres decried the weaponization of civilian objects.
"There is no doubt that we have been exposed to a major security and humanitarian blow, unprecedented in the history of the resistance in Lebanon," Nasrallah conceded.
⚡️⭕️[ENGLISH] Hezbollah secretary general Sayed Hassan Nasrallah speech commenting on Israel's Cyber Terror Operation live stream https://t.co/011jOGgYpp
— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) September 19, 2024
Lebanon's Ministry of Health said that in addition to killing at least 37 people—including two children, ages 9 and 11—the bombings, which occurred in two waves on Tuesday and Wednesday, wounded around 3,500 others, 287 of them critically.
While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, media reports cited Israeli and U.S. officials who attributed the bombings to Israeli military and intelligence operatives.
Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has received "messages through official and unofficial channels saying that the aim of the strike was to stop supporting Gaza."
"Our answer is, in the name of the martyrs and the wounded, that the Lebanon front will not stop until the aggression against Gaza stops, regardless of the sacrifices," he added.
Hezbollah—whose arsenal and military capabilities dwarf those of the Lebanese armed forces or Hamas—launched limited but destructive attacks on northern Israel the day after the October 7 assault on Israel led by its Palestinian ally Hamas. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have traded cross-border fire that has killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands more.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallantsaid Israel's war—which has killed or wounded more than 146,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case—has entered a "new phase" focused on Lebanon.
"The center of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of forces and resources," said Gallant, who along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and multiple Hamas leaders faces the prospect of a possible International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
The Israeli remote attack has fueled fears of a wider war and prompted warnings against further escalation.
On Wednesday, Jordan's Foreign Ministry accused Israel of bringing the region to the "brink of war," which would likely involve Iran, whose leaders have yet to publicly retaliate for the July assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel also assassinated Hamas deputy political chief Saleh Arouri in a drone strike in Beirut earlier this year.
Some critics contended that Israel is seeking a wider war. Ronen Bergman, an Israeli expert on targeted assassinations, told Britain's Channel 4 News Wednesday that if his country is behind the Lebanon operation, it is "trying to signal to Hezbollah" that it "is ready for escalation."
Addressing the prospect of a regional war, Nasrallah said during his speech that "the only way" to peace "is by stopping the aggression in Gaza and the West Bank."
"Not escalation," he added. "Not all-out war."
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World Leaders Urged to Protect Syrian Refugees Amid Lebanon's Crackdown
"Lebanon's authorities must stop summarily deporting refugees to a place where they are at risk of violations, lift restrictions, and end their vitriolic campaign against refugees," said one Amnesty campaigner.
May 27, 2024
Amnesty International on Monday reiterated human rights groups' rising concerns about a Lebanese crackdown on Syrian refugees as the European Union hosted a conference in Brussels focused on "supporting the future of Syria and the region."
The conference comes at right-wing leaders in the E.U. campaign as anti-migrant ahead of the bloc's June elections and after European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen in early May announced a three-year, €1 billion ($1.06 billion) assistance package to support "the most vulnerable people in Lebanon, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and host communities," as well as "urgent domestic reforms" and "border and migration management."
The package was seen as part of the E.U.'s efforts to limit migration to Europe, as refugees leave Lebanon and try to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Cyprus and Italy—journeys that often involve crowded, unsafe vessels and lead to deaths.
"Once again, President Von Der Leyen has put her desire to curb the flow of refugees at any cost into Europe before the E.U.'s obligations to protect refugees fleeing conflict or persecution," Aya Majzoub, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said Monday.
"This appears to have emboldened Lebanese authorities to intensify their ruthless campaign targeting refugees with hateful discourse, forced deportations, and stifling measures on residency and labor," she continued. "Yet, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita and has struggled to assist refugees amid an acute economic crisis."
"I swear if there is a safe zone in Syria, I would've been the first to return... The regime isn't safe for us."
Less than a week after the E.U. aid package was revealed, Amnesty explained, "the Lebanese General Security announced sweeping new measures against Syrian refugees including restrictions on their ability to obtain residency permits and work in the country, and has stepped up raids, collective evictions, arrests, and deportations."
Rights groups in the region and around the world have condemned the Lebanese moves and stressed that they, along with the United Nations and E.U., have concluded that Syria remains unsafe for refugees—a sentiment echoed by displaced Syrians.
"I swear if there is a safe zone in Syria, I would've been the first to return! Safe, as in not under the control of the [Syrian] regime. The regime isn't safe for us," one Syrian mother told Amnesty, referring to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
"Many like us, if they're granted the capacity to return to the regions not controlled by the regime, they run back, without the need for organized return trips! If I had 1% hope that my husband and I will be safe upon return, I swear we wouldn't stay in such harsh conditions here," added the mother, who requested anonymity for safety reasons.
Alia, another Syrian mother now living in Lebanon, told the BBC that "we live in constant fear and anxiety... Every evening when my son comes back home, his youngest brother hugs him—relieved that he hasn't been arrested."
"I started overhearing people at places like the supermarket or the street saying: 'Look at the Syrians. They are living the good life while we can't afford anything in our own country,'" Alia said. "If only they knew what kind of life we live."
Amnesty's Majzoub argued Monday that "as a show of solidarity, European states should increase the number of resettlements to European countries of Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon."
"Donors at the annual humanitarian conference for Syria and refugee host countries must press the Lebanese authorities to immediately cease their unprecedented crackdown on Syrian refugees and lift abusive measures aimed at pressuring them to leave the country despite the well-documented risks they could face upon their return," she said.
"Human rights organizations unanimously agree: No part of Syria is safe for refugee returns," Majzoub added. "Lebanon's authorities must stop summarily deporting refugees to a place where they are at risk of violations, lift restrictions, and end their vitriolic campaign against refugees. E.U. countries similarly have a legal and moral obligation to refrain from forcibly turning back boats carrying migrants to Lebanon."
Over the past 13 years, Syria's civil war has forced millions to flee their homes. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said that as of March, 7.2 million Syrians were internally displaced and over five million had fled to countries including Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.
"We're going to be sending a very clear message from Jordan as a host country that we feel that refugees are being abandoned," the Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told reporters while arriving in Brussels for the conference, according to Reuters. "Host countries are being abandoned."
With wars raging in Ukraine, Sudan, and the Gaza Strip, U.N. agencies and international humanitarian groups are also stretched thin and having a hard time providing adequate assistance to civilians within Syria. As The Associated Press reported Sunday:
Living in a tent in rebel-held northwestern Syria, Rudaina al-Salim and her family struggle to find enough water for drinking and other basic needs such as cooking and washing. Their encampment north of the city of Idlib hasn't seen any aid in six months.
"We used to get food aid, hygiene items," said the mother of four. "Now we haven't had much in a while."
"We have moved from assisting 5.5 million a year to about 1.5 million people in Syria," Carl Skau, the U.N. World Food Program's deputy executive director, told the AP. "When I look across the world, this is the (aid) program that has shrunk the most in the shortest period for time."
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Biden Admin Airdrops 38,000 Meals Into Gaza as US-Armed Israeli Military Starves Millions
"Biden is airdropping food (expensive, inefficient, potentially dangerous) because he won't condition massive U.S. military aid and arms sales on Israel ending its obstruction of most ground aid deliveries."
Mar 03, 2024
The U.S. military on Saturday executed the first of what's expected to be a series of humanitarian aid airdrops into the Gaza Strip, parachuting packages containing 38,000 meals to the besieged enclave's coastline as the territory's entire population—roughly 2.2 million people—faces the
imminent threat of starvation due to Israel's ongoing assault and blockade.
The airdrop, coordinated with the Jordanian military, came days after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of desperate Gazans near a convoy of aid trucks in the northern part of the territory, which Israel has almost completely cut off from humanitarian assistance.
The incident, dubbed the "flour massacre," was just one of more than a dozen documented cases this year of the U.S.-armed Israeli military attacking Gazans gathering to receive food aid and other assistance, according to the United Nations.
Biden administration officials said Saturday that "the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough," but the White House has done nothing to force the Israeli government to stop obstructing ground-based deliveries, which have fallen in recent weeks and become virtually impossible in much of the territory because of Israel's restrictions and repeated attacks on aid workers.
Administration officials have dismissed calls to attach conditions to U.S. military assistance to Israel, which has used American weaponry to commit atrocities in the Gaza Strip. The administration is currently preparing to send Israel additional bombs and other weaponry.
"Biden is airdropping food (expensive, inefficient, potentially dangerous) because he won't condition massive U.S. military aid and arms sales on Israel ending its obstruction of most ground aid deliveries," said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch.
On Sunday, following the U.S. airdrop, Israeli forces were accused of striking an aid vehicle in central Gaza, reportedly killing eight people.
(Photo: Belal Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images)
At least 15 children in Gaza have died from starvation or dehydration in recent days, according to the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights.
A top World Food Program official warned last week that "food aid is required by almost the entire population of 2.2 million people" and that Gaza is "seeing the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world." The U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, said Israel is deliberately starving Gaza's population, a blatant war crime.
In the face of such a large-scale emergency, critics said the Biden administration's airdrops are nowhere near sufficient.
"Instead of dropping packages from the sky—some of which end up in the sea or outside of Gaza and which the most vulnerable cannot reach in any case—the U.S., the U.K., and others should ensure that Israel immediately opens all crossings into Gaza for aid and aid workers to assist those in need," said Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians.
"This includes the Karni and Erez crossings, which give direct access to the north of Gaza," Ward continued. "Only safe and unfettered access for aid and aid workers, the lifting of the siege, and an immediate cease-fire can end starvation in Gaza."
Dave Harden, a former assistant administrator at the United States Agency for International Development, said in an interview Saturday that airdrops are "inefficient, expensive, and risky."
"Airdropping from 30,000 feet is simply not the solution," said Harden. "And, by the way, it's a little offensive to the United States, too. I mean, Israel is our ally and we're supporting them in a very substantial and meaningful way. And for us not to be able to get aid in to innocent civilians in Gaza is really an indictment both on the Biden administration and the Bibi Netanyahu administration."
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House Progressives Warn Against Escalation in the Middle East
"We take seriously our constitutional responsibility over war, peace, and security and we remind the White House that Congress must be involved in and approve of the offensive use of military force."
Feb 01, 2024
As Israel wages a U.S.-backed war on the Gaza Strip widely decried as genocide and the United States reportedly plots strikes on Iranian personnel and facilities in Iraq and Syria, Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders on Thursday sounded the alarm about further escalation in the Middle East.
"Since October, we have seen a steady escalation between varied armed actors and U.S. forces throughout the Middle East," said CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Deputy Chair Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Whip Greg Casar (D-Texas), and Chair Emeritus and Peace and Security Task Force Chair Barbara Lee (D-Calif). "These rising tensions culminated in this past weekend's tragedy, where three U.S. service members were killed and dozens wounded in an Iraq-based militia strike on a U.S. base in Jordan."
"We mourn the loss of these soldiers, as well as the Navy SEALs who were lost earlier this month in a separate Red Sea operation," they continued. "Since October, 165 attacks have injured more than 120 U.S. service members across the region, and repeated U.S. retaliatory strikes in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq have not deterred these armed groups."
"For years... extreme voices have been fixated on closing the door to diplomacy and drawing the United States into direct conflict with Iran."
U.S. strikes in Yemen—notably not authorized by Congress—have come in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping to protest Israel's war on Gaza. While the Houthis have ties to Iran that U.S. officials often emphasize, as author and Yemen expert Helen Lackner highlighted on Democracy Now! Thursday: "The Houthis are an independent movement. The Houthis are not Iranian proxies. They are not Iranian servants. They don't do what the Iranians tell them to do. They make their own decisions."
American officials have blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias including Kata'ib Hezbollah, for the Jordan attack. While the Iranian government has denied involvement in that strike and the Biden administration has admitted that there is no proof it was directed by Tehran, U.S. hawks have been calling for war with Iran this week.
Kata'ib Hezbollah's leader, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, said Tuesday that the group has launched attacks at its "own will, and without any interference from others," but will stop targeting American forces in Iraq to help pave the way for a U.S. withdrawal from the country over two decades after the 2003 invasion. Still, fears of a regional war remain heightened.
Jayapal, Omar, Casar, and Lee warned that the United States is now "facing the most serious threat of regional war" since then-U.S. President Donald Trump—now the GOP front-runner to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election—greenlighted the "reckless and unauthorized" assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani four years ago.
"So it comes as no surprise that congressional Republicans are now irresponsibly pushing direct military confrontation with Iran," the CPC leaders stressed. "For years, these extreme voices have been fixated on closing the door to diplomacy and drawing the United States into direct conflict with Iran."
"The American people have no interest in such a conflict, which would erode our nation's global standing and irreparably damage our national security," they asserted. "As the people's representatives in Congress, we take seriously our constitutional responsibility over war, peace, and security and we remind the White House that Congress must be involved in and approve of the offensive use of military force."
As Common Dreams reported last week, polling shows a majority of Americans would hold the president responsible if gas prices go up as a result of war in the Middle East—including enough Democratic voters to potentially decide a close election—and half of Biden supporters think Israel, which claims to be targeting Hamas, is committing genocide against Palestinian civilians.
"Now is the time to take concrete actions to decrease tensions that threaten our service members," the CPC leaders argued. "At this dangerous and unpredictable moment, we call for a renewed focus on de-escalation, diplomacy, and on addressing the root causes that have inflamed the region and provoked attacks on U.S. personnel in recent months."
The CPC remarks—which echo a Tuesday statement from Lee, who is running for U.S. Senate against two other California Democrats in the House—came as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed the administration wants to avoid a regional war.
Addressing reporters for the first time since a controversial set of hospitalizations, Austin said of the attack in Jordan:
The president will not tolerate attacks on American troops and neither will I. Our teammates were killed by radical militias backed by Iran and operating inside Syria and Iraq.
In the aftermath of the vile Hamas terrorist assault on Israel on October 7th, terrorist groups backed by Iran and funded by Iran have tried to create even more turmoil, including the Houthis attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
So this is a dangerous moment in the Middle East. We will continue to work to avoid a wider conflict in the region but we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our interests, and our people. And we will respond when we choose, where we choose, and how we choose.
"We will have a multitiered response, and again, we have the ability to respond... a number of times depending on what the situation is," the Pentagon chief added, while also stating that "we're not at war with Iran."
Citing unnamed officials, CBS News reported Thursday that in response to recent drone and rocket attacks on U.S. forces in the region, "plans have been approved for a series of strikes over a number of days against targets—including Iranian personnel and facilities—inside Iraq and Syria," and "weather will be a major factor in the timing."
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Iraqi Militia Suspends Attacks on US Forces, Paving Way for Troop Withdrawal
"If true, this is the least bad outcome," said one observer. "Iraqi militias agree to stop targeting thousands of U.S. troops, who then can be safely removed from harm's way, more than two decades after the disastrous Iraq war."
Jan 31, 2024
A militia group that the Biden administration blamed for the deadly attack on U.S. forces stationed at a shadowy base in Jordan said Tuesday that it would stop targeting American troops in Iraq, a move that could clear the way for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers more than two decades after the 2003 invasion.
"We announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces—in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government," Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, the leader of Kata'ib Hezbollah, said in a statement. "Our brothers in the Axis, especially in the Islamic Republic of Iran, they do not know how we conduct our Jihad, and they often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria."
Pentagon officials have specifically named Kata'ib Hezbollah as one of the groups behind the drone attack on U.S. troops in Jordan over the weekend. U.S. President Joe Biden and administration officials have said they ultimately hold Iran responsible for the attack, accusing that country's government of funding and arming Kata'ib Hezbollah and other militia groups in the region.
Kata'ib Hezbollah's leader said in his statement that the group has launched attacks on U.S. forces at its "own will, and without any interference from others." Biden administration officials have admitted they have no evidence that Iran directed the Jordan attack.
Biden told reporters on Tuesday that he has decided how to respond to the Jordan attack but declined to provide any details.
Asked during a media briefing about Kata'ib Hezbollah's statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said he doesn't "have a specific comment to provide, other than actions speak louder than words."
The drone attack on American forces in Jordan came a day after the U.S. and high-ranking Iraqi officials
held their first round of formal talks on the process of removing the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops still deployed in the country.
Analysts have argued that the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria has dramatically increased the likelihood of a broader regional war. The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein reported Tuesday that U.S. military personnel in Iraq received a memo this month instructing them to be "on standby to forward deploy to support troops in the case of on-ground U.S. involvement in the Israel-Hamas war."
Hisham al-Rikabi, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, told CNN on Tuesday that Kata'ib Hezbollah's vow to suspend its attacks on U.S. forces "is the result of efforts made by" Iraq's government to "ensure the smoothness of the negotiation process and in order to complete the withdrawal [of U.S. troops] from Iraq."
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Kata'ib Hezbollah had previously ignored the Iraqi government's requests to stop attacking U.S. forces, "but once the attack in Jordan on Sunday took American lives, Mr. Sudani demanded a complete halt from Kata'ib Hezbollah."
"Mr. Sudani reached out directly to Iran, according to a military strategist for the Revolutionary Guards who works closely with the Axis groups in Iraq," the Times added.
Erik Sperling, executive director of Just Foreign Policy, said in response to al-Rikabi's comments that, "if true, this is the least bad outcome."
"Iraqi militias agree to stop targeting thousands of U.S. troops, who then can be safely removed from harm's way, more than two decades after the disastrous Iraq war," Sperling wrote on social media. "Hope we'll see U.S. troops in Syria brought home too."
Domestic and regional pressure on the U.S. to withdraw its forces from Iraq has grown since Israel began its latest assault on the Gaza Strip in October following a deadly Hamas-led attack. Militia groups, including Kata'ib Hezbollah, have launched upwards of 160 attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria since October 7, and the Biden administration has retaliated with airstrikes in both countries—infuriating the Iraqi government and fueling concerns about a full-scale regional war.
The Jordan attack took those concerns to new levels as warhawks in the U.S. Congress demanded that Biden retaliate with strikes inside Iran. Progressive lawmakers, for their part, have called for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, warning that further military action would only exacerbate the regional crisis.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, said Tuesday that "if any party attacks Iran's territory, or its interests or citizens abroad, it will be met with a decisive response."
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As Hawks Urge Biden to Bomb Iran, Barbara Lee Says Reject Push for Wider War
"The path to peace and security is not through war," the California congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate asserted.
Jan 30, 2024
As U.S. hawks clamor for a war on Iran following this week's deadly drone strike on American troops in Jordan, Democratic California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who is running for Senate, on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to "reject the calls from some in Washington to increase the fighting."
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are demanding a U.S. attack on Iran in retaliation for Sunday's drone strike on the Tower 22 outpost in northeastern Jordan that killed three soldiers serving in the Army Reserve's 718th Engineer Company and wounded dozens more, Common Dreams reported Monday.
As Biden announced Tuesday that he's decided how the U.S. will respond to the attack, Lee urged restraint.
"I am heartbroken by the loss of the three American service members killed in Jordan... These attacks make clear that Iran is taking advantage of the chaos triggered by the October 7 attacks," she said in a statement, referring to the Hamas-led assault on Israel.
"The war in Gaza has created a firestorm in the Middle East," Lee added.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI)—a coalition of Shia Islamist militant groups—claimed responsibility for Sunday's drone strike, explaining that "if the U.S. keeps supporting Israel, there will be escalations."
Although Iran backs the IRI but denies involvement in the attack. The Biden administration admitted Monday that is has no proof that Tehran ordered the drone strike.
Still, the calls for war on Iran are growing, with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) demanding "devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East," and pinning the slain soldiers' deaths on "Biden's appeasement."
Lee, however, asserted that "the path to peace and security is not through war—we must change course."
"And should President Biden seek expansive military retaliation to the attacks, he must come to Congress," she added.
Lee was famously the only member of Congress—the vote was 518-1—to reject giving then-President George W. Bush virtually unlimited war powers after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The ensuing invasion of Afghanistan and ongoing global War on Terror cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars.
"The path forward to peace and security throughout the region is dependent on a cessation of hostilities in Gaza."
Asserting that "the path forward to peace and security throughout the region is dependent on a cessation of hostilities in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and a return to diplomacy," Lee urged "a redoubling of efforts to achieve rapid de-escalation through a permanent cease-fire and robust, regional engagement that includes international humanitarian organizations."
De-escalation was nowhere to be seen in Gaza, where Israeli forces on Tuesday continued their relentless 116-day air and ground assault on the embattled Palestinian enclave. According to Palestinian health officials, at least 26,750 people—mostly women and children—have been killed by Israeli bombs and bullets, with more than 65,600 others wounded and 7,000 missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of the approximately 144,000-175,000 buildings that have been destroyed or damaged.
Peace groups also urged Biden to eschew militarism.
"The recent attack on U.S. forces in Jordan, which killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens more, is a tragedy. It's a painful reminder that President Biden's current policy in the Middle East is simply not working," Win Without War president Stephen Miles said Monday. "The way to protect U.S. troops and save lives is to change course."
"Already, voices in Washington are calling for more war," he continued. "The same voices who advocated for never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, arguing victory was forever just around the corner, now want the American public to believe that the path to peace lies with yet another war in the Middle East—this time with Iran. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now."
"The only genuine path to significantly reducing the current spasm of violence in the Middle East is securing an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, pouring cold water on the fire at the heart of this regional inferno," Miles added. "Such an effort would create the conditions for finally negotiating the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and open space for regional diplomacy aimed at a desperately needed broader regional de-escalation."
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