The News Pakistan – October 2023
US-Israel fail to rally UNSC support on Hamas as Russia urges broader view
By Web Desk
"It's abnormal that the Security Council doesn't say anything," Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun says
The United States was disappointed Sunday after the United Nations Security Council did not unanimously condemn the Hamas attack on Israel, indicating the attack was part of long-unresolved issues with Russia urging to take a broader view of the situation rather than denouncing powerful blow by a Palestinian resistance group.
"My message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades" by the Security Council, said Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.
"This is partly the result of unresolved issues," he said.
Numerous members of the UN Security Council denounced Hamas on Sunday over its massive assault on Israel but the United States regretted the lack of unanimity.
The closed-door session which was called on an emergency basis urged the members to unanimously condemn the Hamas attack — launched due to unabated Israeli brutality and fierce blockade of the Gaza Strip.
While deploring a discord in the UN body of permanent 5, US diplomat Robert Wood said: "There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They're obviously not all."
"You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything," Wood said in a clear indication to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated since it launched its special military operation against Ukraine.
There was no consideration of any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia calling for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.
"It's abnormal that the Security Council doesn't say anything," Ambassador Zhang Jun said.
Entering the session, Israel's ambassador, Gilad Erdan, showed graphic pictures of Israeli civilians being taken captive by Hamas, without mentioning the brutality carried out by his own country for years on the innocent Palestinians.
"This unimaginable — unimaginable — atrocity must be condemned," he said of the Security Council without mentioning the role his country played in marrying thousands of civilians, women and children over the years.
The Palestinian ambassador — who represents the West Bank-centered Palestinian Authority and not rival Hamas — called on the Security Council to focus on ending Israeli occupation.
"Regrettably, history for some media and politicians starts when Israelis are killed," said the envoy, Riyad Mansour.
"This is not a time to let Israel double down on its terrible choices. This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course, that there is a path to peace where neither Palestinians nor Israelis are killed," he pointed out.
Iran, Iraq top diplomats urge special OIC session on Palestine
ISTANBUL: The Iranian and Iraqi top diplomats have called for a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the ongoing developments in Palestine.
Their suggestion came in a phone call on Sunday evening, according to the Iranian government.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein discussed bilateral relations and the situation in Palestine amid the cessation of hostilities between the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Israel.
The two sides, the statement noted, "emphasized the need for coordination and coherence among Muslim countries in supporting" the Palestinian nation and called for a special session of the OIC on Palestine.
The Gaza-based Hamas resistance group launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel on Saturday morning, firing a barrage of rockets.
In retaliation, the Israeli military bombarded the Gaza Strip, razing down many high-rise buildings on Saturday and Sunday.
At least 600 Israelis have been killed so far while the death toll on the Palestinian side has also jumped to 370, as per reports.
Iran's foreign minister, speaking to his Iraqi counterpart, asserted that the Palestinian nation has a "legitimate right to resist aggression and occupation," the ministry statement noted, adding that the latest operation is a "natural response to continuous aggression" of Israel against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Palestinian people.
Amirabdollahian called for the "coordinated and effective action of Islamic countries to help Palestine and stop the aggressive attacks of the Zionist regime against the women and children of Gaza and the West Bank," the statement added.
Earlier Sunday, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran supports the "legitimate defense of the Palestinian nation."
He called on Muslim countries to support the Palestinian nation, emphasizing that oppression and injustice, insults to Palestinian women and prisoners, and desecration of the Al-Aqsa "will not last."
Raisi also had separate phone calls with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad Nakhalah on Sunday.
The Iranian leader told Haniyeh that the "steely resolve of the Palestinian nation promises its final victory" over Israel, state media reported.
For his part, the Hamas leader cited the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and atrocities against Palestinian worshippers as the main reason for the latest military operation.
Iran and Israel are bitter archfoes and share no diplomatic ties since the 1979 Iranian revolution. The two sides have often accused each other of sabotage and proxy attacks.
Asharq Al Awsat - October 8, 2023
Palestinian Authority Calls for Emergency Arab League Meeting
The Palestinian Authority submitted a memorandum on Sunday calling for an emergency Arab League meeting at the foreign ministerial level, according to WAFA, the Palestinian news agency.
The request for the meeting comes in light of the "brutal and ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, including the escalation of the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by thousands of settlers," WAFA quoted Arab League Ambassador Muhannad Al Aklouk as saying.
https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4592226-palestinian-authority-calls-emergency-arab-league-meeting
Surprise Hamas attack on Israel brings back memories of 1973 War
RAMALLAH: The prominent detail in the Hamas movement's military offensive against Israel on Saturday is the element of surprise that shook Tel Aviv.
The attack has prompted Israeli analysts to opine that what happened was more than just an "intelligence collapse."
Hamas launched its operation early Saturday, an official holiday in Israel, with no prior indicators hinting a preparations for a large-scale offensive.
The resistance initiated its operation by launching a barrage of rockets toward central and southern Israel before fighters infiltrated towns surrounding the Gaza Strip.
The operation brings to mind the 1973 October War. Hamas's Saturday operation also coincided with the 50th anniversary of that war when Egypt and Syria surprised the Israeli army with a military move on Yom Kippur, also an official holiday in Israel.
In a rare move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that Hamas’ actions surprised Israel.
"Hamas launched a sudden deadly attack against the State of Israel and its citizens," he said in a statement.
For several hours, Israel was trying to comprehend the size of the offensive – whether it was the 2,200 missiles landing in West Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv area, or the infiltration of at least seven Israeli sites around the Gaza Strip.
"Apparently, despite some initial indications, the defense establishment was surprised by the Hamas attack," the Hebrew Maariv news reported.
Intelligence failure
"Israeli intelligence had apparently detected some signs of a Hamas operation over the weekend," it said. "However, it did not take it seriously as it did not relate it to a broader, more disturbing picture."
The newspaper considered what happened a "major intelligence failure."
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper described what happened as a "sudden Hamas attack."
It considered "the Hamas attack a failure of the government."
"The long-standing contempt for imaginary 'terrorist' organizations turned this morning into a nightmare and a shock that will haunt Israelis for a long time," said Yedioth Ahronoth.
The newspaper noted that the attack was carried out 50 years after the 1973 October war.
"The world was surprised this morning by Hamas’ double attack on Israel," it said, describing it as a "major intelligence failure."
"Israel is in the midst of a difficult war with unpredictable characteristics," military analyst Avi Benayahu told the Maariv newspaper.
He noted that "the intelligence failure is dangerous, and the challenge is now greater."
"The idea of increasing Hamas's economic interests turned out to be wrong," he said, adding that "the wall that Israel built with billions of shekels collapsed."
"For hours, I have been staring into the screen, grinding my teeth and rubbing my eyes in astonishment, because there has never been anything like this in the history of Israel," said Benayahu.
"With the kidnapped people – soldiers and civilians – inside Gaza, we can expect a long, difficult and nerve-wracking period with harsh images."
David Horovitz, a writer for the Times of Israel newspaper, considered what happened "a colossal failure."
"Much of Israel was awakened on Saturday morning to scarcely conceivable scenes and sounds of rocket attacks, and parts of southern Israel to gunfire, with the accompanying unthinkable news that dozens of terrorists had infiltrated from Gaza," he said.
He added that "precisely 50 years after the Yom Kippur War, Israel was under surprise attack – not by Arab armies, but by the Hamas terrorist group. And with Israeli civilians widely and directly targeted."
"Even as Israel’s political chiefs began to convene in emergency consultations, with the full extent of the infiltration and its consequences still unfolding, Hebrew media began quoting unnamed officials castigating the political and military echelons for the fact that Israel, preoccupied with internal argument, had again been taken by surprise," he added.
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