By Jonathan Schanzer and Natalie Ecanow, NY POST   22 January 2024

Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the Middle East this month in an effort to prevent a wider regional war.

But while Blinken was there, Jordanian jet fighters struck Iran-backed militias and narco-traffickers in Syria.

Jordan’s narco-battles have received scant attention but are part and parcel of Iran’s multifront offensive against the United States and its allies across the region.

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The Caroline Glick Show In-Focus

MK Danon to Arutz Sheva: We have to count only on ourselves

 “We should tell our allies in Washington that we appreciate their support, but we have to do whatever is necessary to win this war”.

“I think we should go back to the same way we acted at the beginning of the war,”

Explosion possibly caused by RPG attack as IDF prepared structures for demolition using explosives, with nearby tank hit by a missile; death toll in ground op reaches 219

By EMANUEL FABIAN, TOI

T. Belman. A new block has been formed consisting of Russia, China, Iran and Syria,  It will also include much of Africa. Will America abandon the ME or make moves to counter it,

By Simon Watkins, OIL PRICE – Jan 22, 2024, 8:50 AM CST

• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei gave his official approval to a new 20-year comprehensive cooperation deal between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia.
• The agreement will replace the 10-year-deal signed in March 2001 and has been expanded not only in duration but also in scope and scale.
• The new deal includes far-going agreements on defense and energy.

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T. Belman. Russian SU-35 jets will be delivered to Iran in March.

By  admin, DEFENCE/STREET

F-35 vs Su-35: The comparison between the F-35 and the Su-35 is a subject of intense debate and speculation within the defense and aviation communities. Both fighter jets belong to different countries and represent advanced capabilities in their respective ways. The F-35, developed by Lockheed Martin for the United States and its allies, is a fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter designed to excel in air-to-air combat, ground attack, and reconnaissance missions. On the other hand, the Su-35, manufactured by Russia’s Sukhoi, is a fourth-generation heavy-class fighter renowned for its maneuverability and advanced avionics.

Obsessive hatred of Israel by Hezbollah, the Houthis, Syria, and Iraqi militias threatens their own societies.

by ERIC BORDENKIRCHER, AMERICAN SPECTATOR ,      21 Jan 2024

The Israel-Hamas war has placed a spotlight on the absurdity enveloping the parts of the Arab world subjected to Iranian interference: Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.

Despite being afflicted by deepening financial and humanitarian crises and not having been attacked on October 7, leadership or entities in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq have responded to the Israel-Hamas war with aggression against Israel and its American ally. The response demonstrates the continued devaluation of standards, obscene priorities, the absence of accountability, and the rendering of life in these societies as meaningless. The disregard exhibited by the leadership and militias for the welfare of their country and their peoples, particularly ones already facing abject conditions, signals the presence of environments willing to entertain pyrrhic victories.

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T. Belman.  Once again, the title is misleading.  Netanyahyu did not use the expression “no full Palestinian state”. What he did say is ““I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River]”.

Blinken said Israel cannot achieve “genuine security” without a pathway to a Palestinian state ” The opposite is true.

PM pushes back on White House vision of pathway to two-state solution and reports of a grand bargain that would end war, though he doesn’t rule out demilitarized Palestinian state

By LAZAR BERMAN,TOI    21 January 2024, 11:55 pm

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video statement, January 19, 2024. 

As US President Joe Biden’s administration called for the war against Hamas to wind down alongside a pathway toward a two-state solution at the end of the fight, Israel’s leadership presented a vision at odds with that of the White House on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down in a video message on his determination not to allow a full-fledged, militarized Palestinian state to emerge.

“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River],” he said, echoing recent comments.

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Nothing in this hypocritical world is a surprise, but the insistence on leaving Gazans in tents instead of helping them emigrate is a shock to the most cynical among us. Film

By Ezri Tubi, BOOMERANG                                           22 January 2024

Gazans wait to enter Egypt

Millions of refugees from countries like Iraq, Syria, and Yemen fled wars in their homelands in the past few decades and sought refuge in other countries.

So why, suddenly, when it comes to the voluntary migration of the Gazans, and polls show that they wanted to migrate even before the war to escape the clutches of Hamas, does the matter become so controversial?”

And why is the world turning a blind eye to the fact that any and every one of them who can possibly get the money together, is paying unscrupulous smugglers exorbitant sums to get into Egypt and help them leave for anywhere they can get to?

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By Con Coughlin, GATESTONE  •  January 22, 2024

US President Joe Biden meets with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

• The Israeli premier has also reiterated his long-standing opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, which he insists would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
• Israel’s efforts to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas, though, are at serious risk of being undermined by the Biden administration’s growing hostility towards Netanyahu’s government.
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Despite the schism, there was agreement between both groups that the best way to secure the release of the hostages was by exerting military pressure on Hamas.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF  JANUARY 19, 2024 19:29

Israelis are split on whether the most important outcome of the Israel-Hamas War is to secure the release of the hostages or whether it is to achieve victory over Hamas, according to a recent “Panels” survey commissioned by the “Mothers’ March.”

The polling, which was conducted among Israelis on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, sought to examine the stances of the Israeli public on issues related to the hostages and the war.

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THE TOM NASH REPORT

Excellent monologue by Avi Abelow

T. Belman.  This stand by Netanyahu will win him another election.

In rebuke of the US, PM declares Israel must maintain security control over West Bank and Gaza; says Israel will know soon if medicines sent into Gaza have reached hostages

By LAZAR BERMAN, TOI Jan 18/24

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on January 18, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

During a combative press conference Thursday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the prospect of Palestinian statehood after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and vowed to resist the United States on the matter.

He also denied blindsiding his defense minister over a deal to send medicines into Gaza for Israeli hostages, accused Israeli media of spreading pessimism about the progress of the war, and said Hamas and Iran were hoping to see his government fall and elections held mid-war.
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By Melanie Phillips

BBC headquarters

The Conservative MP Andrew Percy has accused the BBC of putting British Jews directly at risk through its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Absolutely. The BBC’s relentless portrayal of the Israelis not as the victims of genocidal terror but as hard-hearted, vengeful and wanton killers of children and the innocent has channelled ancient antisemitic tropes of Jewish blood-lust and helped fuel an enormous increase in attacks on Jews.

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The current Gaza war creates a historic opportunity to change the region and the fate of the refugees

By Dror Eydar, ASIA TIMES                                         20 January 2024

Palestinians attend a rally marking the 32nd anniversary of the founding of the Islamist movement Hamas, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 13, 2019. Photo: Majdi Fathi / NurPhoto via AFP

On September 9, 2023, less than a month before the October 7 massacre and the war that followed, violent clashes broke out between hundreds of young Gazans and security guards from a Gaza travel agency that had been granted a license to issue visas to Turkey. Several people were injured, and the company’s offices were damaged.

The Gaza branch of the Palestine Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (yes, Gaza did have a tourism and travel association) accused the travel agency of exploiting its monopoly on issuing permits to raise prices. So why did the fracas break out in the first place?

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By Jonathan Pollard, MACHON SHILO                    19 January 2024

Report reflects on how Hamas is still capable of harming Israel and Israeli forces in Gaza for months and notes that the group is attempting to reconstitute its police force in parts of Gaza City.

Israel National News    Jan 21, 2024, 8:34 AM 

Hamas terrorists in GazaAbed Rahim Khatib/Flash90

Israeli forces have killed 20% to 30% of Hamas’s fighters, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US intelligence estimates.This is in line with IDF predictions that the war will take a year since Hamas terrorists are estimated at 30,000.

The report furthermore states that the US estimate found that the terror organization still has enough munitions to continue striking Israel and Israeli forces in Gaza for months and that the group is attempting to reestablish its police force in parts of Gaza City.

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