Lebanon

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The “Party of God Brigades” (Kata’ib Hizbullah) of Iraq struck the Tower 22 US military base in the far north of Jordan on the border with Syria on Sunday, killing three US military personnel and wounding dozens more. The Shiite militia said that it was part of its continued attempt […]

Hamas

How much Influence does Iran have over its Strategic Allies — Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis?

The Conversation

By Sara Harmouch, American University and Nakissa Jahanbani, United States Military Academy West Point | – From attacks by rebels in the Red Sea to raids in northern Israel and the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas, Western analysts have pointed a finger of blame toward Iran. Regardless of how involved Tehran is directly in […]

Lebanon

5 Budding Wars we hope the World can Avoid in 2024

The Conversation

By Jessica Genauer, Flinders University | – (The Conversation) – Sadly, 2023 has been a violent one on the global stage. War broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, leading to the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis, including many children on both sides. And the bitter war between Russia and […]

Israel

The US tried to Negotiate Libya-Israel Ties with Elites, but then the Libyan People said ‘No!’

Middle East Monitor

by Muhammad Hussein alhussein1001 ( Middle East Monitor) – As protests erupted throughout the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and other cities in the country in response to the Foreign Minister’s secret meeting with her Israeli counterpart last week, it served as a stark reminder of the rampant disconnect between the country’s political leaderships and the general […]

History

How Lebanon was shaped by its Great Famine in WW I

Marc Martorell Junyent

Brand, Tylor. Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023. Review of Tylor Brand, Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023). Munich (Special to Informed Comment) – Suez, Gallipoli, Kut al-Amara, and Jerusalem saw […]

Displaced and Refugees

Lebanon: Armed Forces Summarily Deporting Syrians

Human Rights Watch

Lebanese Armed Forces have summarily deported thousands of Syrians, including unaccompanied children, back to Syria between April and May 2023. Syrians in Lebanon are living in constant fear that they could be picked up and sent back to nightmarish conditions, regardless of their refugee status. Lebanese authorities should enable Syrians to regularize their status in […]

Israel/ Palestine

I saw Israel’s ‘final solution to the Palestinian problem’ in Lebanon 41 years ago, and I see it again today

Mondoweiss

By Rev. Dr. Don Wagner ( Mondoweisss ) – Forty-one years ago, I was in Lebanon leading a group of ten U.S. relief and development directors hoping to introduce them to the extensive needs of impoverished Lebanese and Palestinian refugees. On June 4, 1982, around 3:00 p.m., we were on our way to the crowded […]

Democracy

Can Lebanon Finally elect a President who will Lead it out of its Economic and Political Morass?

Habib Badawi

By Habib Badawi Beirut (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Lebanon may be a small country of some four million citizens with a land area a little less than that of Connecticut, but it plays an outsized role in the geopolitics of the Middle East. Its upcoming presidential election on June 14th therefore has wide […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency: Extreme Heat Waves will increase 600% in Israel, Middle East, over 80 years, as 70% of Youth consider Emigrating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ruth Schuster at Haaretz reports on a new study led by Assaf Hochmann at Hebrew University, finding that extreme heat waves in Israel will increase 600% over the next 80 years. Not only will this change strike Israel but also Egypt, Syria, Jordan and southern Turkiye, with the potential for […]