Israel/ Palestine

By Mary Ellen O’Connell, University of Notre Dame | – (The Conversation) – The operation that used pagers and walkie-talkies to kill members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was ingenious – but was it legal? Certainly, there are those who will argue that it was. That thinking goes like this: Hezbollah has been attacking […]

Cyber Warfare

From Stuxnet to Gospel to Pager Bombs, Israel is leading the Weaponization of the digital World

Ibrahim Al-Marashi

By Ibrahim Al-Marashi ( The National ) – A series of pager explosions across Lebanon, and secondary attacks on walkie-talkies the following day, have killed and maimed a number of Hezbollah operatives, as well as many civilians, including children. The attacks have also injured thousands, including Iran’s ambassador to Beirut. Israel normally does not claim […]

Featured

Does Israel’s Weaponizing of Hezbollah Pagers signal the Start of a Regional War?

Farhang Jahanpour

Israel’s massive cyber-attack on Lebanon on 17 and 18 September, with the near-simultaneous explosion of 3,000-4,000 pagers and walkie-talkies, has killed a few dozen Hezbollah members and many civilians, including some children and health workers, has blinded and maimed hundreds of people and wounded many thousands. Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a long speech […]

Featured

Water, War and Women in Gaza

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In late 2020, a report titled Saving Gaza Begins with its Water stated: The water crisis in Gaza is a problem of daunting proportions, with grave implications for the more than 2 million inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave. The Coastal Aquifer from which Gaza pumps water is diminishing; but […]

Israel/ Palestine

How the Israeli Settlers Movement shaped Modern Israel

The Conversation

By Arie Perliger, UMass Lowell | – (The Conversation) – The increase in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank over the past year has been unprecedented. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and the start of the war, there have been more than 1,000 attacks, according to a new report from the International […]

Egypt

The Sphinx and the Sultan: How Biden’s Bear Hug of Netanyahu Caused Washington’s Near East Policy to Crash and Burn

Juan Cole

I’m reprinting here my most recent Tomdispatch essay for The Nation Institute, on the possible emergence of a centrist Sunni bloc that aims to offset Israeli power in the region. Check out, as well, Tom Engelhardt’s essential introduction, here. At least one thing is now obvious in the Middle East: the Biden administration has failed […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s True Objectives in Gaza and why it will Fail

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – Never in its history of war and military occupation has Israel been so incapable of developing a coherent plan for its future and the future of its victims. Even a quick glance at headlines in international media reveals the depth of the Israeli dilemma. While Tel Aviv continues to […]

Featured

25% of 95K Injuries inflicted by Israel in Gaza are “Life-Changing;” Require Medical Care that Israelis Destroyed

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday, Israeli bombardments killed 38 people in Gaza. Based on past experience, we can expect a majority of those killed to have been women and children — at least 21 and maybe more. Photographs and video coming out of Gaza show dead children being carried in burial shrouds. For […]

Israel/ Palestine

Can the World Save Palestine from US-Israeli Genocide?

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink ) – On September 18th, the UN General Assembly is scheduled to debate and vote on a resolution calling on Israel to end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within six months. Given that the General Assembly, unlike the exclusive 15-member UN Security Council, allows all UN members to vote […]