There are great similarities in the depths of the personalities of both Trump and Netanyahu. The former (and future) president Trump openly expresses his hatred for non-Americans and perhaps for many Americans. Netanyahu, after revealing his principles, which are actually based on distorted Talmudic content, almost openly expresses his hatred for the “gentiles” (i.e. all non-Jews) and also for a growing number of secular Jews – the enlightened! The love of money and thus the rich is entrenched in the inner layers of these two personalities. They also share strong tendencies with supremacist and extreme nationalist content. Experience has shown that they do not value anything that is constitutional, institutional, and liberal democratic. Rather, they believe in the role of the individual (read: leader) who enjoys unchecked powers, and thus they have succeeded in marginalizing the two institutions in whose name they rose (the Republican Party in the case of Trump and the Likud Party in the case of Netanyahu). Last but not least, they are united by their belief that the “job” of the media is to make it a weapon in their hands whose mission, without batting an eyelid, is to lie and repeat lies to the point of being believed, in addition to inventing “information” that suits them while distorting real information and facts to serve their private and public purposes.

These similarities between the personalities of the American president and the Israeli prime minister played a role in establishing "strategic" relations between them, especially after the Israeli lobby, in addition to the broader Zionist lobby (based on the pro-Zionist forces, groups and organizations) sided with Trump, which resulted in the latter adopting (in his first term) a set of Israeli-Zionist goals and interests, especially since President Trump at the time was not paying from his own pocket (similar to what Lord Balfour did before him), but rather from the account of the Palestinians, Arabs and others. Thus, the past relations between them resulted in the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem, the closure of the American consulate in Arab Jerusalem, and the recognition of Israel's annexation of the Syrian plateau, not to mention the "legitimization" of the colonial/settlement movement, especially in the Palestinian West Bank, in addition to pushing towards what was known as the (Abraham Accords) with some Arab countries on the path to establishing an "alliance" between the Zionist state and some Sunni countries in the face of the "Iranian Shiite threat", and of course what all of this includes in terms of trying to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and imposing various types of sanctions on it.

In the future, Netanyahu plans to repeat the process of "milking the cow" (the American Trumpian one) at the beginning of the new presidential term. In this context, and at the minimum level, Netanyahu is pushing - with an open appetite - towards enlarging "very small Israel" (according to Trump). Accordingly, Netanyahu plans to obtain Trump's approval to annex large parts of the West Bank and recognize the legitimacy of additional "settlements" there, as well as confirming Israeli control over the northern Gaza Strip and perhaps unleashing the "settlement monster" there, in addition to establishing a security buffer zone in Lebanon up to the Litani River! Perhaps the pinnacle of Netanyahu's aspirations: succeeding in convincing the next American president to launch a war to strike the Iranian regime, its institutions and foundations, especially the "nuclear facilities."

In a different scenario, a growing number of Israeli observers (and others) expect that the next US president will not respond to all of Netanyahu’s wishes. The implications of this future scenario will be the subject of next week’s article.

During his election campaign, Trump made promises to Arab and Muslim voters, sometimes verbally and sometimes in his own handwriting, to pour their votes into his jugs, in exchange for working to stop the aggression in Gaza and Lebanon. He had what it took in Michigan, the capital of the balance and the tongue of the scales; its votes tipped the scales in Trump’s favor over his rival, the candidate of necessity, Kamala, who cried from the cruelty of defeat, as she did not do for the children and women victims in Gaza and Lebanon.

From now until the last meters of the lame duck’s term, when the time for handover and takeover comes, the right wing in Israel will work on further escalation and price-fixing, and Netanyahu will not offer any consolation prize to the departing administration, despite the solid and liquid gifts it bestowed upon him, while the prize is earmarked for the owner of the deal, who chose the Jewish real estate mogul and campaign donor Steve Witkoff, to be his envoy to the region.

In the remaining oscillating period, Blinken is making a dull farewell trip to the region’s capitals, like a fool who doesn’t know what to say, raving about the truce that has been in place for a year in Gaza, without shedding a tear over the killing that is taking place there, promising a two-state solution, and leaving Smotrich to savagely expand settlements to swallow up what remains of the West Bank.

In election experiences, winners quickly break their promises, turn their faces away, and renege on their commitments to their voters as soon as they win, leaving those who made the wrong bets biting their fingers in regret, but there is no time for regret.

Functional story:

It happened during a time of joy and pleasant nights that one of the princes, under the influence of a sweet night of music, ordered that a hundred camels, a similar number of cattle, and thousands of dirhams be presented to the singer of that night. When morning broke, the singer went to receive the prince’s promise, and the prince laughed and said: The words of the night are erased by the day; you have delighted us with your honeyed singing, and we have delighted you with your honeyed words!

Stop the war of extermination now..!

Israeli warplanes launched a series of violent raids on several neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of Beirut this Friday morning.

Meanwhile, 11 Lebanese were killed in raids on towns in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon.

Last night, 12 people, most of them civil defense personnel, were killed in raids on Baalbek.

While Hezbollah continues to bomb various areas in northern Israel.

This morning, the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted two rockets fired towards Haifa.

A number of citizens were killed and injured, Friday morning, as a result of Israeli raids on various areas of the Gaza Strip.

A citizen and his daughter from the Muammar family were killed in a bombing that targeted their home in the town of Al-Nasr, northwest of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, 3 citizens were killed as a result of the bombing of a residential apartment in the Deir al-Balah area in the central Gaza Strip.

A citizen was killed as a result of gunfire from Quadcopter drones in the Beit Lahia project, north of the Gaza Strip.

The town, along with Jabalia camp, was subjected to a series of airstrikes.

The Al-Zeitoun neighborhood in the south of Gaza City was also subjected to aerial and artillery bombardment.

The occupation forces blew up houses in several areas of the Gaza Strip, especially Jabalia, Saftawi and northwest Rafah.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested a number of citizens at dawn on Friday, during a campaign of raids in the West Bank.

The editor, Majd Freihat, was arrested after raiding his house in the town of Yamoun, west of Jenin, while the young man, Majd Farajat (18 years old), was arrested after raiding and searching his family’s house in the town of Yamoun.

Meanwhile, the prisoner Hadi Diab's father was arrested from his home in the Jaidi neighborhood in Qalqilya.

He also arrested a young man whose identity is unknown from Al-Ain camp in Nablus.

The occupation forces stormed several areas and raided homes without any arrests being reported.

In Hebron, the occupation forces arrested four citizens from the town of Deir Samt, namely: Yousef Jabr Yousef Al-Haroub, and the brothers Anas and Muhammad Abd Yousef Jabr Al-Haroub, and Jabr Yousef Jabr Al-Haroub, after destroying the contents of their homes and two vehicles in the town.

In the same context, the occupation forces continued to close the entrances to towns, camps and the city of Hebron with iron gates, and tightened their measures in the neighborhoods of the Old City and the military checkpoints near the Ibrahimi Mosque and abused citizens passing through the checkpoint.

The United Nations General Assembly, in its Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Committee, adopted a resolution affirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination on the land of their state, and their right to independence, freedom and emancipation from the Israeli occupation without any delay, as an inalienable right, not subject to any conditions or reservations and not subject to bargaining, negotiation or the so-called "security" measures that the Israeli occupation fabricates.

The resolution affirmed what the International Court of Justice had stated in its advisory opinion regarding the illegality of the Israeli occupation and the demand to end it without any delay, as it constitutes an obstacle to the ability of the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and the independence of their state.

170 countries voted in favor of the draft resolution, including Canada, Australia, all European Union countries, and the majority of South American, Asian, and African countries, while only 6 countries voted against the resolution: Israel, the United States, Argentina, Paraguay, Micronesia, and Nauru.

About 119 UN member states sponsored the resolution before it was put to a vote by the committee, and these countries were also distributed among the various African, European, Asian and Latin American geographical blocs.

The importance of the decision is highlighted by the fact that it comes in light of the ongoing crime of genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and especially in the besieged Gaza Strip, which constitutes a massive international rejection of these crimes and a call to rely on international law when considering the Palestinian issue in all its aspects without any double standards, and without obstructing the course of international justice, which is embodied in what was decided by the International Court of Justice.

The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, stressed the determination of the State of Palestine to move forward in strengthening international support for the rights of the Palestinian people, especially in light of the injustice they suffer at the hands of the Israeli occupation, in order to repel all Israeli attempts aimed at stripping this international legal support in international forums, until justice is achieved and Israel is held accountable for its crimes and the Palestinian people and their land are protected from war crimes and crimes against humanity, including crimes of forced displacement, starvation, annexation of lands, building settlements and terrorizing colonists.

He stressed the need to exert all possible efforts in international forums to impose an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, bring in aid and ensure its adequate and effective distribution to save the lives of innocent civilians, including families besieged in the northern Gaza Strip, which is being subjected to genocide, starvation, killing and destruction.

There is no basis for a UN special committee's accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, State Department acting spokesman Vedant Patel said on Thursday.

This came in response to a decision by the “United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices” that Israel’s practices during the Gaza war “are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”

"This is something we disagree with unequivocally," Patel said in response to reporters' questions, adding, "We believe that such formulations and such accusations are absolutely baseless."

Patel denounced a report published by Human Rights Watch on Thursday, in which it confirmed that it had collected evidence that Israeli officials were committing the "war crime" of "forced displacement," adding that "Israel's actions appear to meet the definition of 'ethnic cleansing.'"

Patel stressed that forced displacement would be a “red line” for the United States and would not meet the criteria set by Secretary of State Antony Blinken when the war began.

The spokesman considered it acceptable to "ask civilians to evacuate a certain area while they (the Israelis) are carrying out some military operations, and thus allow them to return to their homes," stressing that the United States "has not seen any kind of this forced displacement."

"I am not a lawyer, so I will not give you a legal definition," Patel said in response to a question from the Jerusalem correspondent regarding the administration's insistence that what is happening in Gaza is mass killing, despite the fact that 44,000 people have been killed so far, at least according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, while the Lancet (British) group says that more than 186,000 people may have been killed, and many times that number of wounded, most of them women and children, and millions displaced.

“What I can say and I will repeat again is that the allegations of genocide that we continue to believe are unfounded, in the context of the ongoing conflict,” Patel added, stressing, “Now, this certainly does not diminish the moral and strategic imperative and responsibility that our partners in Israel have to conduct their operations and activities with the protection of civilians in mind and to do everything possible to minimize the impact on civilians.”

“And it certainly raises questions about Hamas’s role in this, because we have found time and time again that Hamas has rejected the end of this war; it has resisted a ceasefire or a proposal for a ceasefire… and a number of hostages remain in Gaza, including American citizens,” the spokesman said. “And that’s certainly part of it, too.”

In response to the question of the Jerusalem correspondent about the definition of the US administration for what “genocide” is, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the definition on the US Department of Justice’s page for what genocide is.

The report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, covering the period from October 7, 2023 to last July, noted “large numbers of civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions imposed on Palestinians deliberately.”

The committee, which has been investigating Israeli practices affecting rights in the Palestinian territories for decades, said Israel "used starvation as a method of warfare and to impose collective punishment on Palestinians."

"Through its blockade of Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, Israel is deliberately causing death, starvation and serious injury," she said.

This evening, Thursday, the Israeli occupation forces assaulted two children in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah.

Local sources said that the occupation forces severely beat the child Alaa Mahmoud Asfour (11 years old) in front of his house in the Al-Muzayri’a neighborhood in the town of Sinjil.

According to the sources, the child suffered bruises and was transferred to a health center in the town to receive treatment.

The sources reported that soldiers in the occupation army assaulted another child (17 years old), seized his phone, and sent a message through a group for the town’s residents containing a threat to kill “anyone who causes trouble.”

The occupation army's infantry forces stormed Sinjil and set up checkpoints inside the town, through which they abused the citizens and obstructed their movement.

Dozens of Lebanese citizens were killed and injured on Thursday evening as a result of the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression on Lebanon, amid widespread destruction of buildings, facilities and infrastructure.

The Lebanese News Agency reported that 8 civil defense paramedics and 9 civilians were killed in raids targeting the city of Baalbek, while 4 paramedics and 11 civilians were killed in raids on Nabatieh and the towns of Arabsalim and Joya in southern Lebanon.

The occupation aircraft also launched a series of raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeting the areas of Shiyah and Ghobeiry. The occupation aircraft and artillery bombed the cities of Tyre and Nabatieh and the towns of Jbaa, Sareen, Zeita, Toura, Maarakeh, Hanin, Tayri, Tamnin al-Tahta, Shamstar, Boudai, Douris, Chtaura, Shebaa, Taria, al-Bayada, Rasm al-Hadath, al-Bazaliyah, al-Mansouri, Bint Jbeil, Qanarit, Shaqra, Houmin al-Fawqa, Haboush, Qana, Sayr al-Gharbiya, Bnaafoul, Meifdoun, Deir Ams and Aitat in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced the martyrdom of 21 people as a result of the occupation raids yesterday, Wednesday, bringing the number of dead since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon on October 8, 2023, to 3,386 martyrs, in addition to 14,417 wounded.

Lebanese media reported on Thursday that US Ambassador Lisa Johnson handed Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri a written paper containing a proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon. No further details were immediately available.

Earlier today, the American news website Axios quoted an American official as saying that the United States had reached understandings with the Israelis regarding an agreement to stop the war, and was seeking understandings with the Lebanese side.

In turn, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, confirmed today (Thursday) that the redeployment of the army in southern Lebanon is “absolutely central” to any permanent solution that leads to an end to the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

According to what was reported by the "Agence France-Presse", Lacroix said during a meeting with journalists near the capital Beirut, that "the redeployment of the Lebanese armed forces is an absolutely pivotal factor for any permanent solution", in light of the escalation of fighting between the party and the Hebrew state since September 23.

Lacroix made a three-day visit to Lebanon, meeting with officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah who is negotiating on its behalf to end the war, and Army Commander Joseph Aoun. He also visited the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The United States is seeking to broker a ceasefire that would end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but the efforts have yet to yield results. Israel launched an intensive air and ground campaign in Lebanon in late September after an exchange of cross-border fire parallel to the Gaza war.

15 people were killed and others were injured in an Israeli bombardment that targeted the Mazzeh neighborhood and the Qudsaya area in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday.

Syrian state media said 15 people were killed in an initial count of Israeli attacks on Damascus.

The official Syrian news agency (SANA) said that "according to initial information, the Israeli aggression targeted two residential buildings in the areas of Mezzeh and Qudsaya" and loud explosions were heard in the two neighborhoods.

For its part, the Israeli Army Radio said that the attack targeted assets and leadership headquarters of the Islamic Jihad movement in Damascus and was not an assassination, and came within the framework of pre-planned attacks.

Commenting on the attack, the Islamic Jihad Movement said, "We mourn the loss of a group of the movement's sons to our Palestinian people in a sinful aggression that targeted the Syrian capital, Damascus, this evening."

She added, "The enemy army claimed that it targeted the movement's headquarters and military centers, which is a mere fabrication of imaginary heroism."

Before that, Syrian media reported explosions in the city and countryside of Homs today, Thursday, launched from Lebanese airspace.

SANA news agency said that the Syrian air defenses confronted a hostile target in the southern airspace of the city of Homs in central Syria.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the agency spoke about an Israeli aggression that targeted the Qusayr area in the Homs countryside in central Syria, and said that the air defenses were "confronting hostile targets" in the skies of the western Homs countryside.

Syrian media also reported that a series of Israeli raids targeted Shinshar, Al-Daf Bridge, Al-Qusayr, and Al-Dabaa checkpoint in the Homs countryside.

Doctors Without Borders announced in a statement to Al Arabiya TV that 14,000 people in the Gaza Strip need immediate evacuation for treatment.

And urgent medical care.

She said that "8 of its employees were killed during the war inside the Gaza Strip," noting that the attacks and obstruction of access to places in need of medical and humanitarian assistance constitute a major crisis.

She added, "The biggest challenge facing us is dealing with the targeting of the health system and its workers inside the Gaza Strip."

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told Reuters that Hezbollah must give up its weapons to end the war and spare Lebanon destruction.

He added that with the destruction of Hezbollah's infrastructure and warehouses, a large part of Lebanon is being destroyed, noting that the country is paying the price, according to his description.

He added that the pressures of the intense Israeli military campaign constitute an opportunity to put the country back on the right track, calling on Hezbollah and the state to implement local agreements and international resolutions to dissolve armed factions outside the state's control.

He also expressed his opposition to the Lebanese army forcibly disarming Hezbollah, saying, "I do not see the possibility of any civil war breaking out, and my party absolutely does not want that war to start."

British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish Falconer condemned the statements of the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the annexation of the occupied West Bank.

"I condemn Minister Smotrich's statements proposing the annexation of West Bank lands," Falconer said in a post on the X platform on Thursday.

He stressed that the annexation undermines hopes for peace, leads to more instability, and described it as "illegal under international law."

The British Minister stressed the need for the Israeli government to reject the statement made by Smotrich.

On November 11, Smotrich said he had instructed the Settlement Administration and the Civil Administration to begin “professional and comprehensive groundwork to prepare the infrastructure necessary for the application of sovereignty” over the West Bank.

The Israeli army announced the killing of 192 officers since the beginning of the war, stressing that one in every four killed in the army ranks is a commander.

He also confirmed the killing of 12 battalion commanders, including 7 lieutenant colonels, and 4 brigade commanders since the beginning of the war.

The Israeli army acknowledged the killing of a platoon commander in the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade and the serious injury of an officer in the battles in southern Lebanon.

Young men from the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, were able to repel an attack launched by a number of settlers, on Thursday evening, on the outskirts of the village.

Local sources reported that several settlers attacked a number of young men from Al-Mughayyir who were walking around an agricultural room in the western part of the village, which led to clashes.

The sources indicated that the settlers fled the place after their attack was repelled, without being able to burn the agricultural room.

Two children were injured on Thursday evening by Israeli occupation forces' bullets during their raid on the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that its crews dealt with the injury of two children (15 years old), who were shot by the occupation forces in the thigh area, during clashes in Beit Furik.

The Israeli Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss next Sunday a draft law that prohibits the raising of flags of "enemy countries," including the Palestinian flag, in "state-funded or supported institutions."

Under the bill, introduced by Likud MK Nissim Vaturi, “authorities could disperse any gathering in which such flags are raised, and impose a prison sentence of up to one year, in addition to a fine of no less than NIS 10,000.”

In a move that came as no surprise to many observers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to prepare a plan for a ceasefire in Lebanon as a gift to President-elect Donald Trump, according to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post quoted an Israeli official as saying that there is an understanding that Israel will present a gift to Trump, and that next January there will be an understanding regarding Lebanon.

The newspaper quoted three current and former Israeli officials as saying that a close aide to Netanyahu told Trump and Jared Kushner that Israel was rushing to move forward with a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with the aim of providing an early foreign policy win for the president-elect.

It is noteworthy that Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, who is close to Netanyahu, met Trump at his resort, Mar-a-Lago, in the US state of Florida, before he began his official meetings in the capital, Washington.

Some American commentators considered this behavior a departure from American norms by Netanyahu's government, and that it was only concerned with trying to secure its very special relationship with the new Republican administration.

Israeli conditions

The Washington Post added that the talks with Trump focused on an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon that includes Western and Russian cooperation.

An Israeli military official was quoted as saying that plans were underway to intensify ground operations in Lebanon if the talks ultimately collapsed, stressing that the terms of the agreement would require Hezbollah to withdraw beyond the Litani River.

The Lebanese army will also take control of the border area for an initial period of 60 days under US and British supervision.

The Israeli proposal calls on Russia to prevent Hezbollah from rearming via Syrian land routes. Russian officials visited Israel last month to discuss the plan, and the Washington Post reported that Israeli Minister Dermer secretly visited Russia for further discussions.

In an attempt to relieve the current US administration of embarrassment, the newspaper quoted an American official as saying that Netanyahu is still engaged with President Joe Biden's administration regarding the ceasefire process in Lebanon.

She explained that work to reach a possible agreement is still being carried out by Biden's team, and that progress has been made in this regard.

Lebanese waiting

On the Lebanese side, Ali Hassan Khalil, political assistant to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said that his country is waiting to receive a new draft of the settlement that includes the formula for an agreement.

Khalil confirmed to Al Jazeera that Lebanon's position is clear, which is to commit to Resolution 1701 and all its provisions, including monitoring implementation.

He stressed that no Lebanese would accept that Israel would have freedom of movement in Lebanon after the agreement, which was confirmed by the caretaker Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, who said that the priority of a peaceful solution is to implement international resolution 1701 and oblige Israel to implement it in full.

Mikati reiterated Lebanon's rejection of any conditions that constitute a violation of the resolution, noting that his government is committed to strengthening the presence of the Lebanese army in the south in cooperation with UNIFIL forces.

Israel Hayom newspaper reported that US envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to present a ceasefire agreement to Lebanon within days.

Buffer zone

In a related context, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said that Israel will not cease fire and will not accept any settlement that does not achieve the goals of the war, including disarming Hezbollah and withdrawing it beyond the Litani.

"We will not allow any settlement without achieving all the goals of the war, which are disarming Hezbollah and withdrawing it beyond the Litani, and creating the basic conditions for the safe return of Israelis to the northern towns," Katz said during a tour of the Lebanese border.

Despite talk of trying to reach an agreement, Israel is seeking to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, according to the newspaper "Israel Today".

At the same time, it seeks to maintain the ability to bomb Lebanon at any moment within the conditions of reaching a ceasefire agreement.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday, "Today we hear voices in Israel calling for maintaining the ability to strike at any moment, and even invade Lebanon."

The minister had held talks with Dermer and Katz last week.

After clashes with factions in Lebanon - most notably Hezbollah - that began the day after Israel launched its war of extermination on Gaza, Tel Aviv expanded the scope of the extermination to include most areas of Lebanon - including the capital Beirut - through air strikes, and it also began a ground invasion in the south.

The Israeli aggression on Lebanon resulted in a total of 3,287 martyrs and 14,222 wounded, including a large number of children and women, in addition to more than 1.2 million displaced persons.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper confirmed today, Thursday, that the Israeli occupation army aims, through its war on Hezbollah in Lebanon, to reach political arrangements based on UN Resolution 1701, but through continuing and escalating military pressure in the southern Lebanon region and intensive bombing of Beirut.

This came in a report by the newspaper's military analyst Ron Ben Yishai, who accompanies the occupation forces in southern Lebanon, in which he spoke about Israel's goals in its war on Lebanon, and also focused on the difficulties faced by reserve soldiers through their long service in the war on Gaza and Lebanon.

The importance of this report lies in the fact that it comes after the controversial statement made yesterday by the new Israeli Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, in which he said that Israel will not stop the war on Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed.

Failure of goals softens demands

Ben Yishai says in the introduction to his report that the Israeli army is working in Lebanon to achieve three main goals: “The first goal is to increase military pressure to force Hezbollah and Lebanon to accept a security arrangement similar to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and even more stringent.”

The political analyst pointed out that "the additional advantage of this arrangement will be the ability of the Israeli army to impose security by force in the event that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces fail to perform their role."

He also says that Hezbollah is trying to obstruct this goal by waging a “war of attrition” against the Israeli home front, which he sees as a way for the party to pressure the Lebanese government not to make concessions in the negotiations, especially with regard to imposing a weapons-free zone in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, which is the second goal that the Israeli army is trying to achieve from this war.

Ben-Yishai claimed that Israel "destroyed about 80% of Hezbollah's missile arsenal," but he added that "Hezbollah still has enough weapons to send millions of Israelis into shelters on a daily basis, which is a drain on Israel's strength, and may soften its demands in the ongoing negotiations mediated by the United States through envoy Amos Hochstein, and foil Israel's efforts to achieve the third goal, which is to ensure the return of Israelis to the north."

In the context of the ongoing military operations, the Israeli analyst says that the Israeli forces "are suffering heavy human losses, especially in the intensive ground battles inside the Lebanese villages," where he revealed that "Hezbollah prepared well on the second line of villages, where it fortified its forces there after observing the army's methods, which led to the deaths and injuries of many Israeli soldiers in the recent battles."

In this context, he refers to the battle that took place inside a Lebanese village, where Hezbollah fighters ambushed Golani Brigade soldiers, killing 6 of them and wounding others. However, at the same time, he says, “The Israeli army hopes that its continued advance will reduce the number of short-range missile attacks towards northern Israel.”

According to the report, the occupation army "is making a great effort to destroy villages that are essential" to Hezbollah, by imposing a heavy price on them, as these military operations have expanded to include intensive aerial bombardment targeting areas important to the Shiite community in the southern suburbs and Beirut.

He added, "The Israeli army began moving its forces from the border villages to the second line of Lebanese villages, to send a message to the Shiite community that the war of attrition led by Hezbollah will cost them a heavy political and physical price."

Ben-Yishai points out that the army is now focusing on destroying short-range missile launchers, which he estimates will lead to a decline in the pace of attacks on northern Israel in the coming days. He also claims that the army's capabilities have improved in confronting the drones used by Hezbollah, noting that the interception rate has recently reached about 90%.

Reserve soldiers morale

In addition to the challenges on the ground, the IDF faces another challenge: maintaining the morale of reserve soldiers who bear the brunt of the ground fighting in southern Lebanon. Ben-Yishai believes that “this challenge is clearly evident due to the length of service and the psychological pressure it puts on soldiers and their families, especially with the ongoing military operations on multiple fronts.”

He noted that many of the reservists he met expressed their desire to "complete the tasks" they were assigned, but they suffer from problems related to the length of service and family pressures, especially on women who bear additional responsibilities in the absence of their husbands.

The economic situation of some of them is also deteriorating, as Battalion Commander Sharon Zeilinger said, "I used to work as a lawyer, but since I was called up for reserve duty, I no longer work in my profession."

To alleviate these pressures, the IDF is planning to launch a new plan called the “2025 Employment Chart,” in which it will attempt to achieve some stability among reserve soldiers, by setting the duration of reserve service for a fixed period each year for a specific number of days.

The report highlights that the occupation army faces a complex challenge on the Lebanese and Gaza fronts, as it continues to seek to achieve its military and political goals in Lebanon through intensive means of pressure, while facing major challenges in maintaining the morale of reserve soldiers, in light of the lack of clarity on whether Iran will take a direct hostile stance against Israel.

Ben Yishai concludes his report by emphasizing that "the biggest challenge for the Israeli army is in confronting Hezbollah, which is showing fierce resistance, while attempts continue to reach a comprehensive ceasefire that could put an end to these long military operations and achieve the security arrangement that Israel seeks from a position of strength."

So far, US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen a group to take over key ministerial portfolios and sensitive positions in a manner that satisfies the Israeli Prime Minister in an unprecedented manner, given their staunch support for Israel, their deep-rooted right-wing tendencies, their personal love for Netanyahu, and their support for settlements, in a manner that could not have been imagined before Trump’s announcements.

In the wake of his election victory last week, Trump initially signaled to isolationist “America First” supporters that they would play a key role in transforming his foreign policy — a stark warning to pro-Israel hawks who had assumed he would offer something similar in his support for Israel to what he had offered in his first term.

But with his ministerial appointments coming at a rapid pace during his first full week as president-elect, he quickly assembled a foreign policy team with a clear and detailed worldview that was inherently hostile to Iran, dismissive of any Palestinian national aspirations, and reticent to (potential) American pressure on Israel’s goals or condemnation of its conduct in the war.

Experts believe that the fact that the foreign policy appointments — including the U.S. ambassador to Israel and the envoy to the Middle East — came before many others only indicates how much of a priority the Middle East will be for Trump, despite initial assumptions that he would focus first and foremost on Ukraine, which is what the U.S. ambassador-designate to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a radical evangelical evangelist, sees as a way to do.

Experts believe that Trump’s appointments not only represent a full embrace of the pro-Israel, pro-settlement, and pro-West Bank annexation hard-right, but also encourage Netanyahu to believe that he will get the green light to pursue any strategy he deems necessary. This includes a more aggressive approach to Iran, and the most visible trend since the 1967 occupation of the occupied West Bank and Gaza (which is occupied by the Israeli occupation authorities and has been completely destroyed). So who are these appointees of the senior members of foreign policy and national security, and what do these appointees want from the Palestinians?! Let’s start where Trump began with his second appointment (after appointing Susie Rales as White House chief of staff):

1- Elise Stefanik: The president-elect has selected Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY, 40) to be the US ambassador to the United Nations, and she is more ideologically ardent in her support for Israel than Trump’s previous UN ambassador, Nikki Haley. “I am honored to nominate Committee Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my administration as the US Ambassador to the United Nations,” Trump said in a statement. “Elise is a strong and very smart fighter for America First.”

Stefanik, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, a staunch ally of the president-elect and a major GOP fundraiser, has played a pivotal role in launching what experts say is a “crusade” to stoke anti-Semitism over the past year. Miriam Adelson, the Israeli widow of billionaire Sheldon Adelson, has been lavished with millions of dollars in awards for Stefanik’s campaigns, allowing her to infiltrate Trump’s political machine.

There are no clear substantive differences between Stefanik and Haley; Stefanik has strongly denounced the Biden-Harris administration for not adequately arming Israel, alleged that Biden has kowtowed to China—and condemned his withdrawal from Afghanistan on principle.

2- Senator Marco Rubio: Florida Senator Marco Rubio, if anyone knows anything about him, is known for his dedication to “loving Israel.” The Israeli lobby organization “AIPAC” successfully supported him with money and organization in the November 2010 elections when he was 39 years old. Since then, he has been a staunch supporter of everything Israel does, and he has used his Cuban origins, which his parents emigrated from in 1957, as an excuse to condemn the Palestinians who are supported by his home country, Cuba.

Rubio did not say a single word last year sympathizing with the suffering of the Palestinians. Rather, he took every possible opportunity as a platform to justify the Israeli war of extermination. He did not utter a single word about the necessity of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state on the occupied Palestinian territories.

Rubio's selection is likely to reassure both Israel and traditional Republicans that Trump intends to maintain his strong support for Israel in his second term, amid concerns about an inner circle pushing an isolationist approach.

The Republican Jewish Coalition, the Republican Party’s most vocal pro-Israel group, welcomed Rubio’s potential nomination when it was first reported on Monday. “In these unusually dangerous times, Senator Rubio is an outspoken advocate for Israel and has consistently stood with the Jewish state,” the group said in a statement.

Rubio used the harshest terms to describe the students who have been, and continue to be, protesting Israel's war on Gaza, as did Stefanek, who said she wanted to beat up students who are protesting against Israel.

3- Pete Hegseth as Minister of Defense: The candidate for the position of Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has cynically ignored the Palestinian civilian casualties while working as a host on Fox News, which is supposed to have prepared him to oversee the largest army in the history of the world. Although he is inexperienced, has no distinguished record, and is unknown, he participated in the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan (as a reserve), and developed a strong racism against Arabs and Muslims, and has often launched scathing attacks on the Palestinians in his programs on the pro-Israel Fox network, considering all citizens of Gaza as partners in the attack of October 7, 2023.

It is noteworthy that Hegseth is considered one of the most ardent supporters of the settlement movement and the annexation of the occupied West Bank. He said in 2018 during a visit to occupied Jerusalem: “There is no reason why a miracle cannot happen; the re-establishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount.”

4- Michael Waltz, US National Security Advisor: He publicly called for allowing Israel to “finish the job,” i.e., eliminate the remaining Gazans, and allowing Netanyahu to do whatever he wants “to finish the job.”

Although he is married to a Jordanian woman, Julia Nesheiwat (who worked at the Department of Homeland Security as an advisor until Trump left the White House in 2021), there is no evidence that his marital relationship has had a positive impact on his views on the Palestinian issue. Nesheiwat served in the US Army as a captain (three stars) and as a military intelligence officer during the US invasion of Iraq.

The National Security Advisor is considered one of the most important positions in the National Assembly, ahead of the Minister of Defense, and sometimes the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

5- John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): Ratcliffe may be the most experienced appointee in the field of intelligence, as he served as Director of the National Intelligence Agency for 7 months at the end of the first term of US President Donald Trump.

He also called for giving Netanyahu a free hand "to complete the mission" and for Israel to share all the intelligence and intelligence assets that the United States possesses.

6 – Mike Huckabee, US Ambassador to Israel: By appointing right-wing settler Yehiel Leiter as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Netanyahu sent an indisputable signal to Washington and the world that annexation will be at the forefront of his agenda going forward. All eyes were on Trump’s ambassadorship to Israel to see if he would choose an annexationist like David Friedman, and that’s exactly what happened. By choosing Huckabee, an evangelical Christian with a longstanding connection to the settlement movement and a deeper history of advocating for annexation than Friedman, Trump made the expected policy crystal clear.

Huckabee's appointment also serves as a straightforward and narrow interpretation of what it means to be pro-Israel, considering that this was the motivating factor behind his appointment.

Given that extensive polling shows that American Jews view defending democracy as the most important issue in the 2024 election, and that a majority of American Jews are critical of the Israeli right, Trump’s appointment of Huckabee gives further credence to Netanyahu and Ron Dermer’s belief that Israel’s base of support lies in the evangelical community and the Israel lobby AIPAC, not American Jews.

Trump’s appointments, if anything, suggest that Trump remains determined to prioritize Israel’s regional integration and expand the normalization agreements known as the “Abraham Accords,” given the outright rejection by key Trump appointees of a Palestinian state—a key demand of countries like Saudi Arabia—as well as open suggestions from figures like Huckabee that Saudi Arabia or Egypt should offer their own territory for a future Palestinian state.

The observer will quickly discover that every Trump appointment so far related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a prior relationship with Netanyahu. Even the new US envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, who has no diplomatic experience at all and is a real estate mogul, attended Netanyahu’s July 24 speech to a joint session of Congress and used the interview he gave afterwards to retract any criticism of the Israeli prime minister.

Ben & Jerry's said in a lawsuit that parent company Unilever has blocked its attempts to express support for Palestinian refugees, threatening to dissolve its board and sue its members over the issue.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit filed by the company on Wednesday is the latest sign of a long-running tension between Ben & Jerry's and consumer products company Unilever.

A dispute broke out between them in 2021 after Ben & Jerry's said it would stop selling its products in the occupied West Bank because they conflicted with its values, a move that prompted some investors to dump shares in Unilever.

The ice cream maker then sued Unilever for selling its Israeli business to its licensee there, allowing it to continue marketing in the West Bank and Israel. That suit was settled in 2022.

In its new lawsuit, Ben & Jerry's says Unilever violated the terms of that settlement, which has remained confidential.

The lawsuit revealed that the settlement agreement stipulates that Unilever is required to “respect and appreciate the primary responsibility of Ben & Jerry’s independent board of directors with respect to Ben & Jerry’s social mission.”

“Ben & Jerry’s has tried on four occasions to speak out in support of peace and human rights… Unilever has silenced all of these efforts,” the lawsuit added.

Ben & Jerry's said in the lawsuit that it tried to call for a ceasefire, support students protesting on U.S. campuses over the killing of civilians in Gaza, and call for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, but Unilever blocked it.

The lawsuit says the independent board spoke out separately about some of these matters, but the company was silenced.

Ben & Jerry's said Peter ter Kolff, president of Unilever's ice cream division, said he was concerned about "a continuing perception of anti-Semitism" regarding the ice cream maker expressing its views on Gaza refugees, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also says that under the settlement agreement, Unilever is required to make payments totaling $5 million to Ben & Jerry's so that the brand can make donations to human rights groups of its choosing.

Ben & Jerry's chose the left-leaning Jewish Voice for Peace, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other organizations.

The lawsuit said Unilever objected to the choices in August, saying Jewish Voice for Peace was "strongly critical of the Israeli government."

Ben & Jerry's has positioned itself as a community-conscious company since it was founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in a renovated gas station in 1978. It maintained that mission after being acquired by Unilever in 2000.

In March, Unilever said it would separate its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry's, from the rest of the group by the end of 2025 to simplify its portfolio.

The German government has denied reports that German soldiers participating in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are cooperating with Israel.

"Media outlets close to Hezbollah in Lebanon are spreading a narrative that Germany and the German-led UN naval task force have intervened in the fighting in Lebanon on behalf of Israel. The German government categorically denies these accusations," the German Defense Ministry said in a statement seen by the German Press Agency.

Germany currently has about 100 troops in the UNIFIL force, about 40 of them at the peacekeeping mission’s headquarters in Naqoura, in the middle of the fighting. About 60 German soldiers are on board the German warship Ludwigshafen am Rhein, which also commands the naval component of the UN force.

The ship's crew repelled an explosives-laden drone last October, declaring self-defense. The drone exploded upon hitting the water.

In early November, Israeli special forces reportedly using speedboats arrested a man in the Lebanese coastal town of Batroun.

UNIFIL later said it was not involved in any kidnapping or “other violations of Lebanese sovereignty,” describing “misleading information and false rumors in this context as irresponsible and endangering peacekeeping forces.”

The German mission has since become the focus of media outlets close to Hezbollah. Media reports have accused Germany and its naval task force ships of monitoring and tolerating the Israelis, according to the German Press Agency.

"The Lebanese Coastal Radar Authority, funded by Germany, is run by Lebanese soldiers. The Lebanese army determines and controls what happens to the information obtained from the radar stations and who receives it. The naval task force has no direct contact with the Israeli army. No information about the situation is passed on," the German Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry noted that the principle of neutrality applies to parties to conflict in UN missions, adding: "We adhere to this strictly. The mission of the Maritime Task Force is defined by the UN mandate. This constitutes the binding framework for our participation," stressing that the work of the force "is transparent at all times, as well as towards other countries contributing to UNIFIL forces."

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported today, Thursday, that the death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 43,736 dead and 103,370 injuries since October 7, 2023.

The ministry confirmed in a brief statement that the occupation committed 3 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 24 dead and 112 injuries arriving at hospitals during the past 24 hours.

She pointed out that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

Today, Thursday, settlers prevented citizens from picking olives in Khirbet Salama, southwest of Hebron.

Local sources reported that a group of "Nagahot" settlers prevented citizens from the Awda family in Khirbet Salama from picking olives, seized the olive picking machine, and stole the fruits.

It is worth noting that the settlers have intensified their attacks on farmers, olive pickers and their property, especially in areas close to the settlements.

Israel continues its intensive efforts to obstruct the work of the International Criminal Court and prevent the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, against the backdrop of the genocide crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, as Tel Aviv continues to challenge the court’s procedures and jurisdiction, which leads to delaying the decision.

This comes in an attempt to thwart the court’s approval of the request of the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor, which he submitted last May, to issue arrest warrants against these Israeli officials. The questioning of the impartiality of Judge Betty Holler, who was recently appointed to the relevant judicial body, also raised other Israeli attempts to influence the course of the investigations.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that "Israel has questioned the impartiality of an International Criminal Court judge who is part of the panel that will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Galant," and the agency noted that "this questioning could lead to further delays in making a decision regarding issuing arrest warrants."

The ICC judges must approve the request for arrest warrants, but the panel has been dragging its feet in making its decision, partly because of several rounds of challenges by Israel to the court’s jurisdiction. Another reason for the delay is that Romanian judge Iulia Motoc last month asked to withdraw from the three-member panel hearing the request for arrest warrants, citing “health reasons.”

Slovenian Judge Betty Holer was chosen to replace her; the Israeli Attorney General's Office commented on Holer's selection in a statement issued on November 11, saying that the Slovenian judge worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at the court before being appointed as a judge at the International Criminal Court last December.

“Israel respectfully requests Judge Betty Holler to provide information to clarify whether there are grounds (or not) to reasonably doubt her impartiality,” the statement said. “Israel does not suggest that Judge Holler’s previous employment in the Office of the Prosecutor necessarily or automatically raises a reasonable concern of impartiality. However, the Court’s judges have recognized that previous employment in the Office of the Prosecutor may raise reasonable concerns of bias depending on the circumstances.”

In May, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, filed a request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu, Galant and Hamas leaders had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court has no set timeline, but it has generally taken about three months to rule on arrest warrant requests in previous cases.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that Israeli occupation aircraft launched a series of raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced carrying out 24 operations to confront Israeli attempts to advance in southern Lebanon and against military sites, gatherings and settlements in northern Israel.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the southern suburb had been subjected to 7 raids since Wednesday evening, and black smoke rose over the southern suburb after the Israeli army issued a warning to residents to evacuate. During the first wave of raids, residents were seen rushing to leave the area in their cars following the warnings.

Israeli raids targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and the raids on Wednesday targeted buildings in the areas of Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik, and Burj al-Barajneh, according to the official National News Agency.

On the other hand, the official National News Agency reported early Wednesday that an Israeli raid targeted a residential apartment in the Aramoun area, which is not part of the areas traditionally associated with Hezbollah.

The Ministry of Health said in an updated toll on Wednesday evening that the raid resulted in the death of 8 people - including 3 children and 3 women - in addition to 17 wounded.

An Israeli drone targeted a building inhabited by displaced people in the Doha Aramoun area in Mount Lebanon at dawn today, causing a number of injuries, in addition to significant material damage to the targeted building.

Hezbollah attacks

The Israeli army announced on Wednesday evening that about 60 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel.

In the details of Hezbollah's attacks, the party announced that it had bombed "for the third time a gathering of Israeli enemy forces east of the town of Maroun al-Ras."

Hezbollah also announced that it had bombarded "a gathering of Israeli enemy forces on the southern outskirts of the town of Bint Jbeil with a salvo of 'Nasr 1' rockets."

In a remarkable development, the party announced yesterday, Wednesday, that it had bombed the headquarters of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv twice with what it described as qualitative attack drones and with ballistic missiles of the “Qader 2” type. It also announced the bombing of the Glilot base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv and two other bases in northern Israel.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army announced the death of a captain and 5 soldiers in a battle in southern Lebanon, in which 4 other soldiers were also injured.

The Israeli army added that the officer and the dead soldiers belonged to the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that the six were killed in a zero-distance clash with Hezbollah fighters who were ambushed inside a bombed building before the force entered, noting that the Israeli army believes that the party fighters emerged from a tunnel and then left.

The battle lasted for about 3 hours, between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. It took a long time to transport the wounded and dead. According to military sources, the ambush was complex and complicated.

Israeli sources had previously announced the killing of 7 Israeli soldiers in the collapse of a building in a village in southern Lebanon.

Thus, the number of Israeli army dead in southern Lebanon since the start of its attacks last September has risen to 53, including officers and soldiers.

In a development related to the war in Lebanon, the Yedioth Ahronoth website said that warships participated in the fighting alongside the Israeli Navy and ground forces and in directing the air force towards specific targets on the Lebanese front.

The Israeli army said that the navy is actively participating in offensive and defensive operations, especially in intercepting suicide drones and targeting Hezbollah's leadership and headquarters.

After clashes with factions in Lebanon - most notably Hezbollah - that began the day after Israel launched its war of extermination on Gaza, Tel Aviv expanded the scope of the extermination to include most areas of Lebanon - including the capital Beirut - through air strikes, and it also began a ground invasion in the south.

The Israeli aggression on Lebanon resulted in a total of 3,287 deaths and 14,222 injuries, including a large number of children and women, in addition to more than 1.2 million displaced persons.

This morning, Thursday, settlers attacked olive pickers in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus.

Local sources reported that a number of settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, attacked citizens in the southwestern part of the village of Jalud, fired live bullets at them, and stole olives.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the occupation forces and settlers have carried out more than 253 attacks since the beginning of the olive harvest season, including 184 attacks in the northern West Bank, and 113 concentrated in the Nablus Governorate.

During the annual olive harvest season, Palestinian lands are subjected to repeated attacks by settlers and the occupation army, and farmers constantly face obstacles and arbitrary practices that prevent them from accessing their lands, which leads to huge material losses and increases their daily suffering under the burden of the occupation.

Bank of Palestine today signed two partnership agreements with PROPARCO, the investment arm of the French Development Agency, and FISEA+, with a total value of 1,340,000 euros, to support Palestinian entrepreneurs through the "Intersect" incubator, the pioneering arm of Bank of Palestine, in addition to enhancing digital transformation in Palestine, and supporting small and medium enterprises.

In light of the Palestinian economy being affected by the repercussions of the war on Gaza, and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, this agreement will contribute to enabling Bank of Palestine to provide a flexible ecosystem for entrepreneurship, by supporting the activities of the "Intersect" incubator for local startups and entrepreneurship programs and improving the innovation environment, in addition to continuing to support small and medium enterprises, which constitute the backbone of the Palestinian economy, to help them access the necessary digital tools.

Under this agreement, an amount of one million euros will be provided to the "Intersect" incubator, to enhance the innovation system, and support its various activities to expand geographically In Palestine, especially in Nablus, Hebron, and the Gaza Strip (when the war ends), in addition to

overcoming the obstacles and challenges facing local entrepreneurs, including technology startups, by providing resources, an incubation program, mentoring, and networking opportunities.

The second agreement also provides technical support in the amount of 340,000 euros to Bank of Palestine to enhance the digital transformation in electronic banking and financial services provided by the bank to more than 2,000 of its small and medium-sized enterprise clients, which are essential solutions for their businesses; including payments, electronic transactions: such as money transfers, employee payrolls, and paying utility bills, which will contribute to maintaining the continuity of economic activity under difficult circumstances.

“The Palestinian economy has proven its resilience in many respects, thanks to the commitment of the Bank of Palestine, which has chosen to support local entrepreneurs. Today, Proparco confirms its support to the Bank of Palestine and I am certain that these two technical assistance grants will have a tangible and positive impact on the Palestinian entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Françoise Lombard, CEO of PROPARCO. In turn, Hashim Shawa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of Palestine Group, stressed the importance of these agreements, which will contribute significantly and effectively to strengthening the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Palestine, embracing entrepreneurial programs, encouraging entrepreneurial activities, and positively impacting the youth community and the Palestinian economy in cooperation with all partners, through the Intersect Incubator, noting that we have taken advanced steps to enable Palestinian innovators to learn about global expertise closely, and to move Palestinian entrepreneurship to the global entrepreneurship platform. The agreement also supports strengthening the position of digital transformation in the banking sector, to provide the best electronic financial solutions and services, to meet the needs of customers from project owners and small and medium-sized companies, which in turn will contribute to enabling the economy to recover, recover and grow in light of the critical circumstances and crises facing our economy.

Bank of Palestine is the leading banking group in Palestine, seeking to achieve a positive impact, in line with the sustainable development goals, starting from renewable energy projects to comprehensive initiatives that focus on gender empowerment.

It is worth mentioning that the Bank of Palestine’s partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) Group, including Proparco, which extends over 12 years, includes many initiatives, and this strategic relationship between Bank of Palestine and the French Development Agency represents a major cooperation for the benefit of economic development and the improvement of financial services in Palestine.

About Proparco

Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency, has been working with the private sector for more than 45 years, to achieve a more just and sustainable world. Proparco works closely with its partners through an international network of 23 local offices, to find sustainable solutions that respond to environmental and social challenges in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Proparco harnesses sector expertise in addition to a wide range of financial solutions specifically designed to meet the different stages of business development, thanks to the programs provided by its two affiliated institutions, Digital Africa and Propulse, for technical support, aiming to expand the impact and performance of its partners. Through its new strategy “Working together for greater impact” for the years 2023-2027, Proparco contributes to enabling, strengthening and expanding the various mechanisms through which it works with its partners.

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Media contact: Florian Ballack / [email protected]

Learn more: http://www.proparco.fr/en/strategy.

For more information, go to: http://www.proparco.fr/en , @Proparco and LinkedIn

About FISEA:

The FISEA Fund was created by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group in 2009, with the aim of promoting economic growth and the creation of SMEs in Africa. In early 2021, the FISEA+ initiative took over the management of the FISEA Fund, with an additional investment capacity of €210 million, in addition to a guarantee from the European Union under the EFSD+ programme. Taking into account changes in market needs, FISEA+ has set specific investment targets for fragile states, social and solidarity projects and SMEs integrating digital innovation. FISEA+ comes with an ambitious €21 million technical support programme, provided by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the European Union, to support SMEs, both directly and through investment funds. FISEA+ is part of the French initiative “Choose Africa”, reflecting France’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship in Africa.

About Bank Palestine

Bank of Palestine was established in 1960 and is headquartered in Ramallah. Bank of Palestine is a commercial bank listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange and is subject to the supervision and instructions of the Palestine Monetary Authority. It is the first and largest national bank among 13 financial institutions operating in Palestine, with total assets of $7.126 billion and a market share exceeding one-third of the Palestinian banking sector in terms of customer deposits and credit facilities. The bank has a leading banking network of 101 branches spread throughout Palestine, providing its services to more than one million customers, including individuals, companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and public sector institutions, through a diverse and wide range of distinguished banking services, such as retail banking services, corporate banking services, digital and mobile banking services, in addition to subsidiary activities and programs. The bank also plays a leading role in lending to small and medium enterprises, and is a major contributor to promoting financial inclusion, sustainability, and entrepreneurship in Palestine.

Contact person for Bank of Palestine Group: Rateb Al-Rabi/ [email protected]

For more information, please visit the website, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

American newspapers and official statements revealed the most important files discussed in the meeting between US President Joe Biden and his elected successor, Donald Trump, who is preparing to return to the White House next January to serve a second four-year term.

The meeting between Biden and Trump yesterday, Wednesday, was marked by "respect" and "friendliness," according to what the White House announced. It was the first between them since Trump's re-election, as they pledged a smooth transition of power.

A White House spokeswoman said the nearly two-hour meeting was "very proper" and "very cordial" and "incredibly productive."

Trump left the White House at the beginning of 2021 defeated and angry, and was visited on Wednesday by a president-elect whose party also won a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The two men shook hands in the Oval Office. Trump said the transition would be "as smooth as possible," adding, "Politics is hard and it's not a pretty place. But it's a pretty place right now, and I appreciate that."

For his part, Biden, who has repeatedly stressed over the past years that Trump poses a threat to democracy, said, "We will do everything we can to make sure that you get everything you need."

Reporters raised their voices with questions but were quickly removed.

Middle East and Ukraine

The New York Post reported that Trump said that he and President Joe Biden "talked a lot about the Middle East" during their meeting at the White House.

"I wanted to know his perspective on where we are and what he sees. He gave it to me, and he was very nice," Trump was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

In turn, Axios quoted US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as saying that Biden discussed with Trump the issue of Israeli detainees in Gaza. He said that Trump's team is ready to cooperate with the next administration to promote the release of the hostages in Gaza.

Biden also made clear that supporting Ukraine was in the U.S. national security interest because "a strong and stable Europe will prevent the United States from being dragged into a war," Sullivan told reporters. Trump has vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine quickly, without explaining how.

Democrat Biden defeated Republican Trump in the 2020 election but dropped out of the 2024 race in July after a disastrous debate. Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee but lost to Trump.

Although welcoming the president-elect to the White House is a traditional courtesy, Trump did not do so when Biden won in 2020.

The meeting was a stark contrast to the sharp criticism the two men have been exchanging for years.

Biden, 81, has often portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy, while Trump, 78, has portrayed him as incompetent. Trump has repeatedly made allegations of widespread fraud after losing the 2020 election to Biden.