British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said London would follow due process if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the UK, after an arrest warrant was issued for him by the International Criminal Court.

This came in statements to reporters, today, Monday, before the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Italy.

Lamy stressed his country's permanent commitment to the obligations imposed by international humanitarian law, in response to a question about whether it would abide by the two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, on the background of crimes committed in Gaza.

"We are a party to the Rome Statute and have always complied with our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law," Lamy added.

He continued: "Of course, if such a visit to the United Kingdom takes place, there will be a judicial process, and due process will be followed in relation to these cases."

Under the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, member states are obliged to cooperate fully with each other, including in the execution of arrest warrants issued by it, as such cooperation is essential to the success of its work and the fight against impunity.

This evening, Monday, the Israeli "Colonies Council" crews seized agricultural aid provided to citizens in Khirbet al-Farisiya in the northern Jordan Valley.

The official in charge of the Jordan Valley file in Tubas Governorate, Moataz Basharat, reported that settlers from the so-called “Colonies Council” seized aid provided by the Agriculture Directorate to citizens Ahmed Hussein Abu Mohsen and Ali Zahdi Abu Mohsen.

A Lebanese official and a Western diplomat said Monday that Washington had informed Lebanese officials that a ceasefire with Israel could be announced "within hours."

An Israeli official said the government will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

In Washington, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said ceasefire talks with Hezbollah were "moving forward," but insisted that Israel would retain the ability to strike southern Lebanon in any agreement.

The ambassador said ahead of the UN Security Council meeting that he expected the Israeli cabinet to meet on Monday or Tuesday to discuss the issue of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

In turn, the Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Elias Bou Saab, told Reuters that the truce sponsored by Washington is based on the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon and the deployment of Lebanese forces within 60 days.

He added that one of the points of contention over who would monitor the ceasefire had been resolved in the past 24 hours by agreeing to form a committee of five countries, including France, and chaired by the United States.

He pointed out that "there are no new obstacles to the truce."

An-Najah National University has achieved a new accomplishment by achieving the first and only local rank among Palestinian universities, and the 27th rank in the Arab world, and entering the top 200 universities globally, thus advancing over many prestigious international universities in the new edition of the Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings for the year 2025 (THE Interdisciplinary Science Rankings), which was launched in partnership with the Schmidt Science Fellows Foundation.

This is the first and only ranking that focuses on evaluating universities based on their ability to integrate different academic disciplines to address complex scientific and societal issues. It aims to highlight the best universities in the world in the field of multidisciplinary scientific research, their ability to achieve excellence in this field, and to enhance innovation to meet contemporary challenges at the local and global levels.

This classification is based on 11 main indicators to evaluate institutional performance, distributed over three main axes: Inputs, which include funding and material support and represent 19% of the total weight of the classification; Processes, which include success measures, quality of facilities, administrative support, and promotion and represent 16%; and Outputs, which include quality of research, number of publications, and academic and scientific reputation and represent the largest percentage, 65%.

Professor Dr. Abdel Nasser Zaid, President of the University, expressed his pride in this high achievement, stressing that this achievement reflects the University’s firm commitment to enhancing integration between different disciplines, keeping pace with global and professional trends, and enhancing scientific research that contributes to building a better future, and is an incentive to continue the path of excellence and innovation in various academic and research fields.

Based on this ranking, An-Najah University seeks to enhance its position by launching future strategic initiatives that aim to promote interdisciplinary sciences and develop academic programs, such as the Climate Studies Program, which integrates environmental, health, social, and public policy sciences, in addition to strengthening international partnerships to develop advanced research and science in the fields of digital transformation, public health, and environmental sustainability, reflecting its commitment to academic excellence and its contribution to addressing global challenges.

He extended his congratulations and appreciation to Professor Dr. Rami Al-Hamdallah, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University, for his pioneering vision and continuous support for the University’s journey, indicating that this exceptional achievement clearly reflects the commitment to implementing his ambitious strategy that aims to enhance the University’s position as a leading academic and research institution at the local, regional and international levels, and is the fruit of his pioneering efforts in charting the path of Palestinian excellence and innovation.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club Association said that the Israeli occupation authorities have arrested more than (435) women since the beginning of the war of extermination, in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and from the lands of 1948.

The club explained in a report issued on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which falls on November 25 of each year, that there is no clear estimate of the number of women who were arrested from Gaza, as a number of them were later released, but it is certain that there are women who are still detained in the occupation camps, and they are subject to enforced disappearance.

Their number reached (94) female prisoners, including four female prisoners from Gaza, and among the female prisoners (31) are administrative detainees, among them (33) mothers, (25) female university students, (6) female journalists, and two female lawyers, and among the female prisoners: wives of prisoners, mothers of prisoners and martyrs, and sisters of martyrs.

The Prisoners Club added that "Palestinian women are facing the bloodiest phase in the history of the conflict with the occupation, with the continuation of the war of genocide, in addition to facing a series of unprecedented crimes and serious violations against them, with the escalation of arrests and attacks at various levels, including sexual assaults, which constituted the most prominent episode in the testimonies of female prisoners, specifically female prisoners from Gaza."

The Prisoners Club stressed that the concepts adopted by the international system in describing the reality of women under the term violence are no longer sufficient to describe the stage that Palestinian women are exposed to in light of the war of extermination, and the policies of horrific theft and deprivation, which constitute an extension of a long history of the policy of targeting women, and what we are witnessing today of crimes against women that were practiced throughout the decades of occupation, but the difference is the intensity of these crimes and their level and their unprecedented escalation, if compared to previous periods.

The club added: “Since the beginning of the war of extermination, the Israeli occupation forces have escalated systematic arrests of Palestinian women in all Palestinian geographies, and have not excluded minors. This has also included arresting women as hostages, with the aim of pressuring a family member targeted by the occupation to surrender himself. This policy has been one of the most prominent crimes that has escalated significantly, and has included wives of prisoners, martyrs, and mothers, including elderly women over seventy years old. It should be noted that this policy has affected other groups, not just women. Their detention as hostages has been accompanied by acts of abuse and threats that have reached the point of threatening to kill the targeted son or husband, in addition to the attacks they have been subjected to during the arrest process, in addition to the acts of vandalism that have affected their homes, terrorizing their children and sons, and seizing their money and gold jewelry.”

The occupation also carried out widespread arrests of women from Gaza, including minors and elderly women, and detained them in military camps, in addition to the “Damon” prison. In light of the occupation’s continued implementation of the crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza detainees, institutions do not have clear data on their numbers, or on those who remain under detention in the camps under the administration of the army. As for the “Damon” prison, the number of female prisoners from Gaza today is four, according to the report.

The club continued: “With the release of dozens of female prisoners from Gaza, they have given harsh testimonies about their arrests, their transfer to camps, the humiliation, abuse, and deprivation of all their rights they were subjected to, their threats of rape, their subjection to humiliating strip searches, their exposure to harassment, in addition to the obscene words and insults that the occupation soldiers deliberately used against them, and their forcing them to take off their veils for the entire period of detention, in addition to stripping them naked. Here we refer again to the United Nations report, which referred to reliable reports that two female prisoners from Gaza were subjected to rape.”

Hasharon Prison, as a temporary detention center for female prisoners before their transfer to Damon Prison, is witness to the strip searches that most female prisoners were subjected to, according to dozens of testimonies documented by institutions, in addition to the humiliating and degrading detention conditions to which they were subjected and the attacks, including severe beatings.

The occupation authorities detain the majority of female prisoners in Al-Damon prison, a central prison that they have historically used to detain them, where they face harsh and difficult detention conditions, as a result of the policy of collective isolation that they have adopted against male and female prisoners. In addition, female prisoners, in particular, were subjected to widespread attacks during the first period of the start of the war of extermination, including female prisoners being subjected to solitary confinement, attacks by the forces of repression, the seizure of all their belongings, and the deprivation of all their rights. In addition to the policies previously reviewed, female prisoners today suffer from the policy of starvation, by depriving them of additional food supplies, in addition to depriving them of treatment, which falls within the framework of medical crimes. The overcrowding imposed by the prison administration has also weighed heavily on female prisoners, which has led to the emergence of many tragic detention conditions inside the (Damon) prison, forcing many of them to sleep on the floor, in addition to the severe shortage of clothes and blankets, which is escalating in light of the harsh cold wave. Some female prisoners remained in the clothes in which they were detained for long periods, and were unable to change them. Female prisoners also suffered from the prison administration’s deliberate provision of them with undrinkable and dirty water, in addition to the repeated searches and raids of their sections, and the seizure of their extra clothes.

The club said that "Palestinian women, like all segments of Palestinian society, were targeted by administrative detention operations that have escalated in an unprecedented manner in history, as the number of administrative detainees until the beginning of this November reached more than (3443), including (31) female prisoners held administratively, including journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, and students, and the majority of them were charged with incitement on social media, which today constitutes the most prominent pretexts used by the occupation to arrest Palestinians in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, as well as the 1948 territories.

The report addressed the case of the human rights prisoner and activist Khalida Jarrar, who has been subjected to the crime of solitary confinement in Neve Tartessia prison for more than 100 days, where the occupation prison administration is holding her in tragic and harsh isolation conditions that affect all her rights. Based on several visits conducted by human rights organizations, there is real fear for her fate.

The club stated that the policy of solitary confinement, along with the collective isolation measures imposed on prisoners since the beginning of the war of extermination, constitutes one of the most prominent policies that have been escalated against male and female prisoners, and which is considered one of the most dangerous policies practiced by the Israeli prison system against prisoners over many decades.

It is noteworthy that the occupation forces re-arrested Jarar on 12/26/2023, from her home in Ramallah, and she was transferred to administrative detention, and an administrative detention order was issued against her. Throughout the past period, she was detained in Al-Damon prison alongside female prisoners, until she was transferred to solitary confinement since last August. Since her arrest, she has faced, like all male and female prisoners, harsh and difficult detention conditions, systematic abuse and crimes.

The report also addressed the case of prisoner Shaima Rawajbeh (25 years old) from Nablus, who has been administratively detained since last April, and who faces difficult and complex health conditions. Since her arrest, she has been suffering from a fracture in one of her feet, which later led to her suffering, after the cast was removed, severe muscle weakness, until the situation worsened and she was no longer able to walk, and she became completely dependent on female prisoners to meet her needs. Her suffering did not stop there, but she suffers from severe stomach problems, to the point that she is no longer able to eat any type of so-called (meals), as she vomits constantly, which led to her suffering from severe weight loss.

The Prisoners Club explained that the case of prisoner Rawajbeh is one of no less than (25) female prisoners who suffer from clear and difficult health problems, and they need urgent health care.

The Prisoners Club confirmed, based on the testimonies it obtained from Palestinian female prisoners and detainees, that the Israeli occupation continues to violate the rights of Palestinian female prisoners in detention and interrogation centers and prisons, in hospitals, medical clinics, checkpoints and barriers, as these violations affect all categories of Palestinian women, including teachers, students, mothers, girls and others.

The Prisoners Club called on the United Nations and all member states to pressure the occupying state to respect and abide by international law and international human rights law, and to implement the Convention against Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

He called on the contracting states to the Fourth Geneva Convention to end the physical and psychological abuse practiced by the occupation soldiers during the arrest of Palestinian women, and their illegal detention in the occupied Palestinian territory, and to end the practices of physical and psychological torture and degrading treatment during investigation and arrest.

The Israeli government has severed all ties with the left-wing newspaper Haaretz, after the paper's publisher made earlier comments describing Hamas fighters as "freedom fighters."

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s office announced that the government unanimously approved his proposal to end the relationship, including advertising for government tenders, both in print and on the newspaper’s website. An official statement said that the government “will cut off all advertising ties with Haaretz and calls on all its branches, ministries and bodies, as well as any government institution or body funded by it, not to communicate with Haaretz in any way and not to publish any publications in it.” The statement continued, “While the government supports freedom of the press and freedom of expression, it will not accept a situation in which the publisher of an official newspaper calls for sanctions against it and supports its enemies in the midst of war.” Karhi’s office noted that the decision to boycott the newspaper came in the wake of numerous articles “that have harmed the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the world and its right to self-defense, especially the comments of the newspaper’s publisher Amos Schocken at a conference in London last month (…) We must not allow a reality in which the publisher of an official newspaper in the State of Israel calls for sanctions against it and supports the enemies of the state in the midst of war.” And Israel is financing it.

“Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is leading a brutal apartheid regime against the Palestinian population, ignoring the costs to both sides of defending the settlements [in the West Bank] while fighting Palestinian freedom fighters whom Israel describes as terrorists,” said Schocken. “What is happening in Gaza is a second Nakba,” he said, calling for sanctions on Israel, which he said “is the only way to establish a Palestinian state.”

Although Haaretz later tried to contradict Schocken, asserting in an editorial following his statements that “any organization that calls for the killing of women, children and the elderly is a terrorist organization, and its members are terrorists. They are certainly not freedom fighters.” But the official Israeli attack on the newspaper did not stop, to the point that Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin asked Israeli Attorney General Gali Beharev-Miara to send a new bill that would make encouraging international sanctions on Israel a criminal offense, punishable by 10 years in prison. Even before the official decision was issued, the Director General of the Ministry of Transportation, Moshe Ben Zakan, instructed his ministry’s spokespeople and media department to immediately cease all dealings with the Haaretz group, and other bodies followed suit.

It is noteworthy that the attack on Haaretz came on the grounds that relations with the government are not good due to the newspaper’s coverage of the war on the Gaza Strip. Haaretz is known for being hostile to the current government’s policy and against wars in general. In 2021, during an Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the newspaper published on its front page pictures of 67 Palestinian children killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, saying that this was the price of war, before facing a storm from the government and the right that reached the point of accusing it of treason. Haaretz attacked the Israeli government’s approach against it, saying that it was “another step in Netanyahu’s efforts to dismantle Israeli democracy.”

Haaretz added that it "will not back down, and will not turn into a government booklet publishing messages approved by the government and its prime minister."

The decision against Haaretz has encouraged ministers to demand similar decisions against other media outlets. The Israeli website i24NEWS said that quotes from the discussion in which the decision to boycott Haaretz was taken indicate that ministers wanted to cut ties with other media outlets. The website confirmed that Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said at the meeting: “We need to stop contacts not only with Haaretz, but also with News 12 and N12, after the slander in the Sde Teiman affair (the prison where Israel has held thousands of Gazans in inhumane conditions). The publication caused international damage.”

But Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich refused, replying: “You are causing harm, and you are explaining why the attorney general was right when she spoke of a slippery slope.” Education Minister Yoav Kisch then joined Smotrich, telling Eliyahu: “This is not good for us, it is harming our line,” before Eliyahu responded: “There is a slippery slope, so government advertisements should only be banned when there is malicious damage to state security during a war, as News 12 did.”

Gold pared early gains as data awaited for clues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook, while the dollar fell on the nomination of Scott Penn as U.S. Treasury Secretary, while oil hovered near a two-week high.

gold

Gold pared early gains after approaching a three-week high, supported by a weaker dollar and safe-haven demand amid rising geopolitical tensions, while investors awaited more data to clarify the U.S. central bank's monetary policy outlook.

Spot gold fell 1.5% to $2,671.73 an ounce, after rising to $2,721.43 in early trading.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $2,721.10 an ounce in morning trading before retreating to $2,675.20 in the latest trading.

Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into Israel yesterday, following Israeli air strikes that killed at least 29 people in Beirut and reported damage near Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, said Russia had destroyed two missiles and 27 drones launched by Ukraine over the region.

Gold typically rises during times of geopolitical tensions, economic risks, and in an economic environment characterized by low interest rates.

Markets currently expect a 51% chance of the Fed cutting rates by 25 basis points in December, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Economic terms bonds

Dollar

The dollar gave up some of its recent gains on Tuesday as investors assumed that US President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Scott Pence as Treasury Secretary would reassure the bond market and lower bond yields.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.343% from 4.412% last Friday after the bond market cheered Trump's pick of Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary.

The dollar index fell in its latest transactions by 0.61% to 106.90 points after reaching a two-year high of 108.090 on Friday.

The dollar fell 0.25 percent against the yen to 154.35 yen, moving further away from its recent high of 156.76 yen.

The euro rose 0.72% to $1.049, moving away from a two-year high of $1.0332.

Sterling hit a six-week low of $1.2484 on Friday and was up 0.33 percent at $1.2571 in early trade on Monday, but remained just below last week's high of $1.2714.

For cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rose 0.75% to $98,593 after profit-taking.

Bitcoin has jumped more than 40% since the US election, supported by expectations that Trump will ease regulatory restrictions on cryptocurrencies.

Oil

Oil prices hovered near a two-week high on Monday, following a 6% gain last week, as geopolitical tensions between Western powers and oil producers Russia and Iran escalated, raising the prospect of supply disruptions.

Brent crude futures fell 53 cents, or 0.72%, to $74.63 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 61 cents, or 0.84%, to $70.63 a barrel.

Both benchmarks posted their biggest weekly gains since late September and settled at their highest since Nov. 7 after Russia fired a hypersonic missile at Ukraine in a warning to the United States and Britain, following a strike by Kiev on Russia using U.S. and British weapons.

In addition, Iran responded to a draft resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday by ordering measures such as operating new, advanced centrifuges used in uranium enrichment.

Iran's foreign ministry said yesterday it would hold talks on its controversial nuclear programme with the European troika on November 29.

The UAE's interior ministry revealed on Monday that the three men suspected of killing Moldovan-born Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan are from Uzbekistan.

The Interior Ministry said that "the three perpetrators are of Uzbek nationality: Olimpi Tohirovic (28 years old), Mahmudjun Abdul Rahim (28 years old), and Azizbek Kamilovich (33 years old)."

She added that the competent security authorities have begun conducting initial investigations with the three in preparation for referring them to the Public Prosecution to complete the investigations, without adding further details.

The UAE Ministry of Interior announced yesterday, Sunday, that it had been able "in record time to arrest the perpetrators of the murder of a resident of the country named Zvi Kogan, who holds Moldovan citizenship according to the identification papers with which he entered the UAE."

Israel also announced earlier yesterday that the body of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who had been missing since Thursday in the United Arab Emirates, had been found.

Yedioth Ahronoth said that "the perpetrators did not act on orders from Iran, although the method of execution is similar to the way Tehran works with what it described as mercenary networks in previous attacks."

The Iranian embassy in the UAE has strongly denied any involvement by Tehran in the incident.

Zvi Kogan is a representative of the Jewish Chabad movement in the Emirates, and holds Moldovan citizenship in addition to Israeli citizenship.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Kogan (28 years old) was officially residing in the Emirates as an assistant to the Chief Rabbi of Abu Dhabi.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Head of the Department of Refugee Affairs, Ahmed Abu Holi, called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today, Monday, to urgently intervene to restore the educational process in the Gaza Strip, catch up with the remainder of the current academic year, ensure protection and a safe educational environment, form a specialized committee to monitor and document Israeli crimes against the educational process in Palestine, and support the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The extraordinary session was held at the request of twelve members of the UNESCO Executive Board (Chile, Cuba, Djibouti, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, and Turkey) to support the continuity of UNRWA’s educational activities in response to the Israeli Knesset’s laws banning UNRWA’s activities, which would result in the collapse of the educational process led by the Agency in its areas of operation in Palestine.

Abu Holi stressed that Israel, the occupying power, did not stop at destroying the education sector in Gaza, but rather declared war on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by targeting its employees and facilities, killing 243 of its employees and destroying 190 of its facilities, most of which were schools in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, in defiance of international laws, especially Security Council Resolution 2730, which was adopted on May 24, 2024.

Abu Holi warned of the repercussions of the laws passed by the Israeli Knesset to ban UNRWA activities, the implementation of which could lead to the collapse of UNRWA operations in Palestine. It will affect its schools in the Gaza Strip, which number 284 schools with an estimated 300,000 students, as well as 96 UNRWA schools in the West Bank, with an estimated 49,000 students. The danger will also haunt about 45,500 students in the occupied city of Jerusalem, who receive their education through 146 schools affiliated with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in addition to 6 UNRWA schools with 1,800 male and female students.

Abu Holi explained that the Israeli laws passed by the Knesset on October 28, 2024 aim to dismantle UNRWA and end its work, noting that the right-wing occupation government announced that eliminating the agency is one of the goals of its war.

Abu Holi stressed that the ongoing war of extermination has deprived more than 788,000 male and female students of their right to education, in addition to 58,000 who did not enroll in education in the new academic year 2024-2025, and 39,000 who did not take the high school exam, while most students suffer from psychological trauma and face difficult health conditions. More than 11,946 students were martyred, and more than 18,858 students were injured, while 115 students were martyred in the West Bank and 609 others were injured, in addition to the arrest of 466 students, and 564 teachers and administrators were martyred and 3,729 were injured in the Gaza Strip, and more than 153 teachers and administrators were arrested in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and 115 scientists and university professors were martyred.

Abu Holi stressed that the Israeli occupation state committed an educational genocide by targeting educational institutions, especially schools, explaining that 458 schools affiliated with the government and UNRWA were bombed and vandalized in the Gaza Strip, including 335 schools that suffered severe damage that is difficult to repair, and 123 schools that were completely destroyed, in addition to 6 universities that were completely or partially destroyed, in addition to 58 schools that were notified of demolition by the Israeli occupation authorities in areas classified as (B, C) in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.

Medical sources announced today, Monday, that the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 44,235, the majority of whom are children and women, since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7, 2023.

The same sources added that the number of injuries has risen to 104,638 since the beginning of the aggression, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble.

She pointed out that the occupation forces committed two massacres during the past 24 hours, which resulted in the death of 24 citizens and the injury of 71 others.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Monday not to sign a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, after reports that it would be reached in the coming days.

Ben Gvir considered the agreement with Lebanon to be "a big mistake and a waste of a historic opportunity to eliminate Hezbollah," as he described it.

He addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that "it is not too late to stop this agreement," urging him to continue the war until achieving what he calls "absolute victory."

He added that Israel should reject the ceasefire because "Hezbollah is weak and yearns for an end to the war," as he described it.

Israeli military leaders had previously confirmed that their goal in the war in Lebanon was to "weaken Hezbollah and push it back beyond the Litani, not to eliminate it."

In contrast, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem confirmed the party's ability to continue fighting, and Sunday recorded the largest number of operations, 51, compared to the previous record of 34.

This comes amid reports that Netanyahu has agreed to a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, and expectations that it will be signed in the "coming days" as negotiations continue to discuss the points of contention.

It is noteworthy that Netanyahu missed the opportunity to reach a prisoner exchange agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) last July, in order to please Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, according to what was published by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority on Sunday.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Monday that the risk of drought and disease threatens the residents of Gaza due to the lack of fuel to operate water wells, especially in the north of the Strip, which has been subjected to an escalation in the genocide for about 50 days.

“People in Gaza face a constant risk of dehydration and disease as water wells stop working due to fuel shortages that prevent them from operating,” the agency said in a post on its X platform.

“In besieged northern Gaza alone, some 70,000 people are struggling to access clean water,” she added, noting that “this basic human right remains out of reach for many.”

"The ceasefire must be stopped now," she stressed.

A California Republican has criticized Secretary of State Antony Blinken after it was reported that the department held therapy sessions for employees upset by President-elect Donald Trump's election victory.

“I am concerned that the Department is meeting the needs of federal employees who have been ‘devastated’ by the normal functioning of American democracy by providing government-funded mental health counseling because Kamala Harris was not elected President of the United States,” Rep. Darrell Issa, D-N.Y., said in a letter to Blinken last week.

The letter comes after a report by the Free Beacon earlier this month that alleged two therapy sessions were held at the State Department after Trump's victory, with sources telling the site that one of the cases was a "crying session."

According to Fox News, an email was sent to US State Department employees about “a separate insightful webinar in which we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times,” after Trump’s victory.

“Change is a constant in our lives, but it often brings stress and uncertainty,” the email reads. “Join us for an insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times. This session will provide practical tips and strategies for managing stress and staying healthy.”

In his letter to Blinken, Issa claimed that the reported sessions were “disturbing” and that “nonpartisan government officials” should not suffer “personal breakdowns over the outcome of a free and fair election.”

While the Republican congressman acknowledged that the mental health of agency employees is important, he questioned the use of taxpayer money to provide counseling to those upset by the election, demanding answers about how many sessions have been conducted, how many are planned, and how much the sessions cost the department.

Issa also raised concerns that the sessions could also raise questions about the willingness of some State Department staff to implement Trump's new vision for the U.S. State Department.

“The mere fact that the Department is hosting these hearings raises significant questions about the readiness of its staff to implement the legal policy priorities that the American people elected President Trump to pursue,” the letter said.

The US representative continued: “The Trump administration has a mandate for comprehensive change in the foreign policy arena, and if foreign service officers cannot follow the preferences of the American people, they should resign and seek a political appointment in the next Democratic administration.”

The Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Affairs Authority published the names of a number of prisoners who were visited in the Negev and Megiddo prisons.

The Commission confirmed in a report issued on Monday that all prisoners came to the visit with their hands tied, and the jailers refused to remove their shackles despite the lawyer’s objection, which put additional psychological pressure on them and made it difficult to sign their powers of attorney or even carry the phone designated for the visit. It was also clear that all prisoners had lost significant body weight due to malnutrition and the retaliatory punishments imposed on them for more than a year.

The prisoners who were visited are:

-Prisoner Ahmed Salem (42 years old) from Ramallah, who was arrested on 10/10/2023, and was sentenced to administrative detention for a period of 6 months, which was renewed twice. It is worth noting that he is a former prisoner who spent 17 years in Israeli prisons, and is currently in the Negev prison.

- Prisoner Majd Zahran (32 years old) from the town of Biddu in the Jerusalem Governorate, who has been detained since 10/13/2023, and is supposed to be released on 4/6/2025 if his administrative detention is not renewed. He is currently in the Negev prison.

- Prisoner Waseem Bani Hassan (22 years old) from Jenin, who suffers from a worrying health condition, as he cannot hear with his right ear, as a result of the severe beating he was subjected to by the prison guards last May, which caused him severe wounds to the head and ear, in addition to his suffering from scabies disease. It is worth noting that he is currently in Megiddo Prison, and was arrested on 12/11/2023, and a 6-month administrative prison sentence was issued against him, which was renewed once.

-Prisoner Muhammad Arif Freihat (43 years old) from Jenin has been detained since 8/12/2024, and was sentenced to 6 months of administrative detention. He is currently in Megiddo Prison.

The Prisoners Authority pointed out that there were a number of prisoners who were supposed to be visited, but the lawyer was surprised that a number of them were transferred to other prisons, while the other part was unable to go out for the visit, due to what the prison administration stated, which is that it is carrying out cleaning and sterilization campaigns for some sections.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a speech he delivered on Monday that issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli leaders is not enough, but rather an execution warrant must be issued, stressing that bombing homes and hospitals is not a victory but rather war crimes.

Khamenei also said that "the mobilization doctrine exists in other countries, including the resistance, and it will overcome the Israeli occupation and America."

This comes after the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, along with Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces demolished residential facilities in the "Al-Burj" area in the northern Jordan Valley.

According to local sources, the occupation bulldozers began demolishing two brick residential rooms belonging to citizen Radi Khalil Zawahra, noting that the demolition process is still ongoing.

During last October, the occupation authorities carried out 34 demolition operations that affected 45 facilities, including 12 inhabited homes, 6 uninhabited ones, and 19 agricultural and other facilities. They also notified 38 other facilities of demolition.

Today, Monday, settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the occupation police.

According to local sources, a number of settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed Talmudic rituals.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces tightened their military measures around the city of Jerusalem, and hindered the movement of citizens north of the city.

According to local sources, the occupation army set up a flying checkpoint at the roundabout of the town of Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, and tightened its military measures at the Qalandia checkpoint, north of the city, which hindered the movement of citizens to and from the city.

Israeli media outlets have discussed the state of anxiety prevailing in Israel after the ICC decisions to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, which has caused it to face an unprecedented diplomatic and legal crisis with increasing isolation and fears of the repercussions of the decisions.

International law expert Professor Amichai Cohen Shalom said that Israel has become a "mangy state" that countries fear establishing relations with.

In an in-depth analysis of the situation, Channel 12 political affairs analyst Guy Peleg said that Netanyahu seeks to play the role of the victim locally and globally, adding that the prime minister "sees himself as the center of the universe and that everyone revolves around him."

He added that "Netanyahu is now ranked globally with Putin, Milosevic and Gaddafi."

Regarding the possibility of avoiding this situation, the political affairs correspondent for Channel 11 quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that establishing an official investigation committee could have prevented the issuance of arrest warrants.

But Channel 18 political analyst Amnon Abramovitch doubted this.

Right-wing government precedents

Abramovitch added that "under the absolute right-wing government" Israel has witnessed three serious precedents: "the first mass massacre", international arrest warrants, and the abandonment of prisoners.

He called for a realistic view of the international situation, especially in international resolutions related to Palestine and the settlements.

For her part, Kan 11 military affairs correspondent Carmela Menashe pointed to the concerns of the security services and the army about the existence of secret arrest warrants that have not yet been activated that may affect senior military leaders, including the Chief of Staff and commanders of military divisions.

Regarding possible solutions, Professor Cohen Shalom explained that Israel can submit requests to the court, especially regarding the opening of an independent and real investigation through an official commission of inquiry, and not political investigations, and he also pointed to the possibility that these decisions will affect arms exports to Israel.

In light of these developments, analysts point out that Israel is facing an unprecedented diplomatic and legal crisis as its international isolation increases and fears grow about the repercussions of the International Criminal Court’s decisions against its political and military leaders.

Source: Al Jazeera

The British Times newspaper said that pressure has been steadily increasing on the Israeli government since the Al-Aqsa flood on October 7, 2023, to enlist ultra-Orthodox Jews from the Haredi sect, who represent 13% of the population, and about 18% of Jews aged 18.

Last June, the Supreme Court in Israel ruled that Haredi Jews cannot be exempted from military service. It also ordered a freeze on the budget of religious schools, and said in its decision that there is no legal basis to prevent the government from enlisting Haredi Jews in the Israeli army.

This issue, according to the newspaper, has threatened to create a rift in the "fragile" ruling coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which relies on the United Torah Judaism Party - the junior partner in the government that strongly opposes the extension of enlistment.

Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, was the first to exempt 400 Haredim who were studying in Jewish religious schools from military service. The newspaper noted that the decision had little practical effect at the time.

But more than a year after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas attacked Israel, the issue of exempting them began to pose problems while its army was in dire need of soldiers to fight on two fronts against Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to the report.

This month, Israel’s new defense minister, Yisrael Katz, approved the recruitment of 7,000 ultra-Orthodox Haredim. In response, prominent Haredi figures accused Netanyahu’s Likud party of “declaring war” on their community.

The newspaper noted that the Israeli army issued 1,125 arrest warrants last week for Haredi recruits who failed to comply with mandatory conscription orders.

Hamami: Only those born religious know the dilemma we are in. If you are not religious and do not observe the laws of Jewish tradition, you will never understand us

Amid the growing tensions, the newspaper quoted several Haredim in Bnei Brik, an ultra-Orthodox town east of Tel Aviv, as saying they feel misunderstood by the rest of Israel, who describe them as draft dodgers who are avoiding the horrors of war rather than those who are “genuinely” devoted to studying Torah.

Moshe Hamami, a 38-year-old Haredi men’s clothing merchant, told The Times that he understands both sides, “those who think we should go to the army and those who want to study Torah.”

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“Only those born religious know the dilemma we are in,” he added. “If you are not religious and do not observe the laws of Jewish tradition, you will never understand us.”

Source: The Times+ Al Jazeera

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission confirmed yesterday, Sunday, that the occupation authorities have seized more than 50,000 dunams of West Bank land since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

The head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Mu'ayyad Shaaban, said that the occupation authorities had seized 52,000 dunams (one dunam equals one thousand square meters) of West Bank land since the beginning of the war.

He pointed out the continuation of demolitions and forced displacement, especially in Bedouin population centers, and the expansion of military checkpoints and the erection of iron gates in various areas of the West Bank.

According to the Wall and Settlement Authority, the Israeli army has demolished nearly 500 homes and facilities in the West Bank since the beginning of the war.

In this context, the Jerusalem Governorate reported - via the X platform - that 62,697 settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed Talmudic prayers, dances and provocations, under heavy protection from the Israeli police, since the beginning of the war.

It confirmed the martyrdom of 80 Palestinians, the injury of 279 with live and rubber bullets, the arrest of 1971 people, and the demolition of 389 homes, commercial and agricultural facilities during the same period.

It is noteworthy that the Oslo Accords classified the West Bank lands into 3 areas: (A) under full Palestinian control, (B) under Israeli security control and Palestinian civil and administrative control, and (C) under Israeli civil, administrative and security control, estimated at about 60% of the West Bank area.

In parallel with its aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army expanded its operations, and settlers escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in a total of 785 Palestinians killed and about 6,450 others injured.

Sources in Beirut, Washington and Tel Aviv confirmed that Israel gave the green light to sign the settlement agreement in Lebanon, with a final decision to be issued by the Cabinet. According to Yedioth Ahronoth.

According to reports, during the discussion held by Netanyahu, the green light was given in principle to move forward with the settlement agreement with Lebanon. It was reported that the answer was delivered to Lebanon by US envoy Amos Hochstein. However, other reports explain and clarify: There are still some gaps that must be filled.

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority added that the agreement with Lebanon was "done", while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is studying how to announce it.

The authority quoted a senior Israeli security source as saying that Israel "gave US envoy Amos Hochstein the green light to move forward with an agreement in Lebanon."

Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing Israeli officials, that the differences over the ceasefire proposal in Lebanon are not fundamental. And that an agreement on Lebanon can be reached within a few days.

A senior US official said tonight, "We are getting closer to reaching a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon," but stressed that there are still several gaps.

A senior Israeli official explains that Israel's orientation is to move toward a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. According to Lebanese reports, the motivation behind the progress is the Israeli side's fear that if an agreement is not signed in the coming days, the United States will withdraw its hands from mediating between Israel and Lebanon.

Iran has denied any connection to the killing of Israeli Rabbi Zvi Kogan, whose body was found in the UAE days after he went missing.

In a statement on Monday, the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi said that Tehran categorically rejects allegations of its involvement in the killing of "Kogan".

The UAE confirmed, on Sunday evening, the killing of "Kogan" and the arrest of "3 perpetrators in the incident."

The UAE Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the body of the Israeli rabbi who had been missing since Thursday had been found in the UAE.

The Emirati statement came after a joint statement by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Mossad intelligence agency, which stated that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an Israeli citizen of Moldovan origin, residing in the UAE, “disappeared under mysterious circumstances since Thursday afternoon.”

According to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Kogan was officially residing in the UAE as an assistant to the Chief Rabbi of Abu Dhabi.

Following the incident, the Hebrew media began circulating news about Iran's involvement in the killing of "Kogan".

In a related context, the Israeli National Security Council warned, in a statement, its citizens against traveling to the Emirates except in cases of necessity.

The warning statement asked Israeli citizens in the UAE to "avoid visiting businesses, gathering places and entertainment venues associated with Israel and Jews."

The newspaper tour sheds light on the possibility of US President Joe Biden calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state before the end of his term, in addition to the nature of the confrontation between Israel and Iran, and the behavior of President-elect Donald Trump and his position on Arab issues.

We start with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, wrote an article titled "Biden may call for the establishment of a Palestinian state before Trump succeeds him."

Although US President Joe Biden is generally considered a "friend of Israel," he is not a fan of the current government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Oren, who believed that Biden may call on the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state before the end of his term, and the reason is to get the "last laugh" at Netanyahu.

Oren recalled an incident in 2016 when he was a member of the Knesset and an official in the Prime Minister's Office, when then-US President Barack Obama approved a security and military aid package, and three months later the United States allowed By adopting Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

He spoke of his warning that Obama had used his final months in office to criticize Israel in the UN Security Council, saying: “He offered us financial support with one hand, and then slapped us with the other.”

With the onset of the low pressure system, rain and winds, other chapters of suffering facing the citizens of the Gaza Strip have begun, as the harsh winter weather causes the conditions of the displaced, whose number is estimated at tens of thousands, to deteriorate, in addition to the exacerbation of their humanitarian suffering.

With the continuation of forced displacement and the departure of homes that are no longer suitable due to the Israeli bombing, which completely destroyed them, the tent became the only refuge and shelter from the danger of floods, torrents and winds, and to protect against the cold, but this tent was worn out and torn after rainwater and torrents leaked into it, and after it was blown away by the winds. We are talking here about hundreds of tents that left young children, infants, women, pregnant women, the elderly, the elderly, the sick and all those who suffer from the difficult life in the sector, searching for effective ways, tools and solutions, and appealing to living consciences to help them and provide them with new tents, amid fear of the winter weather conditions that increase the suffering, due to the absence of the simplest necessities of life.

Yesterday, the tents, which house thousands of displaced people in Yarmouk Stadium Camp, Gaza Municipality Park, Al-Shati Camp area, Wadi Al-Dumaitha in Al-Qarara, Wadi Al-Salqa area, the area around Al-Amal neighborhood pond, Al-Aqsa University campus, Al-Shakoosh area in Rafah, Al-Burka and the sea coast in Deir Al-Balah, were severely damaged after rainwater flowed into them, damaging the luggage, bedding and clothes of most of the displaced families, leaving dozens homeless amidst the bitter cold and heavy rain.

The occupation has created very serious repercussions in most parts of the Strip, devastating the lives of the displaced, most notably the destruction of infrastructure, the sabotage of streets, the demolition of homes, the remaining of which are feared to collapse, and the presence of places that are uninhabitable and at risk of collapse, but a number of the displaced resort to them in an attempt to save what can be saved before it is too late.

All international community institutions and bodies concerned with the affairs and issues of the displaced must stand up to their responsibilities and provide the citizens of the Strip with tents and caravans to shelter them from the damage and dangers of the real winter season that threatens the Gaza Strip and imposes new tragedies and disasters, in addition to the massacres and crimes committed by the occupation that always expose citizens to danger, killing and destruction.

Who will do justice to these displaced people, stand with them in a shelter that protects them, and warmth that protects them from the cold weather, and a global and international voice that will do justice to them and end the greatest suffering in history, before winter turns into another season of death and suffering?

The culmination of Netanyahu's goals for the current Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon is the creation of a "New Middle East." One hundred and eight years ago, Netanyahu's predecessors, Sykes and Picot, created for us a "Middle East" that was new at the time, divided the Arab world, laid the foundations for the establishment of "Israel," and created the Arab "national" state as a requirement for that, where the process of that renewal was completed in 1948 with its actual establishment.

But what we believed that the establishment of Israel was the culmination of the process of “renewing” the region or its completion, turned out to us later to be nothing more than “cutting the ribbon” for a process of endless renewal. Since the moment of its establishment, Israel began to change the geostrategic and demographic map of the region, occupying more Palestinian and Arab lands, reaching its peak in 1967. It doubled its efforts to displace the Palestinians and “bring” Jews in their place, and began an intensive process of “normalization” with the Arab “national” states.

Despite all that has happened, talk (and efforts) about creating a new Middle East have not stopped, since Bernard Lewis began doing so in the 1970s, through Shimon Peres and his book “The New Middle East” in 1992, Condoleezza Rice in 2006, and up to Netanyahu these days.

It is obvious that the West and Israel (imperialism and Zionism) are the most keen, urgent and aware of the importance of the continuous "renewal" of the Middle East. They are the ones who "use" it the most, misuse it the most, and burden it beyond its capacity. They are the ones whose goals are closely linked to this process of renewal, its continuity and permanence, to ensure easier and more effective "use". Renewal in the case of the Middle East is linked to use, nothing more.

What does it mean to renew the Middle East?

Talk about the new Middle East has been associated with the West and Israel. A quick look at the words, studies and actions associated with this indicates (in the West) a keenness to deepen the region’s dependence on the West. In Israel, it means seeking further expansion, the need to “enlarge” the small state, as President Trump stated, and increasing Israel’s influence and dominance in the region. Talk about renewing the Middle East has been accompanied by all of Israel’s wars that aimed to weaken and exhaust the Arabs and push them towards choosing normalization, which only meant more weakness and dependency.

Israeli officials make no effort to hide their goals of expanding Israel’s “borders” and embodying its leadership in the region. Before Netanyahu’s recent announcement that he was seeking to change the map of the Middle East, Shimon Peres had said explicitly that “the Arabs have experienced Egypt’s leadership of the region for half a century, so let them experience Israel’s leadership.”

The "New Middle East" in the minds of its owners means a new geography, a new demography, new international relations, new policies, new assumptions, a new prevailing culture, and new educational curricula. It is a reordering of the region in which Israel is the only candidate for expansion, while the existing Arab states are divided, new states emerge, peoples or parts of them are transferred (displaced) from one place to another, the cultural and ethnic composition of some peoples is tampered with, and efforts are made to change their awareness of themselves, of Israel, of each other, of their history, beliefs, values, and symbols. All this in order for Israel to dominate the scene, and to be considered the center of the region, the link between its relations, and its gateway to the world. In short, it is the actual inauguration of the Israeli "empire" in the region.

Here I find it necessary to recall a statement I wrote four years ago in the introduction to my book “Liberating the East… Towards an Eastern Cultural Empire,” which is… “The intellectuals and youth of the region’s peoples still have plenty of time to work on creating the supposed (Eastern) ‘empire,’ especially if these people realize, and most of them certainly do, that if they do not do so, Israel will work—and is already working—to establish its empire in the region, one that will further marginalize and marginalize its peoples.”

Arabs and the "New Middle East".

Although the "New Middle East" project is linked to the weakening of the Arabs and the tearing apart of their countries, they are the least concerned about it in the region. The official Arab world as a whole seems to either ignore the issue or identify with it. It is clear that no Arab is confronting this project except for two "forces" from outside the "state": what remains of the Arab nationalist intellectual elite, which rejects it by adhering to the current situation, which is in fact the older version of the Middle East that was new (Sykes-Picot), or the "resistance" forces in some countries, which are the only ones who confront it and stand in its face.

After the erosion of the Arab nationalist project after 1967, which occurred primarily as a result of the Israeli imperialist move to create a “new Middle East,” no Arab project emerged that thought about the future of the region and dealt with it as a single regional unit, which caused the “nation” to lose most, if not all, of its elements of immunity.

After Nasser, the Arab world no longer had leadership and it does not seem that it will in the foreseeable future. Ironically, the countries that claim leadership in the Arab world now were never nationalists, but rather were major contributors to the frustration of the true Arab national project through their “alliance” with imperialism and Zionism.

The Arab world, due to its “national” state and its consequences, its “modern” elites and their orientations, and their relationship with imperialism and Zionism, has entered a state of clinical death. Indeed, the term “the Arab world” has become a subject of controversy, and the issue of Arab national security is no longer raised. Indeed, there is no longer anything that justifies raising it after the doors of normalization with Israel were opened wide, and the “Arabs” have become part of the Zionist situation.

As for the "national" Arab state, which, to say the least, arose in an "ambiguous" state and in an anti-nation context following Sykes-Picot, it adopted isolation from its sister states as a "doctrine" and disavowed "positive" participation in any national liberation cause, including the Palestinian cause, considering it an unjustified "burden" or, at best, unrelated to it. Then it took a clear and declared turn towards the "enemy", the exception here being some during the Nasserite period.

The influence of the petrodollar, which emerged directly after the defeat of the nationalist project in 1967, was decisive in drawing a one-way path for the “national” state towards imperialism, through its role in eliminating the national bourgeoisie in the Arab state, and keeping the comprador and the bureaucratic bourgeoisie represented by the state’s administrative apparatuses to lead the state.

With the absence of the national bourgeoisie, or at least its weakening, the components of the true national state have ended, and the existing state can no longer be an incubator for any national renaissance project. It has contributed to marginalizing collective identities, obscured the concept of national security, and played a decisive role in negatively influencing its elites, especially the cultural elite, in their position on colonialism and Zionism and their projects in the region.

As for the elites, mainly composed of the army and intellectuals (the military and civilian intelligentsia), the petrodollar has contributed directly, or through the "national" state, to taking them to a place opposite to the natural place they should be in. The army, which should be a symbol of the unity of the "nation", its independence and sovereignty and the guardian of its national security, has become part of the comprador in the form of its direct and "exciting" relationship with the West and with Israel before and after normalization. The only thing that makes it different from the commercial comprador is its reliance on "bullying" in its relations with the market and with the people, instead of the "trickery" that the civilian comprador relies on.

As for the civil intellectuals, a large percentage of whom were not immune to the influence of the petrodollar and the state, some of them went to theorize about the "state" and its priority and isolation, and to "trivialize" any unifying action that thinks about "gathering" the elements of power, and it reached the point of seeking to whitewash the "enemy's" record by blaming themselves for the consequences of "bad" behavior, and they found themselves in the end arriving where they had to arrive, which is promoting normalization and engaging in it. Perhaps it has never happened in history that an elite has been "convinced" of its "enemy" as some Arab elites have done and are doing these days.

It is also important here to point out the great “service” that a group of modernist intellectuals provided to the Western Zionist project and the new Middle East, mostly unintentionally and indirectly. In the midst of these people carrying out their “revolutionary” work against the “reactionary” culture, of which they classify “religion” as one of its most important elements, they came closer to the “state” (the hostage and the mortgaged), and contributed to the dismantling of society through their “chastity” in dealing with “Islam,” which they considered an “incubator” of backwardness, and thus facilitated its presentation to imperialism and Zionism to use it against the “nation” in the form of ISIS sometimes and an Abrahamic project at other times.

Iran.. Another Project for a Different East

We do not need to struggle to acknowledge that Iran (and its allies) is the “main” force standing in the way of the Zionist imperialist version of the New Middle East project, not only because it has a different vision of the region’s future, but because it is the only one that has a complete project that opposes it.

The Iranian project is based on two issues that Khomeini established since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution: the inevitability of liberating Palestine, considering Israel a strange "cancerous tumor" in the region, and the necessity of withdrawing all foreign forces, fleets and bases from the region and leaving them to their owners to determine the form of their presence and their mutual relations. He considers Israel and foreign bases a direct threat to Iranian national security. Therefore, we must understand that Iran's abandonment, or more precisely the abandonment of (the Islamic Revolution in Iran) of Palestine is an abandonment of its own project before it is an ideological or moral position in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

It is especially important for the Arab political and cultural elites to know that the Iranian project rests on two "pillars": the state and the revolution. These two pillars are not contradictory, but they are not completely identical. The West, in its orientations towards Iran, assumes the existence of a gap between the state and the revolution, which it seeks to deepen and thereby overthrow the revolution. It is betting, through the siege and pressure on Iran, on inciting the state against the revolution, and showing that what the Iranian people and state are suffering is due to its "irresponsible" behavior. It considers that "riding" the state of the revolution is the best way for it to engage in its project for the new Middle East.

From the above, we can judge the Iranian project as an Eastern liberation project, Eastern in the sense that it is not designed to position itself within the interests of any of the major powers, especially the United States. It is a completely Iranian project. It is a liberation project in the sense that its declared goals are summarized in "purifying" the region (the East) or (West Asia) from all foreign powers present in it and controlling its fate. This is it, simply, and the matter does not require going far into the "alleys" of ideology and the "conspiracies" of history.

Arabs.. between two projects

It has become clear that the Arabs, both official and unofficial, do not have any project or even any special vision for the future of the region (the East), and they are basically, and based on the above, not in a position that allows them to think about any such project, neither now nor in the foreseeable future. Therefore, their role is limited, at best, to choosing how to position themselves with what is presented before them, although this is also questionable because they most likely do not have the freedom of choice, and they go humiliated to where the influential powers want them to go.

We are faced with two projects to reshape the future of the region, and no third: the American-Israeli New Middle East project, and the Iranian project. We are also faced with official Arabs who are complying without hesitation to engage in the first project, despite some of them realizing its direct danger to them and their regimes. And elites (primarily intellectuals), some of whom are indifferent on the pretext that they see no difference between the two projects, and some of whom pray to God to preserve the old (existing), and the rest are those who found in the opposite project what could form the basis for a different renewal.

If we exclude the official side, with which there is no point in discussing, since it has “instinctively” decided its position alongside the new (Zionist) Middle East, the most dangerous among the elites are those who are entrenched in their opinion that there is no difference between the two projects, since they know that there is no third project, nor is there any possibility of its existence, and in doing so they are promoting the first (Zionist) project out of “concern” for the self and for “independence and sovereignty.”

This does not mean that no one has the right to express "observations" or "reservations" about the "Iranian" project, but the rational approach to these reservations is not to put it on par with the Zionist project, but rather to appreciate it as a liberation project for the region and work to "develop" it through interaction and dialogue between all concerned parties so that it becomes a more comprehensive and radical "Eastern" project that invests in the energies of the "nation", as its peoples aspire with all their ethnicities and cultures (Arabs, Iranians, Kurds, Amazighs, etc.) and in accordance with their interests in liberation, independence, sovereignty, and real development. Once again, if the peoples of the East do not unite to make their "East" according to their size, then Israel is ready to make for them and for them the "New Middle East" that is always renewable according to the Israeli size.

The International Criminal Court's decision, which was long overdue against the occupation's Prime Minister Netanyahu and his dismissed Minister of War Galant, was due to the great pressures and threats that the President of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, and its judges faced from America, which sought to blackmail the President of the Court and its judges financially and personally, and threatened to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court if it proceeded to issue an arrest warrant against the leaders of the occupation. According to the American description, these courts were only established for Arabs, Africans, and rogue presidents or thugs such as Russian President Putin, and not to try American leaders, officers, soldiers, and leaders of Western countries, or their "democratic" allies such as the leaders of the occupation state. These leaders whose "humanity drips from their faces", and whose hands were not "stained" with the blood of innocent children and women in the Gaza Strip, and did not practice starvation, siege, killing, persecution, and inhumane practices against them according to the decision of the International Criminal Court. This decision will create a state of confusion, anxiety and fear, and will increase the intensity of divisions and conflicts within Israel. This decision was described by the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, as a political failure, while the leader of the so-called National Camp, Benny Gantz, described it as moral blindness and an unforgettable historical disgrace. As for Ben Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power Party, he said that this is an unparalleled disgrace, and this decision must be confronted by increasing settlements and annexing the West Bank, increasing pressure on the Palestinian Authority, severing relations with it, and imposing sanctions on it. Meanwhile, the former Prime Minister of the occupation, Naftali Bennett, said that the judges of the court should be ashamed, not Israel. Likewise, the leader of the Republican majority in the US Senate, John Thune, before this decision was issued, threatened to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court, describing it as a bad court. The same did the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the occupation, Gideon Sa’ar, by describing this decision as illegitimate, and that it represents a black stage in the history of this court, which has become a political tool, according to his description, in the hands of those working to undermine international security and peace, and that this decision is illegitimate and lacks an executive mechanism, while the Prime Minister of the occupation said Netanyahu said the decision was anti-Semitic, and Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev called the arrest warrants a legal absurdity.

This late decision was a step in the right direction, and a qualitative development in 76 years in questioning and issuing arrest warrants against the leaders of the occupying state, and accusing them of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. It constitutes a political and diplomatic victory, par excellence, for the Palestinians, and a victory for all the free people of the world and supporters of the oppressed and wronged in the world, and a victory for the Arabs and Muslims, even if they are not up to the challenge, support and backing in this regard. Perhaps one of the effects and repercussions of this decision is that the occupation government will take dramatic steps in the processes of annexation, Judaization, expulsion and displacement, and control of the Ibrahimi Mosque, as an Israeli Knesset member from the Likud said, "The Ibrahimi Mosque must be controlled meter by meter, that is, completely Judaize it, and we must not forget that this will push towards progress in the Judaization of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa."

This decision will have dimensions that go beyond the judicial and legal aspects, and will have repercussions in Palestinian, Arab and international dimensions. It may push America to take revenge on the President of the International Court and its judges, limit their movement, and perhaps punish them financially. It may also stop funding the International Criminal Court, and will ask its allies to stop funding the court, just as it did in “demonizing” the United Nations Relief and Refugee Agency (UNRWA) and cutting off its funding, based on Israeli accusations against a number of its employees, no more than the fingers of one hand, of participating in the battle of October 7, 2023, without providing conclusive evidence and proof. This prompted Western European countries to re-fund the agency, which Israel later proceeded to sever relations with, consider it an illegal organization, and cancel the economic and political privileges granted to its employees.

This decision will deepen the crisis and siege of Israel on the international level, in terms of defining relations with it by the countries of the world, stopping trade and economic dealings, severing relations with it, and even preventing the export of weapons to it. We have seen how Australia prevented the former Israeli Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, from entering its territory for fear of incitement and protests.

In light of this decision, the normalization process between the occupying state and some Arab regimes will suffer a fatal blow, and will put sticks in its cogs, and will prevent its wheels from turning. This will also constitute support and backing for South Africa and the countries that participated alongside it, and joined it in filing a lawsuit against Israel before the International Court of Justice, in which Israel is accused of committing crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Israel, which is using starvation as a weapon in the Gaza Strip, specifically in its northern regions, preventing the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid, and committing crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing, as the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said in an editorial five days ago, that ethnic cleansing there is being practiced on the orders of Netanyahu and the army leaders, this decision may “slow down” the measures, practices, operations of repression, abuse, expulsion, displacement, and destruction that Israel is carrying out.

America is a direct partner in the crimes committed against the Palestinian people, through the political and legal cover it provides to Israel, and the military and financial support it provides. The effects of its use of the veto for the fourth time against a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on 19-11-2024 may be contained, and it will be a pressure factor on America, which has become alone in its continued support for the occupation’s crimes in the Gaza Strip, and which we expect will impose financial sanctions on the international institution.

This decision will provide university students, civil society organizations, social movements, and the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement with the opportunity to escalate their struggles, campaigns, and popular protests, and to demand an end to dealing with Israel, stopping trade, economic, and academic relations with it, and calling for the withdrawal of investments from it.

Netanyahu, who described the decision as anti-Semitic and that the court is targeting him, will provide him with a great opportunity to achieve a Zionist national consensus around him, condemning the International Criminal Court, considering that he is being subjected to a fierce campaign while he is leading the war to “defend the existence of the state,” and that he will seek through his populism to enhance his popularity and presence in Israeli society, especially among the right and extreme right, and he will also seek to portray himself as the victim of his victims among the Palestinians and their friends and supporters in the world.

This decision, if it is dealt with and dealt with properly by Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, and if all Arab energies, capabilities and capacities are employed, including oil and gas wealth, as well as dealing with America and Western Europe on the basis of interests, such that these countries feel that their interests in the Arab world will be threatened if they continue to support the crimes of the occupying state, and if the Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel and have peace agreements and treaties review them, this may lead to increasing pressure on Israel and its allies to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people and open real prospects for ending the occupation, and creating real possibilities for progress towards a political solution that achieves for the Palestinian people part of their legitimate rights, by establishing a Palestinian state on part of the lands of historical Palestine.

Israeli media reported on Monday that the security meeting headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Lebanon last night ended and the position was positive, while the Axios website quoted an American official as saying that "a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon is approaching and there is still some work to be done."

Channel 13 quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the security meeting ended without taking final decisions due to the inability to reach solutions to critical issues that hinder reaching a final agreement, as he put it. However, he added that the direction of the settlement talks is positive.

Israeli media said that these security consultations are very important, and Israeli estimates still suggest that understandings can be reached during this week.

Axios quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the trend in Israel is to move forward towards signing a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted an Israeli source as saying that Tel Aviv had received guarantees from Washington of freedom of action in Lebanon in the event of a violation of the agreement, while Channel 14 said that Netanyahu prefers to go to a settlement with Lebanon with an American commitment to allow Israel to respond to any violations.

The channel indicated that Netanyahu fears unilateral American steps regarding any settlement at the end of US President Joe Biden's term.

Dan Shapiro, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern Affairs, is expected to arrive in Israel today for talks on the security aspect of the agreement.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted an informed source as saying that Washington is waiting for answers and updates from the parties and for small issues that need to be settled. He denied what Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported about Israel giving the green light to reach a settlement with Lebanon.

The newspaper quoted Israeli officials as saying that the differences over the ceasefire proposal in Lebanon are not fundamental, and an agreement can be reached within a few days.

The newspaper pointed out that Israeli, American and Lebanese sources confirmed on Sunday that Tel Aviv had given initial approval to a proposed agreement with Lebanon, subject to final approval by the Israeli cabinet. It said that US envoy Amos Hochstein had informed Lebanese officials of these developments.

In this context, Channel 14 Israel quoted an Israeli official, described as prominent but not named, as saying that Israel is on its way to stopping the war in Lebanon, and this is expected to happen within the next few days.

The official pointed out that the agreement will be signed in front of the Americans, and will be temporary before moving to a permanent agreement with Lebanon.

He pointed out that the Israeli army forces will be directed towards the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, adding that the cessation of fighting in northern Israel means the economy will return to normal and the airspace will be opened to flights.

Threat to withdraw

These developments come amid Israeli sources confirming that the US envoy threatened to withdraw from mediation with Lebanon if there is no agreement within days.

Hochstein explained to Israeli officials that the understandings with Lebanon were ready, which put the ball in Israel's court.

US officials reportedly suspect that the Israeli delay may be linked to political calculations, and have warned that the issue could reach the UN Security Council, where the Biden administration may refrain from vetoing a ceasefire resolution, as happened in the final days of President Barack Obama’s administration.

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a political source as saying that a warning was issued to Lebanon that if an agreement is not reached, Lebanese targets will be attacked.

The agency quoted the same source as saying that so far, Israel has not attacked Lebanese targets and has been careful to distinguish between targets belonging to Hezbollah and targets belonging to the Lebanese state.

The agency also quoted senior army officials as saying that they no longer operate according to the equation of launching attacks in response to gunfire from Lebanon, but rather attack according to regular plans, as they put it.

In a related context, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that one of the terms of the understanding between Israel and the United States includes Israel's freedom of action on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the event of violations after reaching an agreement.

Lebanese position

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Sunday that Israel's targeting of the Lebanese army in the south represents a bloody message rejecting ceasefire efforts.

Mikati added that the move confirms the rejection of strengthening the army's presence in southern Lebanon and implementing Resolution 1701, and stressed the need to pressure to stop the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and reach a ceasefire.

For his part, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said yesterday, Sunday, that Israel has not yet issued a final response to the US proposal for a ceasefire.

After meeting with Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Borrell warned that "Lebanon is on the brink of collapse, and pressure must be applied to the Israeli government and Hezbollah must be continued to accept the US proposal and fully implement Resolution 1701."

Borrell warned that Lebanon was "on the brink of collapse" after two months of open confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel, stressing that "pressure must be increased on the Israeli government and pressure must be continued on Hezbollah to accept the American proposal for a ceasefire."

The US envoy discussed the 13-point proposal, which calls for a 60-day truce and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country, during his shuttle tour earlier this week between Lebanon and Israel.

But no results were announced after his tour, and the pace of Israeli strikes accelerated, especially against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.

Diplomatic efforts are focused on a ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2006 and led to ending the war between Hezbollah and Israel by imposing a ceasefire.

The resolution prohibited the presence of any forces or weapons other than those of the Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the area between the Litani River and the borders of Israel and Lebanon.

The decision implicitly means Hezbollah's withdrawal from the border area, but also the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers who have been waging a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30.

Israeli aircraft continued their bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip on the 416th day of the war, leaving a large number of martyrs and wounded.

The Israeli occupation committed four massacres during the past 24 hours against families in the Gaza Strip, 35 martyrs and 90 wounded arrived at hospitals.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression rose to 44,211 martyrs and 104,567 wounded since October 7, 2023.

The sea waters stormed the tents of the displaced west of Khan Yunis, where thousands of Palestinians live directly on the beach.

People fled to the street after the blankets and mattresses got wet as a result of the water entering the tents with the continued rain.

Central Gaza Strip

Israeli raids continued on the central Gaza Strip and its four camps.

Israeli aircraft raided a house belonging to the Mazhar family near Abu Sarar roundabout west of Al-Nuseirat camp, resulting in several injuries.

Two citizens were martyred in an air strike on a house west of the camp in the evening hours.

The artillery renewed its shelling of the north of the camp in addition to the north of Al-Bureij camp.

Gaza and the North

The occupation army continued to target medical crews at Kamal Hospital, and the codecaptor planes dropped several bombs on the hospital for the eighth time in 24 hours.

The artillery shelled the surroundings of the old Islamic Association building at the beginning of Al-Shimaa Street in the city of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.

The occupation army continued to blow up citizens' homes in the middle of Jabalia camp and in the Saftawi area, northwest of Gaza City.

A number of citizens were injured in an air strike on a house belonging to the Al-Jarou family in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza.

South of the Gaza Strip

The occupation army blew up new residential blocks northwest of Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip, while its military positions on the Philadelphi axis continued to fire on the Rafah sidewalks.

The paramedics recovered the body of a martyr from the Khirbet Al-Adas area, north of the city.

In Khan Yunis, a number of citizens were injured as a result of artillery shelling on the Al-Zana area, east of the city.

Yesterday, Sunday, Hezbollah launched the largest missile attack of its kind since the outbreak of its direct confrontations with Israel at the end of last September, targeting its north and center and destroying or setting fire to homes, including Greater Tel Aviv, while Israeli warplanes intensified their raids on large areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Israeli army confirmed the launch of 350 rockets since yesterday morning, a large number of which were intercepted, while sirens sounded in most of the targeted sites.

He added that at least 4 people were injured by missile shrapnel, and the Israeli Army Radio quoted its sources as saying that 4 million people entered the fortified rooms as a result of these attacks.

After the bombing of Tel Aviv, Hezbollah published a photo with the phrase: Beirut faces Tel Aviv, showing traces of missiles that targeted Israel yesterday.

Hezbollah also broadcast footage of targeting military bases belonging to the occupation army in Tel Aviv with suicide drones and missiles, and displayed pictures that it said were of targeting the Israeli Shraga base with missiles and drones.

The party also broadcast a recording showing what it said was the targeting of the Maalot-Tarshiha settlement in northern Israel with rockets.

The Israeli ambulance service announced that 11 Israelis were injured in Nahariya, Haifa, Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, and Kfar Blum in the Upper Galilee, as a result of missile attacks launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

Israeli Channel 13 confirmed that fires broke out in sites in Nahariya and Haifa as a result of direct hits by missiles fired from Lebanon.

Israeli raids

In return, the Israeli army announced that it had attacked 12 military headquarters in the southern suburb belonging to the intelligence agency and Hezbollah's missile unit.

The official Lebanese National News Agency said, "A series of violent raids targeted Haret Hreik, Bir al-Abed and Ghobeiry in the southern suburbs of Beirut."

Earlier, the agency reported that "Israeli warplanes launched two violent raids on the southern suburb of Beirut - the Kafaat area."

Security sources in Lebanon said that the Israeli raids destroyed two residential buildings.

The Lebanese government decided on Sunday evening to suspend in-person teaching in all schools, institutes and universities, both public and private, in the capital Beirut and nearby areas, on Monday, and replace it with distance learning.

It also decided to provide the option of distance learning until the end of the year, due to the "current dangerous conditions" resulting from the ongoing Israeli raids.

Al Jazeera correspondents reported that heavy Israeli artillery shelling targeted the towns of Al-Bayada and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, while Israeli aircraft launched raids on the towns of Deir Qanoun, Ras al-Ain, Labouneh, Al-Jabour, Kafr Tibnit, Al-Qatrani and Zawtar Al-Sharqiya in southern Lebanon.

In turn, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said yesterday, Sunday, that 58 people were killed and dozens were injured in a preliminary toll of Israeli raids that targeted several areas of the country.

The Ministry of Health stated that among the martyrs were 20 people in the Israeli raid on the Basta area in the capital Beirut, and 24 martyrs in the raids on the Bekaa region, including 4 children.

Field battles

This comes as clashes continue between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces in the town of Khiam in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon for the seventh consecutive day.

Hezbollah said on Sunday night that it had bombed for the sixth time a gathering of Israeli forces east of the city of Khiam, and attacked a gathering of these forces south of the city with a suicide drone.

A Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces had penetrated the southern neighborhoods of the town, and were trying to advance from the western and eastern sides of the city, where clashes were taking place between the two sides.

The source added that the Israeli forces blew up a number of houses in different neighborhoods of the town of Khiyam.

Hezbollah said that it had fired rockets at an Israeli force as it advanced to withdraw a destroyed tank on the western outskirts of the town of Deir Mimas, and for the second time targeted a gathering of Israeli enemy forces at the Deir Mimas triangle in Kfar Kila.

The party also bombed the settlements of Shtula and Avivim with a barrage of rockets, and attacked a gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the town of Shama with a suicide drone.

Before that, Hezbollah said that it destroyed 4 Merkava tanks with guided missiles in the town of Al-Bayada, killing and wounding their crews. It also destroyed a Merkava tank with a guided missile on Al-Lubiya Hill, west of the town of Deir Mimas.

In contrast, an Israeli army statement said that its forces raided about 150 targets in southern Lebanon and eliminated dozens of militants, according to the statement.

The army said that infantry and armored forces had taken operational control of the area. The statement added that the army had found weapons depots and destroyed infrastructure with the aim of dismantling Hezbollah's capabilities.

For its part, the Lebanese army announced the killing of a soldier and the injury of 18 in an Israeli bombardment of an army center in Al-Amiriya in the Tyre district in the south of the country.

The Israeli army is intensifying its targeting of all parts of Lebanon following a visit by US envoy Amos Hochstein with the aim of reaching a ceasefire agreement, after Israel expanded its war on Lebanon through air strikes since September 23, and also began a ground invasion in the south.