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Israel’s Endgame in Gaza Must be Cutting the Iranian Noose
Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a screen during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Photo: Reuters/Aziz Taher
JNS.org – Increasingly strident voices both within and outside Israel demand that Israeli leaders outline the endgame in Gaza after the destruction of Hamas as a political and terrorist force. U.S. President Joe Biden, as well as former Israeli generals, many of whom have acknowledged the mistaken doctrines and concepts they held before the slaughter of Oct. 7, have joined forces to demand answers to this question.
Focusing on Gaza as a standalone Israeli problem that demands redress in the near future is a grievous strategic error that threatens not only Israel’s very existence but the well-being of democratic states far beyond the borders of the conflict.
Three ominous developments have emerged since the Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza aimed at dismantling the Hamas threat. These developments leave Israel facing a precarious predicament, the likes of which it has not faced since the 1967 Six-Day War.
For the first time since the renewed emergence of Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt 50 years ago and its ensuing proliferation, Sunni and Shi’ite fundamentalism have joined forces operationally against Israel, and indirectly against the broader alliance of democratic states.
Hamas’s attack on the Gaza border region was followed by Hezbollah’s acts of war on Israel’s northern border. And acts of war they are, from the number of missiles launched at civilian and military targets, to the heavy mortar bombardments along the border and the use of both armed and intelligence-gathering drones. As a result of Hezbollah’s attacks, greater numbers of Israeli civilians have been evacuated from the north, or have left the area of their own accord, than have evacuated from the south.
This Sunni-Shi’ite unity did not prevail during or after the 9/11 Al Qaeda attacks or the Islamic State onslaught that saw the movement occupy most of northern Iraq and southern and eastern Syria, erasing the border between these two states—two events that were rightly perceived as strategic threats to the West and elicited a commensurate response from the United States and its allies.
In both encounters, Shi’ite and Sunni forces were pitted against each other. After the 9/11 attack, Iran came down hard on its Sunni minority as well as suppressing Sunni jihadist groups.
The Shi’ite response was even more pronounced and decisive: With the expansion of ISIS, Iran and its major proxy, Shi’ite Hezbollah, rushed to Assad’s Syria to prevent the regime’s downfall and the potential ISIS takeover of the country. In Iraq, Tehran established the Shi’ite terrorist proxies currently attacking U.S. forces to save Baghdad from the fate of Iraq’s third largest city, Mosul, which fell easily to ISIS.
Houthi cruise missile and UAV attacks from Yemen on Eilat, Israel’s southernmost port, are the second development that contributes to Israel’s precarious predicament. As a Shi’ite proxy of Iran, the Houthis are a reflection of Sunni and Shi’ite fundamentalist unity, but also represent a threat that goes far beyond that. Eilat is Israel’s only gateway to South and East Asia. This trade route, essential to Israel’s economic well-being and growth, has been threatened by the recent Houthi hijacking of a commercial vessel partially owned, but not run, by an Israeli company. It echoes the closure of the Straits of Tiran at the mouth of the Red Sea to Israeli shipping in May 1967. This act was one of the reasons behind Israel’s preemptive strike against Egypt and was part of the noose tightening around Israel’s neck prior to the Six-Day War. Today, a similar noose is threatening Israel.
Finally, both these threatening developments are being orchestrated by a regional power, Iran, which is fast becoming a nuclear power with ballistic capabilities to strike at Israel and beyond.
This devastating triangle, with a fundamentalist, imperialist state at its apex, flanked by Sunni-Shi’ite fundamentalist unity on one side and far-flung terrorist Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other, has no parallel in the Al Qaeda threat of 2001 or the ISIS threat in 2014. Both Al-Qaeda and ISIS faced a world arrayed against them, including rivals such as the United States and Russia.
Israel must not be made to address Gaza’s future before first cutting the ever-tightening noose around it. This is not only obviously in Israel’s interest. If Israel is prevented from cutting itself free of this noose, not only will its very existence be threatened, but so will that of all U.S. allies in the region.
Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in 1990 proved how vulnerable some of these states are. It took Iraq just one day to take over Kuwait. One can hardly believe that Iran, emboldened by a weakened Israel forced to focus on Gaza—hardly Israel’s major front—will not be tempted to do the same as Saddam Hussein in 1990. Or perhaps far more.
We are in a strategic tempest. A wise strategy of allowing Israel to deal with its immediate and more threatening fronts as the endgame to the war with Hamas might mean the difference between a stable Middle East led by U.S. allies, or a region controlled by Iran, a country strongly embedded in the global axis of states operating against the U.S. alliance.
Originally published by the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.
The post Israel’s Endgame in Gaza Must be Cutting the Iranian Noose first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Reportedly Shares Intelligence with New Syrian Leadership to Counter ISIS Threats
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, waits to welcome the senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – The United States has begun sharing classified intelligence with Syria’s new leadership, led by Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group formerly designated as a terrorist organization, reports the Washington Post.
This unexpected collaboration comes in the wake of HTS overthrowing the Assad regime last month and reflects heightened US concerns about a potential resurgence of the Islamic State (ISIS).
According to sources, US intelligence recently helped thwart a planned ISIS attack on a prominent Shiite shrine near Damascus.
Despite this cooperation, US officials stress that the intelligence-sharing arrangement does not signify full support for HTS, which has a controversial history of extremism.
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known by his militant alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has made efforts to project a more moderate image, pledging to protect Syria’s religious minorities and stabilize the country.
However, skepticism remains about HTS’s ability to govern effectively and sustain efforts against ISIS.
The Biden administration, before leaving office, maintained HTS’s terrorist designation while easing sanctions on Syria to facilitate humanitarian aid. As the new US administration under President Donald Trump takes shape, questions loom about the future of American involvement in Syria and the ongoing military presence aimed at preventing an ISIS comeback.
The post US Reportedly Shares Intelligence with New Syrian Leadership to Counter ISIS Threats first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostages Missing from Hamas’ Release List
A birthday cake for Kfir Bibas, who is a hostage in Hamas captivity. Thursday, January 18, 2024. (Photo: Debbie Weiss)
i24 News – The second phase of hostage releases between Israel and Hamas has sparked deep frustration and grief among the families of those still held captive.
Two hostages—Arbel Yahud and Agam Berger—were notably excluded from the list of those to be freed on Saturday, despite earlier agreements prioritizing the return of civilians.
Arbel Yahud, 29, and Agam Berger, 20, both captives since the October 7 attack, were not included in the list of four hostages expected to be released.
Yahud, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was taken along with her partner, Ariel Cunio, whose family was freed in November. Yahud’s brother, Dolev, was later found dead in June after he was killed while trying to aid the wounded. Agam Berger, from Holon, was captured while stationed at Nahal Oz. Her family identified her in a video released by Hamas, showing her in pajamas being taken away in a vehicle after she called her father to alert him of the gunfire.
The omission of these two hostages has led to heightened concerns and calls for action from Israeli authorities, who are now exerting pressure on Hamas and mediators to honor the terms of the release agreement. Israeli officials reaffirmed their commitment to continue with the broader agreement, but warned that the failure to meet the agreed terms could harm future releases.
Adding to the grief, the Bibas family expressed their devastation when they learned that Shiri Bibas and her children, who were abducted from their Nir Oz home on October 7, were also absent from the second release list. In a heartfelt message shared on Saturday, the Bibas family shared their anguish: “Even though we were prepared for it, we were hoping to see Shiri and the children on the list that was supposed to be the civilian list.” The family voiced concerns over their loved one’s safety and questioned why, despite grave fears for their lives, their relatives were not included among the civilians due to be returned.
The Bibas family’s message emphasized their belief that the public must continue to demand answers, adding, “Thank you, dear supporters, for not giving up, for continuing to pray, to hope and to demand answers.
The post Hostages Missing from Hamas’ Release List first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levi, and Daniela Gilboa Return to Israel After 477 Days of Captivity
A combination picture shows Israeli hostages Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, and Daniela Gilboa, soldiers who were seized from their army base in southern Israel during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in these undated handout pictures. Photo: Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – After 477 harrowing days in captivity, four young Israeli women—Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levi, and Daniela Gilboa—have finally returned home.
The release took place Saturday morning in Gaza’s Palestine Square, under a carefully staged scene orchestrated by Hamas.
The four women, who served in a military observation unit in Nahal Oz, were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Before their release, they were made to wear uniforms provided by Hamas and were paraded on a platform in front of a crowd of activists. Forced to smile and wave, the women endured the ordeal under the watchful eyes of Hamas fighters.
Once the formalities concluded, the women walked to waiting ICRC vehicles, accompanied by representatives of the organization. Upon reaching Israeli forces, IDF medical teams immediately conducted examinations. At the meeting point, the first female officers who greeted them informed the women that their families were watching live. Overcome with emotion, the former hostages smiled at the cameras, sending heartfelt gestures to their loved ones.
Footage later released by the IDF captured a poignant moment: the four women removing the uniforms given to them by Hamas and embracing Israeli officers. These emotional scenes underscored the end of a long and grueling chapter in their lives.
The women were transported to the Reim reception center, where their families eagerly awaited them. After 477 days of separation, the reunions were deeply moving, marking a moment of relief and joy.
However, the release was not without complications. A fifth military observer, Agam Berger, remains in captivity, and Hamas failed to uphold its agreement to release civilian hostage Arbel Yahud, who was originally included in the liberation group. The breach of terms has drawn widespread condemnation, intensifying efforts to secure the release of those who remain captive.
This momentous event brings a mix of celebration and determination, as Israel continues to work tirelessly for the freedom of all hostages still held in Gaza.
The post Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levi, and Daniela Gilboa Return to Israel After 477 Days of Captivity first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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