Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Home Front: WoT
Day 2 Round-up: Probable Muslim Brotherhooder Mohamed Sabry Soliman waited a year, until daughter graduated HS before carrying out attack
2025-06-03
[X]

What odds he will turn out to be connected, dear Reader? Day 1 can be seen here.
[JerusalemPost] The United States District Court charged Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, with a federal hate crime after wounding eight individuals demonstrating in support of the hostages held by Hamas
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
 holy warriors in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 on Sunday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Monday that Soliman, a resident of El Paso, was arrested and was the main suspect behind the Colorado attack. He has since been charged with a federal hate crime.

During an interview with police, Soliman admitted to watching YouTube videos on how to make Molotov Cocktails and purchased the materials to make them, according to federal court documents. He also stated that he wanted to kill all Zionists, wished all Zionists dead and said he would repeat the attack if given the opportunity.

Soliman told officials that he had been planning the attack for a year but wanted to wait for his daughter to graduate from university before carrying it out.

On Sunday afternoon, a man threw Molotov cocktails and used an improvised flamethrower to target participants of a weekly walking group that raises awareness for the hostages in Hamas captivity. Officials currently believe it was a lone-wolf attack.

Soliman, who was heard screaming "Free Paleostine" and "end Zionism" before launching the attack at a group raising awareness of the plight of the 58 hostages held captive by Hamas, was booked into Boulder County Jail on multiple charges. These include first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, one count of causing serious injury to an at-risk adult or someone over 70, and one count of using explosives or incendiary devices.

He is currently being held on a $10 million bond.

Before being taken to jail, the FBI confirmed he was taken for medical assessments at a nearby hospital.

"Our strength as a society comes from our shared values, and our commitment to protecting one another. Any attempt to divide us through fear or harm has no place in Boulder, Colorado, or anywhere in our nation," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. "We stand in full solidarity with those targeted. And we will continue to ensure that justice is pursued swiftly, support is provided to victims and their communities, and preventative action is taken to protect everyone’s safety."

"Boulder is not immune to tragedy, sadly, and I know a lot of people are scared right now and questioning how this happened and why. Boulder has recovered before from acts of violence before, and we will again recover. I urge this community to come together. Now is not the time to be divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
," Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said.

"When this call came out today, our officers rushed to the scene as quickly as they could to protect our community and arrest the suspect and I’m very proud of their response. I also greatly appreciate all of our law enforcement and community partners who responded to help as well. I want to assure our Boulder community that we will have increased presence at many events and locations throughout the city to ensure safety."

The FBI raided Soliman’s house following the attack, the New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
 reported. An unknown woman was allowed to enter the property.

Neighbors told the media that they did not know Soliman well but that a family with three kids lived at the raided address, according to the New York Post.
Interesting. Are the family Lso here illegally? Do they need to be sent back to wherever they came from while Papa serves his prison sentence?
WHO IS MOHAMED SABRY SOLIMAN?
Originally from Egypt, Soliman arrived in the United States in 2022 with a non-immigration visa that would have allowed him to stay until February 2023, according to the Homeland Security Department.

He was later granted work authorization in March 2023, which should have allowed him to stay in the US only until March 2025.

Assistant Secretary of DHS Tricia McLaughlin said Soliman had tried to claim asylum in 2022.

Despite being granted access to the states in 2022, he had a failed asylum claim in 2005, sources told CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
Exactly the kind of person the Biden-Harris Politburo actively sought to grant entry to.
The Times of Israel adds:
The suspect who allegedly attacked a group of pro-hostage demonstrators in Colorado planned the attack for a year and wanted to kill “all Zionist people,” according to an affidavit filed in a federal court in Colorado on Monday.

The suspect, Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, is charged with attacking the rally on Sunday with a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails, wounding eight. He was arrested at the scene of the attack.

The affidavit, filed by an FBI agent in the US District Court of Colorado, was based on Soliman’s interview with law enforcement after the arrest.

After he was arrested, a black plastic container with a yellow lid was found nearby. Inside were at least fourteen unlit Molotov cocktails made of glass wine bottles or Ball jars with gasoline inside and red rags hanging out of the top.

Also nearby was a “backpack weed sprayer” loaded with gasoline. Authorities have said Soliman used a “makeshift flamethrower” during the attack.

Law enforcement found a silver Toyota Prius parked a few blocks away that was registered to Soliman. Inside were a red gas container and papers with the words “Israel,” “Palestine,” and “USAID,” the affidavit said.

Soliman told law enforcement he researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube. He assembled the firebombs and bought gas at a gas station on his way to Boulder. He lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, about two hours away, with his wife and five children.

He targeted the hostage rally after learning about the group in an online search and saw that the group was planning to meet at 1 p.m. He arrived at the scene at 12:55 p.m. and waited for the demonstrators.

“Soliman stated that he hated the Zionist group and did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ which he explained to be Palestine,” the affidavit said. “He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack.”

Soliman said he left an iPhone with messages to his family hidden in a desk drawer at his home. His wife turned an iPhone over to police.

The affidavit confirmed that Soliman is the individual seen in video from the scene of the attack. Video also showed him shouting, “End Zionists.”

The police department in Boulder, Colorado, said on Monday morning that none of the victims had perished, despite the suspect being held on a preliminary charge of murder.

“No victims have died,” the police department said in a statement.

The police department said it would hold a press conference on the attack later Monday and that more details would be forthcoming.

Police released a mugshot of the suspect, who had a bandaged ear and bruising on his face.

Soliman was set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. local time, the police department’s daily booking report said. He was being held in the Boulder County Jail on a $10 million bond.

Other preliminary charges against Soliman included using explosive or incendiary devices during a felony, assault with a weapon, and crimes against at-risk elderly. The victims were four men and four women between the ages of 52 and 88. One of the victims was reportedly a Holocaust survivor.

Colorado firebombing suspect appears in court with head bandaged
[IsraelTimes] Mohammed Sabry Soliman, suspected of firebombing a pro-Israel rally in Colorado Sunday, appears in a Boulder County jail court for the first time since his arrest a day ago.

Soliman wears an orange jumpsuit and what appears to be a bandage wrapped around his head.

He does not make any statements, except affirming that he understands a protection order that bars him from contacting the victims of the attack.

The court schedules a June 5 hearing for the filing of formal charges against him.

Colorado suspect to be charged with attempted murder, hate crime; number of injured up to 12
[IsraelTimes] Mohammed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in a firebombing of a hostages march in Colorado yesterday, will be charged with state and federal charges and facing life in prison if convicted, officials say.

Acting US Attorney J. Bishop Grewell says at a press conference that Soliman, 45, is being charged with the commission of a hate crime, a federal crime which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison when coupled with attempted murder charges he will face from Colorado.

According to Grewell, Soliman attempted to buy a firearm to carry out the attack, but resorted to homemade incendiary devices when he could not acquire a firearm because he is not a US citizen.
So it could have been much, much worse. Thank goodness he wasn’t clever enough or charming enough to get a friend to buy guns for him.
Boulder county district attorney Michael Dougherty says the state will charge Soliman with 16 counts of attempted murder in the first degree — eight for attempted murder with intent, and eight for attempted murder with extreme indifference. If convicted, and the sentences run consecutively, the maximum sentence is 384 years in state prison.

Soliman will also be charged with two counts of use of an incendiary device, carrying a maximum sentence of 48 years, and 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device, with a maximum sentence of 192 years. Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at the demonstrators, and investigators recovered 16 unused Molotov cocktails from the scene of the attack.

Other charges may be forthcoming, Grewell says.

Dougherty says police have identified four more victims of the attack, bringing the total to 12. The four additional victims suffered minor injuries and came forward to investigators after the initial incident.

The authorities say Soliman was not “on our radar” before the attack. Investigators are working to put together a timeline of the attack using surveillance footage and license plate readers.
More from MSN:
Authorities said in the news conference June 2 they believe he acted alone.

The arrest affidavit said he has a valid Colorado driver's license and no prior criminal history.

Soliman, a father of five, entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a B-2 tourist visa that expired over two years ago, said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. An affidavit said he was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado three years ago.

In his Toyota Prius parked nearby, investigators discovered red rags, a jug of gasoline and paperwork with the words "Israel," "Palestine" and "USAID," according to the charging document.

He told investigators that after being denied the legal purchase of a gun due to not being a citizen, he researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so and constructed them himself, the affidavit said.

McLaughlin said Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022. That claim was likely still pending. As of March, the immigration court backlog was around 3.6 million cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on X described Soliman as an "illegal alien" and criticized the Biden administration, which he accused of approving a work permit for Soliman after he overstayed his tourist visa.

Uber on June 2 confirmed that Soliman had worked as a driver starting in spring 2023 although the company did not specify whether he worked driving passengers or for Uber Eats, or both. In a statement to USA TODAY, the company said his account has been terminated, prohibiting him from working there again. The company noted that he passed a background check and provided the legally required documents necessary to work as a contractor.“Mr. Soliman had no concerning feedback while driving on the Uber platform,” the company said in a statement. “We’ve banned the driver’s account and have been in touch with law enforcement.”
Even more from MSN:
Only one thing held Soliman back from attacking sooner, he told authorities: Waiting for his daughter to graduate high school.

A Colorado Springs Gazette article published in April profiled a student matching his daughter’s description as a recipient of a scholarship. According to the article, she described in her scholarship application how her family had immigrated to the US after living in Kuwait, noting that her father had undergone a “difficult surgery” when she was young “that restored his ability to walk.”

The girl said the incident inspired her to pursue medical school – a dream that would have been impossible in Kuwait but within reach in America.
And now that her Papa will go to prison for the rest of his life, causing the authorities to look into the immigration status of his family, medical school in America — and university altogether — are also no longer possible for her. The only thing left for her to do is pack up her stolen America life and head bck to Egypt. Say thank you to your Papa for his loving care of you, habibti.
Now, Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces a federal hate crime charge and state charges of attempted murder.

Soliman was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado, according to a state arrest affidavit.

CNN reviewed a Facebook account matching his name and date of birth. On the account’s page, which was last updated about 10 years ago, Soliman said he attended high school and college in Egypt and later moved to Kuwait, where he had an accounting job, according to the page. That account featured photos of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader who served as Egypt’s president from 2012 to 2013, when he was ousted in a military coup that triggered mass protests and sit-ins in Cairo.
Ah hah! There always is a connection.
Posts on the Facebook page expressed support for the Muslim Brotherhood protests against the removal of Morsi. One post from August 2013 featured a four-finger salute with a yellow background, a symbol supportive of the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square encampment, which was violently dispersed by Egyptian security forces loyal to Egypt’s then-defense minister and current president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

According to the newspaper article on the student whose identifying details match those of Soliman’s daughter, her father at one point underwent a serious medical procedure on his legs – one she described in her scholarship application as “nothing short of ‘magic.’”

When the family lived in Kuwait, the daughter stated, the success of the procedure inspired her to study medicine – but “the prospect of attending medical school there was not an option” as a non-Kuwaiti. “The move to the United States provides a chance to fulfill her dream,” the article said.

“Coming to the USA has fundamentally changed me,” she wrote. “Most importantly, I came to appreciate that family is the unchanging support.”
Erm. About that….
Mohamed Sabry Soliman first tried to come to the US in 2005 but was denied a visa, law enforcement sources told CNN.
I would love to know what reason was given for that rejection.
He entered the US in August 2022 as a non-immigrant visitor and in 2023 received a two-year work authorization that expired in March, a Homeland Security official said Monday.
So many different ways the selfish, lying liar lied.
With his wife and children, he moved into a two-story home on the far eastern edge of Colorado Springs and he found work, at least briefly, as an accountant. The health care company Veros Health said in a statement he was an employee starting in May 2023 but left three months later. The company did not respond to questions about his departure.
Jewish or Christian manager/colleagues? Female manager/colleagues? Black/Hispanic manager/colleagues? A mixture of the above that ticked off the miscreant’s cultural racism/sexism/religiousism?
Soliman had also worked as an Uber driver, according to the company, which noted all drivers must pass a criminal and driving history background check and hold a valid Social Security number.
And did he have a valid SS number?
The company said his account has now been banned.

Neighbors who briefly spoke with CNN said they saw Soliman’s children playing near his house
Any of them born in America? Is the mother an American citizen or did she follow Mr. Soliman from Kuwait or even from Egypt? And who is she connected to?
but were not familiar with the family. One neighbor said she had no direct interactions with Soliman but described his wife as friendly.

As he began plotting an attack, Soliman told authorities, he researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube. He also learned online about the group that eventually became his target – a weekly demonstration in Boulder urging Hamas to return the remaining hostages from Gaza.

Soliman said he took a concealed-carry class and learned to shoot a gun but as a non-citizen was blocked from purchasing a gun, so he turned to Molotov cocktails, according to a state affidavit.

Soliman told authorities that he purchased ingredients for the cocktails – including “glass wine carafe bottles or Ball jars,” according to the federal complaint – constructed them and purchased gas at a gas station on the way to Boulder. He also filled up a backpack weed sprayer with gasoline.

Before leaving for the attack, Soliman said, he left an iPhone hidden in a desk drawer at home with messages for his family as well as a journal.

As the group marched with signs on Sunday, Soliman waited nearby with a utility vest over his shirt; some witnesses thought he looked like a gardener, multiple law enforcement sources said. The state affidavit notes that he bought flowers from Home Depot.
Bay Area ABC7 News adds:
He "said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine)," the state documents said.
To be fair, he wasn’t to know that the people he was trying to murder are older and elderly Jews, including a Holocaust survivor.
Soliman, a husband and father of five, allegedly said he had been planning Sunday afternoon's attack for one year but waited until his daughter graduated from high school last Thursday to carry it out, state and federal documents said.

He said no one knew about his plans and he expected to die during the attack, the documents said.
And now he gets to die in an American prison, pondering the life path that took him there.
Soliman appeared at his first state court hearing virtually from jail on Monday afternoon, during which the judge kept his bond at $10 million.

He acknowledged that he had received and understood a protection order barring him from contacting the victims.

Soliman is due back in court on Thursday for the filing of state charges.

He said he drove about 100 miles from his Colorado Springs home to Boulder on Sunday and picked up gas at a gas station on the way, the documents said.

Soliman allegedly "filled 8 glass containers he purchased from Target with gas, he put them in a black storage bin and in order to get as close as possible to the group he dressed himself like a gardener," according to state court documents.

He allegedly used a "makeshift flamethrower" and threw an incendiary device into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators at a pedestrian mall, according to the FBI.

A video posted on social media during the attack showed Soliman holding what appeared to be Molotov cocktails and saying, "How many children killed" and "end Zionist," according to the court documents.

Soliman said he "only threw two at the group because he got scared," according to court documents.
The poor darling.
Link


Arabia
Masking a Strategic Failure: Why the US Reached a Ceasefire with the Houthis
2025-05-09
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov

[REGNUM] On May 6, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced a ceasefire between the Ansar Allah movement (Yemeni Houthis) and the United States.

The Omani Foreign Minister said the Sultanate had facilitated contacts and discussions on de-escalation prospects between the United States and relevant authorities in Sanaa. These efforts, the minister said, led to a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.

“In the future, neither side will attack the other, including American ships, in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and uninterrupted international commercial shipping,” Albusaidi concluded.

The Donald Trump administration confirmed the ceasefire had been reached.

If we lift the veil from Trump's loud statements, where he called the Houthis' agreement to a ceasefire a "capitulation," the agreement, in essence, became Washington's admission of its inability to achieve a quick victory in Yemen and achieve the objectives of the operation.
"SVO - two weeks to victory, Comrade!"
This time, the United States did not have a “small victorious war” that the White House could have credited as an asset.

Despite large-scale airstrikes that began in March 2025 (although the limited Operation Guardian of Prosperity itself has been underway since early 2024), the US military has failed to break Ansar Allah's resistance.

Efforts to prevent Houthi attacks on ships and to stop them from striking Israel have also been unsuccessful.

In the run-up to the deal, the Houthis have been shelling the Jewish state daily as part of their operation to support Gaza, most notably the successful launch of a ballistic missile that penetrated air defenses at Ben Gurion Airport on May 4.

By the way, Ansar Allah does not intend to stop attacks on Israel even after the ceasefire with the United States was signed: immediately after its announcement, Israeli air defense intercepted a drone.

The continuation of military actions by the American administration against the Houthis threatened to develop into a protracted and resource-intensive campaign.

Thus, the ceasefire, brokered by Oman, demonstrates the White House’s desire to avoid a repeat of the “forever wars” scenario from which Trump tried to withdraw the United States during his last presidential term by announcing the winding down of the Pentagon and allied operations in Afghanistan.

Of course, the American president can report that he has now achieved that the attacks on ships will cease. In fact, he has already rushed to do this.

But for most experts it is obvious that this result was not the result of the US military campaign, but rather the efforts of Oman and Iran to persuade Ansar Allah to refrain from its naval operations.

The Houthis, having retained their military potential, are capable of resuming the military campaign at any moment.

Thus, the ceasefire is intended only to mask the US strategic helplessness in the region.

It highlights the chaotic and thoughtless nature of the decisions of the new administration, which is pursuing unclear goals.

NO PLANNING, NO GOALS
According to The New York Times, in the first three weeks of the operation, the US spent $200 million in ammunition, destroying only a small part of Ansar Allah's military infrastructure.

The Houthis, using a network of underground tunnels built under former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which they strengthened and expanded, have preserved their missile arsenal and fleet of drones.
Have they, indeed?
The deployment of B-2 strategic bombers since April to destroy these tunnels and rock shelters has also failed to significantly weaken the Houthi forces.

This was despite the fact that the B-2s were using GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), the most powerful non-nuclear bombs in the US arsenal.
Which did not destroy the tunnels?
Given the cost of using the B-2 and its arsenal, as well as the AGM-158 JASSM and Tomahawk cruise missiles, the operation was one of the most expensive for the United States in recent memory.

As a result, American commanders expressed concern about the depletion of stockpiles of heavy munitions, which are critical to deterring China.

Moreover, the continuation of the campaign against the Houthis played into Iran's hands, since the American arsenals of the most powerful weapons were, in essence, being emptied to no purpose.

And if negotiations between Tehran and Washington fail, they could be needed to intimidate the Islamic Republic.

The operation became an example of how expensive technologies alone, without lengthy preparation and clear planning, do not guarantee a quick resolution of a crisis.

Unlike Israel's actions against Hezbollah, the Americans and Israelis did not know exactly where Yemeni weapons were being stored or where the enemy's command posts were located.
One wonders what the Israelis now know that they did not know before…
State-of-the-art technical intelligence tools could not replace the work of agents “on the ground,” which was used in the case of Hezbollah.
On the ground or listening via exploding pagers?
Therefore, most of the American strikes fell short, while Israel preferred to destroy purely civilian infrastructure in Yemen.

Moreover, the Houthis, despite the American attacks, continued to take effective countermeasures.

Back in April–May 2024, seven American MQ-9 Reaper UAVs (each costing $30 million) were shot down over Yemen.

The Americans also lost two F/A-18 Super Hornet carrier fighters during emergency maneuvers of the aircraft carrier Dwight Eisenhower to repel missile attacks.

The losses highlighted the US Navy's vulnerability to asymmetric threats and called into question the effectiveness of its "war at a distance" strategy.

That is why the Trump administration began to seriously consider a ground operation as the only means of neutralizing the Houthis.

THE FAILED INVASION
In April 2025, reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering supporting a UAE-sponsored offensive by local militants to seize the port of Hodeida, a key weapons supply point.

Private American contractors have already held consultations with Yemeni militias, but plans for an invasion have had to be abandoned for a number of reasons.

First of all, this operation did not fit into Trump’s “peacekeeping initiatives” and, on the contrary, promised another “eternal war” instead of ending at least one.

In addition, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which concluded a ceasefire with the Houthis back in 2022, categorically opposed such a scenario.

They had no intention of returning to confrontation or even providing their ports and airspace to the Americans for attacks on Yemen.

Trump's attempts to draw Egypt into his military campaign also ended in failure. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rejected such proposals as unacceptable, calling a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip "the best way to stop the Houthis."

Even the deployment of a limited American contingent on the Socotra archipelago, proposed by the UAE, was not implemented due to fears of an escalation of the conflict.

Trump therefore chose not to bet on direct intervention in the Yemeni conflict, focusing on containing Tehran by other means and concluding a new “nuclear deal” with it.

It is clear that the strategy of intimidating Iran through the campaign in Yemen has not worked and, on the contrary, its completion may bring the agreement closer.

Moreover, ahead of his visit to the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, scheduled for May 16, Trump would like to appear as an envoy of peace, not war.

This is more in line with its original positioning and the expectations of its Arab Middle Eastern partners.

A TRUSTED BROKER
Oman, traditionally a neutral broker in the Middle East, played a key role in brokering the truce, focusing on achieving a specific goal: ending attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

It is important to note that the negotiations did not include the issue of Houthi attacks on Israel. Thus, Omani diplomacy succeeded in de-escalating the maritime conflict by deliberately leaving the issue of support for Palestine outside the agreement.

As Gulf State Analytics expert Giorgio Cafiero explained : "Oman acted strictly within the mandate: to stop a threat to shipping that affected the global economy. The Houthis' policy towards Israel is a separate issue, linked to their ideology and regional alliances . "

This approach allowed Oman to maintain the trust of all parties by avoiding discussion of the Houthis' support for Gaza, a "red line" for them.

THE HOUTHIS AND THE "NUCLEAR DEAL"
It is obvious that the agreement is situational and does not resolve the underlying contradictions. Nevertheless, it can be considered as a first step towards a comprehensive settlement.

An end to attacks on ships should reduce tensions and create a platform for broader agreements, from a Gaza deal to resuming the stalled nuclear dialogue with Iran.

It is obvious that Oman, which has influence on the Houthis, and even more so their ally Iran, also exerted the necessary pressure on the leadership of Ansar Allah so that it agreed to accept this deal with the United States.

The agreement allowed Trump to emerge without losses from the difficult situation he had gotten himself into.

Oman now hopes that the US administration will be more accommodating and return to the negotiating table with Iran in a positive mood, in which Muscat is also acting as a mediator.

The easing of tensions in Yemen could also be seen as a goodwill gesture to unblock $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for limiting military supplies to the Houthis.

Thus, the ceasefire in the Red Sea is a tactical pause, not a strategic breakthrough. Oman was able to localize the crisis, but the players retain all the possibilities for escalation.

This is especially true for Israel, which feels its interests have been ignored by Trump and is now ready to take on the Houthis on its own, provoking them to resume naval attacks that could lead to the collapse of the agreement.

Link


International-UN-NGOs
Panic: Egypt Plans Emergency Arab Summit to Oppose Trump's Gaza Takeover Plan
2025-02-10
[Breitbart] Fine, then you own/maintain it
The Foreign Ministry of Egypt announced on Sunday it would convene an emergency meeting of the Arab League on February 27 in light of President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions the United States would take over and rehabilitate the Gaza Strip.

Trump has told reporters on multiple occasions in the past month that he does not believe that Palestinian civilians should be forced to live in Gaza in its current state. Gaza has been controlled by the jihadist terror organization Hamas since 2007 and has been in a formal state of war with Israel since October 8, 2023 – the day after Hamas terrorists killed, abducted, tortured, and raped hundreds of civilians in an invasion of Israel. To neutralize Hamas’s ability to repeat its gruesome terrorism, Israeli armed forces have targeted and dismantled much of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, often hidden in schools, hospitals, and other civilian areas.

In late January, Trump described Gaza as a “literally a demolition site” and expressed home that some neighboring Arab states would take it over from Hamas and help “clean out that whole thing.”

Last week, Trump told reporters that America would “take over the Gaza Strip” and “do a job with it” in the absence of any interest from Egypt, Jordan, or other neighboring Muslim countries to help its inhabitants.
“We’ll love it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous bombs and other weapons on the site,” he claimed, “and get rid of the destroyed buildings [and] create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing.”

Trump also suggested the new Gaza would be an “international” vacation destination.

Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, has been especially reluctant to take in any Palestinian refugees throughout the war, claiming that allowing civilians to escape the destitute and war-torn area was akin to ethnic cleansing. Cairo reportedly explained in its announcement of the emergency Arab League meeting that the intent of the event would be to essentially prevent America from taking on a dominant role in rebuilding Gaza.

The National, a paper of record in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reported citing anonymous sources that the Arab League would use the meeting “to produce a unified Arab stances against Mr. Trump’s proposals, with the hope of dissuading the US president.”

It is unclear which neighboring countries would participate in the summit, though most are expected to attend. Of note is a report from the regional newspaper Al Araby Al Jadeed indicating that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is expected to attend.

Preceding the announcement of the meeting, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry revealed in a public statement that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had spent much of Saturday on the phone with other Arab diplomats discussing the Muslim world’s rejection of Trump’s plan. The Foreign Ministry listed Abdelatty’s contacts as including his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Sudan. Bahrain, as the current Arab chair, is likely to be a prominent attendee at the emergency meeting.

Egypt, the Foreign Ministry statement on Saturday reiterated, “rejects any measures aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land or encouraging their relocation to other countries outside the Palestinian territories.”

“This stance stems from the belief that such notions and ideas represent a blatant violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights,” it continued, “and a threat to security and stability in the region, thereby undermining the chances for peace and coexistence among its peoples.”

Notably, the Foreign Ministry said Abdelatty’s conversations including talks on how Egypt could help with “early recovery projects, debris removal, and reconstruction” – the tasks that Trump listed as essential to making Gaza once again inhabitable.

In another sign that Egypt may be considering taking on some responsibilities in rebuilding Gaza, Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath reported on Sunday that Egyptian officials contacted Washington to inform it that it is working on “a vision of its own for rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians,” Israel’s i24 News reported. The Saudi report did not specify any provisions within that alleged vision.

Abdelatty departed for Washington on Sunday.

“The visit takes place in the framework of bolstering bilateral relations and the strategic partnership binding Egypt and the United States and to consult on regional developments,” the Egyptian government said of the top diplomat’s visit before he left.

Egyptian strongman leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi himself is expected to travel to the White House himself sometime before the end of February, according to various reports, but neither government has confirmed such a visit at press time.

If Egypt proposes taking on a prominent role in rebuilding Gaza, it may be what Trump’s remarks initially intended to inspire. During a visit to the Dominican Republic last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that Trump was frustrated with the lack of initiative by regional actors, prompting his plan to “take over” Gaza.

“That place right now,” Rubio said of Gaza, “is not habitable, not just because of destruction due to the conflict and the fact that the Hamas cowards hide underground, but also because there are unexploded munitions; there are all kinds of weapons, including Hamas weapons, in the location.”

“I think President Trump has offered to go in and be a part of that solution, and if some other country is willing to step forward and do it themselves, then that would be great,” he explained. “But no one seems to be rushing forward to do that, and that has to happen. That’s the reality.”

“There are a lot of countries in the world that like to express concern about Gaza and about the Palestinian people but very few were willing in the past to do anything concrete about it,” he concluded, “And so I think President Trump is trying to stir that and hopefully get a reaction from some countries who do have both the economic and technological capacity to contribute to a post-conflict region.”
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
The End of ‘Palestine'
2025-02-07
[TabletMag] Yesterday, President Donald Trump single-handedly collapsed the most destructive idea of the last hundred years—Palestine. During meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, Trump said he was going to move 1.7 million Palestinians out of Gaza. And just like that, he broke the long spell that had captured generations of world leaders, peace activists, and Middle East terror masters alike, who had paradoxically come to regard the repeated failure and haunting secondary consequences of the idea of joint Arab Muslim and Jewish statehood in the same small piece of land as proof of its necessity.

Palestine was a misshapen idea from the beginning, engendered by an act of pure negation. The Arabs could have gone along with the U.N.’s partition plan like the Jews did, and chosen to build whatever version of Switzerland or Belgium on the eastern Med in 1948. Instead, they resoundingly chose war. That’s the storied "Nakba" at the core of the Palestinian legend—the catastrophe that drove the Arabs from their land and hung a key around the neck of a nation waiting to go home. The Arabs chose the catastrophe; they chose war, based on the premise that they would inevitably win and exterminate the Jews.

Yet despite repeated military failures, and the increasing distance between the first-world powerhouse that the Israelis built and their increasingly war-torn, third-world neighborhood, the global conscience was always predisposed to rebuilding what the Palestinians destroyed. Accordingly, the Palestinian Arabs became a tribe of feral children whose identity was carved out of the relentless vow to eliminate Israel and slaughter the Jews en masse—despite repeated failures, each one more crushing than the last.

Trump said, enough, we’re not rebuilding Gaza. Time for a new idea—the Gazans have to to go, they can try to start again somewhere else, in a land where every building still standing isn’t already wired to explode.
Personally, I believe that Arabs shouldn't live outside Arabian Peninsula.
What if they won’t go, or if the Egyptians and Jordanians won’t take them? They’ll take them, said Trump. Ah, he’s talking big, but it’s not real, say the experts—after all, he’s a real estate guy, and he’s pretending it’s just another property deal to pressure Hamas—Mar-a-Gaza. You can’t move a million people just like that, says an American electorate that elected Trump because he promised to deport tens of millions of illegal aliens who crossed the U.S. border in the last four years. He’s nuts says the D.C. foreign policy crowd: He’ll destabilize Egypt and Jordan, and undermine America’s best Arab friends and allies in the region.

Yet Trump is right to see both Egypt and Jordan as paltry constructions with little-to-no ability to project force on America’s behalf, and whose survival depends month to month on American aid. Cairo is useful to the United States only insofar as it, one, makes sure the Suez Canal is open and, two, observes the peace treaty with Israel—i.e., continues its campaign of repression against a populace of 112 million people who can barely afford to buy bread, and many of whose dreams are filled with the same insanity that drives Hamas. The only antidote to this misery that Egypt’s rulers have found is blaming the Zionists next door for the ills of their own society, while torturing religious extremists in their prisons. Maybe when Elon Musk is finished fixing Washington he can conduct an audit of where American money goes in Egypt. Somehow, I doubt he’d get in the door.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s problem is that he allowed Hamas to smuggle arms through the Philadelphi crossing into Gaza, thereby violating Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel—which is what we nominally pay him for.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s problem is that he allowed Hamas to smuggle arms through the Philadelphi crossing into Gaza, thereby violating Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel—which is what we nominally pay him for. From the perspective of Trump, an American president keen to enforce treaty obligations, Sisi has a new chance to prove himself as a friend of America and not a grafting liar by adding a million Gazans—who in the past have been ruled by Egypt and have family names like al-Masri ("the Egyptian")—to Egypt’s existing population of 112 million, amounting percentagewise to roughly the same number of legal immigrants that the United States accepts per year. Sisi can deal with the Hamas members among the Gazan immigrants the same way he deals with Muslim Brotherhood militants in his own society—or he can give them all medals for their service. It’s up to him.

And if not? Well, he might remember that Hosni Mubarak’s regime collapsed not because of Muslim Brotherhood-led street protests during the 2011 Arab Spring but because Barack Obama withdrew his support from the longtime U.S. ally.

With money from the Gulf states, or even Israel, Sisi can afford to absorb Palestinians and might even volunteer to take all of Gaza—the average salary in Egypt at present being the equivalent of $5,000 per year. He can then leave Jordan’s King Abdullah responsible for the rest of the Palestinians in the likely event that Trump, as he did in his first term, encourages Netanyahu to annex the Jordan Valley, or goes a step further and acknowledges Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

Since the CIA has long treated the Hashemite Kingdom as a key asset, we can expect within the next week The Washington Post’s David Ignatius to publish an article based on intelligence sources—i.e., U.S. and Jordanian spies—concocting a story about Trump’s rationale for "destabilizing Jordan." The reality is that the Jordanians, with U.S. help, put down a Palestinian rebellion in 1970. The country of a little more than 11 million is already estimated to be two-thirds Palestinian, the rest Jordanian tribesmen, and it’s hard to see how adding another 500,000 Palestinians will make it harder for Jordan’s notoriously effective security services to contain their neighbors, especially if the offer includes a few dozen more Black Hawk helicopters. After all, no one will expect the Jordanians to allow Hamas to build a giant tunnel-city stuffed with rocket factories beneath their encampments while giving them billions in foreign aid to pay for it all.

Re: Saudi Arabia: Moving millions of Gazans who have repeatedly attacked their Israeli neighbors out of what is now a shattered war zone is a sensible investment in the kind of stability that helps rich people get richer.
Again, the key players here aren’t Jordan and Egypt but the oil rich Gulf Cooperation Council states, especially Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and of course Qatar. Trump might make Saudi largesse in resettling the Gazans a precondition for the much-hyped prospect of normalizing relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem. Given the fact that Israel regularly attracts nine- and 10-figure investments from Silicon Valley’s biggest funds, the reality is that the Saudis have little to offer Israel except for money applied to exactly this type of local purpose. Moving millions of Gazans who have repeatedly attacked their Israeli neighbors out of what is now a shattered war zone is a sensible investment in the kind of stability that helps rich people get richer.

The Arabs and Democrats are only the most vocal of the many opposed to Trump’s initiative. Left-wing governments from Europe to Australia are lining up to pledge their allegiance to the fantasy of a Palestinian state, in the hopes of propitiating Muslim and Arab constituencies at home—whose understanding of "peace" means eliminating Israel. But even leaving the patent bad faith of those professing "peace" aside, moving Gazans out of Gaza is the only sane option 14 months after they initiated a campaign of rape, murder, and hostage-taking that brought their own house down on their heads.

After all, what’s more fanciful, moving 1.7 million people out of Gaza, a large portion of whom would simply be required to board air-conditioned buses or walk across the nearby Egypt border, or compelling them to live in a giant rubble field booby-trapped by an Iran-backed terrorist group? Estimates vary as to how long it would take to clear Gaza of explosives—half a decade or more? Fifteen years? Twenty? Are the Gazans supposed to live quietly in tents for the next decade or two while their homes are rebuilt next door? Where? In "temporary cities" made of Dwell Magazine-like rehabbed shipping containers built by graduates of Birmingham University? In Hamas’ tunnels?

Regardless, should the Palestinians remain in Gaza, they would invariably return to war no matter how much munificence the Gulf Arab states, the European Union, and perhaps even the U.S. might shower on the toxic sand castle built over the past two decades with billions of Western aid money. Proof the Palestinians can’t and won’t keep the peace is that even after they won a reprieve when Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff forced the Biden administration’s cease-fire on Jerusalem, Hamas and its NGO-supported human shields celebrated in the streets as if the Hamas space program had successfully landed Palestinians on Mars. Even as Israel released jailed murderers, the Gazans paraded Israeli hostages through the ruins of Gaza like trophies of war.

The Saudis, Qataris, Emiratis and others who now rend their clothes while lamenting the likely fate of their ant-farm death cult might well have counseled: Quiet brothers, you have been spared. Don’t bring attention to yourselves. For the winds of Gaza shift on a whim and who knows if you are not next to be swept away by fate—or the American president.

Here is the stark reality: Gazans, not just the enlisted members of the Hamas brigades, waged an exterminationist campaign against Israel, and they lost. At virtually any other time in history, save the last 75 years, they would be lucky to lose only territory and not have their legend and language permanently deleted from the book of the living.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
‘Jordan Is for Jordanians': Israel's Neighbors Reject Taking In Palestinian Refugees After Trump Suggestion
2025-01-29
[Breitbart] The governments of Egypt and Jordan categorically rejected the possibility of offering shelter to displaced Gaza refugees on Monday after President Donald Trump lamented the state of the Hamas-controlled region as a “demolition site” and suggested it needed to be “cleaned out” before civilians could live there in peace.

Gaza has seen tremendous levels of destruction since October 7, 2023, when Hamas, a jihadist terrorist organization that controls the area, invaded Israel and conducted targeted massacres of civilians, killing families in their own homes and engaging in widespread torture, gang rape, and other atrocities. Israel declared war on Hamas the next day, with the goal of making it impossible for the Iran-backed terrorists to conduct a second similar operation. Israel lost an estimated 1,200 people on October 7.

The war has resulted in the elimination of some of the most prominent leaders in Hamas, including Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, “political” chief Ismail Haniyeh, and and al-Qassam Brigades leader Mohammed Deif. Israel has also successfully dismantled much of Iran’s terrorist proxy network, including the leadership of Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Israel agreed to a ceasefire deal with Hamas this month that has allowed the slow return of civilians to Gaza. Given that Hamas often uses schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure to hide its terrorist operations, the war required the destruction of much of that infrastructure, meaning Gaza will require extensive rebuilding before it can sustain any large civilian population comfortably.

“It’s literally a demolition site right now,” President Trump said of Gaza in remarks to reporters on Saturday. “Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there.”

Trump suggested that Jordan and Egypt, Gaza’s immediate Arab neighbors, take in displaced Palestinian refugees while Gaza rebuilds.

“You’re talking about probably a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing. You know, over the centuries it’s had many, many conflicts, that site. And I don’t know, something has to happen,” Trump said.

The president said that he had raised the possibility of Jordan taking in Palestinian refugees with the country’s king, Abdullah II, in a phone call last week, and that he would suggest to Egyptian strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the same.

The governments of both nations offered statements that enthusiastically rejected the possibility of offering refuge to displaced Gazans given the unlivable conditions in the Strip. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry stated plainly that the country “rejected” letting any Palestinians in, while Egypt described its opposition to helping displaced Palestinians as “categorical.”

“All talk about an alternative homeland for Palestinians is rejected. We will not accept it and will continue to confront it,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi asserted on Monday.

“Jordan is for Jordanians,” he continued, “and Palestine is for Palestinians. The resolution of the Palestinian issue must be on Palestinian soil.”

The Jordanian House of Representatives separately insisted in its own statement, “We reaffirm our rejection of all illusions of displacement aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause at the expense of Jordan and Egypt.”

“Jordan will not be an alternative homeland for attempts to displace the steadfast Palestinian people,” it added.

In Egypt, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday that affirmed what it described as the “resilience of the Palestinian people on their land,” suggesting Palestinians must endure the current harrowing conditions in Gaza while rebuilding occurs.

The Sisi government “reaffirmed its unwavering support for the resilience of the Palestinian people on their land and their commitment to their inalienable rights under international law and humanitarian law,” the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram reported. “The foreign ministry underscored its categorical rejection of any actions that undermine these rights, including settlement expansion, annexation of land, or the displacement of Palestinians—whether through temporary or permanent means.”

Trump nonetheless repeated his assertions that he did not support Palestinians being forced to live in the “hell” of Gaza.

“I’d like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence,” Trump told reporters. “When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years.”

“There have been various civilizations on that strip. It didn’t start here. It started thousands of years before,” he continued, “and there’s always been violence associated with it. You could get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable.”
But this is The Donald — stupid, brash, and ignorant! How can he possibly know about the deep history of the Gaza Strip???
The American president expressed optimism that Sisi and King Abdullah would eventually welcome Palestinians.

“I wish [Sisi] would take some. We helped them a lot, and I’m sure he’d help us. He’s a friend of mine. He’s in… a rough neighborhood,” Trump said. “But I think he would do it, and I think the King of Jordan would do it too.”
“Awfully nice countries you guys have there. It’d be a real shame if you couldn’t afford to have them anymore…”
Among those most opposed to liberating Palestinians from Hamas-controlled Gaza are the remaining leaders of Hamas.
No!!! Reeeeeeeely???
A senior Hamas terrorist told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) this week that Hamas would “foil” attempts to rescue Palestinians from living under the jihadists. The Emirati newspaper The National reported on Tuesday that a “high-level” delegation of Hamas jihadists is in Egypt today to discuss the situation in Gaza with top officials.
We can confirm they are there.
“Mr. Trump’s comments sparked a flurry of behind-the-scenes diplomacy across much of the Arab world to formulate a unified stance to reject the suggestions,” The National observed, citing anonymous sources, “and the issue figured prominently in the talks between Hamas and Egyptian officials.”

Egypt is also reportedly planning street protests to oppose accepting Palestinian refugees.
The spontaneous, grassroots kind, no doubt.
Egyptians, while claiming to support the Palestinian cause, have soundly rejected helping Palestinians by offering them shelter throughout the war. Shortly after the October 7 attacks, The National spoke to Egyptian citizens who complained, “Egypt has enough refugees living in it.”

“Just over the past 10 years or so, many Syrians came here to flee their war, then many thousands of Yemenis came when war broke out over there too,” an antiques dealer told the newspaper. “Then just this year, when war broke out in Sudan, the same happened and we allowed Sudanese refugees in.”
Egypt has been a refuge for thousands of years. Abraham and Sarah took their flocks down to escape a drought (that was when he persuaded her to lie and say she was his sister), and Jacob’s brothers did the same a generation later, staying on for four hundred years until Moses led them out again.
Syrians have begun to return home by the thousands following the end of the Assad family regime there in December, but that does not appear to have changed Cairo’s disposition towards Palestinians.
The Egyptians believe Palestinians, especially the Gazas they know better, to be conmen and thieves at best, and are uninterested in being persuaded otherwise.
Egypt is the only country besides Israel to share a land border with Gaza. Egyptian authorities repeatedly fortified their border with Gaza throughout the war to keep Palestinians from entering their country.
And then allowed tunnels underneath for smuggling, a lucrative venture for those on both sides of the border, especially President al Sisi’s nephew.
In Jordan, King Abdullah has used international platforms to oppose sheltering Palestinian refugees.

“Now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people,” he said during his most recent address to the United Nations General Assembly in September. “It is the moral duty of this international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories.”

But, he added, “extremist” ideas like “the idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland” must be rejected.

“Let me be very, very clear: that will never happen,” he promised. “We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime.”
Ah, but if they accept a polite invitation to be helped to relocate to a better neighbourhood, that’s quite another thing.
Link


Africa North
Sisi unveils plan for two-day Gaza truce, release of four hostages
2024-10-28
[GEO.TV] Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced Sunday a proposal for a two-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war that would include a hostage release and could pave the way for a "complete ceasefire".

Sisi, whose government has been involved in mediation efforts to end the Gaza war, proposed a "two-day ceasefire" during which "four hostages would be exchanged for some prisoners in Israeli jails", followed by more negotiations within 10 days aiming to secure "a complete ceasefire and the entry of aid" into the Gaza Strip, the president told a news conference in Cairo alongside his visiting Algerian counterpart.
I don’t see the point of this. But I’m not the party of the first or second part, so my opinion doesn’t matter.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
What is Hamas Hiding in Rafah, and Why Doesn't Biden Want the IDF to Find It?
2024-06-02
[Townhall] In the lead up to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation to destroy Hamas and secure the release of over 100 hostages — including 8 Americas — believed to be in and around Rafah, leaders around the world from Joe Biden to the collective leftist leaders of the European Union to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi panicked and ordered Israel to forestall its necessary means to end the war.

Why did world leaders clamor for Israel to do nothing?

What are they hiding?

It turns out they are hiding a lot.

...Meanwhile, Israel continued to negotiate through the "good" offices of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar for the release of hostages. Out of thin air, on May 6 Hamas agreed to the ceasefire terms. Only, what actually happened was that the terms they agreed to were not the negotiated terms that the US, Qatar, and Israel had seen. Indeed, Egypt edited the ceasefire terms in such a way that Hamas would get a "win" and say they accepted the terms, but the terms, as edited, were outrageous. Even the even-keeled US negotiator, CIA Chief William Burns, was mystified and outraged. What kind of nonsense game was Egypt playing? Cairo pulled a bait-and-switch on the Israelis and the other negotiators ensuring that, needless to say, negotiations broke down.

On the IDF’s first day of entry into Rafah in mid-May they discovered hundreds of tunnels with over 50 two-way underground tunnels between Rafah and Egypt. Dozens more cross-border tunnels have been discovered since, along the Rafah-Egypt border. Some tunnels were paved and wide enough for passage of full-sized cargo trucks.

...Egypt built a formidable border wall, something Donald Trump could not even imagine in a fever dream for America. It is impenetrable, militarized, and closely guarded with Egyptian troops and security forces. The way through it for Gazans seeking to get out of Gaza? Baksheesh. Upwards of $5,000 per person. It has also been a gateway for international aid and smuggling into Gaza resulting in over $88 million in profit to the holder of the border keys.

The holder of those keys is a Bedouin tribal leader named Ibrahim al-Organi, now the wealthiest man in northern Sinai. But how could an ex-con smuggler rise to a position of border control prince? Through connections to the Egyptian government, Organi has cultivated extremely close ties with Egyptian President al-Sisi, and more significantly, with al-Sisi’s son, Mahmoud. General Mahmoud al-Sisi is the Deputy Chief of Egyptian intelligence and he sits on Organi’s board. It’s good to have friends in high places, and in the case of Organi, it has made him, and those in his network, very wealthy.
And, just like Hunter, Mahmoud splits with the big guy?
Every day there is additional evidence of Egyptian smuggling in Gaza. Intelligence on May 31, 2024 uncovered surface to air missiles smuggled into Rafah from Egypt. The large cache purportedly would have been used to take down IDF helicopters. How much money changed hands for Egypt to have turned a blind eye (or been complicit) in these types of smuggling operations?

...Recently, following Israel’s successful surgical strike in Rafah to eliminate two terrorist masterminds, a humanitarian safe area caught fire and several civilians were killed. Hamas’s publicity hacks blamed Israel's strike. The IDF undertook an investigation which uncovered that the fire ignited over 1.7 kilometers from the IDF strike and was not caused by their action. Rather there was an ordnance storage facility in Rafah abutting the humanitarian zone and there were explosions in the stockpile that caused the fire. Hamas purposely stored highly combustible ammunition alongside a humanitarian zone for civilians.

The ordnance themselves were quite interesting. It turns out many were US-manufactured munitions that had been sold to Egypt. With Israel now in control over the entire Gaza-Egypt border area, it is all but certain that more evidence of Egyptian smuggling of American-made weapons and possible collusion with Hamas will unfold. What will happen to the US-Egypt relationship as a result?

...What is becoming obvious is that there were a lot of reasons for Egypt and America to want Israel to remain outside of Rafah. The secrets that will be revealed through the IDF’s operations may well surprise the civilized world as Israel fights to defeat the barbarians.
Related:
Ibrahim al-Organi 03/14/2024 Gazans reportedly charged exorbitant sums by Egyptian company to leave Strip


Link


Caribbean-Latin America
Brazil's Socialist President Lula Delivers Anti-Israel Rant in Egypt, Promises Money for UNRWA
2024-02-17
[Breitbart] Brazilian radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned Israel on Thursday, accusing the country of killing “women and children” in its self-defense operations against the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas.

The Brazilian president, during an official visit to Egypt, issued his accusations against Israel as part of a speech given during a session of the League of Arab States, in which Lula also made demands for the United Nations to recognize “Palestine” as a state with Jerusalem as its capital. Lula then repeated its accusations against Israel in a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Pres. Lula then emitted every lying lie the haters chant, without a shred of original thinking anywhere in his list.
Lula also defended the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the Palestinian relief organization, after multiple countries stopped funding it in response to evidence that its employees not only supported the October 7 slaughter, but participated in it.

“At a time when the Palestinian people need support the most, wealthy countries decide to cut humanitarian aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA),” Lula said. “Recent allegations against agency officials need proper investigation but should not paralyze it. Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon will also be left without support.”

Lula committed an unspecified “new financial contribution to UNRWA” in defiance of the organization’s longstanding links to territory activity.
Talk is cheap.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Bliken seeks 'enduring end' to Gaza war on Egypt visit
2024-02-07
No doubt he does.
[GEO.TV] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
 visited Egypt on Tuesday as part of his latest Middle East crisis tour, seeking a new ceasefire and "an enduring end" to the Israel-Hamas
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
 war.

Heavy strikes and fighting in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 killed at least 99 people overnight, mostly women and kiddies, said the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory that has been under almost four months of bombardment.

Fears grew for more than a million Paleostinians crowded into the far southern Rafah area as the battlefront drew ever closer due to Israel's ongoing offensive.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Monday that the military "will reach places where we have not yet fought [...] right up to the last Hamas bastion, which is Rafah", on the Egyptian border.

Blinken — on his fifth regional tour since the bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out — was due to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a day after he held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
 as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists...
 in Riyadh.

The US top envoy was later expected in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
 and then Israel, hoping to shore up support for a truce deal that was hashed out in Gay Paree in January but has not yet been signed off on by either Hamas or Israel.
Related:
Antony Blinken: 2024-02-04 Report: Saudis seek largely declarative steps on Palestinian state to forge Israel ties
Antony Blinken: 2024-02-02 El Salvador's President Lights Up Ilhan Omar in Brutal Tweet
Antony Blinken: 2024-02-01 US preparing 'WEEKS' of strikes and cyber attacks against Iran-linked targets after deaths of three American soldiers as Tehran threatens to 'decisively respond'
Related:
Hamas: 2024-02-05 Grandson of Israeli Athlete Murdered at Munich Olympics is Badly Beaten in Berlin Assault
Hamas: 2024-02-05 The Tragic Self-Destruction of an Enraged Israel
Hamas: 2024-02-05 'Alarming': Speaker Mike Johnson warns of rocketing anti-Semitism
Related:
Yoav Gallant: 2024-02-05 Scores killed in overnight strikes as Hamas weighs Gaza truce proposal
Yoav Gallant: 2024-02-04 Gazans fear Israeli attack on their last refuge; US launches retaliatory strikes
Yoav Gallant: 2024-02-03 Israel turns focus of Gaza attack to Rafah as Hamas weighs ceasefire proposal; conflict now longest since 1948 War of Independence
Related:
Rafah: 2024-02-05 Scores killed in overnight strikes as Hamas weighs Gaza truce proposal
Rafah: 2024-02-05 Hamas targets Israeli forces in Gaza cities
Rafah: 2024-02-04 Gazans fear Israeli attack on their last refuge; US launches retaliatory strikes
Related:
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: 2023-10-23 'They have no influence.' Words at the 'peace summit' on Gaza did not turn into actions
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: 2023-10-21 UNICEF calls aid delivery a matter of life and death for children in Gaza
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: 2023-09-14 Egypt’s ban on veil in schools sparks debate on social media
Related:
Mohammed bin Salman: 2024-02-04 Report: Saudis seek largely declarative steps on Palestinian state to forge Israel ties
Mohammed bin Salman: 2024-01-18 Report: PM rejected US proposal for Saudi normalization in exchange for path to Palestinian statehood
Mohammed bin Salman: 2023-11-22 We demand a 'serious' peace process for a Palestinian state: Mohammed Bin Salman
Related:
Qatar: 2024-02-05 Hamas Official says that ceasefire agreement must entail lifting of blockade and withdrawal of Israeli forces
Qatar: 2024-02-04 Turkish intel chief met Hamas chief Haniyeh in Doha — state media
Qatar: 2024-02-03 Turkey arrests 7 on suspicion of selling information to Mossad
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
'They have no influence.' Words at the 'peace summit' on Gaza did not turn into actions
2023-10-23
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Mikhail Zakharov

[REGNUM] On October 21, a summit on the Palestinian-Israeli issue was held in Cairo. The event, initiated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi , was dedicated to discussing ways to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and reduce tension in the Gaza Strip.

Representatives of 34 countries and three international organizations - the UN, the League of Arab States and the African Union - arrived in the Egyptian capital. Russia was represented at the summit by Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Presidential Representative for the Middle East and African Countries Mikhail Bogdanov.

Speaking at the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict zone. “It is necessary to apply international humanitarian law and protect the civilian population of the Gaza Strip,” the UN Secretary General said, emphasizing that “every effort must be made to stop the bloodshed and achieve a two-state solution.”

The Egyptian side insisted on reviving the peace process in the Middle East. “I called on you to work together to reach consensus on a roadmap to end the current humanitarian tragedy and revive the peace process,” said President al-Sisi.

King Abdullah II of Jordan also noted the importance of immediately ending the war in the Gaza Strip and delivering humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian enclave. “An immediate end to the war in the Gaza Strip is necessary... continuous delivery of aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip is necessary,” the Jordanian monarch said.

The leader of the Palestinian people, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke out against the forced displacement of the Arab people from the Gaza Strip. “We warn against attempts to move our people from Gaza beyond its borders. We will not leave, we will remain on our land ,” he said. “There is no other place for the Palestinians other than their land,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani supported him.

During the summit, senior officials also spoke about the need to free the hostages and condemned the indiscriminate use of force through bombing , which is a violation of international law.

In a conversation with Regnum news agency , Deputy Chairman of the Association of Russian Diplomats, HSE professor Andrei Baklanov noted that the summit could help resolve several issues that are significant for the Arab states and Palestinians.

Firstly, for the organizers of the event, the Egyptians (and not only for them), it is important to block the idea of ​​​​expelling Palestinians from the territory where they lived to the territory of neighboring Arab countries. The Palestinian problem “cannot be eliminated without a fair solution, and this will not happen at the expense of Egypt , ” al-Sisi explained during the opening of the summit. Amman also rejects the idea of ​​moving Palestinians: “No refugees in Jordan,” Abdullah II previously noted.

The second important issue for the assembled politicians is preventing the possible expansion of confrontation to other territories of the Middle East, in particular to the West Bank and Lebanon, Baklanov notes.

Finally, the expert says, politicians can agree on restoring the system of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, which has been experiencing funding problems for several years now. “The question will be about restoring in full the activities of UNRWA (the UN agency involved in helping Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. - Ed. ) to finance support programs, food and other, for Palestinians, primarily Palestinian refugees,” explains IA Regnum’s interlocutor.

... AND MODEST RESULTS
In fact, based on the results of the summit, it can be said that its Arab participants limited themselves to statements, demonstrative condemnations and general agreement on the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip. They failed to reach consensus, take a stronger position and collectively resort to serious action to achieve the goals of the event.

In addition, there are also significant differences between the Arab countries and Western representatives who took part in the summit, in particular on the issues of a ceasefire and condemnation of the actions of Israel and Hamas. Some European leaders had previously refused to participate in the summit due to disagreements over the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel itself, by the way, did not take part in the event. “Israeli politicians have made it clear that Israel will not participate in a regional summit on the ongoing war, which is due to take place on Saturday in Cairo,” local newspaper Haaretz previously wrote.

Andrei Baklanov notes that the presence of the UN and the organization’s secretary general there played an important role in Tel Aviv’s refusal to participate in the summit. “The Israelis have always been very skeptical about this structure,” the expert explained.

The absence of Iranian representatives at the summit , as well as high-ranking US officials , also does not work in favor of the event organized by Egypt. “The United States and Iran are the two main external actors that may in the future be involved in this conflict. This is another factor that this summit is unlikely to bring any fundamental change in the situation,” says Boris Dolgov, senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with IA Regnum.

According to Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt, whose words are quoted by Politico , the diplomats who came to Cairo would not have been able to achieve a major breakthrough. “They are not players,” said Jumblatt. - They have no influence. Three players - Israel, Iran and America."

Earlier, Reuters, citing diplomatic sources, reported that the parties were unlikely to be able to make a full-fledged joint statement. Such pessimism was justified: in the evening , Sky News Arabia reported that participants in the Cairo summit on Palestine did not accept the final statement due to the above-mentioned disagreements.

This suggests that the event is unlikely to have a chance to seriously influence the further course of events in the Middle East. “The specific further dynamics of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict now depend to a large extent on what decision the Israeli leadership makes,” notes Dolgov.

PREPARING FOR THE WORST
At this time, judging by the events taking place against the backdrop of the meeting, the conflict is not subsiding, and the warring parties continue to prepare for the worst outcome of events.

On Saturday evening, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Avichai Adri announced that Israel was implementing a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip. He explained that currently “nothing comes to the Palestinian enclave from Israeli territory,” including water, electricity and medicine. As Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi reported, the Israeli leadership does not currently see an agenda for negotiations on Palestine.

The surprise attack by Hamas was devastating for Tel Aviv's reputation. “This is our September 11th,” admitted Major Nir Dinar, IDF spokesman. “They took us by surprise.”

“In order to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of Israeli public opinion, the Israeli leadership, it seems to me, will go for a military ground operation, despite attempts to find some other methods of resolving the conflict,” says Boris Dolgov.

In turn, the Lebanese Hezbollah movement continues to strike IDF military targets in northern Israel, and the Palestinian Hamas movement shells Israeli cities. In the Gaza Strip itself, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.

Israel's neighbors prioritize their own problems. In particular, both the Egyptian President and the King of Jordan are concerned about the security of their countries due to the possible displacement of the population of Gaza, which they opposed at the summit.

Yes, the Egyptian authorities, of course, very, very condemn Israel for attacks on civilians, but they are not willing to open corridors for the movement of refugees from the Gaza Strip . So do the Jordanian authorities . Arab countries are not going to intervene more actively on the side of the Palestinians. Protests and remarks on social networks hardly bother Tel Aviv.

On the eve of the summit, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that “if it is not possible to ensure lasting peace, then the alternative will be very bad - large-scale war and instability in the region . ” And the past “peace summit” failed to cope with the task of containing the situation.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
UNICEF calls aid delivery a matter of life and death for children in Gaza
2023-10-21
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip was called a matter of life and death for children in the enclave by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on October 20 in a publication on the organization's page on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

“Delivery of aid is a matter of life and death for children in Gaza. Water, food, medicine, fuel and other essentials are running out,” the publication said.

It is also noted that UNICEF sent vital supplies to Egypt, near the Rafah checkpoint, which is currently the only border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the organization emphasizes that it requires an immediate humanitarian pause to urgently deliver aid to Gaza.

Earlier , IA Regnum reported that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a two-week humanitarian truce in the Middle East. Guterres stated the need for urgent delivery of aid and food to the Gaza Strip.

On October 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi . The heads of state discussed the escalation in the Gaza Strip and diplomatic steps to resolve the outbreak of conflict. They advocated the need to urgently ensure safe access for those in need to humanitarian assistance.

On October 19, a special flight of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations arrived in Egypt with humanitarian aid for the residents of Gaza. The plane delivered 27 tons of food, including sugar and flour.

Link


Africa North
Egypt’s ban on veil in schools sparks debate on social media
2023-09-14
[Dawn] A ban on wearing the face veil in Egyptian schools announced by the government this week sparked debate on social media on Tuesday with critics condemning it as "tyrannical".

The education ministry decision, announced in the state-run newspaper Akhbar al-Youm on Monday, applies to both state and independent schools.

It bans the niqab, an all-encompassing black garment that leaves only the eyes visible and is worn by a small minority of Egyptian wo­men. The decision leaves optional the hijab, the headscarf worn by a much larger number of women.

The choice must be made according to the "wishes of the pupil, without pressure or coercion from any party exce­pt her legal guardian, who must be informed of the choice," the decree said.

Critics took to social media to lambast the move, accusing the government of meddling in private matters.

"People are angry because the government gave no justification. It’s a tyrannical decision that impinges on people’s private lives," a user going by the name Mohammed posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Supporters retorted that only an Death Eater minority would be affected.

"Nobody is angry except supporters of the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
 and the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 group," posted a user calling himself "al-Masri" (the Egyptian).

Talk show host Ahmed Moussa, a fervent supporter of the anti-Islamist administration of Presi­dent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, welco­med a "first significant step towa­rds the destruction of extremism and the correction of an education sys­­tem that had become the haunt of Mus­lim Brotherhood terrorist groups".

Sisi was still army chief when in 2013 he overthrew the democratically elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the Moslem Brüderbund leader. The group has since then been outlawed as a "terrorist organization", with hundreds of its members killed and tens of thousands thrown in jail.

Other posts questioned the government’s priorities.

"Is the niqab to blame for the overcrowded classes, the old furniture and the difficulties faced by teachers?" one post asked.

In 2015, Cairo University ban­ned its teachers from wearing the niqab, in a decision upheld by an administrative court in 2020.
Related:
Face veil: 2023-04-29 Banned From School, Teenage Afghan Girls Turn To Taliban-Run Madrasahs
Face veil: 2023-03-16 Kurdistan Parliament swears in the first lawmaker wearing a Niqab
Face veil: 2022-08-22 Moslem colonist round-up: madmen, criminals, Muslim Brotherhood 5th column, attacks on Xtian churches 3x/day
Related:
Niqab: 2023-08-23 'Forced To Dress Like a Muslim': Taliban Imposes Restrictions On Afghanistan's Sikh, Hindu Minorities
Niqab: 2023-07-18 Afghan Women Complain Of Harassment, Threats By Taliban's Morality Police
Niqab: 2023-07-18 Human rights activists announced a new practice of accounting in Dagestan
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More