English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 07/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10/13-16:”‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 06-07/2021
Ministry of Health: 294 new infections, two deaths
President receives Qatari Foreign Minister, informs him of Lebanon’s welcoming to Qatar’s permanent support
Hariri discusses with Qatari Foreign Minister latest political developments
Qatari Foreign Minister's Visit
Defense Minister Gantz sends proposal for humanitarian aid to Lebanon
Qatari Foreign Minister in Beirut for Talks with Top Officials
Berri Calls for Session to Mull Lifting MPs Immunity in Port Case
Berri Clings to Hariri, PM-Designate to Intensify Consultations
Bassil Shows Flexibility as Adib's Chances Surge Again
U.S. Central Command Envoy Visits Lebanon to Review Border Security Installations
Lebanon caretaker premier pleads for aid, warns of social explosion
Diab Pleads for Aid as Crisis Worsens
How Hezbollah controls the economy in Lebanon/George Eid /Cyprus Mail/July 06/ 2021
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon-UNIFIL/Tony Badran/FDD/July 06/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 06-07/2021
Pope Francis 'Had Breakfast and Walked' after Operation
Canada Names First Indigenous Governor General
Two attacks, less than 12 hours apart, target US forces in Iraq
Iran power outage crisis leads politicians to slam their own policy
Death to Khamenei’: Protests erupt in Iran over power outages
Iran informs IAEA of plans to produce enriched uranium up to 20 pct purity
US withdrawal from Afghanistan is more than 90 pct complete: Pentagon
Russian government hackers breached Republican National Committee last week
US Secretary calls for negotiated, indefinite ceasefire in call with Ethiopia's Abiy
ISIS targets electricity lines in Iraq to spread mayhem
Israel PM Suffers Defeat over Arab Family Unification Ban
Eight Murders in a Month in Syria Camp
Iran sees ‘good progress’ in talks with Riyadh but admits to snags
Buoyed by Raisi’s election, Iraqi militia leader vows ‘open war’ on US
In change of strategy, Cairo sees Haftar as just one of its cards in Libya not its main ally
Russia Again Posts Record Coronavirus Deaths

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 06-07/2021
Iranian presidential selection paves new path for nuclear extortion/Behnam Ben Taleblu/Andrea Stricker/Washington Examiner/July 06/2021
United Nations Relief and Works Agency/Richard Goldberg/FDD/International Organizations Monograph/July 06/2021
What is China Buying in the Biden Administration?/Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/July 06/2021
Russia will benefit from the US-China economic Cold War/Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/July 06/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 06-07/2021
Ministry of Health: 294 new infections, two deaths
NNA/July 06/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced 294 new coronavirus infection cases, which brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 545,965.
Two deaths have been recorded.

President receives Qatari Foreign Minister, informs him of Lebanon’s welcoming to Qatar’s permanent support
NNA/July 06/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, told the Qatari Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani, that Lebanon welcomes the permanent support which Qatar provides in all fields. The President also thanked the interest shown by His Highness the Prince of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, and his helping to overcome the difficult circumstances which Lebanon is passing through, and their repercussions at all levels. President Aoun had met the Qatari Foreign Minister accompanied by the Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon and a delegation, this afternoon at the Presidential Palace.
In addition, the President stated the facts which aggravated the Lebanese crisis, delaying government formation and said that Qatar has always stood by Lebanon, and any step taken to help resolve the current crises is welcomed and appreciated by the Lebanese. President Aoun also conveyed his greetings to Sheikh Tamim, wishing continuous success and progress.
For his part, the Qatari Foreign Minister had conveyed the greetings of His Highness the Qatari Prince, and Qatar’s readiness to help solve the crises which Lebanon suffers from at different levels, reiterating his country’s stand next to the Lebanese people in the difficult circumstances they pass through.
The delegation accompanying the Qatari Minister included: Head of the State Security Service, Abdullah Muhammad Al-Khulaifi, Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon, Muhammad Bin Hassan Jaber Al-Jaber, Director of the Minister’s Office, Ambassador Saad bin Ali Al-Kharji, Ambassador Mishaal Al-Mazrouei, and Mr. Abdullah Al-Sulaiti. -- Presidency Press Office

Hariri discusses with Qatari Foreign Minister latest political developments
NNA/July 06/2021
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri welcomed this Tuesday evening at the Center House, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and his accompanying delegation. Discussions touched on the general situation, the latest political developments, and means to bolster bilateral relations.

Qatari Foreign Minister's Visit
LCCC/July 06/2021
Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and his accompanying delegation met wit president Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, House Speaker Nabih Berri, FM, Akar and Lebabese Ary Chief Genera J. Aoun.

Defense Minister Gantz sends proposal for humanitarian aid to Lebanon
Anna Ahronhiem, Tzvi Joffre/Jerusalem Post/July 06/2021
Gantz sent the proposal through UNIFIL, but it's expected to be refused by Lebanon. Defense Minister Benny Gantz has sent a proposal for humanitarian aid to Lebanon through UNIFIL, his ministry announced on Tuesday.
The move comes after Gantz has repeated several times in recent weeks that Israel is willing to offer assistance to its northeastern neighbor, which is suffering from a worsening economic crisis, with the World Bank calling it one of the world’s worst financial crises since the 1850s. Violence and protests have been breaking out around the country as basic services collapse. According to an assessment released by UNICEF on Monday, 77% of Lebanese households don’t have enough money to buy food. The country’s medicine importers have warned they have run out of hundreds of essential drugs. Electricity outages and gas shortages are commonplace and the Lebanese Armed Forces announced it is offering tourists helicopter rides for $150 to make money. Gantz tweeted on Sunday: “As an Israeli, as a Jew and as a human being, my heart aches seeing the images of people going hungry on the streets of Lebanon. Israel has offered assistance to Lebanon in the past, and even today we are ready to act and to encourage other countries to extend a helping hand to Lebanon so that it will once again flourish and emerge from its state of crisis.”
In a speech on Sunday marking the opening of Israel’s first monument to the Southern Lebanon Army, which fought alongside the IDF during Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, Gantz offered assistance.
“Israel has offered to help Lebanon in the past, and today as well, we are prepared to work to help it grow and get out of this crisis,” he said.
On Tuesday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the country is a few days away from a “social explosion,” and called on the international community to save it. Diab, in a speech after a meeting with several ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Beirut, also said his government could not restart talks with the International Monetary Fund because only a new cabinet could do that. “This government does not have the right to resume negotiations with the IMF to implement the recovery plan set by the cabinet, for this entails obligations on the next government that it may not endorse,” he said. 
Lebanon has not responded to Gantz’s offers or the proposal sent to UNIFIL, but due to the long-standing enmity between the two sides, Beirut is expected to refuse the help.
After a huge explosion devastated Beirut last August, killing dozens and injuring thousands, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved humanitarian and medical assistance to Lebanon instructing the National Security Council to contact former UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov to find out how Israel could help. Gantz and other Israeli officials reiterated Jerusalem’s offer for aid at the time, with hospitals in Haifa and the North saying they were ready to provide assistance, but Lebanon refused.
Reuters contributed to this report.

Qatari Foreign Minister in Beirut for Talks with Top Officials
Naharnet/July 06/2021
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani arrived in Lebanon Tuesday on a one-day official visit. He was welcomed at the airport by caretaker Deputy PM and Defense and Foreign Minister Zeina Akar and Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Hassan al-Jaber. The minister is scheduled to hold separate meetings with President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. The Qatari government-funded Al-Jazeera TV had reported Monday that the visit is “part of Qatar’s efforts to help resolve the political crisis in Lebanon.”Media reports said Tuesday that Qatar intends to offer aid to the Lebanese Army. Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, had in February urged Lebanon’s political parties to put the national interest first and speed up the formation of a new government.

Berri Calls for Session to Mull Lifting MPs Immunity in Port Case
Naharnet/July 06/2021
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called on Tuesday for a joint session of the Parliament Bureau and the Administration and Justice Committee, to study a request to lift the immunity of three MPs in the Beirut Port blast case. Judge Tarek al-Bitar had asked parliament to lift the immunity of the MPs Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zoaiter and Nouhad al-Mashnouq. The session will take place on Friday at 1:15 p.m., at the headquarters of the Speakership in Ain el-Tineh.

Berri Clings to Hariri, PM-Designate to Intensify Consultations
Naharnet/July 06/2021
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri discussed during their meeting on Monday the obstacles that are still delaying the government’s formation, media reports said on Tuesday. “Berri stressed his insistence on Hariri’s designation until the end,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported, adding that the Speaker also wants Hariri to nominate a candidate for the PM post should he insist on stepping down. “The PM-designate will intensify his meetings and contacts in the coming hours and will hold a meeting with the former premiers to put them in the picture of his choices, specifically his roadmap for the coming period,” the daily said. Sources informed on the cabinet formation efforts meanwhile told the newspaper that Hariri will not submit a cabinet line-up that would be “subject to the moodiness” of President Michel Aoun and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.

Bassil Shows Flexibility as Adib's Chances Surge Again
Naharnet/July 06/2021
Will the upcoming days be decisive regarding the long-awaited formation of the new government, as Hizbullah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said in his televised speech on Monday? Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has shown flexibility, but sources expect PM-designate Saad Hariri to apologize.
In remarks to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Tuesday, informed sources linked Nasrallah’s words about “decisive days” to a “new development”: the flexibility that Bassil has shown regarding Hariri’s demand that his government obtain a “prior vote of confidence” from the FPM, which would facilitate the government formation. “Hariri will not form (a government) even if we accept that he nominates the 24 ministers,” FPM sources assured. According to them this is certain because “Saudi Arabia has said its word,” and the Prime Minister-designate is now “closer than ever before to apologize, but he is waiting for a replacement to be found and for a decent exit.”Al-Akhbar anticipated in a report that Hariri might probably visit the Baabda Palace, next Friday, with a government line-up that does not meet the conditions set by President Michel Aoun, which will lead to its refusal, and thus the PM-designate will “refuse to proceed with his mission, and step down with the least possible losses, without appearing as a loser in front of Bassil.”Hariri’s resignation, however, hinges on his agreement with Berri about the prime minister who will be appointed after him. “The chances of the Lebanese ambassador in Germany, Mustafa Adib, have (meanwhile) increased again,” al-Akhbar reported, adding that “Adib assured everyone who communicated with him that he will not repeat his last year’s mistake, and would not return to the Lebanese arena unless the formation of the government was guaranteed prior to his designation.”

U.S. Central Command Envoy Visits Lebanon to Review Border Security Installations
Naharnet/July 06/2021
A representative from the United States Central Command, in coordination with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, is conducting a visit to review security upgrades to border security systems installed at Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) land and maritime border regiments, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday. The two-week visit, which concludes on July 9, includes engagements with regimental commanders and the head of the LAF Navy to ensure the communications and surveillance systems integrate successfully into the operational framework at LAF headquarters, the Embassy added in a statement. “This visit is part of ongoing U.S. assistance to the LAF, which has totaled over $2 billion since 2010, and supplements LAF investments in training, equipment and resources for its staff,” the statement said. In June 2021, the United States provided $59 million as a reimbursement to the LAF for security expenses incurred in 2018, which is an addition to existing foreign military funding. The United States has also committed to provide $120 million in foreign military financing in 2021 to support LAF operations and capacities, an increase in $15 million over last year’s support, demonstrating “the ongoing U.S. commitment to Lebanon’s security and stability.”

Lebanon caretaker premier pleads for aid, warns of social explosion
The Arab Weekly/July 06/2021
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister appealed on Tuesday for the international community to save his country from “death and demise” as multiple crises push it dangerously close to total collapse. “Lebanon is a few days away from the social explosion. The Lebanese are facing this dark fate alone,” Diab said in a speech at a meeting with ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Beirut. Diab has been serving in a caretaker capacity since resigning in the wake of the catastrophic August 4 Beirut port explosion. Since then, fractious sectarian politicians have been unable to agree on a new government. Diab also said only a new cabinet could re-start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “This government does not have the right to resume negotiations with the IMF to implement the recovery plan set by the cabinet, for this entails obligations on the next government that it may not endorse,” he said. Diab urged friendly nations to extend assistance despite the lack of a new government, saying that linking aid to reform of a deeply-corrupt system has become a “threat to the lives of Lebanese” and to the country’s stability. Lebanon’s economic and financial crisis has unfolded since late 2019, spiralling out of control in this country of over six million, including more than a million Syrian refugees. A foreign currency shortage has crippled the import-dependent nation, leaving residents struggling to find fuel, medicines and basic supplies. Daily power outages last for hours, threatening hospitals and food stores and leaving entire neighbourhoods in darkness. The World Bank called it one of the worst crises since 1850s and described Lebanon’s economic contraction as brutal. The national currency lost nearly 95% of its value, plunging the once middle-income country into poverty. Inflation and unemployment soared and waves of professionals have migrated abroad, seeking a better life. The political crisis is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a post-civil war political class that has accumulated debt and done little to encourage local industries. Banks, once the country’s booming sector, have imposed informal capital controls and depositors are unable to freely access their accounts. Lebanon has been promised billions in international assistance, pending a reform plan to deal with corruption. But vying for power and trading blame, the political elite never agreed. “What sin have the Lebanese committed to pay a dear price? Are the Lebanese people supposed to die at hospital’s doors on the way to holding the corrupt accountable?” Diab said. “I appeal through you to the kings, princes, presidents and leaders of brotherly and friendly countries and I call upon the United Nations and all international bodies, the international community and the global public opinion to help save the Lebanese from death and prevent the demise of Lebanon,” he told the diplomats. Last month, the European Union’s foreign policy chief told Lebanon’s leaders they were to blame for the political and economic crisis and some could face sanctions if they continue to obstruct steps to form a new government and implement reform. Diab noted repeated calls for assistance to be linked to reform, but said “the siege imposed” on Lebanon was not affecting the corrupt, an apparent reference to politicians. He said Lebanese were running out patience and “linking Lebanon’s assistance to the formation of a new government has become a threat to the lives of the Lebanese and to the Lebanese entity.”

Diab Pleads for Aid as Crisis Worsens
Associated Press/July 06/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab appealed on Tuesday on the international community to save Lebanon from "death and demise" as multiple crises push it dangerously close to total collapse. Diab's plea came as he spoke to diplomats in Lebanon, where politicians have failed to agree on forming a new government, nearly a year after Diab's Cabinet resigned. His government has been acting in caretaker capacity since August 2020, when he stepped down following a massive explosion at the Beirut Port that only compounded the country's crises. Diab urged friendly nations to extend assistance despite the lack of a new government, saying that linking aid to reform of a deeply corrupt system has become a "threat to the lives of Lebanese" and to the country's stability. Lebanon's economic and financial crisis has unfolded since late 2019, spiraling out of control in the country of over 6 million, including more than a million Syrian refugees. A foreign currency shortage has crippled the import-dependent nation, leaving residents struggling to find fuel, medicines and basic supplies. Daily power outages last for hours, threatening hospitals and food stores, and leaving entire neighborhoods in darkness.
The World Bank called it one of the worst crises since 1850s and described Lebanon's economic contraction as brutal. The national currency lost nearly 95% of its value, plunging the once middle-income country into poverty. Inflation and unemployment soared and waves of professionals have migrated abroad, seeking a better life. The political crisis is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a post-civil war political class that has accumulated debt and done little to encourage local industries. Banks, once the country's booming sector, have imposed informal capital controls and depositors are unable to freely access their accounts. Lebanon has been promised billions in international assistance, pending a reform plan to deal with corruption. But vying for power and trading blame, the political elite never agreed. "What sin have the Lebanese committed to pay a dear price? Are the Lebanese people supposed to die at hospital's doors on the way to holding the corrupt accountable?" Diab said. "I appeal through you to the kings, princes, presidents and leaders of brotherly and friendly countries, and I call upon the United Nations and all international bodies, the international community, and the global public opinion to help save the Lebanese from death and prevent the demise of Lebanon," he told the diplomats. "Lebanon is a few days away from social explosion," he added. "The Lebanese are facing this dark fate alone."

How Hezbollah controls the economy in Lebanon
George Eid CM Correspondent/Cyprus Mail/July 06/ 2021
جورج عيد/ هكذا يسيطر حزب الله على الإقتصاد في لبنان
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/100383/george-eid-cyprus-mail-how-hezbollah-controls-the-economy-in-lebanon-%d8%ac%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%ac-%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%af-%d9%87%d9%83%d8%b0%d8%a7-%d9%8a%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%b7%d8%b1-%d8%ad%d8%b2%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84/
The Iran-backed militia group Hezbollah has done everything it can do to create a parallel state in Lebanon. A ‘state within a state,’ many call it.
The Lebanese political class has still failed to form a government after 10 months, and the ensuing political vacuum has given room to Hezbollah to demonstrate its abilities in managing the country through its apparently well-developed social network, says a report released in May from Global Risk Insights.
“Hezbollah is today the strongest political party in Lebanon, it is the only party with its own military force and it forms with its allies a parliamentary and ministerial majority.
This position allows Hezbollah to control the economy in Lebanon as much as the country’s politics,” explains Jessy Trad Kastoun, senior Economics expert and head of Business News at Lebanon’s Murr television.
For almost every public institution in Lebanon, Hezbollah has another that provides the same service to the party supporters: their own security forces, their own banking system called “Al Kard al hassan,” their own social security and their own hospitals. In that regard Hezbollah has been weighing on the Lebanese economy.
The parallel banking system, for example, operates when the official banks cannot, according to the report. When traditional banks shut their doors and froze dollar accounts, Hezbollah was able to supply hard currency through its parallel banking system. The Al-Qard al-Hasan Association, literally the “benevolent loan,” is managed as a charity, but, in fact, it can be considered a banking system for all intents and purposes.
Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has encouraged depositing the money at Al-Qard al-Hasan claiming that the bank had already provided $3.7 billion in loans to some 1.8 million people. He depicted the association as rock-solid, declaring that the Party’s supporters, who deposited money at the al-Qard al-Hasan, managed to keep their money when banks claimed that they were unable to pay their depositors in dollars.
To access the loans of the Association, customers must be sponsored by a depositor or must mortgage an amount of gold that exceeds the value of the requested loan. At the end of October 2020, the Al-Qard al-Hasan Association began providing three new services. It equipped its branches with ATMs for its clients to withdraw dollars whenever they need, it started buying and selling gold for dollars, and it began providing gold storage for a small fee.
Control of borders, airports, ports
Kastoun points out in an interview with the Cyprus Mail that “it is well- known that Hezbollah has tightened its grip on strategic Lebanese infrastructure such as the border controls, the port, the airport and the telecom sector making it possible to have its own trading channels, and through which it is also engaging in smuggling. This creates a personalised economy within the national economy, causing billions of dollars in revenue losses for the government.”
Hezbollah is thus able to import goods through the airport and the ports free of tax. The group uses the pretext that these materials are for “resistance purposes.” Authorities turn a blind eye, Kastoun says.
Complaints from business people about competing products on the market that appear at below-cost have become rampant. These products, says Kastoun, are sourced by Hezbollah.
Toni, 54 years old has been importing flowers to Lebanon for 30 years. He is in wholesale. Five years ago he found that he could not keep up with the competition. “Things got aggressive,” he told Cyprus Mail, on condition of anonymity.
“Hezbollah is looking after the interests of its own people at the expense of Lebanese economy. I used to import roses for, say, the price of 20 cents. With all taxes paid, it is almost impossible to go below that.
Five years ago, a person from Hezbollah started importing for 15 cents. I was about to close down my business, but instead I decided to start buying from him. He imports tax free. It is insane but is happening. How I do not know!” Tony complains.
Funding from illegal activities abroad
“Donations to Hezbollah are a form of funding to the group that has now dedicated schools, hospitals, bank and trading institutions better established then the public national Lebanese institutions” Kastoun explains.
These donations are usually made by wealthy Shia businesspeople who operate under the wing of Hezbollah in Latin America and Africa in various illegal trades, including drugs, she adds.
The US Counter- Narcoterrorism Operations Center announced in January 2020 that Hezbollah was one of 25 foreign terrorist organisations that are involved in the drug trade.
Hezbollah is also one of the main parties involved in the Syrian civil war since 2011, and this has also had an impact on the Lebanese economy. The Iran-backed militia has used Lebanon as platform to break the embargo on Syria, Kastoun continues.
“At the borders with Syria and since the start of the war, Hezbollah has ensured a secure route for gasoline, food, and dollars from Lebanon to Syria.
The ongoing smuggling of gasoline and diesel is estimated to total about $10 billion from 2011 until the end of 2019, and these funds have led to a larger balance of payments deficit. This has aggravated the foreign exchange crisis in Lebanon.
Kastoun believes that the current collapse does fall in the best interest of Hezbollah as which is being funded by Iran in US dollars. “This means that the Hezbollah community will not endure the economic hardship that many others are going through in Lebanon. But then again, for militia like Hezbollah, a poorer population is easier to control” she concludes.
https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/07/06/hezbollah-controls-economy-lebanon/

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon-UNIFIL
Tony Badran/FDD/July 06/2021
طوني بدران/القوات الدولية “اليونيفل” في لبنان
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/100379/tony-badran-fdd-united-nations-interim-force-in-lebanon-unifil-%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a9/
CONTENTS
International Organizations Monograph
Introduction
UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 425 and 426 established the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1978 following Israel’s Operation Litani in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL was tasked with “confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restoring international peace and security and assisting the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.”
In 2006, after the war between Israel and Hezbollah, UNSCR 1701 increased UNIFIL’s size and updated its mandate. The force ballooned to over 10,000 soldiers (with a troop ceiling of 15,000) and employed a civilian staff of around 900 employees, both foreign and local. UNIFIL’s annual budget stands at around $512 million, of which the United States contributes roughly 28 percent, or about $145 million.
UNSCR 1701 mandates UNIFIL to “accompany and support the Lebanese armed forces [LAF] as they deploy throughout the South, including along the Blue Line” with Israel, and to assist the LAF in “the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL deployed in this area.”
The references to armed personnel and weapons are understood to mean Hezbollah and its arsenal. UNSCR 1701 also authorizes UNIFIL “to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces … to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind,” and “to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties.”
UNIFIL includes a naval component, the Maritime Task Force, consisting of five ships, to support the Lebanese Navy in “preventing the unauthorized entry of arms or related materiel by sea into Lebanon.”
Problems
Hezbollah’s infrastructure and capabilities have grown exponentially since 2006 under UNIFIL’s nose. The group actually uses UNIFIL’s area of operations for cross-border attacks into Israel, including breaches of the border fence. In addition, Hezbollah erects observation and intelligence-gathering posts along the border through a front environmental group connected to Hezbollah.
At the same time, the LAF impedes UNIFIL’s monitoring of the Blue Line, according to a former UNIFIL liaison officer, a fact also noted in the UN secretary-general’s latest report on the implementation of UNSCR 1701.
Hezbollah also constrains UNIFIL’s freedom of operation with attacks on the force’s patrols as well as with harassment and obstruction by what are commonly referred to as “local civilians.”
Video of a 2018 attack showed Hezbollah operatives assaulting a UNIFIL vehicle and disarming its soldiers.
In 2020, “local civilians” mobbed and obstructed a Finnish patrol in the village of Blida.
Former officers note how these attacks impeded UNIFIL’s access to villages. The officers have also observed inertia at the command level, which seeks to avoid confronting Hezbollah.
The LAF also inhibits UNIFIL by demanding that UNIFIL seek prior authorization before inspecting “private property” – a pretext to deny access to suspect sites. The LAF, for example, has denied UNIFIL requests to inspect a series of Hezbollah attack tunnels revealed by Israel in 2018. The LAF further restricts UNIFIL’s movement by regularly objecting to patrol routes UNIFIL proposes, under the pretext that they are “private roads.”
Lebanese officials claim that inspecting Hezbollah arms depots or removing its weapons from the area south of the Litani, UNIFIL’s area of operations, is out of the question. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft therefore described the Lebanese government as an accomplice of Hezbollah in obstructing and denying UNIFIL access.
UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force, which is supposed to ensure no illegal weapons are smuggled to Hezbollah by sea, is limited by its mandate, which authorizes the force merely to hail suspect vessels and then refer them to the LAF navy for inspection.
In 2019, Israel briefed the Security Council that Iran was smuggling “dual-use items” by sea, specifically through the Port of Beirut, “to advance Hezbollah’s rocket and missile capabilities.”
This is likely a reference to Hezbollah’s lethal and growing precision-guided munitions arsenal, provided by Iran in recent years. But none of the 15,000 ships referred to the Lebanese authorities for inspection have ever been declared to be carrying materiel for Hezbollah. This suspicious behavior continues. In the period between June and October 2020, UNIFIL referred 245 vessels to the LAF for inspection. According to the UN secretary-general’s report on that period, six of those referrals “were not acted upon.” UNIFIL did not receive clarification as to why.19
Recommendations
The Trump administration failed to amend UNIFIL’s mandate to allow for more robust patrolling, unrestricted access, and increased freedom of operation. In 2020, the United States threatened to veto renewal of the force’s mandate unless modest reforms were adopted. Under diplomatic pressure, the Trump administration backed down and supported the mandate’s renewal with minor changes that did not alter the longstanding status quo.
Given UNIFIL’s long record of failure, the Biden administration and Congress should consider the following policy options:
Veto UNIFIL’s mandate. The Security Council and troop-contributing nations are highly unlikely to agree to structural changes necessary for UNIFIL to bypass the obstruction by Hezbollah and the Lebanese authorities. Consequently, UNIFIL’s continued failure to enforce an area of operations “free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons” that is “not utilized for hostile activities of any kind” is a foregone conclusion. Therefore, the only meaningful way forward is to veto the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate at the Security Council in August 2021.
Transfer UNIFIL’s liaison function to the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon. UNIFIL’s liaison function, which consists of the Tripartite Forum with the Israel Defense Forces and the LAF, is sometimes cited as a useful mechanism worth keeping. However, retaining the forum does not require keeping a bloated force with a half-billion-dollar budget. The liaison function requires a staff of no more than a dozen people.
Withhold Funding. If the Biden administration extends the status quo and renews UNIFIL’s mandate, which has failed to advance U.S. interests, Congress should withhold U.S. assessed contributions to UNIFIL.
Notes
UN Security Council, Resolution 425, March 19, 1978. (http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/425); UN Security Council, Resolution 426, March 19, 1978. (http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/426)
UN Security Council, Resolution 1701, August 11, 2006. (http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/1701)
UN Interim Force in Lebanon, “UNIFIL Maritime Task Force,” accessed May 27, 2021. (https://unifil.unmissions.org/unifil-maritime-task-force)
Tony Badran, “Hezbollah’s Environmental Warriors,” Tablet Magazine, June 27, 2017. (https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/hezbollahs-environmental-warriors); Dion Nissenbaum and Nazih Osseiran, “A Row Over Trees Could Spark the Next Israel-Lebanon War,” The Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2020. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-row-over-trees-could-spark-the-next-israel-lebanon-war-11593345635)
Maxime Perez, “Le blues des Casques bleus au Liban,” Le Journal du Dimanche (France), February 23, 2018. (https://www.lejdd.fr/International/Moyen-Orient/au-liban-le-blues-des-casques-bleus-3578882)

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 06-07/2021
Pope Francis 'Had Breakfast and Walked' after Operation
Agence France Presse/July 06/2021
Pope Francis, 84, on Tuesday had breakfast and got up to walk, two days after undergoing surgery for an inflamed large colon, the Vatican announced. "His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night," spokesman Matteo Bruni said in an update following Sunday's operation. "This morning he had breakfast, he read some newspapers and got up to walk." Bruni added that the results from routine check-ups "are good". The Argentine pontiff underwent a planned operation on Sunday for what the Vatican described as symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon. Also known as diverticulitis, it is a potentially painful inflammation of pockets that form in the colon. The three-hour operation was conducted under general anesthetic and Francis underwent a left hemicolectomy, in which the descending colon -- the part attached to the rectum -- is removed. The remaining bit of the colon is then attached directly to the rectum.On Monday, Bruni said the pope was "in good general condition, alert and breathing spontaneously", adding that he would stay in Rome's Gemelli hospital for around seven days unless there were complications.
Open surgery
According to Italian newspapers, the surgeons initially planned to carry out a less invasive laparoscopy on the pope but in the end reverted to open surgery. Also known as keyhole surgery, laparoscopy involves a thin tube being inserted into the body, avoiding the need for large incisions in the skin. But the presence of a scar from previous abdominal surgery required a laparotomy, a type of open surgery, the reports said. Health experts say it is not unusual to change method during an operation. The reports added that the pope did not require a colostomy and there was no evidence of a fever afterwards. Francis is in the same suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital used by Pope John Paul II. The late pope underwent surgery there a number of times, including after an attempt on his life in 1981, and for a tumor in the colon in 1992. He was there so often that he dubbed it "Vatican 3", third in line after the tiny city state and the papal summer palace at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. Pope Francis had been suffering pain from diverticulitis for several months, but scheduled the surgery for the summer to allow time to convalesce, according to Corriere della Sera newspaper. The pontiff had already put his Wednesday general audience on hold for the summer, and has no other official appointments in his calendar until Sunday, when he is due to lead the Angelus prayer. If, as expected, he is still in hospital on Sunday, he could follow John Paul II's example and lead the prayers from his hospital window.

Canada Names First Indigenous Governor General
Naharnet/July 06/2021
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday appointed Mary Simon as Canada's first indigenous governor general, Queen Elizabeth's official representative. "We are honored to have Ms. Simon as Canada's first Indigenous governor general," Trudeau told a news conference.

Two attacks, less than 12 hours apart, target US forces in Iraq
Jerusalem Post/July 06/2021
Attacks on US forces in Iraq are rapidly increasing. This coincides with other issues in the region.
A day after rumors of an attack on US forces in Syria by pro-Iran militias, they made good on their threats with two rounds of attacks on the US in Iraq. During the afternoon, rockets targeted Al-Asad base; by the evening, drones were reported to have targeted an area near the US embassy.
The attack on Al-Asad base was carried out in a rare daylight attack. Pro-Iran militias have attacked American facilities increasingly since 2019, killing a contractor in December 2019 and several members of the US-led coalition in early 2020. Washington has retaliated with airstrikes. So far this year there have been about 50 attacks on the US in Iraq, often targeting either Baghdad, Al-Asad base or Erbil. The pro-Iran militias, most linked to Kataib Hezbollah, have increasingly used drones. This is thought to be at least the 11th incident where drones were used. The US has only a few facilities in Iraq where forces are concentrated, including Al-Asad base, Union III near the embassy, a site at the airport and a site at Erbil airport. In April, a drone used by pro-Iran militias targeted a secret CIA hangar in Erbil. In late June, drones targeted an area near the new US consulate.
In retaliation, US president Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against pro-Iran units in Syria. The pro-Iran militias in Syria, linked to the IRGC and Iraq, then targeted US forces at Omar oil field a week ago. On July 4, it was rumored that the pro-Iran groups again targeted the Americans in Syria. The US-led coalition denied the attack but pro-Iran media and channels linked to the IRGC said the attack happened. Now, on July 5, two attacks have occurred in Iraq. The attack on Al-Asad base initially was reported to involve rockets, perhaps the 107mm that most Iran groups favor using. The coalition said “initial report: At approx. 2:45 p.m. local time, Ain Al-Assad Air Base was attacked by three rockets. The rockets landed on the base perimeter. There are no injuries, and damage is being assessed.”
Then after midnight, but less than 12 hours after the first attack, sirens were triggered at the US embassy area and Union III facility near the embassy. C-RAM, which is a kind of munition used to down mortars, was used to try to stop the drone threat. Reports today also showcased a drone that was used several days ago and which set off alarms near the US embassy. It was a quadcopter. Kataib Hezbollah also reportedly released an image showing underground missile silos.  Attacks on US forces in Iraq are rapidly increasing. This coincides with other issues in the region, such as tensions in Syria, mysterious fires and electrical outages in Iran, and discussions over a return to the Iran deal, as well as Israel-Iran tensions.

Iran power outage crisis leads politicians to slam their own policy
Jerusalem Post/July 06/2021
This unprecedented overt critique about the country’s problems apparently reveals the depth of the problem and Iran is not alone.
Power outages are causing disruptions across Iran and protests are increasing. Pro-government media have now admitted that outages are taking place and warn that things could get worse. This is a major challenge for President-elect Ebrahim Raisi. Mohammad Qalibaf, the speaker of parliament, appeared to criticize the government’s policies this week with a post about how the “frequent power outages throughout the country and disruption of people’s lives and businesses require planning and management. If the increase in consumption and excess demand is not compensated in the short term for any reason, at least stick to the announced blackout schedule so that people can plan for problems.” This unprecedented overt critique about the country’s problems apparently reveals the depth of the problem and Iran is not alone. Iraq is also suffering unprecedented electricity supply problems and this has been made worse by terror attacks on power lines in Iraq. This means that a whole swathe of territory from Jordan to Pakistan is suffering both extreme heat and power outages. Reports indicate that demand far outweighs supply and the shortfall is said to be a massive 11 gigawatts, an unprecedented daily gap. Things are so bad that a clock in Iran that supposedly “counts down” to Israel’s destruction, has reportedly stopped due to the outages. Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant even had to be taken off-line several weeks ago for maintenance but it’s back on the grid now.
With the power outages come reports of protests and anger at the regime. Videos of alleged protests are spreading on social media. Some posts said that Iranians were chanting “death to the dictator” in response to the outages. Much of Iran’s infrastructure is old and Iran has also wasted investments in exporting electricity to Iraq to make Baghdad dependent on the Islamic Republic. It has had to cut power to Iraq and has had rolling power outages that reached Tehran this week. According to Iran International, a Persian media station located in London, “large parts of the Iranian capital Tehran and Karaj, a city west of Tehran, as well as other cities were plunged into darkness Saturday night to early Sunday as a result of unannounced power cuts.” These were not expected and the hot summer has angered many over lack of air conditioning. “Iran’s power consumption this summer has topped 60 GW per day, a more than 10% increase compared with last year, while electricity generation has remained unchanged at 50-56 GW.”By contrast in May, California, whose population is half the size of Iran, was also concerned it might need an additional 11 GW transfer of power in the afternoon due to reduced solar power output, according to a report. California uses 63 GW in extreme heat conditions. Iran’s power grid and abilities are far behind those of California and now the country may be in for more blackouts and protests.

Death to Khamenei’: Protests erupt in Iran over power outages
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/06 July ,2021
Protests broke out in several cities in Iran this week over repeated power outages, videos posted on social media showed, with some protests turning political with chants against the country’s highest authority, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
One video from the city of Shiraz showed protesters chanting “death to the dictator” and “death to Khamenei” in the dark on Monday. In another video, protesters in a residential area in Tehran could be heard chanting “death to the dictator” and “death to Khamenei” from darkened high-rises. Another video posted on social media showed protesters gathered outside the local electricity office in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran, demanding the resignation of the energy minister, who they described as “incompetent,” in their chants. Iranian state media, which rarely covers news of protests, reported on Monday on protests in several cities in northern Iran. “Protesters said the frequent power outages had caused many problems, including water cuts in apartments, spoilage of meat and poultry and other items in refrigerators, and damage to household appliances,” the semi-official ISNA news agency reported from the northeastern town of Kordkuy. Officials have blamed the blackouts on surging demand for power, along with low rainfall cutting hydroelectric output and illegal cryptocurrency mining farms accessing subsidised electricity. President Hassan Rouhani apologised to Iranians on Tuesday over the power outages. “I apologise to our dear people who have faced problems and suffering in the past few days and I urge them to cooperate (by curbing power use). People complain about power outages and they are right,” Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting broadcast live on state TV.“The Energy Ministry is not at fault ... but the minister should come and explain to the people what the problem is, and we have to find a solution,” said Rouhani.
- With Reuters

Iran informs IAEA of plans to produce enriched uranium up to 20 pct purity
Reuters/06 July ,2021
Iran has given notice of concrete steps to produce uranium metal enriched to up to 20 percent purity for reactor fuel, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday, describing a move that is likely to anger Western powers in talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal. Iran has been in indirect talks with the United States since April to revive the 2015 deal, which former US President Donald Trump abandoned. The deal imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, and after Trump withdrew, Iran began violating many of its restrictions. Tehran has already produced a small amount of uranium metal this year that was not enriched. That is a breach of the deal, which bans all work on uranium metal since it can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb. Iran has outlined plans to produce enriched uranium metal, saying it is developing fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor, but Washington and its European allies dispute Tehran’s intentions and have called on it to stop. “Today, Iran informed the Agency that UO2 (uranium oxide) enriched up to 20 percent U–235 would be shipped to the R&D laboratory at the Fuel Fabrication Plant in Esfahan, where it would be converted to UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) and then to uranium metal enriched to 20 percent U–235, before using it to manufacture the fuel,” an International Atomic Energy Agency statement said. Summarizing a report to its member states, the IAEA described the plan as a “multi-stage process”, suggesting it will take time before the enriched metal is produced. The report is likely to increase tensions in the talks, which also include the other parties to the 2015 deal. The talks adjourned on June 20 and a date for their resumption has not yet been set.

US withdrawal from Afghanistan is more than 90 pct complete: Pentagon
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/06 July ,2021
The United States military has completed more than 90 percent of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Pentagon said in a statement released on Tuesday. Since the President’s decision, the DoD has retrograded the equivalent of approximately 984 C-17 loads of material out of Afghanistan and have turned nearly 17,074 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for disposition,” the statement read. The Pentagon added that the US had “officially” handed over seven facilities to the Afghan Defense Ministry. “The withdrawal process continues; US Central Command estimates that we have completed more than 90 percent of the entire withdrawal process,” Tuesday’s statement said.

Russian government hackers breached Republican National Committee last week
Bloomberg/06 July ,2021
Russian government hackers breached the computer systems of the Republican National Committee last week, around the time a Russia-linked criminal group unleashed a massive ransomware attack, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The government hackers were part of a group known as APT 29 or Cozy Bear, according to the people. That group has been tied to Russia’s foreign intelligence service and has previously been accused of breaching the Democratic National Committee in 2016, and of carrying out a supply-chain cyberattack involving SolarWinds, which infiltrated nine U.S. government agencies and was disclosed in December. It’s not known what data the hackers viewed or stole, if anything. An RNC spokesman on Tuesday denied its systems were breached and referred to an earlier statement.
“Microsoft informed us that one of our vendors, Synnex, systems may have been exposed,” said Mike Reed, a spokesman for the RNC said on Saturday. “There is no indication the RNC was hacked or any RNC information was stolen. We are investigating the matter and have informed DHS and the FBI.”
A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The attack on the RNC, coupled with the recent ransomware attack, is a major provocation to President Joe Biden, who warned Russian President Vladimir Putin about cyberattacks at a June 16 summit. It’s not clear if the attack on the RNC is connected in any way to the ransomware attacks, which exploited multiple previously unknown vulnerabilities in software from Miami-based Kaseya.The hackers are suspected to have attacked the RNC though one of its IT providers, Synnex Corp., the people said. In a press release, Synnex said “it is aware of a few instances where outside actors have attempted to gain access, through Synnex, to customer applications within the Microsoft cloud environment.”“As our review continues, we are unable to provide any specific details,” said Michael Urban, president of worldwide technology solutions distribution at Synnex in a statement to Bloomberg News. “As with any security issue, a full review of all companies, systems, third-party applications and related IT solutions must be completed before final determinations can be made.”
Russian intelligence hackers are taking advantage of the chaos created by the global ransomware campaign to attack valuable intelligence targets, one of the people familiar with the matter said. The ransomware attack -- which cybersecurity experts attributed to a Russia-linked group called REvil -- may have hit more than 1,000 victims. Kaseya provides software for managed service providers, who in turn offer IT services to small- and medium-sized businesses.
REvil has demanded $70 million in Bitcoin to unlock the victims’ computers, according to cybersecurity experts who reviewed an announcement on the group’s website. Kaseya said in a statement that fewer than 60 customers were compromised by the attack, all of whom used its VSA on-premises product. “While many of these customers provide IT services to multiple other companies, we understand the total impact thus far has been to fewer than 1,500 downstream businesses,” Kaseya said. Charles Carmakal, a senior vice president at Mandiant, part of the cybersecurity company FireEye, said his firm has observed the Russian government hackers carrying out breaches in recent days, though he declined to identify the victims. Carmakal said he had no first-hand knowledge of the RNC breach. “No question, the Russian government is absolutely benefiting from security companies and intelligence organizations being so focused on ransomware right now,” Carmakal said. “But the question is, is the Russian government providing tacit approval for ransomware operators or are they providing instructions? I don’t know.”“Is it just coincidental timing for the Russian government to do some of the other things they’re doing right now?” Carmakal said. “Is this coordinated and planned? I have no idea. I know that both things are happening, that’s a fact, I just don’t know why.”

US Secretary calls for negotiated, indefinite ceasefire in call with Ethiopia's Abiy
Reuters/Published: 06 July ,2021
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday stressed the need for all parties to commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated ceasefire, the State Department said. Blinken also urged Abiy to commit to steps outlined by the United Nations Security Council last week, including the withdrawal of both Eritrean and Amhara forces from Ethiopia's Tigray region, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “The Secretary condemned the destruction of bridges into Tigray and other impediments to access,” Price said. “In addition, the Secretary emphasized the urgency of holding an inclusive political dialogue to begin the difficult work of forging a lasting resolution to the country’s ethnic and political divisions,” Price added.

ISIS targets electricity lines in Iraq to spread mayhem
Jerusalem Post/July 06/2021
“About 44 to 45 electricity towers in Iraq have been targeted by terrorists in recent days, most of which have been repaired,” say local reports. Iraqi security forces have a new problem to deal with, as ISIS terrorists have been attacking electric power lines, usually the kind that travel long distances on large pylons. The worldwide jihadist group has attacked dozens in recent weeks. Now Iraq says that it ambushed some of the terrorists near the city of Hit. It has succeeded in thwarting attacks in Diyala province.  For Iraq, this is only a minor respite in a hot summer where it appears that not enough electricity is being generated. Blackouts are normal. Iran is also not transferring electricity to Iraq because it has a crisis. ISIS has started attacking this infrastructure as a way to send a message that it still controls the countryside. Many Iraqis use generators or are forced to go without electricity when this happens.
“About 44 to 45 electricity towers in Iraq have been targeted by terrorists in recent days, most of which have been repaired,” say local reports.  Meanwhile, in other parts of Iraq, there have been increasing attacks on US forces by pro-Iran militias. ISIS is also attacking Iraqi checkpoints in some parts of the country. This means that Iraq faces numerous challenges to its basic security. Iran is trying to grab parts of Iraq and pressure the US to leave; ISIS is trying to grab another part. Stuck in the middle are ordinary Iraqis, the autonomous Kurdistan region and areas where people want a respite from decades of war and privation.

Israel PM Suffers Defeat over Arab Family Unification Ban
Agence France Presse/July 06/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett suffered defeat Tuesday as lawmakers failed to extend a law that denies Israeli citizenship and residency rights to Palestinian spouses from the West Bank and Gaza. The ban first enacted in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, has been justified by supporters on security grounds but critics derided it as a discriminatory measure targeting Israel's Arab minority. Bennett, a hardline religious nationalist, supports the measure that has highlighted cracks in his ideologically disparate eight-party coalition, which has a wafer-thin majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. In talks that ran through the night, the coalition sought a deal that would see nearly all of its members vote for the measure, including Jewish left-wingers and two Arab lawmakers from the conservative Islamic Raam party.
In exchange, the government would grant residency or citizenship rights to more than 1,500 Palestinians with pending requests who have been living in Israel for many years. But that compromise failed when a member of Bennett's hawkish Yamina party, Amichai Chikli, voted with the opposition, tweeting Tuesday that the fracas over the bill exposed "the problematics of a government" that relies on the nominally anti-Zionist Raam party and the Jewish left. "Israel needs a functioning Zionist government, and not a mismatched patchwork," said Chikli, a vocal sceptic of the coalition crafted by his party leader Bennett last month. His defection left parliament tied at 59 votes to 59, meaning the measure would lapse later Tuesday. Bennett had called for members of the right-wing opposition led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to support the measure in a plea for unity on national security grounds. According to Israel's N12 website, Netanyahu told members of his Likud party "the importance of toppling the government is greater" than renewing the ban. "This isn't just a law. It's a law that exposes the fault line in this government," added Netanyahu, who has made no secret of his desire to oust Bennett and reclaim the premiership he held for 12 consecutive years. Raam leader Mansour Abbas, the first Arab party chief to ever join an Israeli coalition, told army radio that the coalition needed to "take stock" after the setback and would hold talks on the next steps. Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, also of Yamina, tweeted that the ban's expiry could bring 15,000 Palestinian applications for Israeli citizenship.
'Partial victory'
The ban has caused endless complications for Palestinians living across Israel and the territories it has occupied since 1967. A substantial number of those affected live in annexed east Jerusalem and therefore have Israeli residency, without necessarily being citizens of the Jewish state. In a protest against the measure outside parliament on Monday, some recounted the hardships of seeking permits to join their spouses, or the risks of entering Israeli territory without permission. Ali Meteb told AFP that his wife not having Israeli residency rights had confined his family to a "continuous prison." "I am asking for rights that the state owes us... for my wife to have Israeli ID, residency rights and freedom of movement," he said. Jessica Montell, the head of Hamoked, an Israeli human rights group that provides legal services to Palestinians, said "tens of thousands of families are harmed by this law."Jaafar Farah, the head of the Mossawa Center that campaigns for the rights of Arab Israelis, said the failure to renew the law marked "a partial victory" in an 18-year battle that is "not over," condemning the family unification ban as "racist collective punishment."

Eight Murders in a Month in Syria Camp
Agence France Presse/July 06/2021
A camp in northeast Syria housing Islamic State group relatives saw at least eight murders last month, Kurdish forces said Tuesday, the latest of dozens of such killings since January. Kurdish forces have struggled to maintain security inside the sprawling tent city of Al-Hol, which is home to some 62,000 people, mostly women and children. The United Nations has warned of radicalization inside the camp, which houses Syrians, Iraqis and some 10,000 foreign women and children linked to IS in a separate annex.
In June, IS cells inside Al-Hol "carried out more killings of residents distancing themselves from the extremist ideas of the group", the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said. It said eight people of Syrian and Iraqi nationality were shot dead, among them a 16-year-old Iraqi refugee and two Syrian sisters aged 17 and 23. A Russian woman was wounded. The SDF also added that 42 women and men and 43 children, of different nationalities, were caught trying to smuggle themselves out of the camp in June. In early April, the SDF said they had captured 125 suspected IS members in a security sweep in Al-Hol, which is in Hasakeh province. At the time, the group said 47 killings had taken place in the three months since the start of the year. Syria's Kurds hold custody of thousands of suspected IS fighters in jails, and their relatives in camps, after expelling the jihadists in 2019 from the last patch of territory they controlled. The Kurdish authorities have repeatedly urged the international community to repatriate their nationals, but most countries have so far taken back only some of the children. Beyond the camps, the International Committee of the Red Cross last week sounded the alarm over the Kurdish authorities holding "hundreds of children" in adult prisons. The Kurds responded by urging international help to set up more rehabilitation centers for minors linked to the extremists. IS overran large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, before several military offensives led to their territorial defeat in eastern Syria in March 2019. However, jihadist sleeper cells continue to launch regular attacks in both countries.

Iran sees ‘good progress’ in talks with Riyadh but admits to snags
The Arab Weekly/July 06/202
TEHRAN – Iran reported “good progress” on Tuesday in talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia but said some of their disputes are complex and may take time to resolve. Saudi Arabia and Gulf allies continue to express objections to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes as well as its support for militant proxies in pursuit of expansionist agendas. Iranian-Saudi tensions have festered over Tehran’s support for the Houthis in the Yemen war and escalated following a 2019 attack on Saudi oil plants. Iran has criticised the Gulf Arab states’ close ties with Washington and moves by some of them to normalise relations with Israel. “Good progress has been achieved in these talks … In some cases, disputes may have complexities that take time to resolve,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference carried by state media. In a bid to contain tensions between them, Saudi Arabia and Iran began direct talks in April. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said at the time Riyadh wanted good ties with Tehran, adopting a more conciliatory tone as he tries to balance long-held animosity with economic considerations and bridge differences with Washington over how to tackle Tehran’s regional behaviour. After the election of Ebrahim Raisi as president, the kingdom’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said last month, Riyadh will judge Iran’s government by “the reality on the ground,” while adding that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on foreign policy. Raisi said after his election in June that he wanted to improve ties with Gulf Arab neighbours while calling on regional rival Saudi Arabia to immediately halt its intervention in Yemen. The Saudi foreign minister said he was “very concerned” about unanswered questions on Iran’s nuclear programme, an apparent reference to the UN nuclear watchdog seeking explanations on the origin of uranium particles found at undeclared sites in Iran. Analysts said progress in Vienna could determine the momentum in direct talks between Riyadh and Tehran.

Buoyed by Raisi’s election, Iraqi militia leader vows ‘open war’ on US
The Arab Weekly/July 06/2021
BAGHDAD - The leader of an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against the United States for the deaths of four of his men in an airstrike along the Iraq-Syria border last month, saying it will be a military operation everyone will talk about.
Abu Alaa al-Walae, commander of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad that the electoral victory of Iran’s hardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as president will strengthen Iran-aligned groups throughout the Middle East for the next four years. Walae, who rarely gives interviews to foreign media organisations, spoke to the AP on Monday in an office in a Baghdad neighbourhood along the Tigris River. On June 27, US Air Force planes carried out airstrikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon said were facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside Iraq. Four militiamen were killed. The Popular Mobilisation Forces, an Iraqi state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shia militias, including those targeted by the US strikes, said their men were on missions to prevent infiltration by the Islamic State group and denied the presence of weapons warehouses. US troops in eastern Syria came under rocket fire the day after the airstrikes, with no reported casualties.
Tensions with US
The US has blamed Iran-backed militias for attacks, most of them rocket strikes, that have targeted the American presence in Baghdad and military bases across Iraq. Recently, the attacks have become more sophisticated, with militants using drones.
US military officials have grown increasingly alarmed over drone strikes targeting US military bases in Iraq, more common since a US drone killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport last year. Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack. The strike drew the ire of mostly Shia Iraqi lawmakers and prompted parliament to pass a non-binding resolution to pressure the Iraqi government to oust foreign troops from the country. In mid-April, an explosives-laden drone targeted the military section of the international airport in Irbil, in Iraq’s northern Kurdish-run region, causing no casualties nor damage. The base also hosts American troops.US officials said Iran-backed militias have conducted at least five drone attacks since April. After midnight Monday, a drone was shot down near the US Embassy compound in Baghdad. There were no casualties. Two US military officials said the drone was launched by Iranian proxies, adding that it was weaponised with explosives and was loitering over the US-led coalition base in Baghdad. The officials said it was too early to identify the type of the drone. The US Embassy said defence systems at the compound “engaged and eliminated an airborne threat.” The statement added that “we are working with our Iraqi partners to investigate” the attack. Walae, wearing a black shirt and trousers and an olive-green baseball cap, hinted that his militiamen might use drones in future attacks. He did not go into details. When asked if they used drones in the past against American troops in Iraq, he gave no straight answer and moved to other subjects.“We want an operation that befits those martyrs,” he said referring to the four fighters killed in late June. “Even if it comes late, time is not important.”“We want it to be an operation in which everyone says they have taken revenge on the Americans,” Walae said. “It will be a qualitative operation (that could come) from the air, the sea, along Iraq’s border, in the region or anywhere. It’s an open war.”
Pinning hopes on Raisi
Walae spoke in an office decorated with a poster of Soleimani. On a table next to him, a framed photo shows Walae standing next to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. Walae praised Iran’s new president, Raisi, who is scheduled to take office next month, saying Iran-backed militant groups “will have their best times.”Days after he was elected last month, Raisi said in his first remarks after the vote that he rejects the possibility of meeting President Joe Biden or negotiating Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support of regional militias. Walae, who was once held prisoner by US troops in Iraq, boasted that his men were among the first to go to neighbouring Syria to fight alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces in 2012, a year after the civil war there broke out. He said their first mission was to protect a Shiite holy shrine south of the capital, Damascus. They later fought in different parts of Syria. Iran-backed fighters from throughout the region have joined Syria’s conflict, helping tip the balance of power in Assad’s favour. Thousands of Iran-backed fighters remain in Syria, many of them deployed close to the Iraqi border in the towns of Boukamal and Mayadeen. Walae also said he does not expect Iraq’s parliamentary elections to take place on time in October, saying they might be postponed until April next year. He attributed the delay to the deep crisis the country is experiencing, including severe electricity cuts during the scorching summer.

In change of strategy, Cairo sees Haftar as just one of its cards in Libya not its main ally
The Arab Weekly/July 06/2021
CAIRO – Egypt’s openness to the interim authorities in Tripoli has reduced its reliance on Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Some analysts cite his absence a few days ago, from the opening ceremony of the ” July 3″ naval base close to the border with Libya as proof of the relative fraying of the relationship between the two sides. By comparison, the LNA chief was present at the opening of the near-by Mohammed Najib base four years ago.Observers believe that the presence of the President of the Libyan Presidency Council, Muhammad al-Menfi and the absence of Haftar were further evidence that Egypt has begun to adjust its approach, focusing its attention on the Tripoli-based and internationally-backed authorities. Haftar may still wield military influence and play a role combating terrorism, in a way that has helped Egypt secure a part of its border with Libya. However, in the final analysis, the LNA leader does not enjoy political legitimacy and if any forces deal with him either secretly or publicly it is only because he is part of the reality on the ground. The main turning point in Egypt’s relationship with Haftar was his military advance towards Tripoli in April 2019 under the pretext of liberating it from the grip of militias and other armed groups. These forces controlled at least part of the political decision-making process and supported the interests of their benefactors in doing so. Egyptian political sources told The Arab Weekly that Cairo was wary at the time that the LNA’s movement towards Tripoli could be a “trap” for Haftar, considering the great distance between Benghazi and Tripoli, the difficulty of moving troops and equipment and the complexity of war in a city that has turned into a hub for armed militias. Haftar was determined to carry out his plan under the pretext that he had received a green light from major powers. But he pulled back about a year later after his offensive failed. He has since tried to preserve what remains of his forces in the eastern region. Egypt’s reservations about Haftar’s unprofessional military behaviour increased when his inflated ego became an immediate burden for Cairo. Every time he flexed his muscles, attention turned to Egypt as his main backer, which made the government of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi lose any claim to impartiality and limited its margin of manoeuvre vis- a-vis international powers involved in the Libyan political settlement process.
The same Egyptian sources told The Arab Weekly, “Haftar’s role has become problematic. Egypt does not want to abandon him completely and search for an alternative to him. But it does not want to mortgage its interests with him after the rapid changes that occurred since he withdrew from Tripoli last year. The aloofness of Saudi Arabia and the UAE towards the Libyan National Army commander has encouraged Cairo to adjust its position towards him.”Cairo took advantage of the transformations to try to demonstrate that its relationship with Libya was not limited to the east. It opened up to many players in the west and south so as to perform a more effective role and contain Turkey’s growing influence which benefits greatly from Egypt’s absence from Tripoli. Cairo has reset its relationship with the Libyan House of Representatives, the Tobruk branch and its president, Ageela Saleh. At the same time, it has reached out to the Tripoli branch of parliament, which encouraged Saleh to expand his circle of relations and enter into talks with the Libyan State Council and its Brotherhood-affiliated leader Khaled al-Meshri. Saleh’s approach was interpreted by Cairo as a form of political pragmatism.
Egypt has nonetheless endeavoured to maintain the cohesion of the eastern front (Haftar-Ageela), even as its calculations changed.
Observers describe the relationship between Egypt and Haftar as very complex, which makes it seem to be wavering. But the field marshal is still a card among others for Egypt in the Libyan crisis, for war or for peace. Egypt is distancing itself from the Libyan National Army in the east without actually severing its ties with the force. It sees that its only alternative now is to work for the unification of the armed forces as a key factor in the security and stability of Libya, including the border with Egypt. Should this step fail, Egypt will fall back on ensuring the cohesion of east-based forces under Haftar and other reliable commanders, especially since most senior officers affiliated with the LNA have been trained in Egypt. Observers also believe that the resilience of this card, that of Haftar and the LNA, is important for Egypt for other reasons. The ambiguity surrounding the political process and the lack of determination on the part of the international community to deal with foreign interventions and mercenaries, may mean that war could erupt again with the same intensity as before. Egypt still fears the spectre of partition and sees the need for a military force that can keep Libya’s eastern region together, as it is an area of prime importance for Egypt. It considers the region as part of Egypt’s vital space alongside its oil riches that should not fall in the hands of Cairo’s rivals. These considerations are likely to determine the direction of Egypt’s wavering stance over Haftar and its policies in Libya in the foreseeable future.

Russia Again Posts Record Coronavirus Deaths
Agence France Presse/July 06/2021
Russia reported 737 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, a national record of pandemic-related fatalities over a 24-period, as the country battles a new surge in cases. It marks the first time Russia, the fifth worst-hit country in the world for the number of infections, has crossed the 700-mark for daily virus deaths. Russia has set six new pandemic highs for Covid-19 deaths in the last eight days as it fights a surging outbreak driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant. In Moscow, the epicenter of Russia's outbreak, the Delta variant first identified in India now accounts for 90 percent of new cases, the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said. He has ordered offices to send home a third of their unvaccinated employees and restaurants to allow inside only patrons who have been vaccinated or infected in the past sixth months. He has also mandated that 60 percent of service industry workers must be fully inoculated by mid-August.
As of Tuesday, just 1.8 million of Moscow's population of 12 million had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid data from the regions. Nationwide the total stood at just 18.2 million of Russia's some 146 million people.
Authorities have faced a vaccine-sceptic population, with an independent poll this week showing that 54 percent of Russians do not plan on getting a Covid jab. The Kremlin had set a goal of fully inoculating 60 percent of Russia's population by September, but conceded last week that it would not be able to meet that target even though free jabs have been available since early December. With 139,316 deaths from the virus, Russia has the highest official Covid toll in Europe -- even as authorities have been accused of downplaying the severity of the country's outbreak.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 06-07/2021
Iranian presidential selection paves new path for nuclear extortion
Behnam Ben Taleblu/Andrea Stricker/Washington Examiner/July 06/2021
Following a performative election on June 18, Iran will have a new president: the hard-line Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi’s rise will likely mean a different nuclear negotiating team after August in Vienna, where Iran and six world powers, including the United States, are working to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Despite the new leader’s rhetorical support for nuclear diplomacy, the Raisi presidency offers Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei the option to increase his demands and further extort the West. Washington should not let Tehran use the time between the new president’s inauguration as a mechanism to wrest more appealing terms.
Raisi has a long history of service to Iran’s brutal legal system. In 1988, Raisi and several other clerics oversaw mass executions of political prisoners in one of the worst acts of violence in the country’s 42-year history. Raisi also supported Tehran’s crackdown on protesters during the 2009 Green Movement. In 2019, he was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for his promotion to the position of chief justice.
Raisi’s stance on nuclear diplomacy notwithstanding, Khamenei has the final say on all of Iran’s foreign and security policy matters. This point was underscored recently by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who acknowledged the regime’s actual leader “was the same person before this election as he is after the election.”
It would behoove Washington, then, not to rush to resurrect the nuclear deal before Raisi’s team enters office, since Iranian negotiators will almost certainly try to use the inauguration to their advantage. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is no stranger to the good cop-bad cop routine, and he successfully began employing this stratagem against America and Europe more than a decade ago. Paradoxically, Raisi’s reputation as someone who will inevitably toughen demands on Washington means Iran’s greatest extortion could happen well before August. What’s more, the outgoing negotiating team is already briefing Raisi on the status of the talks.
Iran has taken its tough-guy act to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which wants answers from Tehran about suspect nuclear activities. The IAEA also needs to know if Iran will hand over agency data and video surveillance tapes, which may or may not still record information at the regime’s nuclear sites. Iran limited its nuclear monitoring agreements back in February, and now Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA has announced that Tehran is “not required to comply” with requests for clarity from the agency’s beleaguered director general until it gets sanctions relief.
This IAEA spat foreshadows Iran’s evolving approach and demands ahead.
In his first speech after winning the presidency, Raisi demanded that Washington lift all sanctions before the regime comes back into compliance with the JCPOA. Raisi also ruled out broader negotiations over Tehran’s regional activities and missile program, early targets for talks by then-President-elect Joe Biden, whose administration has since made vague pledges to reach a “longer and stronger” follow-on nuclear accord.
Now, Tehran is repeating demands that America lift all sanctions imposed after Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from the JCPOA. These sanctions, which target Iran’s regional networks, illicit trade, and missile and military programs, aim to impede Tehran’s security policy and drive down revenues. Reportedly, Iranian negotiators are even demanding broader delistings to enable financial flow and foreign investment in Iran. The regime may frame these as reparations for U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and, until they are provided, refuse to reverse advancements in Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Tehran is certain to continue denying cooperation with the IAEA.
Iran is sure to back its stipulations through Tehran’s time-tested mechanism of using regional attacks and nuclear advances to obtain concessions. Through proxy militias, for example, Tehran may augment assaults against U.S interests in Iraq, create mayhem for Persian Gulf shipping, or strike additional Saudi targets. In the nuclear arena, Khamenei and his Supreme National Security Council could instruct the new hard-line Parliament to pass a law requiring fresh nuclear advances. The Parliament passed a similar law late last year to increase Iran’s leverage against the Biden administration.
Iranian atomic officials followed through on implementing the law, installing numerous advanced centrifuges, producing a sensitive nuclear weapon material called uranium metal, and enriching uranium to a level of 20% purity (later jumping to 60%, which was not stipulated in the law). In February, Iran also stopped implementing the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement and reduced JCPOA monitoring provisions, which limited IAEA oversight of sensitive nuclear sites and activities.
If major Western concessions are not forthcoming, a new nuclear law might even “require” Tehran to notify the United Nations Security Council of its intent to begin a three-month withdrawal process from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty under the treaty’s Article X. Iran could also move to produce 90% enriched uranium, which is suitable for nuclear weapons.
Ideally, U.S. and European delegations would not return to Vienna for a seventh round of JCPOA talks and would instead cancel the flawed and expiring JCPOA and re-initiate a multilateral sanctions regime against Iran. Since the West seems intent to push forward, negotiators should anticipate the worst and swiftly counter Iranian attempts to extract more concessions.
The Raisi presidency could represent Iran’s biggest test for the West as an aging and unpopular regime tightens the reins. The international community should remember that a regime comfortable with extortion will never be satisfied — nor should it be appeased. Three years after the Trump administration’s maximum pressure sanctions, the Iranian economy desperately requires relief. Biden and his European counterparts should recognize the immense leverage they possess and not allow Iran to dictate nuclear terms through extortion, be it under the Rouhani or Raisi presidencies.
*Behnam Ben Taleblu is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Andrea Stricker (@StrickerNonpro) is a research fellow. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency
Richard Goldberg/FDD/International Organizations Monograph/July 06/2021
CONTENTS
Introduction
In 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. After Israel declared independence within the boundaries of the Jewish state, Arab armies declared war and attempted to destroy it. The conflict lasted from May 1948 to March 1949 and ended in an armistice agreement but not a formal peace.
The war produced both Arab and Jewish refugees. Israel absorbed roughly 800,000 Jewish refugees exiled from Arab states during and after the war. Arab governments, however, refused to absorb a similar number of Arab refugees. The UN General Assembly established the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in 1949 to care for Palestinian Arabs displaced by the 1948–1949 Israeli War of Independence.
Today, even though most of the original refugees are no longer alive, UNRWA provides health care, education, and other basic government-like services in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Not accounting for inflation, from 1950 to 2018, American taxpayers contributed more than $6 billion to UNRWA. The United States suspended funding for UNRWA in 2018.1 The Biden administration announced on April 7, 2021, that it would resume funding to UNRWA without any concrete plans for reform.2
Problems
In 1950, the UN General Assembly established the position of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to assist refugee populations around the world. UNRWA, having a separate mandate, was not included – and today remains the only nominally refugee-focused agency independent of UNHCR. Unlike UNHCR’s mandate to provide “durable solutions” to refugees, including voluntary repatriation, local integration, and third-country resettlement, UNRWA has no such mandate.3 The agency openly declares that it “has no authority to seek lasting durable solutions for refugees, including resettlement in third countries.”4 This creates a dynamic whereby refugee status endures across multiple generations, leading UNRWA to claim today that more than 5 million people are registered as Palestinian refugees.
Unlike many UN agencies to which the United States provides large sums of funding, UNRWA has no board of directors to conduct oversight and steer the organization. The agency’s inefficiency and bloated bureaucracy is readily apparent. UNRWA serves a population of more than 5 million people with a staff of roughly 30,000, while UNHCR serves more than 20 million people worldwide with a staff of only 10,000.
In recent years, Congress has raised concerns about an UNRWA school headmaster moonlighting as a terrorist, UNRWA schools storing weapons and launching rockets against Israel, and issues related to waste, fraud, and abuse.5 In January 2021, UNRWA’s secretary-general acknowledged that the agency’s educational curricula refer to Israel as the “enemy,” teach math by counting “martyred” terrorists, and include the phrase “Jihad is one of the doors to Paradise” in grammar lessons.6
While UNRWA asserts there are 5 million Palestinian refugees, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in January 2021 that less than 5 percent of people registered with UNRWA meet the internationally recognized criteria for refugee status.7 Most are citizens of Jordan or residents of the West Bank or Gaza – that is, they are currently living in the territory they seek for a future state of Palestine.
UNRWA’s mandate and inaccurate labeling of people as refugees perpetuates conditions conducive to instability and violence in the Middle East. UNRWA raises generation after generation of Palestinian children to believe that they are entitled to occupy homes that do not belong to their families but that Palestinians claim should be part of a Palestinian state. Israel, of course, would never open its doors to several million individuals who see it as an enemy.
Achieving an overhaul of UNRWA’s operations and mandate will face several hurdles. Changing UNRWA’s mandate requires a vote by the UN General Assembly. For internal political reasons, the Kingdom of Jordan has opposed the idea of transitioning UNRWA’s operations in Jordan to bilateral U.S. assistance. Amman fears that either the millions of Palestinians living in Jordan or Muslim Brotherhood instigators could respond by protesting the kingdom’s abandonment of the Palestinian “right of return,” thus fomenting instability. Hezbollah control of Lebanon, Hamas control of Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to acknowledge fewer numbers of legitimate refugees further complicate moving away from UNRWA to bilateral assistance channels.
At the same time, however, the Abraham Accords open new opportunities for dialogue with Arab partners on this issue. UNRWA’s institutionalization of the Arab world’s war on Israel is now outdated – and perhaps threatens the advancement of normalization agreements between Arab states and Israel. Indeed, the agency perpetuates the myth of a Palestinian “right of return” and generates Palestinian resentment toward Arab governments choosing to normalize. The United Arab Emirates notably suspended funding for UNRWA earlier this year until “steps are taken to manage funds more efficiently.”8
Recommendations
The Biden administration and Congress must recognize that with less than 5 percent of the people served by UNRWA meeting the internationally recognized criteria for refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNRWA is not a refugee agency. Rather, it is a politicized welfare agency riddled with oversight deficiencies and operating on an outdated mandate intended to block Arab-Israeli peace. UNRWA not only stands in the way of Arab-Israeli normalization and Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation; it also prevents millions from building better lives.
Congress is taking incremental steps to address concerns over UNRWA’s educational curricula, while a group of senators are demanding that more comprehensive conditions be placed on U.S. assistance.9 As Congress considers the Biden administration’s decision to resume funding, members of both parties should consider imposing conditions on U.S. assistance. These conditions should require UNRWA to:
Allow annual U.S.-led expenditure and beneficiary verification audits.
Establish a board of governors for oversight.
Change UNRWA’s mandate to integrate populations wherever they live and terminate the organization within five years.
Transition responsibility for populations served by UNRWA to host governments by the end of the five-year period, including steps to transition U.S. assistance from multilateral assistance to bilateral assistance in all geographic areas of transition wherever allowed under U.S. law.
Transition responsibility for at-risk displaced Palestinians, such as those in Syria, to UNHCR, which is already operating in the area.
During the proposed five-year transition period, technical teams from the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies should design programs, projects, and budgets to help Palestinians achieve economic independence and long-term opportunities.
The Biden administration and Congress should encourage Arab states normalizing with Israel that are donors to UNRWA, starting with the United Arab Emirates, to support UNRWA reforms and increase their financial support to Palestinians during this transition period. This process can be a win-win for Arab governments – removing a future impediment to normalization, while increasing support for the Palestinian people.
Notes
“U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians,” Congressional Research Service, December 12, 2018. (https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22967.pdf)
Matt Spetalnick and Stephen Farrell, “U.S. restores assistance for Palestinians, to provide $235 million in aid,” Reuters, April 7, 2021. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-usa-blinken/u-s-restores-assistance-for-palestinians-to-provide-235-million-in-aid-idUSKBN2BU2XT)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “UNHCR Global Appeal 2004,” December 31, 2003. (https://www.unhcr.org/3fc754593.pdf)
UN Relief and Works Agency, “Frequently Asked Questions,” accessed May 26, 2021. (https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions)
Adam Entous, “Gaza headmaster was Islamic Jihad ‘rocket-maker,’” Reuters, May 5, 2008. (https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-33413620080505); Ilan Ben Zion, “Rockets found in UNRWA School, for third time,” The Times of Israel (Israel), July 30, 2014. (https://www.timesofisrael.com/rockets-found-in-unrwa-school-for-third-time); “UN admits Palestinians fired rockets from UNRWA schools,” UN Watch, April 7, 2015. (https://unwatch.org/un-admits-palestinians-fired-rockets-unrwa-schools); “Report: UNRWA violations regulations,” The Jerusalem Post (Israel), September 28, 2006. (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/report-unrwa-violating-regulations)
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What is China Buying in the Biden Administration?
Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/July 06/2021
The simple fact is that there are large, powerful donors to the Biden campaign that have big financial stakes in these green energy companies. It is a wealth transfer to Biden's biggest bundlers, and that is a huge and massive problem.
For those companies with inside connections to the Biden campaign, it is American taxpayer money that is truly "shovel-ready."
Former congressmen and senators, and former US ambassadors are being paid large sums of money by governments such as China, or by firms directly linked to those governments, which do not have America's best interest at heart. They are lobbying in Washington to get their paymasters' voices heard.
If you invest a couple of million dollars, let us say, in lobbying, or you invest a couple of million dollars in campaign contributions, often you can get benefits that are worth ten times that. For Wall Street and Silicon Valley, the prospect of doing deals in China is mesmerizing. To do those deals in China, as they have learned, you must play nice with the regime, speak well of them, feather their nests.... It is no less tempting for American politicians.... Of greatest concern are the deals that actually advance Chinese state interests. There is no other way to state this. The only way we can correct this situation is by exposing these people and showing U.S. citizens exactly what they are doing in our society. [J]ust before the 2020 election, the [New York Times ran a piece by its "media reporter" bragging about their role as gatekeepers that would not pursue the Hunter Biden story. For Wall Street and Silicon Valley, the prospect of doing deals in China is mesmerizing. To do those deals in China, as they have learned, you must play nice with the regime, speak well of them, feather their nests.... It is no less tempting for American politicians.... Of greatest concern are the deals that actually advance Chinese state interests. Pictured: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (second from right) speaks while facing Yang Jiechi (second from left), director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, and Wang Yi (left), China's Foreign Minister at the opening session of US-China talks in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, 2021.
What is China buying in the Biden Administration? A look to the recent past may provide some answers. If you go back to 2009-10 and look at the "shovel-ready" stimulus package that President Barack Obama pushed through, as most people now know, there were huge amounts of money in the form of direct grants and loan guarantees that went to Solyndra and other "green energy" companies that failed. Yet, the question remained: Where did all that taxpayer money go for green energy?
If you trace it, you will find that 80 percent of that money went to green energy companies that were owned by individuals who sat on Barack Obama's Finance Committee for his 2008 campaign.
Now that Obama's former VP is president, another infrastructure package will include plenty of expenditures for more green schemes. Whether they work or whether they will simply raise our energy prices, the simple fact is that there are large, powerful donors to the Biden campaign that have big financial stakes in these green energy companies. It is a wealth transfer to Biden's biggest bundlers, and that is a huge and massive problem. For those companies with inside connections to the Biden campaign, it is American taxpayer money that is truly "shovel-ready."
The present circumstances compounds one problem -- crony capitalism is extremely profitable – which brings a second problem -- the flushness of foreign cash. Former congressmen and senators, and former US ambassadors are being paid large sums of money by governments such as China, or by firms directly linked to those governments, which do not have America's best interest at heart. They are lobbying in Washington to get their paymasters' voices heard. If you invest a couple of million dollars, let us say, in lobbying, or you invest a couple of million dollars in campaign contributions, often you can get benefits that are worth ten times that.
The second problem is related to the source of funds. We see an increasing influx of foreign money into Washington, DC. Some of it comes from these foreign companies; they will set up a US affiliate, and then that US affiliate will make campaign contributions. For many years we all believed that closer commercial ties with China would liberalize their political system. Free-traders and internationalists alike agreed on this. The reverse happened. When you look at what China's leader, President Xi Jinping, has done in the last seven years, China has become more repressive internally, more aggressive internationally, and more dangerous militarily. But there was one nugget of truth -- economic bonds with China seem to have caused a convergence of interests with many American elites.
For Wall Street and Silicon Valley, the prospect of doing deals in China is mesmerizing. To do those deals in China, as they have learned, you must play nice with the regime, speak well of them, feather their nests. All of this makes you implicitly more pro-Beijing. Just ask LeBron James. It is no less tempting for American politicians.
Of greatest concern are the deals that actually advance Chinese state interests. Deals involving part of a mine in the Congo, Africa, with another Chinese company that was going to help fight the minerals war and help China get access to strategic minerals. Or China General Nuclear Power Group, that was later implicated by the FBI for stealing nuclear secrets in the United States. Or a deal with Cosco, the Chinese overseas shipping company, to buy the national railway system of Greece. Greece was privatizing assets, and China wanted to buy it. They already owned a port.
This was part of China's One Belt One Road initiative, which the Obama administration itself had said was an effort by China to counteract and overcome the United States around the world. This is not a simply a case of, "Oh, gosh, corruption is terrible."
This is actually a case of aiding Chinese state-backed companies that are engaging in transactions that are advancing the strategic interest in Chinese government -- not just payola but something far more troubling. China seems to have a lot of influence in the current White House, and that this puts the Biden administration in a bit of a bind. Public opinion in the U.S. has shifted against China, chiefly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because Americans are finally realizing how vulnerable and dependent on China we have become.
The time-honored ruse by politicians in such a bind is to reverse Theodore Roosevelt's advice by speaking loudly and carrying a small stick. Biden's administration, whatever its rhetoric, does not seem prepared to do the real work. The evidence of foreign entanglements by its principal actors suggests that China continues to have the administration's ear.
If the Biden administration truly wants to counteract some of this dependence, it runs contrary to statements that Biden has made in the past, and contrary to some of the, let us say, entangling relationships that his most senior administration officials have relating to China. It would have to take on those entanglements, and those of some major campaign donors from both Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
There is no other way to state this. The only way we can correct this situation is by exposing these people and showing U.S. citizens exactly what they are doing in our society. This is the job of responsible voices in the press, yet there is little evidence they are up to the challenge. Six years ago, the New York Times ran a 4,000-word front page story that confirmed the main assertions of the book, Clinton Cash. Yet, just before the 2020 election, the Times ran a piece by its "media reporter" bragging about their role as gatekeepers that would not pursue the Hunter Biden story. My goal and hope is that the next book will be the beginning of a broader effort to hold the press, as well as our political, business, and technology leaders accountable.
*Peter Schweizer, President of the Governmental Accountability Institute, is a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow and author of the best-selling books Profiles in Corruption, Secret Empires and Clinton Cash, among others.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Russia will benefit from the US-China economic Cold War
Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/July 06/2021
With a new Cold War on the horizon between China and the United States, Russia will step in as the major beneficial actor, after the two superpowers are mutually exhausted. Both Washington and Beijing have been courting Moscow, each from its own perspective, to tilt the balance in the ongoing confrontation with the other. Putin will watch happily attempting to exploit his country’s leverage to manipulate developments to his advantage.
In the past century, the traditional Cold War between Washington and Moscow meant deep polarization across the globe. Countries were to choose on which side they stood. Bi-polar tension dominated international relations for decades.
This new Cold War is different: its objectives, tools and players are not the same anymore. Trade and the economy rather than nuclear weapons are the determinant factors of power in this era.
China and Russia are still ideologically similar, both standing against the West, but not as Communist comrades. Communism has been left behind as the embrace of market economics is firm. Their relations are very much affected by each country’s relations with Washington. For example, when the US paved the way for China to join the WTO back in 2001, and Obama and Medvedev developed a positive relationship it was China that was left on the back seat.
Further back in time, China was ready to give up on its Soviet ally when President Richard Nixon paid his historical visit to China in 1972. During Trump's Presidency, mild steps of rapprochement were witnessed before relations deteriorated again.
Both China and Russia will break this “marriage of convenience” when one gets closer to Washington. Of course, contemplating total political and economic divorce between each other is unimaginable but toying with Washington’s affection is fun for both.
There’s a plus for Moscow when the US and China are at loggerheads. Russia can focus more attention and resources to maintain a high threat level to the European Union which still considers the country a primary security problem.
Moscow’s hard power policies in Georgia in 2008 and annexing Crimea in 2014 are two examples that conflict with China’s soft power strategies. Beijing is silently and gradually building its influence through mega economic plans similar to the Belt and Road Initiative.
Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Africa in 2019 totaled $110 billion, almost double that of American investments on the continent which reached almost $42 billion in the same year. The EU’s priority is substantially different from that of the US. This is again where Moscow can benefit to advance its standing in the new Cold War. What is the unquestionable priority for Washington, is less so for its strongest allies in Europe.
China can manipulate Russia too. By meddling in Central Asia, which Moscow considers its own backyard, mutual accusations of espionage are examples of the two powers combat for their own interests.
In international relations, there is no such thing as full harmony between two states, regardless of how close they are and no matter how they confront a common enemy together. China and Russia are not an exception.
A more manipulative Russian approach in the new Cold War will also send signals to China that Moscow is not simply a follower, it has power to do more than that.
Moscow can advance as Washington and Beijing are stuck within the framework of a Thucydides trap where a dangerous dynamic occurs when a rising power threatens to displace the ruling order.
Despite the fact that Russia lags behind economically in comparison to China and the US, it is powerful enough to reserve its place at the big table.
The constantly changing relations that exist between the three states reminds of George Orwell's novel, “1984.” Three superpowers manipulating the status quo to conspire to allow two at war and one always at peace. We are now witnessing the giant powers morph their position on the global stage depending on the moment.