Middle Orient

Khamenei’s Fear Of Defection And Tension In His Regime – OpEd

In fear of a popular uprising in Iran, Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei saw the Gaza war as a solution to protect his regime against the people. Additionally, to instill fear in society he has resorted to widespread executions to extinguish the flame of uprising. Alongside these actions, he …

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Troubled by Hezbollah attacks, northern evacuees may not return

Following the October 7 Hamas attacks, residents along Israel’s northern border grow increasingly anxious over the possibility of a similar assault by Hezbollah. Gil Sagi is an Israeli dairy farmer living on a kibbutz in northern Israel. Since the beginning of Israel’s war with Hamas, his community, along with others, …

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Son of Hezbollah commander behind establishment of Iraqi militias reported killed in Israeli airstrike

Hassan Ali Daqduq, the son of senior Hezbollah commander Musa Ali Daqduq, was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in Syria’s Quneitra governorate, according to reports. The elder Daqduq was tasked by Iran and Hezbollah to establish militias in Iraq along the lines of Lebanese Hezbollah. He was successful in …

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Hamas’s Goal in Gaza

The Strategy That Led to the War—and What It Means for the Future Among the many striking aspects of Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel, one that has received relatively little scrutiny is the location. For much of the past decade, the Gaza Strip no longer appeared to be a …

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Aiding Terror: How Terrorists Exploit Humanitarian Organizations

“We built the tunnels to protect ourselves from airplanes … the refugees, the UN is responsible for protecting them.” The now infamous statement by Musa Abu Marzuk of Hamas, in a television interview of October 2023, illustrates a severe problem that has developed in the interplay between humanitarian aid and …

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Petrodollar Endgame Moves Even Closer

I’ll be the first to admit that two of the main themes on this blog – the United States’ sovereign debt crisis and the deterioration of the petrodollar – have been extraordinarily slow-moving theses. In both cases, there have been developments that stand at odds with my contentions. For example, …

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Operation Iron Swords
Updated to 1 p.m., December 10, 2023

The combat arena: Fighting continues in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. IntegratedIDF forces continued to expand their presence in the area, attacking hundreds of Hamasterrorist targets. The local media reported fierce fighting and the surrender of dozens ofGazans. Senior Hamas terrorists claimed they had the upper hand, were successfullycombatting …

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The Dark Side Of AI: Israel’s Controversial Use Of Data And Algorithms In Gaza – OpEd

AI is a broad term that refers to the ability of machines or software to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence such as perception, reasoning, learning, decision making and problem solving. AI has many applications and implications for modern warfare, both on and off the battlefield. Here, we will …

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Yemen’s Armed Forces Resume Attacks Against Israel, Affirm Solidarity With Palestine

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced that it had launched two direct attacks on Israeli ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen’s coast on December 3. The spokesperson for the Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, confirmed the operation, stating that it was in response to the demands of the Yemeni …

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Iran’s President Raisi To Visit Russia On Thursday

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will travel to Moscow on Thursday, December 7. Heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, the Iranian president will visit Russia at the official invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The main topics of discussion during the one-day visit will be the expansion of economic …

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