October, 2023

• 11 October

  Turkey escalates airstrikes in Syria, but will it cross US, Russia red lines?

  

  The likelihood of a fresh Turkish ground offensive in northern Syria appears to weaken after the unprecedented shooting down of a Turkish drone by the United States. A suicide attack outside of Turkey’s national security directorate headquarters has become the latest justification for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan to create …

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• 11 October

  A Second October War in Israel-Palestine

  

  What happened? In the early hours of 7 October, Hamas launched what it called Operation al-Aqsa Deluge, a multi-pronged attack on Israel, including Israeli border towns ringing the Gaza Strip. Thousands of rockets rained down on areas in Israel in the first few hours. These gave cover to Hamas militants, …

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• 11 October

  What the Hamas Attack Means for Israel

  

  Netanyahu Has Nothing but Bad Options As thousands of rockets rain down on Israel, lighting up the skyline of Tel Aviv and other cities, the country’s current priority is to defend its towns and military bases against Hamas’s sudden and devastating attacks from the Gaza Strip. Israel will try to …

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• 11 October

  Why Hamas Attacked—and Why Israel Was Taken by Surprise

  

  On the morning of Saturday, October 7, the Palestinian group Hamas carried out a surprise attack on Israel on an unprecedented scale: firing thousands of rockets, infiltrating militants into Israeli territory, and taking an unknown number of hostages. At least 100 Israelis have died, and at least 1,400 have been …

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• 11 October

  What Russia Really Wants

  

  How Moscow’s Desire for Autonomy Could Give America an Edge Over China As the war in Ukraine rages, it is difficult to imagine a constructive relationship between Russia and the West. The prospect is made unlikelier still by the Kremlin’s relentless anti-Western vitriol. Yet even if Russia’s strategic designs are …

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• 11 October

  Spotlight on Iran

  

  With contacts aimed at promoting possible normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia inthe background, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisiattacked Israel and warned against the normalization process. The Supreme Leader of Iranonce again referred to Israel as a “cancer” and declared that normalizing relations with it …

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• 11 October

  Tehran’s Hostile Takeover

  

  Hamas’ operation against Israel on October 7 was a major step in the Iranian effort to take control of the Palestinian cause. The surprise offensive by Hamas on October 7 has launched a thousand morsels of speculation. There is indeed much that can be concluded from the organization’s attacks against …

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• 11 October

  Haniyeh outlines context and objectives of Hamas Operation Al-Aqsa Flood

  

  The following is the full text of the speech by Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, on the first day of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, 7 October, 2023, as reported by Al-Jazeera: In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O children of our Palestinian …

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• 11 October

  Why did Hamas attack, and why now? What does it hope to gain?

  

  In hindsight, the drivers of Hamas’s startlingly well-planned, land-sea-air attack on Israel on Saturday were in plain sight. The operation reflects a pattern of four wars and regular outbreaks of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza since 2005, when Israel withdrew its military posts and forcibly removed 9,000 …

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• 11 October

  The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins

  

  There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas. In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel …

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