October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient
The US-brokered talks were making progress; that’s probably why Iran gave Hamas the green light. This column was supposed to be about the momentum and promise of the US-brokered Saudi-Israel peace initiative, including how the kingdom went big by making Israeli-Palestinian peace part of the deal. The consequences of an …
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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient, Turkey
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient
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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October 11, 2023 Eurasia, Middle Orient
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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