MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Are our munitions in Gaza too precise?
The use of very precise munitions on the battlefield has limitations that need to be considered. The IDF is not on the way to subduing Hamas. An observation by Amir Rapaport
Amir Rapaport | 19/05/2021 ISRAEL DEFENSE NEWSLETTER
The percentage of precision munitions out of the total munitions used in recent conflicts. Source: Israel Defense
The IDF is breaking records in terms of the level of precision of the munitions it is using in the Gaza Strip. Actually, the war is one of the first in history in which one of the sides is only using precision munitions, with one or two meter accuracy, except for a very small number of cases of the firing of artillery shells into open areas where there is no tangible enemy.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INSIGHT : STALEMATE IN NORTHEAST SYRIA: OPTIONS FOR ADVANCING U.S. INTERESTS
by Kenneth R. Rosen – PolicyWatch 3488 – May 21, 2021
In addition to clarifying its intentions and fortifying its presence in the area, the U.S. government needs to increase its focus on stability, security, and economic development.
When the United States first became involved in the Syria conflict, its purpose was clear: defeating the Islamic State (IS). Today, that mission is less easily definable—the goalpost has shifted to seeking the group’s “enduring defeat,” while a complex array of state and nonstate actors have become involved across the country. What remains clear is that the strategic importance of an American presence in the northeast far outweighs the risk and cost of the roughly 900 U.S. troops currently operating there. As the Biden administration undertakes a broader Syria policy review and the Assad regime steams toward another illegitimate election, the possible paths for concluding the war and maintaining U.S. involvement are becoming fewer and more untenable, so clarifying American intentions in the northeast is crucial.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : RED CHINA VOTES PRO PALESTINE
Journalist Zheng Junfeng On Official Chinese TV: U.S. Gives Israel A Diplomatic Shield Because Of Wealthy Jews And Their Powerful MLobby In The U.S.; Israel Serves As ‘Beachhead’ For American Interests
May 21, 2021 MEMRI China | Special Dispatch No. 9348
Zheng Junfeng, a Chinese journalist and a pundit for official Chinese broadcaster in English CGTN TV, discussed U.S.-Israeli relations against the backdrop of the Hamas-Israel clashes. During his show, Bizbeat, Zunfeng claimed that the U.S. acts as Israel’s “diplomatic shield.” He said that some people believe this is traceable to the activity of wealthy Jews and the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. and added that Israel serves as the U.S.’s “beachhead” in the region and carries out attacks and policies that serve the American interests. The show was aired on May 18, and was removed from all CGTN platforms after the Israeli Embassy in China protested, making headlines.
“Some People Believe That U.S. Pro-Israel Policy Is Traceable To The Influence Of Wealthy Jews In The U.S. And The Jewish Lobby On U.S. Foreign Policy Makers”
Zhen Junfeng: “Why does the U.S. act as a diplomatic shield for Israel?
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : WHAT FOLLOWS NO ? – WINNING THE GAZA CEASEFIRE: CRITICAL DECISIONS FOR THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
by Robert Satloff – PolicyWatch 3487 – May 21, 2021
Hamas may not have realized it when firing its first salvo against Jerusalem, but the challenge of its rockets didn’t end with a ceasefire—the administration now faces complex and urgent decisions that could affect the direction of its overall foreign policy.
With a welcome ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict, achieved with a strong assist from Washington, the Biden administration will have to decide whether to revert to its pre-crisis strategy of relegating Arab-Israel diplomacy to the backwater of U.S. priorities. Keeping distance from this issue made sense when the conflict seemed frozen and little was likely to change, even with substantial U.S. involvement. Now, however, Gaza has turned a static situation fluid. While the administration can certainly sit and watch as these changes play out, the wiser course would be to assess its options for actively shaping outcomes that will affect larger U.S. equities in the region.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : US appeasement of Iran, misconceptions over facts linger in wake of Israel-Gaza conflict
“The appeasement on the nuclear question leads to appeasement across the region,” said Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute. The Biden administration “cannot acknowledge the role Iran is playing in Gaza because if it does, it will be asked to leave the negotiating table in Vienna.”
BY ISRAEL KASNETT JEWISH NES SYNDICATE 22 May 2021 (May 21, 2021 / JNS) The conflict in Gaza over the last two weeks highlighted a number of misperceptions and emerging trends between the United States and Israel. While the Biden administration largely supported Israel’s right to defend itself, it became clear as the conflict wore on that impatience was growing in America, largely among Democrats, over both U.S. support for Israel and the proportional use of force in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, the conflict also came amid negotiations between Iran and world powers over a nuclear deal, as the Biden administration has made it a priority to re-enter the 2015 deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Experts say the role of Iran behind the conflict, as well as Hamas’s own bid for dominance in the Palestinian arena, cannot be overlooked.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Will Turkey’s Grey Wolves land on EU terror list
The European Parliament’s annual report on Turkey suggests placing Turkey’s far-right Grey Wolves on the EU terrorist list.
Nazlan Ertan – AL MONITOR – May 20, 2021 – Reports by the European Parliament (EP) that decry a lack of progress on Turkey’s human rights are hardly a novelty since the European Union’s only directly elected body undertook the task of penning annual “progress reports” on Turkey in the 1990s. Neither are Ankara’s claims that the report is biased and unfair, the “toughest report ever.” Yet this year’s report, penned by Spanish Socialist Nacho Sanchez Amor, has ventured where no EP report has gone before: It suggested putting Turkey’s Grey Wolves, an ultra-right group linked to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the government’s alliance partner, on the EU terror list.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Israel bombs ice cream factory in Gaza
Eleven days of relentless Israeli attacks has caused heavy damage to Gaza’s factories and farmland. –
Palestinian employees work at the Al-Arees ice cream factory in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip – Hana Salah AL MONITOR – May 21, 2021
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Sami al-Ghazali, the owner of the Maatoug Booza Factory, never thought that his investments in the local ice cream business in Gaza’s supposedly safe industrial zone would vanish in a blink of an eye. But on May 17, his factory was bombed by Israeli artillery shells and completely destroyed.
“I invested more than $500,000 to establish the factory in a safe area far from any potential Israeli attack,” Ghazali told Al-Monitor.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Are Palestinians gaining in court of world opinion?
Independent observers have noticed a marked difference in public attitudes around the world and especially in the United States regarding the latest violent escalation in Palestine and Israel, changes connected to timing, messaging and the platforms carrying those messages.
Demonstrators take part in a protest in solidarity with the Palestinians over the ongoing conflict with Israel, in Washington, May 15, 2021. – Daoud Kuttab AL MONITOR – May 21, 2021
The duality of Israeli shelling and Gazan rockets against Israel are not new. But there is widespread acknowledgment that things are different this time around. Support for Palestinian national aspirations has spiked at unprecedented levels while criticism of Israel has also increased.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Israel reaches crossroads in Gaza
Many politicians agree that it’s time for Israel to rethink its policy toward the Strip. – Mazal Mualem AL MONITOR- May 21, 2021
Israel’s Security Cabinet agreed to a cease-fire with Hamas late on May 20. The decision came just hours after US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone for the fourth time since the Gaza escalation started. The news stations, broadcasting continuously since the beginning of Operation Guardian of the Walls, reported that Biden was heavily pressuring Netanyahu to stop the fighting.
Unlike in earlier rounds of fighting against Hamas, this time, there was almost universal agreement among Israeli commentators, military experts, the public and politicians that Israel’s policy toward its enemy must evolve.
AFTER TRUMP ! : MESOPOTAMIA NEWS US DEMOCRATS : Bernie Sanders introduces Senate resolution to block $735 million weapons sale to Israel
Sanders’ move will force a vote in the Senate on whether or not to block the arms sale.
Al-Monitor Staff May 20, 2021 – US Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a resolution Thursday that will force the Senate to vote on whether or not to block a controversial $735 million sale of bombs and bomb guidance equipment to Israel. The move came shortly before Israel announced it had reached a cease-fire with Hamas, set to begin at 2 a.m. Friday.
The move marks an unprecedented challenge by lawmakers to US aid to Israel in recent decades, a subject that has become increasingly controversial in progressive circles in US politics.
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