There maybe a new sloppy ‘peace’….
But?
Things are FAR from over for ALL Sides involved in Gaza and Lebanon….
Israel’s exodus from their country’s conflicts….
Tens of thousands of Israelis have left the country over the past two years, with numbers spiking during the summer of 2023 — amid tumultuous protests against the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government and even before the Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 80,000 of the country’s 10 million citizens had newly moved abroad in 2024 and similar numbers are expected this year….
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Israeli sociologists and demographers say that most of those in this growing cadre of émigrés are well educated, high-earning, secular, left-leaning and deeply critical of the direction leaders have been taking the country. Many are employees in start-up companies, doctors and students pursuing advanced degrees. Young couples and young families are highly represented….
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These departures could have momentous economic, social and political effects for decades to come, Israel experts say.
“There are other brain drains in the world, but there is a uniqueness in light of the Israeli demographics,” said Itai Ater, an economics professor at Tel Aviv University. He said, for instance, that workers in Israel’s cutting-edge technology sector, who constitute only 11 percent of the labor force but pay a third of the country’s taxes, are strongly represented among the émigrés….
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An estimated 200,000 Israelis now live in Europe. For years, Israelis have secured second passports from European Union countries, including Germany and Poland, which offered citizenship…
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Israeli Military Commanders and the Oct. 7th Mistakes….
The Israeli military’s chief of staff on Sunday summoned about a dozen senior commanders to let them know they would be ousted or disciplined for failures related to the Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
It was the most sweeping and punitive action against members of the Israeli military in the more than two years since Oct 7, 2023 — the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
The decision by the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, to hold some commanders responsible carries symbolic weight, even if they are not from the top echelons of the military. Investigations into the failings of Israeli institutions before the attack and on the day it occurred have been a matter of intense national debate.
General Zamir said in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli military had “failed in its primary mission on Oct. 7 — to protect the civilians of the state of Israel.” He described it as a “severe, resounding, systemic failure” that warranted action to restore trust in the military and “to set a clear standard of command responsibility.”
“I have decided, after careful consideration, to draw personal conclusions regarding commanders holding certain positions who served on Oct. 7,” General Zamir said.
The statement did not name the commanders who were affected. Many were serving in the reserves and will be released, according to a separate statement from the Israeli military.
General Zamir’s actions followed an announcement this month by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his government would conduct an official inquiry into the attacks, after long resisting demands to do so. That announcement angered rather than appeased critics, who worried that a team appointed by the same leader who was in charge during the Oct. 7 attacks would not be fully independent….
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Israel ‘takes out’ a top Hezbollah Militarty Commander…
The Israeli military assassinated a top Hezbollah commander in an airstrike near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sunday, further escalating its attacks on the Iran-backed militant group despite a year-old cease-fire brokered by the United States.
Israel identified the man as Haytham Ali Tabatabai, describing him as the Lebanese armed group’s military chief of staff. Hezbollah confirmed his death and mourned Mr. Tabatabai as a martyr and pre-eminent commander.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency said the strike targeted an apartment in Dahiya, a densely populated cluster of neighborhoods on the outskirts of Beirut, where Hezbollah has long held sway. At least five people were killed in the airstrike and more than 25 were injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Mr. Tabatabai had been leading Hezbollah’s efforts to regroup after it was badly weakened during the war with Israel….
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A look at Hamas Right Now in a Q & A…
What remains of Hamas after this war?
[ABU BAKR] BASHIR: Well, Israel killed most of Hamas’ political leaders and military commanders. However, some leaders have survived. Members of Hamas politburo live abroad. One of the main ones is Khalil al-Hayya, who survived the Israeli strikes on Doha last September that killed his son. He has been leading the Hamas team for negotiations from his base in Qatar. He signed on the Trump ceasefire plan a month ago. They have been working on putting together what is left of Hamas political and military wings to try to breathe life back into the movement.
[Host AYESHA] RASCOE: So how are they moving forward?
BASHIR: Gaza is divided now. Roughly half of it is under Israeli military control. The other half is where a weakened Hamas remains. But they are facing rival clans and militias, some backed by Israel, that are eager to confront them. That is where Hamas is trying to consolidate its control. So right after the ceasefire, Hamas started carrying out executions of rival groups, clans and militias. But a Hamas security source in Gaza told me that they received direct orders to stop these executions because of the public anger and concern about their image internationally. The Hamas security source I asked acknowledged that some newly recruited security officers lack interrogation training. And I should note that all the Hamas security officers that NPR spoke with asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
RASCOE: Israel and the U.S. have said that Hamas can play no role in Gaza’s future governance. Will Hamas abide by that?
BASHIR: Hamas has agreed to be out of the government and play no political role in Gaza. Hamas believes it can go back to playing the role it did before it took power in Gaza almost 20 years ago. That role was more about providing charity, welfare and education services to Palestinians. That is where they historically gained popularity. But they also carried out many attacks on Israelis, and Israel wants them gone altogether.
One major shift is that the U.S., for the first time ever, is actually meeting with Hamas. Walid Kilani, Hamas’ spokesperson in Lebanon, told me that Hamas officials have met U.S. officials at least three times in recent months…
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RASCOE: How do most Palestinians in Gaza feel about Hamas?
BASHIR: After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, Israel imposed a strict blockade of the territory. People blamed Hamas for the harsh living conditions that followed, but Hamas ruled Gaza with an iron fist and did not tolerate any dissent against them. Since October 7, there has been huge criticism, and people blame Hamas for launching the attacks on Israel because it did not protect Palestinian civilians from the Israeli retaliation. However, today many Palestinians I have spoken to believe that if Hamas survives this war, they will probably remain with them for a long time. So people are more cautious about criticizing them, and none wanted to be cited by name. But a Hamas security official recently told me hundreds of new recruits have joined the movement. He said almost everyone in Gaza wants revenge against Israel. In other words, the poverty and devastation caused by the war could push many towards such radical groups in what would be a continuing vicious circle…..
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