Blinken touts problematic UAE plan for post-war Gaza
By James M. Dorsey US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is jumping through hoops on his 11th Middle East tour in the past year. As he attempts to revive…
Hezbollah fights to survive, uncertain of the level of Iranian support
By James M. Dorsey In some respects, Israel and Iran have traded places when it comes to Lebanon. Iran sees a ceasefire as a way to shield Hezbollah, the Shiite…
UNIFIL – as ineffective as ever
“The force has repeatedly failed its mission and squandered its credibility” – that is the uncompromising verdict on UNIFIL in the Washington Institute for Near…
Killing Hamas leader garners Israel a tactical, not a strategic success
By James M. Dorsey For the past year, Israel depicted Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a coward hiding in Gaza’s fortified underground tunnels shielded by 22 handcuffed Israeli hostages. Drone…
Hamas leader’s death offers Israel a feel-good moment but changes little
By James M. Dorsey The opportunity to pull the Middle East back from the brink came and went within hours of Israel’s confirmation that it had killed Hamas leader Yahya…
Israel’s international support network fractures as pressure mounts
By James M. Dorsey Israel ignores at its peril the increasingly bold writing on the wall. The writing suggests Israel’s US and European diplomatic and military defense shield, a fixture…
By accusing Israel of terrorism, former CIA director redefines terrorism
By James M. Dorsey Former CIA director and US defense secretary Leon Panetta hit a raw geopolitical nerve by recently labelling Israel’s alleged boobytrapping of Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah’s…
What were they thinking? Hamas and Netanyahu have yet to explain
By James M. Dorsey What were they thinking? It’s a question both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist government have yet to answer. Hamas and the Netanyahu government’s…
Why the UN votes against Israel
It has been a dispiriting time, these past few days, watching a succession of world leaders parrot to the UN General Assembly misinformation, half-truths and downright lies…
Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah manoeuvre in military and political minefields
By James M. Dorsey Hezbollah and Iran are playing political and military defence in Lebanon. Militarily, Hezbollah has demonstrated that it may be down but is not out as a…