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In a reminder of the Middle East’s intertwined nature, the latest violence between Israel and Hamas has U.S. and Israeli officials lamenting the role of a key actor hundreds of miles east of Gaza: Iran. “Who is the enabler for Hamas? Where do they get those rockets?” asked House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce Friday morning. “It’s Iran.” […] “Iran continues to do everything it can to push rockets into Gaza,” says Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer. “Iran obviously is a supporter of Hamas. And Islamic Jihad is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iran.” (Islamic Jihad is militant group...

Skitter, scamper, scuttle. That seems to be the mode of the Obama administration of late. Skitter away from your red line in Syria. Scamper off to a meeting you'd previously nixed with Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Scuttle as much as the Constitution as you can, at least until you get called on it by 9-0 majorities in the Supreme Court, as the justices did on recess appointments, warrantless cellphone searches and $75,000 a day fines for disturbing supposed wetlands. It's not a very effective way to make public policy, and it tends to put you in an embarrassing public posture....

The Israeli army on Wednesday intensified its offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, striking Hamas sites and killing at least 14 people on the second day of a military operation it says is aimed at quelling rocket fire against Israel. Hamas is broke. It's lost some of its biggest supporters. Its supply lines from Egypt are cut off. The Islamist militant group is at one of its weakest points since it was founded in 1987. Yet, its operatives are busy firing rockets at Israel, as hostilities between the two arch-enemies continues to escalate. Why? Hamas has little other choice but...

As the rocket fire from Gaza terrorists continues to pelt southern and central Israel, a new front appears to have opened Friday morning as a Katyusha rocket was fired on the northern tip of Israel, north of Kiryat Shmona. The rocket landed in open territory in the upper Galillee. Apparently the IDF estimates it was fired by local terror groups supporting Hamas, and not by the Iran-proxy Hezbollah terror group, reports Walla!. […] In a statement, the Lebanese army declared a total of three rockets were fired on Israel by “an unknown group” from the Marjayun-Hasbaya region of southern Lebanon,...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Thursday that his country’s ties with Israel would not return to normal unless Israel ceases its offensive on Gaza, AFP reports. "You will first stop this oppression. If not, it is not possible to realize normalization between Turkey and Israel," Erdogan said in the central Anatolian city of Yozgat after a dinner breaking the daily Ramadan fast. .....

Kerry Admits: Iran Negotiations Not WorkingPosted By Majid Rafizadeh On July 10, 2014 @ 12:35 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments In less than two week, the interim nuclear deal will expire, most likely without a final deal being struck between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the G5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany).The Islamic Republic has been given years to come clean and halt its ideological and regional hegemonic ambitions of obtaining nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the Obama administration believes that we need to give the Islamic Republic another chance, trusting the...

The terror group Hamas has begun deploying against Israel advanced long-range missiles provided to the militant group by Iran, forcing the Israeli military to specifically target these weapons caches in air strikes, according to Israel’s ambassador to the United States. The Israeli Defense Forces has begun striking Hamas missile factories that are capable of producing these long-range Iranian rockets, Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer told a small crowd of leading pro-Israel officials and other insiders on Wednesday. “Hamas has a considerable arsenal, some of it has been smuggled in, [and] some of those long range rockets they’ve fired in the last...

The attack represents the longest-range rocket strike by Hamas on Israel to date. It came amid a heavy barrage of dozens of long-range rockets directed at greater Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The long-range projectile fired by Hamas in Gaza at Hadera is an M302 Syrian-produced rocket, according to initial analysis on Wednesday of the remains of the rocket fired at the city on Tuesday. The attack represents the longest-range rocket strike by Hamas on Israel to date. It came amid a heavy barrage of dozens of long-range rockets directed at greater Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as Ashdod, triggering...

Hamas firing long-range M-302 rockets at Israel, capable of 150-km distance Rockets smuggled into Gaza before Klos-C cache discovered are considered more accurate than makeshift projectiles made in the Strip; Hadera struck by M-302, dozens are estimated to exist in Gaza arsenal. By Gili Cohen | Gaza militants have several dozen long-range M-302 rockets in their arsenal and have been using them in the current round of rocket fire, Israeli officials say. One of the rockets, which the army's intelligence division says are considered more accurate than the makeshift rockets manufactured in Gaza and can be stored more easily because...

With the rise of Islamist organizations, repressive regimes, and civil conflicts which threaten regional stability, the promise of the Arab Spring of 2011 quickly devolved into an Arab winter. In an expansive article in The Economist, the threat to the Middle East is discussed in appropriately grave terms; Syria and Iraq are in flames while Jordan looms as the next domino to potentially fall. Libya and Yemen, where Islamic terror networks operate with impunity, are labeled “failed states.” Those Middle Eastern nations that are not in danger of imminent collapse are either absolute monarchies or counties which merely maintain...

Despite fiery statements issued by Hamas spokesmen over the past 48 hours, it was obvious Tuesday night that the Islamist movement was searching for ways to rid itself of the current escalation. Hamas feels that it has been forced into a confrontation with Israel – one that it did not want at this stage because of its increased isolation and financial crisis. The massive Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours have surprised Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Hamas apparently expected a limited response to the recent rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns. But...

Many of the graphic images being shared on social media are really from Syria or Iraq, finds the broadcaster. […] “A #BBCtrending investigation has found that many of these images are not from the latest conflict and not even from Gaza. Some date as far back as 2009 and others are from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.” …

Israel is known for its advanced intelligence capabilities but, according to an Iranian cleric, that is because it uses sorcery. The comments by Valiollah Naghipourfar, a cleric and professor at Tehran University, were made in a recent interview he gave to Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and were republished by the IranWire website. …

The Eurasian Politician - Issue 5 (April-September 2002) THE ROOTS OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM Antero Leitzinger (March 2002) This article intends to trace the roots of Islamic terrorism, with special focus on Afghanistan. Notes are added on practical and philosophical problems of world media in finding the right track. From systematic errors in revealing little details, to serious misconceptions about basic facts and principles, we can relatively easily learn how much of "common knowledge" rests actually on superficial research and popular myths. Instead of becoming critical and aware of the traps laid around the issue, both Islamists and Islamophobes fail to...

Originally published by the Jerusalem Post. For most Westerners, Turkey is a hard nut to crack. How can you understand a state sponsor of terrorism that is also a member of NATO? How can you explain Turkey’s facilitation of Kurdish independence in Iraq in light of Turkey’s hundred-year opposition to Kurdish independence? What is Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan trying to accomplish here? Is he nuts? On the terrorism support front, today Turkey vies with Iran for the title of leading state sponsor of terrorism. First there is Hamas. Last week an Israeli security official told the media that...

Israel is ready to meet any Jordanian request to help fight off Islamist insurgents who have overrun part of neighboring Iraq, an Israeli official said on Friday, although he believed Jordan was capable of defending itself. Asked to elaborate on the statement, Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said potential Israeli assistance could include sending troops or arms, though he saw that as unlikely. "We have an interest in ensuring that Jordan does not fall to, or be penetrated by, groups like al Qaeda or Hamas or ISIS," he told Reuters. "If, God forbid, there is a need, if such a...

The Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace process is dead, according to Martin Indyk, formerly the U.S. special Middle East envoy who resigned from his post last week. Speaking to The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in his first interview since stepping down, Indyk said that there is strong dislike between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. "There is a deep loathing of each leader for the other that has built up over the years," Indyk said in the interview, which was published Thursday. "'Loathing' may be too strong [a word] for how Netanyahu feels about Abu Mazen (Abbas -ed.),"...

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Sunni militant outfit Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), is said to have been severely injured in the raging battle forcing him to flee to neighbouring Syria. According to a report in the Iraqi news network Al Sumaria, the insurgent leader was injured during a raid led by Iraq's Shiite-led security forces in the west of Anbar. "The Iraqi security forces carried out an operation in the city of Qaim on the border with Syria based on accurate intelligence and with the help of the Air Force where the leader of...

Islamic State vs. Qaeda: Declaration of Caliphate may set off dangerous competition Desperate to retain its preeminent role, Qaeda may be driven to carry out fresh attacks on Western targets to prove it remains relevant. Middle East Online By Michel Moutot and Michael Mainville – PARIS Inevitable confrontation looms in the horizon The declaration of an Islamic caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria is a direct challenge to Al-Qaeda and could set off a dangerous contest for the leadership of the global jihadist movement, experts say. Desperate to retain its preeminent role, the movement behind September 11 may be...

(©REUTERS) CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST All six patriarchs – the Catholics, Orthodox and Syrians – hold a historic meeting, returning in spirit to Antioch, the early centre of Christianity: “Christians must stay united in trying times” giorgio bernardelli Together, united by the spirit of the Church of Antioch, where - according to the Acts of the Apostles - Jesus’ followers were called Christians for the first time. Six bishops and patriarchs who whilst representing different denominations hold the spirit of the ancient patriarchal see of Antioch alive, met at the University of Balamand in Lebanon in recent days, to...