Egypt on Saturday mourned 305 worshipers killed in a gun and bomb assault on a mosque in the Sinai Peninsula, where warplanes struck militant hideouts in retaliation for the country’s deadliest terror attack in recent memory.
Special prayers were planned nationwide a day after gunmen detonated a bomb and mowed down worshipers fleeing the Rawda mosque in North Sinai, where security forces are battling Islamic State group (IS) jihadists.
The death toll rose from 235 to 305 overnight Friday-Saturday, the state prosecution said. Among them were 27 children, it said in a statement reported by state television.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi declared three days of mourning and vowed to “respond with brutal force” to the terror attack, among the deadliest in the world since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
One of Iran's top military commanders has said the Islamic Republic will intervene in any future conflict between Israel and its paramilitary ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
Mohammed Ali Jafri, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said it was clear Lebanon was Israel’s primary focus and as such Iran and its network of proxy forces would unite to intervene against an attack.
"It is a proven claim that today we say any new war will lead to the eradication of the Zionist regime," Jafri said, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars.
Jafri’s comments were made against a backdrop of increasing tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the rival nation’s proxy wars across the Middle East but particularly over internal strains in Lebanon.
A meeting of the Arab League in Cairo called by Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned the powerful Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Iran, accusing both of supporting terrorism and extremist groups with advanced weapons and ballistic missiles.
In response the Lebanese president Michel Auon defended Hezbollah, saying his country was subject to Israeli aggression and, as such, had the right to protect itself.
- Although the full details of the proposed plan have yet to be made public, the Palestinians have already made up their mind: Whatever comes from Trump and his Jewish team is against the interests of the Palestinians.
- The Palestinians' rhetorical attacks on the Trump administration are designed to prepare the ground for their rejection of the proposed "ultimate solution."
- Take careful note: these warning shots may well be translated into yet another intifada against Israel under the fabricated pretext that the Americans and Israelis, with the help of some Arab countries, seek to strip the Palestinians of their rights. One wonders when the world will wake up to the fact that those rights have already been stripped from the Palestinians -- by none other than their own brainwashing, inciting and corrupt leaders.
The Palestinians are now denouncing Trump and his people for their "bias" in favor of Israel. Even more, the Palestinians are openly accusing the Trump administration of "blackmail" and of seeking to "liquidate the Palestinian cause." To top off the tone, the Palestinians are insinuating that Trump's top Jewish advisors and envoys -- Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman -- are more loyal to Israel than to the US.
The Palestinians' unprecedented rhetorical attacks on the Trump administration should be seen as a sign of how they plan to respond to the US president's plan for peace in the Middle East, which has been described as the "ultimate solution." Although the full details of the proposed plan have yet to be made public, the Palestinians have already made up their mind: Whatever comes from Trump and his Jewish team is against the interests of the Palestinians.
The Palestinian tone makes it clear that the Palestinian leadership and people have already relegated Trump's peace plan to the trash-bin as nothing more than Israeli-American conspiracy, in collusion with some Arab countries, to impose a solution on the Palestinians and "liquidate" their cause.
To them, the "real" Trump is now apparent. This is how one Palestinian political analyst, Dr. Mazen Safi, reacted to Trump's proposed peace plan and what he perceives as continued US support for Israel. "The US president and his administration have removed the mask from their face," he stated. "They are paving the way for a new Israeli aggression on our people and moving the region toward an explosion."
So what is really behind the Palestinian outrage with the Trump administration?
First, the Palestinians reject the idea of "regional peace" between Israel and Arab countries. The Palestinians maintain that peace between Israel and the Arab countries should come only after, and not before, the Palestinian issue is resolved. The Palestinians fear that any peace agreements between Israel and the Arab countries would come at their expense.
Second, the Palestinians are furious with US threats to shut down the PLO's diplomatic mission in Washington. They see the threat as an attempt to blackmail them not file charges of war crimes against Israel with the International Criminal Court. The Palestinians also see the threat as an attempt to force them to resume peace talks with Israel unconditionally.
"The US threat to close the PLO's diplomatic mission in Washington shows disrespect for the Palestinian rights and blind bias in favor of Israel," Al-Quds said in the same editorial. "It also coincides with growing hollow talk about a US peace plan that has been endorsed by President Trump."
Third, the Palestinians are now openly talking about Trump's Jewish advisors and envoys and their "influence" on him and his administration's policies. This is something that Palestinian Authority officials had refrained from mentioning in the past year because it rings of out-and-out anti-Semitism. Now, however, Palestinian officials and political analysts do not seem to have a problem talking about the influence of the "Jewish lobby" on Trump's decision-making process and policies.
The Palestinians are also preparing the stage to accuse some Arab countries of "collusion" with this "conspiracy" -- putting them on a collision course with Saudi Arabia.
The Palestinian message to the Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, should be seen as a warning shot: Collaborate with the Trump administration in the alleged scheme at your peril.
The anti-Trump Palestinian stance is sounding the death-knell for US administration's effort to achieve comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Take careful note: these warning shots may well be translated into yet another intifada against Israel under the fabricated pretext that the Americans and Israelis, with the help of some Arab countries, seek to strip the Palestinians of their rights. One wonders when the world will wake up to the fact that those rights have already been stripped from the Palestinians -- by none other than their own brainwashing, inciting and corrupt leaders.
No comments:
Post a Comment