Islam and antisemitism

Our world is changing rapidly and becoming more unpredictable. This historical evolution is due to at least three factors. First, the post-Cold War order is in retreat, as the West is losing its primacy in the economic, diplomatic and technological fields.

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken was set to meet Israeli leaders Tuesday as part of efforts to contain the war in Gaza, a day after strikes in Syria and Lebanon killed high-profile members of Hamas and its ally Hezbollah.

The war in Gaza will last at least a year. This was stated by Major General Amos Yadlin, former head of the Israeli Air Force who is close to senior active commanders.

He compared the operation in the Palestinian enclave to the international military campaign against Islamic State in 2017, which lasted nine months. But the situation in Gaza is much more challenging, Yadlin stressed.

The international community must impose a solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict as the warring sides are unable to come to terms, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.

After the death of Hamas deputy chief Salah al-Arouri in an alleged Israeli strike, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel against waging war on Lebanon and said that the killing "will not go unanswered and unpunished," The Times of Israel reported.

Robert Kaplan, the distinguished international relations expert, outlines, in an interview to Kathimerini, the geopolitical developments that will dominate the new year.

The Israeli army has confirmed that thousands of troops will be withdrawn from the Gaza Strip. In preparation for an anticipated lower-intensity phase of the war, which began on October 7 against the Islamist movement Hamas, however, the Israel Defense Forces said they expected the fighting to last at least six months or even all of 2024.

He added that, according to the testimony of Gaza residents, Israel has withdrawn tanks from some parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
However, in other places, fighting is raging alongside intense Israeli airstrikes, reports Reuters.

Israel attacked the headquarters of Hamas in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, said the spokesman of the Israeli Defense Forces, Daniel Hagari.

"During a ground operation in Khan Younis, the Israel Defense Forces attacked Hamas headquarters in the center of the city, including the Palestinian movement's intelligence command center," Hagari said.

Israel again pounded Gaza with air strikes and shelling on Wednesday after its armed forces chief warned the war raging with Hamas since the October 7 attacks will last "many more months".

Explosion lit up the night sky over the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis — a focus of heavy urban combat since the Israeli army said it had largely gained operational control over Gaza's north.