Islamic State, and Russia, Arrive at Israel’s Borders

On Thursday morning, Israel destroyed an Islamic State (IS) cell on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. While IS is on the run in much of Syria, in the past year its presence has been expanding in the Golan and the adjacent area as fighters fleeing other parts of the country regroup there. The cell destroyed by Israel seemed to be preparing an attack. Yoav Limor comments on the volatile situation:

Tensions on the Golan border will likely persist for some time, until the situation on the ground is stabilized. During this time, there are enough elements active in the area who can exploit the situation to cause mayhem. It’s doubtful the Iranians or Hizballah will be the immediate agents of this mayhem, as they work according to an organized plan of action and longer-term goals. The danger could come from IS refugees looking to channel their jihad anywhere they can or to go out in a final blaze of glory; or other rebel groups who, after working with Israel in the past, will seek to exculpate themselves [in the eyes of their countrymen] by attacking it.

The IDF is aware of these dangers, and therefore won’t reduce its forces on the Golan for the foreseeable future, despite the end of the Syrian civil war. . . . The IDF will revisit this deployment down the line, but its operational plan for 2019 is to change nothing.

Russia will play a central role in molding this post-war reality. It could send a military-police force to the area and deploy it along the border. From Israel’s perspective, this would be both beneficial and detrimental. On the one it would provide an address for Israel to turn to [with complaints about violations of the 1974 armistice with Syria]; on the other hand, there is reason to be concerned that the Russians (much like the UN force in Lebanon) will not only fail to lift a finger against potential threats but will impede Israel’s ability to thwart them.

As for IS, its impending expulsion from Syria does not portend its ultimate demise. Beyond the Sinai Peninsula, which is flooded with fighters who continue hounding Egyptian security forces, other branches—from Africa to the Far East—ensure that the fundamental ideology serving as the bedrock for the organization that has tormented the world since 2014 is still alive and kicking.

Read more at Israel Hayom

More about: Golan Heights, ISIS, Israel & Zionism, Israeli Security, Russia, Syrian civil war

The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians Is No Solution. Neither Are Any of the Usual Plans for Gaza

Examining the Trump administration’s proposals for the people of Gaza, Danielle Pletka writes:

I do not believe that the forced cleansing of Gaza—a repetition of what every Arab country did to the hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews in 1948— is a “solution.” I don’t think Donald Trump views that as a permanent solution either (read his statement), though I could be wrong. My take is that he believes Gaza must be rebuilt under new management, with only those who wish to live there resettling the land.

The time has long since come for us to recognize that the establishment doesn’t have the faintest clue what to do about Gaza. Egypt doesn’t want it. Jordan doesn’t want it. Iran wants it, but only as cannon fodder. The UN wants it, but only to further its anti-Semitic agenda and continue milking cash from the West. Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians blame Palestinians for destroying their countries.

Negotiations with Hamas have not worked. Efforts to subsume Gaza under the Palestinian Authority have not worked. Rebuilding has not worked. Destruction will not work. A “two-state solution” has not arrived, and will not work.

So what’s to be done? If you live in Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Berlin, your view is that the same answers should definitely be tried again, but this time we mean it. This time will be different. . . . What could possibly make you believe this other than ideological laziness?

Read more at What the Hell Is Going On?

More about: Donald Trump, Gaza Strip, Palestinians