February, 2024

• 15 February

  Albanians Aren’t Indebted To Italy For Its 1990s ‘Welcome’ – OpEd

  

  Edi Rama’s justification for the migrant deal with Rome – that Albanians owe Italy a historic ‘debt’ to Italy – is based on a misreading of history. The protocols signed by Albanian PM Edi Rama and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni last November by which the government in Tirana will allow Italy …

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• 15 February

  Egypt is Gaza’s most fickle friend The President hates Hamas, but his people despise Israel

  

  A few years ago, while reporting in Gaza, I paid a visit to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Mohammed, my fixer, wasn’t keen. The guards there, he explained, were unfriendly. Sometimes they’d fire in the air if people approached; other times they’d shoot to kill. Beatings or at least …

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• 15 February

  There Is No Place for the Palestinians of Gaza to Go

  

  On February 9, 2024, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his army would advance into Rafah, the last remaining city in Gaza not occupied by the Israelis. Most of the 2.3 million Palestinians who live in Gaza had fled to its southern border with Egypt after being told by …

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• 15 February

  US gives Israel blank check to massacre civilians in Rafah

  

  In multiple statements over the past 24 hours, US officials have made clear that they will take no action against Israel no matter how many civilians it massacres in its planned assault on Rafah, where one million displaced people are sheltering. These statements effectively give Israel a blank check to …

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• 15 February

  Syria Today – Hezbollah Training Russian Drone Operators in Homs; Cross Border Aid Extended Three Months

  

  Ukraine says Russian troops are being trained on the use of Iranian drones at the Shayrat airfield in Syria’s western province of Homs. At the same time, Syria has extended permission for the United Nations to deliver aid to opposition-held areas in the northwest of the country via two Turkish …

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• 15 February

  Syria Today – ISIS Attack; SDF Clashes with Arab Tribes

  

  Militants from the Islamic State group attacked military barracks in central Syria, while Deir-ez-Zor witnessed clashes between Kurdish forces and arab tribes. Missile attacks on US base in Syria Iranian-backed groups launched missile attacks on a US base on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Syria, MEMO reported. …

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• 15 February

  Syria Today – US Base Under Attack; Organizations Call for More Aid; Russia Recruiting Mercenaries

  

  Explosions have been reported near a US army base in Syria following an attack linked to retaliatory US airstrikes against Iranian-aligned groups and their positions. Meanwhile, the United Nations and human rights organizations have called for increased aid for Syria, one year after a devastating earthquake struck Turkey and the …

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• 15 February

  Russia’s Dangerous New Friends

  

  How Moscow Is Partnering With the Axis of Resistance Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Russia has forged deep ties with Iran. Moscow—which joined a sanctions regime against Tehran in the 2010s in an effort to restrict its nuclear program—has begun diplomatically shielding the Islamic Republic and boosting its investment in …

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• 15 February

  Why America Can’t Have It All

  

  Washington Must Choose Between Primacy and Prioritizing The Biden administration took office intending to inject strategic focus into U.S. foreign policy. The president and his team promised to end the United States’ forever wars and make the country’s international engagements serve the needs of a disaffected public. In its first …

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• 15 February

  Shell quits Iraqi petrochemicals plant talks

  Oil major Shell (SHEL.L), has withdrawn from talks on building a petrochemicals plant in the southern oil hub of Basra, Iraq’s oil ministry said on Tuesday. Shell in a separate statement confirmed, it was leaving the project.A statement from Iraq’s oil ministry said Shell would not continue discussions with the …

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