Excerpts: Iran,Hizbullah training Houthis. 70 countries advise Trump on
Israel-Palestinian solution. Iran's Cyber Army. Gaza electric power from
Hamas severe shortages January 15, 2017
+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 15 Jan.’17:”Houthi commander admits:Iran training
us”,Staff Writer
SUBJECT:Iran,Hizbullah training Houthis
FULL TEXT:A Houthi militia leader has confessed that both Iran and Hezbollah
have been heavily involved in training their fighters.
Abu Mohammed, who was in charge of rocket attacks in the al-Nihm district in
Yemen, made the confession after surrendering.
He said that there were Iranian experts and Lebanese from Hezbollah militias
currently in Saada helping run secret training facilities.
The confession comes a month after a report by independent research group
Conflict Armament Research (CAR) suggested that there is an arms “pipeline”
that extends from Iran and Yemen.
Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) last year admitted that missiles
made in Tehran were recently used in Yemen by Houthi militias in cross
border attacks against Saudi Arabia.
The Zelzal-3 rockets are Iranian-made solid propellant missiles that has
been known to be used by Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah forces.
+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 15 Jan.’17:”World powers to reinforce Mideast
two-state solution:, by John Irish and Lesley WroughtonReuters
SUBJECT: 70 countries advise Trump on Israel-Palestinian solution
QUOTES:”Major powers will send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump
on Sunday 15 Jan that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians
is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the U.S. Embassy to
Jerusalem could derail peace efforts”, “Neither the Israelis nor the
Palestinians will be represented”.
FULL TEXT:Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well
as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are due in Paris for a
meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as
"futile" and "rigged". Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be
represented.
But, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a
platform for countries to send a strong signal to the future American
leader.
Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US
Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but
enshrining the city as Israel's capital despite international objections.
"It would be a unilateral decision that could escalate tensions on the
ground," a senior French diplomat said.
"Five days before he becomes president, it's not negligible that 70
countries recall (the need for) a two-state solution when his administration
could implement controversial measures that may aggravate things."
France has said the meeting does not intend to impose anything on Israel or
the Palestinians and that, ultimately, only direct negotiations between the
two can resolve the conflict.
A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international
resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state
solution and disavow officials who reject it, and asks the protagonists to
"refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status
negotiations".
Low point
Diplomats said there could also be an allusion to Trump's plans.
Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President
Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when
Washington declined to veto a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli
settlements in occupied territory.
Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement program
threatened Middle East peace, and that the two-state was in "serious
jeopardy".
Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had
written to Trump warning that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace
process and strip the United States of its role as honest broker - and could
lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel.
Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to
breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes
that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will
handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather
than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.
But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain
appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the
issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for
both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear
unlikely.
Arab states have their own concerns about how Trump's relationship with them
will turn out, and have taken a cautious line.
"All this is premature. We need to give the new US administration time to
assess what they want to do," said a Middle Eastern diplomat based in Paris.
+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 15 Jan.’17:”Secret details emerge on Iran’sCyber
Army”,by Saleh Hamid
SUBJECT: Iran’s Cyber Army
QUOTE: “ Iran’s cyber army has hacked Saudi banks, caused a 12-hour power
cut in Turkey and attacked a number of Israeli institutions and satellites
over the years. (Shutterstock)”
FULL TEXT:A report by Al Arabiya has revealed the secrets of the Iranian
electronic army and its intelligence and cyber activities against states and
institutions.It also examines the details behind the murder of Mohammad
Hussein Tajik, its former commander.
Tajik was sacked from his post, detained and tortured over accusations of
spying and leaking information to the opposition Green Movement inside Iran,
according to sources confirmed by Al Arabiya.One of those sources is
journalist and reformist activist Roohollah Zam. According to him, Tajik was
one of his most important sourcesZam is close to the Green Movement and
currently resides in France.
Iran’s Ed Snowden?During an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya, Zam said he
did not believe the leaking of information was the main reason behind the
murder, adding that if Tajik had left Iran and decided to work against the
regime, he would have become “Iran’s Snowden”.
Mohammad Hussein Tajik with his younger brother before his arrest and
subsequent death. (Supplied)But Iran’s security apparatus would have never
allowed someone with as much insider information as Tajik to ever leave the
country, according to Zam.
Tajik had said on multiple occasions that that he did not intend to leave
Iran before his trial was over.
Inner workings of Iran’s cyber attacks:Zam said that the Khaybar center for
information technology was established in 2011, adding that its units
carried out several operations against the United States such as attacking a
dam, a number of banks and power stations.He noted that as a result of those
activities, four Iranian hackers were sanctioned.
Mohammad Hussein Tajik was a close confidant of Roohollah Zam while he
lived
The Khaybar center also hacked Saudi banks, the Saudi kingdom’s statistics
center, caused a 12-hour power cut in Turkey and attacked a number of
Israeli institutions and satellites, Zam said.
Tajik’s father, also named Mohammed and known by his nickname Hajj Vali, is
one of the old members of the Iranian intelligence ministry, Zam said,
adding that he was one of the first to take over the Savak in 1979 following
the revolution.
During the 1980s, Hajj Vali and some of his comrades traveled to an Arab
country and built a secret network that works for the Iranian intelligence,
Zam added.That network included three extremist figures who graduated from
universities in Cairo and Pakistan.
Zam also said that if Tajik had not been close to him, his murder would have
remained a secret, adding that Tagyk’s father even detained and tortured his
ex-wife – Tagyk’s mother - and broke her neck because she spoke about her
son’s murder.
+++Jordan Times 15 Jan.’17:”Cold and angry, Gazans challenge Hamas over
electricity”,Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Gaza electric power from Hamas severe shortages
FULL TEXT:Gaza City, Palestine — Crippling shortages of electricity in Gaza
and reports of children dying of cold have stoked anger in the Palestinian
enclave where there are daily protests against its Hamas leaders.
The main Palestinian factions are blaming each another and Israel for the
crisis, which has left the territory with just four hours a day of power at
best.
In one of the largest demonstrations yet, thousands of protesters in
northern Gaza on Thursday/12 Jan] walked to the local headquarters of the
electricity company run by Hamas.
Security forces dispersed the protesters violently, with shots fired in the
air and a number of journalists beaten up.
A prominent comedian was also detained on Wednesday[11 Jan] after he posted
on social media a call for Hamas to give up power.
UN envoy for the Middle East peace process Nickola Adenoviral has expressed
concern about the “tense situation” in the Gaza Strip and urged calm.
“We are witnessing a lot of anger and resentment at the power outages on the
Gazan streets,” said Amjad Al Shawwa, the director of Palestinian civil
organisations.
Gazans normally receive power in alternating eight-hour cycles, with those
able to afford it using private fuel generators for the down times.
But for the past two weeks, they have received a maximum of four hours a day
from the state energy supply.
Ahmad Al Soarka believes the shortage caused the death of his 12-day-old
son.
“My son died from frost and the extreme cold, according to what they told us
in the hospital,” Soarka said.
The family’s home was destroyed in the 2014 Israeli aggression against Gaza
and so they have lived in a caravan for the past two years.
“Right now it is like a freezer,” the young father told AFP.
The health ministry has not confirmed the cause of death as yet, but the
baby’s grandfather Salama, 49, said he had no doubt.
“If we had electricity, we could protect ourselves and the children from the
cold,” he said. “The young can’t tolerate it.”
More than two thirds of Gazans depend on aid, according to the United
Nations, which has also estimated the enclave could become unliveable by
2020 if current trends continue.
No solution in sight
The 2 million residents of Gaza require around 450-500 megawatts of power
per day but are receiving less than half of that. With cold winters, demand
has spiked — leading to the shortages.
Maher Al Tabaa, an economic expert, said the crippling electricity shortages
“affect all economic activities and have led to the suspension of a number
of factories and economic construction”.
“The economy cannot manage only on electricity generators,” said Tabaa.
Sadly for Gazans, there is no immediate solution to the crisis.
Israel has maintained a blockade of the enclave for the past 10 years,
limiting the entry of goods and crippling the economy.
In 2015, Gaza’s sole power plant, which was badly damaged in a 2006 Israeli
attack, was shut down for several weeks over unpaid taxes.
Part of the reason energy authorities have so little funding is unpaid
bills.
Nearly 70 per cent of households do not pay their electricity bills, either
because of poverty or due to lack of collection, the UN estimates.
Fathi Sheikh Khalil, from Gaza’s electricity company, told AFP “what is
available is distributed”, pointing to a shortage of funds.
Khalil Al Hayya, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the party was
willing to “hand over the electricity file” if a solution could be found,
while the PA government in the West Bank city of Ramallah says it pays
millions of dollars annually for Gazan electricity.
================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
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