BICOM
28th May 2021
The Telegraph report that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won the country’s presidential election with 95.1 per cent of the vote. Parliamentary speaker Hammouda Sabbagh announced the results yesterday, claiming that voter turnout was close to 79 per cent. Opposition parties called the election a farce. Meanwhile, the US and European countries said the election was not free or fair.
The Independent reports that al-Assad cast his ballot in the town of Douma, a former rebel stronghold that was the site of a chemical weapons attack in 2018.
Ido Vock writes for
The New Statesman about how Syria’s presidential election is “a sham exercise in a ruined country” noting that “democratic politics is meaningless in the roughly two-thirds of Syria governed by Assad’s regime”.
Israel must rethink its Gaza policy
Analysis: A new strategy must not be based on eroding deterrence or lax mechanism allowing materials for civilian reconstruction to flow to terror groups to rebuild their military might, for the next war might spread to other fronts
Michael Herzog |
Published: 05.28.21 , 14:07
Now that the fighting between Israel and the Hamas terror group has subsided, the time has come for Israel to carefully examine the wisdom of its strategy on the Gaza Strip.
Given that it is unrealistic to believe that the Palestinian Authority will take control of the Gaza Strip, and assuming Israel continues its policy of containment based on military deterrence, the challenge will be to boost the prospects of lasting stability on the border.
Thursday, 27 May, 2021 - 10:15 Destruction in the Gaza Strip as a result of the recent Israeli air strikes. (AFP) Ramallah - Kifah Zboun
Palestinian Hamas Movement said its Chief Ismail Haniyeh will visit Cairo to hold talks over a lasting ceasefire and rebuilding Gaza.
Hamas has set several conditions to maintain ceasefire, said its spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanou, including halting aggression in Jerusalem, ending the displacement of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and preventing all what could re-incite violence.
He also affirmed that the movement is ready to accept all the offers to reconstruct the enclave as soon as possible.
Another Hamas spokesman, Hamza Qassem, said the scheduled visit comes in line with Cairo’s efforts to curb the Israeli aggression against Palestinians and follow up the reconstruction process.
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May. 27, 2021 6:04 PM
With scarcely a week since a cease-fire was secured in the military confrontation between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military is poised for a possible resumption of the fighting in the near future, with top military officials believing that Hamas could yet reengage.
In contrast to assertions by Israel’s political leadership about the successful deterrence of Hamas, senior IDF brass have said in closed-door meetings that it is not yet possible to gauge the extent to which Hamas has been staved off, and how the damage in Gaza will affect a decision by Hamas on whether to embark on another round of fighting in the near future.