Nine years after the Jordanian government broke off its ties with Hamas, the independent Jordanian AmmonNews agency reported on Sunday that the evolving regional situation, and the kingdom's desire to ease tensions with the Muslim Brotherhood , are pushing the Hashemite regime to normalize relations with the Palestinian group. However, the article states that this […]
Hezbollah's media relations department stated today that the group would release a MOU with salafist groups this coming Monday at the Safir hotel in Beirut. Note that the most of the various salafist entities in Lebanon are not tied to jihadist terrorism (see here). This move by Hezbollah will likely be cause for concern within […]
Last week, the Saudi reformist daily Al-Watan featured an article criticizing Iran's recent threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as 'suicide’. The threat was reportedly voiced by Muhammad Ali Jaafari, the head of Iran's Republican Guard Corps (RGC), after the US warned Iran to respond in a positive manner to an ultimatum […]
The past few days have seen a number of press reports, issued by both Arab and Israeli media outlets, commenting on Hezbollah's military buildup and Israel's corresponding concern. While the replenishment and expansion of Hezbollah's artillery rocket arsenal has repeatedly been cited since the end of the 2006 conflict, perhaps the most important recent development […]
The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center (PIC) today featured a report and photos detailing weapons allegedly confiscated by Hamas-allied police in Gaza. The weapons, displayed during a press conference, were allegedly confiscated by police as part of security measures initiated last weekend. According to the PIC report, a police explosives expert stated that some of the […]
Al-Jazeera's website featured some video coverage of Hamas's security crackdown that followed a deadly car bombing in the Gaza Strip this past weekend. It can be viewed here: (link) Subsequently, this has been met with raids by Fatah-allied Palestinian police against Hamas elements in the West Bank. While Hamas-allied police forces in Gaza state that […]
Today's bulldozer attack in Jerusalem is the second of its kind in the West Bank this month. After the previous July 2nd attack, I wrote a post suggesting that this could be part of an emerging trend in the area, whereby groups/individuals may be employing low-tech and non-traditional forms of terrorism to counter the security […]
The program “What's Next?” on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV recently featured the first interview (accessible here) with the recently released Samir Quntar. In the interview, Quntar symbolically wears a Hezbollah-styled uniform with a Lebanese flag arm patch. He speaks about the kidnapping operation he took part in, as well as the military achievements of Hezbollah's resistance. […]
In something that resembled more of a rock concert than your traditional Hezbollah rally, the party's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah made a rare in-person appearance on stage this evening at a ceremony celebrating the return of Hezbollah's prisoners exchanged for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Nasrallah has typically appeared live to his audience televised […]
Al-Jazeera.net is conducting an interesting survey. In light of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates’ recent decision to name ambassadors to Iraq, the network's website is asking for feedback from its viewers on the issue. While sending ambassadors to a fellow Arab nation may not seem controversial at first, the questions being asked in the […]
I came across a video produced by Al-Qaeda in Iraq's al-Furqan media group this weekend. It was posted earlier this week in a jihadist internet forum, but is now also available on YouTube. The video is the third part of a series entitled, “The Knights of Martyrdom”. While I haven't seen part 2, I have […]
A report in yesterday's As-Safir covered a recent press conference given by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. According to the pro-opposition Lebanese daily, al-Assad voiced that the US's role in any future peace deal with Israel is essential, and is one that cannot be matched by any European country. He stated that this is […]
Sorry it's been a few days since my last blog entry. I’ve been busy travelling, and have also had some serious computer issues to deal with. Anyways, I came across an interesting report featured on the Dutch-funded Menasset.com. It covers a conference recently held between journalists from both Hamas and Fatah factions addressing media issues that have […]
In response to a proposed US Congressional resolution to label the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV a terrorist entity, the head of the channel's administrative council said on Thursday that the resolution goes against international regulations and conditions for media freedom, insisting that the channel plays an important role in informing the Arab/Islamic Ummah on the Palestinian […]
Is today's bulldozer attack in Jerusalem indicative of a developing trend in terrorist tactics in the West Bank? Similar to the March shooting that killed eight Israelis at a religious school in Jerusalem, various Palestinian groups took credit for today's attack that involved a Palestinian man running a Caterpillar front loader into traffic and pedestrians. […]