CrossFireArarbia

Netanyahu’s Middle East Vision

CrossFireArabia
December 15, 2025

By the end of December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, marking his fourth visit in less than a year since Trump assumed office. Unlike previous visits, this one comes after President Trump imposed his vision for ending the war in Gaza and outlined his broader concept of regional peace—giving the visit a distinctly political dimension.

At the core of the discussions will be the transition to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the appointment of an American general and a monitoring center, and the mechanism for administering Gaza ahead of the arrival of an international peace force. The visit is also expected to address Israel’s relations with its regional surroundings, particularly Egypt. Reports suggest the possibility of a simultaneous visit by the Egyptian president to Washington, reflecting a clear American desire to initiate direct engagement and promote the concept of “economic peace,” along with major regional projects that Trump views as the backbone of future relations, especially in the energy and gas sectors.

Yet even as President Trump speaks of a regional peace vision, the days preceding the visit remain open to further escalation. Indicators point toward a qualitative Israeli escalation across four fronts: Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. These fronts have been deliberately kept open, transformed into continuous theaters of operation where Israel calibrates the level of military activity according to its security assessments.

Lebanon remains the most prominent arena of this escalation. Ongoing discussions about Hezbollah’s efforts to rebuild its capabilities coincide with Israel’s continued direct targeting of the group’s positions and operatives. This comes amid growing American pressure on the Lebanese government and army to take concrete steps toward disarming Hezbollah.

While the group is fully aware of its inability to engage in a comprehensive regional war, and the need to avoid providing direct justifications for escalation, it nevertheless finds itself compelled to use the weapons issue domestically to reshape internal power balances. At the same time, Hezbollah seeks to secure the future framework of its relationship with Syria, particularly if the Syrian-Lebanese border shifts from being merely a site of interdiction to a direct target zone.

This reality severely constrains Hizbollah’s response options while granting Israel continued latitude to strike the group’s infrastructure, capitalising on the absence of a decisive resolution to the weapons issue and on Lebanon’s institutional confusion over how to address it, whether through phased timelines or alternative formulas such as placing weapons under army control. From Israel’s perspective, this ambiguity justifies continued targeting until a decisive moment is reached.

Within this context, Israel’s strategy of imposing a new reality across its border fronts aligns closely with the transition to the second phase of President Trump’s plan. This approach corresponds with Israel’s efforts over the past two years to redraw geographical and security realities in Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, and even the West Bank. While the Trump administration opposed a formal declaration of annexation in the West Bank, it did not object in practice to Israel’s on-the-ground measures, allowing these changes to solidify as irreversible facts.

Security measures taken today may therefore establish realities that will be difficult to reverse in the future. From Washington’s perspective, redrawing borders may be seen as laying the groundwork for what it terms “regional peace,” treating the new border realities as spaces for potential economic or developmental investment.

Netanyahu’s visit to the White House thus represents a pivotal moment. He will seek to position himself as a central actor in the next phase, consolidate new realities along Israel’s immediate borders, and secure U.S. backing in addressing non-adjacent fronts, most notably Iraq, and above all Iran.

Iran is left to grapple with an increasingly severe internal reality marked by mounting economic, social, service-related, and security challenges, and is simultaneously categorized as part of the camp of “obstructors of regional peace” in Trump’s framework, opening the door to intensified pressure and varied forms of targeting in the period ahead.

Dr Amer Al Sabaileh, a professor in the University of Jordan contributed this analysis to the Jordan Times.

News

Gaza Storm Sweeps Away 27,000 Human Tents

CrossFireArabia
December 14, 2025

The storm “Byron,” which swept across Gaza in recent days, has revealed the full scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Strip. The extreme weather compounded the suffering of civilians already living under siege and enduring ongoing Israeli attacks.

Civil defense teams reported 11 deaths and are still searching for one missing person. Several buildings previously damaged by Israeli strikes collapsed under the force of the storm, and at least 13 homes were completely destroyed across the territory. The disaster also devastated the shelters of displaced families, according to a statement by the Government Media Office. Over 27,000 tents were either washed away or severely damaged, bringing the total number of partially or completely affected tents to more than 53,000. More than a quarter of a million displaced people faced immediate impacts, out of roughly 1.5 million individuals living in makeshift shelters that offer minimal protection.

Initial estimates put direct economic losses at approximately $4 million, affecting multiple sectors, according to the office. Thousands of tents, blankets, mattresses, cooking tools, and temporary shelters were destroyed as displacement centers turned into mud-filled pools. Infrastructure suffered heavily as hundreds of dirt roads and temporary streets were washed away, blocking ambulances and emergency vehicles. Schools and temporary education centers used as shelters were flooded, damaging equipment and disrupting essential services.

The storm also caused severe disruption to water and sanitation systems. Temporary water lines failed, contaminating clean water with rain and mud, while emergency sewage pits collapsed, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. Food and emergency supplies were similarly affected, with stored provisions for thousands of families spoiled and newly distributed aid damaged. Low-lying farmland flooded, seasonal crops were lost, and dozens of small greenhouses were destroyed, cutting off a vital source of income for displaced families. Health services were disrupted as mobile medical points in shelters were damaged, medicines and first aid supplies were lost, and medical teams faced difficulties reaching affected areas. Energy and lighting infrastructure, including batteries, alternative lighting sources, and small solar panels, were also destroyed or washed away.

Authorities highlighted that the storm’s impact cannot be separated from Israeli policies that block the entry of 300,000 tents, mobile homes, and caravans. These restrictions prevent the creation of safe shelters and delay the delivery of emergency aid, constituting a violation of international humanitarian law. Civilians, particularly women, children, and the elderly, remain exposed to life-threatening conditions.

The government holds Israel fully responsible for the humanitarian disaster and stresses that over 1.5 million displaced Palestinians continue to live in exposed shelters after losing their homes during the ongoing Israeli genocide. Officials are calling on the international community, the United Nations, humanitarian organizations, and donor countries to act immediately. They demand that crossings be opened, emergency shelters, tents, mobile homes, and caravans be delivered, and real protection be provided for displaced populations. Immediate intervention is essential to prevent further collapses and flooding during future storms.

News

268 Times: Israel Uses Ceasefire to Violate it!

CrossFireArabia
December 14, 2025

Orouba Center for Research and Strategic Thinking released its weekly report on Israeli violations in Gaza. The report covers December 6–12, 2025, and highlights the continuation of large-scale, systematic attacks despite the ceasefire entering its ninth week.

During this period, the center documented 268 violations. The attacks killed 18 Palestinians, including women and children, and injured 56 others. The figures indicate Gaza remains under daily aggression, even as tensions were slightly lower than in previous weeks.

Data revealed a consistent pattern of repeated assaults. These included artillery shelling, airstrikes, direct gunfire, ground incursions, and large-scale demolition of residential buildings. Most violations targeted eastern and northern Gaza.

Gaza City, Khan Younis, and northern Gaza suffered the heaviest toll in terms of deaths, injuries, bombardment, and demolitions.

The report’s ninth-week figures show:

18 killed, including women and children
56 injured
10 ground incursions
43 artillery attacks
24 demolition operations on civilian buildings
41 direct targeting incidents
76 shooting incidents
268 total violations

The center said the daily average reached about 38 violations, showing that Trump’s ceasefire has not translated into a meaningful reduction in Israeli military activity.

Airstrikes and shelling hit residential neighborhoods in Gaza City, Khan Younis, Rafah, and Deir al-Balah, causing deaths, injuries, and widespread destruction. Israeli forces advanced in eastern Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and Jabalia, bulldozing homes, vandalizing property, and setting up earth mounds. Displaced families inside shelter schools faced continued siege according to the Quds News Network.

Demolition operations included the destruction of entire residential blocks and the use of booby-trapped armored vehicles in urban areas. These attacks forced further displacement and targeted civilian homes and tents of displaced families. Jabalia, Bani Suheila, and Mawasi in Rafah experienced the highest impact.

The humanitarian situation worsened after a recent winter storm. Hundreds of tents flooded, and several homes partially or fully collapsed. Israeli restrictions blocked the entry of relief and humanitarian aid, increasing the vulnerability of displaced families. Children faced the highest risk.

The report also noted ongoing injuries and deaths from unexploded Israeli ordnance scattered across residential and displacement areas.

Orouba Center concluded that the ninth week of the ceasefire shows Israel does not treat the agreement as a political or humanitarian commitment. Instead, it uses it to manage gradual aggression, maintain field pressure, and block any real path toward recovery or stability. Civilians remain under constant threat according to the Quds News Network.

Features

Exiled: Bashar Al Assad Wiles His Time in a Moscow Flat

CrossFireArabia
December 14, 2025

Bashar Al Assad sometimes walks the streets of Moscow incognito. This was a prerequisite set by the Kremlin for his stay in Russia.

The Syrian president, who was forced into exile, exactly one year ago on 8 December, 2024, lives in one of Moscow’s top palatial flats in the capital’s business district with his wife and three children with 24-hour body guards who have been assigned to the family for their protection.

Since his stay Moscow, the message has been thrust forward that Moscow takes care of its friends even when they have fallen from grace and/or down in the dumps. Bashar Al Assad, and his father before and who held power since 1970 were always the strongest of allies and Damascus was always seen as Russia’s strategic gateway to the Middle East.

Friendship however doesn’t mean the end of political opportunism and interest. Whilst Assad is allowed to stay in Moscow under the rubric of humanitarian grounds, his asylum follows strict rules: he is not allowed to engage in any political activity nor is he allowed to talk to the press or the media.

He is no longer treated as presidential but a private person. Russian president Vladimir Putin had never met him since he arrived in Moscow nor is he planning to despite claiming otherwise. All Putin would say is he is planning to meet the ex-president ‘sometime’ in the future. Add insult to injury is the fact that Assad has been assigned a lowly figure in the Russian Foreign Ministry as a means of coordination whenever it’s necessary.

But this has long proved a sign of frustration. Today, Assad is alone despite his staff that either travelled with him when he was hastily bungled up last year on a military jet from a Russian airbase near Latakia last year or joined him latter in his residence to start his exile.

With little to do, he spends his days playing video games or going downstairs to the mall in his plush complex to wile his time away, doing it day after day after day. The strong man of Syria, at the top of the helm for the 24 years with ministers, officials, politicians and Ba’ath Party – for theoretically it was this pan-Arab institution that ruled Syria since the late 1960s – is no more.

In Moscow he is a guest with his brother, Maher Al Assad, a former strong man and previous head of the Republican Guard who is staying at the capital’s Four Seasons Hotel. Today they have little political sway with the Kremlin preferring they stay as low as possible and ‘out of sight out of mind’ because of Moscow’s new strategic plans with the new government of Syria lead by previous Al Qaeda extremist-turned-president Ahmad Al Sharaa.

Putin wants to maintain a rapport with the new government because Syria is still seen as the new battleground of political rivalry vis-a-vis the United States, Turkey and Israel. Moscow wants to continue to be a part of the geo-political pie despite the fact that Al Shara has continually called on Moscow to handover Assad to be tried for criminal charges in Damascus, something that was always refused by the Kremlin and Putin.

But politics reflects the interests of both sides for Sharaa wants to be a favorite with everyone, both the West and Russia as demonstrated by his last visit to Moscow last October who continues to have military, strategic, economic and aid ties to Syria from the past Baathist regime.

Thus, although relegated to his luxurious apartments, Assad can still be a valuable political asset to Moscow, being put on hold for the right time as a political chip to be used with the new government of Syria who is desperate to create the needed stability of the country, keep outside powers at bay, check Israeli incursion into its territory and start a program of reconstruction and economic development.

News

Israeli Claims Killing of Top Hamas Commander

CrossFireArabia
December 14, 2025

The Israeli army announced that it carried out an operation in Gaza City in coordination with the Israel Security Agency Shin Bet, targeting what it described as a senior leader of the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas.

Israeli Army Radio said the target was Qassam Brigades commander Raed Saad, whom it claimed was responsible for planning the October 7 operation that overwhelmed the army’s Gaza Division.

Israeli security sources reportedly identified Saad as a senior figure within the Qassam Brigades, referring to him as the group’s “second man,” and asserted that the operation was successful.

According to Army Radio, the targeted commander was allegedly involved in efforts to rebuild Hamas’ military capabilities, including the rehabilitation and production of weapons.

The broadcaster added that Israeli forces had previously attempted to assassinate Saad and that he had survived multiple attempts during the war.

Army Radio further reported that the operation was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and carried out without prior coordination with Washington. In a related report, Israel Hayom quoted a security source as saying that the assassination was conducted without informing the US administration.

In response, Hamas said that the Israeli strike on a vehicle in Gaza City constituted a new and serious violation of the ceasefire agreement. The movement said the action demonstrated Israel’s deliberate efforts to undermine and sabotage the ceasefire.

Hamas called on mediators and guarantor states to assume their responsibilities, address Israel’s violations, and take concrete steps to restrain the occupation government according to the Palestine Chronicle.