Middle East Press On: Indonesia Pays $1 Billion-Board of Peace, US-Iran Standoff, Iran's Revolutionary Guard, US Army, Seeds of Solidarity, Global Silence on Gaza, West Bank, New Age Islam's Selection, 31 January 2026
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
31 January 2026
The logical fallacy of Indonesia paying $1 billion to the Board of Peace
The armada and the trigger: How the US-Iran standoff could ignite a regional catastrophe
What is Israel planning for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?
Terror Lists and Empire: The Case of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
US Army General Jasper Jeffers to Lead Gaza ‘Stabilization Force’ – Who is He?
‘Seeds of Solidarity’ to Honor Palestinian Women, Fundraise for Gaza Health Workers
‘We Have Left the Children Alone’: Guardiola Condemns Global Silence on Gaza
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The logical fallacy of Indonesia paying $1 billion to the Board of Peace
January 30, 2026
By Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat
Indonesia may commit to paying $1 billion — roughly Rp17 trillion — to the U.S.-backed Board of Peace. This is not diplomacy, humanitarian aid, or peacebuilding. It asks Indonesians to fund the aftermath of destruction caused overwhelmingly by Israel and the United States, while creating no mechanism to prevent future violence or hold the aggressors accountable.
Rp17 trillion, likely drawn from the state budget, is staggering. It could pay hundreds of thousands of teachers, fund essential services, or support major social programs. By comparison, it is 66 times larger than Indonesia’s last U.N. contribution and roughly 500 times Indonesia’s ASEAN contribution. This is a nation-scale expenditure with immediate domestic consequences.
Indonesia cannot absorb this payment without serious repercussions. The country already faces massive debt obligations, with interest consuming a quarter of tax revenue, while social protection grows slowly and defence spending surges. Allocating billions to a foreign council with no tangible return would strain fiscal discipline, risk widening the deficit, and force emergency cuts in education, healthcare, subsidies, and regional transfers. Citizens’ welfare and essential public services could be compromised for symbolic international prestige.
The contribution provides no measurable economic benefit. It does not generate revenue, strengthen fiscal capacity, or produce tangible returns. Social programs and regional development initiatives risk being delayed or underfunded to cover the cost. Nationwide nutrition programs, cooperative development, and other flagship projects already demand vast resources; adding the BoP payment worsens fiscal pressure and threatens macroeconomic stability.
The moral case is stark. Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono claims the payment is for Gaza’s reconstruction, but the destruction was caused almost entirely by Israeli military operations backed by the United States. Indonesia had no role in the destruction, yet its citizens are expected to foot the bill. Even worse, the funds are reportedly intended to disarm Hamas while leaving Israel armed, punishing the powerless and empowering the dominant. This is not peacebuilding; it is injustice.
The Board of Peace is dominated by U.S. interests. Other countries have refused participation, warning that it undermines legitimate multilateral institutions. Indonesia is paying billions for a seat where its influence is minimal, and where Palestinians remain powerless.
This decision also contradicts Indonesia’s tradition of independent, active diplomacy. Paying for prestige with no leverage or accountability is subservience disguised as influence. Public funds are being diverted to finance a foreign policy stunt that delivers neither security nor justice.
If Indonesia truly wants to support Gaza, it should direct funds through accountable humanitarian channels with measurable impact. Financial support must insist on accountability from those responsible for the violence. Writing a $1 billion check to a council that disarms the powerless while leaving the dominant actor untouched is catastrophic, reckless, and indefensible. Public money exists to protect citizens and advance justice, not subsidize destruction caused by others.
This is not diplomacy. It is folly. Before billions of rupiah are diverted from education, healthcare, and social protection to pay for consequences Indonesia did not cause, the government must reconsider. The state budget is a lifeline for citizens, not a global political slush fund. Spending it this way betrays the people it is meant to serve.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260130-the-logical-fallacy-of-indonesia-paying-1-billion-to-the-board-of-peace/
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The armada and the trigger: How the US-Iran standoff could ignite a regional catastrophe
January 30, 2026
by Jasim Al-Azzawi
The threats from both sides now echo with the finality and decisiveness of irreversibility. “A massive Armada is heading to Iran,” declares President Trump. “It’s heading there with speed and violence, if necessary.” These words hang in the balance against Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s retort: “Our brave Armed Forces are prepared—with their fingers on the trigger—to immediately respond to any aggression.”
The space between these two inflammatory statements is a chasm that could engulf Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Lebanon, and destroy the Middle East for an entire generation or more, rendering the relative peace that has been reigning in the region for the past few years a memory of the past. What sets this conflict apart is the military superiority of the USA and the desperation of Iran, an economy in free fall, and a government gasping for its very survival.
The strategy also reflects the military superiority and the hubris that have accompanied American military adventures in the past. In announcing the strategy, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared: “We are restoring the warrior ethos… ensuring our war fighters are never in a fair fight. Distance is no longer a shield.”
The crucial addition to this threat came from the Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his Senate testimony: “It is wise and prudent to have a force posture that could… pre-emptively prevent an attack against thousands of American servicemen.”
The question that arises from this is the heart of the “pre-emption paradox” that is now dominating the Persian Gulf. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio postulates that a massive USA military presence is required to “pre-emptively prevent” an Iranian attack, Iran has begun hinting at a similar doctrine that could lead to an accidental war.
January 2026, and the traditional Iranian approach of “strategic patience” has, in effect, been replaced by “Active and Unpredictable Deterrence.”
The Iranian shift toward pre-emption
Recent pronouncements by the Supreme National Defence Council suggest that Iran is no longer bound by the “post-action reaction” strategy. By widening their “trigger threshold” to include “objective signs of threat,” Iran has, in fact, adopted the same logic that Rubio is advocating: “The only way to guarantee that we will be attacked is to wait until we are attacked, and that is a strategic failure.”
What is a strategic opportunity for the United States is an existential threat to Iran. Ali Shamkhani, who serves as senior advisor to Supreme Leader Khamenei, has utterly destroyed any hopes of a “calibrated war” scenario: “Any military action by the United States will be considered the start of a total war. Our response will target not only the aggressor but the heart of Tel Aviv.”
The dynamics of the escalatory chain reaction are relatively simple: The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, bolstered by B-2 stealth bombers that “fly 37 hours to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” represents a conventional military advantage for the United States. However, as Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, has noted: “What we need to worry about is the ‘ladder of escalation.’ Iran hits us, we hit them back, they hit harder, and suddenly Hezbollah gets involved… That 10 percent chance of total regional conflagration remains uncomfortably high.”
This regional escalation probability is near certain due to Iran’s asymmetrical arsenal and America’s vulnerability. General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi defined the Iranian strategy with chilling clarity: “Every U.S. interest, every base, and every centre of influence in this region is now a legitimate target.” The 34,000 US troops in Gulf States, the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, all of which are within range of Iran’s thousands of ballistic missiles, are vast and easy targets for Iran’s medium-range missiles. Then there is the Strait of Hormuz, through which flows one-fifth of the world’s oil. Stavridis mentioned the economic aspect of Iran’s strategy: “They could close the Strait of Hormuz. That would send shivers through the global economy. A month of spiked energy prices is a global catastrophe.” The administration’s military dominance does not help when oil prices soar to $150 per barrel, and our allies face energy crises that are far worse than those caused by the Russian-Ukrainian energy conflicts. The problem that puzzles Pentagon strategists is whether they can fight Iran while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. The answer to that is highly doubtful.
The voices of caution come from the veterans of the US wars since 9/11. They have witnessed the surgical strikes turning into prolonged quagmires. Anthony Cordesman of the CSIS defined the problem: “Strategy is not just about the theory of victory; it is about the messier reality of what comes the day after the missiles stop flying. A failed strike could provoke Iran into going nuclear at all costs, lashing out in the Gulf, and creating far more serious problems for the world economy.”
Ellie Geranmayeh, writing for the European Council on Foreign Relations, offered the following historical observation: “After the painful experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, bombing Iran won’t necessarily deliver what he (Trump) wants.”
The foundations of the democratic Levant, promised in the blood-soaked streets of Baghdad, turned out to be the mirage they were. The ‘moderate’ phoenix promised to rise out of the Libyan ashes, but it never did, leaving only the charred remains of a failed state. What makes the ancient soil of Tehran different? Why should it produce anything other than the same crop of failure that has characterised the region for decades? Only the farsighted strategists among the warmongers wonder if such a question has ever entered the superficial awareness of the puppet masters pulling the strings of this late-game theater. Trump, Rubio, and Hegseth are the high priests of the cult of lethality, believing that the hammer of empire can forge a new world, without realizing that it has only ever succeeded in smashing the old one into a thousand jagged pieces of resentment and rage. What makes the present moment particularly perilous is not that either side wants war, but that they have convinced themselves that they cannot back down. Trump’s political brand is one of unwavering strength, and the Khamenei regime is under siege on the streets and in its own economic crisis, threatening the very foundations of the revolution. When Khamenei said, “Any military involvement will result in irreparable damage to them, far exceeding any benefit they imagine,” he was speaking for all the leaders on all sides of the conflict, who will soon have to choose between internal and external collapse.
The administration’s optimists may be correct, but they are wagering American prestige, regional stability, and the world’s economic well-being on the hope that a revolutionary regime, even in the midst of survival, will act rationally. But history argues otherwise. And in the time frames of the modern battlefield, where missiles launched from the Persian Gulf can reach their targets in minutes, there may be no time for rational decision-making.
As the carrier group heads into the Gulf and Iranian commanders continue to say, “We have our fingers on the trigger,” the window for diplomacy is closing fast. The debate is no longer whether this conflict represents a failure of statesmanship—it does. The debate is whether the politicians in Washington and Tehran have the wisdom to step back from the precipice. Because in the Middle East of 2026, there are no limited wars, only catalysts for regional catastrophes that no amount of military superiority can contain once they begin.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260130-the-armada-and-the-trigger-how-the-us-iran-standoff-could-ignite-a-regional-catastrophe/
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What is Israel planning for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?
January 30, 2026
by Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini
Official and unofficial Israeli actions, alongside a steady stream of statements, unprecedented in their frequency since the war in Gaza began nearly two and a half years ago, point to a coherent Israeli strategy toward Palestinians, in both the West Bank and Gaza, and toward the Palestinian cause as a whole. By tracing these actions and declarations, which together lay bare underlying intentions, this article seeks to lift the veil on Israel’s integrated approach to Palestinians at this stage.
Amid Israel’s deepening internal crisis, driven by disputes over the budget and the military draft exemption law, and by threats from parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to bring down the government, Netanyahu is fighting to keep his coalition intact. “The last thing Israel needs at this stage is an election,” he has said, arguing that the country is in a “sensitive and exceptional” moment that calls for political stability, not an early vote. If the budget fails to pass or the Knesset is dissolved, elections would be brought forward. Under Israeli law, they would have to be held by the end of October this year. Netanyahu is working to shape conditions that would allow him to remain in office. At the same time, he is pressing on with conflicts on multiple fronts, most notably with Lebanon, where he continues to threaten to disarm Hezbollah; with Iran, insisting that Israel will not allow it to regroup; and with the Palestinians, against whom he is waging an open-ended campaign in Gaza and the West Bank, the focus of this article.
An Israeli bill authorising the execution of Palestinians is edging closer to passage, as the number of unlawful killings of Palestinians has surged dramatically since October 2023. The scale of violence in Gaza has risen far beyond any threshold of endurance, while killings in the West Bank have reached levels unseen at any previous moment or phase. At the same time, deaths inside Israeli detention facilities have become a recurring pattern rather than isolated incidents. Taken together, these acts amount, from the point of view of many, to crimes that meet the threshold of genocide and extrajudicial execution, carried out amid complete impunity, with no accountability or punishment. They reflect a growing disregard for Palestinian lives and form part of a fully integrated approach that targets the Palestinian issue as a whole.
Following the approval of the first reading of a new amendment to Israel’s Penal Code, mandating that Israeli courts impose the death penalty on individuals convicted of killing an Israeli “intentionally or recklessly”, the bill has now advanced to its second and third readings, with no date set for a final vote. If passed, the amendment would allow courts to hand down death sentences without a request from the attorney general. Trials would be conducted before military judges, and Palestinian prisoners, whether civilians or combatants, could be executed by hanging within 90 days of a final verdict. The sentence would not be subject to commutation, appeal, or annulment once issued. Under the proposed law, the death penalty would apply to anyone who kills a Jew “solely because he is Jewish,” as well as to those involved in planning the act, not only the direct perpetrator. Its application would be limited exclusively to Palestinians, excluding Jewish Israelis, further entrenching Israel’s dual legal system rooted in national discrimination. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians are tried in Israeli military courts, while Jewish settlers living in the same territory are subject to Israeli civil law. All international treaties prohibit the death penalty, including those to which Israel is a party, recognizing it as the most extreme and irreversible form of punishment and a fundamental denial of the right to life, particularly when applied in a discriminatory manner between Palestinian and Jewish defendants. This escalation comes after years of efforts to normalise the practice of on-the-spot killings of Palestinian resisting or fighting a prolonged occupation. The proposed law codifies and institutionalizes this reality, marking a stark erosion of global norms and a profound disregard for the universal system of values.
The hostage crisis in Gaza has effectively drawn to a close after the return of the final body, bringing the first phase of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for Gaza to an end. Trump announced last week that the plan’s second phase is now set to begin. According to the proposal, this new stage is meant to address the future governance of the enclave and lay the groundwork for its reconstruction. For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that any move toward rebuilding Gaza is conditional on its disarmament, presenting what he described as two paths: an “easier” route, through voluntary compliance, or a “harder” one, by force. Netanyahu has also insisted that Israel will not allow the Palestinian Authority to operate in Gaza and that Israel will retain full security control over the territory stretching “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean sea,” explicitly including the Gaza Strip. He has framed this control as a guarantee of Israel’s security in the period ahead. These positions are coupled with Netanyahu’s repeated insistence on blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israel’s government is tying the launch of any reconstruction efforts to the presentation of plans for disarming Gaza and to regulating how reconstruction would be financed. It has previously stated that it will neither fund nor carry out the rebuilding itself, a position that deliberately sidesteps responsibility for the devastation inflicted on the enclave. At the same time, Israeli forces have spent the past two months flattening and sweeping land in the southern Gaza Strip, continuing large-scale debris removal, particularly in eastern Rafah. Last July, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that he had instructed the military to prepare a camp in Rafah to house Gaza’s population. These moves come amid growing discussion of Israeli plans to establish a large camp for Palestinians in the south of the Strip, equipped with advanced surveillance technologies, alongside repeated Israeli statements signaling a desire to see as many Palestinians as possible leave Gaza. Netanyahu recently addressed the Rafah crossing, saying it would be “open in both directions,” stressing that there would be no intention to prevent any Gazan from leaving the enclave. At the same time, he made clear that there would be no “open access” into Gaza: Palestinians would be subjected to stringent Israeli screening, while the Israeli military maintains full security control over Rafah.
As for conditions on the ground in Gaza, despite a ceasefire decision that took effect in October of last year, bombardment, assaults, killings, and destruction have continued across the Strip, most of which remains under Israeli control. According to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced. Palestinians in Gaza, already devastated by two years of Israeli attacks, are facing severe restrictions on their movement, alongside surveillance of their online activity and phone communications by Israeli intelligence services. UNRWA has warned that a large-scale humanitarian crisis persists in Gaza, with additional deaths recorded daily and widespread damage to essential services.
Israeli forces are deployed across both the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, in areas including Beit Hanoun and Rafah, as well as along its eastern zones, forcing civilians to abandon their homes and concentrate in western areas, toward the coastline. This has occurred either under sustained bombardment and destruction or through evacuation orders, as in Bani Suheila east of Khan Younis, where residents were instructed to leave through leaflet drops. According to a document released by the White House last week, the Trump administration is seeking to disarm Gaza, requiring the immediate withdrawal of heavy weapons from use and the registration or confiscation of personal firearms, while providing for personal security through police forces operating under a temporary technocratic administration in the Strip. Trump has warned of “severe consequences” should Hamas fighters and other factions fail to lay down their arms, a stance Netanyahu has echoed, saying it would be enforced either the easy way or the hard way.
Gaza is bracing for a period of profound hardship and complex schemes, one that demands a unified Palestinian decision-making framework and a clear-eyed understanding of what is being engineered against the Palestinian cause under the Trump era. The push to funnel Gaza’s population into a narrow western strip of the enclave and confine them there, the continued paralysis of any return to normal life, the completion of land leveling in Rafah in preparation for receiving displaced Palestinians, and the steadily emerging conditions governing the reopening of the Rafah crossing all suggest that a decisive phase may be unfolding, one aimed at determining the future of Gaza’s Palestinian population. This is taking place amid the expanding territorial control of Israeli forces and efforts to lock in future security dominance over the Strip, in line with Netanyahu’s statements and Trump’s long-established posture toward the Palestinians. Next week’s article will turn to the West Bank, tracing a parallel set of statements and measures which, while differing in form, point toward the same objective pursued in Gaza.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260130-what-is-israel-planning-for-palestinians-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank/
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Terror Lists and Empire: The Case of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
January 31, 2026
By Ranjan Solomon
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the most misunderstood political-military institutions in the contemporary world. This is not because its role is opaque, but because global power has decided which forms of armed organization deserve legitimacy and which must be criminalized. In Western discourse, the IRGC is routinely presented as an inherently “terrorist” entity. Inside Iran, however, it is constitutionally mandated, nationally endorsed, and socially embedded.
This contradiction is not accidental. It exposes how the language of terrorism functions as a colonial instrument—applied selectively, enforced asymmetrically, and weaponized against states that refuse political subordination.
Countries that have designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization cite its role in suppressing protesters, providing weapons to regional allies such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, and allegedly plotting attacks abroad. Iran has condemned these designations as “illegal, political, and contrary to international law.” Critics argue that such measures form part of a broader “maximum pressure” strategy pursued by Western powers, one that undermines diplomacy and heightens the risk of regional instability.
As of January 2026, the IRGC has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union. These same powers, however, have continued to support the Israeli military during its barbaric genocide against the people of Gaza. At the same time, Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, has operated inside Iran as a foreign entity, while Western governments maintain a discreet and hypocritical silence.
Those who understand the language of justice versus colonial domination recognize that Iran’s branding as part of an “Axis of Terrorism” serves a strategic purpose: it criminalizes Iran’s support for liberation movements resisting Israel’s Western-backed military supremacy.
Its Formation and Rationale
The IRGC was formed in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, not as a rogue militia but as a parallel institution designed to protect a newly sovereign state from internal sabotage and external overthrow. Iran’s modern history explains this imperative. The 1953 CIA–MI6 coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh—engineered to safeguard Western oil interests—left a lasting trauma in Iranian political consciousness.
The lesson was unmistakable. Electoral legitimacy offered no protection against imperial intervention.
It was in this context that the IRGC emerged, not merely as a military force but as a guardian of national independence. Its mandate is enshrined in Iran’s constitution, its leadership answers to state authority, and its legitimacy—whatever one thinks of Iran’s political system—is derived internally rather than imposed from outside. This alone places the IRGC in a fundamentally different category from non-state armed groups operating without national consent.
National Legitimacy vs. Imperial Judgment
The countries that have designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization have done so through unilateral or bloc-based political decisions. There has been no UN Security Council designation, nor has any international judicial body adjudicated such a claim. The designation rests entirely on the authority of states that also happen to wield overwhelming military, financial, and narrative power.
Here, the colonial logic becomes unmistakable. Western governments claim the authority to label another country’s official armed forces as “terrorist” while maintaining alliances with regimes whose records include occupation, apartheid, mass civilian killings, and systemic repression. Israel’s military, despite decades of illegal occupation and documented war crimes, is not designated terrorist. Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, despite their catastrophic role in Yemen, remain Western allies. The United States military itself—responsible for Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and countless covert operations—faces no such designation.
The message is clear: violence committed in defense of Western interests is framed as “security,” while violence committed in resistance to Western power is labeled “terrorism.”
The Post-Colonial Crime: Strategic Autonomy
What truly distinguishes the IRGC is not its methods—many of which mirror those employed by Western militaries—but its refusal to operate within a US-led security architecture. Iran does not host American military bases, does not align with NATO, and does not outsource its defense policy to Washington or Brussels.
The IRGC, particularly through its regional deterrence strategy, has been central to maintaining this strategic autonomy. That autonomy is intolerable to imperial systems. From Latin America to West Asia, institutions that block Western penetration are systematically delegitimized. Leaders are labeled dictators, movements are branded extremist, and militaries are declared terrorist. Sanctions follow, destabilization follows, and—when possible—regime change follows.
The IRGC fits squarely within this historical pattern. To describe these bans as “counterterrorism” is disingenuous. They function instead as political warfare, designed to criminalize diplomacy, intimidate diaspora communities, and lay the legal groundwork for future escalation.
Iranian Society and the Myth of Universal Opposition
A common Western myth is that the IRGC survives only through repression. This claim collapses under closer scrutiny. Iranian society is diverse and politically contested, yet the IRGC retains significant support, particularly among those who remember the Iran-Iraq war, years of sanctions, and repeated external threats.
For many Iranians, the Guards symbolize resistance to foreign domination rather than blind loyalty to clerical authority. This does not mean the IRGC is beyond criticism. No institution is. But critique must come from within a society, not be imposed by powers with long histories of exploitation, coups, and war.
At the same time, the IRGC has played a central role in violently suppressing domestic protests, generating internal dissent and accusations of brutality. It operates a vast business empire, with affiliates exerting significant influence over Iran’s political and economic structures. As a result, the IRGC remains a central yet deeply divisive institution—commanding loyalty from the ruling establishment while facing strong opposition from segments of Iranian society and international actors.
Terrorism as a Colonial Vocabulary
The modern definition of terrorism did not emerge from neutral spaces. It developed through colonial counterinsurgency doctrine, where indigenous resistance was criminalized to preserve imperial control. That legacy persists. Today’s terrorism lists are less about protecting civilians than about preserving geopolitical hierarchies.
When colonial powers label a nationally endorsed institution as terrorist, they are not issuing a legal judgment. They are issuing a political warning: obedience grants legitimacy; resistance invites criminalization. The IRGC’s designation tells us less about Iran than about the world order that seeks to discipline it.
Who Decides Legitimacy?
The central question is not whether one approves of the IRGC, but who decides legitimacy in international politics. If legitimacy flows only from Western capitals, sovereignty becomes a myth. If armed force is legal only when exercised by the empire or its allies, international law becomes a façade. And if resistance to domination is always labeled terrorism, then decolonization itself becomes a crime.
The IRGC exists because Iran’s history demanded it. It is endorsed nationally because external threats remain real. Those who ban it do so not from moral clarity, but from imperial habit.
History has taught us this much: empires do not criminalize what is weak. They criminalize those who refuse to kneel.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/terror-lists-and-empire-the-case-of-irans-revolutionary-guards/
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US Army General Jasper Jeffers to Lead Gaza ‘Stabilization Force’ – Who is He?
January 31, 2026
The White House has appointed the US military’s Major General Jasper Jeffers as the Commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) to “lead security operations” and support “comprehensive demilitarization” of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The ISF forms of the Gaza governance framework pushed by US President Donald Trump as part of his so-called peace plan for the enclave. Four parallel bodies are being set up within this framework: the “Board of Peace”, the Gaza Executive Board, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and an International Stabilization Force.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon
With decades of experience in the US military, Jeffers’ career spans Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
Jeffers began his military career in 1996 as an infantry officer in the US Army Light Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, at Fort Drum, New York, according to an Al-Jazeera Arabic report. The two-star general’s first assignment was as a rifle platoon leader and operations officer, and he soon qualified for special operations units.
He transferred to the elite Ranger unit and was assigned as a platoon leader and operations officer in the 1st Battalion, 75th Guards Regiment, at Fort Stewart-Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia. Later, Jeffers was transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he served as a company commander and air operations officer in the Stryker Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.
In April 2003, he joined the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, assuming command and operations duties. In the 2003 US-led invasion and war in Iraq, Jeffers served as a company commander and air operations officer with 2nd Battalion, 75th Infantry Regiment, according to a New Arab report.
Special Operations
After completing the Command and General Staff Officer Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 2007, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and assigned to the US Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg.
From June 2015 to July 2016, Jeffers attended the Graduate School of Service at Duke University in North Carolina, participating in an advanced fellowship program in counterterrorism and public policy.
He was assigned to the Joint Forces Command, leading the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 7th Infantry Division. About a year after assuming command of the brigade, Jeffers was transferred to Afghanistan as an advisor to the commander of Operation Resolute Support, a NATO military mission in the country.
Syria Deployment
Jeffers later led a brigade within the US Army Special Operations Command, “deployed to support Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria, the US-led campaign against the Islamic State group in those countries,” according to the New Arab.
In November 2024, Jeffers arrived in Lebanon to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Hezbollah, alongside US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein.
‘Counter-Terrorism’
Jeffers also previously served on the Joint Staff as Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism.
He is also the commander of Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), which is the special operations component of the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
According to the White House, Jeffers’ role as ISF commander is to “lead security operations, support comprehensive demilitarization, and enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials.”
The proposed ISF is part of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement for Gaza, which also calls for full withdrawal from the Israeli occupation forces, disarmament of Hamas, and the establishment of the technocratic committee to temporarily govern Gaza.
Multinational Force
The ISF, projected to be made up of a multinational force, headed by the US military, has yet to be formalized.
According to an Axios report, the main reason for hesitation from countries to join relates to concerns over whether Hamas will voluntarily disarm and “what the rules of engagement will be for the new force.” Reports indicate that Washington had earmarked the beginning of 2026 for the deployment of the ISF force.
Since October 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, killing close to 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring over 171,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The killings have continued despite a US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect in October last year. Since then, Israel has killed 492 Palestinians and injured 1,356. After more than two years of this genocidal war, Israel also continues to restrict essential humanitarian aid from entering the enclave.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/us-army-general-jasper-jeffers-to-lead-gaza-stabilization-force-who-is-he/
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‘Seeds of Solidarity’ to Honor Palestinian Women, Fundraise for Gaza Health Workers
January 30, 2026
An upcoming fundraising event in London will explore resilience, memory, and collective action through art, sound and story, according to organizers Health Workers 4 Palestine (HW4P), an initiative dedicated to rebuilding Gaza’s healthcare system.
“This special evening honours the women of Palestine who continue to protect life, land, and dignity in the face of a genocide. Their courage and leadership stand at the heart of this night,” HW4P said in a statement on its website. The organization is the largest health worker-founded and Palestine-focused advocacy group in the UK.
Live Plant Orchestra for Palestine
The Seeds of Solidarity event, to be held at The Savoy on February 1, will include the acclaimed Photo symphony: A Live Plant Orchestra for Palestine, a world-travelled installation “reimagined exclusively” for the occasion.
“Photo symphony explores plant intelligence and our relationship with the natural world through native Palestinian flora. As guests dine, the electrical frequencies of living plants are captured by sensors and translated into an evolving live soundscape drawn from recordings of the land itself, making the unseen life force of plants audible,” the statement noted.
It added that the installation “also bears witness to environmental devastation in Palestine — from the loss of culturally vital species such as za’atar to the uprooting of ancient olive trees and the erosion of fragile ecosystems — creating a haunting, immersive tribute to Palestinian roots, memory, and resilience.”
Special Guests
Seeds of Solidarity is curated by Zayna Al-Saleh, a British-Palestinian art dealer, curator and art writer who has managed three major London auctions in the past two years in aid of Palestine, raising over $1.4 million.
Special guest speakers at the event include Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a leading British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon and the current Rector of the University of Glasgow, recognised globally for his work in conflict medicine.
He has spent decades providing emergency surgical care to children in Gaza and other war-affected regions while training local doctors to strengthen health systems under siege, HW4P stated.
Part of the organization’s mission is also to train doctors, and Dr. Abu Sitta “is dedicated to developing the next generation of healthcare providers in Palestine and internationally.”
Farah Nabulsi, an award-winning Palestinian-British filmmaker, is also listed as a special guest for the event.
Another guest speakers are Amira Nimerawi, CEO of HW4P UK, who works to strengthen advocacy, solidarity, and health justice for Palestinian communities, and Dr. Victoria Rose, a London-based Consultant Plastic Surgeon who has undertaken multiple humanitarian missions to Gaza since 2018 to deliver emergency reconstructive care and support surgical training.
Auction
Lina Hadid, an American-Palestinian attorney, has donated several luxury goods to be auctioned at the event.
“Some moments ask us to pause and consider the weight of our choices. This is one of them,” Hadid said. “What is happening in Palestine is not only the loss of life, but an attempt to erase a people and their history.”
She said that in response, Palestinians “hold on to what cannot be taken by force…. Families pass down recipes like maqluba, and women continue stitching tatreez, each pattern carrying the memory of a village.”
Hadid said that even though these acts may seem small, “together they are powerful,” adding, “They say: we are still here. To stand with the women and children of Palestine is to stand for life, culture, and the right to exist.”
Leading artists have also donated their artwork to be auctioned at the event, including Mona Hatoum, Lisa Brice, Caroline Walker, Rana Begum and Hassan Hajjaj, who reportedly contributed a portrait of hip-hop artist Yassin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def).
‘Art a Form of Action’
The founder of HW4P, Omar Abdel-Manna, a London-based doctor, told The Art Newspaper that the auction “is a reminder that art can be a form of action,” and that the auction “brings together creative voices and public conscience to offer tangible support” to healthcare workers in Gaza who are operating “amid extraordinary violence and deprivation.”
The evening will also feature a live performance from the London Arab Orchestra, with a special focus on the London Arab Women Choir conducted by artistic director and maestro Basel Saleh, HW4P said.
“The orchestra reimagines Arab music for the global stage by blending the beauty of traditional Middle Eastern melodies with the richness of contemporary European and English orchestral sounds,” the organization said.
Erasers, Crayons Finally Allowed into Gaza
Meanwhile, UNICEF has said that after more than two years of restrictions, the agency has been allowed to bring recreational kits to the Gaza Strip to support children’s learning and wellbeing.
Since Thursday, January 15, a total of 5,168 recreational kits have entered the Strip, supporting more than 375,000 children – including 1,000 children with disabilities, UNICEF said in a statement.
“For young children around the world, including in Gaza, playing is not a luxury, but how they develop language, motor skills, problem-solving, and social-emotional skills,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, who visited Gaza last week, said.
He stressed that these recreational supplies “will help create safer, structured spaces where children can return to routines, express emotions, and continue learning even in crisis conditions.”
“Now we must be permitted to bring all other education and Early Childhood Development (ECD) supplies into Gaza soon to benefit 336,000 children with the most basic materials they need to be able to learn,” he added.
These materials – which include notebooks, pencils, erasers, and crayons – will also support caregivers and educators with practical tools to engage children in age-appropriate activities that promote development, reduce stress, and strengthen protective environments, the agency stated.
Rising Death Toll
According to official Palestinian figures, more than 19,000 students have been killed in Gaza due to Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave in the past two years.
The killings have continued despite a US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect in October last year, raising the overall death toll to over 71,000, as well as over 171,000 injured. After more than two years of this genocidal war, Israel also continues to restrict essential humanitarian aid from entering the enclave.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/seeds-of-solidarity-to-honor-palestinian-women-fundraise-for-gaza-health-workers/
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‘We Have Left the Children Alone’: Guardiola Condemns Global Silence on Gaza
January 30, 2026
Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, renewed his public support for Palestine during a charity event held in Barcelona on Thursday, delivering a speech that sharply criticized global inaction and framed Gaza’s suffering as a moral and humanitarian failure.
Guardiola was speaking at the “Concert for Palestine,” held at the Palau Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona as part of the Act x Palestine campaign, an initiative supported by Palestinian human rights organizations and European civil society groups.
Appearing on stage wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, Guardiola addressed thousands of attendees, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and with oppressed people worldwide.
“We stand with the oppressed,” Guardiola said. “Today we stand with Palestine—not only Palestine, but all just causes. This is a statement for Palestine and a statement for humanity.”
‘We Have Abandoned the Children’
Guardiola’s remarks focused particularly on the impact of Israel’s war on Gaza’s children. He described watching footage of a child filming himself amid the rubble, crying out for his mother without understanding what had happened.
“I always think about what the children must be thinking,” Guardiola said. “We have left them alone—abandoned.”
He imagined the children calling out to the world for help, adding, “I picture them saying, ‘Where are you? Come and help us.’ And so far, even now, we haven’t done it.”
Guardiola strongly criticized international leaders for failing to act, suggesting that silence and inaction enable continued violence.
“What bombs want to cause is silence and for us to look the other way,” he said. “That is their only goal. And this is what we must resist.”
He called on people to engage and show solidarity, emphasizing that even presence and public support matter in the face of attempts to normalize violence.
Shared Responsibility
Drawing historical parallels, Guardiola referenced the bombing of Barcelona in 1938, noting that cities such as Barcelona, London, and Paris understand what it means to suffer under aerial bombardment.
He said that standing today with Palestinians reflects a broader human responsibility to side with the weakest, describing Palestine as a symbol of a wider struggle for justice.
The concert, which drew around 12,000 attendees, featured performances by several artists and raised funds for Palestinian cultural initiatives, including the Palestinian Performing Arts Network.
Guardiola has previously spoken out in support of Palestine, including calls to support charity matches and public statements condemning Israel’s war on Gaza and expressing deep scepticism toward world leaders.
He has repeatedly argued that Palestinians are being punished for circumstances beyond their control, warning that the moral damage caused by global indifference is profound and lasting.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, launched in October 2023, has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, and wounded over 171,000, according to Palestinian and international sources.
The assault has devastated approximately 90 percent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, and places of worship. The United Nations has estimated the cost of reconstruction at nearly $70 billion, while international legal experts and UN officials have warned that Israel’s actions may amount to genocide under international law.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/we-have-left-the-children-alone-guardiola-condemns-global-silence-on-gaza/
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