الكاتب: kafej

Kyiv, Ukraine – When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the world’s attention shifted from the Russian-Ukrainian war to the Middle East conflict.

As the new war flared, Ukrainian officials and some observers were quick to accuse Moscow of meddling and even graver allegations – that it was supplying the Palestinian group with weapons.

They provided no evidence for their claims.

“Russia is interested in triggering a war in the Middle East, so that a new source of pain and suffering could undermine world unity, increase discord and contradictions, and thus help Russia destroy freedom in Europe,” said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the time.

“We see Russian propagandists gloating. We see Moscow’s Iranian friends openly supporting those who attacked Israel. And all of this is a much greater threat than the world currently perceives. The world wars of the past started with local aggressions.”

Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s top intelligence officer, alleged that Moscow may have provided Hamas with arms seized in Ukraine in what would appear as a perfect way to cover Russia’s fingerprints.

“We all clearly see that trophy arms from Ukraine have indeed been passed to the Hamas group. Mostly, it’s infantry weapons,” he told the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper on October 12.

But several experts have warned that despite decades-long amicability between Russia, Hamas, and Iran, there is no concrete proof of Russian arms supplies.

“We don’t see the main thing – a statement from the Israeli military and their demonstration of the Hamas arms they seized,” Nikolay Mitrokhin of Germany’s University of Bremen told Al Jazeera.

“So far, there’s no proof of sizeable arms supplies from Russia to Gaza,” he said. “They may very likely emerge after [Israel finishes] the clean-up of Gaza, but only then it will make sense to talk about them.”

On November 2, Aleksander Venediktov, of Russia’s Security Council, told the Ria Novosti news agency, “Such speculations are an open provocation.”

After the Hamas attacks, Israel began a relentless bombing campaign in Gaza, with the stated aim of crushing the Palestinian group that governs the densely populated enclave.

More than 1,200 were killed in Israel – among them more than a dozen Russian nationals – and more than 200 were captured in the Hamas attacks. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 11,200 Palestinians.

Vera Mironova, a Russian-American security expert and author, has renewed the weapons claim, telling Al Jazeera that a former US senior security official is preparing to release a detailed report on the alleged link between the Hamas attack and Russia.

“It was absolutely coordinated with Moscow,” said Mironova, who is currently a research fellow at Harvard University.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “didn’t say things like ‘attack [Israel], but it was 100 percent coordinated”, she claimed.

Mironova alleged again that Russia supplied arms to Hamas – and did it via Iran and Syria to “distance itself” from the conflict.

“Russia has enough weapons to supply” its war effort in Ukraine and its allies in the Middle East, she claimed.

In return, she said, Iran is providing Russia with more inexpensive kamikaze drones so that their swarms are launched to wreak havoc and overwhelm Western-supplied air defence systems such as the US-made MIM-104 Patriot or the Norwegian-made NASAMS.

Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify Mironova’s allegations.

Undocumented allegations of weapons deliveries go both ways.

Last month, former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev suggested that NATO arms sent to Ukraine “ended up” in the hands of Hamas fighters.

“So, NATO friends, game over? The weapons supplied to the Nazi regime in Ukraine are actively used in Israel,” Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram on October 9.

“It will only get worse. Expect missiles, tanks and soon planes from Kyiv on the black market,” he wrote.

According to Igar Tyshkevich, a Kyiv-based foreign policy expert at the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, Russia might have shipped Western arms seized in Ukraine, but the possible sources of these weapons could have been Afghanistan, where huge amounts of Western equipment were left after “the hurried withdrawal of Americans” in 2021.

Another possible source is Iraq, where Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sided with pro-US Iraqi forces to fight ISIL (ISIS) in 2014, he told Al Jazeera. Syria could have been one more source of weaponry – given the past presence of US troops and President Bashar al-Assad’s political proximity to Iran, he said.

Hamas, for its part, has not commented on the continued claims about its supplies.

On October 26, Russia played host to Hamas leaders, a defiant move against the West likely aimed at demonstrating its diplomatic clout.

Israel decried the meeting in Moscow as “reprehensible”.

Days earlier, Hamas had thanked Putin for his diplomatic support. The Russian leader took days to condemn Hamas’s assault, and in his first comments on the crisis blamed the “failure of the United States’ policy in the Middle East”.

“[We] appreciate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position regarding the ongoing Zionist aggression against our people and his rejection of the Gaza siege, the cutting of relief supplies, and the targeting of safe civilians there,” Hamas said in a statement on October 15.

Russia’s relationship with Palestine, Israel

Russia’s current ties with Israel and Hamas are predated by decades of Soviet relations.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin welcomed the establishment of Israel in 1948, hoping it would become a pro-Moscow socialist nation.

But after Israel aligned itself with the West, Soviets began forging ties with Palestinian leaders – and trained hundreds of fighters in KGB schools.

Thousands more Palestinians studied in universities all over the USSR, from Tallinn to Tashkent – and one of them was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

He wrote a PhD dissertation titled “Hidden Face: a connection between Zionism and Nazism” in Moscow in 1982 under Yevgeny Primakov, an Arabist and then director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences.  Primakov, a spy, would go on to become post-Soviet Russia’s foreign minister and then prime minister in the 1990s.

In 1967, the Kremlin called Israel a “Zionist warmonger” and severed diplomatic ties over the Arab-Israeli war.

But after millions of post-Soviet Jews moved to Israel, Israel began forging closer ties with Moscow.

According to Chatham House experts Nikolay Kozhanov and James Nixey, it is “likely that the Hamas–Israel war means the end of Russia’s decades-long policy of balancing between different players in the Middle East”.

In a recent article, they wrote that given Russia’s welcome of a Hamas delegation in Moscow in October, its refusal to condemn the initial Hamas attack, and its close alliance with Iran, “Tel Aviv no longer considers Russia an ally and would probably reject it as a mediator.”

As the war enters its 630th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.

Fighting

• Russia intensified air bombardments and ground assaults around the ruined eastern town of Avdiivka, 20km (12 miles) from the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told national television that Ukrainian forces had repelled eight attacks in the previous 24 hours on Avdiivka, known for its vast coking plant. “Fighting is still going on. Over the last two days, the occupiers have increased the number of air strikes using guided bombs from Su-35 aircraft,” Shtupun said. “The enemy is also bringing in more and more infantry.”
• Separately, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces, said that Russia continued to launch simultaneous assault attempts on Ukrainian positions around Bakhmut and Kupyansk, and had stepped up their use of kamikaze drones.
• In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also focused on Avdiivka, saying Russian forces were losing men and equipment faster there than they did during months of battles near Bakhmut earlier this year. Zelenskyy said that the greater losses inflicted on Russian forces near the town, the worse would be Moscow’s overall position.
• Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who is in the United States, told the Hudson Institute think tank that Ukrainian forces had “gained a foothold” on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine in the first official acknowledgement of the breakthrough in the Kherson region. “Our counteroffensive is developing,” he said.
• The Landmine Monitor said the number of civilians wounded or killed by landmines and explosive remnants of war in Ukraine soared to 608 in 2022, compared with 58 the year before. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences destroyed four Ukrainian drones over the Moscow, Tambov, Orlov and Bryansk regions. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Politics and diplomacy

• Former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was pardoned over the 2006 killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya after enlisting with the Russian military in Ukraine. Politkovskaya, who investigated abuses in Russia’s Chechen war and was a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment block. Khadzhikurbanov was found guilty in 2014 of organising the killing and jailed for 20 years.
• Russia jailed a man for six years after he was found guilty of  “discrediting” the Russian military for defacing posters of Russian soldiers decorated as “heroes” for fighting in Ukraine. The man was identified only as a 46-year-old “local” to the central city of Tolyatti, where the posters were damaged. Human rights group Memorial named him as Alexei Arbuzenko, a teacher.
• Oleksandr Dubinsky, a Ukrainian lawmaker who was formally notified this week that he was suspected of treason for allegedly cooperating with Russia’s military intelligence, said a Kyiv court had ordered him detained for 60 days. He did not say why. Dubinksy was put on a US sanctions list in 2021 when he was expelled from Ukraine’s ruling party.

Weapons

• Speaking at a European Union defence ministers meeting, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius admitted the bloc would miss its target of supplying Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells and missiles by next March because of production issues. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc had provided more than 300,000 artillery shells and missiles under the first track of the scheme, which involved EU member states delivering from their own stockpiles.

Australian senator Mehreen Faruqi has been leading protests in the national parliament calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

As deputy leader of the Australian Greens, Faruqi says that she is bringing the “peoples’ protests into parliament”.

With 11 senators, the Greens form part of the cross-bench in Australia’s upper house but the party’s calls for a ceasefire have been opposed by Australia’s centre-left Labor government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Albanese’s government has made little change to its position since abstaining from a United Nations General Assembly vote calling for a humanitarian truce last month.

Al Jazeera spoke to Faruqi about support for a ceasefire in Australia and what potential she sees for a change in the Australian government’s position.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Al Jazeera: The Greens have called for a ceasefire vote in the Australian Senate. What is currently preventing a vote from happening?

Mehreen Faruqi: The Greens did push for a vote in the Senate calling for a ceasefire but both the Labor government and the Liberal-National opposition joined up to oppose it. This shows how blatantly they are ignoring the atrocities committed in Gaza.

The morally bankrupt major parties would like us to remain silent so their cowardice is not exposed. But the Australian Greens and I will not shut up and sit quietly in parliament while the government comes up with pathetic spin on serious questions about justice for Palestine.

Al Jazeera: You and your Greens colleagues have held protests in the Australian Senate, include a boycott of question time – what led you to take these actions?

Mehreen Faruqi: I proudly led the Greens protest in the Senate calling for a ceasefire and boycotting question time. I know we speak for so many in the community.

Today, the @Greens proudly brought the people’s protest into Parliament as we boycotted Question Time after Labor refused to call for a ceasefire yet again.

Like millions of Australians, we’re shocked, horrified & angered by Israel’s massacre of almost 10,000 people in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/eJPZcoXndN

— Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) November 6, 2023

I will unapologetically continue to use my parliamentary platform to call for a ceasefire, an end to the occupation of Palestine and for Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

To me, there is no point in being here in Parliament if we remain silent in times of such grave injustice. We must get louder and louder.

Al Jazeera: Do you think that the Australian government’s position on a humanitarian truce is reflective of the Australian people?

Mehreen Faruqi: Not joining a vast majority of nations in calling for a truce was an utterly disgraceful and shameful position for the Australian government to take.

Calling for a humanitarian truce is the absolute bare minimum and they can’t even do that.

Tens of thousands of people have marched across Australia every weekend since the attacks on Gaza began, demanding peace in the region and demanding the Australian government call on Israel for a ceasefire.

The decision to ignore thousands upon thousands of Palestinian and allied voices shows the Australian government’s complete disregard for the very people who put faith in them when they elected them.

People will not forget this betrayal. History will not look back kindly on the actions of the government.

Al Jazeera: To what extent is the Australian government involved in Israel’s war in Gaza? Is it possible that members of the Australian government could potentially be held liable for this involvement?

Mehreen Faruqi: Australia has one of the most secretive weapons trades in the world, but we know hundreds of military shipments have been exported to Israel over the last few years.

As far as I am concerned, our country has a hand in the bloody massacre of more than 10,000 people and counting.

Israel is committing war crimes and subjecting Palestinians to collective punishment. The Australian government should immediately stop military exports to Israel.

But more importantly, Australia is one of a small group of Western countries that continue to shield Israel from any accountability, not just over this invasion of Gaza but the entire 75 years of the occupation of Palestine.

It is no surprise that Israel behaves so monstrously when it knows governments of countries like Australia will back them, no matter how brutal and oppressive they are.

Al Jazeera: The Greens hold 11 seats in the Australian Senate. What can the Greens do from this position in regards to Australia’s participation in this conflict?

Mehreen Faruqi: The Greens are bringing the voices of the majority of people calling for justice and peace in Australia into parliament. This is powerful in many ways. It shows the community there is someone in the highest office in the country who hears them and has the guts to take a principled stand. They know someone is with them. It also keeps the pressure on the government to call for a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

Like millions of people around the world, I am horrified by the lack of accountability for Israel. Not calling for a ceasefire while thousands of children are being massacred in Gaza is heartless and shameful. Our government might be complicit but people are on the side of justice for Palestine.

I’m marching shoulder to shoulder with tens of thousands of people on the streets across Australia and speaking at these protests.

It was time to bring these peoples’ protests into parliament so the government would be forced to respond to their calls one way or another.

Aloys Ndimbati, then a Rwandan public official, faced multiple genocide charges and is believed to have died in 1997.

The war crimes prosecutor tasked with finding the remaining fugitives sought by a United Nations tribunal over their alleged roles in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has confirmed the death of suspect Aloys Ndimbati.

In the past three years, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) has arrested two Rwandan genocide suspects and confirmed the deaths of four other fugitives, including Ndimbati.

In a statement on Tuesday, UN prosecutors concluded Ndimbati had died in 1997 in Rwanda.

“While the exact circumstances of his death have not been determined owing to the confusion and absence of order at the time, the evidence gathered by the office of the prosecutor demonstrates that Ndimbati did not leave the Gatore area, and that he was never seen or heard from again,” the statement said.

Ndimbati, a Rwandan public official at the time, was accused of having personally organised and directed the killings of thousands of Tutsis and faced multiple genocide charges.

In all, more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by hardline Hutus, led by the Rwandan army and a militia known as the Interahamwe, in 100 days in 1994.

Genocide survivor Eric Nzabihimana told the Reuters news agency that Ndimbati played a role in the deaths of his mother, many siblings and extended family members.

“It shouldn’t end like this; it would have been better to see him held accountable for his actions,” Nzabihimana said, adding that he was not surprised by the death because he’d already heard unconfirmed reports.

The former UN tribunals for war crimes in Rwanda and Yugoslavia have been rolled over into a successor court that has offices in The Hague, Netherlands, and in Arusha, Tanzania.

There are no remaining fugitives sought by the Yugoslavia tribunal and now only two outstanding suspects for the Rwanda tribunal.

The prosecutor’s statement was released just as a Rwandan doctor went on trial in France on Tuesday on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide.

Sosthene Munyemana, 60, appeared before the Assize Court in Paris nearly 30 years after a complaint was filed against him in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux in 1995. He is accused of organising torture and killings.

The trial is scheduled to last five weeks. Munyemana, who denies the charges, faces life in prison if convicted.

Israeli authorities say missile intercepted near Eilat after Houthi leader earlier promised to continue attacks.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched ballistic missiles on various Israel targets, including in the Red Sea city of Eilat, the group’s military spokesperson has said.

The launch came “after 24 hours of another military operation by drones on the same Israeli targets,” the spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said that it intercepted a missile near the Red Sea.

Israel said it used its “Arrow” aerial defence system to shoot down a missile on Tuesday after sirens sounded in the port city of Eilat. Israel says that the projectile did not enter its territory, and did not say who shot it.

Earlier, the leader of Yemen’s Houthis said that his group would continue to launch attacks against Israel.

“Our eyes are open to constantly monitor and search for any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, especially in Bab al-Mandab, and near Yemeni regional waters,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed group, said.

The Houthis have launched several missile and drone attacks against Israel since October 7, when Hamas fighters from the besieged Gaza Strip carried out an attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.

Since the Hamas attack, Israel has bombarded Gaza and launched a ground invasion of the territory. More than 11,200 people have been killed in the Israeli assault, including more than 4,600 children, according to Palestinian authorities.

The war in Gaza has sent tensions soaring throughout the region, with international organisations and political leaders warning of a potential wider war across the region.

The Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanon-Israel border, and Iran-backed armed groups have targeted US forces in Syria and Iraq. The United States has carried out strikes in Syria in response.

The Houthis have emerged as a major player in the Arabian Peninsula, withstanding efforts to dislodge them by a Saudi-led intervention in Yemen that began in 2015 with the support of the US.

The Saudi bombardment was criticised for contributing to a humanitarian catastrophe in the country and inflicting many civilian casualties, while the Houthis eventually expanded their control over areas of northern Yemen.

The war in Yemen has reached an uneasy stalemate, with fighting at a standstill even as both sides failed to renew a United Natiions-backed truce that expired in October.