Sam Menassa

Sam Menassa

A State in a Hole and a Party in a Tunnel

Hezbollah recently released a video depicting a military facility in which vehicles loaded with missiles move across extensive, fortified, and illuminated tunnels. There had been talk about Hezbollah's tunnels before it made these unprecedented revelations. However, the matter did not receive the…

The Failures of Piecemeal Diplomacy and the Day After

All eyes are on the negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. Despite the strenuous efforts, however, the picture does not seem rosy. The talks could falter as they had before, bringing us back to square one. Even if we assume that the negotiations will succeed, a compromise is reached…

From Kidnapped Hostages to a Kidnapped Region

Benjamin Netanyahu was not content with kidnapping Israel itself, Palestine, Lebanon, and perhaps Syria. He has decided to take the entire region hostage before finishing the Gaza war and drag it to the place it wants to avoid. No one following regional developments a year ago, and no experts in…

The Ceilings of a Hypothetical Dialogue with Hezbollah

In light of the current impasse in Lebanon, there has been a lot of talk about dialogue. However, there are differences around the nature of this dialogue: Is it a dialogue or consultation? Between groups or a duo? The country will be back in the labyrinth of futile debates. Meanwhile, the…

The Implications of the Gaza War Ending for Lebanon

A ceasefire agreement between Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas hangs in the balance. The two men principally concerned know that it would spell the end of the war, and that ending the war means the beginning of their political end. The war will end one day, whether through a negotiated ceasefire that…

Peace Amid Mutual Deterrence and the Impotence of Extremists

The World Economic Forum held in Riyadh last week strengthened the momentum of the ongoing negotiations. Its speakers could be heard over the sounds of the weapons fired in Gaza, and the white smoke rising from Riyadh overshadowed the black smoke over Tel Aviv. A ceasefire that leads to the release…

Israel Embraced, Israel Encircled

The Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel, as well as the response of the US and its Western allies in defense of Israel on the night of the attack, have brought to light many revelations that go beyond the exceptional nature of the attack itself. Firstly, they showed that the US and Western…

The Banner of Gaza and Iran’s Unruly Defiance

Per the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Israel’s airstrike on an Iranian consulate building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus killed seven military advisors. Among them was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a prominent leader in its foreign arm, the Quds Force, who became the third to be killed by…

Lebanon Is Its Own Enemy

The threat of the fires in Gaza engulfing Lebanon is growing, and there is now a real possibility of the mini war Hezbollah launched in support of Hamas turning into a border conflict that encompasses the entire country as the escalation continues and the target zone spreads from the south to the…

Sinwar, Netanyahu and the Al-Aqsa Flood 

The Ramadan truce between Hamas and Israel that we had been promised does not seem forthcoming. In fact, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yahya al-Sinwar could be dragging the region in general, and their countries in particular, to a dangerous place, as they are accounting only for their own personal fates…