Third anniversary of Beirut blast and 6 months since Turkey and Syria’s earthquakes – right here’s the Center East this week.
The US beefs up its army presence within the Gulf within the wake of confrontations with Iran | Tons of demand justice in Lebanon on the third anniversary of Beirut blast | And we take inventory, six months after devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Right here’s the Center East this week:
The build-up between Tehran and Washington
Relating to US escalation and financial warfare with Iran, analysts say the insurance policies of President Joe Biden are paying homage to the period underneath Donald Trump, his Republican predecessor.
This week the US beefed up its presence within the Gulf by sending greater than 3,000 troops soldiers on two warships, in an obvious response to the seizures of a number of civilian ships by Iran. However analysts warn that the army buildup dangers a “harmful” confrontation with Iran.
Since 2019, Iran has seized quite a few ships within the Strait of Hormuz, the slender choke level that gives ships with entry to the Gulf, to strain the West over negotiations relating to Tehran’s collapsed nuclear cope with world powers.
As tensions ramped up this week, Iran equipped its Revolutionary Guard’s navy with drones and 600-mile vary missiles. Tehran additionally touted that it had obtained supersonic cruise missile technology.
“What do the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean must do with America? What’s your corporation being right here?” Iranian armed forces spokesperson Brigadier-Normal Abolfazl Shekarchi mentioned this week over the US buildup.
Three years on, Beirut calls for justice
It was a sombre anniversary in Lebanon this week. Three years have passed for the reason that catastrophic explosion in Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020 that killed greater than 220 individuals, injured no less than 6,500 others and destroyed massive components of the capital.
The federal government line was that the explosion was on account of haphazardly saved ammonium nitrate, however the investigation into one of many largest non-nuclear explosions in historical past continues to be at a standstill, with survivors offended and searching for solutions.
Tons of of protesters marched alongside victims’ households to demand justice, with some protesters carrying a Lebanese flag splattered with red paint to symbolise blood.
With Lebanon embroiled in a crippling financial disaster, Michael Fakhri argues that a global investigation into the explosion would assist the nation avert collapse. In any case, he mentioned, the state of the Lebanese economic system and the stalled investigation each come up from a tradition of impunity.
Quake-ravaged Turkey and Syria, six months later
It’s been six months since two devastating earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria, killing almost 4,000 individuals in Syria and roughly 50,000 in Turkey. And other people within the areas are nonetheless reeling.
In Turkey’s southern Hatay province, water shortages coupled with scorching summer time temperatures are leading to illnesses. “My kids are nauseous, I’m afraid they are going to be poisoned,” mentioned Gul Basaran, who now lives in a tent along with her 4 kids exterior the city of Samandag, on Hatay’s Mediterranean coast, after their dwelling was destroyed.
And in northwestern Syria, a tent hospital was erected in an urgent response to the earthquake catastrophe, however the area’s healthcare sector continues to be struggling, largely because of the shortage of help supplied by worldwide organisations.
Harvest season can also be now upon Turkey, its southeastern area a serious agricultural one often known as the Turkish Fertile Crescent. However after the quakes, will the country’s food and farming ever be the same, as its individuals stay traumatised whereas farmland lies devastated?
And now for one thing totally different
![People attend the Sebeiba Festival, a yearly celebration of Tuareg culture](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/33QA8YA-highres-1691683400.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
A vibrant pageant deep within the Sahara oasis of Djanet that ends in a hard-fought music and dance competitors between two rival villages? That’s the three,000 year-old Sebeiba festival that Algeria’s Tuareg group holds annually.
The gorgeous 10-day affair is taken into account a UNESCO ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ occasion.
Briefly
Quote of the Week
“We meet our water wants with the water coming from the mountains however the water flows little or no. We wait 20 minutes for 5 litres of water […] Might God not put anybody within the scenario we’re in.” | — Gul Basaran, who lives in Hatay, alongside Turkey’s quake-ravaged Mediterranean coast.