Special interview: There is ‘a very strong consensus’ in favor of Yemen truce continuation, says US envoy Tim Lenderking

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US Special Envoy Lenderking arrived in Riyadh on Saturday, to discuss peaceful solutions to the war, and the FSO Safer tanker. (AN photo by Huda Bashatah)
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Updated 27 November 2022
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Special interview: There is ‘a very strong consensus’ in favor of Yemen truce continuation, says US envoy Tim Lenderking

  • Washington’s point man for Yemen says Houthis face complete isolation if they opt for a military solution
  • He expressed hope that Houthis’ backer Iran will match its words supporting extended truce with action

RIYADH: There is a very strong internal and international consensus in favor of continuation of the truce in Yemen, with all of the regional countries supporting a peaceful resolution, not a return to war, Timothy Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, has told Arab News.

If the Houthis opt for a military solution, they will be completely isolated, he said during an interview with Arab News in Riyadh, where he arrived on Saturday as part of a diplomatic push to extend a UN-mediated truce in Yemen into a permanent arrangement.

Lenderking is also expected to continue to rally support for UN efforts to raise awareness of the threat posed by the stricken oil storage vessel, Safer, in the Red Sea, and the funding required to address the ticking environmental time bomb.

After more than seven years of war and humanitarian crisis, the truce between the Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, and the UN-recognized government has been extended from two to six months and has largely held.

Lenderking considers the extension an opportunity for the Iran-backed Houthis to show good faith and good will, and respond to the desire of the Yemeni people for peace.

“From what we know after talking to Yemenis inside Yemen and around the world, there is no appetite for a return to war. There is no capacity for anybody to wish to see this happen,” he said.




US Special Envoy Lenderking being interviewed by Arab News' Aisha Fareed in Riyadh. (AN photo by Huda Bashatah)

Lenderking, a career member of the senior foreign service who was picked for the special envoy’s post by US President Joe Biden on Feb. 4, 2021, said that the US recognizes the leadership the Yemen government has shown in terms of flexibility with facilitating the entry of oil derivatives ships into the port of Hodeidah.

Deploring the fuel crisis that resulted from the Houthis’ “altering of the standard operating procedures” by which oil supplies move into Yemen, he said: “It created a problem, and immediately produced long gas lines in Sanaa such as we had seen before the truce.”

Washington does not support any bureaucratic procedures that obstruct the movement of oil, Lenderking clarified, adding that free movement of oil without any impediments into Yemen is, for the US, a fundamental and longstanding position.

Acknowledging that the government’s role in facilitating the entry of oil tankers into Hodeidah port is a vital part of the truce (which went into effect on April 2 this year), he said the movement of oil has an immediate and positive impact on Yemenis.

“It reduces the fuel lines, powers the food mills, and brings fuel to hospitals and schools and indeed the entire transportation network. It’s one of the cornerstones of what we feel has been a very successful truce,” he said.




Lenderking said the movement of oil into Yemen, thanks to the truce, is having an immediate and positive impact on the lives of ordinary people. (AFP)

Illustrating his point, Lenderking said that 21,000 passengers have flown from Sanaa airport on commercial airlines for the first time since 2016, and there will be more destinations becoming available.

Also as a result of the truce, he said, there are 60 percent fewer civilian casualties in Yemen — yet another development that he believes demonstrates what the agreement can bring in terms of tangible benefit to the Yemeni people.

The Houthis have publicly committed to the terms of the truce when it was extended on Aug. 2, and according to Lenderking, the US is counting on them to continue to support the deal going forward in October in an expanded format.

“We see all of those (pillars of the truce including the fuel ships and commercial flights) expanding after October, bringing additional benefit to the Yemenis and really changing their lives in a very positive way,” he said.

Lenderking said that the international consensus exists among the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, notably the Chinese, the US, the Russians, who all see this conflict in the same way — that the pressing issues must be resolved in a political context through negotiation.




Houthi fighters, reportedly funded and armed by Iran, have contributed largely to the destruction of Yemen. (AFP file)

He said that even Iran has welcomed the truce in each of its iterations and that there is a considerable amount of international attention focused on Yemen at this moment, particularly heading into October.

Elaborating on Iran’s role in the conflict, Lenderking said that the relationship between the Houthis and Iran has been mostly a “lethal” one, with the Iranians having encouraged the Houthis at times to launch attacks.




A picture taken on June 19, 2018 shows debris of Iranian-made Ababil drones, which the UAE military says were used by Houthi rebels in Yemen in battles against coalition forces. (AFP)

“They’ve supported the Houthis in developing their military capability, their UAV capability. And that’s been very negative,” he said. “This fuels rather than tempers the conflict.”

Nevertheless, Lenderking expressed hope that Tehran would match its words — welcoming the truce and backing an extended cease-fire — with action by supporting the current positive trajectory.

“There is a lot at stake here,” he said. “When we talk about the Yemen conflict, you have not only the livelihoods and the terrible humanitarian situation in Yemen, but you also have the American lives in Saudi Arabia and around the Gulf that are put at risk by attacks on these countries.

“We’ve seen oil and other infrastructure in these countries attacked by the Houthis.”

BIO

Name: Timothy A. Lenderking

Designation: Deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Gulf Affairs in the Near East Bureau, Department of State

Previous posts: Deputy chief of mission, US Embassy in Riyadh Senior democracy adviser, US Embassy in Baghdad

Education: Masters in history and international relations, University of Washington (1989)

All things considered, Lenderking says now is the moment for Yemen and its leaders to embrace the possibility of peace — through the truce, a durable cease-fire and political negotiations.

Besides the war, another issue related to Yemen that is of growing international concern is the fate of the derelict vessel FSO Safer. In recent months, the UN, with the support of the US and the Netherlands, has raised $70 million in contributions for the safe transfer of the oil stored in the Safer.

The Safer, decaying off the port of Ras Isa north of Hodeidah, is believed to contain 1.1 million barrels of oil — four times the amount that leaked into Alaska’s Prince William Sound as a result of the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.




There is growing international concern surrounding the fate of the derelict vessel FSO Safer. (AFP)

The vessel’s structure has been left exposed to humidity and corrosion with little or no maintenance since the war started in 2015.

Lenderking, who is spearheading the salvage effort, is optimistic about preventing what he has described as a “looming disaster.”

He said that there is considerable support not only from countries in this region but also from Europe and the US, which is one of the largest donors to the initiative, with a pledge of $10 million, alongside Saudi Arabia and other countries.

“Obviously, an oil spill of a magnitude four times the size of the Exxon Valdez will be devastating for the coastline of the Red Sea, through which so much of international commerce traverses,” Lenderking said. “It will exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Yemen if the ports along the western coast are blocked to oil ships.”

According to Lenderking, the private sector has done a good job, but could do more to support the dismantling effort, which he said would benefit international commerce, maritime diversity and trade, in addition to helping Yemen rebound from the humanitarian crisis.

The first phase envisages the removal of the oil from the Safer onto a more secure vessel. However, neither the funding ($80 million) of this phase has been completed, nor is a reliable political agreement in place.

Still, Lenderking believes that the salvage initiative has been worthwhile, noting that a great deal of progress has been made since it was launched and expressing satisfaction with the leadership that Saudi Arabia, the US, the Netherlands, the UN and other donors have shown in the matter.




Lenderking is optimistic about preventing what he has described as a “looming disaster” off the western Yemeni coast. (AFP)

“We’re not there yet, and of course the key is to actually move the oil off the Safer before the tanker explodes or starts to leak, and that’s really the concern and that could happen at any time,” he said. “I mean experts have been warning about this for years.”

Lenderking pointed out that is the first time has been an agreement to move oil off the Safer and put it onto a safer vessel, an objective he is “confident” will be met this year.

“That’s a realistic goal, and I believe at the UN General Assembly later this month there will be an event which marks the progress made, and calls on donors to continue to support this effort,” he said.

 


Syria local govt says Israeli bombardment kills 9 civilians

Updated 24 sec ago
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Syria local govt says Israeli bombardment kills 9 civilians

  • The shelling near the city of Nawa came after an Israeli incursion
Damascus: The provincial government in southern Syria’s Daraa said nine civilians were killed and several injured in Israeli bombardment following an “Israeli incursion.”
The shelling near the city of Nawa came after an “Israeli incursion, with “the occupation forces advancing for the first time to this depth,” it said in a statement posted to Telegram.
Israeli military says ‘responded’ to fire
The Israeli military said Thursday it had responded to fire from gunmen during an operation in southern Syria, adding that it had fired at and “eliminated” several fighters in ground and air strikes.
“The presence of weapons in southern Syria poses a threat to the State of Israel,” a military spokesperson said, adding that the army would “not allow the existence of a military threat in Syria and will act against it.”

Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children

Updated 03 April 2025
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Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children

  • “We’re losing two people a day to UXO (unexploded ordnance) at the moment,” says former UK military deminer
  • UN Mine Action Service says it could take 14 years to make the coastal territory safe from unexploded bombs

 

JERUSALEM: War has left Gaza littered with unexploded bombs that will take years to clear, with children drawn to metal casings maimed or even killed when they try to pick them up, a demining expert said.
Nicholas Orr, a former UK military deminer, told AFP after a mission to the war-battered Palestinian territory that “we’re losing two people a day to UXO (unexploded ordnance) at the moment.”
According to Orr, most of the casualties are children out of school desperate for something to do, searching through the rubble of bombed-out buildings sometimes for lack of better playthings.
“They’re bored, they’re running around, they find something curious, they play with it, and that’s the end,” he said.
Among the victims was 15-year-old Ahmed Azzam, who lost his leg to an explosive left in the rubble as he returned to his home in the southern city of Rafah after months of displacement.
“We were inspecting the remains of our home and there was a suspicious object in the rubble,” Azzam told AFP.
“I didn’t know it was explosive, but suddenly it detonated,” he said, causing “severe wounds to both my legs, which led to the amputation of one of them.”
He was one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning home during a truce that brought short-lived calm to Gaza after more than 15 months of war, before Israel resumed its bombardment and military operations last month.
For Azzam and other children, the return was marred by the dangers of leftover explosives.

Children are most vulnerable
Demining expert Orr, who was in Gaza for charity Handicap International, said that while no one is safe from the threat posed by unexploded munitions, children are especially vulnerable.
Some ordnance is like “gold to look at, so they’re quite attractive to kids,” he said.
“You pick that up and that detonates. That’s you and your family gone, and the rest of your building.”
Another common scenario involved people back from displacement, said Orr, giving an example of “a father of a family who’s moved back to his home to reclaim his life, and finds that there’s UXO in his garden.”
“So he tries to help himself and help his family by moving the UXO, and there’s an accident.”
With fighting ongoing and humanitarian access limited, little data is available, but in January the UN Mine Action Service said that “between five and 10 percent” of weapons fired into Gaza failed to detonate.
It could take 14 years to make the coastal territory safe from unexploded bombs, the UN agency said.
Alexandra Saieh, head of advocacy for Save The Children, said unexploded ordnance is a common sight in the Gaza Strip, where her charity operates.
“When our teams go on field they see UXOs all the time. Gaza is littered with them,” she said.

Catastrophic situation
For children who lose limbs from blasts, “the situation is catastrophic,” said Saieh, because “child amputees require specialized long-term care... that’s just not available in Gaza.”
In early March, just before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza. That included prosthetics that could have helped avoid long-term mobility loss, Saieh said.
Unexploded ordnance comes in various forms, Orr said. In Gaza’s north, where ground battles raged for months, there are things like “mortars, grenades, and a lot of bullets.”
In Rafah, where air strikes were more intense than ground combat, “it’s artillery projectiles, it’s airdrop projectiles,” which can often weigh dozens of kilograms, he added.
Orr said he was unable to obtain permission to conduct bomb disposal in Gaza, as Israeli aerial surveillance could have mistaken him for a militant attempting to repurpose unexploded ordnance into weapons.
He also said that while awareness-raising could help Gazans manage the threat, the message doesn’t always travel fast enough.
“People see each other moving it and think, ‘Oh, they’ve done it, I can get away with it,’” Orr said, warning that it was difficult for a layperson to know which bombs might still explode, insisting it was not worth the risk.
“You’re just playing against the odds, it’s a numbers game.”


Libya ‘crackdown’ forces aid groups to cease operations: diplomats

Members of a military unit deployed in the western city of Zawiya on May 14, 2023, following clashes between armed groups. (AFP)
Updated 03 April 2025
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Libya ‘crackdown’ forces aid groups to cease operations: diplomats

  • Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi

TUNIS: Diplomats in Libya have said in a letter to authorities seen by AFP that several international humanitarian organizations were forced to suspend operations after threats by security services and forced resignations.
In the letter, which was obtained by AFP on Wednesday, 17 mainly European ambassadors and a UN official accuse the Internal Security Agency (ISA) of an “ongoing crackdown” on non-governmental groups and humanitarian aid workers.
In war-torn Libya split between two rival administrations, the ISA reports to the interior ministry in the capital Tripoli, seat of the UN-recognized government.
“Between March 13 and 27, the ISA summoned at least 18 staff members from six international NGOs for questioning,” said the letter addressed to the Tripoli-based foreign ministry.
ISA agents “seized some of their passports,” forced them to “resign from their positions” and pledge in writing never to work for an international NGO again, the letter added.
It also said the security service “sealed some of their offices.”
Beyond the six groups directly affected, the diplomats said that “many other organizations are suspending activities as a matter of precaution.”
AFP was not able to independently verify the claims made in the letter, dated March 27.
The authorities in Tripoli did not immediately comment on the matter, but announced a press conference later on Wednesday to address “the work of international NGOs.”
Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
It remains split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The diplomats’ letter does not name the organizations affected by the ISA’s alleged measures, but a source familiar with the issue said on condition of anonymity that they include the International Rescue Committee, the International Medical Corps and the Danish Refugee Council.
Contacted by AFP, the Danish Refugee Council said it “could not comment” on the matter. There was no immediate comment from the other groups.
The source said that some foreign NGO staff members had been ordered to leave Libya, while others had been barred from returning after recent trips abroad.
The source mentioned that the authorities had already imposed visa restrictions on foreign humanitarian workers between July 2022 and December 2023, but operations had continued using local staff or individuals who did not require visas.
In their letter, the diplomats from the European Union, France, Britain and other countries as well as a top UN humanitarian representative voiced concern about the impact of the measures.
The crackdown including detention and questioning of staff members has had a “particularly alarming” effect “on the provision of humanitarian primary health assistance,” the letter said.
It urged authorities to allow the NGOs to “reopen their offices and safely restart humanitarian operations as soon as possible.”
It also demanded that seized passports be returned to staff members, and “any resignation letters or pledges signed at the ISA office” invalidated.

 


Will US pressure on Iraq succeed in bringing Iran-backed militias to heel?

Updated 03 April 2025
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Will US pressure on Iraq succeed in bringing Iran-backed militias to heel?

  • The Popular Mobilization Forces are formally part of Iraq’s state security apparatus, but include powerful militias loyal to Iran’s IRGC
  • A long-debated Iraqi law aims to regulate the PMF, but critics argue it will do little to curb their ties to Iran or ease American pressure

LONDON: It was a message that was both unequivocal and uncompromising. Iraq must rein in the sprawling network of militia groups that take their orders from Iran, and if they threaten American interests in the country, the US will respond.

The comments were delivered last week by Tammy Bruce, the US State Department spokesperson, in response to a question on a new law being wrangled over in Iraq about the future of the Popular Mobilization Forces.

A military parade held by Iraq's army, Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces), and the Police force, drives down a highway during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the defeat of the Daesh group, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on December 10, 2024. (AFP)/File)

The PMF, an umbrella group for dozens of militias in Iraq, includes many that take their money and orders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, despite belonging to Iraq’s formal state security apparatus.

Along with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza, they are considered part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance” — a network of proxy militias throughout the Middle East loyal to the IRGC.

America’s renewed military campaign against the Houthis, along with the degradation of Hamas and Hezbollah by Israel and the fall of Iranian ally Bashar Assad in Syria, has placed increased focus on Iraq’s Iran-backed militias.

They remain the only major Iranian proxy in the region to avoid significant Israeli or US military action since the Gaza conflict began in October 2023.

Doubts have been cast over whether the long-proposed Iraqi law to assert greater central government control over the militias would have much of an effect — or sufficiently appease US concerns.

But domestic events in Iraq, along with US President Donald Trump’s renewal of the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran to suspend its nuclear program, place the PMF increasingly in the firing line.

There is a lot of pressure from the Trump administration on the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to rein in the Iran-backed militias, Renad Mansour, a senior Iraq research fellow at Chatham House, told Arab News. “Especially to stop any kind of attacks on American citizens or interests in Iraq.”

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during an event commemorating the 21st anniversary of the creation of "Asaib Ahl al-Haq", one of the member factions of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitaries, in Baghdad on May 3, 2024. (AFP)

Mansour said the policy stemmed from renewed US efforts to combat Iranian influence in the region. “It’s very clear that the Trump administration is looking at Iraq as an important vehicle where Iran maintains economic and other types of authority,” he said.

The PMF, known in Arabic as Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi, was created in 2014 in response to a fatwa issued by the country’s top Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, after the extremist group Daesh seized swathes of territory.

The sprawling network of armed groups included many armed and funded by Iran. Many came from existing militias mobilized by the IRGC’s extraterritorial Quds Force.

Members of Al-Hashd al-Shaabi faction walk near the frontline on October 21, 2016, near the village of Tall al-Tibah, some 30 kilometrers south of Mosul, during an operation to retake the main hub city from the Daesh group jihadists. (AFP)

The PMF comprised approximately 70 predominantly Shiite armed groups made up of around 250,000 fighters. They played a major role in the defeat of Daesh in Iraq alongside the Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish Peshmerga, and the US-led coalition.

After the extremist group was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and attention turned to its holdouts in Syria, questions began to be raised over the purpose of the PMF.

A flimsy Iraqi law in 2016 attempted to exert more state control over the militias and included some basic details about their structure and employment terms.

IN NUMBERS

• 250k Fighters the PMF claims to have under arms.

• $3.3 billion Iraqi state funding at the PMF’s disposal.

Meanwhile, the PMF developed political wings that contested elections. These party blocs were accused by political rivals and Western governments of causing instability and acting in Iran’s interest.

The militias suffered a major blow in January 2020 when the first Trump administration killed PMF chief Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis alongside Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike near Baghdad airport.

Later that year, Al-Sistani, who had given the PMF its religious legitimacy when it was originally formed, withdrew his own factions as concerns over Iranian influence grew.

Iraqis participate in a candle light vigil marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, near Baghdad's International Airport on January 2, 2024. (AFP/File)

Yet the PMF managed to rebound from these setbacks, increasing both its funding and armory, including Iranian drones and missiles.

It has also been at the center of domestic turmoil, with its factions accused of an assassination attempt on then-Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in November 2021 and militias clashing with supporters of cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr in 2022.

After the Gaza war began in October 2023, the militias launched drones and missiles at Israel and carried out dozens of attacks on US bases in Iraq, where some 2,500 troops remain as part of the coalition mission against Daesh.

In February last year, the Biden administration bombed 85 militia targets in Iraq and Syria after three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a Jordanian outpost known as Tower 22. 

Maxar satellite imagery of Tower 22 which houses a small number of US.Troops in northern Jordan.  (Satellite image (c) 2024 Maxar Technologies/via AFP)

The US said senior commanders from the Kataib Hezbollah militia were among those killed. Since then, Iran has urged its militias in Iraq to refrain from attacking US interests.

“The Iraqi militias’ harassment of US targets in Iraq ended when the Biden administration took out three top commanders from the Kataib Hezbollah,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Arab News.

“This signaled to militia leaders that their safety became at risk and their attacks stopped.”

The second Trump administration made clear in February when it issued the National Security Presidential Memorandum that Iraq’s militias would be central to renewed pressure on Iraq to reduce economic ties to Iran.

The other front is for Iraq to reduce dollar transactions with Tehran, particularly through cutting purchases of energy.

Demonstrators,one with a portrait of Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, shout slogans during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 5, 2024. (AFP)

But there is also the wider geopolitical pressure on the militias as a result of US and Israeli attacks on Iran’s other proxies in the region, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

“The Iraq militias became the last resort for all other Iranian militias across the region,” said Abdul-Hussain. “Since Israel crushed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, the pro-Iran militia weight has shifted to Iraq.”

On the economic pressure now being exerted on Iran, he said the US is aware that the IRGC is siphoning US dollars from Iraq’s oil revenues, mainly using the $3.3 billion budget allocated to the PMF.

In response to this renewed pressure, the PMF Service and Retirement Law was introduced to the Iraqi parliament last week after months of wrangling over its contents.

A ship fires missiles at an undisclosed location in Yemen after US President Donald Trump launched military strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis on March 15, 2025. (US Central Command/Handout via REUTERS)

The bill aims to fully integrate the PMF into Iraq’s state security forces. However, critics say it has been hijacked by rival Shiite blocs jostling for advantage within the organization. 

In its current form, the bill is unlikely to fill the US with confidence that the PMF will fully submit to central government control and renounce fealty to Iran. Abdul-Hussain described the bill as a “total smoke screen.”

He said: “Parliament is trying to enshrine PMF perks by law for fear that the next executive chief might not be Iran-friendly and could thus cut the $3.3 billion with a decree. Laws trump decrees, and that’s why the Iraqi parliament is racing to enshrine PMF funding in a law.

“The irony is that the same law does not demand that the organization follow a military order or be included under the military’s rank or supervision. They want to take the money but keep the hierarchy in the hands of the IRGC.”
 

 


Israel’s military faces backlash over AI ‘Ghibli-style’ social media posts

Updated 02 April 2025
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Israel’s military faces backlash over AI ‘Ghibli-style’ social media posts

  • Attempt to jump on trend of posting AI-generated images in style of famed Japanese animation studio

LONDON: An attempt by the Israeli military to jump on the bandwagon of a social media trend that uses AI-generated images in the style of a legendary Japanese animation studio has spectacularly backfired.

The internet has been flooded by images in the style of Studio Ghibli after ChatGPT maker OpenAI launched a new image generator last week.

The craze has intensified debate over the extent to which artificial intelligence models breach copyright of artists. It also contrasts the painstaking work that goes into meticulously crafting the beautiful hand-drawn films produced by Studio Ghibli with the instant gratification culture fed by social media and the emergence of AI models.

Not wanting to be left out, the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday posted four images depicting different branches of its military in the Ghibli style on its social media accounts.

“We thought we’d also hop on the trend,” the post said.

What followed was a barrage of responses, many angry, many humorous, denouncing and mocking the post.

The images were shared as Israel intensified the bombing of Gaza where it has already killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and forced the population to flee their homes in an action it began in October 2023.

Many responded with AI-generated images in the Ghibli style on X that depicted Israeli brutality in the Palestinian territory.

The counter-images depicted Israeli soldiers mocking a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian child, and IDF troops pointing rifles at women and children against a backdrop of devastation.

“Colonizing art too,” read one reply in reference to Israel’s building of illegal settlements and its occupation of Palestinian land.

Other users pointed out that Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, is a staunch pacifist and that many of his films contain strong anti-war messages.

He famously refused to travel to the US in 2003 to attend the Academy Awards where his work “Spirited Away” won an Oscar.

A video from 2016 appears to show Miyazaki’s disdain for AI-generated imagery. A clip from a documentary shows Miyazaki saying he was “utterly disgusted” after seeing an AI demo.