Al-Burj refugee camp crime,Lebanese army receives an accused, and Hamas condemns "National Security"

The Lebanese army announced that it had received a suspect in the shooting crime in the "Al-Burj Al-Shimali" camp for Palestinian refugees, while the "Hamas" movement blamed the "Palestinian National Security Forces".

The Lebanese army announced on Sunday that the "Palestinian National Security" forces handed over a Palestinian accused of shooting in the "Al-Burj Al-Shamali" refugee camp in the south of the country, which led to deaths.

This came in a statement issued by the Lebanese Army Command, hours after 4 people were killed and others wounded in a shooting during the funeral of a Hamas member, Hamza Shaheen, who fell in an explosion in the camp two days ago.

The Lebanese army statement said, "The Palestinian National Security Command handed over the Intelligence Directorate of the Lebanese Army, the Palestinian (M.D.), accused of the shooting that took place on Sunday afternoon, and the investigation was launched under the supervision of the competent judiciary."

The National Security Forces are affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is the body that manages security in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

For its part, Hamas held the "Palestinian National Security" directly responsible for what it called "the crime of murder and premeditated assassination" in the camp.

This came in a statement by the movement hours after the shooting incident, which a source from Hamas confirmed that "a Fatah movement center is its source," according to his statement to Anadolu Agency.

However, the commander of the Palestinian National Security Forces in the camp, Talal Al-Abed Qassem, denied these accusations, expressing his readiness to open an investigation into the incident.

Hamas said in its statement: "We hold the so-called Palestinian National Security Forces directly responsible for the crime of murder and premeditated assassination, and we hold the leadership of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and its security services in Lebanon fully responsible for this crime."

Hamas considered that "this horrific crime is entirely in service of the Israeli occupation, which is always trying to target the Palestinian camps and overthrow the right of return."

Hamas called on the Fatah movement and all Palestinian, Lebanese and Islamic factions, forces and parties "to condemn and denounce the sabotage scheme of the Palestinian national security forces that only serves the occupation."

It also demanded that "the killers and all those connected with the massacre be handed over to the Lebanese authorities and brought to justice."

In turn, the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Dabour, condemned the shooting incident in the camp.

According to a statement issued by the Palestinian embassy, ​​Dabour considered "what happened is an attack on all of us and the security and stability of our camps," saying: "We will collectively fail the destructive project of the Palestinian community, and we will remain as our people promised us, united, our concern is one, our pain is one, our goal is one and our loyalty to our people is united."

The number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is about 200,000, distributed among 12 camps, most of which are under the influence of Palestinian factions, and some of them witness tension and armed clashes from time to time.

India and then Brazil Where does the Arab world secure its basic food needs?

Because of their inability to produce food and achieve self-sufficiency, Arab countries import more than half of their basic food needs from several foreign sources, which made it an important market for commercial competition, whose importance has grown following the spread of the Corona pandemic and its repercussions.

In addition to military security and water security, achieving food security as a prerequisite for survival is of great interest to the countries of the Arab world, which have not been able to bridge their deficit in achieving self-sufficiency despite all the efforts and strategies that they have put in place and worked with for decades.

With the high rates of demographic growth in recent years, these countries have increased the need to import more basic foodstuffs, for fear of the specter of famine, which threatens many of them.

Meanwhile, many foreign countries have seized the opportunity to benefit from this commercial market, whose needs are growing day by day, and are still unable to meet them on their own. In this context, many parties have worked to diversify their products in response to the requirements of the Arab market, and competition has increased accordingly in recent years, with some of these countries trying to overcome the challenges imposed by the spread of the Corona pandemic, including the dismantling of global supply chains.

Indian-Brazilian competition in the Arab market

Brazil has maintained its position as the most important provider of basic foodstuffs to the Arab world, outperforming many global competitors, including the United States, European Union countries, India and others.

However, like the rest of the world that has suffered from the negative repercussions of the spread of the new Corona virus, Brazil has witnessed a sharp decline in its food exports to Arab countries, for the first time in about 15 years.

Experts and analysts explain this, that the Corona pandemic has damaged logistics in the world and led to the disruption of supply chains. Thus, it is natural for this to cast a shadow on Brazil, which depends on traditional shipping methods and occupies a geographical location far from the Arab market.

According to a report issued by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in 2020, Brazil acquired about 8.15% of the total agricultural business products imported by about 22 Arab countries, compared to 8.25% for India of this trade.

For the first time, India surpassed Brazil in supplying the Arab world with its basic food needs.

India's superiority over Brazil is mainly due to its geographical proximity to some Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, which allowed it to ship fruits, vegetables, sugar, grains and meat in a short period of time not exceeding a week. Whereas, Brazil needs about 60 days to reach these markets.

However, this disparity does not cancel out the fact that, despite all the challenges, Brazil still represents an important pole in supplying the Arab world with its food needs. Brazilian agricultural exports to Arab countries increased by only 1.4 percent in value to $8.17 billion in 2020.

While the Arab market represents a valuable opportunity and a theater for commercial competition between various foreign countries, it represents a dangerous indicator for these countries that have not yet overcome their inability to bridge this gap with the increase in their population, to become threatened by famine and food shortages.

A report issued by the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development of the League of Arab States indicates that the value of Arab food imports has been estimated at $100 billion annually, and the countries of the Arab world import about 63.5% of their wheat and corn needs. It also imports about 55% of its rice needs, 65% of its sugar, 55% of its vegetable oils, and about 30% of its poultry meat consumption.

Brazil turns to the Islamic world

Brazil did not stop at covering the needs of the Arab market, but in its eagerness to increase its share in the global food trade, it tried to turn to the market of the Islamic world, which includes about 57 countries, and work to meet its food requirements.

In this context, the Brazilian Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Trade Relations, Flavio Pettarillo, stated that: "Brazil, which is the world's largest exporter of foodstuffs such as coffee, beef and soybeans, is keen to increase its exports of agricultural products to Islamic countries."

Several media reports spoke of intense talks between Brazil, Indonesia, Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt, to supply them with other agricultural products other than corn, beef, poultry, and raw sugar.

In a related context, Brazil is one of the most important exporters and producers of halal meat in the world, including beef and chicken, which are raised and slaughtered according to Islamic conditions and controls. Thus, it was able to compete with many countries in accessing the Islamic market.

A report issued by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce showed that while OIC countries import foodstuffs worth $190.5 billion, including wheat, corn, sugar, rice and milk, the value of Brazilian exports in this amount is about $14.1 billion.

It is still trying to expand its participation in the food market of the countries of the Arab and Islamic world, especially with the beginning of the logistical problem receding during the past months