Hezbollah ‘fully prepared’ for escalation as tension mounts in southern Lebanon

Fighters of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah marching during a military parade commemorating their
Fighters of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah marching during a military parade commemorating their "Martyr's Day" parade, in the city of Baalbek in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 28 January 2024
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Hezbollah ‘fully prepared’ for escalation as tension mounts in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah ‘fully prepared’ for escalation as tension mounts in southern Lebanon
  • Militant group, Israel in ‘most intense exchange of fire’ since October, source says

BEIRUT: Hezbollah intensified operations against Israeli military sites over the last 24 hours in what a security source said was the “most intense exchange of fire” since Oct. 8.

Over 12 hours, the group targeted nine Israeli sites and gatherings, and mourned four fighters who were killed in the Israeli shelling of two homes in Beit Lif and Deir Aames.

Offensive operations escalated from Friday night to Saturday.




Speaker Nabih Berri leads a parliament session in Beirut, Lebanon. (Reuters)

Hezbollah said that its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers south of the Al-Abbad site with missiles throughout Friday night until noon on Saturday.

HIGHLIGHT

Israeli warplanes carried out raids on the outskirts of Naqoura, Aita Al-Shaab and Blida towns.

Another gathering of soldiers was targeted in the vicinity of Doviv Barracks and Khirbet Ma’ar military base.

A Hezbollah statement said that it had targeted the vicinity of Jal Al-Alam with Burkan missiles.

A building in the Avivim settlement and positions and a deployment of soldiers near Metula were also targeted with the “appropriate weapons.”

In addition, a Hezbollah sniper unit targeted the new surveillance apparatus raised on Israel’s Zar’it Barracks and a gathering of soldiers on Cobra Hill with two Burkan missiles.

The militant group later announced that it targeted “spy equipment in the Al-Bahri site with the appropriate weapons.”

A security source described the military escalation over the past 24 hours as “the most intense since October, in terms of exchanging shelling and rounds of rockets.”

On Saturday morning, the coastal border area of Ras Al-Naqoura was subjected to Israeli machine gun fire.

Israeli warplanes, meanwhile, carried out raids on the outskirts of Naqoura, Aita Al-Shaab and Blida towns.

Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of the villages of Houla, Al-Dhaira, Ayta ash Shab and Tayr Harfa.

Hezbollah held a funeral procession for four fighters who were killed in two raids on two uninhabited houses in Beit Lif and Deir Aames.

They were Mohammed Ali Mazeh from Tayr Felsay, Islam Mohammed Zalzali from Deir Qanun En Nahr, Taleb Yahya Balhas from Seddiqine and Ali Fawzi Melhem from Majdal Selm.

During Zalzali’s funeral, Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzedine said the southern front would “remain standing and open to support Gaza.”

He added: “In case of any development that expands this war, the resistance will not stand idly by. It is fully prepared to respond to any folly.

“It will be on the lookout and fight back twice as hard and deal a blow that this enemy could have never anticipated,” said the MP.

Ezzedine’s remarks came as Israeli news outlets reported that sirens were sounded in multiple settlements near the Lebanon border due to concerns about incoming drones.

The settlements of Dafna, Gosher, Ghajar, Dan, Shaar Yishuv and Senir in the Upper Galilee were alerted.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that sirens were activated in the Shlomi settlement in Western Galilee due to concerns about missiles targeting the area.

Israeli Army Radio said four rockets fell from southern Lebanon in the Shlomi settlement.

Sirens were sounded again in the settlements of Dishon, Malikiyah, Jephthah, Ramot Naftali and Mebuat Hermon.

MP Mohammed Raad, leader of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, issued a stern warning to Israel on Saturday, warning the country to “avoid spreading its aggression from place to place in Lebanon,” as “the consequences would be grave.”

He added that Israel is “threatening us with a comprehensive war in Lebanon to achieve its conditions that reassure the settlers in the north so that they can return to their settlements.

“It is more important for us to reassure our people who have been displaced from their villages than to reassure your settlers.”

Raad warned that Israel’s security “should not come at the expense of our security.”

He said: “It is crucial for any international or regional agreement to acknowledge our stability, sovereignty, and right to our land and the positioning that we decide and choose.

“We are concerned with protecting our people and our country and preventing Israel from attacking our sovereignty. This is the resistance’s commitment; all sacrifices translate this commitment.”

Raad’s statement came in response to recent US and French diplomatic efforts that aimed to decouple Lebanon’s southern border from events in the Gaza Strip, and encourage a withdrawal of Hezbollah forces.

 


Israel says it will re-open crossing into Gaza as pressure builds to get more aid in

Israel says it will re-open crossing into Gaza as pressure builds to get more aid in
Updated 23 sec ago
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Israel says it will re-open crossing into Gaza as pressure builds to get more aid in

Israel says it will re-open crossing into Gaza as pressure builds to get more aid in
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Friday it was planning to reopen the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza to increase the flow of aid into the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
The move comes amid growing international pressure on Israel to get more aid into Gaza, where aid agencies have warned of a gathering humanitarian crisis in the north of the enclave, where Israeli troops have been conducting a major operation for more than a month.
The new crossing would be opened following engineering work over recent weeks by army engineers to build inspection points and paved roads, the army said.
Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave.
The letter, which was posted to the Internet by a reporter from Axios, gave the Israeli government 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Among the demands included in the letter was for the opening of a fifth crossing into Gaza.

Sudan army govt accuses paramilitaries of causing 120 civilian deaths in 2 days

Sudan army govt accuses paramilitaries of causing 120 civilian deaths in 2 days
Updated 6 min 44 sec ago
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Sudan army govt accuses paramilitaries of causing 120 civilian deaths in 2 days

Sudan army govt accuses paramilitaries of causing 120 civilian deaths in 2 days
  • The Janjaweed militia (paramilitaries) committed a new massacre in the town of Hilaliya

PORT SUDAN: The Sudanese foreign ministry accused paramilitaries late Thursday of causing at least 120 civilian deaths over two days in Al-Jazira state, reportedly in attacks involving gunfire, food poisoning and lack of medical care.
“The Janjaweed militia (paramilitaries) committed a new massacre in the town of Hilaliya in Al-Jazira state over the past two days, resulting in 120 martyrs so far, killed either by gunfire or due to food poisoning and lack of medical care affecting hundreds of civilians,” the ministry of the army-backed government said in a statement obtained by AFP.


Yemen’s Houthi militants shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates

Yemen’s Houthi militants shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates
Updated 08 November 2024
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Yemen’s Houthi militants shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates

Yemen’s Houthi militants shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates
  • The US military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky
  • The Houthis claimed to have downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone

DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militants shot down what they described as an American drone early Friday, potentially the latest downing of a US spy drone as the militants continue their attacks on the Red Sea corridor.
The US military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky and a field of burning debris in what those off-camera described as an area of Yemen’s Al-Jawf province. The military said it was investigating the incident, declining to elaborate further.
It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of aircraft was shot down in the low-quality night video. The Houthis, in a later statement, claimed to have downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.
The Houthis have surface-to-air missiles — such as the Iranian missile known as the 358 — capable of downing aircraft. Iran denies arming the militants, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen for the Shiite Houthi militants despite a United Nations arms embargo.
The Houthis have been a key component of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” during the Mideast wars that includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant groups.
Since Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the militants have shot down MQ-9 Reaper drones in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024. The US military has declined to offer a total figure for the number of drones it has lost during that time.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA over Yemen for years.
The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The militants maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The tempo of the Houthi sea attacks also has waxed and waned over the months.
In October, the US military unleashed B-2 stealth bombers to target underground bunkers used by the Houthis.


Israeli defense minister officially steps down

Israeli defense minister officially steps down
Updated 08 November 2024
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Israeli defense minister officially steps down

Israeli defense minister officially steps down
  • Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country
  • Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister
Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country
Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister

TEL AVIV: Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant officially stepped down Friday in a ceremony that replaced him with Israel Katz, the former foreign minister, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this week.
Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country. Many in Israel view Gallant as the sole moderate voice in a far-right government, and see his removal as a sign that the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu has lost interest in returning hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister.
Also Friday, the Israeli military body handling aid to Gaza, COGAT, said it is preparing to open a new aid crossing into Gaza as the deadline for a US deadline to increase desperately-needed aid into the war-ravaged territory approaches. But the body did not say when the crossing will open nor if aid will be delivered to north of Gaza, where the UN and aid groups say the humanitarian situation is most dire.
The United Nations humanitarian office says Israel’s monthlong offensive in northern Gaza is preventing the estimated 75,000 to 95,000 Palestinians in the north from receiving essential items for their survival.
On Thursday, the Israeli military says it will allow 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days. That’s less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States said it wants to see enter the war-ravaged territory.
The Israel-Hamas war began after militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,100 people have been killed and some 13,800 wounded in Lebanon, the health ministry reported.

Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says

Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says
Updated 08 November 2024
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Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says

Turkiye, Greece must work together to resolve host of issues, Turkish minister says
  • Issues between NATO allies Turkiye and Greece are not limited to disagreements over maritime boundaries and jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean

ANKARA: Issues between NATO allies Turkiye and Greece are not limited to disagreements over maritime boundaries and jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, adding the historic rivals must work together to resolve them.
Speaking at a press conference in Athens alongside his Greek counterpart, Fidan also repeated Ankara’s view that a federation model to resolve the dispute over the ethnically-split island of Cyprus was no longer viable, calling for a two-state solution.
He also said Turkiye wanted to deepen cooperation with Greece on irregular migration and counter-terrorism, while increasing cooperation on tourism and cultural affairs.