Aid for Gaza loading in Cyprus as US offshore jetty completed

Aid for Gaza loading in Cyprus as US offshore jetty completed
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Above, a crane lifts aid supplies onto a cargo vessel at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus on May 8, 2024. The aid for Gaza would be delivered using a US pier built to expedite supplies to the besieged enclave. (Reuters)
Aid for Gaza loading in Cyprus as US offshore jetty completed
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The vessels and the under-construction pier were moved to the port due to bad weather last week. (Reuters/US Army Central)
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Updated 09 May 2024
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Aid for Gaza loading in Cyprus as US offshore jetty completed

Aid for Gaza loading in Cyprus as US offshore jetty completed
  • Containers were being stacked on the US flagged Sagamore, docked at the port of Larnaca, on Wednesday
  • Gaza lacks port infrastructure and the US has built a custom-made offshore jetty to take delivery of aid shipments

WASHINGTON: The US military has completed construction of its Gaza aid pier, but weather conditions mean it is currently unsafe to move the two-part facility into place, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The pier — which the US military started building last month and which will cost at least $320 million — is aimed at boosting deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, which has been ravaged by seven months of Israeli operations against Hamas.
“As of today, the construction of the two portions of the JLOTS — the floating pier and the Trident pier — are complete and awaiting final movement offshore,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, using an acronym for Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, the official name for the pier capability.
“Today there are still forecasted high winds and high sea swells, which are causing unsafe conditions for the JLOTS components to be moved. So the pier sections and military vessels involved in its construction are still positioned at the port of Ashdod,” in Israel, Singh said.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) “stands by to move the pier into position in the near future,” she added.
The vessels and the under-construction pier were moved to the port due to bad weather last week. Once the weather clears, the pier will be anchored to the Gaza shore by Israeli soldiers, keeping US troops off the ground.
Aid will then be transported via commercial vessels to a floating platform off the Gaza coast, where it will be transferred to smaller vessels, brought to the pier, and taken to land by truck for distribution.
Plans for the pier were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March as Israel held up deliveries of assistance by ground, and US Army troops and vessels soon set out on a lengthy trip to the Mediterranean to build the pier.
Some two months later, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. The United Nations said Tuesday that Israel had denied it access to the Rafah crossing — the key entry point for aid into the besieged territory.
The White House said the closing of Rafah and the other main crossing, Karem Shalom, was “unacceptable” and needed to be reversed.
In addition to seeking to establish a maritime corridor for aid shipments, the United States has also been delivering assistance via the air.
CENTCOM said American C-130 cargo planes dropped more than 25,000 Meal Ready To Eat military rations into Gaza on Tuesday in a joint operation that also delivered the equivalent of more than 13,000 meals of Jordanian food supplies.
“To date the US has dropped 1,200 tons of humanitarian assistance,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war broke out following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,789 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.


Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion

Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion
Updated 16 sec ago
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Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion

Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion
  • NNA reported the entry of ‘a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army’ into the eastern outskirts of Khiam
  • Hezbollah said it destroyed two tanks using guided missiles and targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanese state media said Tuesday that Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of the village of Khiam, their deepest incursion yet into south Lebanon in a ground operation launched last month.
The official National News Agency reported the entry of “a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army” into the eastern outskirts of Khiam, some six kilometers (nearly four miles) from the border with Israel.
Hezbollah said it destroyed two tanks using guided missiles and targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam with rockets and artillery.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli forces carried out a series of air attacks on Khiam later on Tuesday and launched a large-scale sweep “using heavy and medium weaponry.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah, which named deputy chief Naim Qassem as its new leader on Tuesday, has been battling Israeli forces in Lebanese border villages since the ground invasion began on September 30.
According to an AFP count based on Lebanese health ministry figures, 1,754 people have been killed nationwide since intensive Israeli strikes on Lebanon began.
Hezbollah claims that Israeli forces are yet to assert full control over any village in Lebanon, weeks into the invasion, amid repeated operations to repel Israeli attempts at infiltration.
The large town of Khiam holds symbolic significance.
It was home to a notorious prison run by the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli proxy militia, during Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon.
Israeli troops withdrew from the region in 2000 after 22 years.

Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria

Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria
Updated 29 October 2024
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Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria

Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria
  • Recep Tayip Erdogan: ‘We are preventing the terrorists who live on our borders from breathing’
  • Erdogan dubbed last Wednesday’s attack as 'the last efforts' of the separatist organization

ISTANBUL: Turkiye will continue its military operations in northern Iraq and Syria against Kurdish PKK rebels so as to “eliminate” their threat, President Recep Tayip Erdogan promised on Tuesday.
“We are preventing the terrorists who live on our borders from breathing,” said Erdogan.
“Until the establishment of a country and a region without terror, we will continue this combat in several dimensions,” the president insisted as he cited the ongoing operations.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed it was behind last week’s attack on the headquarters of Turkiye’s state-owned defense firm in Ankara, which killed five people and wounded 22.
“Where we detect a threat to our country, both within and outside our borders, nobody can prevent us from eliminating it,” Erdogan continued in an address to mark the 101st anniversary of the Turkish republic, saying he would stop at nothing to do so and “end terrorism.”
The PKK, which has waged an on-off insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated as a terror group by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Turkiye has been accused of targeting Kurdish civilians in cross-border strikes, a charge the army denies.
Erdogan dubbed last Wednesday’s attack as “the last efforts” of the separatist organization.
“We are now able to develop the weapons we need in the fight against terror and we do not require anyone’s permission,” Erdogan added.
The head of state said that Turkiye was in the process of equipping itself with “an iron dome” anti-aircraft defense system similar to one which Israel has, “but made of steel.”
He added that Turkiye had also become “the world’s largest manufacturer of drones” and that “since 2018, 65 percent of the sales of armed drones in the world have been made by Turkish companies.”


Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief

Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief
Updated 29 October 2024
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Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief

Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief
  • Israel intensified its reconnaissance aircraft operations in the airspace over Beirut and its southern suburbs at low altitude
  • Airstrikes devastate town of Jbaa, 12 residential buildings destroyed

BEIRUT: Iran-backed Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the election of Sheikh Naim Qassem as its new secretary-general. He succeeds Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting his headquarters in Haret Hreik, a suburb of southern Beirut, on Sept. 27.

Confrontations between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers have escalated along the border between Lebanon and Israel, particularly in the town of Khiam, with numerous casualties resulting from intensive raids across the south and Bekaa.

Following the announcement of Qassem’s election, Israel intensified its reconnaissance aircraft operations in the airspace over Beirut and its southern suburbs at low altitude.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a picture of Qassem on his X account, and wrote: “The countdown to his appointment has begun.”

Israeli Minister of Energy Eli Cohen said: “Anyone who leads Hezbollah is a target for assassination.”

Israel targeted Nasrallah’s potential successor, Hashem Safieddine, in raids on the Al-Mareija area of the southern suburbs of Beirut on Oct. 4.

Qassem has been Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general since 1991, and was born in 1953 in Beirut’s Basta Tahta district.

Qassem affirmed that “Lebanon cannot be separated from Palestine” following the assassination of Nasrallah.

He added: “We do not have any vacant positions within Hezbollah following the Israeli assassinations.”

Qassem also said that “the resistance will never be defeated because they’re the ones that own the land, and because they will fight and die in dignity.”

A political observer said that Qassem’s appointment had “significant connotations, especially in that Hezbollah was able to restore its structure and fill vacant positions following Israel’s painful strikes on its leadership.”

He added: “Qassem’s appointment is due to the fact that he has been present during Hezbollah’s key periods, from its inception until today.”

On behalf of the parliamentary bloc, Hezbollah deputy Ali Fayyad said: “Hezbollah is still fully able to confront Israeli aggression,” adding that “the militant party obliged the Israeli army to withdraw from some of the areas it invaded.”

In the south, fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers escalated around Khiam, which has been subjected to heavy artillery shelling.

Hezbollah said it had trapped Israeli soldiers during the confrontations, which also included heavy machine gun fire. Many Israeli drones were seen hovering over the area.

Israeli army vehicles, including two tanks and a bulldozer, reached the eastern edge of Khiam.

Israel also reportedly raided Chaqra, Majdal Selem, Yohmor, Chahabiya, Toulin, Baraachit, Archaf, Haddatha, the area between Majdal Zoun and Chihine, Kafra, and Deir Al-Zahrani.

The Israeli army issued new evacuation warnings to the residents of villages located south of the Litani River, instructing them to leave immediately and head north to the Awali River.

The town of Jbaa was targeted with nine raids which destroyed at least 12 residential buildings in less than an hour.

Residents said that “seismic missiles were used, turning neighborhoods and houses into rubble.”

The missiles destroyed the vicinity housing buildings responsible for General Security, Civil Status and the Lebanese Civil Defense, as well as the public square.

The Israeli army on Monday targeted more than 100 streets in Tyre. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed and seven people killed and 17 injured.

The following day an Israeli warplane attacked a location in Tyre where the funerals of paramedics from the Islamic Health Organization were taking place, resulting in further paramedics being wounded.

Some 30 airstrikes on Monday and Tuesday hit civilian homes, leaving 63 dead and dozens injured. The attacks destroyed entire neighborhoods in Jbaa.

Further Israeli airstrikes on Bekaa targeted 14 towns on the eastern and western mountain ranges. Israel resumed its attacks on Tuesday, targeting towns in the central Bekaa.

A missile also targeted the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, resulting in injuries to peacekeeping soldiers from the Austrian contingent.

The Austrian Ministry of Defense said that “eight Austrian soldiers from the UNIFIL forces were injured in a missile attack on Naqoura, with no serious injuries reported.” It added that “the source of the attack is currently unclear.”

Despite coordination with UNIFIL, the Lebanese Red Cross said that the Israeli army had targeted its teams “while they were heading to rescue individuals injured in a morning shelling in one of the towns of the Tyre district, despite prior coordination.”


Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah

Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah
Updated 29 October 2024
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Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah

Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah
  • Shoura Council says had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general
  • Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month ago

BEIRUT: Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had elected deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month ago.
The group said in a written statement that its Shoura Council had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general.
He was appointed as Hezbollah’s deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group’s then-secretary general Abbas Al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.
Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media, including as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.
Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine — considered the most likely successor — was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.
Since Nasrallah’s killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including one on Oct. 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.
He is considered by many in Lebanon to lack the charisma and gravitas of Nasrallah.
The Israeli government’s official Arabic account on X posted, “His tenure in this position may be the shortest in the history of this terrorist organization if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine.”
“There is no solution in Lebanon except to dismantle this organization as a military force,” it wrote.


Pope Francis greets delegation from UAE’s Abrahamic Family House at the Vatican

Pope Francis greets delegation from UAE’s Abrahamic Family House at the Vatican
Updated 29 October 2024
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Pope Francis greets delegation from UAE’s Abrahamic Family House at the Vatican

Pope Francis greets delegation from UAE’s Abrahamic Family House at the Vatican
  • The interfaith center in Abu Dhabi opened in 2023 and includes a church, a mosque and a synagogue
  • Its mission is rooted in the Document on Human Fraternity, a 2019 declaration signed by the pope and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis welcomed representatives of the Abrahamic Family House in the UAE to a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, during which they reiterated their shared commitment to the promotion of interfaith dialogue and fraternity.

The Emirati delegation was led by Mohammed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, president of the interfaith center that is located in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District. It officially opened in February 2023 and includes the St. Francis Church, Ahmed El-Tayeb Mosque and Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue.

Al-Mubarak presented the pope with a model of the three houses of worship in recognition of the pontiff’s leadership in efforts to advance peaceful coexistence and understanding between faiths.

“The Abrahamic Family House embodies the UAE’s enduring principles of mutual respect, interfaith understanding and harmony,” Al-Mubarak said.

“Our ongoing partnership with the Holy See signifies a profound commitment to His Holiness in nurturing a global community anchored in human fraternity and peaceful coexistence.”

The Emirati delegation was led by Mohammed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, president of the interfaith center that is located in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District. (Supplied)

The mission of the Abrahamic Family House is rooted in the Document on Human Fraternity, a landmark declaration of peace and mutual respect signed in 2019 by Pope Francis and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb.

Since opening last year, St. Francis Church has played an active role in interfaith engagement, welcoming more than 130,000 worshippers to services and hosting more than 100 community events, including concerts by groups such as the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Little Singers of Paris.

The church was named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, whose dedication to peace and compassion in the 13th century continues to inspire efforts to achieve global unity, officials said.

Pope Francis thanked his visitors for their devotion to the aims of the Document on Human Fraternity and its vision for a world in which peace and mutual respect are paramount.

Representatives of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue also attended the meeting, officials said, reflecting its commitment to fostering collaborations between faiths.