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US says no change to its military posture in Middle East amid attacks in Lebanon

US says no change to its military posture in Middle East amid attacks in Lebanon
There are no changes to US military posture in the Middle East, the Pentagon told reporters on Thursday when asked about recent deadly Israeli attacks in Lebanon that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers. (AP/File photo)
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Updated 19 September 2024
Reuters
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US says no change to its military posture in Middle East amid attacks in Lebanon

US says no change to its military posture in Middle East amid attacks in Lebanon
  • “I am not tracking any force posture changes in the Eastern Med or in the Central Command area of responsibility,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said
  • “We’ve never wanted to see a wider regional conflict“
Updated 19 September 2024
Reuters
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WASHINGTON: There are no changes to US military posture in the Middle East, the Pentagon told reporters on Thursday when asked about recent deadly Israeli attacks in Lebanon that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers.
Lebanon and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group have blamed Israel for attacks on Hezbollah’s communications equipment that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, overwhelming Lebanese hospitals and wreaking bloody havoc on the militant group.
“I am not tracking any force posture changes in the Eastern Med or in the Central Command area of responsibility,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said in a press briefing.
The Pentagon said that any attack that escalates tensions in the Middle East will not be helpful.
“In pretty much every call the secretary always reiterates the need (that) we want to see regional tensions quell,” Singh said when asked about Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin’s call on Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart. “We’ve never wanted to see a wider regional conflict.”
Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency.
The Pentagon was pressed on the potential for a Gaza ceasefire deal amid escalating regional tensions and said Washington did not believe a deal was falling apart. The spokesperson added that the US felt as of now the conflict was contained to Gaza.
President Joe Biden laid out a three phase Gaza ceasefire proposal on May 31. The deal has run into obstacles since.
Critics have urged Washington to use its leverage by conditioning military support to Israel but the US has maintained its support for its ally.
The attacks in Lebanon have raised concerns about the widening of Israel’s war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies. Israel’s assault on Gaza followed a deadly Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Topics: War on Gaza Pentagon Israel Hezbollah Middle East US military

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Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead

Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead
Updated 6 sec ago
AFP
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Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead

Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead
  • Israel has regularly carried out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement
Updated 6 sec ago
AFP

AÏTAROUN, Lebanon: In the war-devastated southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun on Monday, residents marked the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr among their dead.
Relatives crowded the village’s cemeteries to pray for the more than 100 residents, including fighters from Hezbollah, killed during the war between the militant group and Israel that ended with a fragile ceasefire in November.
“We defied the entire world by being here in Aitaroun to celebrate Eid with our martyrs,” Siham Ftouni said near the grave of her son, a rescuer with an Islamic health organization affiliated with Hezbollah.
“Their blood permitted us to come back to our village,” she said.
During the war, Lebanese state media reported that Israeli troops used explosives in Aitaroun and two nearby villages to blow up houses. The town square is heavily damaged.
Few people have returned to live or to reopen businesses.
The story is the same in other villages in southern Lebanon.
In Aitaroun, more than 90 of the village’s dead — including some who died from natural causes — were buried only a month ago when Israeli troops pulled out.
Under the ceasefire, Israel had 60 days to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, but it did not pull most of them back until February 18 after the initial deadline was extended.
On Monday, beneath yellow Hezbollah flags, Ftouni and other women clad in black let their grief pour out.
A young girl sat near the grave of a woman, holding her photo surrounded by flowers.
Other pictures, of infants and young men in military uniform, lay on top of graves, and the sound of funeral orations triggered tears.
Some visitors handed out sweets and other foods to mourners who came from further away.
“This year, Eid is different from the years before,” said Salim Sayyed, 60, a farmer originally from Aitaroun. “Aitaroun, which lost more than 120 martyrs including many women and children, is living a sad Eid.”
He added: “The will to live will remain stronger than death.”
The war saw the killing of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders, and the group’s military infrastructure was devastated. Yet it continues to proclaim victory after more than a year of conflict that escalated to full-blown war and killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon.
Despite the ceasefire deal, Israeli troops remain inside Lebanon at five points it deems strategic.
Both Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of truce violations.
Israel has regularly carried out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.
On Friday Israel bombed southern Beirut for the first time since the truce after rockets were fired toward its territory.
Imad Hijazi, 55, a taxi driver, said the security uncertainty was no deterrent to those wanting to spend Eid beside the graves of their loved ones.
“The sadness was immense. Everyone was shaken by the loss of loved ones. I lost 23 members of my family in an Israeli strike,” Hijazi said.
“I was ashamed to convey Eid greetings to my relatives or my friends.”

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Eid Al-Fitr Lebanon

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Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall

Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall
Updated 21 min 22 sec ago
AFP
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Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall

Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall
  • “The joy of liberation and victory is immense, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the road”
Updated 21 min 22 sec ago
AFP

DAMASCUS: Eid Al-Fitr in Syria was charged with newfound joy this year, as thousands freely celebrated the holiday for the first time after the fall of Bashar Assad.
From the early morning hours, crowds of men, women and children flocked to pray at Damascus’s historic Umayyad Mosque in the Old City.
“This is the first time we truly feel the joy of Eid, after getting rid of Assad’s tyrannical regime,” Fatima Othman told AFP.
Following prayer, worshippers exchanged Eid greetings while street vendors sold colorful balloons and toys to children posing for photos with their parents.
“Our celebration is doubled after Assad’s fall,” said Ghassan Youssef, a resident of the capital.
A few kilometers (miles) away, on the slopes of Mount Qasyun overlooking Damascus — a site previously off-limits to Syrians until Assad was deposed on December 8 — a few thousand people gathered at Unknown Soldier Square for an open-air prayer.
Among them were members of the security forces and the army, dressed in uniform and armed. The road leading to the square was packed, according to an AFP photographer.
Some worshippers distributed sweets to celebrate, while the three-star Syrian flag, adopted by the new authorities, waved in the air.
Under the previous government, access to the Unknown Soldier monument was typically restricted to Assad and his close associates, who would lay wreaths there during national ceremonies.
The memorial, where a giant screen broadcast the Eid prayer, is near the presidential palace.
There, interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa prayed alongside Syria’s new mufti Osama Al-Rifai and several cabinet ministers in the presence of a large crowd.
He later delivered a speech emphasising the country faced “a long and arduous road to reconstruction but possesses all the resources needed to recover.”
This came two days after the formation of a new government, which faces daunting challenges in a country devastated by 14 years of civil war.
Wael Hamamiya, who had been in Sweden since the early days of the conflict, returned to Damascus to celebrate Eid with his family.
“This is my first Eid here in nearly 15 years. I truly feel the celebration in its full meaning,” he told AFP, beaming.
“Everyone who has come is over the moon. This is the celebration of celebrations!“
The occasion was more somber for some Syrians, who were able to visit the graves of loved ones that had been off-limits during Assad reign, especially in former opposition strongholds.
At Al-Rawda Cafe in Damascus, 36-year-old Amer Hallaq chatted with friends after returning from exile in Berlin where he ended up after dodging compulsory military service in 2014.
“For years, I thought I’d never see my family again or celebrate Eid with them,” Hallaq said.
“The joy of liberation and victory is immense, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the road.”

Topics: Fall of Assad Eid Al Fitr Syrians

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Israeli finance minister Smotrich resigns from post as minister in government

Israeli finance minister Smotrich resigns from post as minister in government
Updated 31 March 2025
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Israeli finance minister Smotrich resigns from post as minister in government

Israeli finance minister Smotrich resigns from post as minister in government
Updated 31 March 2025
Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich resigned from his post as minister on Monday in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A spokesperson for Smotrich said the move was a protest against nationalist-religious Jewish Power party head Itamar Ben Gvir’s request for more ministerial positions upon Ben Gvir’s return to the government.
The resignation is not likely to collapse Netanyahu’s coalition. The government passed its 2025 budget in Israel’s parliament last week.

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At least 10 people dead in Syria as gunmen target civilians in Tartus and Homs

At least 10 people dead in Syria as gunmen target civilians in Tartus and Homs
Updated 31 March 2025
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At least 10 people dead in Syria as gunmen target civilians in Tartus and Homs

At least 10 people dead in Syria as gunmen target civilians in Tartus and Homs
  • Attackers, who remain unidentified and at large, opened fire in Haref Nemra, a village in the Baniyas countryside in Tartus
  • In early March, Islamist-led forces killed over 1,000 Alawites in coordinated assaults on coastal areas including Latakia and Baniyas
Updated 31 March 2025
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BEIRUT: A 12-year-old boy was among four people killed on Monday in Syria’s Tartus province, a coastal region home to a majority Alawite population, provincial officials said in a statement.
The attackers, who remain unidentified and at large, opened fire in Haref Nemra, a village in the Baniyas countryside in Tartus. The Tartus province’s general security forces are pursuing those involved “to bring them to justice,” said Amer Al-Madani, Baniyas’ head of security, who spoke in a video posted on the province’s official Facebook page.
Kamal, a resident of a nearby village and a relative of three victims who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of reprisals, said the masked gunmen, whom he believed to be government security forces, arrived at the village seeking the mukhtar, a local leader who represents the community in administrative matters, before opening fire, killing at least four people, including a 12-year-old and an 80-year-old from the same family.
Kamal said he was citing accounts from three other witnesses. The sequence of events has not been independently verified, and there is no official statement on the details of the attack.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) is the Islamist group whose leader, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, played a key role in the overthrow of former President Bashar Assad and is now Syria’s de facto president.
The attack forced dozens of families to flee from the Baniyas area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor. Kamal also said many in Baniyas escaped to nearby mountains. “No one here feels safe,” he said. “All main roads are empty most times because people are scared to go outside.”
Separately on Monday, two unidentified gunmen killed six people in Homs, a city in western Syria known for its religious diversity, with a majority of Sunni Muslims and a significant Alawite minority, a sect of Shia Islam primarily based in Syria.
The attack took place in the Karm Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, claiming the lives of three children and their mother, who all belonged to the Alawite sect, as well as two house guests from the Sunni community. The attack also left the father seriously wounded. There has been no official comment on the incident from the government or relevant authorities.
Syria’s Alawite community in Syria has faced escalating violence, with reports of massacres and targeted attacks.
In early March, Islamist-led forces killed over 1,000 Alawites in coordinated assaults on coastal areas including Latakia and Baniyas, carrying out executions and burning homes, leading to mass displacements.
The attacks, among the deadliest in Syria’s modern history, saw militants rampage through Alawite-populated coastal provinces and nearby Hama and Homs, killing civilians— including entire families— in homes and on the streets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported nearly 200 deaths in Baniyas alone.
Witnesses identified the attackers as hard-line Sunni Islamists, including Syria-based foreign fighters and former members of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the disbanded insurgent group that led the December Assad ousting. However, many were also local Sunnis, seeking revenge for past atrocities blamed on Alawites loyal to Assad.
While some Sunnis hold the Alawite community responsible for Assad’s brutal crackdowns, Alawites themselves say they also suffered under his rule. The international community has urged Syria’s new government to protect minorities and prevent further violence.

Topics: Fall of Assad Alawites Tartus Homs

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US says new Syria government ‘positive step’ but too early for sanctions relief

US says new Syria government ‘positive step’ but too early for sanctions relief
Updated 31 March 2025
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US says new Syria government ‘positive step’ but too early for sanctions relief

US says new Syria government ‘positive step’ but too early for sanctions relief
Updated 31 March 2025
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WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday called the formation of a new Syrian government a positive step, but said it would not ease sanctions until it has verified progress on priorities including acting against “terrorism.”
Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Saturday named a new government that is mostly Sunni Muslim, a sharp change following the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, a member of the Alawite minority.
“We recognize the struggles of the Syrian people who have suffered decades under despotic rule and oppression of the Assad regime, and we hope this announcement represents a positive step for an inclusive and representative Syria,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
“However, Syria’s interim authorities should fully renounce and suppress terrorism, exclude foreign terrorist fighters from any official roles (and) prevent Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory,” Bruce said.
She also called on the interim authorities to “take meaningful steps to verifiably destroy Assad’s chemical weapons, assist in the recovery of US and other citizens who have been disappeared in Syria, and ensure the security and freedoms of Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.”
On sanctions, “any adjustment to US policy toward Syria’s interim authorities will be contingent on all of those steps being taken,” she said.
The European Union has spoken of moving toward easing some Syria sanctions, while Britain and Canada have already lifted some measures.

Topics: Syria Fall of Assad

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