Pope Francis, asked about Israeli strikes, slams attacks that go ‘beyond morality’
Pontiff said countries cannot go “over the top” in using their military forces
“War is immoral. But the rules of war give it some morality,” he said
Updated 29 September 2024
Reuters
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT: Pope Francis, asked on Sunday about Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as well as non-combatants, criticized military attacks that he said go “beyond morality.”
On the flight back to Rome from Belgium, the pontiff said countries cannot go “over the top” in using their military forces. “Even in war there is a morality to safeguard,” he said. “War is immoral. But the rules of war give it some morality.”
Responding to a question during an in-flight press conference about Israel’s latest strikes, the 87-year-old pope said: “Defense must always be proportionate to the attack. When there is something disproportionate, you see a tendency to dominate that goes beyond morality.”
Francis, as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, often makes calls for an end to violent conflicts, but is usually cautious about appearing to determine the aggressors. He has spoken more openly in recent weeks about Israel’s military actions in its nearly year-long war against Hamas.
Last week, the pope said Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon were “unacceptable” and urged the international community to do everything possible to halt the fighting. In a Sept. 28 press conference, he decried the deaths of Palestinian children in Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Francis said on Sunday he speaks on the phone with members of a Catholic parish in Gaza “every day.” He said the parishioners tell him about conditions on the ground, and “also the cruelty that is happening there.”
Drone strike levels upper floor of apartment building in Beirut's Kola district as Israel continues attack on Lebanon targets
Updated 19 sec ago
Reuters
BEIRUT: An Israeli strike early Monday hit an upper floor of an apartment building in the Kola district of Beirut, Reuters witnesses said, making it the first Israeli strike within Beirut’s city limits in the escalating hostilities.
Reuters witnesses heard a bang and saw smoke rise from a hole in the upper floor, which seemed to have been specifically targeted.
’We will reach everyone’: how Israel hunted Nasrallah
Analysts said the operation reflected huge strides by Israel’s Unit 8200 signals intelligence group in penetrating Hezbollah’s communications devices
The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel spent months planning how to use “a series of timed explosions” in the bunker beneath residential buildings where Nasrallah would be, “with each blast paving the way for the next one”
Updated 45 min 27 sec ago
AFP
JERUSALEM: Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike on Friday was a feat of spycraft capping days of operations highlighting its deep infiltration of the Iran-backed group.
Here’s what we know about how Israel marshalled its intelligence resources to pull off the attack:
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel the day after its ally Hamas staged the brutal October 7 attack on southern Israel, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.
Israel’s relatively low-level campaign against Hezbollah escalated dramatically on September 17 with sabotage attacks on pagers used by Hezbollah, followed the next day by explosions targeting the group’s two-way radios.
Exploding devices, which Israel has not claimed, killed at least 39 people, wounded almost 3,000 and “threw Hezbollah’s communications back to the stone-age,” wrote Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Analysts said the operation reflected huge strides by Israel’s Unit 8200 signals intelligence group in penetrating Hezbollah’s communications devices.
In February Nasrallah himself warned that “the cell phone that you hold in your hand is a spying device,” prompting use of the pagers that were later weaponized.
Yet military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told journalists the intelligence-gathering that led to Friday’s Beirut strike on Nasrallah went back years.
“We had used the intelligence we’ve been working for years to gather, and we had real-time information, and we carried out this strike,” he said.
Retired Col. Miri Eisen, a senior fellow at Israel’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University, also said the strike was the product of extensive work.
“Israel’s capabilities when it comes to Hezbollah show the depth of the intelligence infiltration into Hezbollah lines,” she said, adding these were “not things that were invented in the last 11 months” after Hezbollah began striking the north.
Israeli officials have said Nasrallah and other Hezbollah leaders gathered on Friday for a meeting at the group’s “central headquarters” in its main stronghold, located in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Warplanes had been pounding the area extensively as Israel ramped up operations against Hezbollah.
A military video showed F15 jets taking off from Hatzerim Airbase on Friday to carry out the operation.
Just before 6:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) the sound of powerful explosions was heard across the Lebanese capital.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel spent months planning how to use “a series of timed explosions” in the bunker beneath residential buildings where Nasrallah would be, “with each blast paving the way for the next one.”
But the paper also cited Israeli officials as saying the strike’s timing “was opportunistic, coming after Israeli intelligence learned about the meeting hours before it occurred.”
It coincided with the UN General Assembly, meaning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was out of the country at the time.
His office would later publish a photograph it said showed him approving the strike, which The Times of Israel said was apparently taken “at his hotel in New York.”
Israel has not specified the weaponry used in the strike.
However, the New York Times said analysis of a military video indicates the aircraft used had been “fitted with at least 15 2,000-pound bombs.”
Senior officials told the paper that “more than 80 bombs were dropped over a period of several minutes to kill” Nasrallah. The Wall Street Journal said Israel hit the bunker with “80 tons of bombs.”
The air strikes left craters up to five meters (16 feet) across, AFP photographers said.
Lebanon’s health ministry gave a preliminary toll of six dead and 91 wounded in the raid.
Middle East expert James Dorsey said there was no question that the strike represented a “very sophisticated” intelligence coup.
“It demonstrates not only significant technological capacity but just how deeply Israel has penetrated Hezbollah,” he said.
Heiko Wimmen of International Crisis Group said the long-term effects on Hezbollah’s operations were unclear.
“While Hezbollah is too well-institutionalized to collapse by decapitation, the staggering loss of its human resources will inevitably have a degrading effect sooner rather than later,” said Wimmen, the think tank’s project director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
“Their extensive intelligence infiltration also makes it doubtful that they can launch a strategic response or keep up the rocket attacks on northern Israel for much longer.”
For now, Israeli officials are celebrating Nasrallah’s death while weighing whether to press on with ground operations intended to tackle the threat posed by Hezbollah along the northern border.
The military on Saturday distributed a transcript quoting the commander of the squadron that struck Nasrallah as saying “We will reach everyone, everywhere.”
Israel’s prime minister appoints a former rival to strengthen his hold on office
Saar is a veteran politician who himself has had a strained relationship with the prime minister
Updated 30 September 2024
AP
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Sunday a former rival, Gideon Saar, as a member of his Cabinet, expanding his coalition and strengthening his hold on office.
Under their agreement, Netanyahu said Saar would serve as a minister without portfolio and serve in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees the management of the ongoing war against Israel’s enemies across the Middle East.
Saar, 57, had hoped to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu’s. But a deal to become defense minister fell through several weeks ago after fighting intensified with Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border, leaving the popular Gallant in office for the time being.
Saar is a veteran politician who himself has had a strained relationship with the prime minister. He was once a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud party, but angrily left it four years ago after accusing the prime minister of turning it into a “cult of personality” as he battled corruption charges.
Since then, however, Saar has struggled as leader of a small conservative party, enjoying little support with the broader public. While he and Netanyahu have little love for one another, they share a hard-line ideology toward Israel’s Arab adversaries.
In recent months, Saar has said Israel must fight until Hamas is destroyed. He also has called for tougher action against Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran. And like Netanyahu, he strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In a joint statement, they said they had put their differences aside for the good of the nation.
Netanyahu’s decision appears to have been driven in part by domestic politics. He faces a number of key political battles in the coming weeks — including the contentious issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox men into the army, passing a budget and taking the stand in his long-running corruption trial. Saar is expected to help Netanyahu on many of these issues.
His appointment also will likely scale back the influence of ultranationalist members of his coalition. Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, are religious ideologues who have threated to bring down the government if Netanyahu makes too many concessions in any ceasefire deal. Ben-Gvir has also drawn international criticism for provocative visits to a contested Jerusalem holy site.
Sunday’s agreement gives Saar, who hopes to be prime minister one day, an opportunity to revive his political career, while expanding Netanyahu’s majority coalition to 68 seats in the 120-seat parliament.
Frankly Speaking: Is a new civil war inevitable in Lebanon?
Far from deepening sectarianism, Israeli strikes are creating solidarity between Lebanon’s factions, says health minister
Dr. Firass Abiad accuses Israel of refusing to negotiate an end to conflict and of committing war crimes by killing health personnel
Updated 29 September 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Hassan Nasrallah, the longstanding Hezbollah leader who was killed in an Israeli strike on his Beirut stronghold over the weekend, was the author of deep divisions in Lebanon, which have long threatened to drag the nation back into the mire of civil war.
Since the latest hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah suddenly escalated in mid-September, reports have circulated on social media about flare-ups in sectarian tensions in different parts of Lebanon as a result of mass displacement of people from the south.
Appearing on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s minister of public health, insisted the conflict had not created a sectarian split in society, as even many Shiites, who form Hezbollah’s support base, now appear to oppose the militia’s actions.
“There’s clearly a lot of people in Lebanon who oppose the politics and what Hezbollah is doing. There’s no denying that, if you talk to people,” Abiad told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.
“This is across the board. This is not sectarian, (it’s) among all sects, including Shittes, you have people who oppose Hezbollah.”
Dr. Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s minister of public health, insisted the conflict had not created a sectarian split in society, even as many Shiites, who form Hezbollah’s support base, appear to oppose the militia’s actions. (AN photo)
At the same time, however, Abiad said Israel’s strikes on Lebanon had created a spirit of solidarity across Lebanon’s multiconfessional society, similar to the sympathy generated across the Arab world for the Palestinians — even among those who oppose Hamas — in the wake of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
“What Israel is doing by these indiscriminate attacks, when they attack a Christian or even when they are attacking Shiite areas … this will only increase the feeling of solidarity with the community where Hezbollah is based,” he said.
“We’ve seen this also with Gaza. If you look at the Arab world, the support for Hamas is not high. But when people see the atrocities, the carnage that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza, I think that, unanimously, a lot of people have a lot of sympathy with the people of Palestine.
“And Israel, in the way it is conducting its war on Lebanon, has fostered this environment of solidarity.”
Abiad said this sense of solidarity was evident on Sept. 16 and 17, when Hezbollah communication devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, exploded simultaneously in a coordinated attack blamed on Israel that killed at least 32 and injured more than 3,000.
“You could see this on the day of the attack on the explosive devices,” said Abiad. “We at the Ministry of Health were sending patients all across the country because we had to have a full response from all hospitals.
“And even when we were sending patients into hospitals that were in areas that are politically, or from a religious perspective, diametrically opposite to Hezbollah, the people who were injured were welcomed, they were cared for, they were given attention.
“This is something that Israel has repeatedly failed to understand; that its indiscriminate targeting or its dehumanization of all, for example, Arabs, or communities, would only lead to more sympathy with the ‘said’ enemies.”
On Saturday, Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah had been killed in an Israeli strike on the group’s Dahiyeh stronghold in Beirut. The attack follows days of Israeli strikes across Lebanon, which, as of Saturday, had left 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — dead.
Hezbollah began rocketing northern Israel last October in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Israel retaliated by mounting strikes on Hezbollah targets.
Since mid-September, Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets across the country have rapidly escalated. However, the roots of the conflict run deeper than last October. The two sides have been locked in an intermittent confrontation since the Lebanese civil war.
Hezbollah was formed during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Major escalations occurred in 1993, 1996, and particularly in 2006, when a full-scale war erupted, causing significant destruction in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has since strengthened its military capabilities, while maintaining its role in Lebanese politics. Tensions continued, with periodic border clashes, as the group has evolved into a key player in the broader Israel-Iran proxy conflict.
Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2000, creating the possibility of stability for Lebanon. However, territorial disputes remained, which Hezbollah exploited to build support and to justify continued resistance to Israel.
Does a share of the blame for the continuation of hostilities, therefore, belong to Hezbollah?
“No, that’s the exact opposite,” said Abiad. “If you go back to the UN resolutions — especially 1701. In 1701, it was very clear that, first of all, Israel has to withdraw from all the areas in Lebanon, which did not happen. And up till now, Israel still occupies Lebanese territory.”
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, ending the Lebanon War. It demanded the disarmament of Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of Lebanese and UN peacekeeping troops to stabilize the region and prevent future conflict.
“Secondly, it very clearly mentioned that Israel should not violate Lebanese airspace, which also did not happen; Israel has been violating Lebanese airspace continuously since the 2000 partial withdrawal from Lebanon,” said Abiad.
“So, indeed, unfortunately, these actions by Israel gave the pretext for Hezbollah to continue today what it is doing now. But let’s be very clear, Israel didn’t fulfill that part of 1701. And even now, Lebanon is saying we are ready to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions.”
One particularly irksome issue relates to the Shebaa Farms — a dispute that centers on a small strip of land claimed by Lebanon but occupied by Israel since 1967.
While Israel and the UN consider it part of Syria’s Golan Heights, Lebanon argues the area is Lebanese, fueling tensions, especially involving Hezbollah, over its sovereignty.
Given what is now occurring in Lebanon, does Abiad believe continuing the Shebaa Farms dispute with Israel has been worthwhile? Surely a negotiated deal would have been a far better option?
“But that depends on the other party accepting a negotiation,” said Abiad. “And, up to now, it has been very clear that Israel is not interested in a negotiated outcome.”
Whoever is ultimately to blame for prolonging the conflict, the result today is mass displacement, civilians killed, thousands injured, and public health system under extreme strain.
The ongoing conflict has created a massive humanitarian crisis, with widespread displacement across the country. According to the Lebanese government’s estimates, nearly 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to escalating violence.
Abiad highlighted the magnitude of the displacement from the south. “Before the attacks, the number released by the disaster management side was 130,000 displaced,” he said.
“Remember that by that time, there was an escalation of hostilities by Israel, and the populations were internally displaced still into southern areas.”
Abiad said the Lebanese government has established 400 public shelters, which currently house about 70,000 people. However, he said the total number of displaced people is far higher.
“We estimate that usually, from our past experience in the 2006 war, the number of people, whether they are living with friends, family, in homes they rented, or even across the border into neighboring countries, is four to five times as many as there are in shelters,” he said.
“And that’s why we really believe that the tally of people who have been displaced is probably around 400,000 to 500,000.”
The pressure on hospitals, in particular, is reaching breaking point.
“The daily tally of casualties keeps rising, as hospitals get overwhelmed with casualties,” said Abiad. “Can we continue all this? The answer is we are working at nearly full capacity, I would say. And it is becoming more tough as the war drags on.”
He added: “I think the most challenging would be fuel. I think that, concerning nurses, hospital beds, medical supplies, medications, as I said, we have been stocking up on our inventory. But really, fuel is going to be a critical issue.
“Hospitals, ambulances, they all require fuel to function. Now we have been increasing the renewable-energy budgets in our hospitals — 15 of our public hospitals now have renewable energy, constituting almost 40 percent of their energy requirements.
“Almost 200 of our primary health care centers now completely can work or function on renewable energy. But clearly I would say fuel is going to be critical if there is a further escalation.”
On top of this, Abiad accused Israel of deliberately targeting medical personnel — something he says constitutes a war crime.
“Do we consider this a war crime? Of course, we consider this a war crime,” said Abiad, adding that this was not just the view of the Lebanese government but echoed by international legal bodies.
“When we listen to the International Court of Justice, these are the experts on what is international humanitarian law and whether it has been violated. So these are the experts telling us that what Israel is doing constitutes war crimes.”
Second French national killed in Lebanon: ministry
“We confirm the death of a second French national,” said the foreign ministry statement
Last Monday, an 87-year-old French woman was killed when her home collapsed following an explosion in the south of the country
Updated 29 September 2024
AFP
PARIS: A second French national has been killed in Lebanon, France’s foreign ministry said Sunday, as Israel carried out fresh strikes against the country’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
The announcement came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot flew into Beirut Sunday evening for talks with the authorities there and bringing humanitarian aid.
“We confirm the death of a second French national,” said the foreign ministry statement, adding that they would release more details later.
Last Monday, an 87-year-old French woman was killed when her home collapsed following an explosion in the south of the country.
