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Iran tells region ‘strong and complex’ attack coming on Israel

Posted on March 27, 2025March 27, 2025 by admin

Amid US warnings against a counterattack on Israel, Iran is sending a defiant diplomatic message: It is planning a complex response involving even more powerful warheads and other weapons, said Iranian and Arab officials briefed on the plans.
It remains to be seen whether the Iranian threats are real or just tough talk. Israel’s punishing airstrike against Iran on Oct. 26 shredded the country’s strategic air defences, leaving it badly exposed and sharply raising the risks to Iran if it follows through.
How the Israeli response plays out will depend on the size, nature and effectiveness of Tehran’s threatened strike. So far, Israel has refrained from hitting Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities, essential to its economy and its security, but that calculus could change, Israeli officials have said.
Iran has told Arab diplomats that its conventional army would be involved because it had lost four soldiers and a civilian in Israel’s attack, the Iranian and Arab officials said.
Involving its regular army doesn’t mean its troops would be deployed but that the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that normally deals with Israeli security matters wouldn’t act alone in this case.
An Egyptian official said Iran warned privately of a “strong and complex” response.
“Our military lost people, so they need to respond,” said an Iranian official. He said Iran could use Iraqi territory for part of the operation and would likely target Israeli military facilities “but much more aggressively than last time.”
Iran isn’t planning to limit its response to missiles and drones, as two previous attacks did, and any missiles used would have more powerful warheads, the Iranian and Arab officials said.
Iran said it mostly fired four different types of medium-range ballistic missiles in its last attack on Israel on Oct. 1 – Emad and Ghadr missiles and two of Iran’s newest and most advanced, Kheibar Shekan and Fattah.
Another factor in Iran’s response is the US election, the Iranian official said. Iran doesn’t want to influence the US election with its attack, the official said, adding the response would come after Tuesday’s voting but before a new president is inaugurated in January. Iran prefers Kamala Harris over Donald Trump, according to US intelligence agencies.
Officials from Egypt, Bahrain and Oman said Iranian diplomats gave those broad outlines of the response after warnings from the US, both public and private, against engaging in a tit-for-tat with Israel.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said last week there would be “severe consequences” if Iran attacked Israel or the US.
“We believe this should be the end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran,” she said.
Following Israel’s attack, Iranian officials initially told other countries in the region that it didn’t intend to respond. Within days, the tone shifted.
On Friday, a top Iranian general threatened “an unimaginable response,” and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, weighed in Saturday to warn of a “tooth-breaking response.”
Western officials say they believe Iranian decision makers are debating how and whether Iran should respond, including whether an attack should come directly or from proxies outside Iran to offer a layer of deniability.
Israeli officials also believe Iran is seriously considering a response and have warned they are willing to mount a far more aggressive attack in return.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military had struck Iran’s “soft underbelly” and dismissed “haughty words” from Tehran’s leaders.
“Today, Israel has greater freedom of action than ever before,” Netanyahu said. “We can go anywhere that we need to in Iran.”
The US worked to limit Israel’s Oct. 26 attack to military targets, leaving Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities alone.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once…
The Arab officials said they were worried Israel wouldn’t be restrained this time, and Netanyahu reiterated last week that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons remains Israel’s “supreme objective.”
Iran denies it is working to build a nuclear weapon.
Israel signalled it could hit these types of targets in its Oct. 26 attack. It struck a facility Iran had in the past used for nuclear weapons work. Satellite imagery showed Israel also hit a very low value target at Iran’s Abadan refinery, experts said.
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country can’t let Israel’s attack go unanswered. However, in a sign that Iran is still debating how to retaliate, he said “the type and intensity of our response” could change if there were a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
The US said its military wasn’t involved in Israel’s most recent attack on Iran, but any retaliation would likely involve American forces helping defend Israel.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered several B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft, tanker aircraft and navy destroyers to the Middle East, the Pentagon said Friday.
The additional military assets will arrive as the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is expected to leave the region. The US will be without a carrier and its accompanying ships in the region for the first time since shortly after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
– Dov Lieber, Laurence Norman and Aresu Eqbali contributed to this article.

ABC federal politics reporter Nour Haydar resigns from Canberra role over the media organisation’s Israel-Gaza coverage

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

A high-profile political journalist in ABC’s Parliament House bureau has resigned over the national broadcaster’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Nour Haydar, who joined the ABC as a cadet in 2017 before rising to the ranks as a political reporter in Canberra in 2019, has featured prominently across the broadcaster’s online, radio and TV channels – even hosting Afternoon Briefing and appearing on its flagship breakfast TV program.

She told Nine Entertainment on Friday the decision followed scrutiny from staff at the ABC over the coverage of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, along with its treatment of culturally-diverse staff.

Just hours after her resignation was made public, The Guardian Australia announced she would be joining the left-wing media group as part of its Full Story podcast team.

“I’m excited to be joining the Guardian Australia team and embracing a different type of storytelling,” Haydar said.

“I’m looking forward to crafting high quality and engaging interviews, stories and investigations for Full Story listeners that reflect the diversity of Australia.

“Now more than ever there is a need for rigorous, nuanced and courageous journalism – and Full Story offers a unique platform to do this.”

Haydar will be the co-host of the daily podcast alongside Jane Lee. She is replacing Laura Murphy-Oates, who was chosen for an Atlantic Fellowship for Indigenous Social Equity.

Ms Haydar, 35, who is of Lebanese heritage, resigned from her position in the Parliament House bureau on Thursday

“I have resigned from the ABC. This was not a decision that I made lightly, but one I made with total clarity,” she said.

“Commitment to diversity in the media cannot be skin deep. Culturally diverse staff should be respected and supported even when they challenge the status quo.

“Death and destruction on the scale we have seen over recent months has made me reassess my priorities.”

In a statement on Friday, an ABC spokesperson described the Israel-Gaza conflict as “a difficult story to cover”.

“The ABC News workforce and journalism is the most representative it has ever been, and we’re continuing to progress. Including a range of voices and perspectives makes our journalism better and more accurate,” the spokesperson said

“The Israel-Gaza conflict is a complex and difficulty story to cover and we understand and care about the particular personal and professional challenges it involves for journalists.

“The ABC is committed to accuracy, impartiality and fairness in our Israel-Gaza coverage, as in all our reporting.

“The ABC constantly strives to support and defend ABC employees and their work, internally and externally.”

The move follows a difficult week for the national broadcaster after sacked radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf on Thursday accused the ABC of racism and discriminating against people of colour.

Ms Lattouf, who was dropped from her role in December, has since lodged an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission (FWC)

The broadcaster has faced internal criticism after staff raised concerns about the state of the ABC’s “pro-Israel” coverage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas since October 7 last year.

During a meeting in November, initiated by editorial policy manager Mark Maley, staff raised issues around the broadcaster’s refusal to use phrases like “invasion” and “occupation” during their coverage.

Others said the coverage had impacted their relationships with communities and their abilities to do their jobs.

Ms Lattouf, an award-winning journalist who worked as a fill-in host for Sydney’s Mornings radio slot and ABC Sydney in December, is being represented by decorated workplace lawyer Josh Bornstein in her claim against the broadcaster.

Her claim has been amended to allege she was sacked on December 20 “because she expressed a political opinion and also because of her race”.

“Ms Lattouf was summoned to a meeting with senior management and told she was terminated immediately, because she had reposted a Human Rights Watch (HRW) social media post alleging the Israeli government is using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza,” a statement from Maurice Blackburn lawyers alleges.

“ABC news also reported these same claims by the reputable human rights organisation.

“Since October 7 and the ensuing conflict in the Middle East, it has become notorious in the media industry that Arab and Muslim journalists are being intimidated, censored and sacked.”

Houthi rebels vow retaliation after US, UK strikes in Yemen

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

Dubai: Houthi leaders have vowed retaliation after the US and the UK launched military strikes against rebel targets in Yemen, raising the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already beset by Israel’s war in Gaza.

The bombardment – launched in response to a campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea – killed at least five people and wounded six, the Houthis said.

The US said the strikes targeted more than 60 sites in 16 different locations across Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. It remained unclear how extensive the damage was, though the Houthis said at least five sites, including airfields, had been attacked.

As the bombing lit the predawn sky over multiple sites held by the Iranian-backed rebels, it forced the world to again focus on Yemen’s years-long war, which began when the Houthis seized the country’s capital, Sanaa in 2014.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they were avenging Israel’s offensive in Gaza. However, they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperilling shipping in a key route for global trade and energy shipments.

The Houthis’ military spokesman, General Yahya Saree, said in a recorded address that the strikes would “not go unanswered or unpunished.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which oversees Middle Eastern waters, reported on Friday evening a new missile attack off Yemen. It said the missile was fired toward a ship some 140 kilometres south-east of Aden, Yemen. The ship reported no injuries or damage, the organisation said.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the government-in-exile that the Houthis are fighting, quickly sought to distance itself from the attacks as it seeks to manage a delicate relationship with Iran and a maintain a ceasefire it has in Yemen.

In Saada, the Houthis’ stronghold in north-west Yemen, protesters gathered for a rally on Friday, denouncing the US and Israel. Another drew thousands in Sanaa, the capital.

In a post to X, the US Central Command released footage of their operation against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Houthis now control territory that is home to some two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 20 million. War and misgovernment have made Yemen one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, and the UN World Food Program considers the vast majority of Yemen’s people as food-insecure.

Yemen has been targeted by US military action over the last four American presidencies. A campaign of drone strikes began under President George W. Bush to target the local affiliate of al-Qaeda, attacks that have continued under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the US has launched raids and other military operations amid the ongoing war in Yemen.

That war began when the Houthis swept through the country in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition that included the United Arab Emirates launched a war to back Yemen’s exiled government in 2015, quickly morphing the conflict into a regional confrontation as Iran backed the Houthis with weapons and other support.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Who are the Houthis? The Yemen-based militants behind the Red Sea attacks

The conflict has in recent years slowed as the Houthis maintain their grip on the territory they hold. In March, Saudi Arabia reached a Chinese-mediated deal to restart relations with Iran in the hope of ultimately withdrawing from the war.

However, an overall deal has yet to be reached, likely sparking Saudi Arabia’s expression Friday of “great concern” over the airstrikes.

“While the kingdom stresses the importance of preserving the security and stability of the Red Sea region … it calls for restraint and avoiding escalation,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.

Iran condemned the attack in a statement from a foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.

“Arbitrary attacks will have no result other than fuelling insecurity and instability in the region,” he said.

Judges and parties stand up during a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. The United Nations’ top court opened hearings Thursday into South Africa’s allegation that Israel’s war with Hamas amounts to genocide against Palestinians, a claim that Israel strongly denies. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called on nations not to escalate tensions in the Red Sea, while Russia condemned the strikes as “illegitimate from the point of view of international law.”

Oman, long a regional interlocutor for the US and the West with Iran, also condemned the airstrikes, calling the attack a “great concern while Israel continued its brutal war and siege of the Gaza Strip without accountability or punishment.”

Israel denies bombing Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance in Gaza, killing six people

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

The Israeli military has denied it was behind the bombing of an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, which killed four medics and two other people.

Key points:

A bomb which hit an ambulance in central Gaza on Wednesday killed six people, including four members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society

The organisation blamed Israel for the attack, describing it as “unacceptable” under international law

The Israeli military says it did not carry out any strikes in the area at the time of the bombing

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said six people were killed in an air strike on their ambulance at the entrance to the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza.

It blamed Israel, which has previously accused Hamas of operating out of hospitals and ambulances — something the militant group has denied.

“A review was conducted based on the details provided to the IDF which shows that no strike was carried out in the described area,” the IDF said.

The roof of the ambulance was completely destroyed and part of the vehicle crushed, photos show.

The Red Crescent Society said the ambulance had been on Salah al-Din Road, a highway running north-south through the Gaza Strip which has been used by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the Israeli military advance.

The organisation said the four people killed were ambulance driver Youssef Abu Muammar, paramedic Fadi Fouad Al-Maani, first responder Islam Abu Riyala and volunteer Fouad Abu Khamash.

Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told ABC News the organisation was shocked and saddened by the incident.

“The ambulance was clearly marked with the Red Crescent protective emblem, with is a protective emblem under the Geneva Convention, and under international humanitarian law this ambulance must be protected and respected by every party of the conflict,” he said.

“Internationally the law was written to give hope and light in the darkest time of humanity, and conflicts are this darkest time. We really don’t want to create a world where these laws are not anymore respected.

Mr Della Longa said the situation for health care workers in Gaza was “extremely dangerous and difficult”.

“When we are talking with our colleagues of Palestine Red Crescent, they are telling us that every time we go out with an ambulance, we don’t know if we are going back,” he said.

Mr Della Longa said a total of eight IFRC staff and volunteers had now died in Gaza and three in Israel since the conflict began.

The IFRC says eight staff and volunteers have died in Gaza and three in Israel since the conflict began.(AFP)

Jagan Chapagain, the head of the IFRC, called the ambulance attack “unacceptable” in a social media post, and said “I strongly condemn their killing”.

“We send our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and all those in the Palestine Red Crescent Society,” the IFRC said in a statement.

“Healthcare facilities and healthcare workers must be protected and respected in every situation

“Any attack on healthcare workers, ambulances, and medical facilities is unacceptable. We forcefully reiterate our call for unwavering respect for the Red Crescent emblem and the crucial humanitarian services it represents.”

Crowds of mourners gathered on Thursday for the funerals of the medics, with a shredded and bloodied Palestinian Red Crescent uniform placed atop one of the white shrouds.

South Africa accuses Israel of genocidal acts in Gaz

A continent away from the war in Gaza, South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians and pleaded with the United Nations’ top court on Thursday to urgently order a halt to the country’s military operation.

Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said multiple people were killed in an Israeli strike near a hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Over 23,350 people have been killed, mostly civilians, in more than three months of war between Hamas and Israel, according to the latest Gaza health ministry toll.

Before Wednesday’s ambulance strike, the health ministry said more than 120 ambulances had been destroyed and at least 326 healthcare workers killed since the start of the conflict

The war erupted with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which Israel says resulted in around 1,140 deaths there, mostly civilians.

The Israeli military says 186 soldiers have since been killed fighting in Gaza.

AFP/ABC

UN experts condemn Israeli ‘massacre’ of Palestinians collecting flour

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

Special rapporteurs say ‘campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians’ must end after incident in Gaza on Thursday

UN experts have condemned the violence they say was unleashed by Israeli forces last week on Palestinians gathered in Gaza City to collect flour as a “massacre”.

In a statement, a group of UN special rapporteurs accused Israel of “intentionally starving the Palestinian people in Gaza since 8 October,” adding: “Now it is targeting civilians seeking humanitarian aid and humanitarian convoys.”

“Israel must end its campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians,” said the UN experts, who warned there was mounting evidence of famine in the Gaza Strip.

At least 112 people died and 760 were injured on Thursday when desperate crowds gathered to collect flour.

Witnesses in Gaza and some of the injured said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, causing panic. Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by aid lorries although it admitted its troops had fired on what it called a “mob”.

“The attack came after Israel has denied humanitarian aid into Gaza City and northern Gaza for more than a month,” said the experts, who described “a pattern of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians seeking aid”.

There have been at least 14 similar reported incidents between mid-January and the end of February of the shooting, shelling and attacking of Palestinians who had gathered to receive humanitarian aid from trucks or airdrops.

Since the start of the conflict, Israel has targeted Palestinian food sources and agriculture – bakeries, orchards and greenhouses – as well as blocked humanitarian supplies. On 26 January, the international court of justice recognised the plausibility of Israel committing genocide and ordered it to allow the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian services and aid to Palestinians. The number of trucks allowed to enter the Gaza Strip has since fallen to 57 a day – compared with an average of 147 a day before the ICJ ruling.

Last week, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said that deliberating starving people amounted to war crimes and genocide under international law, for which the entire state of Israel was accountable.

At least 15 children have died from malnutrition at just one hospital, Kamal Adwan, in Gaza City. In January, one in six children under two in northern Gaza were found to be acutely malnourished, which leads to wasting, Unicef found.

The World Health Organization said child malnutrition in north Gaza was now “extreme”.

“When children start dying like this, you know that famine is probably already happening or just around the corner. We are alarmed to see an entire civilian population suffering such unprecedented starvation, so quickly and completely,” they said. “We have been saying for months that widespread famine is imminent in Gaza.”

On Tuesday, it was reported that an elderly Palestinian man identified as Abd al-Rahman al-Dahdouh was pronounced dead due to hunger and dehydration.

As desperation and malnutrition rises, the US, Israel’s closest and most powerful ally, has resorted to air dropping humanitarian supplies – an expensive and ineffective way of delivering aid.

“After months of Israel’s starvation campaign … recent airdrops will achieve little. The only way to prevent or end this famine is an immediate and permanent ceasefire,” said the UN experts on food, water, violence against women, and Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, among others.

Under international law, the unconditional provision of humanitarian supplies such as food, water, shelter and medicine is a basic obligation during conflict.

Yet recent reports on the talks between Hamas and Israel on a proposed 40-day ceasefire suggest that as part of the terms of the negotiations, Israel has pledged to allow the entry of trucks and the delivery of tents, caravans, essential fuel, and construction materials to fix critical infrastructure such as hospitals and bakeries.

“Humanitarian aid must not be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations,” the experts said. “We reiterate our earlier call for an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel, as part of all states’ duty to ensure respect for human rights and stop violations of international humanitarian law by Israel.”

Gaza ceasefire talks at a crossroads as Ramadan deadline fast approaching

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

Talks in Cairo have extended into a third day, as both Israel and Hamas say they are waiting for a response from the other to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Key Points

Ceasefire talks in Cairo have entered their third day, despite the absence of an Israeli delegation.
Both Israel and Hamas claim they are awaiting response from the other.
Egyptian security sources have said the warring sides were sticking to demands that had held up an agreement.

Hamas negotiators have stayed in Cairo for an additional third day of ceasefire talks in an attempt to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, free Israeli hostages and stave off famine.

A 40-day ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel would allow some hostages captured by Palestinian militants in the October attack that precipitated the war to go free, while aid to Gaza would be increased and families able to return to abandoned homes. Ramadan begins at the start of next week.

“The delegation will remain in Cairo on Tuesday for more talks, they are expected to wrap up this round later today,” a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency.

Ceasefire or humanitarian pause: What’s the difference and why does it matter?
Three security sources from host and mediator Egypt said the warring sides were sticking to demands that had held up an agreement. The Egyptians have remained in contact with the Israelis despite the absence of an Israeli delegation.

Earlier, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the group had presented a draft ceasefire agreement and was now waiting for a response from Israel.

“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu doesn’t want to reach an agreement and the ball now is in the Americans’ court” to press him, Naim said.

Earlier reports suggested that Israel was staying away because Hamas had refused to furnish a list of all hostages who are still alive.

Naim said this was impossible without a ceasefire as hostages were scattered across the war zone and held by separate groups.

Washington, both Israel’s closest ally and a sponsor of the ceasefire talks, has said an Israeli-approved deal is already on the table and it is up to Hamas to accept it. Hamas disputes this account as an attempt to deflect blame from Israel if the talks collapse.

The United States has also urged Israel to do more to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.

More than 30,410 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

“Israel has to maximize every possible means … of getting assistance to people who need it,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

“That requires more aid getting in. And once that aid is in, it requires making sure it can get to the people who need it. So we will continue to press that every single day, because the situation as it stands is simply unacceptable.”

Why airdropping aid into Gaza is unlikely to stop an ‘almost inevitable’ famine
Famine is now looming over the Gaza Strip as aid supplies, already sharply curtailed since the start of the war, have dwindled to barely a trickle over the past month.

Gaza’s few functioning hospitals, already overwhelmed by the wounded, are now filling with children starving to death.

The US military, in coordination with Jordan, airdropped 36,000 meals into northern Gaza on Tuesday, a programme Washington began last week. Aid agencies say this is paltry compared to the scale of the hunger

Israel strikes deep across border

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes struck Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, killing at least two Hezbollah members in its deepest attack into Lebanese territory since hostilities erupted with the Iran-backed group last October, sources in Lebanon said.

Underlining the risks of escalation, Hezbollah responded by firing 60 rockets at an Israeli army headquarters in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the group’s al-Manar television reported. The Israeli army said dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon.

The attacks marked an intensification of the worst violence between the heavily armed Hezbollah and Israel since their 2006 war, fuelling concern of the potential for further escalation and regional spillover of the Gaza war.

The Israeli army said its fighter jets had struck Hezbollah air defences in the Bekaa Valley in response to the downing of an Israeli drone, which Hezbollah said it had shot down with a surface-to-air missile on Monday.

The Bekaa Valley region, near the Syrian border, is a stronghold of the Shiite Islamist Hezbollah. The targeted area was 18 kilometres from the city of Baalbek, known for its ancient ruins.

Lebanese television station Al-Jadeed broadcast images of plumes of smoke rising from the area.

In a separate attack, an Israeli airstrike hit a car in the town of Mjadel in southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah field commander, security sources in Lebanon said.

Israel’s military posted a video of the strike and said the target was Hassan Hossein Salami, who it said had been responsible for activities including missile launches directed at Israel.

Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah said Israel had widened its strikes by hitting Baalbek and other areas, and was seeking to ‘‘compensate’’ for the downing of its drone.

‘‘Its aggression on Baalbek or any other areas will not remain without response,’’ he said in televised remarks delivered at the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter killed in recent days.

The Israeli military said it would ‘‘continue operating to defend the State of Israel from the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, including in aerial operations above Lebanese territory.’’

Hezbollah has been waging a campaign of attacks on targets at the border with Israel since the October 7 raid from the Gaza Strip by its Palestinian ally Hamas. Hezbollah describes it as an effort to support Palestinians under Israeli fire in Gaza.

The hostilities have largely played out in areas near the Lebanese-Israeli border, but last week widened when Israel struck an area just south of the coastal city of Sidon.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant indicated on Sunday that Israel planned to increase attacks on Hezbollah in the event of a possible ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.

‘‘If a temporary pause is reached in Gaza, we will increase the fire in the north separately, and will continue until the full withdrawal of Hezbollah [from the border] and the return of Israeli citizens to their homes,’’ he said.

However, he left the door open to diplomacy. ‘‘The goal is simple – to withdraw Hezbollah to where it should be – either via an agreement, or we will do it by force,’’ he said in a statement.

The violence has uprooted tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah said on Monday it had shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Lebanese territory with a surface-to-air missile.

Israeli strikes since October have killed 50 civilians and 200 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

Reuters

PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT FALLS ON SWORD

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

The Palestinian Authority’s government resigned overnight on Monday, an early step toward the overhauls the US and Middle Eastern powers see as a condition for the body to take charge of Gaza after the war.

The move falls short of changes Western and Arab governments have pressured the Palestinian Authority to make, including replacing longtime career politicians with a technocratic team and for Mahmoud Abbas, the authority’s unpopular, 88-year-old president, to step aside and invest a new prime minister with some of the president’s powers.

Despite this, the US welcomed the move, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller saying it was a “positive and important step toward achieving a reunited Gaza and West Bank under the Palestinian Authority”.

“Ultimately, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is a question for the Palestinians themselves to decide,” Mr Miller said. “But we do welcome steps for the PA to reform and revitalise itself.”

US and Arab negotiators are scrambling to broker a ceasefire deal to avoid more civilian casualties and prevent the conflict from spreading across the region.

In a sign of escalating tensions, Israel said it had struck aerial defence systems operated by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah 80km deep into Lebanon after an Israeli drone was downed by a surface-to-air missile there. Two Hezbollah members were killed in the Israeli strike in Lebanon.

Beyond discussions about an immediate ceasefire, Gaza’s future status is among the most contentious issues facing the international community as Israel’s military offensive in the enclave approaches its fifth month, and it is key to ending the conflict.

Israel’s government on Monday said its military presented a plan to increase aid flow and evacuate civilians from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, as pressure mounts on Israel to share its strategy for protecting the more than one million Palestinians sheltering there as Israel seeks to invade the city.

Meanwhile, Israel said it had found a 10km-long tunnel network used by Hamas, which would make it one of the longest tunnels uncovered in Gaza.

The US has called for a reformed PA – which governs Palestinian population centres in the West Bank semi-autonomously – to administer Gaza after the war. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted any role for the authority.

“The next phase and its challenges require new political and governmental arrangements that take into consideration the new reality in Gaza, the national unity talks, and the urgency of reaching internal Palestinian reconciliation based on national interest,” the Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, said in a speech as he tendered his and his government’s resignation.

The proposed PA cabinet resignation was approved by Mr Abbas, who requested that the resigning ministers temporarily continue working until a new government is formed.

The authority’s President hasn’t faced a presidential ballot since he was elected in 2005. Perceived by Palestinians as ineffective, corrupt and too dependent on the goodwill of the US and Israel’s government, Mr Abbas and the authority have seen their popular support plummet in the West Bank and Gaza, with around 90 per cent of Palestinians calling for his resignation. Such unpopularity is a major obstacle to the authority taking over Gaza after a potential Israeli withdrawal.

“This is a half step toward a government change,” said an official from the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which represents Palestinians internationally. The official said the proposed changes didn’t involve Mr Abbas.

Another official from the organisation questioned what a future technocratic government for the PA could achieve in rebuilding and governing Gaza without fresh funding and a long-term political perspective for the territory.

Mr Abbas has told Arab and US officials that he is working on forming a new government with Mohammad Mustafa, a former Palestinian economy minister and World Bank executive, as the likely candidate for prime minister.

He has also tasked a number of Palestinian officials to prepare a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, which would include establishing a reconstruction authority, operating under the supervision of the World Bank and subject to an international accounting firm.

One plan for post-war Gaza being formulated by five Arab states could see the Islamist Hamas movement being folded into the widely secular PLO, ending the years-long split between Palestinian factions.

The Wall Street Journal

Egypt wants West Bank violence quelled ahead of Ramadan

Posted on February 11, 2023March 18, 2023 by admin

Egypt has stepped up mediation between Israel and the Palestinians in a bid to tamp down violence in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank and prevent its spread to the Gaza Strip ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Cairo hosted leaders from Gaza’s ruling Hamas Islamist militant group and from the smaller, allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group this week, according to officials.

Talks with Israeli representatives were held earlier, they said.

West Bank violence, which surged last year as Israel intensified raids following a series of lethal Palestinian street attacks in Israeli cities, has picked up pace since a hard-right Israeli government was sworn in on December 29.

Two Egyptian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Cairo believed the situation could further spiral out of control, especially given Palestinian sensitivities about Israeli control of access to Jerusalem during Ramadan, which begins in late March.

Egypt wanted the United States to appeal to Israel to help constrain an escalation of violence, the officials said.

Egypt, for its part, was appealing to the PIJ, which spurns direct contact with Israel.

“More than ever, the Egyptians are worried of a possible new armed confrontation in 2023 because they realise it would be hard to restrain actions by some ministers of the new extremist government in Israel,” a Palestinian official told Reuters.

“Egypt understands that if things blow up in the West Bank it will ignite an explosion in Gaza too,” the Palestinian official said.

Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel last fought a 56-hour war in Gaza in August 2022 against PIJ, and the year before against Hamas.

The two groups are sworn to Israel’s destruction but have been observing a de facto extended truce with it, brokered by neighbouring Egypt in 2021.

PIJ spokesman Daoud Shehab accused Israel of trying to change the “status quo” in the West Bank and Jerusalem, a reference to the new government’s plan to expand Jewish settlements and what Palestinians see as Jewish encroachment on a contested site in the holy city that is sacred to both faiths.

Shehab said the group told Egypt “no one can restrain” themselves if “Israeli provocations … continue during Ramadan”.

Australian Associated Press

Group of Palestinians and Tourists Attacked by Settlers While Hiking in West Bank

Posted on January 22, 2023January 22, 2023 by admin

A group of Palestinian and foreign tourists were attacked Friday while on a hike near the village of Mu’arajat near Jericho in the West Bank, Haaretz has learned.

In a video documenting the event published on social media, several young men who appear to be Jewish settlers are seen waving batons at the group who were hiking in the area.

According to an Israeli security source, the young men also attacked the travelers with pepper spray.

Following the attack, soldiers arrived at the scene and escorted the hikers back to their bus, the source said. So far, no one has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack.

Samira, an Italian citizen who participated in the tour, told Haaretz that three of the hikers who were attacked were taken to the hospital and released with bruises. According to her, the group included about 41 participants, including Palestinians, Americans, French and Italians. She added that there were about six settlers at the scene of the attack, who she said “looked very young.”

“We started walking at 9 a.m. and walked down the mountains toward the end of the wadi, where a bus was waiting for us,” Samira said. “When we were nearing the end, settlers arrived with batons and pepper spray. They prevented us from continuing to walk and started attacking us.”

She said that she was beaten on her arm with a baton when she was taking pictures of the incident. After the attack, the group climbed back up the mountain and waited for about two hours while they contacted the various embassies and the Palestinian police, until finally soldiers arrived and escorted them to the bus.

Israeli activists who usually accompany Palestinian shepherds in the area told Haaretz that they recognize the attackers as occupants of a relatively new outpost in the area, and that the person attacking the group is specifically known to them as someone they often see accompanying a herd and threatening Palestinian shepherds.