Intense fire on Lebanon front leaves casualties on both sides

Special Intense fire on Lebanon front leaves casualties on both sides
Emergency services arrive at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, May 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 09 May 2024
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Intense fire on Lebanon front leaves casualties on both sides

Intense fire on Lebanon front leaves casualties on both sides
  • Ten airstrikes hit the forest area stretching from the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab to those of Ramyah within a few hours
  • Hezbollah resorts to unconventional weaponry in response to Israel’s scorched-earth tactics

BEIRUT: The Israeli army launched more than 20 airstrikes on Lebanese border towns on Wednesday, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

Alarms blared in the settlements of Adamit, Goren, Eilon, and Arab Al-Aramsheh in Western Galilee and Israeli media reported: “Hezbollah is leading a major attack from southern Lebanon using missiles and drones, and sirens are continuously sounding.”

Israeli news sites said: “Injuries occurred among the Israelis in the north due to missile strikes carried out by Hezbollah on Avivim, and the situation is difficult. Seven soldiers in the Al-Malikiyah site were hit, several killed and others injured, in a combined operation involving a missile salvo and suicide drone attacks. Hezbollah’s attacks also targeted the settlement of Kiryat Shmona.”

One outlet said a reservist soldier had been killed, while others reported power outages in Avivim and Dovev as a result of Hezbollah shelling.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee confirmed: “Airstrikes were launched at Hezbollah-affiliated targets in six areas in southern Lebanon, and Israeli warplanes raided the party’s military buildings in Kfarkela, Aita Al-Shaab, Khiam, and Maroun Al-Ras.”

Ten airstrikes hit the forest area stretching from the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab to those of Ramyah within a few hours. The raids continued on the towns of Yaroun, Jabal Blat, Kfarkela, the outskirts of Rihan, Aaramta and Khiam.

One house in Khiam was completely destroyed. Paramedics working to remove the rubble found three Hezbollah members had been killed and another injured.

Aitaroun and Blida were hit with phosphorus bombs, which are banned internationally, while artillery shelling was recorded on the outskirts of the towns of Naqoura, Halta, Kfarchouba and Jabal Blat.

Civil defense teams in the Kfarkela-Tal Nahas area worked to extinguish a fire caused by one of the airstrikes.

According to a security source, the Israeli military utilized “GBU bunker-buster bombs in the airstrikes on Kafr Kila, renowned for their effectiveness in penetrating fortified structures. These bombs, part of Israel’s arsenal since 2000, were reportedly replenished through intensified American shipments.”

In retaliation, Hezbollah launched operations against Israeli military sites, some with guided missiles, causing deaths and injuries among Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah said this was in response to enemy attacks on southern villages and civilian homes.

A building used by Israeli soldiers in the Metula settlement was targeted, along with two structures in the Shlomi settlement, one in Hanita, two in Avivim, and a building at the Al-Manara site.

Later, Hezbollah targeted Israeli soldiers at the Raheb site, causing direct damage. A statement from the organization said it simultaneously targeted and destroyed espionage equipment at the same location.

The source highlighted a significant uptick in military engagement between the Israeli army and Hezbollah over the past 48 hours, coinciding with Israel’s incursion into and seizure of the Rafah crossing.

Media reports said: “Hezbollah has resorted to unconventional weaponry against Israeli sites in response to Israel’s scorched-earth tactics along the border, making the area inhospitable due to extensive phosphorus contamination. The cleanup process, aiming to rid the region of the pollutants used by the Israeli military to devastate crops, groundwater and soil, is anticipated to span several years.”

Israeli positions adjacent to the Blue Line unleashed heavy machine gun fire on the outskirts of Rmeich and Ramyah, targeting water tanks and vital roads connecting border communities.

Hezbollah has tied a ceasefire along the southern front to a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.


Kuwait PM says Trump’s decisions will impact global economy

Kuwait PM says Trump’s decisions will impact global economy
Updated 25 sec ago
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Kuwait PM says Trump’s decisions will impact global economy

Kuwait PM says Trump’s decisions will impact global economy
  • US president ‘only looking for his own benefits,’ says Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah

DUBAI: Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah has warned that US President Donald Trump’s economic decisions would have “repercussions” for the entire world.

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, in a departure from his planned speech, the prime minister said listening to Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, about the direction of the global economy and AI “was a joy.”

He added: “But I need to ask you all to be very attentive to Trump’s decisions.

“He seems to be only looking for his own benefits which will affect the whole world and there will be repercussions.”

On Monday, Trump increased tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a flat 25 percent, with no exceptions or exemptions.

Trump said his decision was aimed at supporting struggling American industries. But the action risks triggering a global trade war.

While signing the order at the White House, Trump announced plans to follow Monday’s action with reciprocal tariffs on all countries that levy duties on US goods within the next two days.

He also mentioned considering tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

(Additional reporting from Reuters)


UN says staff member has died in custody of Houthis

UN says staff member has died in custody of Houthis
Updated 2 min 31 sec ago
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UN says staff member has died in custody of Houthis

UN says staff member has died in custody of Houthis
  • “WFP is grief-stricken and outraged about the death of a staff member while in detention in northern Yemen,” the agency said

DUBAI: The United Nations’s World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday that a staff member held captive by the Houthis in Yemen has died.
“WFP is grief-stricken and outraged about the death of a staff member while in detention in northern Yemen,” the agency said in a statement on X.
He was identified as a Yemeni staff member “arbitrarily detained by local authorities since 23 January,” though the circumstances of his death were not specified.
The employee, who WFP said had worked for the UN since 2017, left behind a wife and two children.
The United Nations announced the suspension Monday of its activities in Yemen’s Saada region, a Houthi stronghold, after the militia detained multiple personnel there this year.
The Iran-backed Houthis have arrested dozens of staffers from the UN and other humanitarian organizations, most of them since the middle of 2024, as Yemen’s decade-long civil war grinds on.
In January alone, the Houthis detained eight UN workers, including six in Saada, which adds to the dozens of NGO and UN personnel detained since June.
The Houthis claimed the June arrests included “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.
A decade of war has plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the UN.


Equality in the world hindered by lack of connectivity warns telecoms boss

Equality in the world hindered by lack of connectivity warns telecoms boss
Updated 11 February 2025
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Equality in the world hindered by lack of connectivity warns telecoms boss

Equality in the world hindered by lack of connectivity warns telecoms boss
  • Connectivity has become one of the most important ingredients for progress

DUBAI: A massive 5.5 billion people have been connected around the world through such projects as the Edison Alliance, but half as many remain unconnected, Hatem Dowidar, group CEO at e&, told the World Governments Summit on Tuesday.

Dowidar said it was important to ensure this gap was addressed before it led to further economic divide in the future.

He gave the example of two students, one in an advanced economy with access to personalized artificial intelligence programs for education and the ability to collaborate globally with his peers, and another in a less wealthy nation, who had to walk for hours to reach school and had access to only the “very basic training and teaching equipment.”

He said: “These two have to compete in the future … It’s really unfair. And if we don’t do anything today to bridge that divide, it will become a bigger problem in the future.”

Connectivity has become one of the most important ingredients for progress, Dowidar said, adding: “We need to all work together, whether it’s governments, businesses (or) organizations.”

Today with the advancement of AI, this becomes even more critical as “we can really help a lot of the global south with solutions that improve education, healthcare and economic activity.”

Dowidar said there were signs of improvements in technology that would help increase connectivity, such as satellite technology, which was becoming more accessible.

Margherita Della Valle, CEO, Vodafone, said: “For society, connectivity today is essential … There cannot be any real development without connectivity. In Vodafone, we operate in 17 different countries across Europe and Africa, and our mission statement is very simple: We connect everyone wherever they are.”

Della Valle said her company’s most recent evolution — one they are most proud of — has been adding satellite connectivity to their networks.

“I think this is a great opportunity to connect those areas of the world which are most remote. Out of the 2.5 billion people who have no access to the internet, there are around 300 million who are nowhere near any form of connectivity, and satellite can get us there,” Vodafone’s CEO said two weeks ago she made the first mobile space video call in the world using a normal smartphone.

“We are now going to commercially launch the service later this year, and I think it’s a great opportunity to bring connectivity to the most remote areas of the planet,” she said.


African Union: Sudan war is world’s ‘worst humanitarian crisis’

African Union: Sudan war is world’s ‘worst humanitarian crisis’
Updated 11 February 2025
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African Union: Sudan war is world’s ‘worst humanitarian crisis’

African Union: Sudan war is world’s ‘worst humanitarian crisis’
  • The Sudanese army has been at war since April 2023 with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
  • The Sudanese army controls the east and north of the country while RSF holds most of Darfur region

ADDIS ABABA: African Union officials on Tuesday branded Sudan’s civil war the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world” and warned it was leaving hundreds of thousands of children malnourished.
The Sudanese army has been at war since April 2023 with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a conflict that has displaced around 12 million people, according to the AU and the International Rescue Committee.
It “has hampered access to humanitarian relief, led to shortage of food and aggravated hunger,” Mohamed Ibn Chambas, chairman of an AU panel on Sudan, said Tuesday on X.
“Children and women are continually abused, and the elderly and sick lack medical assistance,” he added.
“This is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”
A senior AU official for child welfare, Wilson Almeida Adao, said in a separate X post that hospital admissions for malnutrition rose by 44 percent in 2024, with over 431,000 children receiving treatment.
“We witness reports of grave violations, including attacks on schools and hospitals, forced recruitment of child soldiers, and the denial of humanitarian access,” he said.
The Sudanese army controls the east and north of the country while the RSF holds most of the stricken Darfur region, where the United Nations on Monday accused it of blocking aid.
For the AU, “only inter-Sudanese political dialogue, not the military option, can end this war,” said Chambas.


Syria’s Sharaa calls Trump Gaza plan ‘serious crime’ bound to fail

Syria’s Sharaa calls Trump Gaza plan ‘serious crime’ bound to fail
Updated 11 February 2025
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Syria’s Sharaa calls Trump Gaza plan ‘serious crime’ bound to fail

Syria’s Sharaa calls Trump Gaza plan ‘serious crime’ bound to fail
  • Trump had said the US would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and develop it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere

DUBAI: Syria Arab Republic’s new president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, said in remarks broadcast on Monday he believes US President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle Palestinians from Gaza and take over the Strip “is a serious crime that will ultimately fail.”
Trump had said the US would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and develop it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere. He said Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal.
In an interview with a UK podcast, Sharaa, an Islamist whose militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham was once an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, said Trump’s proposal would not succeed.
“I believe no power can drive people from their land. Many countries have tried to do it and they have all failed, especially during the recent war in Gaza over the past year and a half,” he said.
Sharaa, declared president for a transitional phase after his group’s fighters led the overthrow of Bashar Assad, said it would be neither “wise nor morally or politically right” for Trump to lead an effort to force Palestinians out of their land.
“Over 80 years of this conflict, all attempts to displace them have failed; those who left have regretted their decision. The Palestinian lesson that every generation has learned is the importance of holding on to their land,” he added.
Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations have strongly opposed any attempt to push Palestinians over the border.
They fear any mass movement across the border would further undermine prospects for a “two-state solution” – creating a state of Palestine next to Israel – and leave Arab nations dealing with the consequences.