Israeli minister tells US that large-scale Iranian attack expected, Axios reports

Israeli minister tells US that large-scale Iranian attack expected, Axios reports
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed operational and strategic coordination against Iranian threats. (File/Reuters)
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Updated 12 August 2024
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Israeli minister tells US that large-scale Iranian attack expected, Axios reports

Israeli minister tells US that large-scale Iranian attack expected, Axios reports
  • Gallant and Austin discussed the Israeli military’s readiness in the face of Iranian threats
  • Austin has meanwhile ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East

WASHINGTON: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday that Iran was making preparations for a large-scale military attack on Israel, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on X, citing a source with knowledge of the call.

In a statement on Monday, Gallant’s ministry confirmed the call took place overnight. It said Gallant and Austin discussed operational and strategic coordination and the Israeli military’s readiness in the face of Iranian threats.
Austin has meanwhile ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East. The US military had already said it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region to bolster Israeli defenses.
On Friday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander was quoted as saying by local news agencies that Iran was set to carry out an order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to “harshly punish” Israel over the assassination on July 31 of the leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas in Tehran.


Sudan’s army launches push to retake ground in capital

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Sudan’s army launches push to retake ground in capital

Sudan’s army launches push to retake ground in capital
  • Army lost most of capital early in the war
  • Army chief Burhan to address UN in New York
DUBAI: Sudan’s army launched artillery and air strikes in Sudan’s capital on Thursday in its biggest operation to regain ground there since early in its 17-month war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses and military sources said.
The push by the army, which lost control of most of the capital at the start of the conflict, came ahead of an address by its commander, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York later in the day.
Witnesses reported heavy bombardments and clashes as army troops tried to cross bridges across the Nile connecting the three adjoining cities that make up the greater capital, Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.
“The army is carrying out heavy artillery strikes and air strikes on Halfaya and Shambat,” Ahmed Abdalla, a 48-year-old resident told Reuters by phone, referring to areas of Bahri close to the river. “The sounds of explosions are very loud.”
Video footage showed black smoke rising above the capital and the booms of the battle could be heard in the background.
Army sources said their forces had crossed bridges in Khartoum and Bahri. The RSF told Reuters it had thwarted the army’s attempt to cross two bridges to Khartoum. Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts.
Though the army retook some ground in Omdurman early this year, it depends mostly on artillery and airstrikes and has been unable to dislodge nimble RSF ground forces embedded in other parts of the capital.
Darfur fears
The RSF has also continued to make advances in other parts of Sudan in recent months in a conflict that has caused a vast humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 10 million people and driving parts of the country to extreme hunger or famine.
Diplomatic efforts by the United States and other powers have faltered, with the army refusing to attend talks last month in Switzerland.
This month the battle for control of Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state in the west of Sudan, has also intensified as the RSF has tried to advance from positions surrounding the city against the army and allied former rebel groups.
Al-Fashir is the last army holdout across the Darfur region, where the UN and rights groups say the RSF and allies have led ethnically-targetted attacks and the humanitarian situation is
particularly critical. The RSF has denied being behind the violence.
The UN human rights office said on Thursday it had documented summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence, and abductions of women and young men in Al-Fashir, in addition to rising civilian casualties.
“From bitter past experience, if Al-Fashir falls, there is a high risk of ethnically targeted violations and abuses, including summary executions and sexual violence, by the RSF and allied militia,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said.
The UN Security Council and secretary-general have also demanded an end to the siege of Al-Fashir, home to more than 1.8 million residents and displaced people.
The war began when tensions between the RSF and the army, who had been jostling for position ahead of an internationally-backed transition to civilian rule, erupted into open conflict.
The army and the RSF had previously shared power after staging a coup in 2021, two years after veteran autocrat Omar Al-Bashir was toppled in a popular uprising.

No formal mediation track on Lebanon ceasefire yet, Qatar ministry says

No formal mediation track on Lebanon ceasefire yet, Qatar ministry says
Updated 26 September 2024
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No formal mediation track on Lebanon ceasefire yet, Qatar ministry says

No formal mediation track on Lebanon ceasefire yet, Qatar ministry says

DOHA: There is no formal mediation track working toward a ceasefire in Lebanon yet, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a press briefing on Thursday following days of violence between Hezbollah and Israel.
He said he was not aware of a “direct link” between a 21-day Lebanon ceasefire proposal and a Gaza ceasefire proposal on which Qatar had worked extensively alongside Egypt and the United States.


Israel far-right minister rejects Lebanon ceasefire, calls for ‘crushing’ Hezbollah

Israel far-right minister rejects Lebanon ceasefire, calls for ‘crushing’ Hezbollah
Updated 26 September 2024
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Israel far-right minister rejects Lebanon ceasefire, calls for ‘crushing’ Hezbollah

Israel far-right minister rejects Lebanon ceasefire, calls for ‘crushing’ Hezbollah
  • The United States, European Union issued a joint call for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon after Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah killed hundreds

JERUSULAM: Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday rejected a proposal for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon and called for the “crushing” of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The United States, European Union and other allies including several Arab states issued a joint call for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon after Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands in Lebanon this week.
The call for a three-week ceasefire came hours after Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Wednesday told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground offensive against Hezbollah.
Smotrich, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, opposed the proposal, insisting that continuing the war against Hezbollah was the only way forward.
“The campaign in the north should end with a single result: crushing Hezbollah and elimination of its ability to harm the residents of the north,” Smotrich said on X.
“The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows it has suffered and reorganize itself to continue the war after 21 days,” he said.
“Hezbollah’s surrender or war — this is the only way to bring back the residents and security to the north and the country.”

In a separate statement on X, opposition leader Yair Lapid said the Israeli government should only agree to a seven-day ceasefire.
This would “prevent Hezbollah from restoring its command and control systems,” Lapid said.
“We will not accept any proposal that does not include the withdrawal of Hezbollah from our northern border.”
Smotrich, along with far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, has been a strong advocate of continuing the war in Gaza too, where Israeli forces have been battling Palestinian militants led by the Islamist group Hamas since October 7.
The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon a day later in what it says is solidarity with its ally Hamas.
Since then Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in fierce cross-border clashes, which worsened this week when Israel launched a withering bombing campaign in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah sites in the deadliest violence since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.


Israel sends scores of bodies to Gaza; Palestinians demand details before burying them

Israel sends scores of bodies to Gaza; Palestinians demand details before burying them
Updated 26 September 2024
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Israel sends scores of bodies to Gaza; Palestinians demand details before burying them

Israel sends scores of bodies to Gaza; Palestinians demand details before burying them
  • The bodies were brought into Gaza in a container loaded on a truck through an Israeli-controlled crossing
  • Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive them and bury them, urging the ICRC to seek details from Israel

CAIRO: Israel returned the bodies on Wednesday of 88 Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which the territory’s health ministry refused to bury before Israel discloses details about who they are and where it killed them.
The bodies were brought into Gaza in a container loaded on a truck through an Israeli-controlled crossing, but, according to Palestinian officials, there was no information provided about the names or ages of the victims or locations where they died.
Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive them and bury them, urging the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC to seek details from Israel.
“The health ministry halted the procedures to receive the container (carrying the bodies) until the completion of the full data and information about those bodies so their relatives can identify them,” the ministry said in a statement.
The head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said health ministry officials told the driver of the truck to bring the bodies of dead Palestinians back to the Israeli crossing from which he had arrived. The truck then left the hospital.
“They must act according to the international humanitarian law and in a way that preserves the dignity of the martyrs and their families,” Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters.
The Red Cross said it wasn’t involved in the transfer process.
“We reiterate that all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully and in line with their traditions,” said a statement issued by the ICRC.
Under International Humanitarian Law, those who have died during an armed conflict must be handled with dignity and be properly managed. The law requires that they be searched for, collected and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not go missing, the ICRC statement added.
The Civil Emergency Service tasked with finding people missing under rubble, on roads and in ruined buildings in Gaza says it has been notified of around 10,000 people missing during the near year-long Israeli assault on Gaza.
Gaza health authorities list more than 41,000 Palestinians confirmed killed in the assault, which Israel launched after Hamas fighters attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and capturing around 250 hostages.
In recent days the conflict has spread to another major theater, with Israel launching the biggest airstrikes on Lebanon in nearly two decades, targeting the Hezbollah movement, which has been rocketing Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

MORE STRIKES IN GAZA
War in Gaza has not let up, even as the conflict in Lebanon has escalated. Many months of diplomatic efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire have yielded little progress, with Israel refusing any deal to halt the fighting without the total defeat of Hamas.
Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Wednesday, medics said.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli forces continued their operations in different areas of the city, amid clashes with Hamas-led fighters, according to residents and statements posted by militants.
Medics said at least eight Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli strikes on two houses in Rafah. One of those strikes killed a woman and her children, they added.
In another attack in Bureij, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, five Palestinians were killed in a house hit by an Israeli missile, medics said.
Israel has also sent tanks into the eastern area of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, and medics said a woman was killed in an air strike on a house in the town earlier on Tuesday.


What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah

What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah
Updated 26 September 2024
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What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah

What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah
  • The United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day ceasefire in the conflict to “provide space for diplomacy”
  • Israeli officials say they haven’t yet made an official decision to expand military operations against Hezbollah

CAIRO: Since mid-September, there has been a dizzying escalation in the nearly yearlong conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
First came two days of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah — attacks pinned on Israel that killed at least 39 people and maimed thousands more.
Hezbollah’s leader vowed to retaliate, and on Sept. 20 the militant group launched a wave of rockets into northern Israel. Since then, both sides have fired dozens of rockets on a daily basis, forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the north to huddle in air raid shelters, and prompting tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in parts of southern Lebanon where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
The United Nations said more than 90,000 Lebanese people have been displaced in recent days.
Lebanon said Israeli strikes Monday killed more than 560 Lebanese and injured almost 2,000 in the deadliest attack since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Several Hezbollah leaders have been targeted in the attacks, including the commander of its most elite unit who was killed in a strike in Beirut.
The United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day ceasefire in the conflict to “provide space for diplomacy” as fears grow that the violence could become an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which would further destabilize a region already shaken by the war in Gaza. Both sides have said they don’t want that to happen, even as they have defiantly warned of heavier attacks.
Israel and Hezbollah have launched repeated strikes against each other since the Israel-Hamas war began, but both sides have pulled back when the spiral of reprisals appeared on the verge of getting out of control, under heavy pressure from the US and its allies. In recent weeks, however, Israeli leaders have warned of a possible bigger military operation to stop attacks from Lebanon to allow hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced by the fighting to return to homes near the border.
Here are some things to know about the situation:
What were the latest strikes?
Israel said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that targeted Tel Aviv. Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon has reached central Israel, although Hezbollah claims it also targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv in August. This has not been confirmed.
Israel said its air force hit some 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Wednesday. Lebanon’s health minister said the latest Israeli strikes killed more than 70 people and injured hundreds more. This count brings the death toll to more than 630 Lebanese people in three days.
Two Israelis were wounded by shrapnel after dozens of Hezbollah rockets were fired into northern Israel, the military said.
What is the situation on the border?
The Israel-Lebanon border has seen almost daily exchanges since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, killing more than 630 people in Lebanon, and about 50 soldiers and civilians in Israel. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised to retaliate for the electronic device bombings. But Hezbollah also has proved wary of further stoking the crisis. The group faces a difficult balance of stretching the rules of engagement by hitting deeper into Israel in response to its brazen attacks, while at the same time trying to avoid the kind of large-scale attacks on civilian areas that can trigger a full-scale war that it could be blamed for.
Hezbollah says its attacks against Israel are in support of its ally Hamas. Nasrallah said the barrages will continue — and Israelis won’t be able to return to homes in the north — until Israel’s campaign in Gaza ends.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told NBC News on Wednesday that the US is working on a diplomatic agreement to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
What is Israel planning?
Israeli officials say they haven’t yet made an official decision to expand military operations against Hezbollah — and haven’t said publicly what those operations might be.
The head of Israel’s Northern Command has been quoted in local media advocating for a ground invasion of Lebanon, and the Israeli army chief, LT. Gen. Herzi Halevi, told troops stationed on the northern border Wednesday that ongoing air strikes were “to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Halevi continued: “Later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.”
Meanwhile, as fighting in Gaza slowed, Israel increased its forces along the Lebanese border, including the arrival of a powerful army division believed to include thousands of troops. And on Wednesday, Israel announced it will further deploy two reserve brigades for missions in the north.
What would be the impact of a full-blown war?
A new war could be even worse than the one in 2006, which was traumatic enough to serve as a deterrent for both sides ever since. That fighting killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and an estimated 1,100 Lebanese civilians, and left large swaths of the south and parts of Beirut in ruins. More than 120 Israeli soldiers were killed and hundreds wounded. Hezbollah missile fire on Israeli cities killed dozens of civilians.
Israel estimates that Hezbollah possesses about 150,000 rockets and missiles, some of which are precision-guided, putting the entire country within range. Israel has beefed up its air defenses, but it’s unclear whether it can defend against the intense barrages of a new war.
Israel says it could turn southern Lebanon into a battle zone, saying Hezbollah has embedded rockets, weapons and forces along the border. And in the heightened rhetoric of the past months, Israeli politicians have spoken of inflicting the same damage in Lebanon that the military has wreaked in Gaza.