Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon

Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 22, 2023 (AFP)
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Updated 27 September 2024
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Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon

Iraqi PM decries ‘powerless’ UN Security Council’s inability to curb Israel’s wars on Palestine and Lebanon
  • Tel Aviv pushing world to war, says Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani
  • Greater collective effort from the international community needed

Washington: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has blasted Israel as an “occupation entity” that routinely violates international laws as it wages “brutal” war on Gaza and Lebanon, and urged the international community to act against Tel Aviv.

Speaking at the 79th UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday, Al-Sudani said conflict in the Middle East has intensified as a result of Israel’s unfettered actions.

Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in the killing of 41,000 people mainly women and children. And its attacks in Lebanon have killed hundreds and injured thousands, said Al-Sudani.

He expressed “disappointment” in the UN and Security Council for not deterring Israel’s “aggression” against the people of Palestine and Lebanon.

Al-Sudani said the UN faces a critical test of its ability to ensure “international security, stability and human rights.”

“Today we are witnessing the UN charter and international laws being violated and the right of self-determination is ignored,” he said.

“The world is being pushed toward full-scale confrontation and conflict while the Security Council is powerless and without a role.”

He said that while there have been commendable individual efforts to resolve conflicts in the Middle East, a greater collective effort from the international community was needed.

“In occupied Palestine, we are witnessing a people who are being attacked by an occupying military force displacing millions without being deterred and killing thousands of people.”

Al-Sudani added that Israeli officials were acting with impunity. “Public statements of mass-starving of people and even using nuclear weapons against them by senior officials of the occupation entity go on without any measures to deter them.”

He said the Palestinian people should be protected from the Israeli military occupation. However, Israel’s actions have rendered international law merely “ink on paper.”

On Lebanon, Al-Sudani said Iraq would support its neighbor, and continue to send medical and other aid to the country.

“Iraq today and its government and its people, under the directive of the supreme religious authorities stands with Lebanon and its brotherly people as

it faces a new page of brutal aggression that seeks to plunge the region into a brutal conflict which is something we have warned against,” he said.

On domestic issues, Al-Sudani said his government was working to rebuild the economy and improve public services.

The ultimate aim was to transform Iraq into a regional trade hub between the Middle East and Europe.


UN chief writes letter to Israeli PM protesting UNRWA ban

UN chief writes letter to Israeli PM protesting UNRWA ban
Updated 14 sec ago
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UN chief writes letter to Israeli PM protesting UNRWA ban

UN chief writes letter to Israeli PM protesting UNRWA ban
  • The ban is due to start in three months
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter Tuesday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu protesting a new law that could effectively cripple the UN agency responsible for aiding Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The regulations approved by the Israeli parliament ban the UN agency from operating in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, and prevent it from communicating and coordinating with Israeli authorities, which could essentially end its work in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Israel has long been at odds with UNRWA and has alleged that some of its employees were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks that triggered the war in Gaza.
The ban is due to start in three months.
In the letter, which was seen by AFP, Guterres said the law could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank because there is no reasonable alternative to UNRWA for providing the aid and assistance these people need.
“I appeal to you and to the government of Israel to prevent such devastating consequences and to allow UNRWA to continue carrying out its activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with its obligations under international law,” Guterres wrote.
The agency was created in 1949 by the UN General Assembly after the first Arab-Israeli war, shortly after the creation of Israel in May 1948 and the mass displacement of Palestinians in its wake.
Guterres argued that under international law an occupying power must implement mechanisms for aiding the people living in that occupied territory.
“Israel, as the occupying power, continues to be required to ensure that the needs of the population are met,” Guterres wrote.
“If Israel is not in a position to meet such needs, it has an obligation to allow and facilitate the activities of the United Nations, including UNRWA, and other humanitarian agencies, until the needs of Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are met,” he added.

Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion

Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion
Updated 49 min 34 sec ago
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Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion

Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion
  • NNA reported the entry of ‘a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army’ into the eastern outskirts of Khiam
  • Hezbollah said it destroyed two tanks using guided missiles and targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanese state media said Tuesday that Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of the village of Khiam, their deepest incursion yet into south Lebanon in a ground operation launched last month.
The official National News Agency reported the entry of “a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army” into the eastern outskirts of Khiam, some six kilometers (nearly four miles) from the border with Israel.
Hezbollah said it destroyed two tanks using guided missiles and targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam with rockets and artillery.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli forces carried out a series of air attacks on Khiam later on Tuesday and launched a large-scale sweep “using heavy and medium weaponry.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah, which named deputy chief Naim Qassem as its new leader on Tuesday, has been battling Israeli forces in Lebanese border villages since the ground invasion began on September 30.
According to an AFP count based on Lebanese health ministry figures, 1,754 people have been killed nationwide since intensive Israeli strikes on Lebanon began.
Hezbollah claims that Israeli forces are yet to assert full control over any village in Lebanon, weeks into the invasion, amid repeated operations to repel Israeli attempts at infiltration.
The large town of Khiam holds symbolic significance.
It was home to a notorious prison run by the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli proxy militia, during Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon.
Israeli troops withdrew from the region in 2000 after 22 years.


Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria

Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria
Updated 29 October 2024
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Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria

Turkiye to pursue campaign against Kurdish group in Iraq, Syria
  • Recep Tayip Erdogan: ‘We are preventing the terrorists who live on our borders from breathing’
  • Erdogan dubbed last Wednesday’s attack as 'the last efforts' of the separatist organization

ISTANBUL: Turkiye will continue its military operations in northern Iraq and Syria against Kurdish PKK rebels so as to “eliminate” their threat, President Recep Tayip Erdogan promised on Tuesday.
“We are preventing the terrorists who live on our borders from breathing,” said Erdogan.
“Until the establishment of a country and a region without terror, we will continue this combat in several dimensions,” the president insisted as he cited the ongoing operations.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed it was behind last week’s attack on the headquarters of Turkiye’s state-owned defense firm in Ankara, which killed five people and wounded 22.
“Where we detect a threat to our country, both within and outside our borders, nobody can prevent us from eliminating it,” Erdogan continued in an address to mark the 101st anniversary of the Turkish republic, saying he would stop at nothing to do so and “end terrorism.”
The PKK, which has waged an on-off insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated as a terror group by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Turkiye has been accused of targeting Kurdish civilians in cross-border strikes, a charge the army denies.
Erdogan dubbed last Wednesday’s attack as “the last efforts” of the separatist organization.
“We are now able to develop the weapons we need in the fight against terror and we do not require anyone’s permission,” Erdogan added.
The head of state said that Turkiye was in the process of equipping itself with “an iron dome” anti-aircraft defense system similar to one which Israel has, “but made of steel.”
He added that Turkiye had also become “the world’s largest manufacturer of drones” and that “since 2018, 65 percent of the sales of armed drones in the world have been made by Turkish companies.”


Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief

Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief
Updated 29 October 2024
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Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief

Israel escalates attacks as it promises to target new Hezbollah chief
  • Israel intensified its reconnaissance aircraft operations in the airspace over Beirut and its southern suburbs at low altitude
  • Airstrikes devastate town of Jbaa, 12 residential buildings destroyed

BEIRUT: Iran-backed Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the election of Sheikh Naim Qassem as its new secretary-general. He succeeds Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting his headquarters in Haret Hreik, a suburb of southern Beirut, on Sept. 27.

Confrontations between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers have escalated along the border between Lebanon and Israel, particularly in the town of Khiam, with numerous casualties resulting from intensive raids across the south and Bekaa.

Following the announcement of Qassem’s election, Israel intensified its reconnaissance aircraft operations in the airspace over Beirut and its southern suburbs at low altitude.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a picture of Qassem on his X account, and wrote: “The countdown to his appointment has begun.”

Israeli Minister of Energy Eli Cohen said: “Anyone who leads Hezbollah is a target for assassination.”

Israel targeted Nasrallah’s potential successor, Hashem Safieddine, in raids on the Al-Mareija area of the southern suburbs of Beirut on Oct. 4.

Qassem has been Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general since 1991, and was born in 1953 in Beirut’s Basta Tahta district.

Qassem affirmed that “Lebanon cannot be separated from Palestine” following the assassination of Nasrallah.

He added: “We do not have any vacant positions within Hezbollah following the Israeli assassinations.”

Qassem also said that “the resistance will never be defeated because they’re the ones that own the land, and because they will fight and die in dignity.”

A political observer said that Qassem’s appointment had “significant connotations, especially in that Hezbollah was able to restore its structure and fill vacant positions following Israel’s painful strikes on its leadership.”

He added: “Qassem’s appointment is due to the fact that he has been present during Hezbollah’s key periods, from its inception until today.”

On behalf of the parliamentary bloc, Hezbollah deputy Ali Fayyad said: “Hezbollah is still fully able to confront Israeli aggression,” adding that “the militant party obliged the Israeli army to withdraw from some of the areas it invaded.”

In the south, fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers escalated around Khiam, which has been subjected to heavy artillery shelling.

Hezbollah said it had trapped Israeli soldiers during the confrontations, which also included heavy machine gun fire. Many Israeli drones were seen hovering over the area.

Israeli army vehicles, including two tanks and a bulldozer, reached the eastern edge of Khiam.

Israel also reportedly raided Chaqra, Majdal Selem, Yohmor, Chahabiya, Toulin, Baraachit, Archaf, Haddatha, the area between Majdal Zoun and Chihine, Kafra, and Deir Al-Zahrani.

The Israeli army issued new evacuation warnings to the residents of villages located south of the Litani River, instructing them to leave immediately and head north to the Awali River.

The town of Jbaa was targeted with nine raids which destroyed at least 12 residential buildings in less than an hour.

Residents said that “seismic missiles were used, turning neighborhoods and houses into rubble.”

The missiles destroyed the vicinity housing buildings responsible for General Security, Civil Status and the Lebanese Civil Defense, as well as the public square.

The Israeli army on Monday targeted more than 100 streets in Tyre. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed and seven people killed and 17 injured.

The following day an Israeli warplane attacked a location in Tyre where the funerals of paramedics from the Islamic Health Organization were taking place, resulting in further paramedics being wounded.

Some 30 airstrikes on Monday and Tuesday hit civilian homes, leaving 63 dead and dozens injured. The attacks destroyed entire neighborhoods in Jbaa.

Further Israeli airstrikes on Bekaa targeted 14 towns on the eastern and western mountain ranges. Israel resumed its attacks on Tuesday, targeting towns in the central Bekaa.

A missile also targeted the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, resulting in injuries to peacekeeping soldiers from the Austrian contingent.

The Austrian Ministry of Defense said that “eight Austrian soldiers from the UNIFIL forces were injured in a missile attack on Naqoura, with no serious injuries reported.” It added that “the source of the attack is currently unclear.”

Despite coordination with UNIFIL, the Lebanese Red Cross said that the Israeli army had targeted its teams “while they were heading to rescue individuals injured in a morning shelling in one of the towns of the Tyre district, despite prior coordination.”


Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah

Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah
Updated 29 October 2024
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Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah

Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah
  • Shoura Council says had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general
  • Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month ago

BEIRUT: Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had elected deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month ago.
The group said in a written statement that its Shoura Council had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general.
He was appointed as Hezbollah’s deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group’s then-secretary general Abbas Al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.
Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media, including as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.
Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine — considered the most likely successor — was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.
Since Nasrallah’s killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including one on Oct. 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.
He is considered by many in Lebanon to lack the charisma and gravitas of Nasrallah.
The Israeli government’s official Arabic account on X posted, “His tenure in this position may be the shortest in the history of this terrorist organization if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine.”
“There is no solution in Lebanon except to dismantle this organization as a military force,” it wrote.