Jordan’s foreign minister fears ‘abyss of full-scale regional war’

Special Jordan’s foreign minister fears ‘abyss of full-scale regional war’
Ayman Safadi and Najib Mikati, Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 7, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 07 October 2024
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Jordan’s foreign minister fears ‘abyss of full-scale regional war’

Jordan’s foreign minister fears ‘abyss of full-scale regional war’
  • 2,083 dead: The toll of Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past year
  • Safadi stresses Jordan’s support for Lebanese government

BEIRUT: Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi, who also serves as foreign minister, has said that Israel’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon is pushing the Middle East into the “abyss of full-scale regional war.”

Safadi was speaking at a news conference following a meeting with Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, in Beirut.

Safadi’s remarks came as Lebanon commemorated the first anniversary of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

As of Oct. 7, the death toll had reached 2,083, including children, women, and high-ranking Hezbollah field commanders, along with casualties from the Lebanese army and Hezbollah-affiliated groups, medical staff, paramedics, firefighters, and journalists.

Additionally, there have been 9,869 people injured.

Safadi said that Jordan backed the Lebanese government’s initiative to elect a new president and its commitment to implement the UN Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006 and aimed to keep southern Lebanon under the control of the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers.

Safadi reaffirmed Jordan’s unwavering commitment to supporting Lebanon’s security, sovereignty, and the well-being of its citizens.

He spoke of Jordan’s readiness to assist Lebanon in facing the aftermath of recent attacks, which he characterized as a flagrant violation of international law and Lebanese sovereignty.

Safadi reiterated Jordan’s support for Lebanese efforts to strengthen its national institutions and make sovereign decisions.

He asserted that Jordan “will not allow itself to become a battleground for any party, nor tolerate any breaches of its airspace or sovereignty that threaten the security of its citizens.”

He added: “We have delivered this unequivocal message to both Iran and Israel.”

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said that directives had been issued to enhance security measures.

Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said: “The ministry does not grant permission for any aircraft to land at Beirut International Airport — which remains operational — without prior approval from the military.”

He added that “all warships or vessels involved in military operations must secure a permit from the Joint Maritime Chamber — comprising the army, general security, internal security forces, state security, and other relevant agencies — before they are permitted to dock at any seaport.”

Hamieh emphasized the importance of “conducting security checks on all individuals and trucks at land crossings.”

He said Mikati “is dedicated to keeping Lebanon’s land, sea, and air crossings open to facilitate humanitarian aid and bolster the economy, reaffirming that Lebanon remains accessible to all nations, with reinforced security protocols in place.”

The Israeli army announced on Monday “the start of a focused and specific ground operation in southern Lebanon, with the Galilee Brigade 91 joining the operations.”

Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on a building belonging to the Federation of Municipalities of Bint Jbeil District in the town of Barashi, resulting in the deaths of 10 firefighters from the Islamic Health Organization, which is associated with Hezbollah.

Destructive airstrikes also continued in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as in the south region and the Bekaa Valley.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army told residents of 25 southern villages on Monday to evacuate the area, reminding those who had left their homes and villages not to “return until further notice, to ensure their safety.”

Israeli warnings also extended to anyone attempting “to repair the border road between Lebanon and Syria at the Masnaa point that was bombed by Israeli raids last week.”

Israel also warned “any party trying to approach the building that targeted the Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Hashem Safieddine, in the deepest tunnels under it last Friday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, not to approach it to rescue him and those buried with him under it.”

Safieddine was regarded as one of the most prominent candidates to succeed killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

Thick black smoke filled the sky over the southern suburbs following a night of intense violence marked by Israeli airstrikes that destroyed several residential buildings.

Israeli warplanes conducted over 30 airstrikes within half an hour on villages and towns in the Tyre district, along with numerous strikes in the central and eastern sectors, extending to the Nabatieh Governorate and the Jezzine District.

A raid on a residence in Srifa resulted in the deaths of four people, including a chief warrant officer in the Lebanese army, while a raid on a house in Kherbet Selem led to one fatality, and a strike on a house in Qaliya in Western Bekaa to the deaths of two people.

Hezbollah expanded the scope of its military operations on Monday against northern Israel by launching attacks on the city of Haifa and its residential neighborhoods.

The group reported that it struck the Carmel base in southern Haifa using Fadi missiles.

Hezbollah also targeted the settlement of Kiryat Shmona while extending its reach to the settlement of Dan near the occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli media reported that missiles had exploded in locations within Haifa — including a residence and a restaurant — resulting in significant material damage.

Channel 14 in Israel reported that several injured people from Haifa were transported to Rambam Hospital.

Israeli media reported in the afternoon that 60 missiles had been launched from Lebanon in the space of 90 minutes toward northern Israel. Hezbollah indicated that the settlements of Karmiel and Kfar Vradim had been targeted.


Oman launches its first satellite into space

Oman launches its first satellite into space
Updated 26 sec ago
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Oman launches its first satellite into space

Oman launches its first satellite into space
  • The OL-1 satellite, equipped with artificial intelligence technologies, was launched into space by the Chinese rocket manufacturer CAS Space

LONDON: Omani space startup Oman Lens launched the country’s first full-fledged satellite, which will enable Muscat to collect data and detailed images for urban planning, forestry monitoring, and disaster management.

The OL-1 satellite, equipped with artificial intelligence technologies, was launched into space by the Chinese rocket manufacturer CAS Space from the Gobi Desert on Monday and was registered under Oman’s name at the International Telecommunication Organization.

OL-1 is the country’s first advanced and locally developed optical satellite for artificial intelligence computing, specializing in remote sensing and earth observation capabilities, the Oman News Agency reported.

It is fully prepared to monitor Oman from space, capture high-resolution images in real time, collect detailed images of Oman’s landscapes, infrastructure and natural resources, and transmit data faster than traditional satellites.

The launch of the OL-1 satellite was the outcome of a strategic partnership between Star Vision, a Chinese aerospace company, and the Omani government-owned Mars Development and Investment Co., to serve public and private sectors in the country as part of Oman Vision 2040, which aims to diversify the economy.

Oman Lens is planning to launch a constellation of satellites over the next five years, develop new technologies for smart cities, and enhance data analysis in cooperation with its partners, ONA reported.

In November 2020, Oman pledged to launch its first satellite into space in 2024, saying that the private sector was to take the initiative to achieve this goal.


New Israel FM says Palestinian state not ‘realistic’

Israel’s new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.
Israel’s new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.
Updated 11 November 2024
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New Israel FM says Palestinian state not ‘realistic’

Israel’s new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.
  • “I don’t think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic,” the newly appointed minister said
  • A Palestinian state would be “a Hamas state,” Saar added

JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state as a “realistic” goal, after Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas reiterated his commitment to a “sovereign” country.
“I don’t think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic,” the newly appointed minister said in response to a question about the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for a normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries.
The normalization drive was a part of the 2020 Abraham Accords overseen by Donald Trump, and the process could resume after the president-elect returns to the White House in January.
A Palestinian state would be “a Hamas state,” Saar added of the Palestinian militant group in Gaza with which Israel has been at war for more than a year.
Abbas, in comments carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, said Sunday that “security and stability” could only be achieved with the establishment of “sovereignty and independence on the land of the Palestinian state.”
The Palestinian Authority leader was speaking ahead of the 20th anniversary Monday of the death of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Abbas also reaffirmed his push for “peace, and we will continue to work to achieve it.”
As Saar spoke in Jerusalem, Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for a summit addressing the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is also fighting Hamas ally Hezbollah.
A draft resolution at the summit stressed “firm support” for “national rights” for the Palestinian people, “foremost among which is their right to freedom and to an independent, sovereign state.”
The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,603 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack.
The regular cross-border exchanges escalated in late September when Israel intensified its air strikes and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.


Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages

Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages
Updated 11 November 2024
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Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages

Hezbollah says Israeli army ‘unable’ to occupy any Lebanese villages
  • Israeli troops on Sept. 30 began what military called “localized and targeted raids” against Hezbollah
  • Israel said aim is to make northern border safe for return of tens of thousands of Israelis displaced

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Monday that the Israeli military has been incapable of occupying even a single village in Lebanon since launching cross-border ground operations six weeks ago.
Israeli troops on September 30 began what the military called “localized and targeted raids” against Hezbollah in Lebanon’s southern border area, a week after escalating air strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“After 45 days of bloody fighting, the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village,” Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told a news conference in south Beirut, a stronghold of the movement and a repeated target of Israeli air raids.
Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, had on October 23 issued a similar statement that said Israel’s army “has not been able to fully establish its control or completely occupy any village” in southern Lebanon.
Israel has said its aim is to make its northern border safe for the return of tens of thousands of Israelis displaced when Hezbollah began cross-border fire, which it described as support for Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza, more than a year ago.
On November 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops at the Lebanon border that the operation aimed to push Hezbollah back over the Litani River.
He said a second goal was to stop any attempt to rearm and the third was “to respond firmly to any action taken against us,” according to his office.
On Monday Hezbollah spokesman Afif said the group’s fighters had repulsed Israeli troops in Khiam, about six kilometers (four miles) from the border.
He added that the Israelis also failed in attempts “to penetrate on several fronts at Bint Jbeil,” about 17 kilometers southwest of Khiam.
Footage verified by AFP last week showed massive detonations in the village of Mais Al-Jabal, between Bint Jbeil and Khiam. Similar aerial scenes have been captured from several border villages since Israel sent in ground troops.
Hezbollah accuses Israel of seeking to create a “no man’s land” on the frontier.
Afif denied that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had diminished the group’s missile stock.
He asked how that could be the case “when we targeted the suburbs of Tel Aviv several days ago” and employed for the first time Fateh missiles.
The group announced on November 6 that it had begun to use Fateh-110 Iranian-made surface-to-surface guided missiles.
In a March report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies described Hezbollah as “probably the most heavily armed non-state group in the world,” with an estimated 120,000-200,000 rockets and missiles.
Asked about ceasefire prospects, Afif said that since the election of Donald Trump last week to the United States presidency, there were “contacts between Washington, Moscow, Tehran and other capitals.”
But he said, “according to my information nothing official has reached Hezbollah or the Lebanese state.”
Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders but Afif said the group remains “ready for a long war.”


‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking

‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking
Updated 11 November 2024
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‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking

‘Only $1 mn’: Iraqi PM adviser suspected of bribe-taking
  • Corruption is endemic in the state institutions of oil-rich Iraq

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s anti-corruption agency on Monday announced an investigation into a prime ministerial aide over an alleged audio recording in which he referred to a bribe as being too small.
Corruption is endemic in the state institutions of oil-rich Iraq, but the top echelons of power often evade accountability.
The aide, Abdel Karim Al-Faisal, denied the accusation and has denounced on Facebook the “fabricated” audio clip.
In the recording obtained by Iraqi media, a man alleged to be Faisal criticized his interlocutor, during a phone call, for the bribe being “only $1 million.”
The Commission of Integrity anti-graft body said in a statement it was acting under a directive from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in opening “an investigation into an audio recording attributed to the head of the Commission of Advisers to the Prime Minister’s Office.”
It added that it was acting “in coordination with a criminal court judge handling anti-corruption cases.”
AFP was not able to authenticate the recording.
In the past few weeks several leaks of alleged recordings have shaken Iraq.
Last month, the chief of the tax bureau, Ali Alawi, was suspended for 60 days after an investigation opened following such a leak. An audio recording attributed to him led to accusations that he had granted tax reductions.
He was also placed in detention, a source with the Commission of Integrity told AFP, under cover of anonymity.
The former head of the integrity commission himself was fired, only to be given an advisory post at the justice ministry.
This came after judicial authorities in September had announced a probe into the integrity commission chief over alleged audio recordings attributed to him and related to suspected bribery.
It is not unknown in Iraq for public officials to try to settle scores by trading accusations.
One of the country’s biggest-ever corruption cases involved the theft of $2.5 billion in public funds from 2021 to 2022.
At the end of August, the judiciary issued arrest warrants for a businessman alleged to be the main suspect in that case, and for a former government official.


Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears

Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears
Updated 11 November 2024
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Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears

Israel’s strategic affairs minister to meet Blinken as Gaza deadline nears
  • The meeting will come amid hopes of a truce in Israel’s war in Gaza suffering a setback with Qatar suspending its mediation role in the negotiations

WASHINGTON: Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday in Washington, the State Department said, as a deadline set by Washington to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza nears.
The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT), according to the department’s public schedule, which did not offer further details.
Hopes for a truce in Israel’s war in Gaza suffered a setback, with Qatar suspending its role as a mediator in negotiations. Israel separately said on Monday there was progress in talks about a ceasefire in its war in Lebanon.
The US government said in an Oct. 13 letter that Israel had 30 days to take specific steps to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel’s military assault in the last 13 months has displaced nearly the entire population, caused a hunger crisis and led to allegations of genocide at the World Court, which Israel denies.
Since that letter, Blinken has urged Israel to substantially increase humanitarian aid. Earlier this month, he spoke to Dermer and discussed a diplomatic solution in Lebanon as well as ending the war in Gaza, according to the State Department.
Some analysts say Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration may no longer have enough leverage after Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election. He is set to take office on Jan. 20.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 43,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel’s separate military operations in Lebanon have killed over 3,000 and displaced over a million. Israel says it is targeting Lebanese Hezbollah militants.