US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon

A man carries a child while walking past a collapsed building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on October 9, 2024. (AFP)
A man carries a child while walking past a collapsed building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on October 9, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 10 October 2024
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US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon

A man carries a child while walking past a collapsed building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in central Gaza.
  • Biden and Netanyahu’s call had been expected to focus on Israel’s response to last week’s missile barrage by Iran

Jerusalem: The United States urged its ally Israel to avoid Gaza-like military action in Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it could face “destruction” like the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s military chief, Herzi Halevi, vowed to keep bombing Hezbollah targets, a campaign that has killed more than 1,200 people since September 23, “without allowing them any respite or recovery.”
The comments came after a phone call between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, their first in seven weeks. The White House said Biden told Netanyahu to “minimize harm” to civilians in Lebanon, particularly in “densely populated areas of Beirut.”
“There should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Netanyahu said in a video address to the people of Lebanon on Tuesday: “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
He added: “Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end.”
Biden and Netanyahu’s call had been expected to focus on Israel’s response to last week’s missile barrage by Iran.
Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Most were intercepted by Israel or its allies.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Our attack on Iran will be deadly, precise and surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened.”
Biden has cautioned Israel against attempting to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, which would risk major retaliation, and opposes striking oil installations.
A Lebanese government source told AFP that Hezbollah had accepted a ceasefire with Israel on September 27, the day Israel killed Nasrallah.
But they said Israel’s response had torpedoed the plan, backed by Washington and its allies, and the Lebanese government had “had no contact with Hezbollah” since his death.
Hezbollah said its fighters were locked in clashes with Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, using rocket-propelled weapons to repel attempts to breach the border.
Two people were killed by suspected Hezbollah rocket fire in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, while Israel intercepted two projectiles fired toward the coastal town of Caesarea, officials said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a village southeast of Beirut, an area so far largely spared from Israeli bombing.
Lebanon’s state civil defense body said an Israeli strike killed five of its personnel in the southern village of Derdghaiya.
Israel has intensified air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon since September 23, uprooting more than a million people, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Its ground forces crossed into Lebanon on September 30 in response to Hezbollah rocket and artillery attacks over the past year that have forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes.
Israel’s military said Wednesday its troops “eliminated terrorists during close-quarter encounters and in aerial strikes” over the previous 24 hours, adding “100 Hezbollah terror targets were destroyed.”
Israeli operations have expanded from border areas in the interior to the southern section of Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast.
According to a toll from the Israeli army on Wednesday, 13 of its soldiers have died since ground operations inside Lebanon began.
Syrian state media reported an Israeli attack Thursday on the central provinces of Homs and Hama.
Off the coast of Yemen, a ship was struck and damaged by an “unknown projectile,” a British maritime agency said, following months of attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas allies, the Houthis.
Israel expanded an ongoing military operation around Jabalia in northern Gaza, where about 400,000 people are trapped, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Lazzarini said on X there was “no end to hell” in the area and that “recent evacuation orders from the Israeli authorities are forcing people to flee again & again.”
The army surrounded Jabalia and its refugee camp at the weekend and shelled it on Wednesday, preventing the delivery of aid, Gaza’s civil defense agency said.
Washington said it was “incredibly concerned” about the humanitarian situation in north Gaza as Israel tightens its siege.
“We have been making clear to the government of Israel that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to allow food and water and other needed humanitarian assistance to make it into all parts of Gaza,” said the State Department’s Miller.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 42,010 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations has described as reliable.
Israeli police said at least six people were wounded Wednesday, some seriously, in a stabbing rampage in the central Israeli town of Hadera.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli border police killed at least four Palestinians in the northern city of Nablus, Palestinian health authorities and Israeli security forces said.
In Beirut, many people are sleeping out in the streets after Israeli air strikes.
Ahmad, a 77-year-old who did not want to give his family name for fear of reprisals, said he had a message for Hezbollah.
“If you can’t continue to fight, announce you are withdrawing and that you have lost. There is no shame in losing,” he said.
But Raed Ayyash, a displaced man from the south of the country, said he hoped Hezbollah would keep fighting.
“We hope for victory, and we will never give up.”


Israel’s Netanyahu calls Trump, discusses Iran threat

Israel’s Netanyahu calls Trump, discusses Iran threat
Updated 5 sec ago
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Israel’s Netanyahu calls Trump, discusses Iran threat

Israel’s Netanyahu calls Trump, discusses Iran threat
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Donald Trump on Wednesday after his stunning US election victory and discussed the “Iranian threat” to Israel’s security, his office said.
“The conversation was warm and cordial. The prime minister congratulated Trump on his election victory, and the two agreed to work together for Israel’s security. The two also discussed the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Lebanon files complaint against Israel at UN labor body over deadly pager explosions, minister says

Lebanon files complaint against Israel at UN labor body over deadly pager explosions, minister says
Updated 06 November 2024
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Lebanon files complaint against Israel at UN labor body over deadly pager explosions, minister says

Lebanon files complaint against Israel at UN labor body over deadly pager explosions, minister says
  • Lebanese Labor Minister Moustafa Bayram said he traveled to Geneva to formally file the complaint against Israel at the International Labor Organization
  • Bayram said the casualty count was even higher than first reported

GENEVA: A Lebanese government minister said Wednesday his country was filing a complaint against Israel at the UN’s labor organization over the string of deadly attacks involving exploding pagers, saying workers were among those killed and injured.
The explosions in mid-September were widely blamed on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. The blasts killed at least 37 people, including two children, wounded more than 3,000 and deeply unsettled even Lebanese who have no Hezbollah affiliation.
Lebanese Labor Minister Moustafa Bayram said he traveled to Geneva to formally file the complaint against Israel at the International Labor Organization, a sprawling UN agency that brings together governments, businesses and workers.
Bayram said the casualty count was even higher than first reported, saying “more than 4,000 civilians fell — between martyrs and injured and maimed — in a few minutes by this attack.”
“This method of warfare and conflicts may open the way for many who are evading international humanitarian law to adopt this method of warfare,” the minister told reporters at the UN compound in Geneva.
“It’s a very dangerous precedent, if not condemned,” he said. “We are in a situation where ordinary objects — objects used in daily life — become dangerous and lethal.”
Speaking in Arabic, Bayram insisted that ILO conventions guarantee the safety and security of workers, who “were in their workplace and had their pagers or walkies-talkies exploding all of a sudden,” according to an interpreter.
“I do not know where the outcome (of the complaint) will go, but at least we raised our voices to say and warn against this dangerous approach that strikes at human relations and leads to more conflicts,” he added.
An ILO spokeswoman said she was not immediately aware of the complaint or what redress might be possible through it.


Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel

Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel
Updated 06 November 2024
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Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel

Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel
  • The Iran-backed group’s leader also warned that nowhere in Israel would be “off-limits” to attacks
  • “What will stop this... war is the battlefield” he said, citing fighting in south Lebanon and Hezbollah attacks on Israel

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said Wednesday that tens of thousands of its militants were ready to fight Israel, adding that the US election result would have no bearing on the war in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group’s leader also warned that nowhere in Israel would be “off-limits” to attacks, as the Israeli military said about 120 projectiles had been fired across the border on Wednesday.
The Israeli military struck Hezbollah’s main bastion of south Beirut after issuing an evacuation warning.
Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since late September, when the Israeli military widened the focus of its war in Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon.
Hezbollah began launching low-intensity cross-border attacks on Israel last year, in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza that was sparked by the Hamas attack have yet to bear fruit, and the war in Lebanon has killed nearly 2,000 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
“We have tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants” ready to fight, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech marking 40 days since his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a strike.
The address was aired after Donald Trump’s victory in the US election was announced, but had been recorded earlier.
He said the result in the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris would have no impact on any possible ceasefire deal for Lebanon.
“We don’t base our expectations for a halt of the aggression on political developments,” he said.
“Whether Harris wins or Trump wins, it means nothing to us.
“What will stop this... war is the battlefield” he said, citing fighting in south Lebanon and Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it targeted a military base near Israel’s main airport close to commercial hub Tel Aviv, an attack that Israel’s Airports Authority said did not disrupt operations.
Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported Israeli air strikes on the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
An AFP correspondent in the eastern city of Baalbek reported intense strikes in and around the city.
The speech was Qassem’s second since he was named Hezbollah secretary-general last week.
Israel is “betting on prolonging the war so it becomes a war of attrition... We are ready,” he said.
He also called for Lebanese sovereignty to be safeguarded in any truce talks.
Qassem demanded explanations from the Lebanese army after Israeli naval commandos seized a man from north Lebanon on Saturday who they said was a senior Hezbollah operative.
He said the operation was “a great offense to Lebanon” and a “violation” of its sovereignty.
On Tuesday, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming UN peacekeepers’ radars for the operation, according to a preliminary probe.
The UN Maritime Task Force has helped the Lebanese military to monitor territorial waters and prevent the entry of arms or related material by sea since 2006, according to the mission’s website.
In Gaza, where the 13-month war has had a devastating impact, people were desperate for a solution and voiced hope Trump might be able to offer one.
Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry the United Nations considers reliable.
“We were displaced, killed... there’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” said Mamdouh Al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia.
“I hope Trump finds a solution, we need someone strong like Trump to end the war and save us, enough, God, this is enough,” the 60-year-old told AFP.
Umm Ahmed Harb, from the Al-Shaaf area east of Gaza City, was also counting on Trump to “stand by our side” and end the territory’s suffering.
“God willing the war will end, not for our sake but for the sake of our young children who are innocent,” she told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his part feted Trump’s return as “history’s greatest comeback.”
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.
The United States is Israel’s top ally and military backer, and the election came at a critical time for the Middle East.
While maintaining the steady flow of aid to Israel, US President Joe Biden’s administration had for months piled pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a truce.
Analysts say Netanyahu had been hoping for a Trump return, given their longstanding personal friendship as well as the former president’s hawkishness on Israel’s arch-foe Iran.


Iran plays down importance of US election, voices readiness for confrontation

Iran plays down importance of US election, voices readiness for confrontation
Updated 06 November 2024
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Iran plays down importance of US election, voices readiness for confrontation

Iran plays down importance of US election, voices readiness for confrontation
  • Arab and Western officials tell Reuters Trump may reimpose “maximum pressure policy” through more sanctions on Iran
  • They fear Trump may also empower Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites and conduct assassinations

DUBAI: Iranians’ livelihoods will not be affected by the US elections, government spokesperson Fatemeh MoHajjerani was reported as saying on Wednesday after Donald Trump claimed victory in the presidential vote.
Arab and Western officials have told Reuters Trump may reimpose his “maximum pressure policy” through heightened sanctions on Iran’s oil industry and empower Israel to strike its nuclear sites and conduct assassinations.
“The US elections are not really our business. Our policies are steady and don’t change based on individuals. We made the necessary predictions before and there will not be change in people’s livelihoods,” MoHajjerani said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The Revolutionary Guards did not directly react to Trump’s claimed electoral victory but said Tehran and its allied armed groups in the region are ready for confrontation with Israel.
“The Zionists do not have the power to confront us and they must wait for our response... our depots have enough weapons for that,” the Guards’ deputy chief Ali Fadavi said on Wednesday, as Tehran is expected to respond to Israel’s Oct. 25 strikes on its territory which killed four soldiers.
He added Tehran does not rule out a potential US-Israel pre-emptive strike to prevent it from retaliating against Israel.
In his first term, Trump re-applied sanctions on Iran after he withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and world powers that had curtailed Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for economic benefits.
The reinstatement of US sanctions in 2018 hit Iran’s oil exports, slashing government revenues and forcing it to take unpopular steps, such as increasing taxes and running big budget deficits, policies that have kept annual inflation close to 40 percent.
Iran’s national currency has weakened at the prospect of a Trump presidency, reaching an all-time low of 700,000 rials to the US dollar on the free market, according to Iranian currency tracking website Bonbast.com.


Iranian Revolutionary Court sentences four individuals to death over charges of spying for Israel

Iranian Revolutionary Court sentences four individuals to death over charges of spying for Israel
Updated 06 November 2024
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Iranian Revolutionary Court sentences four individuals to death over charges of spying for Israel

Iranian Revolutionary Court sentences four individuals to death over charges of spying for Israel

DUBAI: Four people were sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in northwestern Iran over charges of spying for Israel, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.
Fars said three of the defendants — whose nationalities it did not give — were accused of helping Israel’s spy agency Mossad move equipment used in the 2020 assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Fakhrizadeh was viewed by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons capability. The Islamic Republic has long denied any such ambition.
The Jewish Chronicle newspaper reported in February 2021, citing intelligence sources, that Fakhrizadeh was killed by a one-ton gun smuggled into Iran in pieces by Mossad agents, both Israeli and Iranian nationals.
Israel declined to comment at the time of his killing and on Wednesday an Israeli government spokesman said in response to the Fars report: “We never comment on such matters. There has been no change in our position.”
Fars said the fourth defendant sentenced to death was linked to another unspecified espionage case.