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Tag: Hezbollah

  • With unwavering US support, Israel resumes its genocidal assault on Gaza

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    Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Night airstrike on Gaza in 2024. Photo: Wafa

    Israel resumed its genocidal violence against the people of Gaza a day before the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was set to stand trial for corruption and face rallies against his move to dismiss the Shin Bet chief.

    Israel resumed its genocidal aggression on Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday, March 18, with a series of airstrikes that killed over 400 Palestinians, many of them women and children. Hundreds more were injured.

    Shortly after the attacks were launched, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Israel consulted the United States on its intention to launch aerial attacks on the besieged enclave.

    “As President Trump has made it clear – Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose,” Leavitt emphasized.

    Israel determined to continue its genocide

    Briefly after the deadly assaults took place in Gaza, Israeli officials delivered statements that confirmed Israel’s intention to proceed with the genocide indefinitely.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded speech on Tuesday that the airstrikes, which targeted Gaza, are “only the beginning” and that all ceasefire talks going forward will be held “under fire”.

    Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that if Hamas does not release all Israeli captives, “blows will only increase and intensify”.

    The resumption of the genocide came after Israel obstructed negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoners for captives swap deal. It also followed more than two weeks of Israel’s full blockade on humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

    It’s worth noting that Israel reportedly committed hundreds of violations of the ceasefire agreement in its first phase, which included:

    • killing civilians
    • home demolitions
    • land bulldozing
    • preventing displaced persons from returning to their home regions
    • military advances beyond the agreed-upon withdrawal lines
    • obstructing reconstruction
    • airspace violations
    • delaying prisoners’ releases

    Despite these violations, Hamas continued to accelerate their end of the agreement, releasing more captives than promised in an effort to begin second-phase negotiations in good faith.

    Reactions to the resumption of the war 

    All major Palestinian factions have categorically condemned Israel’s unilateral violation of the ceasefire deal and demanded that the deal’s guarantors and mediators, as well as the rest of the international community take immediate action to stop the return to genocide.

    Hamas

    For its part, Hamas vehemently condemned Israel’s actions and accused the Trump administration of being complicit in Israel’s resumption of the genocide in Gaza. “The US administration’s admission that it was informed in advance of the Zionist aggression confirms its direct complicity in the war of extermination against our people,” it said in a statement.

    “This admission once again reveals America’s blatant complicity and bias towards the occupation, and exposes the falsity of its claims about its commitment to calm,” Hamas added.

    “With its unlimited political and military support for the occupation, Washington bears full responsibility for the massacres and killing of women and children in Gaza,” the movement stressed, calling upon the international community to take urgent action “to hold the occupation and its supporters accountable for these crimes against humanity.”

    Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

    The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) held the US accountable as well, labelling it as a partner in the massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza.

    Islamic Jihad 

    For its part, the Islamic Jihad movement confirmed that “the renewed aggression will neither give Israel the upper hand over the resistance nor extricate Netanyahu and his regime from the crises they are escaping from. Rather, it will further weaken them and accumulate more failures, leaving them humiliated and submissive.”

    Ansar Allah

    The Supreme Political Council of Ansar Allah in Yemen issued a statement holding Israel and the US “fully responsible for violating the ceasefire agreement, thwarting all efforts to move to the second phase, remilitarizing the seas, and escalating tensions in the region.”

    The council further warned the two countries “to bear the consequences and repercussions, no matter how severe.”

    Ansar Allah’s response was not limited to issuing a statement, as the armed forces affiliated with the movement targeted Israel’s Nevatim airbase in the southern occupied territories on Tuesday, using a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile.

    Hezbollah

    Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah issued a statement, denouncing the “US full partnership” and the “shameful silence” of the international community to the decision of “Netanyahu’s terrorist government to turn against the ceasefire and resume the war.”

    The Lebanese resistance group pointed out that the renewed aggression “confirms that this rogue entity and the US administration do not respect any commitments and agreements and that they are two sides of the same coin that thirsts for blood and knows only the rhetoric of killing and destruction.”

    International condemnation

    A number of countries also condemned the resumption of the aggression, or expressed their concern about the repercussions of the escalation in the region, including: China, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Türkiye, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and Australia.

    The United Nations, including Secretary-General António Guterres, sharply condemned Israel’s aggression, with Guterres saying he was “outraged” by the airstrikes.

    People’s movements and organizations across the globe that have been mobilizing for the past 16 months against Israel’s genocide in Gaza also responded to Israel’s attacks and called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

    The International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA) condemned that, “The US has directly supported Israel’s renewed aggression, offering unlimited political and military backing while pushing for further escalation with inflammatory rhetoric and threats. This aggression extends beyond Palestine, with attacks on Yemen, fueling regional tensions and conflict. Meanwhile, the international community remains silent and fails to act on these escalating violations.“ The IPA called for people across the world to mobilize from March 18 to 30 “to reject the escalation of Zionist aggression on the people of Gaza and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people”.

    On March 18, people in major cities in the United States, Morocco, Italy, and other countries, were already on the streets demanding an arms embargo on Israel and a return to the ceasefire.

    Hamas and Islamic Jihad mourn leaders, including IJ spokesperson Abu Hamza

    Hamas announced in a statement on Tuesday that a number of its governmental leaders were killed in the Israeli attacks across the war-torn strip.

    The movement confirmed in a press statement that among those assassinated were the Head of Government Issam al-Dallis, Deputy Minister of Justice Ahmed al-Hitta, Deputy Minister of Interior Major General Mahmoud Abu Wafa, and Director General of the Internal Security Service Major General Bahjat Abu Sultan.

    Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad movement announced the assassination of its iconic masked spokesperson and leader, Naji Abu Seif, who was long known by his nom de guerre Abu Hamza.

    Naji Abu Seif aka Abu Hamza was killed in Israeli airstrikes on March 18.

    Mourning Abu Hamza, the movement said in a statement: “The martyred spokesperson was known as a voice of the resistance, fearing no reproach in his devotion to Allah, eloquent in his speech, and courageous in his heroic positions in defense of the resistance and the rights of our people, never wavering in his stance.”

    Netanyahu resumed the war to evade his own political crisis

    Several analysts suggest that Netanyahu resorted to resuming the war on Gaza to escape from an imminent political impasse, especially as he was set to testify in his corruption trial on Tuesday.

    Taking the resumption of the war as a pretext, Netanyahu submitted a delay request to the concerned court saying: “Hours ago, the IDF commenced a military operation in the Gaza Strip. This morning at 11, an urgent security consultation will take place that will include the prime minister, defense minister and heads of the IDF security apparatus.”

    Some consider the war option was also a savior for Netanyahu, as mass demonstrations were planned to take place in Jerusalem during the week to protest his declared intention to fire the chief of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) Ronen Bar.

    Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
    Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA

  • WHO Chief OK But Others Killed in Israeli Strike on Yemen Airport

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    Original article by Jessica Corbett republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

    World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 10, 2024. (Photo: Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

    State media reports at least four people were killed and 21 others injured.

    As part of Israel’s assault on various countries across the Middle East, Israeli fighter jets on Thursday bombed multiple sites in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, killing multiple people and threatening the life of a leading United Nations official.

    World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and colleagues were at the airport, wrapping up a trip “to negotiate the release of U.N. staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in Yemen,” when the attack occurred, the agency leader said on social media. “We continue to call for the detainees’ immediate release.”

    “As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa, about two hours ago, the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” Tedros explained, noting the reported deaths. “The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge—just a few meters from where we were—and the runway were damaged. We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave. My U.N. and WHO colleagues and I are safe. Our heartfelt condolences to the families whose loved ones lost their lives in the attack.”

    According to The New York Times: “At least four people were killed and 21 others injured in the attack on Thursday after Israel struck the international airport in Sana and the city of al Hodeida, the Saba state news agency said, citing Yemen’s Health Ministry. The report could not be independently verified.”

    A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, told the Times that Israel had no prior knowledge that the WHO leader would be at the airport during the attack. “We didn’t know,” he said. “We wish him well.”

    The IDF said in a statement posted on social media that “fighter jets conducted intelligence-based strikes” with approval from Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    “The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sanaa International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations,” the military continued. “In addition, the IDF struck military infrastructure in the al Hodeida, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast. These military targets were used by the Houthi terrorist regime to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials.”

    Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the U.S.-armed IDF has not only decimated the Gaza Strip and killed over 45,000 Palestinians there but also ramped up strikes on other groups tied to Iran, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Additionally, Israel has exploited the recent collapse of Syrian former President Bashar al-Assad’s government, seizing more territory in that country.

    “The targeting of Sanaa International Airport and other civilian infrastructure is a Zionist crime against the entire Yemeni people,” a Houthi spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said in a statement. “If the Zionist enemy thinks that its crimes will deter Yemen from supporting Gaza, it is delusional.”

    The strikes on Yemen came a day after Netanyahu said that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime, and others have learned, and even if it takes time, this lesson will be understood across the Middle East.”

    Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader.

    Original article by Jessica Corbett republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

  • “Is killing over 40,000 women and children victory?” Ayatollah Khamenei asks

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    Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting on December 22. Photo: Khamenei.ir

    The leader also emphasized that Iran does not have proxy forces in the region, but that its allies fight because of their belief in resisting oppression.

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei asserted on Sunday, December 22 that no matter the temporary setbacks, the resistance will defeat the imperialist and Zionist forces in the region and that their claims of victory against the resistance are premature and hollow.

    Khamenei was addressing hundreds of people during a religious ceremony in Tehran. He also refuted Western allegations that the resistance forces in the region fighting against imperialism and Zionist occupation, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Ansar Allah, and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, were in any way “proxies” of Iran. He emphasized that the forces part of the Axis of Resistance are driven by their faith and commitment to fight against oppression. He claimed that it is “the power of faith” which has “brought the faithful and honorable men to the resistance field” in Yemen, Lebanon and in Palestine. None of these groups are “acting on our behalf” Khamenei underlined. He also added that the Islamic Republic does not have proxies anywhere and neither does it need any such mechanism to act when needed, Iranian media reported.

    Talking about the capture of power in Syria by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Israel’s invasion inside the country as temporary Khamenei said he was confident that it cannot be termed as “victory” for the zionist regime as claimed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Following HTS’ control of Syrian state power on December 8, Israeli forces have advanced beyond the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, in violation of prior agreements. Netanyahu has also claimed that the victory of HTS against president Bashar al-Assad, was made possible because of the Israeli efforts. Israel has asserted its forces would remain inside Syria for as long as required.

    Khamenei expressed hope that “God willing, soon in Syria,” young men will follow the examples of Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine and fight against oppression and the crimes imposed by the Zionist regime.” He reiterated his country’s resolve to “remove this regime [Zionist regime] from the region.”

    “I predict that a powerful and honorable group will rise in Syria as well. A young Syrian has nothing to lose – his university is unsafe, his school is unsafe, his home is unsafe, his street is unsafe, his entire life is unsafe. What is he supposed to do?” Khamenei said.

    Steadfast resistance against occupation

    Khamenei called for “steadfast resistance” against the forces of occupation and dominance who are making the region unstable for their own narrow interests.

    Khamenei noted that the US approach to the region is to control the regimes for its strategy to control the resources. It works against the interest of the people by either installing despotic regimes who align with its own interests or simply destabilizes a country by fomenting chaos and unrest in case it fails to install a favorable regime there. He gave the example of Syria where the US “resorted to unrest and created disorder.”

    Khamenei warned against the repeated US attempts to create unrest in Iran as well. He however, expressed that all such attempts would be dealt with strongly by the Iranian state and such endeavors will never succeed.

    Khamenei dismissed the claims made by Israel in terms of wars in Gaza and Lebanon. “Is killing over 40,000 women and children victory?” he asked. Even with this horrifying death toll from the last 14 months, the Zionist regime has not been able to defeat Hamas or other Palestinian resistance groups, he claimed. He reiterated that none of the original objectives proclaimed by Israel at the time of the beginning of the war in October 2023 have been achieved in Gaza or Lebanon.

    “Have you destroyed Hamas or freed your captives in Gaza? Despite martyring a great leader like Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, have you managed to eliminate Hezbollah in Lebanon?” Khamenei asked.

    Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

  • Israeli bombers pound Yemen and Gaza as Human Rights Watch accuses Tel Aviv of genocide

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-bombers-pound-yemen-and-gaza-human-rights-watch-accuses-tel-aviv-genocide

    Firefighters work at the scene of an Israeli airstrike on the Haziz power station in southern Sanaa, Yemen, December 19, 2024

    ISRAELI bombers pounded Yemen’s capital Sana’a and its port Hodeida today, killing at least nine as they sought to break the Houthi forces, which have launched attacks in solidarity with Palestine.

    The bombing raids followed a Houthi missile strike against Israel. The military said it targeted infrastructure in Hodeida, another port Salif, and the Ras Isa oil terminal, then took out energy infrastructure in Sana’a.

    Targeting civilian energy infrastructure is a war crime.

    “After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last remaining arm of Iran’s axis of evil,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared.

    “Whoever raises a hand against the state of Israel, his hand will be cut off,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz added. “Whoever harms us will be harmed sevenfold.”

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-bombers-pound-yemen-and-gaza-human-rights-watch-accuses-tel-aviv-genocide

  • Netanyahu takes credit for fall of Syrian government as Israel advances on Golan Heights

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    Original article by Zoe Alexandra republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Israel carried out multiple airstrikes against the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sunday, December 8, after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Screenshot

    The resignation and fleeing of Bashar al-Assad inaugurates a new chapter in the region that has been facing constant US and Israeli aggression for decades.

    As Israeli forces advanced into the Golan buffer zone and initiated airstrikes on targets in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a video published on X that the collapse of Assad’s government on Sunday, December 8, “is a direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad’s main supporters.” Meanwhile, images circulated across social media of members of the armed opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) taking control over Damascus, invading the Iranian embassy in the capital and tearing down posters of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

    The dramatic events took place after groups led by HTS launched a surprise offensive on November 27, against Syrian government forces in the Aleppo governorate. HTS is led by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the former leader of Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch Al-Nusra front which rebranded as HTS. In the following 12 days, the groups, some of which are backed by the United States, Turkey, and covertly Israel, quickly advanced and gained control of key Syrian cities with little resistance until reaching the capital Damascus on December 8.

    The fall of Assad’s government has sent a shock wave across the region and the world. The Syrian government had been engaged in a protracted civil war since 2011, which eventually saw armed opposition groups, including ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliates, take control over large swathes of territory. The United States officially intervened in the conflict in 2014, carrying out extensive airstrikes as well as territorial deployment alongside Kurdish forces in the north, which continues to this day. Syria’s allies including Russia, Iran, and Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, played a central role in the military campaign to regain control over the majority of Syrian territory and defeat the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. Importantly, the coalition of armed opposition groups retained control over the Idlib governorate, from where they evidently regrouped to launch their latest offensive.

    Analysts, and even Netanyahu himself, have pointed out that the timing of this offensive was no coincidence. The HTS-led offensive began on the same day that a ceasefire deal was reached between a significantly-weakened Hezbollah and Israel. The critical support Syria received in its fight against opposition groups in the last decade, was significantly reduced as its partners and allies have been engaged in their own arduous wars and conflicts.

    Lebanese American journalist Rania Khalek wrote on December 5, “There is a feeling that all the forces against Syria – Turkey, the US, Israel, etc – have joined forces to attack the resistance axis at one of its weakest moments, taking advantage of the last year plus of genocide in Gaza, destruction in Lebanon and Russia being bogged down in Ukraine. All this while US sanctions and bad governance hollowed out what was left of the Syrian state and its remaining institutions. Everyone fears even darker days ahead.”

    Additionally, with Israel’s advance on the Golan buffer zone, many now fear that it will seek to advance its annexation goals for the Golan Heights.

    In a 2018 article written by Nour Samaha for The Intercept, she warned that, taking advantage of the war, Israel at the time was “expanding its influence and control deeper into opposition-held southern Syria.” Samaha argued that this advance through NGOs and backing opposition groups was partially in response to Israel’s anxiety about “increasing Iranian influence in Syria and Hezbollah’s presence close to its northern border”, but also ultimately part of its “aim of cementing Israel’s hold on the Golan Heights.” She reported at the time that there was an increase in Israeli settlement activity within the Occupied Golan Heights.

    Israeli forces stated the deployment to the buffer zone was “to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel. We emphasize that the IDF is not interfering with the internal events in Syria.”

    Meanwhile, Israel continues to carry out airstrikes on Syria’s capital targeting strategic sites such as ammunition and weapons depots and the Mezzeh airbase, reportedly to prevent the sites from falling into the hands of the new government.

    Iran, the foremost ally of the Assad government, responded to the developments in Syria during a cabinet session on Sunday, December 8. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated, “We stress the importance of preserving Syria’s unity and sovereignty, with its people deciding the country’s future and political system. We emphasize the importance of dialogue among all segments of Syrian society to reach an understanding, and we hope for an end to military confrontations.” The head of state added that Iran condemns Israel’s “violation of Syrian territory and calls on all parties and countries in the region to be vigilant against its aims.”

    The country also condemned the incursion into its embassy in Damascus.

    US President Joe Biden speaking in a press conference held at the White House, praised the government takeover by HTS as a “fundamental act of justice” but also that “the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is also a moment of risk and uncertainty.”

    In 2017, the US had declared that it considers HTS a “designated terrorist org”. The US Embassy in Syria posted an image of HTS leader al-Julani, who himself had been declared a global terrorist as early as 2013, and stated “we remain committed to bringing leading AQS figures in HTS to justice”, offering a USD 10 million reward for his capture.

    Original article by Zoe Alexandra republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.