Israel's war hysteria
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Israeli airstrikes shook Beirut, target Hezbollah command
The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah's central headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday in an attack that shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.
The news outlet Axios cited an Israeli source as saying Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strike and that the Israeli military was checking if he was hit.
A source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah is alive, while Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was checking his status.
Qatar pledges additional $100m for humanitarian aid for Palestinians
Qatari International Cooperation Minister Lolwah Alkhater has announced that her country has announced the pledge at the annual ministerial meeting of the main partners supporting UNRWA on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Al Jazeera reports.
“[At the meeting] I affirmed the State of Qatar’s firm position in supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and its categorical rejection of attempts to classify it as a terrorist organisation in a clear attempt to intimidate anyone who tries to provide assistance to our Palestinian brothers,” the foreign ministry said on X.
‘Hamas has got to go’: Netanyahu at UNGA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the United Nations that “Hamas has got to go” and would have no role in the reconstruction of Gaza as he vowed to fight until “total victory”, AFP reports.
“If Hamas stays in power, it will regroup… and attack Israel again and again and again… So Hamas has got to go,” Netanyahu said to diplomats gathered at the UN’s New York headquarters.
Israel official says any Lebanon ground operation to be swift
“We will try to do it as short as we can,” the official told journalists, speaking anonymously in line with security rules. “I think that we are preparing that every day, and for sure that is inside our toolbox.”
The Israeli security official said the Israeli strikes had killed many Hezbollah militants and significantly curtailed the Iran-backed group’s military capabilities. “I think that they lost many capabilities,” the official said.
Beyond degrading Hezbollah’s capacity to fire on Israel, the goal of Israeli military operations in Lebanon are to kill its military leadership and “clean” border areas so displaced Israelis can return to their homes in the north.
Israel’s army chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, raised the possibility of a ground operation against Hezbollah this week, and the security official said that “all options are on the table”.
Israel joins Asian Development Bank
Israel has become the newest non-regional member of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines-based lender announced, with an analyst cautioning that the move might cause “polarisation” in the institution, AFP reports.
The bank’s board of governors had approved Israel’s entry in April 2022 pending its completion of the membership requirements, the ADB said in a statement. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will be the country’s representative, a source from ADB told AFP.
Security analyst Chester Cabalza, however, said Israel joining the ADB in the midst of the conflict in the Gaza Strip could lead to “other members fleeing the organisation” in favour of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
“Or we (may) see polarisation in the ADB as long as Israel will not resolve its security issues in Gaza,” Cabalza told AFP.
Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
TEHRAN (AFP) – As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy's hands.
With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions.
The Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes
BEIRUT (Lebanon) (AFP) – Israel has killed several top Hezbollah commanders in a series of targeted strikes on the Iran-backed movement's stronghold in Beirut.
US diplomacy in Mideast falters as clock ticks down for Biden
Jdeidet Yabus (Syria) (AFP) – Lebanese man Hassan Slim had avoided Syria for years as war raged in the neighbouring country, but has now found himself fleeing there as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon's south.
Slim, 24, was waiting on Wednesday with his elderly mother for their papers to be processed on the Syrian side of a border crossing, after a dramatic escalation this week of nearly 12 months of cross-border clashes between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
Israel vows to keep fighting Hezbollah 'until victory'
BEIRUT (AFP) - Israel flatly rejected on Thursday (Sep 26) a push led by key backer the United States for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, vowing to keep fighting Hezbollah militants "until victory".
Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages.
