BEIRUT: Hezbollah will be held accountable for its “war on Saudi Arabia” and its exploitation of the people of Lebanon, a Saudi government minister has said.
The Kingdom was “determined to stand resolute against Hezbollah, the satanic militia working to recruit and train outlaws in the party’s strongholds in Lebanon,” said Thamer Al-Sabhan, Saudi minister of state for the Gulf region.
“Hezbollah is declaring war on Saudi Arabia with the Iranian weapons and missiles they are launching from Yemen.”
Al-Sabhan accused Hezbollah of “manufacturing drugs in Lebanon and attempting to smuggle them into Arab countries to destroy the youth. We must hold this militia accountable as a lesson for others, to guarantee the security and safety of our people.
“Hezbollah’s militias are exploiting Lebanese ports and airport to carry out terrorist operations as well as smuggle terrorists.
“We have an effective treatment that can put an end to this rampant tumor, and God willing, we will be able to work for the future of our countries and the future of Lebanon as well.
“We will eliminate this abnormal tumor as we have done with Al-Qaeda and Daesh. One day, Hezbollah’s militias will be held accountable for everything they have done. This day will come soon. They will know what we are doing and what we mean.”
Al-Sabhan accused Iran of “harmful interventions through militias scattered in our Arab homeland; they want to destroy the Arabs.”
The minister’s comments, published by Sky News Arabia, came as Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri visited Riyadh on a business trip.
He met Al-Sabhan at the minister’s home in the capital, and also held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“Whenever I meet his highness the crown prince, I become more convinced that we and the Saudi leadership are in full agreement on Lebanon’s stability and Arab identity,” Hariri said.
Former Lebanese MP Mustapha Allouch said Saudi Arabia could lead the way in confronting Hezbollah. “There are armed militias working for Iran in the region, and they should be held accountable,” he said.
Saudi Arabia ‘will stand resolute’ against Hezbollah
Saudi Arabia ‘will stand resolute’ against Hezbollah
US lawmakers press Israel to probe strike on reporters in Lebanon
- “The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said
- Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured
WASHINGTON: Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.
The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.
“We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side.
The lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump.
The Israeli government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added.
“With the Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said.
“The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said, referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its investigation into the incident is closed.
Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured.
“But I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East, the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.”
“We’re not letting it go,” Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they stonewall us.”
AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel.
The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.
Unlike Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”
