Hezbollah leader Nasrallah: Wider Middle East conflict ‘realistic possibility’

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war erupted, warned on Friday that a wider conflict in the Middle East was a realistic possibility. (Screenshot)
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Updated 04 November 2023
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Hezbollah leader Nasrallah: Wider Middle East conflict ‘realistic possibility’

  • To dispel doubts about his group's intentions, he said Hezbollah had "already entered the battle on Oct. 8"
  • Says Hezbollah’s cross-border strikes have pulled away Israeli forces that would otherwise be focused on Hamas in Gaza
  • Blames the US for enabling "Israel' aggression" and warned that his forces are ready to fight American forces

BEIRUT:  The only way to prevent a wider regional conflict is to halt Israel’s war on Gaza, the leader of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon warned on Friday.

In his first remarks since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7,  Hassan Nasrallah said that his powerful militia is already engaged in unprecedent cross-border fighting with Israel along the Lebanon-Israel border and threatened a further escalation as the four-week-long Israel-Hamas war rages on. 

Nasrallah also said that Hezbollah, an ally of Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, is not deterred by US warnings to stay out of the latest war. Referring to US military deployment in the region, he said American warships in the Mediterranean Sea “will not scare us.”

Hezbollah is prepared for all options, Nasrallah warned, “and we can resort to them at any time.” The fighting on the Lebanon-Israel border would “not be limited” to the scale seen until now, he added.

“You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression. Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza,” he said.

The Pentagon has deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean since the war began, and says that they are meant as a deterrent to ensure the conflict does not expand.

Nasrallah said that Hezbollah was not afraid of the warships. “We have prepared well for your fleets, with which you are threatening us,” he said.

“You, the Americans, know very well that if war breaks out in the region, your fleets will be of no use. The one who will pay the price will be ... your interests, your soldiers and your fleets.”

His speech had been widely anticipated throughout the region as a sign of whether the Israel-Hamas conflict would spiral into a regional war, following weeks of limited exchanges between the Lebanese militant group and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border.

“Some say I’m going to announce that we have entered the battle,” Nasrallah said Friday. “We already entered the battle on Oct. 8.” He argued that Hezbollah’s cross-border strikes have pulled away Israeli forces that would otherwise be focused on Hamas in Gaza.

Celebratory gunshots rang out over Beirut as thousands packed into a square in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital to watch the speech broadcast via video-link on a massive screen.
Nasrallah’s address to supporters came a day after the most significant escalation in clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Israel-Lebanon border since the war started — and on the same day as a visit to Israel by the top US diplomat.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge protections for civilians in the fighting with Hamas, as Israeli troops tightened their encirclement of Gaza City.

Nasrallah praised the Hamas’ unprecedented incursion into Israel in which the militants attacked farming villages, towns and military posts, killing more than 1,400 people in Israel.

“This great, large-scale operation was purely the result of Palestinian planning and implementation,” Nasrallah said, suggesting Hezbollah had no part in the attack. “The great secrecy made this operation greatly successful.”
He also said that Oct. 7 had come as “proof that Israel is weaker than a spider’s web” and that one month into the war, it allegedly “has not been able to make any achievement.”
Nasrallah also criticized the strong US backing of Israel in its bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 9,000 people, mostly civilians. While US officials in recent days have pushed more publicly for protecting civilians in Gaza, they have yet to call for a cease-fire.
The Hezbollah leader said President Joe Biden had made a “fake argument that Hamas cut off children’s heads (without) evidence, but stayed silent for the thousands of children in Gaza who were decapitated and their limbs were torn apart” by Israeli bombing.
Hamas leaders have been pushing — sometimes publicly — for Hezbollah to widen its involvement in the Mideast war. Nasrallah met last week in Beirut with senior Hamas official Saleh Al-Arouri and with Ziad Nakhaleh of the allied group Islamic Jihad.
However, Hezbollah officials have avoided publicly setting a specific red line, saying vaguely that they would join the war if they see that Hamas is on the verge of defeat. So far, Hezbollah has taken calculated steps to keep Israel’s military busy on its border with Lebanon, but not to the extent of igniting an all-out war.
The Israeli military said seven of their soldiers and one civilian had been killed on the northern border as of Friday. More than 50 Hezbollah fighters and 10 militants with allied groups, as well as 10 civilians, including a Reuters journalist, have been killed on the Lebanese side of the border.
Israel considers the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group its most serious immediate threat, estimating that Hezbollah has around 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel, as well as drones and surface-to-air and surface-to-sea missiles.
But a full-on conflict would also be costly for Hezbollah, which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006 that ended with a draw — but not before Israeli bombing reduced swaths of southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs to rubble.
A new all-out war would also displace hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah’s supporters and cause wide damage at a time when Lebanon is in the throes of a historic four-year economic meltdown.

(With AP)


Trump says no right of return for Palestinians under Gaza plan

Updated 8 sec ago
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Trump says no right of return for Palestinians under Gaza plan

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Palestinians would have no right of return to Gaza under his plan for the United States to take over the territory, in an interview excerpt released Monday.
“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier when asked if the Palestinians would have the right to return. “In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”

Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in east Jerusalem, claiming incitement to violence

Updated 10 February 2025
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Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in east Jerusalem, claiming incitement to violence

JERUSALEM: Israeli police have raided a long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining the owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict. The police said the books incited violence.
The Educational Bookshop, established over 40 years ago, is a hub of intellectual life in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed to its capital in a move not recognized internationally. Most of the city’s Palestinian population lives in east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians want it to be the capital of their future state.
The three-story bookstore that was raided on Sunday has a large selection of books, mainly in Arabic and English, about the conflict and the wider Middle East, including many by Israeli and Jewish authors. It hosts cultural events and is especially popular among researchers, journalists and foreign diplomats.
The bookstore’s owners, Ahmed and Mahmoud Muna, were detained, and police confiscated hundreds of titles related to the conflict before ordering the store’s closure, according to May Muna, Mahmoud’s wife.
She said the soldiers picked out books with Palestinian titles or flags, “without knowing what any of them meant.” She said they used Google Translate on some the Arabic titles to see what they meant before carting them away in plastic bags.
Police raided another Palestinian-owned bookstore in the Old City in east Jerusalem last week.
In a statement, the police said the two owners were arrested on suspicion of “selling books containing incitement and support for terrorism.”
As an example, the police referred to an English-language children’s coloring book entitled “From the River to the Sea,” a reference to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that today includes Israel, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians and hard-line Israelis each view the entire area as their national homeland. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government is opposed to Palestinian statehood, has said Israel must maintain indefinite control over all the territory west of the Jordan.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions have soared since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza triggered the war there. A ceasefire has paused the fighting and led to the release of several Israeli hostages abducted in the attack as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Tensions have also soared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250 people. The war the followed has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. The last serious and substantive peace talks broke down after Netanyahu returned to power in 2009.


Iraq president sues PM over unpaid Kurdistan salaries

Updated 10 February 2025
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Iraq president sues PM over unpaid Kurdistan salaries

  • Lawsuit was only disclosed now due to protests over missed payments in Sulaimaniyah
  • Iraq’s public sector is wracked with inefficiency and corruption

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s president has sued Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani over unpaid salaries for civil servants in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, bringing into focus a rift in the country’s leadership.
President Abdul Latif Rashid, a Kurd, filed the lawsuit against Sudani and Finance Minister Taif Sami last month, but his adviser, Hawri Tawfiq, only announced it on Sunday.
The case, submitted to Iraq’s top court, seeks an order to ensure salaries are paid “without interruption” despite ongoing financial disputes between Baghdad and Irbil, the regional capital.
Iraq’s public sector is wracked with inefficiency and corruption, and analysts say Sudani and Rashid had long had disagreements.
While public sector workers received their January salaries, they are still waiting for their December pay.
Tawfiq said the lawsuit was only disclosed now due to protests over missed payments in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan’s second-largest city and the president’s hometown.
Kurdistan regional president Nechirvan Barzani recently thanked Sudani for his cooperation on financial issues, including salaries.
On Sunday, hundreds of people from Sulaimaniyah attempted to protest in Irbil, but police used tear gas to disperse them, local media reported.
Others have staged a sit-in for two weeks in Sulaimaniyah, with 13 teachers resorting to a hunger strike.
Last year, Iraq’s top court ordered the federal government to cover the public sector salaries in Kurdistan instead of going through the regional administration — a demand employees in Sulaimaniyah have long called for.
But officials say payments have been erratic due to technical issues.
Political scientist Ihssan Al-Shemmari said the lawsuit underscores deepening tensions between Rashid and Sudani.
“We are facing a significant division within the executive authority, and it is now happening openly,” said Shemmari.
In January, Sudani ordered a probe into Rashid’s son’s company, IQ Internet Services.
MP Hanan Al-Fatlawi addressed Rashid on X, saying: “The fines on your son’s company IQ... are enough to pay the salaries” in Kurdistan.


World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history

Updated 10 February 2025
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World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history

  • This year’s summit will explore global transformations, focusing on opportunities and challenges across various sectors and key issues

DUBAI: The World Governments Summit has unveiled the theme of “Shaping Future Governments” for its 12th annual event held in Dubai from Feb. 11 to Feb. 13, state news agency WAM reported.

This year’s summit will explore global transformations, focusing on opportunities and challenges across various sectors and key issues.

The summit aims to foster the development of shared strategies and visions for enhanced global government performance and stronger international cooperation.

With more than 30 heads of states and government, delegations from 140 governments and representatives from more than 80 global institutions, this year’s summit anticipates record participation.

Attendance looks set to increase by over 50 percent compared to last year, representing the largest gathering in the Summit’s history, with delegates from every continent and a wide range of sectors.

Heads of state, including President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, President of Poland  Andrzej Duda, and President of Sri Lanka Kumara Dissanayake, will deliver keynote speeches.

Other speakers billed for the summit include Elon Musk, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and Sir Tony Blair, former prime minister of the UK.

Mohammad Al-Gergawi, UAE minister of Cabinet affairs and chairman of the World Governments Summit, said that the event continued to provide exceptional support in empowering governments worldwide to navigate rapid transformations and evolving challenges across various sectors.

“The summit is committed to being the premier global platform to anticipate and explore the future, developing innovative solutions and forging international partnerships to benefit all communities based on scientifically and realistically grounded insights,” he added.

The summit’s final day will host the Climate Change Forum, the World Health Forum, and the World Government Law Making Forum.


UN accuses Sudan paramilitaries of blocking Darfur aid

Updated 13 min 26 sec ago
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UN accuses Sudan paramilitaries of blocking Darfur aid

  • The Rapid Support Forces controls nearly all of Darfur, a western region the size of France
  • Nearly seven million people in Darfur are facing crisis levels of hunger, UN-backed agency says

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: The United Nations on Monday accused Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of blocking aid to the war-torn country’s famine-threatened Darfur region.
The RSF, which has been at war with the regular army since April 2023, controls nearly all of Darfur, a western region the size of France.
Since May, it has besieged North Darfur’s El-Fasher and attacked displacement camps nearby.
“The persistent restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles” imposed by the RSF’s humanitarian agency “are preventing life-saving assistance from reaching those in desperate need,” said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan.
“The world is watching, and it is unacceptable that the humanitarian community in Sudan... is unable to deliver essential aid,” she said in a statement.
Famine has been declared in five areas of North Darfur and is expected to spread to five more by May, according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
Nearly seven million people in Darfur are facing crisis levels of hunger, IPC figures show.
The UN on Monday urged simplified bureaucratic procedures and an end to undue interference, “including demands for logistical support or mandatory engagement with selected vendors.”
Since the war began, humanitarian workers have reported obstruction by both sides, looting of aid and threats against relief staff.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted 12 million and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
Nearly 25 million people are facing dire food insecurity across Sudan, according to the United Nations.