Israelis rattled by Iranian attack, fear escalation

A man crosses an empty street in Jerusalem on April 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 15 April 2024
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Israelis rattled by Iranian attack, fear escalation

  • Israel has killed more than 33,686 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry

JERUSALEM: The first direct attack on Israel by Iran has shaken Israelis and left them fearful that a bigger war is looming.
While the population has long been used to sirens warning of attacks from Hamas, the hundreds of drones and missiles sent from Iran over Saturday night marked a new element in the over-lapping Middle East conflicts.
Israel reported modest damage on Sunday after the military said it shot down almost all of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran.
But the attack still rattled Israelis, whose army has fought Hamas for years in Gaza but never engaged in direct warfare with regional superpower Iran. Iranian weapons and interceptors could be seen flashing over the sky at night.

I hope there won’t be a big war; none of us in Israel wants a big war, so I hope that’s it, and I hope Iran would stop no.

Jeremy Smith, Resident of Tzur Hadassah

“I think it was quite scary when we started hearing booming in the middle of the night, and we did not know what it was. I mean, we knew what it was, but we didn’t know to what extent it would be,” said Jerusalem resident Cecile Smulowitz.
“But thank God the Israeli army came through, and so far it’s quiet, and we hope it will continue that way.”
Iran mounted its attack in retaliation for a suspected Israeli air strike on Tehran’s embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, which killed 13 people. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out the attack but is widely believed to have done so.
Following Iranian senior leader Ali Khamenei’s promise to hit back, Israelis were put on high alert.
Iran warned Israel and the US on Sunday of a “much larger response” if there was any retaliation for its mass drone and missile attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly told the world that Iran is an existential threat to the Jewish state, vowed Israel would achieve victory.
The threat of open warfare erupting between Iran and Israel and dragging the US into the conflict has put the region on edge.
Some Israelis said they did not want an escalation, but with the stakes so high, they are nervous despite having the most powerful and technologically advanced military in the region.
“I hope there won’t be a big war; none of us in Israel wants a big war, so I hope that’s it, and I hope Iran would stop now,” said Jeremy Smith, 60, a resident of Tzur Hadassah.
“I imagine Israel will respond because, I mean, our whole country was covered in missiles and drones. So what can you do? But we have to stop it somehow.”
Before the Iranian attack, Israeli authorities had instructed the public not to hold large gatherings, to close all schools and venues for children’s camps during the Jewish holiday of Passover, and to close some beaches and travel sites.
“We didn’t want the war with Hamas. They attacked us. We don’t want a war with Iran, they attack us,” said Jerusalem resident Amy Friedlang Morgans, 71.
“We don’t want a war with Iran. They, somehow, cannot accept Jewish people living here. This is our homeland. It’s written in the Bible.”
The Iranian attack took place against the background of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, in which Israeli forces have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry figures.

 


Saied re-elected Tunisia president with 90.7 percent of the vote

Updated 12 sec ago
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Saied re-elected Tunisia president with 90.7 percent of the vote

  • Saied, 66, won Sunday’s vote by a landslide with 2.4 million votes
  • His imprisoned rival Ayachi Zammel received just 7.3 percent
TUNIS: Kais Saied has been re-elected president of Tunisia with 90.69 percent of votes cast, electoral authority ISIE said Monday, although low turnout reflected widespread discontent in the cradle of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.
Three years after Saied made a sweeping power grab, rights groups fear his re-election will entrench his grip on the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 protests.
Saied, 66, won Sunday’s vote by a landslide with 2.4 million votes — but with turnout at only 28.8 percent of nearly 10 million eligible voters.
His imprisoned rival Ayachi Zammel received just 7.3 percent, and third candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui only 1.9 percent, ISIE head Farouk Bouasker said on national television.
Critics said the low turnout reflected widespread disillusionment with the election.
On Sunday, the ISIE said just six percent of voters were aged 18-35, a category constituting a third of the initially eligible electorate.
After longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in 2011, Tunisia prided itself on being the birthplace of the regional revolts against authoritarianism that became known as the Arab Spring.
But the North African country’s path changed dramatically after Saied was elected in 2019 with 73 percent of the vote.
Two years later, he dissolved parliament, and later rewrote the constitution.
Sunday’s turnout was the lowest recorded in a Tunisian presidential after Ben Ali’s ouster. In 2019, 58 percent turned out to vote for Saied as president.
“I didn’t vote yesterday, simply because I no longer have confidence and I am desperate,” said Houcine, 63, giving only one name for fear of retribution.
Political commentator Hatem Nafti, author of a forthcoming book on Saied’s authoritarian rule, said: “The vote’s legitimacy is undoubtedly tainted with candidates who could have overshadowed (Saied) being systematically sidelined.”
On Monday, the European Union said it had “taken note” of criticisms from rights groups “concerning the integrity of the electoral process” and “various measures deemed detrimental to the democratic requirements of credibility” of the vote.
Late Sunday, hundreds of Saied supporters took to the streets of Tunis in celebration after exit polls announced his potential win with 89 percent.
“I voted yesterday, and the results are excellent, everything is going very well, the atmosphere is great,” said Mounir, 65.
“What we need now is a drop in prices. We want better education, health and above all safety.”
Saied had been widely expected to win after the ISIE barred 14 candidates from standing, leaving just Zammel and Maghzaoui as challengers.
Zammel, a little-known liberal businessman, has been behind bars since his bid was approved by the ISIE in September. He faces more than 14 years in prison for allegedly forging endorsements.
Maghzaoui had backed Saied’s power grab, and was seen as no threat.
Rights groups have condemned a democratic backslide in Tunisia in recent years.
According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, more than “170 people are detained in Tunisia on political grounds or for exercising their fundamental rights.”
Other jailed figures include Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha, which dominated political life after the revolution.
Also detained is Abir Moussi, head of the Free Destourian Party, which critics accuse of wanting to bring back the regime ousted in 2011.
Saied had called on Tunisians to “vote massively” to usher in what he called an era of “reconstruction.”
He cited “a long war against conspiratorial forces linked to foreign circles,” accusing them of “infiltrating many public services and disrupting hundreds of projects.”
Ben Ali and other Arab leaders often cited foreign conspiracies to justify crackdowns on dissent.
The International Crisis Group think tank has said that while Saied “enjoys significant support among the working classes, he has been criticized for failing to resolve the country’s deep economic crisis.”
Celebrating the exit polls late Sunday, Saied again warned of “foreign interference,” pledging to rid Tunisia “of the corrupt and conspirators.”
Nafti said Saied will use his re-election as carte blanche for further crackdowns.
“He has promised to get rid of traitors and enemies of Tunisia,” Nafti said. “He will harden his rule.”

Lebanon says over 400,000 people fled to Syria in around 2 weeks

Syrians,who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria, wait outside Ministry of Interior Immigration and Passports Department
Updated 33 sec ago
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Lebanon says over 400,000 people fled to Syria in around 2 weeks

  • More than 300,000 of those who escaped from September 23 to Saturday were Syrians returning to their war-torn country

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s government said Monday that more than 400,000 people had fled an Israeli escalation against Hezbollah across the border into Syria in less than two weeks.
More than 300,000 of those who escaped from September 23 to Saturday were Syrians returning to their war-torn country, while more than 102,000 were Lebanese, a governmental crisis unit said.
Lebanese state media said on Monday evening that two new strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, after Israel’s military issued a warning to inhabitants of the area.
An AFP correspondent saw smoke rise from the suburbs, and the country’s National News Agency reported that the area was “the target of two raids.”


Jordan’s foreign minister fears ‘abyss of full-scale regional war’

Updated 27 min 12 sec ago
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Jordan’s foreign minister fears ‘abyss of full-scale regional war’

  • 2,083 dead: The toll of Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past year
  • Safadi stresses Jordan’s support for Lebanese government

BEIRUT: Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi, who also serves as foreign minister, has said that Israel’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon is pushing the Middle East into the “abyss of full-scale regional war.”

Safadi was speaking at a news conference following a meeting with Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, in Beirut.

Safadi’s remarks came as Lebanon commemorated the first anniversary of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

As of Oct. 7, the death toll had reached 2,083, including children, women, and high-ranking Hezbollah field commanders, along with casualties from the Lebanese army and Hezbollah-affiliated groups, medical staff, paramedics, firefighters, and journalists.

Additionally, there have been 9,869 people injured.

Safadi said that Jordan backed the Lebanese government’s initiative to elect a new president and its commitment to implement the UN Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006 and aimed to keep southern Lebanon under the control of the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers.

Safadi reaffirmed Jordan’s unwavering commitment to supporting Lebanon’s security, sovereignty, and the well-being of its citizens.

He spoke of Jordan’s readiness to assist Lebanon in facing the aftermath of recent attacks, which he characterized as a flagrant violation of international law and Lebanese sovereignty.

Safadi reiterated Jordan’s support for Lebanese efforts to strengthen its national institutions and make sovereign decisions.

He asserted that Jordan “will not allow itself to become a battleground for any party, nor tolerate any breaches of its airspace or sovereignty that threaten the security of its citizens.”

He added: “We have delivered this unequivocal message to both Iran and Israel.”

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said that directives had been issued to enhance security measures.

Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said: “The ministry does not grant permission for any aircraft to land at Beirut International Airport — which remains operational — without prior approval from the military.”

He added that “all warships or vessels involved in military operations must secure a permit from the Joint Maritime Chamber — comprising the army, general security, internal security forces, state security, and other relevant agencies — before they are permitted to dock at any seaport.”

Hamieh emphasized the importance of “conducting security checks on all individuals and trucks at land crossings.”

He said Mikati “is dedicated to keeping Lebanon’s land, sea, and air crossings open to facilitate humanitarian aid and bolster the economy, reaffirming that Lebanon remains accessible to all nations, with reinforced security protocols in place.”

The Israeli army announced on Monday “the start of a focused and specific ground operation in southern Lebanon, with the Galilee Brigade 91 joining the operations.”

Israeli forces conducted an airstrike on a building belonging to the Federation of Municipalities of Bint Jbeil District in the town of Barashi, resulting in the deaths of 10 firefighters from the Islamic Health Organization, which is associated with Hezbollah.

Destructive airstrikes also continued in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as in the south region and the Bekaa Valley.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army told residents of 25 southern villages on Monday to evacuate the area, reminding those who had left their homes and villages not to “return until further notice, to ensure their safety.”

Israeli warnings also extended to anyone attempting “to repair the border road between Lebanon and Syria at the Masnaa point that was bombed by Israeli raids last week.”

Israel also warned “any party trying to approach the building that targeted the Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Hashem Safieddine, in the deepest tunnels under it last Friday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, not to approach it to rescue him and those buried with him under it.”

Safieddine was regarded as one of the most prominent candidates to succeed killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

Thick black smoke filled the sky over the southern suburbs following a night of intense violence marked by Israeli airstrikes that destroyed several residential buildings.

Israeli warplanes conducted over 30 airstrikes within half an hour on villages and towns in the Tyre district, along with numerous strikes in the central and eastern sectors, extending to the Nabatieh Governorate and the Jezzine District.

A raid on a residence in Srifa resulted in the deaths of four people, including a chief warrant officer in the Lebanese army, while a raid on a house in Kherbet Selem led to one fatality, and a strike on a house in Qaliya in Western Bekaa to the deaths of two people.

Hezbollah expanded the scope of its military operations on Monday against northern Israel by launching attacks on the city of Haifa and its residential neighborhoods.

The group reported that it struck the Carmel base in southern Haifa using Fadi missiles.

Hezbollah also targeted the settlement of Kiryat Shmona while extending its reach to the settlement of Dan near the occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli media reported that missiles had exploded in locations within Haifa — including a residence and a restaurant — resulting in significant material damage.

Channel 14 in Israel reported that several injured people from Haifa were transported to Rambam Hospital.

Israeli media reported in the afternoon that 60 missiles had been launched from Lebanon in the space of 90 minutes toward northern Israel. Hezbollah indicated that the settlements of Karmiel and Kfar Vradim had been targeted.


Praising Hamas, West Bank rally celebrates ‘resistance’ on October 7

Updated 20 min 8 sec ago
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Praising Hamas, West Bank rally celebrates ‘resistance’ on October 7

  • Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,909 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Waving Hamas flags and carrying portraits of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, hundreds rallied in support of the Palestinian struggle in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah Monday, the first anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel.
About 400 Palestinian protesters of all ages and representing various political factions marched in the de-facto Palestinian capital, which is controlled by long-time Hamas rival the Palestinian Authority, an AFP correspondent reported.
Activists organized the rally on the first anniversary of Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel under the slogan “we will not lose faith in the revolution.”
Beyond the characteristic yellow and green flags of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, protesters also waved the flags of Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
Hezbollah, as well as the pro-Iran Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Houthis in Yemen, have sporadically fired rockets and missiles at Israel since the start of the Gaza war.
Demonstrators also chanted “salute from Ramallah to Hezbollah soldiers,” and “put the sword against the sword, we are the men of Mohammed Deif,” in reference to Hamas’s military chief.
Israel says it killed Deif — nicknamed “the cat with nine lives” — in a strike in July, which Hamas denies.
Other participants held up a box shaped like a coffin that bore the words “International Law” and “Arab League” on its sides.
“We came to remember our martyrs, wish recovery for our wounded, and congratulate the resistance (to Israel), whether Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, or Yemeni, for their struggles over the past year,” Jamila Johar told AFP, saying he was “hoping for victory.”
Others praised Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel outright.
“We came to raise our voices and say that the Palestinian struggle continues, and that the 7th of October took us from a phase of humiliation to a phase of dignity and pride,” said a man who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Similarly, Afaf Ghatasha, who identified herself simply as a member of the Palestinian People’s Party, said October 7 “changed the course of the Palestinian cause, the region, and the world.”
“We came to say that the world will not find stability until the occupation ends and a Palestinian state is established,” she added.
The Israeli military has been fighting against Hamas in Gaza since its unprecedented attack on Israel a year ago, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,909 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
 

 


Hezbollah missiles hit Haifa, Israel steps up bombings in south Lebanon

Smoke billows amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, southern Lebanon, October 7,
Updated 33 min 9 sec ago
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Hezbollah missiles hit Haifa, Israel steps up bombings in south Lebanon

  • Israel’s military said the air force was carrying out extensive bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon
  • Also on Monday, around 100 Israeli fighters carried out a wave of strikes, hitting 120 targets in southern Lebanon within the space of an hour

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel’s third largest city Haifa on Monday as Israeli forces looked poised to expand ground raids into south Lebanon on the first anniversary of the Gaza war, which has spread conflict across the Middle East.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with “Fadi 1” missiles and launched another strike on Tiberias, 65 km (40 miles) away.
Hezbollah said it targeted areas north of Haifa with missiles later in the day. Israel’s military said around 135 projectiles had entered Israeli territory on Monday as of 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). Ten people were reported injured in the Haifa area and two others further south in central Israel.
Israel’s military said the air force was carrying out extensive bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon, and that two Israeli soldiers were killed in border-area combat, taking the military death toll inside Lebanon so far to 11.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 firefighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a municipal building in the border-area town of Bint Jbeil, and that other aerial attacks on Sunday killed 22 people in southern and eastern Lebanese towns.
The Israeli military has described its ground operation as “localized, limited and targeted” but it has steadily increased in scale since it began last week.
On Monday, the military said soldiers from its 91st Division had moved into southern Lebanon after a year of operations in northern Israel, where Israeli forces have been engaged in cross-border fire with Hezbollah for the past year.
Last week, the military said regular armored and infantry units had moved into Lebanon after commando units crossed the border a day earlier.
It has not said precisely where the troops are operating but it has said there were no plans to send them deep into Lebanon and that their aim was to clear border areas where Hezbollah fighters have been embedded.
Also on Monday, around 100 Israeli fighters carried out a wave of strikes, hitting 120 targets in southern Lebanon within the space of an hour, including Radwan special forces units, Hezbollah’s missile force and its intelligence directorate.
“This operation follows a series of strikes aimed at degrading Hezbollah’s command, control, and firing capabilities, as well as assisting ground forces in achieving their operational goals,” the military said in a statement.
The spiralling conflict has raised concerns that the United States, Israel’s superpower ally, and Iran will be sucked into a wider war in the oil-producing Middle East.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. Israel has said it will retaliate and is weighing its options. One possible target is Iran’s oil facilities.
Rockets hit Haifa
An Israeli military statement said five rockets were launched toward Haifa, also a major Mediterranean port, from Lebanon and interceptors were fired at them. “Fallen projectiles were identified in the area. The incident is under review.”
It said 15 other rockets were fired inland at Tiberias in Israel’s northern Galilee region, some of which were shot down. Israeli media said five more rockets hit the Tiberias area later.
A surface-to-air missile fired at central Israel from Yemen was also intercepted, the military said. The Iran-backed Houthi movement which controls northern Yemen has attacked Israel during the past year in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinians.
Hamas, which triggered the Gaza war with a surprise attack on Israel a year ago, meanwhile targeted Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv with a missile salvo, the group said, setting off sirens in central areas of the country.
Many Israelis have regained confidence in their long vaunted military and intelligence apparatus after a series of deadly blows to the command structure of Hezbollah, Iran’s most formidable Middle East proxy force, in Lebanon in recent weeks.
“Our counterattack on our enemies in Iran’s axis of evil is necessary for securing our future and ensuring our security,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a special cabinet meeting in Jerusalem marking the Gaza war anniversary.
“We are changing the security reality in our region, for our children’s sake, for our future, to ensure that what happened on Oct. 7 does not happen again,” Netanyahu said.
Israel-Hezbollah conflict spreads
Israeli airstrikes have displaced 1.2 million people in Lebanon and as the bombing campaign intensifies, many are afraid their country will face the vast scale of destruction wrought on Gaza by Israel’s air and ground onslaught there.
Israeli forces also issued a warning in Arabic to beachgoers and boat users to stay away from a swathe of the southern Lebanese coast, saying its navy would soon begin operations against Hezbollah from the sea.
Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023 in solidarity with Hamas. After a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel mostly limited to the frontier region, the conflict has significantly escalated in Lebanon.
Israelis marked the first anniversary of the Hamas attack with ceremonies and protests on Monday including a memorial event for victims of the Nova Music Festival where militants killed 364 people and kidnapped 44 partygoers and staff.
In their shock rampage through Israeli towns and kibbutz villages near the Gaza border a year ago, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
The huge security lapse led to the single deadliest day for Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, shattered many citizens’ sense of security and sent their faith in its leaders to new lows.
The Hamas assault unleashed an Israeli offensive on Gaza that has largely flattened the densely populated enclave and killed almost 42,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say.