BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday congratulated Iranian president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian on his victory, emphasising Tehran’s role as a “strong” supporter of regional “resistance” groups.
In a letter circulated on the Iran-backed group’s social media channels, Nasrallah congratulated Pezeshkian on his “blessed election” by the Iranian people.
“We in Hezbollah and in all the resistance groups in the region... always look to the Islamic republic of Iran as a strong, stable and permanent support,” the letter read.
Tehran provides financial and military support to Hezbollah, which was created at the initiative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after arch-foe Israel overran Beirut in 1982 during Lebanon’s civil war.
The Shiite Muslim movement is a key part of the so-called Axis of Resistance — an alliance of pro-Iran armed movements that oppose Israel and the United States.
The alliance also includes Palestinian militant group Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and fighters in Iraq.
Reformist candidate Pezeshkian, who advocates improved ties with the West, won a runoff presidential election against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, the Iranian interior ministry said Saturday.
The election came against a backdrop of heightened regional tensions because of the Gaza war, a dispute with the West over Iran’s nuclear program, and domestic discontent over the state of Iran’s sanctions-hit economy.
The death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash necessitated the election, which had not been due until 2025.
Hezbollah has been trading regular cross-border fire with the Israeli army in support of ally Hamas since the day after the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
Hezbollah is the only Lebanese faction to have retained its weapons after the country’s 1975-1990 civil conflict.
Its members have long fought in Syria’s war in support of President Bashar Assad, who earlier Saturday also sent his congratulations to Iran’s president-elect.
Hezbollah chief congratulates Iran’s Pezeshkian on vote win
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Hezbollah chief congratulates Iran’s Pezeshkian on vote win
- Nasrallah congratulated Pezeshkian on his “blessed election” by the Iranian people
- “We in Hezbollah and in all the resistance groups in the region... always look to the Islamic republic of Iran as a strong, stable and permanent support,” the letter read
White House names some leaders with roles in next steps in Gaza, while Palestinian committee meets
- Blair is a controversial choice in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure he was an “acceptable choice to everybody”
- The plan’s second phase is now underway, though clouded by allegations of aid shortages and violence
CAIRO: The White House released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in overseeing next steps in Gaza after the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under US supervision met for the first time Friday in Cairo.
The committee’s leader, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, pledged to get to work quickly to improve conditions. He expects reconstruction and recovery to take about three years and plans to focus first on immediate needs, including shelter.
“The Palestinian people were looking forward to this committee, its establishment and its work to rescue them,” Shaath said after the meeting, in a television interview with Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News.
US President Donald Trump supports the group’s efforts to govern Gaza after the two-year war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza after the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, while thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to what is left of their homes.
Now, there will be a number of huge challenges going forward, including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the ceasefire deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas.
Under Trump’s plan, Shaath’s technocratic committee will run day-to-day affairs in Gaza under the oversight of a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” whose members have not yet been named.
White House names some officials to oversight boards
The White House said an executive board will work to carry out the vision of the Board of Peace.
The executive board’s members include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.
Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and UN Mideast envoy, is to serve as the executive board’s representative overseeing day-to-day matters.
The White House also announced the members of another board, the “Gaza Executive Board,” which will work with Mladenov, the technocratic committee and the international stabilization force.
Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan and Mladenov will also sit on that board. Additional members include: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency; Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert.
Death of boy mourned in the West Bank
In the West Bank, friends and relatives gathered Friday to mourn the death of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy killed by Israeli forces.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, which confirmed his death, said Mohammad Na’san was the first child killed by the army in the occupied West Bank in 2026.
Residents said Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas in an unprovoked attack. Israel’s military said in a statement that the incursion came after Palestinians had hurled rocks at Israelis and set tires aflame.
“There was gunfire directed at citizens and farmers, the most dangerous of which occurred during the storming of the village as people were leaving the mosques. The streets were crowded with the elderly, children, women, and elders, and they began firing relentlessly,” said Ameen Abu Aliya, head of the Al-Mughayyir village council.
The death was the latest episode of violence to hit Al-Mughayyir, a village east of Ramallah that has become a flashpoint in the West Bank. Much of the community’s agricultural land falls under Israeli military control.
Early this year, settlers and Israeli military bulldozers destroyed olive groves in the area, saying they were searching for Palestinian gunmen. A children’s park in Al-Mughayyir was also demolished.
In 2025, 240 Palestinians — including 55 children — were killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank, while Palestinians killed 17 Israelis — including one child — in the region, according to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, two children were killed Friday in Gaza, a 7-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy. They were killed in Beith Lahiya, near the Yellow Line, and their bodies taken to Al-Shifa Hospital, the hospital said. No further details were immediately available.
