BEIRUT: A leader from Hamas-aligned Jamaa Islamiya was killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike, the Lebanese Islamist group and Israel’s military said, as the health ministry reported another dead in a separate raid.
Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November truce with militant group Hezbollah that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the foes including two months of all-out war.
Lebanon’s civil defense said “an Israeli drone targeted a car” near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man’s body.
Jamaa Islamiya in a statement announced the death of Hussein Atwi, calling him “an academic leader and university professor” and saying an Israeli drone strike “targeted his car as he was traveling to his workplace in Beirut.”
The Israeli army said the air force had “eliminated” Atwi, calling him “a significant terrorist in the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist organization.”
A Lebanese security official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Atwi was a leader of Jamaa Islamiya’s armed wing, the Al-Fajr Forces.
The official said Israel had previously targeted Atwi during its recent war with Hezbollah.
An AFP photographer saw the charred wreckage of a car at the scene. The Lebanese army had cordoned off the area and forensic teams were conducting an inspection.
Jamaa Islamiya, closely linked to both Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against Israel before the November 27 ceasefire.
The Israeli military said Atwi had been “involved in planning and advancing terrorist activity from Lebanon into Israeli territory” and had operated “in coordination with Hamas in Lebanon.”
It said he had “carried out rocket attacks, coordinated terrorist infrastructure... and advanced attempts to infiltrate into Israeli territory.”
Also Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy” strike in south Lebanon’s Tyre district killed one person.
Under the truce, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon, but troops remain in five positions that it deems “strategic.”
Israel on Sunday said it had killed two senior Hezbollah members in strikes on Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities have said Israeli fire has killed some 190 people since the ceasefire.
After unclaimed rocket fire against Israel in late March, Lebanon’s army said last week it had arrested several Lebanese and Palestinian suspects, while a security official said they included three Hamas members.
Islamist leader among 2 dead in air strikes on Lebanon
https://arab.news/nhxuj
Islamist leader among 2 dead in air strikes on Lebanon
- Jamaa Islamiya in a statement announced the death of Hussein Atwi, calling him “an academic leader and university professor”
- Also Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy” strike in south Lebanon’s Tyre district killed one person
Trump says ‘hopefully’ no need for military action against Iran
- US president said he is speaking with Iran and left open the possibility of avoiding a military operation
- An Iranian military spokesman warned Tehran’s response to any US action would not be limited
PARIS: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he hoped to avoid military action against Iran, which has threatened to strike American bases and aircraft carriers in response to any attack.
Trump said he is speaking with Iran and left open the possibility of avoiding a military operation after earlier warning time was “running out” for Tehran as the United States sends a large naval fleet to the region.
When asked if he would have talks with Iran, Trump told reporters: “I have had and I am planning on it.”
“We have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won’t have to use it,” the US president added, while speaking to media at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania.
As Brussels and Washington dialed up their rhetoric and Iran issued stark threats this week, UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for nuclear negotiations to “avoid a crisis that could have devastating consequences in the region.”
An Iranian military spokesman warned Tehran’s response to any US action would not be limited — as it was in June last year when American planes and missiles briefly joined Israel’s short air war against Iran — but would be a decisive response “delivered instantly.”
Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia told state television US aircraft carriers have “serious vulnerabilities” and that numerous American bases in the Gulf region are “within the range of our medium-range missiles.”
“If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way Trump imagines — carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over,” he said.
An official in the Gulf, where states host US military sites, said that fears of a US strike on Iran are “very clear.”
“It would bring the region into chaos, it would hurt the economy not just in the region but in the US and cause oil and gas prices to skyrocket,” the official added.
‘Protests crushed in blood’
Qatar’s leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian held a call to discuss “efforts being made to de-escalate tensions and establish stability,” the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The European Union, meanwhile, piled on the pressure by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organization” over a deadly crackdown on recent mass protests.
“’Terrorist’ is indeed how you call a regime that crushes its own people’s protests in blood,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming the “overdue” decision.
Though largely symbolic, the EU decision has already drawn a warning from Tehran.
Iran’s military slammed “the illogical, irresponsible and spite-driven action of the European Union,” alleging the bloc was acting out of “obedience” to Tehran’s arch-foes the United States and Israel.
Iranian officials have blamed the recent protest wave on the two countries, claiming their agents spurred “riots” and a “terrorist operation” that hijacked peaceful rallies sparked over economic grievances.
Rights groups have said thousands of people were killed during the protests by security forces, including the IRGC — the ideological arm of Tehran’s military.
In Tehran on Thursday, citizens expressed grim resignation.
“I think the war is inevitable and a change must happen. It can be for worse, or better. I am not sure,” said a 29-year-old waitress, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“I am not in favor of war. I just want something to happen that would result in something better.”
Another 29-year-old woman, an unemployed resident of an upscale neighborhood in northern Tehran, said: “I believe that life has highs and lows and we are now at the lowest point.”
Trump had threatened military action if protesters were killed in the anti-government demonstrations that erupted in late December and peaked on January 8 and 9.
But his more recent statements have turned to Iran’s nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.
On Wednesday, he said “time is running out” for Tehran to make a deal, warning the US naval strike group that arrived in Middle East waters on Monday was “ready, willing and able” to hit Iran.
Conflicting tolls
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,479 people were killed in the protests, as Internet restrictions imposed on January 8 continue to slow verification.
But rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher, with estimates in the tens of thousands.
Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of more than 3,000 deaths, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters.”
Billboards and banners have gone up in the capital Tehran to bolster the authorities’ messages. One massive poster appears to show an American aircraft carrier being destroyed.
