Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah’s post-war popularity is tested as southern Lebanon holds local elections

2025-05-25

[IsraelTimes] Residents of southern Lebanon voted Saturday in the country’s municipal elections that will test support for Hezbollah in the predominantly Shiite areas, nearly six months after the ceasefire that ended Israel’s war with the Iran-backed terror group, whose leadership was decimated.

Hezbollah is running in an alliance with the Amal group of Lebanon’s powerful Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Both are expected to win mayoral races and the majority of seats in municipal councils, and have already won many municipalities uncontested.

South Lebanon is the fourth and last district to vote in the elections since May 4. Among those who voted Saturday were Hezbollah members wounded on September 17, 2024, when Israel blew up thousands of booby-trapped pagers it had covertly sold to the terror group.

The attack, which Israel claimed in November, killed at least a dozen people, including at least two children, and wounded some 3,000 people, crippling Hezbollah’s fighting force ahead of an Israeli invasion some two weeks, which sought to end the terror group’s near-daily rocket fire.

“The will of life is stronger than death and the will of construction is stronger than destruction,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said during a tour of southern Lebanon on Saturday. He told reporters in his hometown of Aaishiyah that he voted for the first time in 40 years.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Palestinian official says Lebanon camps to keep light weapons

2025-05-21

[NAHARNET] The issue of Paleostinian arms in Leb
Leb

...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
might be the ''last'' topic on the agenda of Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....>
during his visit to Lebanon this week, a Beirut-based Paleostinian official said on Tuesday.

''This topic is new and is not the priority for the Lebanese and Paleostinians,'' Haitham Zuaiter, a member of the Paleostinian central and national councils, told al-Jadeed television.

''There is no proposal for removing Paleostinian arms in Lebanon,'' Zuaiter said, reminding that the national dialogue sessions chaired by Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
had called for ''removing Paleostinian arms outside the camps and controlling them inside the camps'' and that ''President Joseph Aoun has called for the removal of heavy-caliber arms.''

''We support bringing Paleostinian arms under control inside the Paleostinian camps within the framework of serious discussions and a drastic solution,'' Zuaiter went on to say.

He added: ''Honestly we cannot talk about the issue of Paleostinian arms without resolving the Paleostinian issue in the Lebanese arena in a comprehensive way.''

Warning that Israel might target Paleostinian camps in Lebanon the same it has targeted refugee camps in the Paleostinian territories, Zuaiter said Abbas will tell Lebanese officials that ''the Lebanese Army should not enter the Paleostinian camps by force.''

''Paleostinian security forces are in charge of security inside the camps and would coordinate with Lebanese authorities,'' the Paleostinian officials added, noting that ''arms must be under the authority of the Lebanese state.''

''What's needed is to prevent a repetition of the (1982) Sabra and Shatila massacre and had there been light weapons (in the hands of the Paleostinians at the time), this massacre would not have happened,'' Zuaiter added.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ortagus to visit Beirut in a week, says occupation doesn't justify Hezbollah arms

2025-05-17

[NAHARNET] U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus will return to Leb
Leb

...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
in around a week, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday.

In an evening interview with LBCI television, Ortagus confirmed the imposition of new U.S. sanctions targeting three Hezbollah ''financiers'', stressing Washington's commitment to cutting off illicit financing to Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and its proxies in the Middle East.

She added that the U.S. administration has revived the "maximum pressure" campaign originally launched during President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
's first term, particularly targeting Iran and affiliated groups like Hezbollah.

"These sanctions aim to identify and expose individuals and networks facilitating illicit financing for Hezbollah. This is part of our broader strategy to ensure that terror proxies throughout the region, especially those funded by Iran, are held accountable," Ortagus said.

She emphasized that this effort would continue with additional sanctions on the way.

When asked whether Israel's occupation of five strategic sites in south Lebanon offers Hezbollah justification to keep its weapons, Ortagus firmly rejected the notion.

"Hezbollah has dragged Lebanon into wars twice in the past two decades -- wars the Lebanese people did not choose. They destroy the south every time," she said. "There is no justification for Hezbollah to keep its arms," she added.

Ortagus also reiterated the United States' desire to work with Lebanese leaders, including President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, to create a new economic future for Lebanon.

"But that future is only possible when the Lebanese state, through the Lebanese Armed Forces, has the exclusive authority over weapons," she noted.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri reportedly warns that ''residents'' may act to liberate 5 points — Naharnet

2025-05-05

[NAHARNET] In his latest meeting with the ambassadors of the five-nation group for Leb
Leb

...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
, Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
asked U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson and French Ambassador Herve Magro about their countries' pledges regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon, reiterating that ''Hezbollah has committed to the agreement while Israel is carrying out with its attacks,'' a media report said.

''Johnson responded that Washington would carry out the necessary contacts, prompting Berri to tell her, 'Don't embarrass us any further,''' An-Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.

''Israel must first withdraw from the five points and residents cannot be prevented from heading to these sites to work on liberating them as long as they have not returned to their towns, especially the border towns,'' Berri reportedly added.

Civilians engaging in combat are combatants and can be treated as such.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Trump aide meets Lebanon’s president in Beirut amid efforts to disarm Hezbollah

2025-04-06

[IsraelTimes] Lebanese officials describe talks with US deputy Mideast envoy Morgan Ortagus as ‘positive’ and ‘constructive,’ say meetings focused on southern Lebanon, implementation of ceasefire

US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus met Saturday with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, and the two discussed the fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah in talks that were described by Lebanese officials as "positive."

The visit came as Israel and Leb
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
have agreed to hold talks on settling their land border dispute, following the war between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US has urged the Lebanese government to disarm the terror group to ensure calm is maintained along the border.

The United States chairs a committee, which also includes La Belle France, that is tasked with overseeing the ceasefire that ended more than a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war, between Israel and Hezbollah.

Senior Lebanese officials said Saturday’s talks with Ortagus were "positive," and the president’s office said that the two discussed "south Lebanon, the work of the international monitoring committee, and the Israeli withdrawal" from Lebanese territory, characterizing the talks as constructive.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s office, in a statement, also said the discussions with the envoy were "positive."

Ortagus and Salam discussed the Lebanese army’s work in implementing United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November truce, his office said.

The resolution says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and called for the disarmament of all non-state gangs. It went largely unenforced for long years, enabling Hezbollah to build up its forces along Israel’s border to an unprecedented scale prior to the recent war.

Ortagus also met on Saturday with parliament speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, a key Hezbollah ally, and army chief Rodolphe Haykal.

On her first visit in February, Ortagus sparked anger among Hezbollah supporters by saying the group had been "defeated by Israel," declaring "the end of Hezbollah’s reign of terror."

The Iran-backed terror group was heavily weakened during the war with Israel but remains active.

Last month, Ortagus told Lebanese TV channel al-Jadeed that the US and La Belle France had set up working groups that would address the border disputes between the two countries, as well as Israel’s continued presence in south Lebanon.

"We want to get a political resolution, finally, to the border disputes," Ortagus had said.

Last month, an Israeli official said that Jerusalem is aiming to establish full diplomatic relations with Beirut, adding that the talks could begin as soon as April.

"The goal is to reach normalization," said the official.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
a few weeks after news broke that Israel was looking to normalize ties with Lebanon, the Lebanese prime minister said that "no one in Lebanon wants normalization with Israel" and that "everyone opposes it."

Israel and Lebanon do not recognize each other and have officially been in a state of war since Israel’s founding in 1948.

A November 27, 2024, truce in Lebanon largely halted more than a year of hostilities initiated by Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war during which Israel sent in ground troops.

The fighting began with attacks by the terror group on the Jewish state on October 8, 2023, in support of ally Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
, which had invaded Israel from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
a day earlier. Persistent rocket fire from Lebanon displaced some 60,000 Israeli civilians.

In September of 2024, Israel launched a major offensive, killing most of Hezbollah’s top leaders and devastating its capabilities.

Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory since the truce agreement took effect, saying it is acting against Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire.

In February, Israel withdrew all its forces from southern Lebanon, except from five strategic points, saying it had received a green light from the US to remain at those posts and citing the need to prevent Hezbollah from returning to the area and threatening Israel.

Lebanon’s army has been deployed in areas the Israeli military has withdrawn from.

The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

A Million Mourners: Hezbollah Leader's Funeral Revives 'Axis of Resistance'

2025-02-25

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Yesterday, February 23, a solemn funeral of the Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah took place in Beirut. Nasrallah was killed by the Israelis in September 2024, but he was only buried almost six months later, and this event turned into a major political event.

Nasrallah's body could not be removed from the underground bunker destroyed by an airstrike for a long time, and after that, political instability in Lebanon prevented the burial - Hezbollah preferred to wait for the formation of a new government, so as not to draw attention to itself and not to provoke former opponents.

In addition to Nasrallah, the last respects were also paid to his cousin, Hashim Safi al-Din, who was elected the new secretary general, but survived his predecessor by only a couple of weeks.

The funeral procession, aptly titled “We Are Committed to the Covenant,” attracted more than a million people and was the largest in Lebanon’s history in 20 years. It also offered a clear indication of how support for Hezbollah has changed in the past six months.

INNER CIRCLE
The Lebanese services responsible for security at the mourning event eventually reported the presence of representatives from at least 12 countries. According to observers, the largest group of guests came from Iraq (almost 140,000 people). The top three also included Iran (106,000 people) and Yemen (27,000 people). In fact, the entire pro-Iranian “Axis of Resistance” was present.

It is also noteworthy that the ceremony was attended not only by Muslims, but also by representatives of the Christian community, including representatives of the Maronite communities of Lebanon.

In terms of representation at the official level, Iran, as expected, demonstrated the greatest involvement.

Official Tehran sent a group of high-ranking politicians to Beirut under the leadership of the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Both officials at one time worked quite closely with Nasrallah and ensured operational communication between Hezbollah and the Iranian authorities.

At the same time, the Lebanese establishment treated Nasrallah's funeral very formally. The country's President Joseph Aoun did not take part in the funeral ceremony, although as a sign of respect for the party past of Nasrallah and al-Din, he sent a fairly large delegation from the presidential administration and government apparatus to the event.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also avoided attending the ceremony on the pretext of a business trip.

As a result, of the prominent Lebanese politicians, only the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, was present at the farewell to the Hezbollah leaders ; his presence was interpreted as a willingness to remain a link between Hezbollah and other political forces in Lebanon, as well as a lack of intention to “push” Hezbollah supporters out of legislative work.

The weak representation of Lebanese officials (compared to Iran) can be explained by official Beirut’s fears of overly angering Israel.

Despite the fact that relations between Lebanon and the Jewish state are already at a low point, it is important for Beirut to achieve a complete withdrawal of the Israeli contingent from its territories.

In this context, obvious sympathy for Hezbollah could be perceived by Tel Aviv as a sign of hidden agreements between the new Lebanese authorities and Iran and used to maintain a military presence in southern Lebanon.

For a similar reason, representatives of Arab states with close ties to the Israeli side were almost completely absent from the event.

COUNTER MOVE
The Israeli side took advantage of the excitement surrounding the funerals of former Hezbollah leaders in its own way.

On the day of the mourning ceremony, footage of an airstrike on the Dahya neighborhood, where the underground headquarters of the Hezbollah leadership was located, appeared on the resources of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) - later, they were actively published by Israeli LOMs, accompanied by ironic captions and comments.

The Israelis did not abandon Hezbollah supporters during the farewell ceremony itself - IDF fighters flew at least several times at dangerously low altitudes over Beirut, simulating preparations for a missile and bomb strike.

Later, the press also reported "indiscriminate strikes" by Israeli aircraft in various parts of the country (primarily in the south) - however, most of them were later denied by the Israeli side. The "clear shell explosions" that journalists wrote about that day were in fact the result of sapper work to destroy the movement's old arsenals.

True, the IDF did have to admit to several bombings: Israeli warplanes struck the outskirts of the towns of Zeraria, Zibqin, Kalila, Janneta, Deir Qanun al-Nahr and Maroub. All of these settlements are located in southern Lebanon and, according to Tel Aviv, are “included in the military zone” of the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Official Beirut responded to this with a "demonstration of serious concern."

CONTINUERS OF THE BUSINESS
Perhaps the most important element of the event was the “solemn oath” of Hezbollah’s current leader, Naim Qassem. He not only promised to “continue the work” of Nasrallah, but also to destroy US plans to “sell Gaza” to Israel with the tacit approval of its Arab partners.

Despite the fact that the oath was given via video link and Kassem was not personally present at the ceremony (for security reasons), it fulfilled its purpose in full.

After six months of “radio silence,” Lebanon’s Hezbollah has effectively announced plans to fully engage in the fight against Israel and provide Iran with support for a possible Operation True Promise 3.

Of course, the movement's positions were seriously undermined and one should not expect a quick entry into the fight. However, it was much more important to show Israel that the IDF still cannot consider the "northern direction" completely cleared.

And Hezbollah in this case used the same tactics to convey its message as the Palestinian Hamas had used earlier, explicitly framing the demonstration of the potential of its supporters, both military and civilian, within the confines of a public event.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Tens of thousands pack stadium for Nasrallah funeral, as Israeli fighters fly overhead

2025-02-24

Much more on this story from yesterday.

[IsraelTimes] In address to packed Beirut stadium from hidden location, terror leader’s successor vows to uphold his legacy, threatens Israel and US, as IDF hits Hezbollah targets across Lebanon

Tens of thousands of black-clad mourners vowed support for the Hezbollah terror group Sunday at the Beirut funeral of slain leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
, after the group was dealt major blows in its last round of hostilities with Israel.

Women wailed as a truck carrying the coffins of Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine — Nasrallah’s chosen successor, killed in another Israeli ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
before his new position was ever publicly announced — slowly moved through the crowd, topped with two black turbans and draped in Hezbollah’s yellow flag.

After his death, Nasrallah was buried temporarily next to his son, Hadi, who died fighting for Hezbollah in 1997. His official funeral was delayed to allow time for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Leb
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
under the terms of the US-backed ceasefire.

The September 27 killing of Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, in a massive Israeli strike, dealt a heavy blow to the Iran-backed group.

As the funeral began at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Lebanon’s biggest sports arena, Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude over Beirut.

The crowd then chanted: "Death to Israel, death to America, we respond to your call, Nasrallah."

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the overflight was a "clear message" to anyone who threatens Israel.

"Israeli Air Force aircraft currently flying over Beirut, over the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, convey a clear message: Whoever threatens to destroy Israel and attack Israel — it will be their end," he said in a statement.

"You will specialize in funerals, and we will specialize in victories," Katz added.

Israel also carried out several airstrikes in Lebanon on Sunday, saying they targeted Hezbollah sites containing rocket launchers and other weapons threatening Israeli civilians.

The terror group began assaulting northern Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after fellow terror group Hamas
Hamas

..always the voice of sweet reason...
’s devastating attack on southern Israel. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was implemented in late November after over a year of skirmishes that ended with two months of all-out war. Hezbollah’s leadership and much of its offensive capabilities were devastated in the latter period.

While the ceasefire has largely seen hostilities halted and the IDF recently withdrew from most of the territory it was holding in south Lebanon, Israeli forces remain in five strategic locations within Lebanese territory.

NAIM QASSEM VOWS TO UPHOLD NASRALLAH’S LEGACY
Nasrallah was being buried Sunday in a shrine constructed near the stadium. Safieddine is set to be buried on Monday in southern Lebanon.

In a televised address to the funeral ceremony, broadcast from an undisclosed location, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem

... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies...
said the terror group would keep following his "path" and rejected any control of "tyrant America" over Lebanon.

"The resistance is not over, the resistance is still present and ready" to face Israel, he said.

"We will uphold trust and walk on this path, we will uphold your will," Qassem said, referring to Nasrallah, adding: "You are still with us, your... path and struggle live within us" and "I am loyal to the legacy."

Telling his followers that Hezbollah remains "strong," Qassem said: "We will not submit and we will not accept the continuation of our killing and occupation while we watch."

He said Hezbollah considered Israel’s five positions an occupation and was relying on the Lebanese government to secure a full withdrawal through diplomacy.

"We choose to fire when we see fit and are patient when we see fit," he said.

"Know this Americans, if... you try to pressure officials and Lebanon, you will not be able to achieve your goals," he added, asserting that "officials in Lebanon know the balance of powers."

"Do not interpret our patience and wisdom in assessing priorities as weakness," he warned.

According to reports, a number of Hezbollah operatives injured in Israel’s exploding pager operation that caused severe damage to the terror group were in attendance at the funeral.

Sam Heller of the Century Foundation think tank said it was "important for the group to demonstrate that it remains a major social and political force, despite some of the setbacks it’s been dealt."

As mourners raised their fists in the air and chanted "We are at your service, Nasrallah" and "We are loyal to the promise, Nasrallah," the slain leader’s previous speeches were blasted on loudspeakers.

Men, women and kiddies walked in the biting cold to reach the site of the ceremony, which was delayed for months over security concerns.

CROWD SIZE ESTIMATES VARY
Since Saturday, roads into Beirut have been clogged with carloads of supporters traveling in from Hezbollah’s strongholds in south Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.

AFP correspondents reported Sunday that the stadium, which organizers said could accommodate roughly 78,000 people, was fully packed. A previous AFP report put the stadium’s capacity at around 50,000, but noted that organizers had installed extra seating and overflow room.

Meanwhile,
...back at the laboratory the smoke and fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight...
a Lebanese official who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity estimated the crowd size at 450,000.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said the group deployed 25,000 stewards for crowd control and 4,000 more to supervise the event.

A Lebanese security source said 4,000 troops and security personnel were also deployed to the area.

LEBANESE PRESIDENT A NO-SHOW
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked parliament speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, a Hezbollah ally, to represent him at the ceremony, while Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was represented by a minister.

Hezbollah’s weakening in the war is widely seen as having contributed to the election of Aoun, who named Salam as his premier last month after two years of leadership vacuum.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were in attendance, with representatives of Iraq’s main pro-Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
factions and a delegation of Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
group also expected.

A single flight from Tehran was given permission to land before dawn on Sunday, though service from Iran has been suspended over the threat of Israeli strikes against attempts to smuggle weapons or other goods to Hezbollah.

"It is only one flight, carrying official delegations from Tehran to participate in the funeral," airport chief Fadi al-Hassan told AFP.

Araghchi, in a speech from Beirut, described the slain leaders as "two heroes of the resistance" and vowed that "the path of resistance will continue."

Before the funeral, Aragchi and other Iranian officials met Aoun. According to a statement from Aoun’s office, he told the Iranian delegation that Lebanon was "tired of the war of others" and that it had "paid a heavy price for the Paleostinian cause."

At the meeting, Ghalibaf told Aoun that Iran is willing to help Lebanon with its reconstruction efforts following the conflict, according to a post from the Lebanese president’s official X account.

Aoun told the Iranian official that Lebanon’s leadership supports the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
reconstruction plan discussed during Friday’s Arab summit in Riyadh, which laid out a path towards a two-state solution, in opposition to Trump’s plan for the mass relocation of Gazooks outside the enclave.

ISRAEL RELEASES NEW FOOTAGE OF KILLING
Amid the funeral fanfare, Israel released new footage of the massive September 27 airstrike that killed Nasrallah and, according to Israel, more than 20 Hezbollah commanders, including Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets dropped 82 heavy bombs on the terror group’s main underground headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh, bringing down several buildings.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah MP says Berri to represent Aoun at Nasrallah funeral — Naharnet

2025-02-22

[NAHARNET] Loyalty to Resistance® bloc MP Ali Fayad said the funeral of slain Hezbollah chief Sayyed
Sayyed

...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged...
His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
on Sunday will witness ''a million-person rally that is unprecedented in Lebanese political history.''

''Hundreds of delegations from 65 countries have confirmed their attendance, in addition to hundreds of Lebanese figures and 400 foreign officials,'' Fayad added, in remarks to LBCI television.
Good time for a hypersonic low level flyover by the IAF
''I have learned that Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
will attend the funeral and will be representing the president. This occasion is not exclusive to the Shiite sect but rather a national occasion,'' Fayad said.

Hezbollah is preparing for a massive turnout for Nasrallah's funeral on Sunday, an opportunity for a show of strength by the group after a bruising war with Israel.

The country will stop for Sunday's funeral, to be held at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the Camille Chamoun sports stadium on the capital's outskirts.

Hezbollah has announced strict security measures and urged security forces to help manage crowds that are expected to number in the tens of thousands, with people pouring in from Hezbollah strongholds across the country, as well as from abroad.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

IDF withdraws from Lebanon border villages, keeps ‘buffer zone’; Lebanese army deploys

2025-02-19

[IsraelTimes] Israeli troops remain in 5 strategic outposts inside southern Lebanon; Katz warns Israel will ‘forcefully’ enforce terms of truce; Lebanon to seek UN’s help on ‘Israeli violations’

The Israel Defense Forces pulled out of southern Lebanese villages but remained in five key positions Tuesday morning, around an hour before the deadline for the withdrawal expired under the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

The IDF did not officially confirm completing the pullout, but the matter was confirmed by observers on both sides. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF was remaining in "a buffer zone," with "five strategic outposts," and would enforce the ceasefire "against any violation by Hezbollah."

"The Israeli army has withdrawn from all border villages except for five points, while the Lebanese army is gradually deploying due to the presence of explosives in some areas and damage to the roads," a Lebanese security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The Lebanese Armed Forces said Tuesday morning that it had deployed overnight to several villages and towns in southern Leb
Leb

...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
after the IDF withdrawal.

LAF troops entered Aabbasiyyeh, Majidieh, Kafr Kila, Marjaayoun, Odaisseh, Markaba, Houla, Mays al-Jabal, Blida, Mahbib, Maroun al-Ras, Yaron, Bint Jbeil, and several other locations near the Israeli border, the Lebanese military said in a statement.

The deployment was being carried out in coordination with a US-led committee supervising the November 27 ceasefire with Israel and the UN observer force UNIFIL, the LAF added.

The LAF said engineering units were surveying the areas, opening roads, and safely removing unwent kaboom! ordnance left behind from the fighting.

Several local authorities, including Mays al-Jabal’s municipality, have called on displaced residents to wait for the LAF to deploy there before coming back, so as to guarantee their "safe" return.

Israel said it would meet the February 18 deadline to withdraw under a ceasefire but remain deployed in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon.

A spokesperson for the Lebanese presidency said late Tuesday morning that Beirut would consider any remaining Israeli presence on its lands an occupation and has the right to use all means to ensure an Israeli withdrawal, without mentioning the five posts.

After a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and parliament speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, the three leaders said the Lebanese army was ready "to assume all its duties along the... borders," according to presidency spokeswoman Najat Charafeddine.

She added that Lebanon would also seek the UN Security Council’s help to "address Israeli violations and compel Israel to immediately withdraw."

In a statement earlier on Tuesday, Katz said the IDF would "forcefully" enforce the terms of the ceasefire deal in Lebanon and act against any Hezbollah threat.

"Starting today, the IDF will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon in five strategic outposts and will continue to enforce [the deal] forcefully and without compromise against any violation by Hezbollah," he said.

"Hezbollah must withdraw fully beyond the Litani River line and the Lebanese army must enforce and disarm it under the supervision of the mechanism established under the leadership of the US," Katz added. "We are determined to provide full security to all northern communities."

Under a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group since early October.

Hezbollah operatives were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period. The original deadline was January 26, but was extended until February 18 as Israel argued Lebanese army deployment was not happening quickly enough.

Last week, the US authorized the IDF to remain in the five points, though it was not clear how long troops would stay there.

The military said on Monday that it was prepared to stay at the posts for a lengthy period, until Hezbollah fully withdraws beyond the Litani River and the Israeli politicianship instructs it to leave.

At the five positions, the IDF constructed military posts that will be manned by troops.

The IDF also ramped up its defenses on the Israeli side of the border, with several new posts, one in front of every Israeli border community; better surveillance capabilities, including more cameras, radars, and sensors; and triple the number of troops compared to before the war.

The ceasefire deal ended two months of full-scale war that followed months of lower-intensity exchanges.

Should the ceasefire continue to hold after the IDF withdrawal, tens of thousands of displaced residents of northern Israel will begin to return to their homes on March 2.

Lebanon civil defense retrieves 23 bodies from border towns after Israeli pullout
[IsraelTimes] Lebanon’s civil defense has recovered 23 bodies from several border towns on Tuesday after Israeli troops withdrew under a ceasefire deadline, according to a statement carried by official media.

“Specialized teams today… managed to remove 14 bodies from Mais al-Jabal, three from Markaba and three from Kfar Kila, in addition to three from Odaisseh,” says the civil defense statement published by the state-run National News Agency.

Lebanese search for dead in devastated villages as Israel withdraws
[IsraelTimes] Residents of south Lebanon have returned to devastated villages, searching for the bodies of relatives killed in last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, as Israeli troops withdrew from most of the territory.

In the frontline village of Kfar Kila, barely a building was left standing. “I reached my neighborhood and I couldn’t tell where my house had been,” says one resident, Noha Hammoud.

“The entire neighborhood is destroyed.”

Rescue workers had pulled several bodies from the rubble, and had even found two people still alive, she says. Local sources say those found dead and alive were fighters from Hezbollah, thousands of whom were killed in the war.

Senior Lebanese politician Ali Hassan Khalil, who hails from the south, says hundreds of residents have gone to inspect more than a half dozen villages that became accessible, adding that the Lebanese army was still working to clear roads.

However, Israel’s continued presence in five south Lebanon posts left “an open wound,” he adds.

The conflict, which began when Hezbollah opened fire on October 8, 2023 in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from northern Israel and more than a million people in Lebanon.

At the Israeli Kibbutz Misgav Am, next to the border with Lebanon, some residents visited and planted trees.

“Although we had to evacuate, our hearts stayed here,” says one of the kibbutz members, Daniel Malik. “We really want to come back but there is big uncertainty because we don’t know when it will be safe.”

In Yaroun, another frontline village in Lebanon, a woman holds a bouquet of spring flowers in one hand and Hezbollah’s yellow flag in another as she surveyed the destruction.

Rescue workers pulled at least one body from the rubble.

“Our feeling is a mix of joy and sadness because there are still martyrs we have yet to find,” says returning resident Suhaila Daher. “All the destruction can be replaced, thank God, but the martyrs will not return.”

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, speaking to Reuters in Yaroun, says: “The Israeli enemy is still occupying Lebanese land and this Lebanese land must be liberated and now the primary responsibility falls on the Lebanese state.”

IDF carries out controlled explosion near Lebanese village before withdrawing – report
[IsraelTimes] The IDF carried out a large controlled demolition near southern Lebanon’s Kfar Shouba a short while ago, before withdrawing from the area, Lebanese media reports. The military has not yet commented on its withdrawal from south Lebanon.

مراسلة «الأخبار»: قوات الاحتلال تنسحب من كفرشوبا بعد تفجيرها لموقع في حرش الصوان pic.twitter.com/UITleEVedE
— جريدة الأخبار - Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) February 18, 2025

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon detains 25 people for questioning over attack on UN peacekeepers convoy in Beirut

2025-02-16

[X]

Lebanon detains 25 people for questioning over attack on UN peacekeepers convoy in Beirut

'As of now, more than 25 people are being held by the Lebanese Army Intelligence and the Internal Security Forces Information Branch for questioning,' says the country's interior minister… pic.twitter.com/rrq31QvPgs
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) February 15, 2025

Lebanon claims over 25 arrested for attack on UNIFIL convoy that wounded peacekeepers

[IsraelTimes] Lebanese president vows perpetrators ‘will receive their punishment’ as Hezbollah and its allies seek to distance themselves from assault by Iran-backed terror group’s supporters

Lebanese authorities said Saturday that more than 25 people had been arrested following an attack by Hezbollah supporters on a United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
convoy the day before that maimed two peacekeepers, including the force’s outgoing deputy commander.

UN and Lebanese officials have condemned Friday’s attack, which came as Hezbollah supporters blocked the road to the country’s only international airport for a second night over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing there.

"More than 25 people have been arrested by Lebanese army intelligence," with another person detained by the security services, Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar told news hounds after an emergency security meeting Saturday.

"This does not mean these detainees carried out the attack... but the investigations will show who is responsible," he continued.

The army and security agencies would bolster measures to "maintain security and stability," Hajjar said, adding that violations would be treated "with all seriousness."

The UN Interim Force in Leb
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
(UNIFIL) has demanded an investigation after one of its vehicles was set on fire during the incident, which maimed outgoing deputy force commander Chok Bahadur Dhakal, a Nepalese national who was heading home after ending his mission.

UNIFIL deputy spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told AFP that a second Nepalese peacekeeper was also maimed and hospitalized.

On Saturday, Hezbollah supporters again demonstrated around Beirut airport, with the Lebanese army firing tear gas to disperse them. A politician from the terror group Hassan Fadlallah called on the army to hold those who fired at the protesters to account.

The Lebanese army and government "should have held immediate meetings to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates on the airport and from continuing its occupation of Lebanese territory ... instead of using force against a peaceful sit-in on the airport road," Fadlallah added in a statement.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed that "the attackers will receive their punishment," adding that "security forces will not be lenient with any party that tries to upset stability and civil peace," according to a statement from the presidency on X.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam strongly condemned the "criminal attack" and promised to arrest the perpetrators during a conversation with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Commander General Aroldo Lazaro.

’CIVIL PEACE’
In a meeting with Hajjar on Saturday, Salam emphasized the importance of maintaining security across the country, a statement from his office said. The premier was set to meet other "relevant ministers" later in the day.

The presidency’s statement said Aoun had stressed that the incident "cannot be allowed to be repeated," adding that the judiciary "has begun investigations on the ground."

The army said Friday that several areas around the airport had seen "demonstrations marked by acts of vandalism and festivities, including assaults on members of the armed forces and attacks against vehicles."

Videos circulating on social media showed demonstrators, some hooded and carrying Hezbollah flags, attacking a man in military garb and another in civilian clothes near the torched UNIFIL vehicle.

There was no immediate official comment from Hezbollah, which, together with its allies, appeared to be scrambling to distance themselves from Friday’s attack.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said in a statement posted on its social media accounts that "unruly elements caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road."

The Lebanese terror group’s ally, the Amal Movement, which is led by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, said: "The attack on UNIFIL is an attack on south Lebanon" and that "blocking roads anywhere is an assault on civil peace."

’ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE’
Several countries have condemned the incident, as did UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
"Such attacks are absolutely unacceptable... The safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times," said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres’s front man.

"Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law... and may constitute war crimes," the statement said, adding that "UNIFIL must be allowed unrestricted freedom of movement throughout Lebanon."

The French foreign ministry released a statement that "calls on the Lebanese security forces to guarantee the security of blue-helmet peacekeeping forces, and calls on Lebanon’s judicial authorities to shed all light on this unacceptable attack and to go after those responsible."

Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using the Beirut airport to transfer weapons from Iran, claims Hezbollah and Lebanese officials have denied.

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
said Saturday that it was ready for "constructive talks" with Lebanon on restoring Tehran-Beirut flights.

In a telephone call, the two countries’ foreign ministers discussed "how to resolve the problem of civil flights" and "confirmed their readiness to hold constructive talks in good faith," an Iranian foreign ministry statement said.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has a large popular base in Lebanon, though a year of hostilities with Israel and the ousting of its ally Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
in neighboring Syria have left the group weakened.

Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Thursday it had "temporarily rescheduled" some flights, including from Iran, until February 18 as it was implementing "additional security measures."

The date coincides with the deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and for Hezbollah to vacate positions there, under a ceasefire deal that began on November 27.

Beginning on October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis for months, with the group saying it did so to support Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
amid the war there.

Hezbollah eventually expanded its attacks to also target cities in central and northern Israel with rockets, in addition to the attacks on the border.

Some 60,000 Israeli residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increase rocket fire by the terror group.

Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 46 civilians. In addition, 80 IDF soldiers and reservists died in cross-border skirmishes, attacks on Israel, and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

Two soldiers were killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria without any injuries.

The IDF estimates that some 3,500 Hezbollah operatives were killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, were also reported killed in Lebanon.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah terrorists decided to burn down Beirut after the Lebanese government blocked an Iranian regime airplane from landing in the country

2025-02-15

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

A Convoy containing the Deputy Head of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), has been attacked by Hezbollah Supporters near Beirut International Airport, with at least one Vehicle being burned and several UNIFIL Staff Members being injured before the Lebanese Army… pic.twitter.com/kDEQtYRO69
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 14, 2025

BREAKING: Hezbollah supporters are rioting in Beirut, destroying and setting things on fire.

Those animals are the cancer of Lebanon.

pic.twitter.com/w58xUDmzw5
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) February 13, 2025

BREAKING:

A crowd of Hezbollah supporters has set UNIFIL vehicles on fire near Beirut Airport and are now beating up UN soldiers at the scene pic.twitter.com/yWcEG6TGkJ
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 14, 2025

BEIRUT IS ON FIRE

No, Israel didn’t bomb Lebanon. Hezbollah terrorists decided to burn down the city after the Lebanese government blocked an Iranian regime airplane from landing in the country.

Remember this next time Hezbollah terrorists cry wolf after they provoke Israel… pic.twitter.com/xSFwLbmljM
— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) February 14, 2025

Tonight: #Lebanon Army uses tear gas to disperse #Hezbollah rioters gathered around Beirut airport to protest decision to deny landing to a passenger plane from #Iran.pic.twitter.com/HiO3P4OSfs
— Ahmed Quraishi (@_AhmedQuraishi) February 14, 2025

UNIFIL’s outgoing deputy chief wounded as convoy attacked by pro-Hezbollah rioters
[IsraelTimes] Peacekeeping force demands perpetrators be brought to justice after terror group’s backers torch vehicle headed to Beirut airport, where 2 Iranian planes were blocked from landing

The outgoing deputy commander of UNIFIL was injured Friday, the international peacekeeping force said, after a convoy taking troops to the Beirut airport was attacked amid pro-Hezbollah demonstrations in the area.Supporters of the Hezbollah terror group have blocked the road to the country’s only airport for two consecutive nights over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing in the Lebanese capital. The decision came after the Israel Defense Forces said Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
was smuggling cash to Hezbollah via civilian flights.

According to Saudi-owned network al-Arabiya, the three-car UNIFIL convoy was assaulted by young men who beat officers, stole equipment and burned at least one vehicle.

In a statement, UNIFIL demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice.

"We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Leb
Leb

...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
during a difficult time," said the UN peacekeeping force. "Attacks on peacekeepers are flagrant violations of international law and may amount to war crime."

"Peacekeepers continue to work to restore security and stability in south Lebanon in accordance with our mandate under Security Council Resolution 1701," the statement added, referring to the UN decision ending the 2006 Second Lebanon War that requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters north of the Litani River.

The statement did not name the injured deputy commander, a post held since 2022 by Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal, of Nepal, who was set to leave the country after completing his mission when the convoy was attacked.

The Lebanese military vowed to take "firm action to prevent any breach of public order and arrest troublemakers" in "several areas, particularly the area around the airport."

The incident underscored tensions in Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s new government, which includes Hezbollah as a minor member.

Hezbollah and its allies appeared to be scrambling to distance themselves from Friday’s attack. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said in a statement posted on its social media accounts that "unruly elements caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road."

The fellow Shi’ite Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, a Hezbollah ally who secured the terror group a place in the government, said in a statement that "the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on southern Lebanon" and called for the army and security forces to pursue the perpetrators.
"Except for Hezbollah, they're cool. Look at someone else"
The United States condemned the attack, saying it was"reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters."

Salam, the former top judge at the International Court of Justice, was tapped for premier by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, whose election last month, with the backing of Washington, Riyadh and Gay Paree, ended a two-year impasse.

Aoun had previously served as head of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Upon accession to the presidency, he vowed to uphold the state’s monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal. The Iran-backed terror group was the only armed force not to surrender its weapons to the state after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

In retaliation for what it described as Israel’s illegal threat, Tehran on Friday blocked Lebanese planes from landing in Iran, stranding dozens of homebound Lebanese.

Throughout the nearly 14-month war with Hezbollah, which ended with a November 27 ceasefire, Israel has repeatedly accused the terrorist organization of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle arms from Iran.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon’s Berri rejects IDF plan to stay in 5 posts beyond deadline, as US backs it

2025-02-14

[IsraelTimes] Parliament speaker says he, president and PM insist on full IDF withdrawal by Tuesday, but Trump official indicates Israel maintaining 5 positions crucial for combating Hezbollah

Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...
’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
said on Thursday that Beirut rejected Israel’s demand to remain in five southern locations beyond a February 18 withdrawal deadline, as the Trump administration appeared to get behind Jerusalem’s demand to do so.

Concerns have mounted ahead of a deadline for the fragile truce, agreed to in November 2024, that ended more than a year of hostilities, including a brief all-out war, between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, after the latter started firing rockets and drones at the Jewish state on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with fellow terror group Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
, which had just attacked Israel from the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip.

Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period, which was extended until February 18. Iran-backed Hezbollah was also meant to leave its positions in the south, near the Israeli border, over that period.

Israel has accused Lebanon of failing to meet its obligations to deploy to the area, allowing Hezbollah to maintain or renew its presence there, and has petitioned to maintain its presence in response.

The United States, a key mediator, "informed me that the Israeli occupation will withdraw from villages it still occupies on February 18, but it will remain in five points," Hezbollah ally Berri told news hounds, according to a statement released by his office.

"I informed them in my name and on behalf of President General Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Judge Nawaf Salam of our absolute rejection" of this proposal," the statement added.

That’s nice. Not effective, but at least he feels better.

Earlier, Berri had met with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson and US Major General Jasper Jeffers.

The American general co-chairs a committee involving the United States, La Belle France, Lebanon, Israel and UN peacekeepers tasked with ensuring any ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with.

"I refused to discuss any extension to the deadline for [Israel’s] withdrawal," Berri said.

"It is the responsibility of the Americans to enforce the withdrawal, otherwise, they will have caused the greatest setback for the government."

For its part, the Trump administration indicated Thursday that it supports the Israel Defense Forces remaining in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon beyond the February 18 withdrawal deadline.

"The United States views President Joseph Aoun as having a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead Lebanon away from the stranglehold of Hezbollah and Iran, and we believe that President Aoun has the mandate to do that," a Trump administration official said in a statement to The Times of Israel.

"The first test of that is whether the Lebanese Armed Forces actually implements the letter of the ceasefire agreement that Lebanon signed in November 2024 to counter Hezbollah’s efforts to reassert itself," the official continued.

"Israeli presence in the five points directly bears on whether the government of Lebanon ultimately does what it has promised to do," the Trump official said, suggesting that Israel’s sustained presence in those five positions will help the effort to prevent the regrouping of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

"Unlike the Biden administration, we will not be grading on a curve," the official added, appearing to claim that the previous White House was too lenient regarding the effort to combat Hezbollah.

The statements came after Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer confirmed Israel’s intention to remain in the five points in an interview with Bloomberg.

Dermer, a close Netanyahu confidant, did not say how long the troops will remain, but "signaled Israeli troops won’t be removed in the short-term."

His comments came after reports that the US — despite originally rejecting a general extension — had approved such a move.

’HONOR COMMITMENTS’
On Saturday, Lebanon’s prime minister named a new government, with the weakening of long-dominant, Iran-backed Hezbollah bringing to a close two years of rule by caretaker authorities.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
’s deputy front man Farhan Haq said, "We continue to urge Israel and Lebanon to honor their commitments to the cessation of hostilities understanding."

"Continued progress in Lebanese Armed Forces redeployment and Israeli Defense Force withdrawal is crucial," Haq said, adding that "the parties must avoid any action that could raise tensions, endanger civilians and further delay their return to their towns and villages on both sides."

Haq added that the "UN continues to urge the full implementation of Resolution 1701 as a comprehensive path towards longer-term peace, security and stability on both sides of the Blue Line."

He was referring to the UN Security Council decision that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Under Resolution 1701, only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers can be deployed in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah must remain north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Israeli border.

Late Thursday night, the IDF said it carried out ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s targeting Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon, which Lebanese media reported near the towns of Yohmor and Deir Siryan.

The sites hit by fighter jets were used by Hezbollah to store weapons and launchers and had "posed a direct threat to the Israeli home front," the military said.

The IDF also said Hezbollah’s operations at the sites "constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon."