Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Inside story: Hezbollah, Iran and the downfall of Assad

2024-12-10

[AMWAJ] The sudden downfall of Bashar Al-Assad has raised a number of questions about the thinking and roles of his supporters. First and foremost, Russia—the most powerful foreign ally of the Syrian government—played a pivotal role as events unfolded.

According to one high-ranking regional diplomatic source, Assad’s recent visit to Moscow was a turning point. While the Syrian leader was in Russia, forces led by the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) unexpectedly seized Aleppo without a fight. Upon his return to Syria, Assad is said to have expressed anger toward his army. In private meetings, Amwaj.media has learned, he lambasted his commanders as corrupt and untrustworthy—describing his army as a collection of “thieves” who cannot be relied upon. While Assad’s Russian host and counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had promised assistance, the senior regional source suggested that this support was limited to ensuring a safe exit. Given that Assad and his wife are now apparently in Russia, this promise has been kept—at least for now.

The source also provided insights into earlier negotiations on Syria. Proposals for dialogue between the opposition and the government were discussed, with Turkey playing a significant role. Ankara reportedly instructed the opposition to act with restraint, and there was even coordination with the former Syrian prime minister to lead a transitional phase aimed at forming a new state. But none of these efforts really took off, partly due to the reticence of Assad to usher change. In parallel, informed sources in Tehran told Amwaj.media, the Turks allegedly blindsided both Iran and Russia by insisting that movement spotted among rebels in Idlib in recent months was nothing to worry about.

Then there is the role of Iran, the Assad family’s longstanding regional ally. Seeing an armed rebellion take shape amid the Arab Spring protests, the Islamic Republic dispatched its expeditionary Quds Force to save its Syrian partner with blood and great treasure.

Although the tide was turned against Sunni rebels and fighting frozen for the past four years, western sanctions gradually hollowed out the Syrian state. As the government in Damascus turned to large-scale drug trafficking to generate revenue, it became sorely apparent that only petrodollars and political pressure on western capitals from Gulf Arab states would enable a semblance of reconstruction. On this basis, Iran welcomed the pioneering decision by the Emiratis to reopen their embassy in Damascus in late 2018, ending seven years of estrangement. Facilitated by Abu Dhabi, Assad also gradually re-engaged with others who had backed the rebellion against his rule—including Saudi Arabia.

But things took a turn following the Oct. 7, 2023 Palestinian surprise attack on Israeli border communities. As Hezbollah immediately opened a “support front” against Israel following the eruption of the Gaza war, the Emiratis reportedly sought to prod Assad into standing on the sidelines. Barely a week later, the diplomatic mission of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement in Damascus was shuttered, ostensibly as a precondition for Assad’s rapprochement with Saudi Arabia. The distancing from Ansarullah, better known as the Houthis, was particularly pronounced as the group over the past year rose to become a key member of the Axis through its drone and missile attacks on Israel as well as disruption of shipping in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, as Israel frontally assaulted the Iranian presence—taking out the Quds Force command that helped Assad cling to power, and even razing an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus—the Syrian government largely kept mum. The same lukewarm approach was apparent in the statement Assad issued following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut’s southern suburb earlier this year.

In other words, while Syria’s geography and official state ideology made it central to the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, Assad was apparently leveraging “non-resistance” to rehabilitate his standing among Arab allies of the US.

So when HTS rolled into Aleppo and Hama without a fight, Iran was in no rush to come to Assad’s aid. The senior regional diplomatic source explained that despite the Syrian government’s urgent request for Iranian support, logistical constraints and operational risks—including potential Israeli airstrikes—made such assistance impractical. This, according to the source, further highlighted Iran’s growing burden in the Syrian crisis, which was no longer tenable. If direct access was to be physically constrained by Israeli air power, mindful of repeated bombings of runways in both Aleppo and Damascus as well as threats against Iranian flights in recent weeks, it ultimately diminished the value of Syria as an ally.

In this context, the Quds Force is said to have established contact with HTS, securing assurances amid the collapse of the Syrian army that Shiite Muslims and Shiite shrines as well as the Iranian embassy would be left untouched. The extent of the involvement of Iran’s diplomatic apparatus in this initiative is unclear. Nonetheless, as Iran’s evacuated embassy was ransacked on Dec. 8, the state broadcaster in Tehran highlighted that the assailants were “not affiliated with the group in charge [of Syria],” alluding to HTS having kept its word.

Snip.

The arc of Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria is long, but became particularly pronounced over the past decade. As the Syrian military was on the verge of defeat in 2013, the Lebanese movement and Iran were equally alarmed. Both saw the threat of Sunni militancy taking root across the region. Nasrallah and then-Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani also passionately charged that Damascus was crucial to the wider “resistance” against Israel, convincing Iran’s leadership that full-scale intervention was a must.

So in the spring of 2013, Hezbollah fighters moved into Al-Qusayr. Situated southwest of Homs, a key node connecting Damascus with the Alawite coastal heartlands, the region was vital to rebel factions which had emerged amid the Arab Spring. Its location near the border with Lebanon allowed them to smuggle in fighters and weapons, putting up stiff resistance against forces loyal to Assad. The battle was bloody, claiming the lives of over 100 members of Iran’s foremost Arab ally. But in the end, Qusayr was returned to Assad’s control, and the battle was later—together with Russia’s military intervention in 2015—chronicled as the turning point in the war against Sunni militants.

A decade later, Qusayr once again held special symbolism as the Syrian army faltered in the face of the blitz led by HTS. With the fall of Aleppo and Hama within the span of days—and apparently without any real fight—Homs was in the spotlight. Without it, Assad would be left with only Damascus, cut off from the coast. Accounts of what happened next are conflicting. Initially, insiders charged that up to 2,000 members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force were to be deployed for one last stand.

But Hezbollah’s deployment turned out to be far smaller, with commanders quickly concluding that a withdrawal was in order after an operational assessment, Amwaj.media has learned. Shortly afterwards, informed sources explained, a decision was made to evacuate the country through the same route that had been used to enter the Syrian conflict back in 2013. According to a source in the area, soon after the Hezbollah convoy—said to have been made up of dozens of vehicles—crossed the border towards the Hermel district in Lebanon, Israel struck. Hezbollah keeps casualty figures a secret, but the losses from the bombing are said to have been “big.”

America supposedly went after the Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries coming over the border to aid Assad’s forces, and Israel got Hezbollah? Fascinating.

Following the deadly debacle, a well-informed source in Lebanon told Amwaj.media that the decision to enter Homs and then withdraw was taken by a “Lebanese individual” and not upon an Iranian request or leadership decision. If accurate, this account of events raises concern that Hezbollah is no longer as disciplined as before. It also indicates troubling and potentially chaotic times ahead, as Iran and its allies struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

Assad fell because “he wanted to prove to the west that he is not a warmonger,” an Iranian hardline lawmaker thundered as images emerged of HTS in control of Damascus. What this message may hold, and whether it will emerge as the dominant and coordinated approach of Tehran and allied capitals, remains to be seen.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF's Alpine Brigade Discovers Iranian Weapons in Mountains Above Israel

2024-11-25

[Breitbart] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 810th Alpine (or Mountain) Brigade announced Saturday that it had found weaponry manufactured by Iran on the slopes of Har (Mount) Dov, one of two strategic mountains on the border near Israel.

Breitbart News visited the Alpine Brigade on Thursday and toured the Har Dov area, before the discovery of Iranian weaponry was announced. The newly-formed brigade was deemed necessary because of the potential for infiltration into Israel through the unfenced mountain slopes of Har Dov and Mount Hermon, the highest peak in the region.

As Breitbart News reported on location on Thursday:

Har Dov is near the Shebaa Farms, an area that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror organization, claims for Lebanon, but which Israel seized from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967. The United Nations, normally hostile to Israel, actually agrees with Israel that Lebanon has no legal claim to the farms or Har Dov.

In recent years, Hezbollah has attempted to encroach on the area. It has also used the Har Dov issue in its effort to persuade Lebanon’s people of the need for war against Israel, rather than admitting that the Iranian regime has been using war for its own narrow interests.

Rather than dismiss Hezbollah’s claims, the Biden-Harris administration took them at face value, and attempted to persuade Israel to withdraw its forces from the Har Dov area as a condition of the ceasefire deal it wanted to impose after Hezbollah had fired missiles, rockets, and drones at Israel for nearly a year, starting in October 2023.

But Israel could not accept such a deal, primarily because Har Dov has a commanding view of almost all of the upper Galilee, making it a key strategic location.

The IDF issued the following statement Saturday:

For the past two months, troops of the 810th Brigade and the Alpinist Unit continued to conduct targeted, intelligence-based raids in the thicketed terrain of Mount Dov. During these activities, the soldiers located and dismantled numerous Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure.

Over the past week, the soldiers located a Hezbollah launch site containing accommodation facilities and hideouts. In the compound, the troops located and confiscated an Iranian-manufactured cannon, rocket launchers, and rockets aimed toward Israel.

The IDF released photos of a cannon with Iranian markings, plus a rocket launching battery aimed into Israel.

Iran supplies Hezbollah, along with Russia. Iran also provides funding for the terrorist group’s ongoing operations.

Control of Har Dov is now firmly in Israel’s hands; it is no longer a topic within ceasefire negotiations with Hezbollah.

Aaaaand…. mic drop.

Har Dov: the area Hezbollah claims for Lebanon (without legal basis) and wants Israel to cede in the Golan. Before Israel was crushing Hezbollah the Biden-Harris administration proposed that Israel withdraw its troops from here. An insane idea: the peak dominates northern Israel. pic.twitter.com/pOw6GJdazr
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) November 21, 2024

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah launches six new military operations against Zionist positions

2024-09-02

[HODHODYEMENNEWS] The Islamic Resistance® in Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. 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? It is the 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. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
, led by Hezbollah, carried out six military operations against positions and deployments of the Zionist enemy forces along the Lebanese-Paleostinian border.

In separate statements on Saturday , the resistance affirmed that these operations In support of the steadfast Paleostinian people in 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 an 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 and in support of their brave and honorable resistance, they are as follows:

1. At 08:50, targeting the al-Marj site with rocket weapons, hitting it directly.

2. Launching an aerial attack with a squadron of attack drones on the command center of the ''Sahel'' Battalion at the ''Beit Hillel'' base, accurately striking its targets in response to the ''Israeli'' enemy's attacks on the steadfast southern villages, their peaceful homes, and the resulting fires.

3. At 15:45, targeting the Birkat Risha site with appropriate weapons, hitting it directly.

4. Targeting the ''Branit'' barracks with rocket weapons, hitting it directly in response to the ''Israeli'' enemy's attacks on the resilient southern villages, their peaceful homes, and the resulting fires.

5. At 19:30, targeting the Zebdine site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms with rocket weapons, hitting it directly.

6. At 19:30, targeting the Ramtha site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba Hills with rocket weapons, hitting it directly.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah continues targeting Israeli occupation sites near Lebanon border

2024-07-23

"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department" says Wernher von Braun

—Tom Lehrer, "Wernher von Braun"

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Islamic Resistance® continued on Monday targeting the Israeli occupation sites near Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. 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? It is the 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. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
border in support of 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 an 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...
against the Zionist genocidal war.

Hezbollah military media issued consecutive statements which detail the attacks and their outcomes.

The first statement confirmed that the Islamic Resistance® fighters targeted al-Malkiya site on Monday, 22-07-2024, with an assault drone that struck one of its bunkers, causing partial destruction and igniting fire.

The second statement affirmed that the Islamic Resistance® fighters targeted on Monday, 22-07-2024, at 5:45 p.m. the spy devices at al-Radar occupation site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms with appropriate weapons, hitting and destroying them.

The third statement mentioned that the Islamic Resistance® fighters targeted on Monday, 22-07-2024, at 5:50 p.m. the spy equipment at al-Raheb occupation site with appropriate weapons, hitting the target directly.

IDF says 10 rockets fired at Galilee in latest barrage, some intercepted
[IsraelTimes] A barrage of some 10 rockets was fired from Leb at the Upper Galilee a short while ago, the IDF says.

Some of the rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome.

There are no reports of injuries.

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the attack, saying it launched dozens of rockets at the northern community of Tzuriel, in response to recent IDF strikes in southern Lebanon that allegedly maimed civilians.

IDF says it struck several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
[IsraelTimes] A Hezbollah operative who was spotted entering a building known to be used by the terror group in southern Leb’s Chihine was struck by fighter jets earlier today, the IDF says.

It publishes footage of the strike.

The IDF says it also struck areas near Mays al-Jabal and Kfarchouba to "remove threats."

This morning, seven explosive-laden drones were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel.

According to the IDF, all seven were shot down by air defenses.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hochstein reportedly asked Hezbollah to limit attacks to Shebaa

2024-07-04

[An Nahar] White House envoy Amos Hochstein

…his American parents made aliyah to Israel; after completing his IDF service, he moved back and became an American, giving up his Israeli citizenship for the opportunity during the Obama and Biden administrations to alternate roles as special envoy for this-and-that with special advisor for that-and-this…

is visiting Paris Wednesday to meet with Macron's Lebanon envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, after he visited Israel and Lebanon in June.

Hochstein discussed with Lebanese politicians a cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border and requested via intermediaries that Hezbollah apply pressure on Hamas to accept a cease-fire and hostage-exchange proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden. Hezbollah rejected the request.

Hochstein also urged Hezbollah to limit its attacks to the occupied Shebaa Farms, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday. The calm along the border would allow the displaced Lebanese and Israelis to return to the border villages.

Hezbollah says the only sure path to a cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border is a full cease-fire in Gaza.

Talks of a cease-fire in Gaza have faltered in recent weeks, raising fears of an escalation on the Lebanon-Israel front. Hezbollah has traded near-daily strikes with Israeli forces along their border over the past nine months.

The low-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed; in Lebanon, more than 450 people — mostly fighters but also dozens of civilians — have been killed.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bassil criticizes Hezbollah as ties hang by 'fine thread'

2024-05-25

[NAHARNET] Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
chief Jebran Bassil has criticized anew old FPM ally Hezbollah for opening a war on the southern border with Israel.

Bassil told Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai that Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. 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? It is the 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. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
has enough problems, from a refugee crisis to an economic collapse and a presidential void.

"I don't see that these festivities have done any good to Lebanon," Bassil said. "If others accept this war as a fait accompli, we will not accept it."

Bassil wondered if this costly war would return the Israeli occupied Shebaa Farms to Lebanon, the Paleostinian refugees to their land, or the Syrian refugees to Syria. "If it did or if it secured oil investments, I wouldn't have any problem."

"The problem is that Lebanon alone, of course in addition to Paleostine, is bearing this hefty cost, with no benefits in return," he added.

Bassil blamed Hezbollah for opening fire without consulting with other Lebanese forces, and called for keeping Lebanon away from the region's problems, but said that he would nevertheless live with Hezbollah and share with the group the same land, tragedies and achievements. "I do not want Hezbollah to lose this war," he said.

The FPM chief also criticized Hezbollah and Amal for trying to impose a candidate on Christians who does not represent them. "We support holding consultations, and we are in fact in constant communication with all parties, sometimes away from the spotlight and other times publicly," he said. "We are in consultation with everyone."

Bassil said that the FPM-Hezbollah understanding is hanging by "a fine thread". "It doesn't mean it is fragile but the points of agreements are that little," he explained. "When it comes to protecting Lebanon, the relation with Hezbollah is very strong," he said.

On a separate note, Bassil said he does not support opening the seas for migrant boats to reach Europe, an idea floated by Hezbollah chief Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
, amid soaring anti-Syrian sentiment and accusations the West is seeking to keep refugees in Lebanon.

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
had announced earlier this month $1 billion in aid to Lebanon to help tackle irregular migration, as Cyprus, the EU's easternmost member, wants to curb migrant boat departures from Lebanon towards its shores.

"If you want to close the sea, you should also close the land," he said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri says Lebanon committed to 1701, decries 'over 30,000' Israeli violations

2024-05-25

[NAHARNET] Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri

...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...
on Friday marked Leb
Leb

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah launches multiple attacks on Israeli positions

2024-05-12

[GEO.TV] Hezbollah says it launched multiple attacks on Israeli targets in the past few hours, with the latest using rockets to hit a site in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

In Kfarchouba, southern Leb
Leb

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hezbollah attacks north Israel with suicide drones

2024-05-08

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Hezbollah attacks north Israel with suicide drones https://t.co/Vzx8fwBhcH
— Naharnet (@Naharnet) May 7, 2024

Hezbollah attacked Tuesday northern Israel with suicide drones.
Aerial, not bipedal, right?
The group said its drones targeted soldiers in the Yiftah barracks, inflicting casualties, while other drones hit an Iron Dome platform in the Ramot Naftali barracks, damaging it.

Israeli media had earlier reported several "suspicious aerial targets" believed to be explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah.

The Israeli army claimed its air defenses downed one drone while another struck an area near Yiftah, causing a fire, and others caused minor damage at unspecified locations and open areas.

Israeli tanks meanwhile shelled the outskirts of Kfarshouba as Hezbollah targeted a post in the occupied Shebaa Farms, surveillance equipment in the occupied Kfarshouba Hills and soldiers in the al-Raheb post facing Ayta al-Shaab and in the Ramot Naftali barracks.

Israeli warplanes had carried out ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on Jabal al-Rihan and Iqlim al-Toffah in south Leb
Leb

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Who is Lebanon's Jamaa Islamiya

2024-05-07

[AlMonitor] At least four people, including a child, were reportedly injured by stray bullets in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. 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? It is the 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. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
’s northern Akkar district during a funeral procession held by the Islamist group al-Jamaa al-Islamiya
...The Islamic Group. Sunni Islamist alignment in Lebanon. The group was founded in 1952 as the Leb branch of the Moslem Brüderbund. Its current leader is Faisal Mawlawi.
The party has a military wing known as the al-Fajr Forces. Currently they have 1 seat in the Lebanese Parliament...
over the weekend.

Members of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya held a funeral procession Sunday in the town of Bebnine for two of the group's fighters. They were killed two days earlier in an Israeli dronezap in the eastern Bekaa region. Heavy gunfire accompanied the procession.

Dozens of masked and gunnies were seen walking the town's streets, brandishing their weapons and firing in the air.

According to the local L’Orient Today news outlet, the stray bullets hit four people, including one woman, a man and a 10-year-old child who were inside their homes when the procession passed. Cars and property in the area were also reportedly damaged by the gunfire.

Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya is a Sunni Islamist political group founded in 1964 as the Lebanese branch of the Moslem Brüderbund. The group is present in Sunni-dominated cities and towns in both the south and the north. It is seen as an ally of Hamas
Hamas

...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
and has carried out joint attacks with the group, one of its officials said last month.

Its military wing, al-Fajr Forces, was founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli invasion of Lebanon during the civil war at the time. Its relations with Hezbollah, the dominant Iran-backed Shia murderous Moslem group in Lebanon, have fluctuated. The two took opposite sides during the civil war and in the conflict in Syria, with Jamaa opposing Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
. Their relations have improved in the last two years and as Hezbollah-Hamas coordination increased inside Lebanon.

UNCONTROLLED ARMS
The videos and images of the gunnies in Bebnine sparked widespread outrage among civilians and politicians and renewed the debate about the spread of weapons in the country amid the deterioration of the Lebanese state.

In a post on X on Sunday, independent parliament member Mark Daou condemned the presence of militias as a violation of the country’s illusory sovereignty, calling for the state for arms control.

Ibrahim Mneime, another independent politician, said al-Jamaa al-Islamiya bears responsibility for the "military demonstration" and the fall of the maimed in Akkar. He also condemned what he described as the group maintaining control of these weapons through intimidation.

Gunfire at events like weddings and funerals is common in some parts of Lebanon. Supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah movement are known for firing bursts of bullets in the air when the group’s leader, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
, delivers his televised speeches.

The practice has killed several people over the years. Most recently, last August, a seven-year-old girl was killed when a stray bullet struck her in the head while she was at a summer camp in the town of Hadath near Beirut.

Arms possession in Lebanon is poorly regulated and many civilians along with Paleostinian and Lebanese factions own firearms. Hezbollah, which is heavily backed by Iran, owns a large arsenal of weapons that includes thousands of rockets, anti-tank missiles and drones.

Amid the controversy, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya issued a statement on its website saying it regretted "the armed convoy and shooting during the funeral procession from Tripol to Bebnine." The statement went on, "Any scene that raises panic and fear among the Lebanese is unacceptable," and "We affirm that the group is keen on the stability of the homeland and the security of citizens."

HOSTILITIES ON ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER
Since the cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in October, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya’s military wing has claimed several rocket launches toward Israeli territory.

On Friday, two senior commanders of the group were killed when an Israeli dronezap hit their vehicle on a road linking the villages of Sarira and Meidoun in the Bekaa region in the east of the country. The group identified the commanders as Mosab Saeed Khalaf and Bilal Mohammed Khalaf.

Israel confirmed the strike, saying it had killed Mosab Khalaf, who was behind a series of attacks against Israel in Shebaa Farms, a disputed territory in the south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging heavy fire along the southern border since Oct. 8, the day after the Israel-Hamas war in the Gazoo
Islamic 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 an 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. In October of 2023 Gazooks belonging to Hamas invaded Israel, killed over a thousand people, raped a bunch of women. Then they bitched and moaned about genocide when their butts handed to them in the entirely justified retaliation.
Strip broke out.

Several Paleostinian factions and allied groups inside Lebanon have since joined the battle in support of Hamas.

In a statement on Telegram, Hamas’ military wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades grabbed credit for a barrage of rockets fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel on Monday.

The Israeli military told Agence La Belle France Presse that 20 rockets were launched toward Israel from Lebanon and that most of the projectiles were intercepted.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri says French proposal good as Hezbollah agrees to it

2024-05-04

[An Nahar] Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Nabih <q>Knobby</q> Berri

...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...
met Monday evening with Hezbollah secretary-general's political aide Hussein Khalil and handed him a copy of the French paper suggesting a solution for the Israel-Hezbollah border conflict, MTV said.

According to MTV, Berri told Khalil that "the offer is good and deserves to be studied."

Hezbollah for its part was "satisfied with the French paper and with the use of the term 'redeployment' instead of Hezbollah's 'withdrawal' to the area beyond the Litani River which had been previously used by (U.S. mediator Amos) Hochstein," MTV reported.

"Hezbollah does not mind what is proposed in the French and U.S. papers, specifically (Israel's) full withdrawal from seven border points and partial withdrawal from other points while keeping the Shebaa Farms problem pending," the TV network added.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

2 killed, 2 wounded in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon

2024-04-06

[An Nahar] An Israeli strike on the southern border town of Aita al-Shaab killed two people and injured one Friday, the National News Agency said, while another strike on Kfarkela injured one person.

One Israeli soldier and three Lebanese civilians were earlier maimed in overnight cross-border fire between

Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

The three Lebanese civilians were maimed in an overnight strike on the southern border town of Kfarhamam in the Arqoob region while the Israeli army said Friday that one soldier was maimed in a Hezbollah overnight attack on Metula.

Hezbollah said it attacked soldiers and military vehicles in the Malkia post and another military vehicle in Metula.

Later on Friday, Israeli warplanes raided Kfarkela, Tayr Harfa, Aita al-Shaab, the outskirts of Shebaa and houses in Zalloutieh and Yarin, while Hezbollah targeted the Hadb Yaroun post, a group of soldiers in Manara, and surveillance equipment in the Zar'it barracks.

An Israeli tank also shelled Kfarkela and al-Khiam.

On Thursday Hezbollah carried out five attacks on posts in northern Israel and the occupied Kfarshouba Hills and Shebaa Farms near Kfarhamam.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire since Paleostinian krazed killer group Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering war in 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 an iron fist by Hamaswith 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...
The cross-border hostilities have killed at least 349 people in ~~Lebanon~~ Hezbollahstan
<del>Lebanon</del> Hezbollahstan

...In 2006 unknown persons blew up Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the car he was traveling in, the road he was traveling on, and a few innocent bystanders of no account whatsoever. The person or persons unknow weren't Hezbollah, you can bet on that. Really. Even though there was an international tribunal that said it was them...
, mostly Hezbollah fighters, but also at least 68 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel, where the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.

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