Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Amal Jumaa	Amal Jumaa	Hamas	Israel-Palestine	20040510	Link
Amal al-Saddah	Amal al-Saddah	al-Qaeda in Yemen	Arabia	20031213
	Amal al-Saddah	al-Qaeda	Iran	20031014

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah to reply within 48 hours to Lebanese paper after Aoun-Berri talks

2025-07-05

[NAHARNET] President Joseph Aoun, 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...
and PM Nawaf Salam are yet to receive Hezbollah's response to the Lebanese amendments to U.S. envoy Tom Barrack's paper, which were prepared by a tripartite committee after intensive meetings at the Baabda Palace, al-Jadeed TV said.

Hezbollah is expected to deliver the response on Friday or Saturday to Berri, al-Jadeed added, noting that the joint presidential committee would meet again after receiving the official response in order to finalize Leb
Leb

...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
's formal response.

Informed sources meanwhile told the TV network that Hezbollah is demanding ''real guarantees that Israel would abide by the new paper.''

''It has concerns over Barrack's paper and considers it a capitulation paper based on the previous experiences with Israel, which did not commit to agreements, Resolution 1701 or the ceasefire arrangements,'' the sources added, noting that ''the atmosphere is uneasy and marred by cautious anticipation pending Hezbollah's response.''

Al-Jadeed also revealed that Berri had met with Aoun over a dinner banquet on Wednesday evening and that the discussions tackled Barrack's paper, Hezbollah's response and the file of appointments.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Israel says Hezbollah must disarm before any Lebanon peace talks can advance

2025-07-01

[IsraelTimes] Official says Jerusalem pleased with Lebanese effort to disarm terror group, but ‘it will be very hard’; Beirut says it needs US guarantees Israel will fully withdraw from Lebanon

An Israeli official on Monday said that while talks about potential peace deals with both 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....
and Syria are taking place, Beirut must "finish the issue" of disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group before any normalization can move forward.

Earlier Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Lebanon and Syria are both prospective candidates to join the Abraham Accords alongside Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020. A deal with Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
was also announced at the time, but is yet to fully materialize.

Both Syria and Lebanon do not recognize Israel and have been technically at war with it since its creation in 1948.

But before peace with Lebanon can move ahead, the Israeli official said, "We need to finish the issue of disarming Hezbollah. It will be very hard. I don’t know if they will succeed."

Still, the official indicated that the Lebanese Armed Forces have demonstrated they are serious about disarming Hezbollah.

"They definitely have limitations that are both subjective and objective, but we are under the impression that they are trying," the official said. "At least most of the army is trying. We see more-or-less effective enforcement, but you see that we are striking almost every day."

"That should say a lot," they said, adding that contacts with the US-led deconfliction mechanism in Lebanon continue "all the time."

Speaking on the issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament, a Lebanese official said Monday that the government seeks guarantees that Israeli forces fully withdraw from Lebanese territory in response to the US’s demand that Beirut formally commit to disarming the terror group.

Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of a war between Israel and Hezbollah last year have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire that ended the fighting.

The Lebanese government official told AFP that in a recent visit, US envoy Tom Barrack had presented the demand for Beirut to officially commit to start disarming the Iran-backed group as stipulated in the November agreement, along with a full Israeli withdrawal.

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...
— who is a key Hezbollah ally — "are preparing a response," said the official on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.

With Barrack, Washington’s ambassador to ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
and special envoy to Syria, expected back in Beirut by mid-July, the Lebanese leaders "will demand a halt to Israeli violations of the ceasefire, Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the release of prisoners [detained during the war] and the demarcation of the border," said the official.

According to the official, Barrack in his June 19 visit also asked that Lebanon work on securing its border with Syria and pursue economic reforms demanded by international creditors.

Aoun and Salam took power early this year as the balance of power shifted following the Israel-Hezbollah war that left the terror group — long an important player in Lebanese politics — severely weakened.

Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south, near the Israeli border.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire, claiming to hit Hezbollah targets and accusing Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the group.

According to the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah is to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier.

Israel was to withdraw its troops from all of Lebanon, but has kept them deployed in five points it deems strategic.

Israel has remained at the five points ever since a ceasefire began on November 27, 2024, halting more than a year of hostilities initiated by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war, during which Israel sent in ground troops across the northern border.

There was no comment from Beirut or Damascus, but the Lebanese government official told AFP normalization was not among the US envoy’s demands.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US demands govt. decision on Hezbollah arms, report says

2025-06-24

[NAHARNET] The U.S. administration has asked 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?...
to reach ''presidential consensus'' on the decision of monopolizing arms between President Joseph Aoun, 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...
and PM Nawaf Salam ahead of referring such a decision to Cabinet for formal approval, al-Jadeed TV has reported.

''Washington considers that monopolizing arms is an essential first step that must precede any Israeli withdrawal and border demarcation,'' al-Jadeed added.

''U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has returned to the front burner the files that former U.S. deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus and her team had finalized, putting them on the table for implementation within a specific time frame, topped by an official decision from the Lebanese government on monopolizing arms in the hand of the state,'' al-Jadeed said.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri ''200% sure'' Hezbollah won''t join Iran war; Qassem says Hezbollah ''not neutral,'' will act as it sees fit; Israel defense minister warns after 2 Hezbie big turbans and a GI turban killed

2025-06-21

[NAHARNET] Hezbollah will certainly not join the Israel-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...
war, the group's ally 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...
has reportedly told his visitors.

Berri's visitors told al-Jadeed, in remarks published Friday, that the speaker is "certain" that Leb
Leb

...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
will not join the war.

On Thursday, Berri said Lebanon will "200 percent" not enter the war. "It has no interest in that and would pay the price if it did," he said, adding that Iran "does not need us."

A Lebanese government source also told al-Jadeed Thursday that Hezbollah will not join the fray after an Iranian official told al-Jazeera that Hezbollah would act if the United States intervened to back up its ally Israel.

- HEZBOLLAH CHIEF SAYS GROUP WILL 'ACT AS WE SEE FIT'-
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem

... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies...
said on Thursday that the group would "act as we see fit" in response to the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.

In a statement, Qassem said Hezbollah was "not neutral" in the conflict between the two regional superpowers, saying that the group would "act as we see fit in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression".

Berri said Qassem's remarks are only aimed at showing "solidarity" with Iran and certainly do not mean that Hezbollah will join the war.

Earlier this week, Hezbollah political bureau member Mahmoud Qmati denied that Hezbollah would get involved and said that "Iran is strong enough and does not need military support from anyone".

- HEZBOLLAH HAS NOT FIRED A SINGLE ROCKET -
U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on Thursday warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war between Iran and Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the entire "Shiite axis" is not responding to Israeli attacks on Iran and that "Hezbollah has not fired a single rocket".

Caroline Rose, a director at the Washington-based New Lines Institute think tank said that "Iran-backed proxies across the region — particularly Hezbollah— just do not have the capacity" to enter the fray. But Israel could still target them, she said.

Geagea tells Hezbollah's Qassem only state ''can act as it sees fit''
[NAHARNET] Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
leader Samir Geagea
....Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005....
said Friday that only the Lebanese state "can act as it sees fit" after Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said that the Death Eater group would "act as we see fit" in response to the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.

"Sheikh Naim, you cannot act as you see fit. Only the Lebanese government can do that because it represents the majority of the Lebanese people," Geagea said, adding that it is "absolutely unacceptable" for anyone to allow themselves to act as they like.

"Leb Leb

is a country and a state," Geagea said. "This is absolutely unacceptable, otherwise Lebanon will turn into a chaotic place with no rules or laws."

This comes after the U.S. special envoy for Syria warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war.

Geagea urged Qassem to propose his ideas through Hezbollah's ministers in the government. "Only there, such matters can be discussed," he said.

FPM calls for ''Lebanon's neutrality'' in Israel-Iran conflict — Naharnet
[NAHARNET] The Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
said Wednesday that Leb Leb

should not take part in the Israeli-Iranian conflict as the arch foes shot it out for the sixth day.

"The war in the region is concerning and is threatening peace and stability in the region and in Lebanon," the statement said, describing the Israeli strikes on Iran as an aggression and condemning it. "The FPM is against any aggression on the illusory sovereignty of any county."

The statement, despite the condemnation, stressed that Lebanon must stay neutral and should not get involved, in order to preserve national interests and the security of the Lebanese people.

"Lebanon's national interests require a full commitment to a policy that keeps Lebanon out of foreign conflicts, fortifies the domestic front, enhances stability, and prevents Lebanon from becoming an arena for regional festivities," the FPM said, as it urged international powers to restart nuclear talks and look for peaceful solutions that "preserve countries' illusory sovereignty and spare people in the region more destruction and divisions."

Israel’s defense minister warns Hezbollah to stay out of Israel-Iran war, IDF killed 2 more Hezbie emirs and a GI turban
[IsraelTimes] ‘If there is terror, there will be no Hezbollah,’ says Katz after leader of Iran-backed terror group says it will ‘act as we see fit’ amid Israeli aerial campaign

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem to tread carefully Friday after the latter said his terror group would "act as we see fit" in the war between Israel and Iran.

"The Hezbollah leader hasn’t learned from his predecessors and is threatening to act against Israel," said Katz, referring to former Hezbollah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
, who was killed by Israel last
September.

"I suggest that the Lebanese proxy be careful, and understand that Israel has lost patience with the murderous Moslems who threaten it," Katz added, warning: "If there is terror — there will be no Hezbollah."

On June 13, Israel launched a campaign of ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in Iran to decimate the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Jerusalem characterized as an imminent, existential threat.

Iran has responded with deadly barrages of ballistic missiles at civilian population centers and military targets in Israel.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed proxy, has largely stayed out of the fray in the recent conflict.

The group was severely weakened by last year’s fighting with Israel and remains under the tight watch of the Lebanese government, which issued a warning to the group not to involve Leb in the war.

But Qassem said Thursday that the Iran-backed proxy is "not neutral" in the conflict between the two regional superpowers, saying that the group would "act as we see fit in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression."

The remarks came after US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war, saying it would be a "very bad decision."

Since a ceasefire agreement went into effect in Lebanon in November 2024, Israel has continued to launch targeted strikes on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, claiming violations of the truce by the terrorist organization.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, over 180 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in Israeli strikes since the deal was reached.

The military has continued to attack Hezbollah targets in dronezaps on southern Lebanon since the fighting with Iran broke out.

The IDF announced Thursday morning it had killed Yassin Izz a-Din, commander of Hezbollah’s rocket artillery unit in the Litani River sector, in a strike on Barish, in southern Lebanon, the night before.

The IDF said he had advanced numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel during the war, and was involved in "attempts to restore Hezbollah’s artillery forces."

Northeast of Harish that same night, in Nabatieh, the IDF said it killed Mohammad Ahmad Khreiss, who it said was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in the Shebaa area.

"During the war, the terrorist advanced numerous attacks against the State of Israel," including an anti-tank missile attack on Mount Dov on April 26, 2024, which killed Sharif Sawaed, an IDF civilian contractor, the military said.

The IDF on Thursday killed a third Hezbollah operative in a strike, saying he had been involved in efforts to restore the terror group’s infrastructure in the Houla area.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Palestinians say 20 killed near aid site; IDF says troops fired at Gazans who posed threat

2025-06-11

[IsraelTimes] Military says toll reported by Palestinian media inconsistent with its data; rocket fired from north Gaza intercepted; IDF says it destroyed 1,200 terror sites in Khan Younis suburb

The military said Tuesday that troops fired warning shots at Paleostinians who approached them near a US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution site 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 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...
hours before it opened, while separately, it shot down a rocket fired from the northern part of the Strip at Israel.

Soldiers fired the warning shots at Paleostinians who approached them, posing a threa, in the Netzarim Corridor area near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) facility, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The military said the Paleostinians approached the troops "despite warnings that the area is an active combat zone."

Paleostinian media reported that some 20 people were killed and dozens were maimed in the incident — a toll that cannot be verified.

The reports said the people were waiting to pick up supplies at the site.

Medics said the casualties were rushed to two hospitals — the al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, and the al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, in the north.

The military said it was aware of the reports of casualties caused by its gunfire in the area, but "the reported number of casualties is inconsistent with the information available to the IDF."

The IDF said it was further investigating the incident.

Last week, it warned Paleostinians not to approach routes leading to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, describing these roads as closed military zones.

There was no immediate GHF comment on Tuesday’s incident.

Additionally, it was unclear how many of its sites had opened.

"I went there at 2 a.m., hoping to get some food. On my way there, I saw people returning emptyhanded. They said aid packages have run out in five minutes. This is insane and isn’t enough," said Mohammad Abu Amr, 40, a father of two.

"Dozens of thousands arrive from the central areas and from the northern areas too, some of them walked for over 20 km (12 miles), only to come back home with disappointment," he told Rooters via a chat app. He said he heard the firing but didn’t see what happened.

The Israel- and US-backed GHF has faced heavy scrutiny from other aid bodies, as well as the UN and foreign countries, which say that it does not sufficiently address the humanitarian needs in the war-torn Paleostinian enclave.

Critics have also accused GHF of putting aid seekers in harm’s way, with operations beset by deadly incidents for multiple days in a row.

Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
authorities claimed at least 10 people were killed after the GHF closed one of its Tel Sultan centers due to the "chaos of the crowds" on Monday.

Witnesses blamed IDF troops and the Abu Shabaab group, which defense sources confirmed on Thursday that Israel was arming. The militia has been linked in the past to smuggling operations with Egyptian jihadist groups.

Also called the Popular Forces, the group says it is guarding the environs of the GHF centers in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting UN aid trucks. GHF has said it does not work with the Abu Shabaab group.

Though the UN has continued to distribute aid in the Strip while GHF finds its footing, it has complained that it has been unable to deliver much of its humanitarian supplies due to IDF restrictions on movements and because roads that the military designates for its trucks to use are unsafe and vulnerable to looters.

Israel and the United States accuse Hamas of stealing aid, while the UN denies there is any systematic diversion away from civilians. The UN says the new system is unable to meet mounting needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by determining who can receive it and by forcing people to relocate to where the aid sites are positioned.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?...
on Tuesday, a rocket launched from northern Gaza was intercepted by air defenses, the military said.

Sirens had sounded at Zikim Beach.

Following the rocket fire, the IDF issued an additional evacuation warning for the area of the launch — an area that is already under an existing order issued by the military in late May.

"The IDF is operating with great force in the areas where you are located to destroy the capabilities of terror organizations. The IDF will respond firmly to every terror act or rocket attack," the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee said on X.

Civilians were called to head for "known shelters" in Gaza City.

1,200 ’TERROR INFRASTRUCTURES’ IN KHAN YOUNIS DESTROYED
IDF troops demolished over 1,200 "terror infrastructures" in the Khan Younis suburb of Khuzaʽa during a recent operation in the area, as part of efforts to expand Israel’s buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday.

The operation in Khuzaʽa in recent weeks was led by the 188th Armored Brigade.

"The forces worked to locate and destroy terror infrastructure in the [Khuzaʽa] area, which served as a central Hamas terror stronghold," the IDF said.

Hundreds of Hamas Lions of Islam set out from Khuzaʽa during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, especially to Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Nir Oz was one of the worst-hit communities during Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught. In all, 47 people were killed in the kibbutz and another 76 were kidnapped by the Lions of Islam to Gaza.

During combat engineering operations and ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s, the IDF said it killed dozens of terror operatives and destroyed 1,200 sites, both above and below ground, to "remove the threat to the border communities."

Among the destroyed infrastructures was a tunnel that was 500 meters long and 25 meters deep, the military added.

Additionally, the al-Amal Hospital in Gaza is now "virtually out of service" due to intense military activity, the head of the WHO said Monday.

"Access to the hospital is obstructed, preventing new patients from reaching care, and leading to more preventable deaths," the World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X.

Tedros said two emergency medical teams — one local, the other international — "are still doing their best to serve the remaining patients with the limited medical supplies left on the premises."

"With the closure of al-Amal, Nasser Medical Complex is now the only remaining hospital with an intensive care unit in Khan Younis," he said.

The WHO said June 5 that al-Nasser and al-Amal hospitals were unable to fully treat the maimed that continue to pour in because of serious shortages of medicines and medical supplies after the now-ended total blockade.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 54,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 Lions of Islam inside Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Israel launched its war in Gaza following the Hamas assault on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage. Terror groups in Gaza continue to hold 55 hostages, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 who are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 429.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Putting Nasser Hospital out of service ‘death sentence’ to patients: MSF

2025-06-06

[GEO.TV] The international medical group MSF has said that Israeli displacement orders and movement restrictions 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 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...
have pushed Nasser Hospital to the edge of ''becoming non-functional''.

''Ordering hospitals to refuse new patients and making it harder for people to reach places of care has been a pattern by the Israeli forces throughout this war, aimed at closing the hospitals,'' the group said in a news release.

''Nasser is the last remaining referral hospital in the south of Gaza, a vital lifeline for people in need, and its full functionality must be immediately restored and preserved,'' it said.

Jose Mas, head of MSF emergency programmes, said that putting the hospital out of commission would be a ''death sentence

...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead...
'' for severely maimed patients, the critically ill, and women in need of emergency obstetric care.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called for the protection of Nasser and al-Amal Hospitals in Gaza.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Salam meets Berri in Ain el-Tineh, says his doors ''always open'' for Hezbollah

2025-06-03

[NAHARNET] Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Monday that his "doors are always open" for Hezbollah after he met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Nabih <q>Knobby</q> 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...
in Ain el-Tineh, as the gap between Salam and Berri's ally Hezbollah seemed to widen over the group's disarmament.

"I am leaving plenty of room for cordiality with (Hezbollah MP) Hajj Mohammad Raad and my doors are always open for him and Hezbollah," Salam said.

Raad had recently criticized Salam for recently omitting the word "Resistance®" from the "Resistance® and Liberation Day" holiday in one of his statements, but said he would not respond to Salam's comments on Hezbollah's disarmament "to preserve what's left of cordiality."

Berri on Friday told local al-Joumhouria newspaper that "if Salam escalates, we will escalate and if he chooses to calm things down, we will calm them down," after Salam said in recent comments that the era of "exporting the Iranian revolution has ended" and that the state "will not remain silent over any arms outside the state's control".

In his interview with al-Joumhouria, Berri also urged the government to prioritize the construction of war-hit regions, saying it's the government's responsibility "whether it likes it or not."

Berri had met last Friday with President Joseph Aoun at the Baabda Palace, in talks he described as "excellent."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri voices support for UNIFIL after recent clashes with locals

2025-05-31

[NAHARNET] 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...
voiced support for 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...
peacekeepers after recent festivities between the peacekeepers and locals in south 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....
, the latest in the southern town of Yater.

"I support the UNIFIL peacekeepers whether they are wrong or right. Locals, even if they are supporters of Amal or Hezbollah, should try not to overreact," Berri told local al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Friday. "We know that Israel is against the UNIFIL's presence in south Lebanon and has targeted them many times. This alone is enough for us to support their presence," he said, adding that "their presence has also made a positive impact on the economy in southern villages."

Clashes have increased in recent weeks, with residents insisting that any UNIFIL patrol should be accompanied by Lebanese Army troops.

The U.N. mission was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel's 1978 invasion and today UNIFIL operates in southern Lebanon at the request of the Lebanese government and under a mandate from the U.N. Security Council, but Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon frequently accuse the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel. Israel meanwhile accuses the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to alleged Hezbollah military activities in southern Lebanon.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

What Lebanon's municipal elections say about Hezbollah''s future

2025-05-29

That Hezbollah has no future?

[NEWARAB] Leb
Leb

...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
's municipal elections, which concluded on 24 May, were considered by observers as an important test for Hezbollah's popularity following the recent war with Israel.

The devastation caused by the conflict, which spanned from October 2023 until the ceasefire agreement in late November 2024, as well as the delayed reconstruction process, are factors that have impacted the group's popularity.

Moreover, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024 and the Lebanese government's heightened scrutiny at the Lebanese-Syrian border have also affected the group financially, as Hezbollah had been receiving funds and weapons from 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...
through Syria for years.

Considering these elements, Hezbollah had invested a lot of importance in local elections to show domestic players in Lebanon, as well as foreign countries, that it still dominates its popular base despite the challenges it faces.

Before this month's vote, the last municipal elections were held in 2016, having been postponed three consecutive times since 2022 due to logistical, security, or financial reasons.

Although municipal elections are not widely seen as an accurate reflection of popular sentiment due to low voter turnout and the distinct nature of local political dynamics, at least compared to the national level, they still give some indication of the influence of political parties on local populations.
Uncontested councils

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement managed to win a large number of municipalities in Bekaa and Southern Lebanon through convincing people and potential contestants not to participate in the elections or to withdraw their candidacies, meaning the council was uncontested.

In the villages where the elections took place - rather than decided by acclamation - the Hezbollah-Amal lists won a majority of seats in Shia villages, albeit with exceptions in some Southern Lebanon municipalities.

While the acclamation strategy was initially presented as a way to limit risks to voters amid the tense security situation in Southern Lebanon, both parties may have sought to demonstrate that they are uncontested in their areas of control.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to bombard Southern Lebanon almost daily and still occupies five areas within Lebanese territories.

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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.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

More than 70 ~~people~~ human shields killed in Gaza in one day due to Israeli shelling

2025-05-25

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] At least 76 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours. This was reported on May 24 by the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera.

This all will stop the minute Hamas lays down its arms, returns the hostages — living and dead — and decamps from Gaza. But Hamas likes the world reaction to dead Gazans, so they ensure there is a steady supply.
In addition, more than 200 people were injured.

"The death toll continues to rise as attacks continue," the report said.

According to the channel, the Israeli army (IDF) struck a house in Khan Yunis, killing seven children, among others. A residential building in Jabaliya was also hit. The search for survivors under the rubble is still ongoing.

As reported by Regnum News Agency, on May 18, the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began conducting a large-scale ground operation, “Gideon’s Chariots,” in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported 96 dead and more than 140 injured after the Israeli attack in the morning that same day. The ministry noted that civilian targets were hit. The ministry also added that after the resumption of shelling by Israeli troops in Gaza, a total of more than 3,000 people were killed and about 9,000 were injured.

In turn, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that Israel would allow the import of a “basic amount” of food products into the Gaza Strip to prevent the threat of famine in the enclave. In addition, Netanyahu’s office added that Israel intends to work to deprive Hamas of the ability to take control of the distribution of humanitarian aid so that it does not end up in the hands of terrorists.

The IDF also struck the Palestinian semi-exclave in early May. According to Al Jazeera, at least 66 people were killed in an Israeli air force attack on May 7, and 63 Palestinians the day before.

Gazans say 9 children of doctor couple killed in Israeli strike; IDF looking into report

[IsraelTimes] Army acknowledges attack on suspects in Khan Younis, says it came after warning for civilians to leave ‘combat zone’; all standing infantry and armored brigades now deployed to Strip

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...
’s Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
-run civil defense agency said Saturday that an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Younis had killed nine children of a pair of married doctors, with the Israeli army saying it was looking into the reports.

According to Paleostinian media, the strike hit a home in Khan Younis, killing nine children of the same family, all under the age of 12. The father of the family and one of the children, aged 10, were seriously maimed. The mother, Alaa Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty at the time of the strike.

In response to the reports, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed it carried out a strike in Khan Younis, saying it targeted several suspects identified at a building near where ground troops were operating.

"The Khan Younis area is a dangerous combat zone that the IDF ordered civilians to evacuate for their safety before the start of the operation," the military said, referring to a warning on Monday.

"The claims about harm to uninvolved [civilians] are being looked into," it added.

Israel has stepped up its campaign in Gaza in recent days, drawing international criticism as well as calls to allow in more supplies after it partially eased a total blockade on aid imposed on March 2.

Hamas’s civil defense front man Mahmud Bassal said the agency had retrieved "the bodies of nine child deaders, some of them charred, from the home of Dr Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, all of whom were their children."

He added that Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously maimed in the strike, and that the family was taken to Nasser Hospital. A medical source at the hospital gave Adam’s age as 10 years old.

Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes since the early hours had killed at least 15 people across Gaza as of Saturday afternoon. He said the dead included a couple killed with their two young children in a pre-dawn strike on a house in the Amal quarter of Khan Younis.

To the west of the city, at least five people were killed by a dronezap on a crowd of people that had gathered to wait for aid trucks, he alleged.

In a statement, the military said that over the past day the air force had struck more than 100 targets across the territory, targeting terror operatives and sites. The military says it takes steps to minimize harm to civilians, while adding that terror groups operate from within Gaza’s civilian population.

The IDF said Saturday that all standing army infantry and armored brigades were now deployed to the Strip, as Israel prepared to further intensify its offensive against Hamas.

In addition to the Golani, Paratroopers, Givati, Commando, Kfir, Nahal, 7th, 188th, and 401st brigades, a small number of reserve units are also in the enclave, it said.

The IDF had previously announced that five divisions were operating in Gaza, amounting to tens of thousands of troops.

Despite the easing of the blockade, distribution has also been hampered by looting by groups of men, some of them armed, near the city of Khan Younis, an umbrella network representing Paleostinian aid groups said.

"They stole food meant for children and families suffering from severe hunger," the network said in a statement.

Israel imposed the blockade in early March as hostage-ceasefire talks broke down, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians.

The UN World Food Program said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted since Monday, which it said reflected the dire conditions facing Gazooks.

Israel has announced that a new system, sponsored by the United States and run by private contractors, will soon begin operations from four distribution centers in the south of Gaza, but many details of how the system will work remain unclear.

The UN has already said it will not work with the new system, which it says will leave aid distribution conditional on Israel’s political and military aims.

Israel says its forces will only provide security for the centers and will not distribute aid themselves.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, UNRWA, criticized Israel on Friday, saying that the UN had brought in 500 to 600 trucks per day on average during a six-week ceasefire that broke down in March, about five times higher than current rates.

"No one should be surprised, let alone shocked at scenes of precious aid looted, stolen or ’lost’," he wrote on X, adding that "the people of Gaza have been starved" for more than 11 weeks.

Footage published in Arabic media on Friday showed hundreds of Paleostinians crowding around a bakery in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp as bread was being distributed for the first time in weeks.

As the aid has begun to trickle in, the IDF has continued the intensified ground and air operation launched last week, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would end with Israel taking full control of the Gaza Strip.

Earlier from the Times of Israel:

The Israeli military said 83 trucks carrying flour, food, pharmaceutical drugs, and medical equipment entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Friday, for a total of 388 since Monday, when the blockade was eased.

However, an umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups provided a separate figure, saying only 119 aid trucks have passed the Kerem Shalom crossing point and into Gaza. The discrepancy was likely because many of the trucks were not picked up by the aid groups from the Palestinian side of the crossing for distribution.

The UN World Food Program said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted since Monday.

With most of Gaza’s 2 million population squeezed into an ever-narrowing zone on the coast and in the area around the southern city of Khan Younis by Israel’s military operation, international pressure to get aid in quickly has ratcheted up.

The military said Friday that it had struck over 75 targets in Gaza over the previous 24 hours, including terror operatives, rocket launchers, buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, and other infrastructure.

On Friday, Hamas-run Palestinian medical services said at least 25 people had been killed in the strikes. Another Hamas official told AFP that at least 71 people were killed. Neither of the figures could be independently confirmed.

In Gaza’s north, Al-Awda hospital reported Friday that three of its staff were injured “after Israeli quadcopter drones dropped bombs” on the facility. The Hamas-run civil defense agency later said it had successfully contained a fire at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the military said Friday that ground troops had killed several operatives across Gaza and destroyed other Hamas sites.

IDF says air force struck over 100 targets in Gaza over past day
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli Air Force struck over 100 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says.

The targets included a launcher used to fire a rocket at southern Israel yesterday afternoon. Other targets included terror operatives, buildings used by terror groups, tunnels, and other infrastructure, the IDF says.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ex-Mustaqbal official clenches Beirut municipal seat from rival, broad coalition

2025-05-21

[NAHARNET] al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...

... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
Movement's former Beirut coordinator Mahmoud al-Jamal, a retired brigadier general, has managed to clench a seat on Beirut's new municipal council, preventing a list comprising most political parties from winning all 24 seats.

Al-Jamal's win came at the expense of Elie Andrea, a Greek Orthodox member of the rival list who was backed by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut Elias Audi.

Andrea was the subject of ''dismay, especially among Greek Orthodox voters, which led to the redaction of his name by voters due to his bad performance as a member of the outgoing municipal council,'' the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Andrea had also faced a social media campaign against him prior to the elections against the backdrop of his dispute with outgoing municipal chief Jamal Itani, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.

This is the first time in decades that sees Moslems outnumbering Christians in the municipal council. The country's rival political parties had formed an electoral alliance in Beirut under the excuse of preserving Christian-Moslem parity.

Political rivals such as Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
came together to form the list, which also comprised the Amal Movement, the Kataeb Party, the Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
, al-Ahbash, the Tashnag Party
Socialist party representing the Armenian diaspora in Leb. They're Christians, but they try to remain neutral, which means they get shot at without shooting back...
, the Hunchak Party, the Progressive Socialist Party and MP Fouad Makhzoumi.

Al-Jamal's list was backed by MP Nabil Bader and the Jamaa Islamiya and apparently received votes from Mustaqbal supporters.

Four other lists were also formed in the capital, including one by the Beirut Madinati civil society group, which won one third of the capital's votes in the 2016 polls.

Voter turnout reached only 21% in Beirut, which has historically witnessed similar low turnout levels.

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