Page 4 - Hezbollah

Ending 2-yr impasse, Lebanon Parliament picks army chief Aoun as President

Lebanon's parliament voted Thursday to elect the country's army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum. The session was the legislature's 13th attempt to elect a successor to former President Michel Aoun - no relation to the army commander - whose term ended in October 2022. The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon's leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction. Aoun was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need to ensure that Israel withdraws its forces from southern Lebanon as stipulated in the agreement and to fund the post-war rebuilding.

Israel starts recruitment for first ultra-orthodox brigade 'Hahashmonaim'

It was also noted that 100 more ultra-orthodox people will join the brigade's first reserves company after undergoing intensive training for six months

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah killed last year in war operations room: Aide

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year while inside the militant group's war operations room, according to new details Sunday disclosed by a senior Hezbollah official. A series of Israeli airstrikes flattened several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2023, killing Nasrallah. The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people died. According to news reports, Nasrallah and other senior officials were meeting underground. The assassination of Nasrallah, who had led Hezbollah for 32 years, turned months of low-level strikes between Israel and the militants into all-out war that battered much of southern and eastern Lebanon for two months until a US-brokered ceasefire took effect November 27. His Eminence (Hassan Nasrallah) used to lead the battle and war from this location, top Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa told a news conference Sunday near near the site where Nasrallah was killed. He said Nasrallah died in the war ...

Fragile Israel-Hezbollah truce holding so far, despite violations

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for over a month, even as its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon deadline. The deal struck on November 27 to halt the war required Hezbollah to immediately lay down its arms in southern Lebanon and gave Israel 60 days to withdraw its forces there and hand over control to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers. So far, Israel has withdrawn from just two of the dozens of towns it holds in southern Lebanon. And it has continued striking what it says are bases belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of attempting to launch rockets and move weapons before they can be confiscated and destroyed. Hezbollah, which was severely diminished during nearly 14 months of war, has threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not fully withdraw its forces by the 60-day deadline. Yet despite accusations from both sides about hundreds of ceasefire violations, the truce is likely to hold, analysts say

Is the fragile ceasefire between Israel, Hezbollah likely to hold

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for over a month, even as its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon deadline. The deal struck on November 27 to halt the war required Hezbollah to immediately lay down its arms in southern Lebanon and gave Israel 60 days to withdraw its forces there and hand over control to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers. So far, Israel has withdrawn from just two of the dozens of towns it holds in southern Lebanon. And it has continued striking what it says are bases belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of attempting to launch rockets and move weapons before they can be confiscated and destroyed. Hezbollah, which was severely diminished during nearly 14 months of war, has threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not fully withdraw its forces by the 60-day deadline. Yet despite accusations from both sides about hundreds of ceasefire violations, the truce is likely to hold, analysts say

US plans $8 billion arms sale to Israel, maintains support to ally

The Biden administration says it is helping its ally defend against Iran-backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen

Israel struggles to deter escalating attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels

The rockets from Gaza have mostly fallen silent. A ceasefire with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has taken hold. But repeated fire from Yemen's Houthi rebels, a faraway foe, is proving a stubborn threat for Israel. The Iran-backed Houthis are stepping up their missile attacks, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis scrambling for shelter in the middle of the night, scaring away foreign airlines and keeping up what could be the last major front in the Middle East wars. It's like musical chairs, said Yoni Yovel, 31, who left the northern Israeli city of Haifa late last year to avoid rocket fire from Hezbollah only to see his apartment in Tel Aviv's Jaffa neighborhood heavily damaged by a Houthi missile. Israel has repeatedly bombarded ports, oil infrastructure and the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away. Israeli leaders have threatened to kill central Houthi figures and have tried to galvanize the world against the threat. But the ...

IDF eliminates Hamas Commander Abd al-Hadi Sabah, leader of Kibbutz attack

As per the IDF, Sabah had led the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, massacre

Behind the dismantling of Hezbollah: Decades of Israeli intelligence

Worried that the operation would be exposed, top intelligence officials persuaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to give the order to detonate them

Military base disguised as village: IDF uncovers Hezbollah's hidden arsenal

The discoveries come amid growing friction between the IDF and the UNIFIL. In a statement on December 26, UNIFIL urged both sides to respect the ceasefire agreement and adhere to UNSC Resolution 1701

Israel seized 85K Hezbollah weapons in Southern Lebanon operations

"The weapons confiscated were used by Hezbollah and were intended to harm the citizens of the State of Israel, IDF said

Ex-Israeli spies describe attack using exploding devices against Hezbollah

Two recently retired senior Israeli intelligence agents shared new details about a deadly clandestine operation years in the making that targeted Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Syria using exploding pagers and walkie talkies three months ago. Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. The agents spoke with CBS 60 Minutes in a segment aired Sunday night. They wore masks and spoke with altered voices to hide their identities. One agent said the operation started 10 years ago using walkie-talkies laden with hidden explosives, which Hezbollah didn't realise it was buying from Israel, its enemy. The walkie-talkies were not detonated until September, a day after booby-trapped pagers were set off. We created a pretend world, said the officer, who went by the name Michael. Phase two of the plan, using the booby-trapped pagers, kicked in in 2022 after Israel's Mossad intelligence agency learned Hezbollah had b

Will not let Hezbollah rebuild terror infrastructure: Israel minister

Under the terms of a two-month ceasefire that went into effect on November 27, Hezbollah is supposed to withdraw its armed presence from areas of southern Lebanon south of the Litani River

Netanyahu eyes Iran after triumphs over Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria

Without Syria, the alliances Tehran has nurtured for decades have unraveled

Israel, Hamas inching closer to ceasefire deal, here's how it may look like

After months of deadlock, Israel and Hamas appear to be moving closer toward a ceasefire to end their 14-month war. Top officials from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to wrap up a deal. In a key concession, Hamas officials say they are prepared to show more flexibility" on the timing of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said Monday that a deal is closer than ever. Officials on all sides have cautioned that key details must still be worked out. But there is a general sense of optimism that has been lacking for many months. The changing sentiment appears to be the result of several factors. Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hamas over the course of the war. The group is more isolated after Hezbollah's ceasefire with Israel, and Iran, a key backer of both militant groups, has suffered a number of setbacks, highlighted by the downfall o

Trump crypto venture likely used by criminals, Iran-backed militants

World Liberty Financial Inc founded by the Witkoff family two months before November's US election with Trump as a financial beneficiary

Hamas finds itself with few options for the day after the Gaza war

Israel's recent ceasefire agreement in Lebanon has further damaged Hamas' prospects by curbing Hezbollah's direct support in Gaza and by extension that of Iran

Iran intends to maintain relations with Syria even after ally's ouster

On Tuesday, Iran government's spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani called for 'respect for Syria's territorial integrity'

Netanyahu warns Syria against aiding Iran or arming Hezbollah, vows action

Netanyahu had further acknowledged that while the collapse presents great opportunities, it also poses significant dangers

Reckoning in Syria: Bashar al-Assad's ouster adds to West Asian tumult

al-Assad's overthrow was the result of the distractions of his chief backers, the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah and Russian President Vladimir Putin