TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader named the deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace its commander Friday after he was killed in a US strike in Baghdad.
“Following the martyrdom of the glorious general Hajj Qasem Soleimani, I name Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani as the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement posted on his official website.
Qaani was described by Khamenei as one of the “most decorated commanders” of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
“The orders for the (Quds) force remain exactly as they were during the leadership of martyr Soleimani,” said the supreme leader.
“I call on the members of the force to be present and cooperate with General Qaani and wish him divine prosperity, acceptance and guidance,” he added.
Iran names Esmail Qaani new Quds chief after Soleimani killing
https://arab.news/rd6ng
Iran names Esmail Qaani new Quds chief after Soleimani killing
- Qaani was described by Khamenei as one of the “most decorated commanders” of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war
UN troubled by jailing of political opponents in Tunisia
Recalling that several candidates were arrested or given heavy prison sentences, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said: “Such cases are troubling. Their trials indicate a lack of respect for due process and fair trial guarantees” and called for “the release of all those arbitrarily detained.”
Israel kills at least 40 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north
- Israeli forces tighten siege around Jabalia
- UN says 400,000 Palestinians are trapped in the north
GAZA: Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.
Palestinian health officials said at least 11 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.
Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time of the strike.
Five others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
Jabalia has been the focus of an Israeli offensive for more than 10 days, with troops returning to areas of the north that came under heavy bombardment in the early months of the year-long war.
The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians and UN agencies that Israel wants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave, a charge it has denied.
Meanwhile the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 42,344 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 99,013 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip.”
“Amid intense ongoing hostilities and evacuation orders in northern Gaza families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger,” Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC Gaza head of sub-delegation, said in a statement.
“Many, including the sick and disabled, cannot leave, and they remain protected under international humanitarian law – all possible precautions must be taken to ensure they remain unharmed. Every person displaced has the right to return home in safety,” he added.
The Israeli military has now encircled the Jabalia camp and sent tanks into nearby Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun towns, with the declared aim of stamping out Hamas fighters who are trying to regroup there.
The Israeli military has told residents to leave their homes and head to safety in southern Gaza. Palestinian and UN officials say there was no place safe in Gaza.
Israeli officials said evacuation orders were aimed at separating Hamas fighters from civilians and denied that there was any systematic plan to clear civilians out of Jabalia or other northern areas.
Hamas’ armed wing said fighters were engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces in and around Jabalia.
Zimmerman also urged for health facilities in the north to be protected, saying hospitals there were struggling to provide medical services.
Gaza’s health ministry said the army ordered the three hospitals operating there to evacuate but medical staffers said they were determined to continue their services even though they are overwhelmed by the growing number of casualties.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the level of civilian casualties in northern Gaza.
The northern part of Gaza is home to well over half the territory’s 2.3 million people and hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes amidst heavy bombing in the first phase of Israel’s assault on the territory.
Around 400,000 people remained, according to United Nations estimates.
Israel launched the offensive against Hamas after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, by Israeli tallies. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive so far, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
King Abdullah reaffirms Jordan’s support for Lebanon in meeting with PM Mikati
- At the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah affirmed Jordan’s support for its neighbor’s sovereignty, security and stability
DUBAI: Jordan’s King Abdullah held talks with Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday in Amman on the situation in the latter’s country and Israel’s aggression in the south.
At the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah affirmed Jordan’s support for its neighbor’s sovereignty, security and stability, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Monday.
He also expressed Jordan’s readiness to assist Lebanon in alleviating the suffering caused by the ongoing conflict.
“Jordan is working closely with Arab allies and key international players to stop the Israeli war on Lebanon,” King Abdullah said, warning that Tel Aviv’s continued aggression could escalate into a costly regional war.
Mikati thanked King Abdullah for the support, particularly his efforts to halt Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, and for the aid provided for those displaced by the conflict.
The meeting was attended by Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and the Director of the King’s Office Alaa Batayneh.
Israel says to hit back at Iran based on ‘national interest’
- Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest’
JERUSALEM: Israel will consider the United States’s opinion but will act against an Iranian missile attack based on its own “national interests,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden has cautioned Israel against striking Iran’s nuclear or oil facilities to avoid a further regional escalation and amid concerns over global energy prices.
“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest,” the office said.
The statement followed a Washington Post report, citing unnamed US officials, that Netanyahu had reassured the White House any counterstrike would be limited to military sites.
The Wall Street Journal, also anonymous US officials, said the assurance was made in a call last week between Netanyahu and Biden, as well as in conversations between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
The plan “was met with relief in Washington,” the Washington Post reported.
Iran launched about 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan.
Israel has vowed to retaliate for the Iranian missile attack, with Defense Minister Gallant saying the response would be “deadly, precise, and surprising.”
Qatar Emir says Israel chose to expand ‘aggression’ to West Bank, Lebanon
- Qatari ruler says Israel had done so ‘because it sees that the scope for that is available’
DOHA: Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said on Tuesday Israel deliberately chose to expand what he called its “aggression” to implement pre-planned schemes in the West Bank and Lebanon.
Israel had done so “because it sees that the scope for that is available,” he said in his annual speech to open the Shoura Council.
The Council has legislative authority and approves general state policies and the budget, but has no say in the setting of defense, security, economic and investment policy for the small but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties.
Amendments to Qatar’s constitution will be proposed by the Shoura Council and put to a popular referendum vote, Qatar’s Emir added.
