Lebanese killed as violence erupts at Hezbollah funeral

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Lebanese army is deployed after clashes erupted in Khalde, Lebanon, on Sunday. The clashes broke between two groups during the funeral of a Hezbollah supporter killed a day earlier. (Reuters)
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People stand in a street after an ambush on Shi'ite mourners in Khaldeh, Lebanon August 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Updated 02 August 2021
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Lebanese killed as violence erupts at Hezbollah funeral

  • Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati called for restraint after the clashes
  • Protesters gather outside home of Hezbollah officer after activist arrest controversy

BEIRUT: A gunmen has caused deaths and carnage after opening fire at the funeral of a Hezbollah commander who was killed in a revenge shooting a day earlier.

The brother of Hassan Ghosn killed Ali Shibli, whom the Ghosn family has accused of killing their son.
Shibli was loyal to Hezbollah and had an armed group that boasts the support of the militia in Lebanon.
During Shibli’s funeral by his house in Khalde on Sunday afternoon, it was reported that there was an exchange of fire between the participants in the procession and other gunmen, which led to many deaths and injuries.
Shibli’s murder was committed in cold blood during his brother’s wedding party on Saturday night in the coastal area of Jiyeh.
The killer from the Ghosn family entered the garden where the party was taking place, approached the table where the victim was sitting and shot him with a pistol at close range.
Guests captured the crime while filming the party. The videos were widely circulated on social media.

Another guest, who was sitting next to Shibli, was injured in the accident.
Shibli died on the way to hospital from gunshot wounds to his chest.
It was reported that Shibli was shot a year after the killing of Hassan Ghosn, which had occurred over a dispute of removal of a religious banner which Ali Shibli had put atop a commercial center he owned in Khalde, at the southern entrance to Beirut.

FASTFACTS

• In recent years, clashes have flared between tribes loyal to the Future Movement political party and groups aligned with Hezbollah.

• Ali Shibli’s brother, Hussein, was killed in 2013 while fighting for Hezbollah in Syria. Reports suggest that Ali Shibli also fought in Syria.

This resulted in a clash between men from the Khalde clans and the Shibli family, leading to the death of Ghosn and two other men, Omar Ghazi Musa and Mahmoud Youssef Hadoul.
The family of Hassan Ghosn said in a statement on Saturday: “We did everything we could to demand the family’s right to punish the criminal Shibli in accordance with the provisions of the Lebanese Penal Code. However, our demands were (not) met (after) a whole year.”
The family declared that they were “putting themselves at the disposal of the judiciary.”
However, during Shibli’s funeral, armed men appeared and heavy shooting was reported in the Khalde area.
Hezbollah said it regretted the killing of Shibli, describing him as a “martyr.” The party called on the security and judicial agencies to confront the perpetrators and those who assisted them.

In recent years, clashes have flared between tribes loyal to the Future Movement political party and groups aligned with Hezbollah.
Ali Shibli’s brother, Hussein, was killed in 2013 while fighting for Hezbollah in Syria. Reports suggest that Ali Shibli also fought in Syria.
Meanwhile, activists circulated a video on social media showing protesters gathering in front of a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut. It was reported that Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit officer, Wafiq Safa, lives there, attracting the family members of people who were recently arrested by Hezbollah for their demonstrations against electricity and fuel shortages.
Ali Al-Amin, an opposition activist, told Arab News: “The protest in front of Safa’s house reveals two things: Either there is a conflict within the Hezbollah’s centers of power ... or that there is a conflict between the Amal movement and Hezbollah, which is manifested by the resentment we hear daily from people accusing the Amal movement of corruption.”
Al-Amin said: “Hezbollah is trying to ... distance itself from the accusations of corruption and wants to throw it on the Amal Movement.”
The activist added: “In the face of the severe economic crisis in the country, this crisis will inevitably explode in the face of Hezbollah.”
Also on Sunday, 19 members of the Albanian families who were detained in camps belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria traveled home from Beirut in the presence of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Director General of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said: “This operation is a continuation of previous campaigns that were carried out at the request of the president of friendly Albania to recover a group of women and children who were detained for a long time in the SDF camps in northeastern Syria, after about two years of negotiatyions.”


Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation call

Updated 5 sec ago
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Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation call

  • Israeli drone fires two missiles at the Beirut suburb of Ghobeiry before the air force carried out a ‘very heavy’ strike
  • Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its air campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops
BEIRUT: An air strike hit the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs on Friday, sending plumes of grey smoke into the sky after the Israeli military called for people to evacuate, AFPTV images showed.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone fired two missiles at the Beirut suburb of Ghobeiry before the air force carried out a “very heavy” strike that levelled a building near municipal offices.
The evacuation order posted on X by Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee told residents to leave, warning of imminent strikes.
“All residents in the southern suburbs, specifically ... in the Ghobeiry area, you are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah,” Adraee said in his post.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately.”
His post included maps identifying buildings in the area near Bustan High School.
Repeated Israeli air strikes on south Beirut have led to a mass exodus of civilians from the Hezbollah stronghold, although some return during the day to check on their homes and businesses.
NNA also reported pre-dawn strikes on the southern city of Nabatieh.
The Israeli military said it had struck “command centers” of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and launchers used to fire rockets at Israel on Thursday.
It said that over the past day, the air force had struck more than 120 targets across Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities, command centers and a large number of rocket launchers.
Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its air campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges begun by Hezbollah over the Gaza war.
Lebanese authorities say that more than 3,380 people have been killed since October last year, when Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire.
The conflict has cost Lebanon more than $5 billion in economic losses, with actual structural damage amounting to billions more, the World Bank said on Thursday.

Israel’s warfare in Gaza consistent with genocide, UN committee finds

Updated 15 November 2024
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Israel’s warfare in Gaza consistent with genocide, UN committee finds

  • Committee’s report states ‘Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that strip Palestinians of the very necessities required to sustain life’
  • It raises ‘serious concern’ about Israel’s use of AI to choose targets ‘with minimal human oversight,’ resulting in ‘overwhelming’ casualties among women and children

NEW YORK: Israel’s methods of warfare in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a weapon, mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions deliberately inflicted on Palestinians in the territory, are consistent with the characteristics of genocide, the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices said in a report published on Thursday.

“Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that strip Palestinians of the very necessities required to sustain life: food, water and fuel,” the committee said.

Statements from Israeli authorities and the “systematic and unlawful” blocking of humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza make clear “Israel’s intent to instrumentalize life-saving supplies for political and military gains,” it added.

The committee, the full title of which is the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, was established by the UN General Assembly in 1968 to monitor the human rights situation in the occupied Golan heights, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. It comprises the permanent representatives to the UN from three member states, currently Malaysia, Senegal and Sri Lanka, who are appointed by the president of the General Assembly.

Its latest report, which covers the period from October 2023 to July 2024, mostly focuses on the effects of the war in Gaza on the rights of Palestinians.

“Through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated UN appeals, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population,” the committee said.

The “extensive” Israeli bombing campaign has wiped out essential services in Gaza and caused an “environmental catastrophe” that will have “lasting health impacts,” it adds.

By early 2024, the report says, more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives, equivalent to two nuclear bombs, had been dropped on Gaza, causing “massive” destruction, the collapse of water and sanitation systems, agricultural devastation and toxic pollution. This has created a “lethal mix of crises that will inflict severe harm on generations to come,” the committee said.

The report notes “serious concern” about Israel’s use of artificial intelligence technology to choose its targets “with minimal human oversight,” the consequence of which has been “overwhelming” numbers of deaths of women and children. This underscores “Israel’s disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,” it adds.

In addition, Israel’s escalating censorship of the media and targeting of journalists are “deliberate efforts” to block global access to information, the committee found, and the report states that social media companies have disproportionately removed “pro-Palestinian content” in comparison with posts inciting violence against Palestinians.

The committee also condemned the continuing “smear campaign” and other attacks on the reputation of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and the wider UN.

“This deliberate silencing of reporting, combined with disinformation and attacks on humanitarian workers, is a clear strategy to undermine the vital work of the UN, sever the lifeline of aid still reaching Gaza, and dismantle the international legal order,” it said.

It called on all states to honor their legal obligations to stop and prevent violations of international law by Israel, including the system of apartheid that operates in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their actions.

“Upholding international law and ensuring accountability for violations rests squarely on member states,” the committee said.

Failure to do this weakens “the very core of the international legal system and sets a dangerous precedent, allowing atrocities to go unchecked.”

The committee will officially present its report to the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly on Monday.


Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role

Updated 15 November 2024
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Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role

  • National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized for interfering in police matters

JERUSALEM, Nov 14 : Israel’s Attorney General told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reevaluate the tenure of his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his apparent interference in police matters, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
The news channel published a copy of a letter written by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in which she described instances of “illegitimate interventions” in which Ben-Gvir, who is tasked with setting general policy, gave operational instructions that threaten the police’s apolitical status.
“The concern is that the government’s silence will be interpreted as support for the minister’s behavior,” the letter said.
Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Ben-Gvir, who heads a small ultra-nationalist party in Netanyahu’s coalition, wrote on social media after the letter was published: “The attempted coup by (the Attorney General) has begun. The only dismissal that needs to happen is that of the Attorney General.”


Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem

Updated 15 November 2024
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Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem

  • Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities

LONDON: Israeli forces demolished the office of the Palestinian Al-Bustan Association in occupied East Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Silwan, whose residents are under threat of Israeli eviction orders. 

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Culture condemned on Thursday the demolition of Al-Bustan by Israeli bulldozers and a military police force. 

The ministry said that “(Israeli) occupation’s arrogant practices against cultural and community institutions in Palestine, and specifically in Jerusalem, are targeting the Palestinian identity, in an attempt to obliterate it.” 

Founded in 2004, the Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities alongside hosting meetings for diplomatic delegations and Western journalists who came to learn about controversial Israeli policies in the area. 

Al-Bustan said in a statement that it served 1,500 people in Silwan, most of them children, who enrolled in educational, cultural and artistic workshops. In addition to the Al-Bustan office, Israeli forces also demolished a home in the neighborhood belonging to the Al-Qadi family. 

Located less than a mile from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s southern ancient wall, Silwan has a population of 65,000 Palestinians, some of them under threat of Israeli eviction orders.  

In past years, Israeli authorities have been carrying out archaeological digging under Palestinian homes in Silwan, resulting in damage to these buildings, in search of the three-millennial “City of David.” 


Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters

Updated 14 November 2024
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Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters

  • Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack

CAIRO: An Israeli strike killed 12 people after it hit a civil defense center in Lebanon’s city of Baalbek on Thursday, the regional governor told Reuters adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack on the Lebanese city, health ministry reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lebanese civil defense official Samir Chakia said: “The Civil Defense Center in Baalbek has been targeted, five Civil Defense rescuers were killed.”
Bachir Khodr the regional governor said more than 20 rescuers had been at the facility at the time of the strike.