BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel Wednesday against waging war on Lebanon, a day after a strike blamed on Israel killed Hamas’s number two in the group’s southern Beirut suburbs stronghold.
“If the enemy thinks of waging a war on Lebanon, we will fight without restraint, without rules, without limits and without restrictions,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
“We are not afraid of war,” he said, adding that “for now, we are fighting on the frontline following meticulous calculations.”
Lebanese authorities and Hamas accused Israel of killing Salah Al-Aruri in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday with six others.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari did not directly comment on Aruri’s killing but said the military was “highly prepared for any scenario” in its aftermath.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon had largely been limited to the border area before Al-Aruri’s killing, with Hezbollah and its arch-foe exchanging near-daily fire after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
The attack sparked fears of a broader conflagration because Aruri is the most high-profile figure to be killed since fighting in Gaza began in October, and his death came in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since hostilities started.
Nasrallah described the attack as a “major and dangerous crime” which “will not go unanswered and unpunished” — repeating a threat made by Hezbollah on Tuesday.
The group announced several strikes on Israeli troops and positions Wednesday, within the usual scope of the border area.
“Israel has been weakened” by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Nasrallah said, adding that the country was “now on the path to extinction.”
Nasrallah spoke in a pre-planned speech commemorating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp. general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike in Iraq.
He is set to deliver another televised speech on Friday.
Earlier Wednesday, a high-level Lebanese security official told AFP that Israel fired guided missiles from a warplane to kill Al-Aruri in a Beirut suburb.
Hamas said Al-Aruri would be buried on Thursday in Beirut’s Shatila Palestinian refugee camp.
Since hostilities began, 170 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah members but also more than 20 civilians including three journalists, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, at least four civilians and nine soldiers have been killed, according to figures from the military.
Hezbollah leader warns Israel against waging war on Lebanon
https://arab.news/zxdug
Hezbollah leader warns Israel against waging war on Lebanon
- “If the enemy thinks of waging a war on Lebanon, we will fight without restraint, without rules, without limits and without restrictions,” Nasrallah said
- Nasrallah spoke in a pre-planned speech commemorating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp. general Qasem Soleimani 4 years after his death
Iran parliament blocks appointment of Sunni to VP post
TEHRAN: The Iranian parliament on Wednesday blocked the appointment of a politician from the Sunni minority as vice president, state media reported.
In August, President Masoud Pezeshkian had announced the appointment of Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh as his vice president for rural development and disadvantaged areas, citing his “valuable experience.”
But on Wednesday lawmakers voted against his resignation from parliament to take up the vice president post, the official IRNA news agency said.
“Parliament members voted 107 in favor, 129 against, and five abstentions out of the 247 representatives present,” it added.
Sunni Muslims account for around 10 percent of Iran’s population, where the vast majority are Shiites and that branch of Islam is the official state religion.
They have very rarely held key positions of power since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Iran has numerous vice presidents, who are tasked with leading organizations related to presidential affairs in the country.
A 44-year-old reformist, Hosseinzadeh has since 2012 represented the northwestern cities of Naghadeh and Oshnavieh in the Iranian parliament.
He has spoken out publicly on several occasions in defense of the rights of Iran’s Sunnis.
During his election campaign Pezeshkian, himself a reformist, criticized the lack of representation for ethnic and religious minorities, in particular Sunni Kurds, in important positions.
Bahrain supports UN reform that ‘reflects current geopolitical realities’: Crown prince
- ‘The very systems designed to uphold the international order are under strain,’ he tells General Assembly
- ‘Today’s world is, in many ways, more fragile than the one that had emerged from World War II’
NEW YORK CITY: Bahrain supports calls for UN reform to “ensure that it reflects current geopolitical realities,” Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa said on Tuesday.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, he said reform should be “holistic” and “consensus-driven,” and encompass all bodies including the Security Council.
“The very systems designed to uphold the international order are under strain,” he added. “As the threats and challenges we collectively face evolve, this important institution, which our global community relies on to safeguard the international rules-based order, must evolve as well.”
The crown prince called for the UNGA to “recommit to peace” at a time when governments are pursuing policies “exclusively rooted in self-interest” and using “questionably legal force to resolve disputes” amid a rise in “radicalism, extremism, and rogue non-state actors sowing chaos and discord.”
Palestinians in Gaza are “living through an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, with over 40,000 killed, many of them women and children,” he said.
“It’s clear that what’s required is the implementation of an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the adoption of an irrevocable path to the creation of a viable, independent Palestinian state.”
The Gaza and Ukraine conflicts, as well as rising tensions in the South China Sea, “undermine growth, stifle opportunity, and endanger the hopes we hold for our children,” he added. “Today’s world is, in many ways, more fragile than the one that had emerged from World War II.”
Current global challenges go beyond geopolitical ones, including the impact of unsustainable development on the environment and the effects of diseases such as COVID-19 in disrupting the global order, he said.
The crown prince advised against treating these crises individually, as they are “interconnected” and “represent a systemic threat to humanity.”
He suggested that in order to overcome these challenges, “like-minded countries come together,” which can only be achieved through system-wide reform that includes multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization.
He stressed Bahrain’s commitment to pluralism and multilateralism, pointing to the country’s 2023 Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement with the US, which promotes cooperation in various areas such as science, technology, defense and security.
The crown prince said the agreement is not designed as a bilateral one but as “the beginning of a multilateral framework that aims to bring together countries with an equal interest in delivering stability and prosperity.”
He concluded: “The international rules-based order isn’t sustained by hopes or dreams — it’s the product of robust international institutions and security constructs that are fit for purpose.”
Moroccan PM calls for ‘pragmatic, realistic multilateralism’ to serve Africa’s needs
- Aziz Akhannouch: African countries ‘very minor contributors’ to climate change but ‘most affected’
- Accuses Israel of ‘blatant violation of international law and of all human values’
NEW YORK CITY: Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch asserted the need for multilateralism in today’s evolving landscape at the 79th UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
The “diplomatic doctrine of the Kingdom of Morocco is multilateral at its core,” but “we can’t content ourselves with merely declaring good intentions,” he said.
“We need new momentum. We need new reform to which all segments, all strata of society, including women and young people, can contribute.”
Akhannouch stressed the effects of climate challenge, particularly on African countries, which are “very minor contributors to pollution which causes climate change” and yet are “most affected by the results and the consequences of climate change.”
As a solution to this problem, which is exacerbated by debt crises, he called for the creation of innovative financing mechanisms and reform of the international financial system that would help developing countries achieve financing to aid economic recovery.
This is why, he said, “Morocco calls for pragmatic, realistic multilateralism to serve the needs of the African continent.”
The country is applying this approach to various areas such as climate change, terrorism and social justice, Akhannouch added.
He highlighted Morocco’s efforts in the region, such as the initiative launched last year to enable countries in the Sahel region to have access to the Atlantic Ocean, and its autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
Akhannouch expressed Morocco’s “extreme concern” at the Israel-Palestinian conflict, calling the aggression against Palestinians a “blatant violation of international law and of all human values. The stability of the region is linked with the two-state solution.”
He stated Morocco’s solidarity with Lebanon and said it respects the country’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Amid the many global challenges facing the world, Akhannouch urged the UNGA to rethink the way it works and appeal to “our collective conscience,” adding: “We need to rethink our fundamental values, but we need to return to our fundamental values.”
He said the UN has a “collective responsibility,” which should encourage its members to “return to our values of humanity — the humanity that underpinned the very inception of this organization. Thus, reform is needed as we approach the 80th anniversary of the creation of our organization.”
Norway starts probe into reported links to exploding pagers in Lebanon
- Norway security agency launches preliminary investigation
- Bulgaria is investigating a company founded by a Norwegian
- Rinson Jose founded Norta Global Ltd. in 2022, registry shows
OSLO: Norway’s security police (PST) have begun a preliminary investigation into reports that a Norwegian-owned company was linked to the sale of pagers to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that exploded last week, a police lawyer told Reuters.
Over a two-day period last week, thousands of pagers, as well as walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives, blew up in Lebanon, killing at least 39 people and wounding thousands. The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
It is not clear how and when the pagers were weaponized so they could be remotely detonated. Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria are already investigating possible links in the supply chain.
“PST has initiated a preliminary investigation to determine whether there are reasons for starting a (full) investigation on the basis of allegations in the media that a Norwegian-owned company may have been involved in the dissemination of pagers to Hezbollah,” PST lawyer Haris Hrenovica said in a text message to Reuters.
Earlier he told Norwegian news agency NTB that the police had no specific suspicions at this time.
Bulgarian authorities said last week they were investigating Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd. after a Hungarian media report that it was involved in facilitating the sale of the pagers.
The company was founded in 2022 by Norwegian citizen, Rinson Jose, 39, according to Bulgaria’s corporate registry. He signed the company’s articles of association at the Bulgarian consulate in Oslo, the documents reviewed by Reuters showed.
Jose declined to comment on the pagers when reached by phone last Wednesday and hung up when asked about the Bulgarian business. He did not return repeated calls and text messages.
When Reuters tried to call him on Tuesday this week, the call was directed to an answering service.
Jose’s Linkedin profile shows he has been employed by DN Media Group since February 2020. DN Media Group said he worked in the sales department and that he left for a conference in Boston on Sept. 17.
He last contacted his colleagues by email on Sept. 18, according to Norwegian media. His employer told Reuters it had not been able to reach him since.
Reuters has found no evidence linking Norta Global to the DN Media Group.
Israel ‘pushing region toward all-out war’: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan
BAGHDAD: The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned Israel’s “aggression” against Lebanon Wednesday, warning that it is “pushing the region toward all-out war.”
The ministers said that stopping the “dangerous escalation under way in the region... begins by halting Israel’s aggression in Gaza,” in a joint statement issued after a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
