Istanbul: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday claimed that Israel would “set its sights” on Turkiye if it succeeded in defeating Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory following Hamas’s attack on October 7, has often expressed support for the Palestinian group as defenders of their homeland.
Hamas is classed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, among others.
“Do not think that Israel will stop in Gaza,” Erdogan told his party lawmakers in the parliament in the capital Ankara.
“Unless it’s stopped... this rogue and terrorist state will set its sights on Anatolia sooner or later,” he said, referring to the large Turkish peninsula also called Asia Minor that comprises more than half of Turkiye’s territory.
“We will continue to stand by Hamas, which fights for the independence of its own land and which defends Anatolia,” added Erdogan.
The Turkish leader on Monday said more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in Turkish hospitals amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized some 250 hostages, 128 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 36 the military says are dead.
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Erdogan says Israel will ‘set sights’ on Turkiye if Hamas defeated
Erdogan says Israel will ‘set sights’ on Turkiye if Hamas defeated
- Turkish leader on Monday said more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in Turkish hospitals
Thousands displaced in Lebanon as Israel expands evacuation zones
- Short-term outlook ‘remains bleak,’ warns Mikati
- Israeli attacks intensified in south Lebanon and the Bekaa region
BEIRUT: Israel expanded its evacuation warnings to new areas of Lebanon on Thursday as Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned that the short-term outlook for his country “remains bleak.”
His comments came as US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Israeli orders for Lebanese civilians to evacuate large areas of Tyre and Baalbek were condemned by Mikati as an “additional war crime,” adding to the “series of crimes of killing, destruction and sabotage committed by the Israeli army.”
In response to Israel’s expansion of its air campaign, Mikati “requested increased pressure on Israel” from international and diplomatic bodies.
Hochstein reportedly told Mikati on Wednesday that he would urge Israel to end its campaign in return for a Lebanese commitment to implementing Resolution 1701.
As Lebanon awaited a diplomatic response, Israel’s Channel 12 said that the Israeli army is preparing to expand its ground operations in Lebanon “as negotiations might take time.”
Israeli attacks intensified in south Lebanon and the Bekaa region, with evacuation warnings extending to the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp in Tyre and civil defense centers in Baalbek.
The Israeli army warned residents of several southern towns, including the Rashidieh camp, to evacuate north of the Awali River.
The order sparked panic among the camp’s 323,000 residents, triggering mass displacement of people who had few options for shelter.
A similar event took place in the Baalbek region a day earlier as tens of thousands of Lebanese fled their homes following warnings of imminent Israeli bombardment.
This warning was repeated on Thursday, preventing the return of residents.
Many spent the night in their cars in harsh cold weather as nearby town shelters reached capacity from earlier evacuees.
Some residents sought shelter in the historic Baalbek Castle, assuming the site had international protection status, but Baalbek Gov. Bashir Khodr advised against this, warning that the castle fell within the “red zone” designated by Israel as a potential target.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, in a new warning posted on X to people in Baalbek, Ain Bourday and Douris, said that residents of the three areas “are staying in a combat zone in which the Israeli army intends to attack.”
Israeli strikes later hit border areas in northern Bekaa and across the Syrian border, a common route for illegal crossings.
An airstrike in Bodai destroyed a home and killed its four inhabitants.
About 10,000 airstrikes have hit Baalbek in the last two days, killing about 70 people and injuring more than 500 others.
Israeli raids targeted an Amal Movement ambulance in Zefta and a civil defense center affiliated with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Organization on the highway between Dardagia and Arzoun in southern Lebanon.
The strike killed a paramedic and injured two others, bringing the death toll of health workers in Lebanon to 174, with 279 wounded.
Israeli drone attacks against cars and motorcycles in southern Lebanon and western Bekaa continued on Thursday.
A car on the Araya-Kahala road was struck, killing two and injuring one.
On Wednesday, an Israeli drone struck a car on the same road, killing its driver, who was transporting anti-tank missiles.
A drone also struck a car on the Al-Amariyeh-Naqoura road, killing its driver, a Lebanese Army soldier.
A motorcycle rider was killed in the town of Qaraoun located in the West Bekaa region.
Meanwhile, Israel’s air campaign escalated across south Lebanon, targeting residential homes and neighborhoods. A missile struck a man’s home in Ebel El Saqi, injuring his eight-year-old granddaughter.
The town of Chihine was hit with Israeli white phosphorous artillery shells, while the Israeli army blew up four houses in Alma Al-Shaab, a town adjacent to the Blue Line.
A residential building in Aita Al-Shaab was also struck from the air.
On Wednesday evening, the Israeli army destroyed the only mosque in the border town of Boustane, along with several houses in the border town of Al-Dahira.
A new video showing extensive destruction in the southern border town of Kfar Kila was shared. All of the town’s buildings and houses had been leveled.
In a statement, Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, warned: “At least one child is killed and 10 injured daily in Lebanon.
“Thousands more children who have survived the many months of constant bombings are now acutely distressed by the violence and chaos around them.”
Clashes on the ground between the Israeli army and Hezbollah continued on Thursday across the border region.
Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV reported that “violent clashes” took place east of Khiam, with militants repelling an Israeli incursion into the area.
Clashes near the border town have continued for three days following an Israeli assault.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that the international force had been targeted more than 50 times since the beginning of the conflict.
Seven of these attacks were “carried out deliberately by Israel,” he added.
Israel claimed it had killed Mohammed Khalil Alian, the commander of the anti-tank force affiliated with Hezbollah’s Nasr unit, in Burj Qallawiyah.
On Wednesday, Israel’s air force claimed the elimination of a Hezbollah air defense cell that had launched a missile at an Israeli aircraft in the region north of Tyre.
Houthis abduct another Yemeni employee of US Embassy in Sanaa
- Armed Houthis, including Zaynabiyat policewomen, stormed the house of Mohammed Abdullah Shammakh
- Shammakh was in a nearby market purchasing items for his family when the raid occurred
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia has abducted a Yemeni employee of the US Embassy in Sanaa, becoming the latest known victim of the Houthis’ crackdown on aid and civil society workers in Yemeni areas under their control.
A group of armed Houthis, including Zaynabiyat policewomen, have stormed the house of Mohammed Abdullah Shammakh, an administrative officer at the US Embassy in Sanaa, and abducted him after searching it, according to his friend and Yemeni journalist Sami Ghaleb.
Ghaleb, who spoke with residents of Sanaa’s Al-Ziraah neighborhood, where the abducted man lived, told Arab News on Thursday that the Houthis raided the three-story building on Oct. 10 and instructed its occupants, including children and women, to go to the roofs.
They then confined them, before storming Shammakh’s apartment and conducting a search.
Shammakh was in a nearby market purchasing items for his family when the raid occurred and was taken aback when he observed the Houthis occupying his residence, his friend said.
When he returned home, the Houthis abducted him, leaving behind a chaotic house and a terrified family, according to Ghaled.
“He’s more like a family member than a friend. He is a great person, like his father, lovable and helpful, and he assists his neighbors,” said Ghaled, who published an article on his news site, www.alndaa.net, in which he urged the Houthis to release him and other abducted individuals.
“You are responsible for these heinous violations, and no one in the historic capital is willing to listen to your ridiculous argument. These are simply helpless employees,” Ghaled wrote on his website on Wednesday.
The US Embassy in Yemen, which is now based in Riyadh, responded to Arab News’ request for comment on the abduction of its employee in Sanaa by saying: “We are aware of that report but cannot confirm if it is true at this time.”
The US Embassy in Yemen has been closed since early 2015, and the diplomatic mission has been relocated to Riyadh, months after the Houthis seized power.
In 2021, the Houthis raided the US Embassy compound in Sanaa, abducting Yemeni employees from the building and also abducting other former and current embassy employees from their Sanaa homes.
According to lawyers in Sanaa, the Houthis recently referred six abducted US Embassy employees to court and intend to try them on espionage charges.
Over the past four months, the Houthis have abducted more than 70 Yemeni workers from UN agencies, international human rights and aid organizations, and foreign diplomatic missions, accusing them of spying for US and Israeli intelligence agencies.
Relatives of some of those abducted have told Arab News that the Houthis have denied their requests to visit them in detention, call them, or provide information about their conditions.
On Wednesday, the office of the UN Yemen envoy, Hans Grundberg, said that he discussed efforts to release the UN workers abducted by the Houthis with Nada Al-Nashif, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, and reiterated his appeal to the Houthis to release them.
“The UN remains steadfast in demanding their immediate and unconditional release,” Grundberg’s office said.
Middle East conflicts to leave ‘lasting scars’: IMF
- IMF lowers its predicted growth for the Middle East and Central Asia to 2.1 percent for 2024
- IMF forecasts for Lebanon, where conflict with Israel has sharply escalated this month, have been suspended
DUBAI: Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan will take decades to recover from the conflicts raging on their soil, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday after downgrading the region’s growth forecast.
Israel’s military actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Sudan’s civil war would have enduring impacts, the IMF said.
“The damage caused by these conflicts will leave lasting scars at their epicenters for decades,” the global lender said in a statement.
The IMF has lowered its predicted growth for the Middle East and Central Asia to 2.1 percent for 2024, a drop of 0.6 percent due to the wars and lower oil production.
Depending on the conflicts, growth should rise to 4.0 percent next year, according to the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook which was compiled in September.
“This year has been challenging with conflicts causing devastating human suffering and lasting economic damage,” Jihad Azour, the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department director, told reporters in Dubai.
“The recent escalation in Lebanon has greatly increased the uncertainty in the whole MENA region.”
IMF forecasts for Lebanon, where conflict with Israel has sharply escalated this month, have been suspended. But “conservative” estimates show a 9.0-10 percent contraction this year, Azour said.
“The impact (on Lebanon) will be severe and it will depend how long this conflict will last,” said the former Lebanese finance minister.
Saudi-led oil cuts through the OPEC+ group, aimed at propping up prices, “are contributing to sluggish near-term growth in many economies,” the IMF said.
For the region’s oil exporters, “medium-term growth is projected to moderate, as economic diversification reforms will take time to yield results,” it added.
Downside risks continue to dominate, the lender said, including fluctuating commodity prices, conflicts and climate shocks.
Syria state media report Israel strikes on town near Lebanon border
DAMASCUS: Syrian state media said Israeli strikes hit the town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border on Thursday, the latest in a series of raids in the area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the Qusayr area in the southern Homs countryside,” causing “material damage to the industrial city and some residential neighborhoods,” the official SANA news agency said.
Doctors Without Borders surgeon detained by Israel in north Gaza hospital raid
- Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopaedic surgeon working at Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, was detained during an Israeli military raid on the site on Oct. 26, MSF said
GENEVA: Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday that one of its doctors working in a north Gaza hospital has been detained by Israeli forces.
Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopaedic surgeon working at Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, was detained during an Israeli military raid on the site on Oct. 26, MSF said.
“We are extremely alarmed by the detention of our colleague,” it said.
“We call for the safety and the protection of our colleague, and for all medical staff in Gaza who work under impossible conditions and are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.”
