JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday Israel was prepared for very strong action in northern Israel, saying it would restore security “one way or another” in an area targeted by the Iran-backed Hezbollah during months of hostilities.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which has been fought in parallel to the Gaza war, has intensified in recent days, adding to concerns that an even wider confrontation could break out between the heavily armed adversaries.
“Whoever thinks that they can harm us and we will sit idly by is making a big mistake. We are prepared for a very strong action in the north,” Netanyahu said during a tour of the area. “In one way or another we will restore security to the north.”
The fighting — the worst hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel since they fought a war in 2006 — has forced tens of thousands of people to flee homes on both sides of the border.
Israeli strikes have killed some 300 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and around 80 civilians have been killed, according to a Reuters tally.
Attacks from Lebanon have killed 18 Israeli soldiers and 10 civilians, Israel says.
Israeli Military Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday the army was ready for an offensive along the northern border and that Israel was nearing a decision point.
The US State Department said on Tuesday that Washington does not want to see a full-blown war and that it is trying to pursue a diplomatic solution, adding that Israel had the right to defend itself from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, deemed a terrorist organization by Washington, announced several operations on Wednesday, including a guided missile attack targeting Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system in Ramot Naftali, some 3 km (2 miles) from the border.
Rockets fired from Lebanon set off wild fires this week, burning swathes of land across northern Israel.
Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem told broadcaster Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the group’s decision was not to widen the war but that it would fight one if it was imposed on it.
Qassem said the Lebanon front would not stop until the Gaza war stops, Al Jazeera quoted him as saying.
Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas, says it has been striking Israel in support of Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza. It has previously said it will cease fire when the Israeli offensive on Gaza stops.
Netanyahu says Israel prepared for strong action in the north
Netanyahu says Israel prepared for strong action in the north
- Israeli towns near the northern border have been a frequent target of rocket and drone launches from Hezbollah
- Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire for the past eight months in parallel with the Gaza war
Pakistani province launches helicopter service to evacuate people, dispatch aid to clashes-hit district
- Clashes between Sunni, Shia tribes have killed over 100 people in Kurram since last month
- On Friday, authorities set a deadline of Feb. 1 for the warring tribes to surrender weapons
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has launched a helicopter service to evacuate people and transport aid to Kurram district that has been hit by sectarian clashes in recent weeks, officials said on Sunday.
Kurram, a tribal district of around 600,000 near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan where federal and provincial authorities have traditionally exerted limited control, has been a flashpoint for sectarian tensions between Shia and Sunni tribes for decades.
Fresh clashes that erupted last month have killed more than a hundred people, triggering a humanitarian crisis with reports of starvation, lack of medicine and oxygen shortages following the blocking of the main highway connecting Kurram’s main city of Parachinar to the provincial capital of Peshawar.
In response to the problems being faced by residents, the KP administration has been facilitating travel between Parachinar and Peshawar. On Sunday, two flights evacuated 27 individuals as well as carried 16 government staffers and members of a tribal council, which has been striving to achieve peace, to Kurram.
“There is no fare involved in transportation of people or medicines via the helicopter, rather it is a voluntary service by the KP government to meet the emergency situation,” Nisar Muhammad Khan, a KP government official, told Arab News.
The helicopter service was also being used to dispatch medicines to Parachinar. A day ago, 53 individuals, including 14 patients, were shifted to Peshawar from Kurram via helicopter, according to the provincial authorities.
A third flight was scheduled to bring people stranded in the Tal area back to Parachinar, while five more flights were expected to relocate over a hundred people on Sunday, according to the provincial government.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s office said the government had so far dispatched 1,850 kilograms of medical supplies to Kurram, assuring that it would mobilize all resources to ease problems of the people and ensure durable peace in the region.
The development comes days after the KP authorities set a deadline of Feb. 1 for warring Sunni and Shia tribes in the district to surrender all weapons and dismantle their bunkers to stem sectarian clashes in the region.
The decision was made at a meeting of the KP apex committee, which comprises civilian and military officials, to discuss a sustainable solution to the issue. It allowed the launch of a special air service for temporary evacuation from some parts of Kurram to protect people’s lives, according to the apex committee declaration.
“The agreement outlines that both sides will submit a detailed action plan within 15 days for voluntary submission of weapons,” read a declaration issued after the apex committee meeting.
“All weapons are to be deposited with the local administration by February 1. Additionally, it was decided that all bunkers in the area will be dismantled by the same deadline.”
In the meantime, land routes to the area would be opened intermittently on humanitarian grounds and a mechanism was put in place for secure transportation, according to the statement.
“Personnel of police and Frontier Corps will jointly provide security to the convoys,” it read.
Last month’s clashes erupted after rival tribes attacked convoys of passengers on the Parachinar-Peshawar road, which were followed by attacks on each other’s villages.
The apex committee asked both sides to avoid any violent action in the future to keep the land route safe and open at all times, hoping that the parties would fully cooperate with the government for a lasting solution to the issue.
Pope Francis again condemns ‘cruelty’ of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Comes a day after the pontiff lamented an Israeli airstrike that killed seven children from one family on Friday
- ‘And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty’
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing their “cruelty” for the second time in as many days despite Israel accusing him of “double standards.”
“And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty,” the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer.
It comes a day after the 88-year-old Argentine lamented an Israeli airstrike that killed seven children from one family on Friday, according to Gaza’s rescue agency.
“Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” the pope told members of the government of the Holy See.
His remarks on Saturday prompted a sharp response from Israel.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman described Francis’s intervention as “particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism — a multi-front war that was forced upon it starting on October 7.”
“Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people,” he added.
“Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them,” the Israeli statement said.
This was a reference to the Hamas Palestinian militants who attacked Israel, killed many civilians and took hostages on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza war.
The unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
That toll includes hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
At least 45,259 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in the Palestinian territory, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Those figures are taken as reliable by the United Nations.
Saudi flyadeal records lowest complaint in November, 99% resolution rate: GACA
- flynas was second, with 12 complaints per 100,000 travelers and a resolution rate of 100%
- Saudia was third, with 13 complaints per 100,000 passengers and a resolution rate of 99%
RIYADH: Saudi low-cost airline flyadeal recorded the fewest complaints among its competitors in November, with just 11 per 100,000 travelers, and achieved a 99 percent resolution rate, a recent report revealed.
Issued by the Kingdom’s General Authority of Civil Aviation, the classification index for air transport service providers and airports is designed to inform passengers about performance, helping them make more informed decisions.
Low-cost carrier flynas was second, with 12 complaints per 100,000 travelers and a resolution rate of 100 percent, and Saudia was third, with 13 complaints per 100,000 passengers and a resolution rate of 99 percent.
Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector is rapidly growing as the nation aims to become a regional hub and major tourist destination. Through the Saudi Aviation Strategy, which opens the sector to global investors, streamlines licensing, and promotes competition, over $100 billion in aviation investment is being attracted to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030’s goals.
The report is in line with GACA’s efforts to promote transparency, demonstrate its credibility and keenness to deal with travelers’ complaints, stimulate fair competition, and develop and improve services.
The figures from the analysis also align well with the National Aviation Strategy by the Kingdom, which aims to increase the air passenger throughput more than three-fold to 330 million by 2030.
The GACA data further revealed that despite serving over 6 million annual passengers, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had 13 complaints, a low rate of 0.4 percent per 100,000 passengers, and a 100 percent resolution record.
Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, with nearly 6 million annual passengers, also had a complaint rate of 0.4 percent per 100,000 passengers and a 100 percent resolution rate.
King Saud Airport had the lowest complaints among domestic airports, with a rate of 3 percent per 100,000 passengers and a 100 percent resolution rate.
The most common complaints in November were related to luggage, flights, and tickets.
According to the 2024 State of Aviation Report by GACA, a key measure of the aviation sector’s success is the 7 percent growth in air cargo, reaching 900,000 tonnes, alongside a record-breaking 112 million passengers in 2023.
This passenger volume was surpassed by a 17 percent increase in the first half of 2024, with the number of flights growing by 12 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 815,000.
Iran’s supreme leader says Syrian youth will resist incoming government
- Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war
- Iran’s supreme leader accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad’s government
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.
Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family’s decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose” and suffers from insecurity following Assad’s fall.
“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity,” Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”
He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad’s government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”
Iran and its militant allies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.
Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that the Islamic Republic did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.
Harvard students explore Jeddah’s history, culture
- This visit is part of a national initiative organized by Saudi students at Harvard University
Jeddah: The Jeddah Historic District Program of the Ministry of Culture recently hosted a delegation of students from Harvard University, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The students were given a tour of the Jeddah Historic District, known as Al-Balad, highlighting its distinctive architectural, cultural and economic landmarks.
They also participated in activities commemorating World Arabic Language Day, which further enhanced their understanding of the area’s rich heritage.
This visit is part of a national initiative organized by Saudi students at Harvard University to showcase the Kingdom’s cultural and economic development to their peers, the SPA reported.
The Jeddah Historic District Program plays a crucial role in revitalizing the area through community engagement, economic development and sustainable urban planning.
By transforming historic Jeddah into a vibrant environment for living and working, the program aims to establish it as a global heritage and tourist destination.
