WASHINGTON: The bomb that Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week was an American-made guided weapon, a US senator said on Sunday.
Mark Kelly, chair of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee, said Israel used a 2,000-lb (900-kg) Mark 84 series bomb, during an interview with NBC. His statement marks the first US indication of what weapon had been used.
“We see more use of guided munitions, JDAMs, and we continue to provide those weapons,” Kelly said, using an abbreviation that stands for Joint Direct Attack Munitions. “That 2,000-pound bomb that was used, that’s a Mark 84 series bomb, to take out Nasrallah,” he said.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had eliminated Nasrallah in a strike on the group’s central command headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The Israeli military has declined to comment on what weapons were used in the attack. The Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.
JDAMs convert a standard unguided bomb using fins and a GPS guidance system into a guided weapon. The US is Israel’s longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
Israel used US-made bomb in attack on Hezbollah head, US senator says
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Israel used US-made bomb in attack on Hezbollah head, US senator says
- Mark Kelly, chair of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee, said Israel used a 2,000-lb (900-kg) Mark 84 series bomb
- “We see more use of guided munitions, JDAMs, and we continue to provide those weapons,” Kelly said
Israeli warplanes target power stations, Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeidah
- The airstrikes had “completely” destroyed the Al-Hali power plant, Hodeidah’s main power station, rendering it inoperable and burying workers
- Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported three workers were found under debris at the plant while rescuers were attempting to find more trapped people
AL MUKALLA: Israeli warplanes on Sunday bombed two ports and two power plants in Hodeidah, the Houthi-held western city in Yemen, a day after the Iran-backed Houthis claimed to have fired a ballistic missile and drone at Israel.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israeli warplanes launched a number of airstrikes on Hodeidah city port and Ras Issa port, including a major oil export terminal and Al-Hali and Al-Katheeb power plants.
The airstrikes had “completely” destroyed the Al-Hali power plant, Hodeidah’s main power station, rendering it inoperable and burying workers.
Al-Masirah said three workers were found under debris at the plant while rescuers were attempting to find more trapped people.
Images and videos shared on social media showed large balls of fire and smoke at the targeted oil storage facilities at Hodeidah Port and other locations.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its warplanes had attacked Houthi targets in Hodeidah and the Ras Issa regions.
Fearing that the airstrikes on facilities in Hodeidah would cause an oil-buying panic, the Houthi-run oil company issued a statement immediately following the strikes, assuring people in areas under its control that there were sufficient oil supplies and telling fuel station owners not to close stations or raise prices.
“The Yemeni Oil Company confirms that it has already taken the necessary precautions for any emergency and that the supply situation in the free zones is completely stable,” it said.
The airstrikes came a day after the Houthis claimed to have launched a ballistic missile at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, and vowed to carry out similar drone and missile strikes on Israel in the future in support of Palestine to put pressure on Israel to end its war in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes first launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Hodeidah on July 20, killing and wounding 90 people a day after the Houthis fired a drone at Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring several others.
Since November the Houthis have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at international commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea and other seas off Yemen, as well as at Israel, in what the Yemeni militia claims is an effort to support the Palestinian people.
UNHCR ‘strengthening’ Lebanon presence amid ‘massive displacement’
- Appealing for global community to respond to the conflict, top official says
NEW YORK: “Massive numbers” of people are being displaced in Lebanon, a top UNHCR official has told Arab News, appealing for the international community to overcome its crisis fatigue and respond to the conflict.
It came as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister warned on Sunday that up to 1 million people may have been displaced within the country.
Raouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant high commissioner for operations, was speaking in New York City on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly.
He warned that a “massive increase in displacement” was taking place in Lebanon, compounding woes for the UN’s refugee body, which is battling crises in some of the world’s most impoverished and conflict-ridden countries.
Two UNHCR workers were killed earlier this week in Lebanon as Israel stepped up its aerial campaign against Hezbollah, striking into the heart of Beirut.
Dina Darwiche, from the UNHCR’s Bekaa office in the country’s east, was killed alongside her youngest son as an Israeli missile struck her home on Monday.
Ali Basma, who worked with the UNHCR’s Tyre office in the south, was also confirmed dead on Monday.
“On our colleagues, it’s the drama of the context where civilian populations are the victims of indiscriminate bombing, indiscriminate airstrikes — this is what we’re observing,” Mazou told Arab News.
“They were not at work at the time when it happened. They were living their normal lives. But it reminds us of how civilians are exposed. In addition to that, we also have situations where colleagues in the course of their duty are targeted or find themselves killed
“And that’s another concern that we have. Humanitarian workers being exposed to danger as they are performing their functions.
“In this specific case it wasn’t — they were not at work — but still, this is something that, to us, of course, is extremely concerning.”
The escalation in Lebanon is “not something the world needs right now,” Mazou added, warning that “massive numbers” of people are being displaced within the country, on top of the 80,000 who fled to neighboring Syria in the past week, according to the Lebanese government.
In response to the conflict, the UNHCR is executing its contingency plans and beginning distribution of pre-positioned aid.
The body will also “strengthen its presence” to protect the most vulnerable, Mazou said.
As part of its response, the UNHCR is also launching a humanitarian appeal for support from the international community, he added.
But with conflicts in the region already raging in Sudan, Gaza, Syria and Yemen and Gaza, there is a “difficulty” in mobilizing resources, the assistant high commissioner said.
“We have core relief items already pre-positioned in the region which we can give fairly fast. We have the presence of colleagues. The presence of of colleagues is absolutely essential. There are many other items that are necessary and which we will provide,” he added.
“We are now coming up with an appeal that we are going to issue, to ask for support from the international community. But that is happening at a time when it is already difficult to mobilize resources. There are many other crises around the world, so it’s already difficult. And now we have another crisis added to the to the existing one.
“So, we’re very worried. We hope we will be able to mobilize, but we are really appealing to the international community to provide the resources that are required.”
For Mazou, the proliferation of conflict has not only tested the logistical strength of the UNHCR, but has also “numbed” the global community to human suffering.
“We all become numb. There’s a new conflict, there’s a new crisis — we simply do not have the normal reaction of outrage that we should normally have,” he said.
The result is that many of the countries receiving refugees — often already impoverished and unstable — are unable to provide protection and support.
On the ground, this means a greater risk of famine, sexual violence against women and children losing access to education, Mazou warned.
“So, we continue to appeal to make sure that the needs of all refugees around the world are responded to and that we are in the position of mobilizing for all countries around the world and not just one crisis.”
Lebanon says nearly 50 killed in fresh Israeli strikes
- Lebanese health ministry said preliminary tolls showed 24 killed in Israeli strike near main southern city Sidon
- Israeli air raids on the Baalbek-Hemel area of eastern Lebanon “killed 21 people,” and four more people died in a raid targeting Joub Jenin in the Bekaa area
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry on Sunday said Israeli strikes killed nearly 50 more people, after Israel’s military said it kept up its bombardment of Hezbollah targets there and also struck Yemen.
The bombing comes after an air strike on Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs on Friday killed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which has been engaged in cross-border fire with Israel for almost a year.
Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas militants in Gaza, who attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the war in the Palestinian territory.
After Israel turned its focus north from Gaza to Lebanon and cross-border fire escalated, Israeli attacks have killed hundreds since last Monday, the deadliest day since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.
The Lebanese health ministry said preliminary tolls showed 24 killed and 29 wounded in an Israeli strike near the main southern city of Sidon Sunday.
It later reported that Israeli air raids on the Baalbek-Hemel area of eastern Lebanon “killed 21 people and wounded 47,” another provisional toll.
Four more died in a raid targeting Joub Jenin in the Bekaa area, the ministry said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon Sunday, his ministry said. He spoke earlier with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and said Paris sought “an immediate halt” to Israeli strikes.
France also appealed for Hezbollah and its backer Iran to abstain from any action that could lead to “regional conflagration.”
Pope Francis, asked about Israeli air strikes on civilians, said a country “goes beyond morality” when defense is not proportional to the attack.
A source close to Hezbollah said Nasrallah’s body was found on Saturday “and was placed in a shroud on Sunday after being washed.”
Funeral details have not yet been arranged, the source said, requesting anonymity.
Israel’s military said it was attacking targets of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, including around Hodeida port, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Yemen.
Houthi media reports said the strikes killed four people and wounded 33.
The air raids came a day after the Houthis said they targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with a missile, trying to hit it as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from New York.
“Dozens of Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, refueling planes, and reconnaissance aircraft, attacked military-use targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the Ras Issa and Hodeida areas of Yemen,” military spokesman Captain David Avraham said in a statement to AFP.
Israel also hit Hodeida port in July, causing what an official there said was at least $20 million in damage, after a Houthi drone penetrated Israeli air defenses and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv.
An “unmanned aerial target” approaching Israel over the Red Sea — where the Houthis have regularly launched attacks — was intercepted earlier on Sunday, Israel’s military said.
Separately, it said the air strike that killed Nasrallah “eliminated” another 20 Hezbollah members.
Israel also said Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah’s central council, was killed in a strike on Saturday.
Hezbollah has yet to officially announce his death, but a source close to the group said Qaouq had been killed.
Israeli air strikes have decimated Hezbollah’s senior command structure, with Nasrallah’s right-hand man Fuad Shukr, head of the elite Radwan Force Ibrahim Aqil and others among the dead.
Hezbollah is a powerful political, military and social force in Lebanon, but Nasrallah’s killing dealt it a seismic blow.
Israeli bombardment has killed more than 700 people in a week, including 14 paramedics over a two-day period, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
AFPTV live images on Sunday afternoon showed smoke rising beyond palm trees in the coastal city of Tyre, and more smoke across a bay.
Israel’s military said late Sunday it hit 120 Hezbollah targets, after earlier reporting dozens more.
Hezbollah said it had again fired rockets on the northern Israeli town of Safed.
It also reported firing “a volley of Fadi-1” rockets at an Israeli base in the Golan Heights. Israel reported several launches from Lebanon fell in unpopulated areas near the Israeli-annexed territory.
Nasrallah was the face of Hezbollah, enjoying cult status among his supporters.
Netanyahu said Israel had “settled the score” with his killing, and Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the world was “a safer place” without him.
US President Joe Biden — whose government is Israel’s top arms supplier — said it was a “measure of justice for his many victims.”
Analysts told AFP Nasrallah’s death leaves a bruised Hezbollah under pressure to respond.
For Tehran, his killing “has not altered the fact that Iran still does not want to get directly engaged” in the ongoing conflict, said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis group.
Iran said a member of its Revolutionary Guards was also killed alongside Nasrallah.
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon” and more than 50,000 have fled to neighboring Syria.
Premier Mikati said up to one million people may have been forced from their homes, in potentially the “largest displacement movement” in Lebanon’s history.
In Gaza, the territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed several people on Sunday.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,595 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
UN secretary-general highlights Egypt’s pivotal role in Mideast
- Guterres expressed his appreciation of the president’s wisdom and Egypt’s prudent policy in addressing international and regional issues and challenges
CAIRO: Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty has met Secretary-General of the UN Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the high-level segment of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Abdelatty conveyed greetings from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to the UN secretary-general, emphasizing Egypt’s commitment to continuing to strengthen cooperation with the UN.
Guterres expressed his appreciation of the president’s wisdom and Egypt’s prudent policy in addressing international and regional issues and challenges. He highlighted Egypt’s pivotal role in the Middle East, the Arab and Islamic worlds, and Africa, reaffirming the depth of the country’s civilization and its distinguished regional and global role.
Tamim Khallaf, the spokesperson for the ministry, said that Abdelatty praised the UN secretary-general’s role in convening the Summit of the Future to support the multilateral work system, while welcoming the summit’s outcomes. He noted Egypt’s agreement with Guterres on the necessity of reforming the structure of the global financial system to make it fairer and more equitable for developing countries.
He also spoke of the importance of finding innovative solutions to expand access mechanisms for developing countries to concessional financing, alleviating the burden of existing debts, and supporting national developmental efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
Abdelatty praised the secretary-general’s principled positions, which consistently support the principles of international law and the application of uniform standards concerning various regional issues, particularly the ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip and the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in that region.
He also referred to the Israeli military escalation in the region and the aggression facing the sovereignty of Lebanon, stressing that the current approach was driving the region toward the brink of disaster.
The meeting witnessed a discussion on several other regional issues, including developments in Libya, Sudan, Yemen, the Red Sea, and the Horn of Africa. It also addressed the importance of maintaining Somalia’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
Abdelatty also addressed the issue of water security and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, emphasizing its critical importance to Egypt in terms of national security.
He also reiterated Egypt’s rejection of any unilateral actions that would harm the interests of the downstream countries and violate established international norms governing transboundary water management.
Guterres stressed his appreciation of Egypt’s president, commending Cairo’s role as a founding member of the UN and its contributions to multilateral issues, the achievement of international peace and security, and the purposes and goals of the UN Charter.
Abdelatty also met the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The meeting came within the framework of continuing communication between the two countries following the participation of Abdelatty in the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian president in July 2024, according to the Foreign Ministry of Egypt’s spokesperson.
The two sides exchanged views on various issues of common interest, especially developments in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, and the Israeli military escalation and its repercussions on the region’s security.
They also affirmed the importance of de-escalation and the avoidance of sliding into a regional war that would threaten the security and stability of the region.
Lebanon army makes plea for unity after Nasrallah’s killing
- Mikati sticks to diplomacy, says attacks may have forced up to 1m people to flee homes
- Al-Rahi demands a president who will engage in peace negotiations
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army on Sunday warned the Lebanese against actions that would disturb public order in the country after Israel’s killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
The army statement called on citizens “to preserve national unity and not to be drawn into actions that may affect civil peace at this dangerous and delicate stage,” following the massive Friday strike that killed Nasrallah and as Israeli attacks continue.
Israel “is working to implement its destructive plans and sow division among Lebanese,” the statement added.
The army appeal came as dozens were killed and wounded on Sunday in Israeli air raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Bekaa.
According to preliminary statistics from the Ministry of Health issued on Sunday evening, 21 civilians were killed and 47 were wounded in 40 Israeli raids on Baalbek-Hermel.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, in his first comment on the assassination of Nasrallah, said that “the Lebanese paid a heavy price for their departure from the national charter, and Lebanon will not be able to carry out its mission except with positive neutrality.”
Al-Rahi reminded “the international community of the necessity of working to stop the cycle of war, killing and destruction.”
He said: “We all are losers in the war, so it is necessary to adopt negotiations. We hope that by electing a president for Lebanon, he will stop the fire and engage in peace negotiations.”
Amid the Israeli bombardment, the Lebanese ministerial emergency committee continued its discussions on how to manage the vast number of displaced people from the southern suburbs of Beirut, the south, and Bekaa, who had been made homeless.
Some of the displaced are still sleeping in the streets of Beirut, on its seafront, and in front of mosques, while others cannot afford to buy milk for their children or clothes to keep them warm.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said after Sunday’s meeting that the number of displaced people might reach 1 million and that “this current displacement is the largest in Lebanon’s history.”
Mikati said the state’s contributions are “within its capabilities, and we will ask donor countries to help us in these difficult circumstances.”
Regarding political solutions, Mikati stressed that “we have no choice but diplomacy. We demand a ceasefire on all fronts.”
According to official statistics, those who have died since Oct. 8, 2023 amount to 1,640, while the wounded amount to 8,408. The number of missing persons is unknown.
Israeli forces have not given Hezbollah a chance to catch its breath after the assassination of Nasrallah.
Warplanes launched 216 raids within the last 24 hours, including a violent raid on a building between Shiyah and Ghobeiry in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
According to Channel 14, “the target was the prominent leader in the party, Abu Ali Rida, the commander of the Badr Unit.”
Hezbollah denied the claim, saying that he was “well and healthy.”
Hezbollah officially mourned Nabil Qaouk, the deputy head of its executive council, who was killed in a drone attack on Saturday evening in the Chiyah area, indicating that Qaouk “held many organizational responsibilities in the party’s various units.”
It also officially mourned the death of prominent party leader Ali Karaki, whom Israel put on its target list.
Israel also included among its targets an official in the Islamic Group in Lebanon — an ally of Hezbollah in the confrontations in the south.
A warplane launched a raid on the town of Jab Janin in western Bekaa, the first time this town had been targeted, and hit a car carrying the group’s official, Mohammed Dahrouj, who was with his wife, killing them both.
Also on Sunday, Hezbollah’s civil defense personnel retrieved the bodies of Nasrallah and those with him in preparation for their funeral.
A paramedic told Arab News: “We kept digging deep to reach the bodies, and they were pulled out using cranes brought to the site.”
He said the bodies of the party’s secretary-general, Karaki, and two Iranian figures were found.
Hezbollah’s operations in northern Israel declined relatively on Sunday.
Hezbollah announced the bombing of the “Sonubar settlement” and “Ofek camp with a batch of Fadi 1 missiles.”
Minister Nasser Yassin, head of the emergency committee, said: “We have reached 740 shelters within a few days with more than 250,000 displaced people.
“The number of displaced persons since the day of Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination on Friday until Sunday morning was estimated at 1 million.”
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed that the raids carried out on the Hezbollah command headquarters led to “the elimination of more than 20 other members of different ranks.”
He alleged that they had gathered inside the underground headquarters and managed the fighting against Israel from there.
Adraee provided a list of names: “Ibrahim Hussein Jazini, the commander of Nasrallah’s security unit; Samir Tawfiq Deeb, Nasrallah’s advisor for many years; Abdul Amir Mohammed Sablini, the official responsible for building the force; and Ali Nayef Ayoub, the official responsible for managing the fire.”
An Israeli raid on the town of Al-Ain, adjacent to Baalbek, led to the killing of 11 civilians.
The army launched a raid on a house in the Marjhin area in the Hermel outskirts, causing the death of more than 10 people.
A raid on a building in the town of Zboud in the Bekaa resulted in the deaths of 17 civilians.
Raids focused on Al-Khader, Tamnin, Nabi Sheet, and Al-Kharibeh in northern Bekaa — areas that support Hezbollah.
The attacks included the town of Choueifat, south of Beirut, targeting hangars belonging to a businessperson from the Al-Moussawi family.
An Israeli raid on a building near a civil defense center affiliated with the Amal Movement, an ally of Hezbollah, resulted in the death of several volunteers in the southern town of Tayr Dibba.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health condemned “this attack and a similar attack on Houmin Al-Fawqa in the south, which led to the death of 14 paramedics in two days.”
The Israeli army claimed in a statement that “it struck hundreds of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon in the past hours, including missile launch pads directed toward Israeli territory, weapons storage facilities, and additional terrorist infrastructure affiliated with Hezbollah.”
The army said that it will continue to work to “weaken and dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities.”
Aircraft and drones remained in the skies of Beirut and its southern suburbs at a low level around the clock.
