Iran, allies ready Israel response as funerals held for militant leaders – Newstrends
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Iran, allies ready Israel response as funerals held for militant leaders

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Iranian protesters wave Iranian, Palestinian and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group flags in a demonstration to condemn the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a huge portrait of him is seen on a wall at background, at Felestin (Palestine) Sq. in Tehran (AP)

Iran, allies ready Israel response as funerals held for militant leaders

TEHRAN: Iran and its regional allies vowed retaliation on Thursday for the deaths of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, raising regional tensions as mourners filled Tehran’s city center calling for revenge.

A public funeral was held for Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital where he was killed early Wednesday in an attack which Israel has not commented on.

Haniyeh’s body was then flown to Qatar, where he had resided and where he is to be laid to rest on Friday, when his group called for a “day of furious rage” in the Palestinian territories and across the region.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the funeral of the Lebanese group’s top military commander, said Israel and “those who are behind it must await our inevitable response” to Fuad Shukr’s and Haniyeh’s killings within hours of each other.

“You do not know what red lines you crossed,” Nasrallah said, addressing Israel, a day after Shukr was killed in a strike in south Beirut.

Israel, which said Shukr’s assassination was a response to deadly rocket fire last week on the annexed Golan Heights, warned its adversaries on Thursday they would “pay a very high price” for any “aggression.”

“Israel is at a very high level of preparation for any scenario, both defensive and offensive,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

“Those who attack us, we will attack in return.”

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that Iranian officials met in Tehran on Wednesday with representatives of the so-called “axis of resistance,” a loose alliance of Tehran-backed groups hostile to Israel, to discuss their next steps.

“Two scenarios were discussed: a simultaneous response from Iran and its allies or a staggered response from each party,” said the source who had been briefed on the meeting, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The leader of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels vowed a “military response” to Israel’s “major escalation.”

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Analysts told AFP that the retaliation would be measured to avoid a wider conflagration.

Iran and the groups it backs “will more than likely try to avert a war, while also strongly deterring Israel from continuing with this new policy, this targeted shock and awe,” said Amal Saad, a Hezbollah researcher and lecturer at Britain’s Cardiff University.

In Tehran, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh having earlier threatened “harsh punishment” for his killing.

Crowds, including women shrouded in black, carried posters of Haniyeh and Palestinian flags in a procession and ceremony that began at Tehran University, an AFP correspondent reported.

Senior Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami, attended the ceremony, state television images showed.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced the day before that Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in a pre-dawn strike Wednesday on their accommodation in Tehran.

The New York Times however reported, citing anonymous sources including two Iranian officials, that the blast was caused by an explosive device planted several months ago.

When asked about the report, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters “there was no other Israeli aerial attack… in all the Middle East” on the night of Shukr’s killing.

Qatar-based Haniyeh had been visiting Tehran for Pezeshkian’s swearing-in on Tuesday.

Pezeshkian said Iran “will continue to support with firmer determination the axis of resistance,” the official IRNA news agency said.

Qatar-based network Al Jazeera reported that the plane carrying Haniyeh’s body had landed in Doha, where the Palestinian leader is to be buried following prayers at the Qatari capital’s largest mosque.

Hamas called in a statement for a day of protests on Friday.

“Let roaring anger marches start from every mosque,” it said.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Haniyeh a “martyr” and announced a national day of mourning on Friday “in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.” Pakistan too announced a national day of mourning.

The international community has called for calm and a focus on securing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip — which Haniyeh had accused Israel of obstructing.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the strikes in Tehran and Beirut represented a “dangerous escalation.”

In a phone call, the foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt blamed Israel for rising tensions and called for “de-escalation,” Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated appeals for an end to fighting and said achieving peace “starts with a ceasefire.”

But the prime minister of key ceasefire broker Qatar said Haniyeh’s killing had thrown the whole Gaza war mediation process into doubt.

“How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on social media site X.

US President Joe Biden will speak to Netanyahu later on Thursday, the White House said.

The killings are the latest of several major incidents that have inflamed regional tensions during the Gaza war which has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Beyond Gaza, clashes continued on Thursday with Lebanese authorities reporting four Syrians killed in an Israeli strike, followed by Hezbollah announcing a barrage of “dozens” of rockets at Israel.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its October 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Concern over the fate of those still held has grown among Israelis, who demonstrated demanding a deal to free them in Tel Aviv on Thursday, marking the war’s 300th day.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.

Iran, allies ready Israel response as funerals held for militant leaders

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Woman’s dog digs up infant body reportedly buried alive by 22-year-old granddaughter in garden

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Chiara Petrolini and the garden

Woman’s dog digs up infant body reportedly buried alive by 22-year-old granddaughter in garden

A local babysitter had two newborn babies buried in her garden, an investigation into infanticide revealed.

Chiara Petrolini, 22, was arrested after DNA tests allegedly confirmed she was the mother of one of the infants, a boy, found buried in her garden.

Petrolini, who lived with her parents, was described as a “model university student” and was holidaying in New York when the grim discovery was made by authorities. The investigation into the garden in the quiet commune of Vignale di Traversetolo near Parmer in Italy began last month, August, when Petrolini’s grandmother’s dog unearthed a body.

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The baby had been buried alive, as indicated by “soil found in the lungs” according to a leaked autopsy report.

Last week, a second body was discovered, but no details about that infant’s de@th have been disclosed yet.

The autopsy of the first baby revealed that the father was Petrolini’s 22 year old boyfriend, named locally as Emanuele.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the second body was found after Petrolini confessed to the police.

She is currently in custody on suspicion of infanticide and has reportedly claimed that she acted alone without anyone else’s knowledge.

Woman’s dog digs up infant body reportedly buried alive by 22-year-old granddaughter in garden

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UK invests £1.9m in West African economies

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UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins

UK invests £1.9m in West African economies

The UK government’s West Africa Research and Innovation Hub (WARIH) has launched ‘Sankore’ to support economic growth by strengthening technology and innovation across West Africa, in close partnership with country governments.

UK Minister for Africa, Lord Collins, announced the call for creative proposals for the project from non-profit organisations (including UN Agencies) at a press conference on Tuesday in Accra.

The Sankore call for proposals will support the UK government’s partnership with the Government in Nigeria and Ghana on science, technology and innovation, facilitate commercialisation of innovative solutions, improve innovation policy and enhance government digital service delivery.

Named after a West African medieval center of learning, Sankore will establish new partnerships worth up to £1.9 Million with non-profit organisations (including UN agencies) in Ghana or Nigeria.

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At the launch of the call for proposals, the UK Minister for Africa said: “This initiative is all about how we can work together to strengthen the global technology sector, creating opportunities for rapidly growing economies with lots of potential to compete on the world stage.

“The Sankore grant fosters partnerships at its heart, with a strong message that we go far when we go together.”

Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, said: “Sankore project is a pivotal opportunity for Nigeria to enhance its innovation landscape, by strengthening industry-science linkages and developing an enabling policy environment.

“This partnership underscores our shared commitment to developing practical solutions that lead to sustainable and inclusive growth.”

Also commenting, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter, said: “Sankore exemplifies the UK’s commitment to driving innovation and sustainable development in Nigeria.

“The project will strengthen partnerships between businesses and innovators as well as drive the development of innovative solutions that address critical gaps in priority economic sectors.

UK invests £1.9m in West African economies

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Hamas chief says they’re ready for ‘long war’ in Gaza

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Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar

Hamas chief says they’re ready for ‘long war’ in Gaza

Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories: Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar said Monday the Palestinian group had the resources to sustain its fight against Israel, with support from Iran-backed regional allies, nearly a year into the Gaza war.
Sinwar, who last month replaced slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, said in a letter to the group’s Yemeni allies that “we have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition.”
Deadly fighting raged on in the besieged Gaza Strip, where medics and rescuers said Monday that Israeli strikes — which the military has not commented on — killed at least two dozen people.
The latest strikes came as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that prospects for a halt in fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon were dimming, yet again raising fears of a wider regional conflagration.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP at the weekend the group “has a high ability to continue” fighting despite losses, noting “the recruitment of new generations” to replace killed militants.
Gallant last week said Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war, “no longer exists” as a military formation in Gaza.
Sinwar, in his letter to Yemen’s Houthis, threatened that Iran-aligned groups in Gaza and elsewhere in the region including Lebanon and Iraq would “break the enemy’s political will” after more than 11 months of war.
“Our combined efforts with you” and with groups in Lebanon and Iraq “will break this enemy and inflict defeat on it,” Sinwar said.
Independent UN rights experts meanwhile warned that Israel risked international isolation over its actions in Gaza and called on Western countries to ensure accountability.
Spain, which recently joined several European countries in formally recognizing the State of Palestine, is due to host Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday, an official in his office told AFP.
Abbas, who is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and holds little sway in Gaza, is set to meet Spanish King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, before heading to New York for the UN General Assembly.

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The October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
Tensions have surged along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, amid fears the violence could explode into an all-out war.
“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” Gallant told visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein, a defense ministry statement said.
Israeli media outlets said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering firing Gallant, one of several officials who have been at odds with the veteran leader on war policy. Netanyahu’s office denied the reports.
Netanyahu told Hochstein later Monday he seeks a “fundamental change” in the security situation on Israel’s northern border.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces since October in stated support of ally Hamas.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Saturday his group has “no intention of going to war,” but if Israel does “unleash” one “there will be large losses on both sides.”
The violence has killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.

In central Gaza, survivors scoured debris Monday after a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Ten people were killed and 15 were wounded when an air strike hit the Al-Qassas family home in Nuseirat in the morning, said a medic at Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
“My house was hit while we were sleeping without any prior warning,” said survivor Rashed Al-Qassas.
Gaza’s civil defense said six Palestinians were killed in a similar strike at night on a house belonging to the Bassal family in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighborhood.
Emergency services later reported six more deaths, with Al-Awda Hospital saying it received the bodies of three people killed in Israeli strikes on Nuseirat.
The Gaza war has drawn in Iran-backed Hamas allies across the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis, whose maritime attacks have disrupted global shipping through vital waterways off Yemen.
On Sunday the rebels claimed a rare missile attack on central Israel which caused no casualties, prompting Netanyahu to warn that they would pay “a heavy price for any attempt to harm us.”
In a televised speech, the Houthis’ leader said the rebels and their regional allies were “preparing to do even more.”
“Our operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza continue,” Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said.

 

Hamas chief says they’re ready for ‘long war’ in Gaza

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