International

Hezbollah enters ‘new phase’ of battle against Israel: deputy chief

Published

2 months ago

September 23, 2024

A member of the Israeli security forces stands guard inside a cordoned-off area in Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa district of Israel, targeted by a reported strike by Lebanon's Hezbollah on September 22, 2024. (AFP)

Hezbollah enters ‘new phase’ of battle against Israel: deputy chief

BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s deputy chief, Naim Kassem, said on Sunday the group was in a “new phase” of its battle against Israel.

“We have entered a new phase, namely an open reckoning” he said, adding that only a ceasefire in Gaza would put a stop to cross-border attacks, warning “the Israeli military solution increases the dilemma for Israel and the residents of the north” of the country.

Kassem personally attended the funeral of military leaders Ibrahim Aqil and Mahmoud Hamad on Sunday in southern Beirut.

They were killed in the Israeli raid last Friday during a leadership meeting of the party’s elite Radwan Brigade.

Kassem’s latest remarks are seen as Hezbollah’s response to Israeli pressure to force the party to stop hostilities in southern Lebanon that have raged for almost a year, in order to allow civilians to return to their homes.

“The residents of the north will not return, but rather displacement will increase, support will expand, and the Israeli solution will increase their predicament,” Kassem said. “Go to Gaza and stop the war, and we do not need threats and we will not determine how to respond to the aggression. We have entered a new phase entitled the ‘open account’ battle.”

His statement came after a violent night of Hezbollah military operations against Israel, after an Israeli military graph indicating that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is at the top of its assassination list was published over the weekend.

READ ALSO:

Kassem said that Israel “committed three painful war crimes for us, and they represent the highest levels of savagery that we have never seen.”

He added: “By targeting the leaders of Radwan, (Israel) wanted to paralyze the resistance, incite its environment, and stop the support front, but the resistance fighters disrupted that.

Kassem said: “Threats will not stop us, and we do not fear the most dangerous possibilities, and we are ready to confront all military possibilities.”

Thousands of Hezbollah members and supporters took part in the funeral of Aqeel and Hamad as Civil Defense personnel continued working for the third consecutive day to remove the victims of the raid on Al-Jamous neighborhood.

The number of dead has risen to 50 including women and children and 18 Hezbollah members. Thirteen people are still missing.

A member of the Civil Defense told Arab News: “The Hezbollah officials who were gathered at the time of the raid all died as a result of the intense pressure and were still in their chairs on the second floor underground.

“Their bodies were not disfigured as happened with the civilians living in the building, some of whom died of suffocation.

“We recovered the bodies of children who were burned, and their limbs were shattered when we tried to lift them. There are many remains whose owners are unknown.”

A Civil Defense statement on Sunday said: “One of the most main difficulties faced by the personnel was the fire that broke out under the rubble in a car park on the first lower floor.

READ ALSO:

“The personnel made tremendous efforts in trying to reach the source of the fire due to the presence of several layers of concrete, which caused smoke to spread and hindered the search and rescue operations.”

On Sunday Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three people were killed in separate Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.

The ministry said an Israeli raid on the town of Aitaroun “led to the death of one person and the wounding of another, and that a raid on the town of Khiyam led to the death of one person. A raid on the town of Al-Malikiyah led to the death of one person and the wounding of three people.”

More than 60 airstrikes were recorded “in an initial response” to the explosions of pagers and two-way radios in various Lebanese regions last Tuesday and Wednesday. Hezbollah said it “bombed the Rafael military industry complexes” in northern Israel with “dozens” of rockets, and targeted Ramat David airbase with Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 rockets.

The Israeli military said that “within hours, Hezbollah launched about 115 air threats toward civilian areas in northern Israel.”

Israeli media reported that two houses in the town of Kiryat Bialik near Haifa were hit, and three Israelis were injured.

The Israeli military responded with more shelling of southern Lebanese towns during the early hours of Sunday morning, and Israeli warplanes raided border towns in the south and western Bekaa, targeting the Deir Al-Zahrani area and Iqlim Al-Tuffah.

Hezbollah announced on Sunday afternoon that it had “launched two airstrikes with squadrons of suicide drones on newly established positions of Israeli soldiers around Al-Manara site and the Yiftah barracks.”

Hezbollah enters ‘new phase’ of battle against Israel: deputy chief

ARAB NEWS

International

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.

READ ALSO:

Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.

As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

ARAB NEWS

International

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Published

11 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

President-elect Donald Trump

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the legal cases brought against him, calling them “empty and lawless”.

He accused Democrats of weaponising the judicial system to target him as a political opponent.

In a strongly worded statement, Trump alleged that over $100 million in taxpayer money had been wasted in what he described as a politically driven effort to undermine his influence.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he said, pointing to high-profile prosecutors, including Georgia’s Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as key figures in what he called a “political hijacking.”

READ ALSO:

Trump also accused Willis of colluding with Nathan Wade, whom he described as “her lover” and lacking the experience to handle such cases.

He claimed Wade was paid “millions,” allegedly enabling lavish trips and cruises.

Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil fraud case against Trump, was also criticised.

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

International

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

Published

11 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

A United States federal jury sentenced two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, to 30 years in prison for scamming certain US citizens $3,500,000.

This was mentioned in a news statement made public on the US Department of Justice website on Monday.

According to the statement, the Nigerians, Ibekie and Aniukwu mislead their victims by informing them that they had received big inheritances that required payment to claim.

The couple would then ask their victims to transfer money, promising to refund them after the inheritances were claimed.

It also stated that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding them to send money after they had built trust in their victims.

It read, “An undercover law enforcement investigation has resulted in federal prison sentences for two Nigerian nationals residing in the Chicago suburbs who conducted online inheritance scams and other fraud schemes.

“Using aliases, Anthony Emeka Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu communicated with victims throughout the United States, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to individuals associated with the defendants in order to claim it.

“In addition to the inheritance scam, the pair carried out an online romance scam that involved communicating with victims via social media and dating websites, building trust with the victims through a purported online romance, and convincing them to send money to a predetermined recipient. Aniukwu and Ibekie also orchestrated a ‘business email compromise’ scam that targeted corporate email accounts.

READ ALSO:

“The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.”

According to the statement, after being arraigned on 14 charges, the duo pleaded guilty to their different alterations.

Following their guilty pleas, Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday, and Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years in prison on November 8.

The statement continued, “A federal jury earlier this year convicted Ibekie, 59, of Oswego, Illinois, on all 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on Thursday sentenced Ibekie to 20 years in federal prison.

“Aniukwu, 50, of Romeoville, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Judge Seeger on Nov. 8, 2024, sentenced Aniukwu to 10 years in prison.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Gosha, an accomplice of the Nigerians and a US citizen, is expected to be sentenced on December 18 after pleading guilty.

“A third defendant, Jennifer Gosha, 52, a U.S. citizen from Oak Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. Gosha is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seeger on December 18, 2024,” the statement concluded.