Hezbollah

October 28, 2024 10:32 AM

Netanyahu says Israel hit Iran hard; Khamenei says damage should not be exaggerated

Israel's airstrikes "hit hard" Iran's defences and missile production, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country was considering its response. With warfare raging in Gaza and Lebanon, direct confrontation between Israel and Iran risks spiralling into a regional conflagration. But a day after the airstrikes, there was no sign they would spark another round of escalation. However, heavy fighting in Lebanon between Israeli ...

October 24, 2024 11:54 PM

Nepal Army prepares contingency plans to rescue peacekeepers from Syria and Lebanon

The Nepal Army is preparing contingency plans to rescue Nepali peacekeepers deployed in Syria and Lebanon should the situation deteriorate further. The ongoing conflict between the militant group Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon has created a slightly uncomfortable situation for some Nepali peacekeepers deployed under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Currently, 877 Nepali peacekeepers are stationed in Lebanon as part of UNIFIL, while 452 are deployed at a border point in Syr...

October 24, 2024 1:32 PM

World powers meet in Paris to push Lebanon aid, ceasefire

World powers are meeting in Paris on Thursday aiming to raise at least 500 million euros in urgent humanitarian aid for Lebanon and push for a ceasefire, but with the U.S. focused on its own efforts, diplomats said they expect little concrete progress. France has historical ties with Lebanon and has been working with Washington in trying to secure a ceasefire. But its influence has been limited since Israel launched a large-scale onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah in September that has seen tho...

October 23, 2024 3:40 PM

Blinken urges halt to Middle East conflict as Israel bombs historic Lebanese port city

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed on Wednesday for a halt to fighting between Israel and militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, but heavy Israeli air strikes on a large historic Lebanese port city demonstrated that there was no respite. Israel began to bomb the UNESCO-listed port city of Tyre on Wednesday roughly three hours after issuing an order online for residents to flee central areas. Huge clouds of thick smoke billowed above residential buildings. Tens of thousands of people h...

October 23, 2024 1:44 PM

Who is Hashem Safieddine, the Nasrallah relative seen as future Hezbollah leader?

Hashem Safieddine, whose killing was confirmed on Tuesday by Israel's military in its confrontation with Hezbollah, is widely seen as Hassan Nasrallah's likely successor as head of the Iran-backed group. A relative of Nasrallah, he has been running the movement alongside its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah's assassination by Israel on Sept. 27. Safieddine has sat on the group's Jihad Council - the body responsible for its military operations. He is also head of its executi...

October 23, 2024 11:39 AM

Israel confirms death of heir apparent to slain Hezbollah leader

Israel on Tuesday confirmed it had killed Hashem Safieddine, the heir apparent to late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed last month in an Israeli attack targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group. The military said Safieddine was killed in a strike carried out three weeks ago in Beirut's southern suburbs, its first confirmation of his death. Earlier this month, Israel said he had probably been eliminated. There was no immediate response from Hezbollah to Israel's statemen...

October 22, 2024 11:36 AM

Blinken heads to Middle East for new ceasefire push as Israel strikes Beirut

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Middle East on Monday to launch another push for an elusive ceasefire, seeking to revive negotiations to end the Gaza war and defuse the spillover conflict in Lebanon. Blinken's trip to the region is his 11th since the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the Gaza war. It comes as Israel intensifies its military campaign against Iran-backed militants - Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbolla...

October 21, 2024 10:20 AM

Lebanese flee as blasts hit Beirut, Israel warns of strikes on Hezbollah finance arm

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday with multiple explosions heard across the Lebanese capital, as Israel prepared to attack sites linked to the financial operations of Lebanon's Hezbollah group and told people to leave those areas immediately. Dense plumes of black smoke were seen billowing in the air after at least 10 blasts, Reuters reported. Eyewitnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a building located in the Chiyah neighbourhood in the southern s...

October 18, 2024 9:43 AM

Hezbollah says it will escalate war with Israel after Hamas leader killed

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said on Friday it was moving to a new and escalating phase in its war against Israel while Iran said "the spirit of resistance will be strengthened" after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, a pivotal event in the year-long conflict. Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity...

October 17, 2024 10:16 PM

Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader committed to eradicating Israel

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar remained unrepentant about the Oct. 7 attacks a year ago, people in contact with him have said, despite unleashing an Israeli invasion that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, laid waste to his Gaza homeland and rained destruction on ally Hezbollah. Two officials with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday that Israeli ministers were told Israeli troops had likely killed Sinwar, 62, dubbed by Israelis "the Face of Evil" and architect of the Hamas cross-bord...