CEP Mentions
Bloomberg: Israeli Killing Of Hezbollah Leader Draws Support From Biden
“... Born in Lebanon in 1964, Safieddine has been part of Hezbollah since it was founded in 1982, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington. The US designated Safieddine a “specially designated global terrorist” in 2017. Nasrallah, who was 64, started leading Hezbollah in the early 1990s and was close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, becoming integral to Tehran’s network of proxy forces in the Middle East. Hezbollah is considered the crown jewel in what’s often referred to as Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and US forces in the region, which also includes Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen. Nasrallah had been living in hiding since 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating 34-day war. He last appeared in public years ago, though he did several televised speeches.”
BBC: Hezbollah Says It’s Ready For A Ground Offensive As Israel Continues Air Strikes
“… Just as Israel has come under attack from drones and missiles fired by Iran’s allied militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, so has Israel struck out at targets in all those countries. Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former British ambassador to Yemen and now a senior adviser with the Counter Extremism Project, tells the BBC: "The Houthis have continued to try to attack Israel and have known intent to try to upgrade their capabilities to make their attacks more effective". He says there is little cost to Israel here "because they are not attacking a legitimate sovereign entity". This year Israel has struck targets in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Gaza, the West Bank and is widely believed to be behind the assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. With the firm backing of the US and its warships poised offshore, Israel has set course to take on almost all its enemies at once.”
Daily Mail: Iran May Hit Back At British And US Targets In Middle East After Israel Killing Of Hezbollah Chief - As Region Risks Being Plunged Into Wider War, Experts Warn
“... Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and former Ambassador of the UK to Yemen, told MailOnline: 'Any successful upgrade of Houthi capabilities would also likely draw a kinetic Israeli response.' He added that such a deal could 'draw clearer lines of alliances' between an axis of Russia and Iran against the West. Despite calls from its allies to de-escalate and leave Lebanon, Israel seemed intent on continuing its press into Lebanon. This morning the IDF announced it was mobilising three reserve battalions to bolster the defences of its central command. Israel's Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of Nasrallah was 'not the end of our toolbox.' He said that the strike targeting Hezbollah leadership was the result of a long period of preparation and they would 'reach' anyone who threatens Israel. He added that the army is 'at full readiness in all of our fronts'.”
Tagesspiegel: Khamenei In Safe Place: “A Targeted Killing Would Be A Direct Declaration Of War On Iran”
“First Ismail Haniya, then Hassan Nasrallah – and soon Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? After Israel killed the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah since the end of July, the Iranian regime fears that it could now be the turn of the 85-year-old revolutionary leader in Tehran.… Security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler calls the action unusual. After the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the Iranian regime must assume that its security measures, which were long considered adequate, are no longer sufficient. “Israel has been interested in eliminating Nasrallah for years, but has been hesitant to attack Nasrallah directly,” says the expert from the international Counter Extremism Project. There have already been threats: While the Israeli Air Force was preparing its attack on Nasrallah's bunker in Beirut on Friday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York that "the long arm of Israel" could reach any place in Iran . His "message to the tyrants of Tehran" was: "If you attack us, we will attack you."”
DW News: How Nasrallah Transformed Hezbollah In 32 Years As Chief
“Hezbollah has confirmed the death of Hassan Nasrallah. During his three decades as leader, Hezbollah became one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the Middle East. Here's a look back on his life.”
United States
PBS: U.S. Troops Will Leave Some Bases In Iraq Under Deal To End Mission Fighting Islamic State
“The U.S. announced an agreement with the Iraqi government Friday to wrap up the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by next year, with U.S. troops departing some bases that they have long occupied during a two-decade-long military presence in the country. But the Biden administration refused to provide details on how many of the approximately 2,500 U.S. troops still serving in Iraq will remain there or acknowledge it will mark a full withdrawal from the country. “I think it’s fair to say that, you know, our footprint is going to be changing within the country,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday without providing specifics. The announcement comes at a particularly contentious time for the Middle East, with escalating conflict between Israel and two Iranian-backed militant groups — Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — threatening a broader regional war.”
Associated Press: Biden Says He’ll Speak With Israeli Leader, Vowing All-Out War In The Middle East Must Be Avoided
“President Joe Biden said Sunday he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided. “It has to be,” Biden told reporters as he boarded Air Force One for Washington. “We really have to avoid it.” The president’s statements come as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday. He would not say when he planned to speak with Netanyahu. The Iran-backed Hezbollah sustained a string of deadly blows to its command structure, including the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as part of a wave of increasingly brazen Israeli strikes meant to undercut the group’s capacity to attack its territory. Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have been forced to evacuate near the Israel-Lebanon border as Hezbollah has launched near-daily rocket volleys at Israel over the past 11 months and Israel has countered with its own strikes.”
Syria
Reuters: Syrians Mourn Hezbollah Leader Killed In Israeli Strike
“Flags flew at half-mast in Damascus on Sunday and residents said they were still shocked after the killing of Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose fighters helped Syria's army reclaim large parts of the country during its brutal civil war. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, amid a significant escalation in the hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military playing out in parallel with the Gaza war. Syria announced three days of national mourning, with President Bashar al-Assad saying on Sunday that Nasrallah would "remain in the memory of Syrians". In Damascus, residents expressed disbelief over Israel's killing of Nasrallah. "He can't die. He always dreamed of martyrdom, and while this is fitting, it's still so hard to accept," said Marwa Barkouka. "He remains alive, not just as a martyr but because he lives inside us. We grew up with him here."”
Iran
Reuters: Iran Vows Response To Guards Deputy Commander Killing In Lebanon
“Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the killing by Israel of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander in Beirut was a "horrible crime" that would not go unanswered. Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan was killed in the Israeli strikes on Beirut on Friday in which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah also died. "There is no doubt that this horrible crime committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) will not go unanswered," Araqchi said in a statement addressed to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami. Earlier on Sunday, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that Iran-alligned armed groups would carry on confronting Israel with Tehran's help following the killing of Nasrallah, Iranian state media reported. An alliance known as the Axis of Resistance, built up over decades with Iranian support, includes the Palestinian group Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Yemen's Houthis, and various Shi'ite Muslim armed groups in Iraq and Syria.”
Pakistan
Voice Of America: Militants Kill 7 Workers, Kidnap 20 In Southwestern Pakistan
“Pakistani authorities said Sunday suspected insurgents killed at least seven workers and abducted 20 others at gunpoint in two attacks overnight in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province. The violence occurred in the Panjgur and Musakhail districts of the sparsely populated insurgency-hit province, which is rich in natural resources. Police said that gunmen attacked a home in Panjgur at around midnight Saturday, spraying its occupants with bullets before fleeing on motorcycles. They added that the gunfire wounded one person and that the victims were laborers from the eastern Punjab province. The second attack took place early Sunday when a group of armed men stormed a gas and oil exploration company’s site in Musakhail. Dheeraj Kalra, the local assistant police commissioner, told VOA by phone that the assailants opened fire, vandalized equipment, took 20 workers as hostages, and then escaped.”
Lebanon
Associated Press: An Israeli Airstrike Hits Central Beirut For The First Time In Nearly A Year Of Conflict
“The first apparent Israeli airstrike on central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict leveled an apartment building early Monday. It came after Israel hit targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people, as Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The airstrike hit a multistory residential building, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene. Videos showed ambulances and a crowd gathered near the building in a mainly Sunni district with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops. The airstrike killed at least one person and wounded 16, an official with Lebanese Civil Defense said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He said the person killed was a member of the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, a Sunni political and militant group that is allied with Hezbollah.”
Middle East
Reuters: Hamas Says Nasrallah 'Assassination' Will Only Strengthen Resistance
“Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Saturday it mourned Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following his killing in an Israeli airstrike, saying his death would only fuel the fight against Israel. "Crimes and assassination by the occupation will only increase the determination and the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to go forward with all their might, bravery and pride on the footsteps of the martyrs...and pursue the path of resistance until victory and the dismissal of the occupation," Hamas said in a statement. His death marks a heavy blow to Hezbollah as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to Iran, given the major role he has played in the Tehran-backed regional "Axis of Resistance." The 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted between their ally Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7.”
Associated Press: Israel-Hamas War Latest: Israel Strikes Houthi Targets In Yemen
“Hezbollah on Sunday confirmed the death of high-ranking official Nabil Kaouk in an Israeli airstrike, a day after the Lebanese militant group acknowledged the killings of multiple commanders, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the militants’ recent attacks, and is continuing to carry out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the number of people displaced by the conflict from southern Lebanon has more than doubled and now stands at more than 211,000, according to the United Nations. Hezbollah and Israel have traded near-daily strikes since the Israel-Hamas war started after the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group stormed into Israel almost a year ago on Oct. 7, sparking fears of regional war. An apparent Israeli airstrike hit central Beirut early Monday, for the first time in nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, witnesses said.”
Somalia
Reuters: At Least Six Killed By Bomb Blasts In Somalia
“At six people were killed and 10 injured on Saturday by bomb explosions in Somalia's capital Mogadishu and a town in the country's Middle Shabelle region, police and witnesses said. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, although Islamist militant group al Shabaab frequently orchestrates bombings and gun attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa country. The blast in Mogadishu involved a bomb-rigged car that was parked on a road near the National Theatre in Mogadishu, about one kilometre away from the president's office. It detonated, killing five people and injuring seven, a policeman at the scene, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press, told Reuters. The casualty figures were confirmed by another policeman in the area. A police spokesperson did not pick up a Reuters' call seeking comment.”
Africa
Voice Of America: Attacks By Islamic Extremists Are Rampant In Africa's Sahel
“Extremist attacks in Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara in Africa, have proliferated in recent months: Last week, Islamic militants attacked Bamako, the capital of Mali, for the first time in almost a decade, demonstrating their capacity to carry out large scale assaults. And last month, at least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaida-linked jihadis, as they were forcibly helping security forces dig trenches to protect security outposts and villages. Here's what we know about the security situation in Sahel: A region characterized by uprisings and coups. Over the last decade, the region has been shaken by extremist uprisings and military coups. Three Sahelian nations, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, are now ruled by military leaders who have taken power by force, on the pledge of providing more security to citizens.”
United Kingdom
Reuters: UK Calls Again For Immediate Ceasefire In Lebanon
“British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had spoken with Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday, following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut which killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. "We agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the bloodshed. A diplomatic solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people," Lammy said in a statement on social media platform X. Earlier in the week Lammy told the United Nations' General Assembly that there should be an immediate ceasefire between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel and that a full-blown war was not in the interest of the people in the region. Britain's foreign ministry has advised its nationals to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.”
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