Latest news with #HassanNasrallah
Time of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Watch: Israel resumes strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon after ceasefire, releases attack footage
Israel resumed military operations on June 28, striking Hezbollah sites in Southern Lebanon after a brief ceasefire. Smoke rose from Nabatieh as Israeli forces released footage of the assault. The renewed conflict follows a US-brokered truce and ongoing tensions since Hezbollah's attacks in October 2023. Key Hezbollah leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, were killed in earlier Israeli strikes. Show more Show less
LBCI
3 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Two wars, no winners: A year later, inside Israel's battles on the Lebanon and Iran fronts
Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian The roar of Israeli fighter jets and the blast of Iranian ballistic missiles have fallen silent, marking the end of a 12-day war. That conflict followed the 66-day war between Hezbollah and Israel, which may not be over. So what did the two wars yield, and what consequences did each leave behind? Let's start with the morning of June 13. Israel launched what it called 'Operation Rising Lion,' targeting senior military commanders and striking sensitive military facilities. Its stated objective was to dismantle Iran's nuclear infrastructure, but its broader aim was to destabilize—and ultimately topple—the Iranian regime. But the operation faltered. Iran held its ground and retaliated by striking Tel Aviv, setting off a trail of destruction from northern to southern Israel. In Lebanon, Israel conducted a series of strikes. The most notable was the pager explosion operation; the most consequential was the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. The attacks took a toll on the group, which retaliated—but not at a scale that matched Israel's assault. That's the military picture. As for the ceasefire, it began with a message from U.S. President Donald Trump to Iran: unconditional surrender. The turning point came when Washington entered the conflict, striking Iran's nuclear sites. During the war, Trump floated the possibility of regime change in Tehran—only to later state he was against it. In the end, Trump declared the war over with a few words posted on social media. The ceasefire agreement remains ambiguous, and all parties continue to claim victory. In Lebanon, the ceasefire was formalized through a signed agreement—partially made public, with significant portions kept undisclosed. A monitoring committee was formed, yet Israel continues to occupy territory, carry out airstrikes, and conduct targeted assassinations. The bottom line: Tehran was not defeated, and Tel Aviv did not win. Attention has shifted to negotiations, where Washington—the broker of the ceasefire—will face an Iranian regime newly armed with the credibility of demonstrated military capability. As for the war in Lebanon, Hezbollah is left with few gains. Both the group and the Lebanese state remain barred from leading reconstruction, while Trump has permitted China to resume importing Iranian oil. The outcomes of the Lebanon war and the Iran conflict will likely differ. The most important variable: the results of both wars—and, perhaps more crucially, that Trump is back in the White House.
Iraqi News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Funeral held in Baghdad for ex-bodyguard of Hezbollah leader
Baghdad – Hundreds of people attend the funeral in Baghdad of Hussein Khalil – the former bodyguard of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah – his son Mahdi, and Haider al-Moussawi, commander of the security unit of the Iraqi armed group the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades. All three were killed a day earlier in an Israeli drone strike in Iran near the Iraqi border.
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Netanyahu says he has ‘interesting intel' on Iran's uranium
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed he has 'interesting intel' on the location of Iran's enriched uranium. He made the remark following US airstrikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. Speaking to reporters during a briefing on Sunday, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel is aware of the location of Iran's 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, but refused to give further details. 'We've been following that very closely. I can tell you that it's an important component of a nuclear program. It's not the sole component. It's not a sufficient component. But it is an important component and we have interesting intel on that, which you will excuse me if I don't share with you,' he said when asked about the whereabouts of the material. He also claimed that Iran's underground Fordow nuclear site was damaged in a Sunday strike by US bombers, reportedly involving bunker-buster munitions, but noted the extent of the impact remained unclear. According to Netanyahu, Israel 'had to act' following what he described as Tehran's accelerated push toward nuclear weaponization after the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024. He also accused Iran of expanding its missile program and planning to produce 300 ballistic missiles per month. He added that Israel is now 'very, very close' to achieving its objective of eliminating what he called the dual threats posed by Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities. 'We won't pursue our actions beyond what is needed to achieve them, but we also won't finish too soon. When the objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the fighting will stop,' he told reporters, adding: 'Israel is very close to the goals that we have set in the campaign against Iran.' Iran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons and maintains that its program is peaceful. Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran's enriched uranium reserves were continuing to grow, though the material remains below weapons-grade levels. Tehran began increasing its enrichment after the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 under President Donald Trump. Iranian officials have accused Israel of fabricating threats to justify military escalation and warned that further aggression will trigger a firm response.
Arab Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Arab Times
Hezbollah, Iraqi Militias Avoid Direct Involvement In Iran-Israel War—for Now
BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran, triggering the ongoing Israel-Iran war, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray — even after the U.S. entered the conflict Sunday with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet. Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a back seat in the latest round convulsing the region. 'Despite all the restraining factors, wild cards remain,' said Tamer Badawi, an associate fellow with the Germany-based think tank Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient. The 'Axis of Resistance' Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerilla force fighting against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time. The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centerpiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the ' Axis of Resistance.' The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas. At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters. Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel's offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling, and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war last September. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of its arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. For their part, the Iraqi militias occasionally struck bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis fired at vessels in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and began targeting Israel. Keeping an ambiguous stance Hezbollah has condemned Israel's attacks and the U.S. strikes on Iran. Just days before the U.S. attack, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a statement that the group 'will act as we deem appropriate in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression.' A statement issued by the group after the U.S. strikes called for called for 'Arab and Islamic countries and the free peoples of the world' to stand with Iran but did not suggest Hezbollah would join in Tehran's retaliation. Lebanese government officials have pressed the group to stay out of the conflict, saying that Lebanon cannot handle another damaging war, and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who visited Lebanon last week, said it would be a 'very bad decision' for Hezbollah to get involved. Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia — a separate group from Hezbollah — had said prior to the U.S. attack that it will directly target U.S. interests and bases spread throughout the region if Washington gets involved. The group has also remained silent since Sunday's strikes. The Houthis last month reached an agreement with Washington to stop attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea in exchange for the U.S. halting its strikes on Yemen, but the group threatened to resume its attacks if Washington entered the Iran-Israel war. In a statement on Sunday, the Houthis' political bureau described the U.S. attack on Iran as a 'grave escalation that poses a direct threat to regional and international security and peace.' The Houthis did not immediately launch strikes. Reasons to stay on the sidelines Hezbollah was weakened by last year's fighting and after losing a major supply route for Iranian weapons with the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally, in a lightning rebel offensive in December. 'Hezbollah has been degraded on the strategic level while cut off from supply chains in Syria,' said Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and associate professor at King's College London. Still, Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said a role for the militant group in the Israel-Iran conflict should not be ruled out. 'The battle is still in its early stages,' he said. 'Even Iran hasn't bombed American bases (in response to the U.S. strikes), but rather bombed Israel.' He said that both the Houthis and the Iraqi militias 'lack the strategic deep strike capability against Israel that Hezbollah once had.' Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Iraq's Iran-allied militias have all along tried to avoid pulling their country into a major conflict. Unlike Hezbollah, whose military wing has operated as a non-state actor in Lebanon — although its political wing is part of the government — the main Iraqi militias are members of a coalition of groups that are officially part of the state defense forces. 'Things in Iraq are good for them right now, they're connected to the state — they're benefitting politically, economically,' Mansour said. 'And also they've seen what's happened to Iran, to Hezbollah and they're concerned that Israel will turn on them as well.' Badawi said that for now, the armed groups may be lying low because 'Iran likely wants these groups to stay intact and operational.' 'But if Iran suffers insurmountable losses or if the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is assassinated, those could act as triggers,' he said.
