Dr Zakir Naik insulted beliefs of Hindus, Christians and Muslims: NIA charge sheet

The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says its fighters have killed at least 20 Israeli soldiers in northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip in just two days, in retaliation for the occupying regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

In a statement on Monday evening, Hamas said that fighters of its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, “killed at least five occupation soldiers” in northern parts of the coastal territory earlier in the day.

It added that Hamas fighters also killed 15 Israeli soldiers in the war-ravaged region on Sunday.

The resistance movement’s “qualitative operation … confirms once again the failure of the criminal Zionist entity to suppress and eradicate the Palestinian resistance, which continues to direct qualitative strikes against its terrorist soldiers,” Hamas further said on its Telegram channel.

Palestinians have increased their resistance operations in the face of intensified Israeli aggression in northern Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 over the past weeks.

“Our valiant resistance is waging a war of attrition with the criminal enemy, inflicting daily losses on its soldiers and vehicles, and all of [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bets and dreams of achieving any of his goals are failing,” the Gaza-based resistance movement added.

Hamas also vowed that Israel’s ongoing crimes and aggression against Gaza would be met with increased resistance and painful strikes, which will continue until the aggression against Palestinians ends and the regime fully withdraws from the blockaded territory.

As the war in Gaza enters its 14th month, the Health Ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed at least 43,603 Palestinians and wounded 102,929 others.

The Karnataka Police’s Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) achieved a major breakthrough on Monday night by eliminating Vikram Gowda, one of Karnataka’s most wanted Naxal leaders for over two decades. The encounter occurred in the dense Kabbinale forest of Udupi district, marking a significant victory against Naxal insurgency in the region.

Who Was Vikram Gowda?

Hailing from Hebri in Udupi, Vikram Gowda, 44, was a prominent figure in the Naxal movement. He went underground in 2002, initially serving as a courier and fund collector before rising to lead a breakaway Naxal group. Despite having only a fourth-grade education, he was a staunch advocate for tribal rights and a key player in the movement’s survival in Karnataka.

Bounty: ₹3 lakh from Karnataka and ₹50,000 from Kerala.

Legacy: The last major Naxal leader in Karnataka after the 2021 arrest of B G Krishnamurthy.

The Encounter

Police revealed that Gowda and his team visited Kabbinale village to collect groceries on Monday night. Acting on a tip-off, ANF ambushed the group. When the Naxals opened fire, ANF responded, leading to Gowda's death.

Escapees: Three Naxals fled, including prominent members Latha (aka Mundgaru Latha) and Raju.

Significance: This was the first Naxal casualty in Karnataka in over two decades.

Home Minister G. Parameshwara confirmed the operation, stating, “Gowda was elusive for 20 years, escaping multiple encounters. His death is a critical step in dismantling Naxal operations in the region.”

The Decline of Naxal Activity in Karnataka

Karnataka's Naxal movement has been dwindling, with members seeking refuge in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The group’s strength had reduced to just 19 members by 2018, but recent sightings indicate attempts at revival:

2023 Activity: Reports of Gowda-led movements in the Kodagu and Hassan districts reignited concerns.

Political Heat: The BJP criticised the Congress government, alleging it created a “safe haven” for Naxals.

A Glimpse into Gowda’s Past

Personal Life: Gowda’s ex-wife, Savitri (alias Rajita), was arrested in 2021. She was a senior Naxal commander involved in insurgency since 2004.
Rehabilitation Efforts: Since 2013, Karnataka’s rehabilitation policy has seen 14 Naxals surrender and reintegrate into mainstream society.

A Milestone in Karnataka’s Fight Against Insurgency

The operation signifies a decisive blow to Naxal resurgence in the Western Ghats. While the ANF continues its search for escapees, the Karnataka government reaffirmed its commitment to offering rehabilitation to those willing to surrender.

As Karnataka celebrates this triumph, the message is clear: there is no room for insurgency in the state.

Beirut: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings.

However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.

The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers.

The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.

The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”

About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded.

For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people.

The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.”

The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.”

The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath.

Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family.

Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.

A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries.

The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.

During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.

The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy.

It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited.

In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”

The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”

On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings.

The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”

Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”