Region resolute to expel US troops after Soleimani martyrdom: Hezbollah chief

Agencies
January 4, 2021

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Lebanon, Jan 4: Since the Pentagon assassinated Iran’s popular anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his companions in January 2020, there have been growing calls for the expulsion of US forces from the region, and this is only one of the repercussions of the cowardly act of terror, says the secretary general of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah.

"One of the main outcomes of the assassination of General Suleimani and [deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units Abu Mahdi] al-Muhandis is the calls made for the expulsion of US forces from the region," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday in a speech delivered live from Beirut on the first anniversary of the assassination, which was authorized by President Donald Trump.

“Such calls had not been made prior to the assassination. The martyrdom of the resistance leaders set US troops on the track of leaving Iraq,” the Hezbollah leader added.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was accompanying General Soleimani on the night of their martyrdom.

The Hezbollah leader said General Soleimani was a hero and an international icon of sacrifice, loyalty and defending the oppressed.

Nasrallah then addressed the United States, the Israeli regime and all those conspiring against the resistance front, saying, “When you assassinate our leaders, we get more determined and strong-minded to assert our rights.”

“Those thinking of weakening us through killings, wars and car bomb attacks are delusional. The US believed it could weaken Iran and the axis of resistance by assassinating Qassem Soleimani, but we are the ones who know how to turn threats into opportunities.”

Tensions are high in the region, he added, and there are major concerns among Persian Gulf states. The Tel Aviv regime is high on alert for possible Iranian retaliation on the anniversary of the assassination.

“The resistance front will be always respecting and glorifying its martyrs. Iran will take military revenge by itself. It has strength and capability as well as power to defend and does not need any proxies. The friends of Iran will take their own decisions if they want to respond to this crime,” Nasrallah stressed.

The Hezbollah leader blamed Washington and the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for the creation of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, stating that their main reason was to fight the resistance front.

He also criticized some Lebanese media outlets for distorting latest remarks by Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), saying, “Lebanon and the Gaza Strip are naturally at the frontlines of the Muslim world due to their geographical proximity to the Zionist entity.”

The Hezbollah secretary general said Iran’s support for the resistance movement and Palestinian groups has been unconditional, and the Islamic Republic has never stopped backing Lebanon; even during the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war.

Nasrallah dismissed Slovenia’s recent decision to designate Hezbollah a 'terrorist' organization, terming such moves as part of a psychological war aimed at frightening ordinary Lebanese people of the resistance movement.

“We have Allah (God) by our side. Whatever you do is doomed to failure, because those who depend on Allah will emerge victorious. Victory is not but from Allah.”

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News Network
January 2,2025

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Israel has conducted a fresh round of strikes on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, claiming the lives of at least 11 people amid the regime’s unceasing aggression on the Palestinian territory.

Local media said the Israeli onslaught targeted a tented encampment in the al-Mawasi area of western Khan Yunis at dawn on Thursday.

The aggression killed at least 11 people, including three children, and the resulted in the injury of 12 others, with reports naming Major General Mahmoud Salah, the director general of the police department in the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza, among the fatalities.

The occupation forces also struck the central Gaza Strip, where Israeli vehicles fired at the north of Nuseirat refugee camp and shelled the west of the camp with artillery.

The regime’s helicopters also fired at the southwest of Deir al-Balah.

Moreover, the Israeli forces launched a raid targeting Gaza City and the Saftawi area, northwest of the city, as well as the Jabalia camp in the north of the Strip.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on the first day of the New Year that the Israeli regime had slaughtered 17 Palestinians in the northern Gaza refugee camp of al-Bureij.

Twenty Palestinians were also injured in the Wednesday airstrike.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

So far, Israel has killed 45,553 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured 108,379 others.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the besieged territory is in ruins.

Occupation of Gaza City

Citing Israeli media, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday that the Israeli regime was considering ordering the military to occupy Gaza City.

Israeli Channel 14 claimed the move comes amid a stalemate in indirect negotiations aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

“The political echelon is considering issuing an order to the Israeli army to head south and occupy Gaza City in the near future,” the channel said.

“Such an operation is possible now, especially in light of the ceasefire in Lebanon and the availability of more army forces to carry out large-scale and prolonged maneuvers.”

The broadcaster also said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is “satisfied” with the results of its military campaign in northern Gaza.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza have so far failed due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the protracted war.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the blockaded territory.

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News Network
January 1,2025

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A new report released by the UN Human Rights Office says Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on hospitals in Gaza have had a catastrophic effect on the territory’s healthcare system.

Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Tuesday the regime has used heavy bombs to attack civilians taking shelter in hospitals.

Laurence added that the UN office has also verified the precision targeting of people inside hospitals, including healthcare workers.

He stressed that deliberate attacks on places where the sick and wounded are treated is a war crime.

“And beyond the conflict itself, civilians were seriously impacted. Women, especially pregnant women, have suffered gravely,” he said.

“Our Office received reports that newborns had died because their mothers were unable to attend postnatal check-ups or reach medical facilities to give birth,” he added.

“Intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are treated, provided they are not military objectives, is a war crime,” he said.

“Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities is a war crime. And intentionally launching disproportionate attacks is also war crime,” he stated.

Laurence said the Israeli regime’s pattern of deadly attacks on Gaza hospitals has pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse.

His remarks came after UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, said earlier that Gaza's hospitals have become a death trap.

He urged independent and credible investigations into hospital-related incidents in Gaza.

Gaza’s population has been reduced by 6 percent since the beginning of the Israeli regime’s campaign of genocide in the besieged Palestinian territory in 2023, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said.

According to the bureau’s report published on Tuesday, the Israeli offensive has left 45,541 Palestinians dead, 11,000 missing and believed to be under the rubble. At least 100,000 have also been forced to flee, the report said.

The report reveals that “90% of children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant women” face severe nutritional deficiencies in Gaza.

The report also indicates the Israeli forces deliberately “target specific groups of the population, such as children and youth,” which leads to a significant “distortion … of the population.”

According to the bureau, this will greatly reduce the birth rate, and negatively affect the age and gender structure of the population during the years to come.

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News Network
January 7,2025

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Israeli settlers shielded by the occupation troops have stormed several villages in the West Bank, setting Palestinian homes, farms and vehicles on fire.

Palestinian media reported that the violent settler attacks took place on Monday night in the villages of Turmus Ayya, Tuqu', Hajjah, Fara'ata, al-Funduq and Immatain.

Prior to the raids, far-right Israeli social media groups had posted messages calling on members to join in on rampages against Palestinian villages.

The attacks took place although Israeli rights groups had demanded preventative actions by the regime's authorities.

“Once again, the army is doing nothing to prevent settler violence. This time, too, the writing was on the wall, and notices calling for riots in the villages were distributed publicly among settlers,” the Yesh Din right group said.

Settler violence has escalated significantly since October 7, 2023, when Israel unleashed a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 45,854 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 109,139 others, in its brutal Gaza onslaught. 

Israel confiscates more Palestinian land

Separately on Monday, the Wafa news agency reported that Israeli authorities had seized 262,000 square meters of Palestinian land in Jaba’, al-Ram, Kafr 'Aqab, and Mukhmas, all situated in the al-Quds governorate.

Israeli human rights organization Ir Amim said that the occupying regime is seeking to annex the confiscated area to the illegal Geva Binyamin settlement.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

While all Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, Israel keeps expanding them in blatant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

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