Palestinians fight for their lives and their stolen lands

[Anthea]

UK closes pro-Palestine camp

The University of Nottingham has gone to extremes to stop the pro-Palestine encampment that was established on campus, refusing to even engage with protesting students. But the fight is not over for the demonstrators

Shelton Street, located in London’s Covent Garden, is a short, narrow road. It is lined by neat buildings, three storeys high made from reddish bricks. It is quiet, with only a handful of offices and little vehicle traffic. Not much happens there.

On August 5 this year, that changed. The small street was thrust onto the world stage after the occupants at number 75, the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), issued an alarming press release about mounting oppression and censorship at UK universities.

BRISMES was founded in 1973, and with 500 members provides "a forum for educators and researchers in Middle East Studies." Its staff are topflight academics from the London School of Economics (LSE), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and the universities of Exeter, Glasgow, Oxford, St Andrews, Warwick, and York.

On the morning of Monday August 5, BRISMES issued a two page, 640-word press release accusing UK universities of suppressing student opposition to "Israel’s" genocidal onslaught on Gaza:

"[BRISMES] Condemns the recent wave of repression by university administrations directed at students involved in encampments and other protests opposing Israel’s war on Gaza."

The press release listed three specific tactics used against students: disciplinary action, the unnecessary use of force, and the threat of costly litigation.

Rolls Royce, BAE Systems and the University of Nottingham

Rolls Royce are well known for building luxury cars. A 2024 Spectre will cost you a cool $520,000, a 2024 Cullinan a little less at $450,000. But the company is lesser known for its dishonest business practices. In 2017, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and Rolls Royce entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). DPAs were introduced in 2013 and allow the UK government to negotiate a penalty with an organisation suspected of an economic crime, such as bribery or fraud, rather than undergo a costly trial. Some suggest DPAs also let companies off the ethical hook as most penalties are affordable.

The Rolls Royce DPA covered a 12-count indictment including offences of "conspiracy to corrupt, false accounting and failure to prevent bribery." The fine was approximately $650 million, the largest financial penalty imposed on a company for criminal conduct in the UK. The alleged offences were across multiple jurisdictions and divisions, including energy, aviation, and defence.

Rolls Royce builds engines and power units for a range of land, air and sea based military vehicles. It boasts having "16,000 military engines in service with 160 customers in 103 countries," which puts it on track to be the world’s 23rd largest defence company in 2024.

It includes "Israel" (who is enacting a genocide in Gaza where almost 200,000 people have been slaughtered) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (who is waging an illegal war on Yemen where almost a quarter of a million people have been murdered) amongst its customers.

According to Defence News, the world’s 7th largest defence company is BAE Systems. With a workforce of 100,000 people in over 40 countries, BAE provides security solutions to "those who serve and protect us." Their web site lists 11 ways in which they play an "Important role in society," but omits to mention they deal in death.

Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) is a London-based charity that monitors and records armed violence against civilians. In April of this year, they released a report titled How BAE Systems Helped Arm Half the World, which states BAE directly supplies 81 countries with weapons and military systems, including 29 whose military actions have injured or killed civilians.

13 who are on the UK’s human rights abuse watchlist, nine who have experienced one or more military coup d’états over the past decade, and one, "Israel", who is on trial at the International Court of Justice on allegations of genocide. BAE itself has a case pending at the International Criminal Court accusing it of being complicit of war crimes in Yemen.

It is a distinctive building, once seen not easily forgotten. Three storeys high, the upper two clad in anodised golden panels pierced with long vertically stretched windows, the Advanced Manufacturing Building at the University of Nottingham (UoN) is a talking point. Shunning conventional form, the overtly masculine structure is an overdose of right angles and straight, rigid lines, excessively high ceilings and tall, towering roofs. There is little that is human or humble about this building.

The facility is home to multidisciplinary teams who research and develop new technologies and systems of production in several sectors including automotive, power engineering and defence. Rolls Royce and BAE Systems partly fund the facility (to the tune of $60 million), and the collaboration has triggered heated debate about the ethics of UoN’s involvement in the military-industrial complex, and indirectly its possible complicity in war crimes.

Sadly, UoN is not alone. A February 2023 study by Declassified UK, found British universities received approximately $650 million in research funding from the arms trade, and “these kinds of partnerships change the way that education is oriented” concluded the study.

While there has been a student led effort to demilitarise UoN for over a decade, the recent Israeli led genocide on Gaza has brought a renewed sense of urgency and a sharpened focus to the campaign.
Genocide, The International Criminal Court and Yoseph Haddad

It was as frightening as it was incriminating. On October 9, 2023, "Israel’s" Security Minister Gallant, dressed in black, macabrely informed the world that "Israel" was about to illegally lay siege to Gaza in an attempt to squeeze the life out of it – all life, from Resistance fighter to civilian, from adult to child. Nothing was to be spared.

We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything will be closed. We are fighting human animals

The brag served as public testimony of "Israel’s" intent to deliberately kill a large number of people from a particular nation, or ethnic group, with the aim of destroying that nation or group. It was a textbook definition of a genocide. To remove any doubt a cast of Israeli ministers, government officials and military leaders went on record making similar claims.

In the months that followed, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) unleashed a living hell on Gaza, including round-the-clock bombing, indiscriminate shelling, arrest, detention and torture of civilians, laying siege to hospitals, missile attacks on schools, and drone attacks on refugee settlements in declared safe zones.

UoN students were quick to mobilise in solidarity with Palestinians, holding rallies and marches and staging a die-in at the university’s career fair, where 18 companies linked to the arms trade had been invited. They walked out of lessons and occupied buildings, blocked entrances to management offices and held vigils.

A list of demands of UoN was drawn up, including ending all partnerships with arms companies and Israeli academic institutions, supporting free speech and protest on campus, and committing to rebuild the Palestinian education sector, as well as provide bursaries and scholarships to Palestinians. The requests were comparable to those undertaken by the university when Russia invaded Ukraine.

In March 2022, the University Executive Board determined that the "University of Nottingham will end all formal links with universities in Russia, including current research projects, bilateral agreements, memoranda of understanding and any projects currently under development."

The Executive Board went on to confirm the university "was exploring how we [University of Nottingham] can enable students and postgraduate researchers from Ukraine to study with us in the UK."

Affected students were provided a 24x7 hotline to help with their mental health and wellbeing, and the Board endorsed three charities that were providing humanitarian support to Ukraine. When it came to similar demands for Palestine, the university administration didn’t engage.

On the contrary, in early December 2023, a small number of students held a non-violent sit-in at one of UoN’s auditoriums. They sat peacefully on the floor, protesting the university’s continued complicity with arms companies supplying "Israel". The university’s response was swift and physical: the students were forcefully carried out of the building by private security. Later that month, the Marxist Society of University of Nottingham was threatened with suspension for using the slogan "Intifada until victory."

In February, after the International Criminal Court had ruled a genocide in Gaza plausible and issued special measures against "Israel", the university invited Yoseph Haddad to speak on campus.

Haddad, a controversial figure, and ex-IOF member (Golani Brigade) is a committed Zionist with close links to the Israeli government. A month after his UoN address, he posted a video of him defacing a London mural honouring Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary.

Students repeatedly tried to engage with the administration between October and May, but our options were exhausted. There was no meaningful dialogue and the genocide continued, recalls one camp member

“We approached the Student Union for support multiple times, but management and some full-time officers were unresponsive, and at times even hostile.”

UK student unions are strange entities. They are assumed to be independent, yet receive a large part of their funding from their university. Many have suggested this conflict of interest is why student unions have historically struggled to deliver real change, and this vacuum is increasingly filled by self-organising, single issue student movements.

The Nottingham Camp for the Liberation of Palestine (NCLP) was set up on May 10, 2024, on the grassy patch of Jubilee Campus, directly opposite the Advanced Manufacturing Building.

There were about forty people in the camp, and we had others dropping in. Some members of the University and College Union (UCU) were supportive and showed solidarity by leading discussions and lectures at the camp. We also had members of the local community drop in

A camp member spoke about the reaction of students newly learning about the Palestinian struggle:

“There are some [students] I have met through this encampment who knew very little about Palestine prior to October 7th, and this [genocide] has been their introduction. For them this must be difficult. I’m blown away about how difficult it must be. To see a genocide live, broadcast, and what that means for your brain and nervous system – going from knowing nothing to seeing everything.”

UoN administration was quick to react against the encampment. Instead of engaging and opening a dialogue they served a legal notice for the camp’s removal. The camp’s occupants, who at the time had no legal representation, were given two days to prepare their case. Perversely, the camp’s eviction notice was served on May 15th - or Nakba Day.

The legal process continued for several weeks, and on Friday, July 12th 2024, after two months of peaceful protest, the camp was dismantled.

Andreas Bieler, President of the local UCU branch, gave a stinging indictment of the University’s management:

“The fact that management pursued legal action after only four days without prior engagement with the encampment, and that they threatened our students with legal costs is appalling. It demonstrates that management was never interested in constructive engagement but focused on suppressing students’ voices.”

Bieler makes a crucial point – threatening students with financial ruin. I have seen a copy of University of Nottingham’s claim (Claim No: KB-2024-BHM-000107) and it is a crude and menacing document that names a single individual as the defendant. By doing so, the individual would be solely liable for all legal costs, speculated to be around $200,000.

On July 29th the NCLP issued a press release detailing their decision:

“ … treating peaceful protestors like dangerous agitators and dragging us through two months of legal proceedings, the University then attempted to place its legal costs on a single named defendant without adequate prior notice. This blatant disregard of Civil Procedure Rules, was an abuse of power, attempting to intimidate and financially burden us. To protect our fellow student from financial ruin, we have been forced to dismantle the camp in return for the University agreeing to not seek costs. The University's deployment of a personalised threat against one peaceful protestor as a means of suppressing our collective freedom of speech demonstrated a clear effort to intimidate and silence the encampment.”

The Energy is Still Here

“The physical space is gone but the energy is still here. The camp was just one aspect of our campaign. We still have outreach programmes and community actions, and yes, attempts at dialogue with the university’s’ management. We keep going - until Palestine is liberated,” said one of the camp’s former occupants.

UoN has received formal notification from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, an independent organisation of lawyers, academics, and politicians, alerting it to possible criminal liability for institutions who are complicit in the Gaza genocide.

The Gulf Coalition Against Normalisation is boycotting UoN, along with 38 other international student and community groups, for its ongoing association of arms companies complicit in the Gaza genocide.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... loses-down

[Anthea]

Israel continues systematic domicide

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports that a number of wounded Palestinians were evacuated following an Israeli strike on two family homes in northern Gaza

The Israeli occupation persists in its relentless bombardment of various areas across Gaza as the ongoing genocidal war on the Strip marks its 353rd day, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported on Monday.

Additionally, the Israeli demolition of residential blocks continues as part of its systematic campaign to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes. Israeli media have reported previously that the occupation intends to establish settlements and military bases in the leveled areas.

Our correspondent reported that a Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces west of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on Sunday. Another Palestinian was also killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Ma'an area, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Strip.

Wounded members of the Zanoun family were evacuated after an Israeli bombardment targeted the Khirbet al-Adas area, north of Rafah city, in southern Gaza, the correspondent said.

Residential building demolitions ongoing

Furthermore, in the northern Jabalia camp, several people were injured in an Israeli bombardment targeting a Nassar family home, while others were wounded following an Israeli drone strike on individuals at the Beit Lahia beach.

The Israeli occupation forces demolished residential buildings near the Dawla intersection in the southern part of the al-Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, and in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah City, according to our correspondent.

This comes after the Israeli occupation committed a new massacre in the al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on Sunday, targeting the Kafr Qasim school, which houses hundreds of forcibly displaced Palestinian families.

The Civil Defense in Gaza reported that their teams managed to transfer seven martyrs and several wounded individuals, including critical cases, due to the Israeli shelling of the school. Among the martyrs identified in the attack was engineer Majed Saleh, the director general at the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza.

Footage from the site showed harrowing scenes of stacked bodies, scattered injured, and destruction and fires all over the place.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... c-domicide

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Al Mayadeen English unpublished by FB

Following several attempts to restrict Al Mayadeen English by Meta, Facebook has unpublished our page on Facebook, citing community guidelines violations

Facebook justified its decision by citing several posts that reported on the martyrs of Israel's Friday massacre in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, in which a number of Lebanese Resistance commanders were assassinated after "Israel" targeted a residential building, including commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmad Wehbe, and dozens of civilians.

The toll of the massacre currently stands at 51 martyrs, with 10 still missing, alongside numerous injured.

Al Mayadeen English's reporting follows strict journalistic guidelines and standards. It is possible that the decision could have been taken for the mere mentioning of the names of the martyred commanders. Though Al Mayadeen is a news website, it has been repeatedly subjected to shadow bans and restrictions in an attempt to suppress its content, which is pro-Palestine and pro-Resistance, highlighting the duality of Meta's position on press freedom.

Below are the posts cited by Meta as violations of its guidelines

Most notably, one of the posts that were removed dealt with the Palestinian Resistance's 2005 liberation of Gaza. Although no Resistance movements were mentioned in the post, Facebook still cited this as a breach of its community guidelines, as did Instagram.

Meta silencing, suppressing any pro-Palestine content

Red Stream, The Cradle, Mondoweiss, and Al Mayadeen English have all been previously unpublished or completely suspended by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, which has been largely cracking down on any pro-Palestine content, subjecting news outlets to shadow bans or completely removing content that is deemed pro-Resistance.

Meta admitted in 2022 to suppressing and censoring Palestinian content

In December 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report revealing how moderation rules and algorithms have progressively repressed voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook and suppressed protected speech, including nonviolent communication in favor of Palestine and public discussion about Palestinian human rights.

Meta used its "Dangerous Organizations and Individuals" (DOI) policy in hundreds of documented incidents, which fully includes the United States-recognized lists of "terrorist organizations". Meta has invoked these lists and used them broadly to limit the legal expression of pro-Palestine voices.

"Israel" and its supporters have sought on numerous occasions to remove opposing voices from the airwaves or the internet. Former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked boasted that she worked closely with Facebook to censor Palestinian voices, with the Silicon Valley company agreeing to remove around 95% of the information she requested.

Israel bans Al Mayadeen in occupied Palestine

Meta's policy has also been consistently in line with the Israeli government's attempts to censor Al Mayadeen.

In November 2023, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved the suspension of Al Mayadeen Media Network in occupied Palestine. The ban followed a joint statement by the Minister of Occupation Security, Yoav Galant, and the Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karai, who cited the network as a threat to “Israel’s security” as the reason for the ban.

Just one month ago in August, "Israel" renewed the ban on Al Mayadeen, with the decision this time escalating to include the confiscation of its equipment and the blocking of its websites.

Israeli media reported that the Minister of Communications pursued a new government decision after obtaining a "professional opinion" from security agencies and receiving approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ro--israel

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US to label Palestinian goods as Israeli

The Act was passed with a 231 to 189 vote, receiving major support from pro-Israel members of Congress, including 16 Democrats

The United States House of Representatives passed a bill classifying goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories as made in Israel, in the latest effort to incapacitate Palestinians and their right to self-determination, the Middle East Monitor reported.

The Anti-BDS Labeling Act was passed in a 231 to 189 vote in US Congress on Thursday. The majority of the vote came from pro-Israel representatives, including 16 Democrats.

Spearheaded by Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney from New York, the bill seeks to reinstate a policy initiated during former President Donald Trump's tenure. If implemented, it would require products from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to be labeled separately instead of combined.

Instead of labeling products as from the "West Bank and Gaza", a separate classification of "West Bank" or "Gaza" would be utilized. The Middle East Monitor noted that the tactic would remove any combined identity between the Palestinian territories.

Products from the majority of the occupied West Bank would be labeled as "Product of Israel" or "Made in Israel"

This act is seen as a direct effort to hinder Palestinians' self-determination and the establishment of an independent state, while simultaneously supporting "Israel’s ongoing illegal annexation of occupied territories.

It also aims to escalate efforts against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, pressuring individuals and companies to refrain from boycotting products made in Israel or illegal settlements.

More anti-BDS efforts stand out in the West

This comes in a series of efforts across the collective West to criminalize the BDS movement and support Israeli-linked products in the face of movements and protests calling for complete divestment and boycotts.

In the United Kingdom, a bill was passed forbidding public bodies from boycotting the Israeli entity and certain countries, despite abstention from Labour and the opposition of some Conservatives (who thought a bill like this would prevent action against China).

The bill, dubbed Economic Activity of Public Bodies, targets bodies such as local councils, prohibiting them from autonomously imposing sanctions on countries that are not sanctioned by the Westminster government.

The bill singles out Israel as being particularly worthy of protection from such economic sanctions.

The bill is claimed to keep foreign policy, especially in regards to Israel, a matter of the UK government, to prevent BDS from influencing British foreign policy through local authorities and councils.

In Germany, a report issued by the Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in June revealed that it was dealing with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a "suspected extremist case", noting that it had "links to secular Palestinian extremism."

The report claimed that the BDS is not a homogeneous association, party, or organization.

German news site Watson cited the report as saying that “there is sufficient, strong, factual evidence to suggest that [the] BDS thereby violates, among other things, the idea of international understanding” by questioning "Israel’s" existence.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... nian-goods

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Rains swamp and ruin tents

Sudden downpours flooded displaced Palestinians' makeshift tents amid the ongoing Israeli genocide and bombardment, leaving them with nowhere safe to go

Displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip seeking shelter in makeshift tents due to the ongoing Israeli carpet bombing and attacks now face the challenges of harsh winter conditions as sudden downpours exacerbate their bind.

According to Anadolu, even brief rains were enough to flood and ruin tents, as well as submerge their surroundings, leaving approximately two million displaced Palestinians with "no refuge but the sky".

Muhammad Abdullah Kobi, who fled to the Nusairat Refugee Camp in central Gaza with his family, described the state of their torn tents, noting that the ground on which they were set up was unsuitable for living.

As rains pour over Gaza, tents are left flooded due to the absence of waterproof tarps and supplies, rendering survival in the winter even harder amid the Israeli bombardment.

"It rained for about an hour, and this is the result. What will we do when it rains for days? There’s no safe or livable place for us to go — no house, not even a caravan. We don't even have medicine for our children when they fall sick," Kobi said.

In Deir al-Balah, Ahmed Abdullatif expressed his frustration toward the international silence and inaction after rains soaked his mattresses and blankets, saying "People seem to take pleasure in the pain of our women and children."

In another tent, Fatma, a journalist from Gaza, was sewing up her family's torn-up tent while her husband Khalid tried to salvage whatever possessions they owned as rains swamped their belongings.

"How much longer are we supposed to endure this tragedy?" Khalid exclaimed, according to Anadolu, urging immediate international action to end the war in the Strip.

74% of Palestinians' tents unfit for use

The Government Media Office in Gaza issued an urgent humanitarian call on September 14 urging the protection of the two million displaced Palestinians in Gaza ahead of winter.

In a statement, the Media Office revealed that 543 displacement centers exist in Gaza due to the war and the Israeli crime of forced displacement, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Government field assessments estimated, however, that 74% of the displaced Palestinians' tents have become unsuitable for use, further clarifying that 100,000 of the 135,000 tents need to be replaced due to complete damage.

"These tents are made of wood, nylon, and fabric, which have worn out due to the heat of the sun and weather conditions in Gaza. They are no longer usable, especially after 11 continuous months of displacement, leading to these inhumane conditions," the statement read.

The Israeli occupation forces have also prevented the entry of at least a quarter of a million tents into the Gaza Strip, which adds to the plight of Palestinian refugees, who "will be left without any shelter during the winter, forced to sleep on the ground and cover themselves with the sky."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... in-their-t

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List of Gaza's child victims given to Congress

“The first 14 pages alone are names of babies who were under the age of one when they were killed,” said Rashida Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American member of the US Congress

In a powerful and deeply emotional moment on the floor of US House of Representatives, Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has submitted a harrowing document into the official record — the names of thousands of Palestinian children killed by Israel in besieged Gaza.

The 649-page document from the Palestine's Health Ministry comprises a chilling list of children who were wiped out by Israeli shells and bombs.

"The first 14 pages alone are names of babies under the age of one," Tlaib said on Thursday, her voice carrying the weight of loss.

"That's 710 babies that the Israeli government has murdered. I wish my colleagues would look at it."

Tlaib, who represents Michigan and is the only Palestinian American member of Congress, didn't mince words.

"These are not numbers. These are children."

Her words brought an uncomfortable silence to the chamber, a stark reminder of the human cost of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians. Of them, 11,355 were children. It's a conservative estimate, studies show, and numbers are rising.

"This is not self-defence," Tlaib said, her voice rising. "This is genocide."

Testament to destruction

For months, Tlaib has been one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.

The names she submitted stretched across hundreds of pages. The initial pages were filled with the names of infants, while the final pages listed elders, Palestinians aged 77 to 101, many of whom had lived through the creation of Israel in 1948 and seen decades of violence.

"This is a genocide of children," wrote Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at Hunter College, in response to Tlaib's submission.

"Fourteen pages of babies. It’s nothing short of an attempt to wipe out a people."

A July report from The Lancet, a respected UK medical journal, warned that the death toll could rise even further. It estimated that Israel's military campaign might directly and indirectly result in anywhere between 149,000 and 598,000 Palestinian deaths if the conflict had ended at the time of their study.

"I stand here as a Palestinian American, but also as a mother," Tlaib announced in the Congress. "These are our children."

https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/th ... s-18210312

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Al Mayadeen mourns Hadi al-Sayyed

The Israeli occupation martyrs colleague Hadi al-Sayyed in its aggression on Lebanon

Hadi al-Sayyed, our colleague at Al Mayadeen, was martyred Tuesday by the Israeli occupation in its aggression on Southern Lebanon.

Martyr al-Sayyed had on Monday sustained critical injuries to the head after an Israeli airstrike hit his hometown of Burj Rahhal in southern Lebanon.

Al Mayadeen Media Network eulogized martyr Hadi al-Sayyed, a colleague within its online department's social media unit. The network underlined that it will continue to embark on its journey, undeterred and unbowed by Israeli aggression, pledging to remain steadfast in its opposition to the Israeli occupation.

The martyr had been transported to a hospital in Sidon for treatment, undergoing surgery after which he passed away.

Al-Sayyed was a young, courteous, dedicated, and ambitious colleague who had a profound belief in pro-Resistance media. He never spared any effort in serving the Resistance and the Palestinian cause, supporting the righteous people of Gaza and occupied Palestine, as well as those of his country, Lebanon.

Hadi was Al Mayadeen correspondent Hussein al-Sayyed's brother, who has been covering the situation in southern Lebanon in light of the Israeli occupation's aggression and blatant crimes.

The Israeli occupation's killing of al-Sayyed is part of the series of systemic attacks on journalists in Lebanon and Palestine, which has been ongoing since the start of the colonial project but has seen a massive and unprecedented uptick since the onset of the ongoing aggression, which started on October 7.

"Our colleague Hadi's martyrdom will not deter Al Mayadeen or undermine its will to continue in its support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, as well as their Resistance; to the contrary, it will only increase its and its employees' determination to continue serving the cause it was launched to serve," Al Mayadeen statement said.

The Palestinian Resistance Committees stressed that the blood of the martyr and those of all journalists and media workers "will remain a stain of shame on the occupation entity and its murderous fascist leaders and anyone who supports them or allies with them in any way, shape, or form."

All journalistic organizations and international, UN, Arab, and Islamic media unions called for urgent action to confront Israeli crimes and terrorism, particularly their targeting of journalists and media workers in Lebanon and Palestine.

The Alternative Press Syndicate in Lebanon also mourned the martyred colleague, noting that he joins the ranks of martyrs Farah Omar and Rabih al-Maamari from Al Mayadeen, and Reuters photographer Issam Abdullah, all of whom were targeted by the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon.

The syndicate also reminded that the occupation had previously banned Al Mayadeen in occupied Palestine, emphasizing that the deliberate killing of journalists by the occupation is part of its ongoing strategy to stifle the truth.

Similarly, the Lebanese Popular Conference affirmed that the blood of resistance media martyrs blends with the blood of resistance fighters and the Lebanese people, painting a picture of dignity and honor in the face of the Israeli occupation—the greatest and most brutal criminal in history.

It continued by stating that Al Mayadeen's fate is "to always pay the price in blood, a price that only honorable and free journalists can bear, as they carry the cause of Palestine and every just Arab cause, no matter the sacrifices."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -al-sayyed

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USAID memo exposes Blinken's involvement

in starving Palestinians

Blinken has ignored the recommendations of US humanitarian agencies and advisors in favor of presenting Israel as complying with US aid missions

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration have said that Israel is blocking humanitarian aid heading to the Gaza Strip.

In a 17-page memo sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in April, USAID told top US diplomats that US law requires the administration to cut off weapons shipments to governments that prevent the delivery of US-backed humanitarian aid. The refugees bureau also delivered a similar evaluation.

If acted upon, the assessment would cause tremulous changes to the Israeli regime's supply of weapons, as the US delivers the majority of weapons through which the regime carries out its aggression

According to ProPublica, both Blinken and the administration of President Joe Biden refused to accept the conclusions reached by the two US agencies.

"We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance," Blinken said on May 10 to Congress, after receiving the reports.

Crimes, recommendations ignored

USAID's memo also highlighted a series of grave actions by the Israeli regime, including the killing of aid workers, the destruction of agricultural infrastructure, the bombing of ambulances and hospitals, the occupation of supply depots, and the frequent rejection of trucks carrying vital food and medical supplies.

Moreover, the head of the State Department's refugees bureau determined that the Israeli regime was blocking humanitarian aid and that the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to stop nearly $830 million in taxpayer dollars allocated for military aid to the Israeli occupation, according to ProPublica, which cited emails it had obtained.

Stacy Gilbert, a former senior civil-military advisor in the Refugees Bureau, resigned in protest over the wording of Blinken’s report to Congress, which she had been helping to draft. In a statement released shortly after her departure, and reported by The Washington Post and other outlets, she wrote, "There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid. To deny this is absurd and shameful."

Hamas: Blinken, Biden's actions are shameful

Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas released a statement, commenting on ProPublica's report on Wednesday.

Hamas condemned Bliken and Biden's deliberate concealment of evidence of Israel's non-compliance with US aid missions during his addresses to Congress.

The movement said that Blinken did so, in complicity with Biden, "Out of fear that it would impact weapons supplies to the occupation's military."

It said that the revelations serve as evidence of Washington's involvement in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

"This criminal conduct by Blinken demands that honorable members of the US Congress and American judicial bodies investigate his actions, which have led to the deaths of thousands of our people," Hamas underlined.

"We call on international judicial institutions, foremost among them the International Criminal Court, to take these reports seriously and take the necessary legal action against Blinken," the movement urged.

Hamas stressed that Blinken had participated in the deliberate starvation and the genocide of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip through his actions

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ng-palesti

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625,000 children struggling with trauma

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has announced that more than 625,000 school-aged children in Gaza are experiencing severe trauma due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s head, shared on the X platform on Wednesday that Palestinian children in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have faced immense losses since the onset of Israeli aggression in Gaza nearly a year ago.

“While nearly 625,000 deeply traumatized girls and boys are out of school and living in the rubble in Gaza, many children in the West Bank suffer from escalating violence that disrupts their lives and education,” Lazzarini stated.

UNRWA expressed alarm over a concerning increase in malnutrition, disease, and mortality rates nearly a year into the ongoing aggression.

The agency noted that even before the outbreak of war on Gaza, many families struggled to ensure proper nutrition for their young children as they prepared for their first year of school.
Gaza genocide could set youth back five years

Additionally, a report released by UNRWA warned, on Wednesday, that the ongoing war in Gaza could delay children and young people's education by up to five years, risking the emergence of a lost generation of permanently traumatized Palestinian youth.

“Children have seen that the international community will sit idly by as they are killed. This has left them with questions about values that schools and learning aim to instill around humanitarian principles that teachers will have to navigate,” the report stated.

Since August, UNRWA has been providing educational services in shelters, benefiting around 8,000 children.

However, the report stresses that substantial additional efforts are needed to address significant learning losses, which were already worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

A recent analysis indicated that only 3.5 percent of the aid allocated for Gaza has been directed towards education, despite a critical appeal from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Satellite imagery examined by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster shows that over 90 percent of schools have suffered damage, with many classified as irreparable.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... severe-tra

[Anthea]

warplanes massacre civilians in Gaza school

The Palestinian Civil Defense Authority in the Gaza Strip announced that 14 were martyred and 26 others were injured in an Israeli aggression at a school hosting displaced people in the northern part of the besieged territory

According to the Civil Defense, Israeli occupation forces attacked the al-Faloujah school in the town of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, which hosts a camp set up for Palestinians forcibly displaced from their homes by the Israeli regime.

The Israeli military command announced that its Air Force raided the school on Thursday, admitting to yet another blatantly committed war crime

Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas pointed to a recent increase in the number of massacres committed by Israeli occupation forces in the past few days, saying that a lot of the strikes targeted centers hosting displaced Palestinians.

"The latest of which was a strike conducted by the terrorist Israeli occupation's warplanes on the school of al-Faloujah, which is overcrowded with displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp," Hamas explained.

The Palestinian Resistance faction said that the strike reaffirms Israel's deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians and the regime's genocidal war against the Palestinian people.

"We urge the international community and the United Nations and its institutions to work on stopping Zionist terrorism. and the blatant violation of international humanitarian law committed by the occupation's military against unarmed civilians," the movement added.

It pointed to the fact that the Israeli regime is targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip, occupied West Bank, and Lebanon, stressing that the necessary measures should be taken in order to hold the Israeli regime accountable for its crimes against humanity.

625,000 children are experiencing severe trauma in Gaza

Earlier, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that more than 625,000 school-aged children in Gaza are experiencing severe trauma due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s head, shared on the X platform on Wednesday that Palestinian children in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have faced immense losses since the onset of Israeli aggression in Gaza nearly a year ago.

"While nearly 625,000 deeply traumatized girls and boys are out of school and living in the rubble in Gaza, many children in the West Bank suffer from escalating violence that disrupts their lives and education," Lazzarini stated.

UNRWA expressed alarm over a concerning increase in malnutrition, disease, and mortality rates nearly a year into the ongoing aggression.

The agency noted that even before the outbreak of war on Gaza, many families struggled to ensure proper nutrition for their young children as they prepared for their first year of school.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... aza-school

[Anthea]

Germany: Where Israeli terrorism is celebrated

and Palestine solidarity is terrorized

The glee-laden reactions to Israel’s terrorist attacks on Lebanon coming out of Germany are the latest manifestation of the country’s unambiguous hatred toward Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians

Amid the unfolding scenes of horror following Israel’s terrorist attacks on Lebanon last week, prominent German Zionists did not waste time in taking to social media and voicing their real-time joy and glee at the carnage caused by the controlled explosions of booby-trapped communication devices targeting members of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah and countless civilians.

“Next level fight against terrorism!” cheered Ulf Poschardt, the editor-in-chief of WeltN24, part of the right-wing Axel Springer SE media company, on X, while Jan Fleischhauer, a former columnist for legacy news magazine Der Spiegel whose self-promoting disposition is best described by the saying: “Seize the day with the unearned confidence of a mediocre white man” made light of the fact that many male victims were injured in the lower abdomen, mocking them in clumsy English with the words “Blow of the balls.”

Volker Beck, a former Green Party member and current president of the pro-Zionist German-Israeli society (DIG), put out a tweet featuring two vile memes, one of a pager displaying the message: “Your 72 virgins are waiting” and the other showing a masked man in military gear holding carrier pigeons in his arms, titled “Hezbollah’s new Head of Communications.” Beck himself captioned his mockery of what can only be described as Lebanon’s October 7 with the words “My favorites".

Apart from delighting in the physical and emotional pain of others, these vulgar posts glorify acts of terrorism and potential war crimes and therefore constitute prosecutable criminal acts under Germany’s penal code. It appears they have since been deleted by their respective users.

Rarely have I come across such unabashedly racist manifestations of misanthropy and moral degeneracy, emanating from people who most likely view themselves as humanists and – in the case of Beck – even anti-racist. “Look at how these disgusting German so-called journalists and lobbyists are making fun of the suffering in Lebanon” wrote a Palestinian friend and colleague who had forwarded me Beck’s Islamophobic post.

There were so many of these depraved expressions of unbridled Schadenfreude from Germany’s so-called intelligentsia in the immediate aftermath of the attacks which maimed thousands of people, hundreds of whom are in critical condition, that the cat is now once and for all out of the bag. Not historical “guilt”, but virulent anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia have been the true motivation behind Germany's ironclad support for "Israel’s" almost year-long war on Gaza, which the Zionist regime has recently escalated to the occupied West Bank and now to the entirety of Lebanon.

In the words of the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention which released a particularly candid statement of condemnation after the attacks: Israel is a genocidal state that is completely out of control and supported by a Western world that is too racist and Islamophobic to care

“Too racist and Islamophobic to care” particularly applies to Beck, a queer, die-hard Zionist who has a history of pro-Israel pinkwashing and once compared a hijab-wearing Palestinian woman featured on the cover of the supplement magazine in the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT to Adolf Hitler.

According to the Berlin-based organization Palestine Speaks, Beck has “repeatedly made racist statements which glorify violence in relation to Gaza and Palestinians” going on to say that the “trivialization, endorsement and denial of a genocide and the support for collective punishment of an entire population by means of starvation are criminal offenses.”

The day before Israel’s heinous attack on Lebanon, which failed to elicit a single word of condemnation from Israel’s two largest military backers, the US and Germany, Beck was invited to speak at Berlin’s Technische Universität (TU) on the subject of antisemitism, a word that has lost all meaning in Germany since October 7 as it is almost exclusively used as a weapon against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in order to silence their opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Over one hundred protesters gathered in front of the university library where the controversial event took place and were met by Berlin’s notoriously belligerent and anti-Palestinian police force. Two people were arrested simply for exercising their democratic right to assemble freely. Footage posted to Instagram by user @abdallahxbln shows one person being violently led away by a horde of officers clad in heavy riot gear, a sartorial choice not informed by necessity but meant to intimidate and manufacture the false impression that peaceful protesters somehow pose a threat to public safety.

Social media accounts like those of activists Salah Said, @mudiblick, and Yasemin Acar, to name a few, have meticulously documented how the German security state has been terrorizing members of the Palestine solidarity movement for almost a year now, egged on by Germany’s liberal white supremacist media and woefully antiquated colonial academia. Both routinely collaborate with the police in smearing demonstrators as antisemitic and violent for their principled stance in trying to stop a genocide which has German complicity written all over it.

Black abolitionist academic Vanessa E. Thompson has aptly summed up the fascistic reality and climate of fear in post-October 7 Germany in a co-authored paper titled “Policing Palestine Solidarity: Moral Urban Panics and Authoritarian Specters in Germany”:

“Since the October 7th Hamas-led attack and the ongoing destruction of Palestinian life and culture by the Israeli army, however, moral urban panics over Palestine solidarity stoked by the media, the entire political spectrum, and mainstream civil society have promptly led to an anti-Palestinian crackdown rendering especially Palestinian and Jewish members of solidarity movements targets of harassment, intimidation, denunciation, and arrests by German police in the name of ‘fighting antisemitism.’”

The glee-laden reactions to "Israel’s" terrorist attacks on Lebanon coming out of Germany are the latest manifestation of the country’s unambiguous hatred toward Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians, irreversibly laid bare by Germany’s almost year-long and unwavering support for the Zionist regime’s colonial war of extermination in Gaza and concomitant authoritarianism at home.

Germany in 2024 is a place where Israeli terrorism is celebrated and Palestine solidarity is terrorized

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles ... -palestine

[Anthea]

US $8.7 billion package to Israel

Israeli outlet Walla reported that the director general of the ministry of security, Colonel (Ret.) Eyal Zamir, provided a comprehensive overview on Thursday in Washington of the details surrounding the American aid package designated for the ongoing war, totaling $8.7 billion

The report indicates that, as part of the agreement, $3.5 billion will be designated to finance essential procurements for the war, with these funds having already been transferred to the Ministry of Security's account. Furthermore, $5.2 billion will be allocated for air defense systems, including the Iron Dome, David's Sling, and the cutting-edge laser system, with disbursements scheduled to follow the summaries concluded during the visit.

The director general of the ministry of security has successfully concluded discussions with his US counterparts on the $8.7 billion US aid package for the war, known as the "Biden grant." This morning, the first tranche of $3.5 billion was transferred to the account of the Ministry of Security's procurement delegation in the United States, designated for critical procurements for the Israel occupation forces, according to Walla.

Additionally, Colonel (Ret.) Zamir reached an agreement with the administration on the specifics of the $5.2 billion aid package dedicated to "Israel's" air defense systems. These funds will be used to strengthen the Iron Dome, David's Sling, and advanced laser systems currently in development.
Ceasefire efforts and Netanyahu's double-talk

Earlier on Thursday night, the Israeli Prime Minister's office said that "Israel shares the aims" of the US-led initiative for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s earlier denial of having a private agreement with the US on the ceasefire proposal sparked tensions with the White House, according to Axios. On that note, the statement was released exclusively in English on the Israeli Prime Minister's Office Facebook page, suggesting yet another instance of double-talk by Netanyahu.

It was another example of Netanyahu's back-and-forth in the past 24 hours regarding the Lebanon ceasefire proposal announced on Wednesday, as he distanced himself from the initiative on Thursday morning, bowing to political pressure from his ultranationalist coalition partners despite his involvement in the negotiations.

During a call with reporters, White House spokesperson John Kirby emphasized that the Biden administration wouldn't have put forward the 21-day ceasefire proposal if they hadn't believed the Israeli government was in agreement. This underscored the mounting tensions between the two allies over the evolving situation.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... aeli-media

[Anthea]

Yemeni targeted 3 US Navy destroyers

Brigadier General Yahya Saree announces that the YAF struck three US destroyers with a swarm of missiles and drones in the Red Sea

The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) targeted and hit three United States Navy destroyers in the Red Sea, which were sailing toward occupied Palestine to support the [b]Israeli regime[/b], the spokesperson for the YAF, Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced on Friday.

Saree read out the statement during a million-man march in the al-Sabeen Square in the capital Sanaa, announcing the second set of top-tier operations conducted by the YAF.

Striking Tel Aviv, Aaskalan

He said the attack on the three American destroyers came in parallel with the Yemeni military's long-range missile and drone attack on Israeli targets. At around 12:40 am (local time), sirens sounded across several districts in Tel Aviv, the heart of the Israeli regime.

Earlier, Saree announced that Yemeni forces fired the medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile, Palestine-2, at a target in Tel Aviv. The Yemeni Unmanned Air Force also fired a long-range Yafa-type one-way attack drone at a vital Israeli target in occupied Aaskalan to the south of Tel Aviv, in occupied Palestine.

Swarms of Yemeni missiles, drones target US Navy

Saree said the attack on US Navy assets came in support of the Resistance fighters and the people of Gaza and Lebanon, as well as in response to the American-British aggression on Yemen.

In total, 23 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and one-way attack drones were fired at the naval formation. The YAF's Navy, Unammaned Air Force, and Rocket Force participated in the attack.

The spokesperson said that this is the most expansive Naval operation conducted by the Yemeni Armed Forces during "The Promised Victory Battle and Sacred Jihad, in support of the Al-Aqsa Flood and in response to the aggression."

Tens of thousands protests in support of YAF, Gaza, Lebanon

Brigadier General Saree read out the statement while tens of thousands of Yemenis participated in a demonstration in Yemen's capital Sanaa to show their support to Palestine and Lebanon. Meanwhile, thousands of others took to the streets in several other Yemeni governorates.

Organizers dubbed the demonstrations, "Yemen of faith, standing firm in its Jihad alongside Gaza and Lebanon."

Key advances in Yemen's weapons industry

Demonstrators also released a statement praising Yemen's military industry, thanking Allah for the latest technologies that their engineers have reached, specifically pointing to the new hypersonic missile technology that the country has acquired.

Yemenis also congratulated their armed forces on one of their latest top-tier operations, which targeted "the heart of the Israeli enemy, occupied Yafa."

There is no safe place for Zionist war criminals

Yemenis participating in the massive demonstrations affirmed their "religious and moral" position of confronting the Israeli, American, and British enemies.

We are with you

"We say to the Palestinian people and their brave resistance: Allah is with you, and we are with you, standing by your side. We will never abandon you, no matter the challenges and dangers," the statement read.

"The enemy's targeting of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples is a testament that they are alive and resilient, refusing to accept submission and humiliation, unlike others," the organizers explained.

Addressing Hezbollah's Seceratry-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, demonstrators underlined, that the leader and his party "are the ones who achieved the Ummah's first victory over the Israeli enemy."

Yemenis reiterated their "full trust" in Hezbollah's ability to defeat the Israeli enemy and record yet another victory for the Ummah.

"Rest assured that God is with you, and the Yemeni people are with you, standing by your side. They will never forget your eternal enduring support during the most difficult times," the statement concluded.

US-UK aggression targets Saada

To showcase the steadfastness of the Yemeni people in their support to Palestine and Lebanon, thousands carried on the plans for the demonstration, despite a US-UK-executed aggression on the northern city of Saada.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent said that an attack drone affiliated with US-UK forces in the region launched two strikes on the northern side of the city of Saada on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking official told Al Mayadeen that the latest operation, which targeted the American warships in the Red Sea, came after "a precise military maneuver and careful monitoring of the theatre of operations."

The official said that the operation "shocked the enemy."

"We had previously warned those backing the Israeli enemy that they must stop pursuing their plans," the source said, adding that "Yemen will continue targeting American and British warships."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... in-red-sea

[Anthea]

Fate of 1000s of abducted Palestinians

Thousands of Palestinians were abducted by the Israeli regime from the Gaza Strip, many of whom are being returned as decomposing bodies

The Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas said that the latest outrageous delivery of the bodies of 88 martyrs to the Gaza Strip by Israeli occupation forces is a blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.

Bodies of martyrs were found decomposing in a container transported by a truck to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, showcasing the brutal criminality of the Israeli regime.

As Hamas' Media Office pointed out, no documents or information was sent with the bodies, which were already decomposing, making their identification extremely difficult.

Hamas said that the bodies were tacked in trucks "in a manner that violates their sanctity."

"It (the Israeli action) also infringes upon the right of the martyrs' families to identify their loved ones and bury them with dignity, as well as the right of the families of the missing to know the fate of their children," the statement added.

The Palestinian Resistance movement renewed its call to the international community and humanitarian organizations, specifically the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to condemn the Israeli regime's repeated criminal acts.

"We urge them to act to stop its ongoing violations against the Palestinian people in Gaza," Hamas said.

The movement also urged international organizations to mobilize in order to reveal the fate of the thousands of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, adding that these people "are subjected to the most heinous acts of sadistic torture, abuse, and systematic killing."

Health authorities in Gaza refused to receive the bodies of the martyrs for burial before the ICRC is able to obtain the necessary information from the Israeli regime.

"The health ministry halted the procedures to receive the container (carrying the bodies) until it receives the full data and information about those bodies so their relatives can identify them,” the Ministry stated.

However, the ICRC refused to act on its responsibilities toward Palestinians, as has been the case with international organizations throughout the war on Gaza, saying that it was not involved in the transfer process.

"We reiterate that all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully and in line with their traditions," said a statement issued by the ICRC.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... ted-palest

[Anthea]

Hassan Nasrallah slaughtered by Israel?

The secretary general of Hezbollah is considered by many to be the single most powerful individual in Lebanon with as many as 100,000 fighters at his disposal and members of his group being MPs as well

What is Hezbollah?

Hassan Nasrallah was born in Beirut in 1960, where he was described as a devout and motivated student of Islam.

He joined Hezbollah in 1982, the year it was formed and rose through its ranks.

The 64-year-old led Hezbollah into wars against Israel and took part in the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

More on Hezbollah

Hassan Nasrallah killed: Decapitated and in disarray, Hezbollah and Iran must now decide to fight or backdown

Israel-Hezbollah latest: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah killed; Iran warns Israel will 'regret their actions'

Under his leadership, the group was transformed from a mainly military force into a major political player in Lebanon with elected MPs.

Nasrallah cemented Hezbollah as an arch-enemy of Israel, seeking deeper alliances with Shia religious leaders in Iran and Palestinian militant groups like Hamas.

Until his death, he held the title of Sayyed, an honorific meant to signify the Shia cleric's lineage dating back to the Prophet Muhammad

Nasrallah had countless followers across the Arab and Islamic world, but he was viewed as an extremist in much of the West.

In the present day, his relevance was not confined to Lebanon and he was the most influential leader within Iran's Axis of Resistance.

His death will be a big blow to all of the groups involved

After an attempt on his life in 2006, Nasrallah spent years in hiding.

On Friday, among waves of attacks on Lebanon, Israel targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut where they claimed a Hezbollah senior leadership meeting was taking place.

Despite rapid statements that Nasrallah was "safe" in the aftermath, Israel claimed that they had successfully killed Nasrallah.

"Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world," the IDF said.

This was followed a few hours later by Hezbollah themselves confirming the death, but striking a defiant tone as they vowed to continue fighting.

"The leadership of Hezbollah pledges to the highest, holiest, and most precious martyr in our path full of sacrifices and martyrs to continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people," they said.

How did he rise to power?

Born to a poor Shia family in Beirut's impoverished suburb of Sharshabouk, Nasrallah was later displaced to south Lebanon.

After studying theology, he joined the Amal movement, a political and paramilitary organisation, before joining Hezbollah in the year it was created.

Hezbollah was formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who travelled to Lebanon in the summer of 1982 to fight invading Israeli forces.

They achieved their goal of ending the occupation of southern Lebanon years later, but have continued their battle and still seek the destruction of Israel.

Hezbollah was the first group that Iran backed and used as a vehicle to export its brand of politics.

Two days after its then leader, 39-year-old Sayyed Abbas Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter gunship raid in south Lebanon, Hezbollah chose Nasrallah as its new secretary general in February 1992.

Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah is credited with leading the war of attrition that led to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in 2000.

After this victory, his status rose and was further cemented in 2006 when Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate during the 34-day war.

However, his popularity took a hit when Syria's civil war erupted in 2011 and Hezbollah fighters rushed in and sided with Assad's forces - even as he was ostracised by the Arab world.

Role in the Israel-Hamas war

A day after the 7 October attacks in Israel, Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military posts along the border and calling it a "backup front" for Gaza.

Tit-for-tat strikes have been traded almost daily since, and over the past weeks, as tensions have risen further, Nasrallah has tried to strike a defiant tone even as Israel strikes again and again at his organisation.

After Israel announced a new phase in the conflict looking toward its northern border, a series of pager and radio explosions rocked Lebanon, seemingly aimed at Hezbollah members.

They kickstarted the most recent waves of attacks on Lebanon.

https://news.sky.com/story/who-was-hass ... l-13223398

Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world

Hassan Nasrallah was NOT the person who terrorises the world, he was one of the painfully few leaders who actually had the interests of his people at heart, unlike both the US and UK leaders