Hezbollah chief warns of response to Israeli attacks

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah says the group’s response to Israeli attacks will be strong and effective.

He was speaking in an address marking the one-week memorial of the group’s top military commander Fuad Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli strike on July 30 in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Sinwar named Hamas’s new chief

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s top leader in Gaza, has been named by the Palestinian group as its new leader following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Israel army confirms death of last missing person from October 7 attack

The Israeli military has confirmed that Bilha Yinon, the last person listed as missing in the October 7 Hamas attack, was killed on that day. “Today, [Israeli forces] representatives officially informed the family of Bilha Yinon that she is no longer alive,” the military said in a statement.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in the attacks on and more than 200 were taken captive.

UK Finally Stops Arms Sales To Israel

Anti-War Vet: No One’s Going to Sign Up for Middle East Regional War

Israel wants to drag the US into a regional war. And Biden just deployed warships. The only catch? This time there might not be any soldiers to fight it. BT spoke to former US Army Ranger Greg Stoker about how decades of imperialism have turned so many service members and veterans like him against the war machine.

Three schools sheltering displaced people hit in last 48 hours: OCHA

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the ongoing Israeli bombardment and hostilities continue to kill, injure and displace Palestinians, the Wafa news agency has reported.

OCHA said three schools sheltering internally displaced people were hit in the last 48 hours, resulting in mass casualties.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN chief, called on all parties to respect their duties under international humanitarian law, which include sparing civilians and civilian objects.

Hezbollah says Sinwar selection shows failure of Israel’s assassination policy

Hezbollah has congratulated Hamas on Sinwar’s appointment, portraying his elevation as a testament to the failure of Israel’s policy of assassinating Hamas leaders.

The Lebanon-based group said that Sinwar’s selection “confirms goals that the enemy [Israel] seeks from killing leaders and officials failed in achieving its outcome”.

Now, Israel must deal with Sinwar

Sinwar is elected leader of Hamas a week after the movement’s political chief Haniyeh was assassinated.

The 62-year-old strongman was already at the heart of power. Now, he calls all the shots, about peace and war.

Now, Israel must deal with Sinwar, a man it imprisoned for over two decades and then released in a prisoner exchange deal in 2011 that Netanyahu signed off on. After that, Sinwar – the son of refugees who grew up in a refugee camp in Khan Younis – was an unstoppable political actor.

A fierce foe for Israel, Sinwar is closer to the military wing of Hamas yet able to manoeuvre its multi-layered political ranks and become its leader during a ferocious war. Now, he is the lead negotiator of the faltering ceasefire talks regional and international mediators, including the Biden administration, desperately need to succeed.

Israel has only one intent for all Hamas leaders

Israel’s Foreign Minister says Sinwar’s appointment is more of an excuse to assassinate him.

In comments made to Arab media, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the only preparations and intentions that Israel is making for Sinwar are “the same fate as Mohammed Deif”, the Hamas commander who was allegedly killed on July 13.

Within the Israeli political landscape and Israeli media, there really isn’t a distinction between Hamas’s military and political leadership.

When the war on Gaza began, Netanyahu gave a directive that every single leader in Hamas – political or militarily – was one unit and that they were all going to be killed.

Why did Hamas elect Sinwar as its leader?

Yahya Sinwar faces huge challenges and a huge responsibility, especially at a time of war or genocide against his own people, while he is hiding in the tunnels in Gaza.

It’s very important to note that in the past six years, from 2017 to 2023, until the October 7 attacks, it was Sinwar who governed the Gaza Strip.

Gaza – a coastal enclave of 2 million people – was a well-run machine, despite the Israeli siege. Some people argue that it was better governed than the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, in terms of everything from water to sewerage and electricity to security and order, as well as education and healthcare.

For Israel, Sinwar is the devil incarnate. For the past 10 months, the Netanyahu government has assassinated his character so well that he is now known in the world as a sort of a new Hitler, because of the October 7 operation that he led.

But once again, what happens in Gaza is a reaction to Israel’s actions.

The election of Sinwar has come as a reaction to Haniyeh’s assassination. Reactions are in general not strategy, right?

And so much of what happens in Palestine comes as a reaction to the continuous Israeli oppression, occupation and colonisation, and – as of late – genocide. And the reaction by the Palestinians is electing a very defiant, a very steadfast leader who spent many years in Israeli jails. And who today, after 10 months of genocide, is even more popular among Palestinians than before.

Israel fails to realise assassination of Palestinian leaders does not work: Analyst

Rami Khouri, a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC (ACW), said it is “bizarre” that Israel continues its campaign of assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders when the outcome is the opposite of what Israel intended.

“They’ve always assassinated senior leaders of Palestinian resistance movements whether it is the PLO, or Fatah or some of the other movement, PFLP [Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine], or the Hamas or Hezbollah,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.

“So, yes, they will probably try to assassinate more people. But it doesn’t do any good. It’s bizarre that the Israelis don’t see that when they assassinate somebody they get somebody more radical,” Khouri said.

“This is just what happened. When Haniyeh was assassinated Sinwar took over. Sinwar is generally seen to be a little more hardline,” he said.

“But the position of Hamas is not made by one person. It is made by a collective leadership that chooses these people and they have clearly, repeatedly made overtures towards Israel. Towards some kind of long-term truce – before the October 7 attack. And even since October 7, they’ve clearly agreed to go into ceasefire negotiations,” he added.

“The situation is one in which we need to have significant pressure on everybody – whoever is to blame – to accept these terms, get the ceasefire done, do the exchanges, and move on to the next phase which is going to be even more complicated – to govern Palestine and to possibly… lead to a negotiation for a permanent resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict.”

Blinken says ceasefire negotiations have reached ‘final stage’

US Secretary of State Blinken has pressed for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza and warned against the possibility of worsening regional escalation.

Here are a few of Blinken’s key remarks:

Joe Biden ‘desperate’ for Gaza ceasefire deal to salvage legacy: Analyst

Speaking to Al Jazeera earlier, Rami Khouri, a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC (ACW), said the US president does not want to be remembered by the title “Genocide Joe”, and Israel appears to be the obstacle to the ceasefire deal Biden “desperately” wants.

“Biden is desperate, absolutely desperate to get the ceasefire done before he leaves office. Partly for his own legacy, so that he’s not forever known as ‘Genocide Joe’. And partly to help Kamala Harris who he expects to succeed him. To give her a chance to move on to the next stage of peace-making in the Middle East,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.

Khouri also said that reports over the last couple of weeks point the finger at the Israelis for being “obstacles to a ceasefire” in Gaza.

The reports are that “Hamas has accepted all the conditions and all the alterations that were made and it’s the Israelis that were holding out and kept changing the terms,” he said.

“The Americans, I think, just out of tradition, blame everything on the Arab side, the Palestinian side, the people allied with Iran. But the reality, I think, is much more clear that the obstacle to a ceasefire, exchange of prisoners and hostages, is probably Benjamin Netanyahu,” he added.

Majority of Americans oppose sending US forces to defend Israel: Poll

The survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that 56 percent of the American public opposes sending US troops to defend Israel if it is attacked by Iran.

The poll was conducted between June 21 and July 1.

Among Democrats and Independents, the percentage of those opposing the move was higher. But a slim majority of Republicans (53 percent) said they would favour US forces defending Israel in this scenario.

Canada to evacuate families of diplomatic staff from Israel: Report

Israel’s Ynet news is reporting that the families of Canadian diplomats in Israel will be evacuated to Jordan, “due to the worsening security situation” and the possibility of an Iranian attack.

Ynet said Canada informed the Israeli Foreign Ministry of the decision on Wednesday.

US charity suspends aid work in south Lebanon

The aid group Action Against Hunger said it is temporarily pausing activities in southern Lebanon due to “the recent escalation of violence”, including the “devastating” air raid that killed a Hezbollah commander in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

“The violence is taking an intolerable toll on civilian lives, and we urge all parties to respect international humanitarian law, ensuring the protection of civilians and the work of humanitarian organizations like ours,” said Action Against Hunger Country Director Suzanne Takkenberg.

The nongovernmental organisation said its programmes were continuing in the rest of the country.

The US charity said the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has worsened hunger in the country with food prices skyrocketing and farmland and livestock destroyed.

“340,000 farm animals have been killed and 47,000 olive trees and nearly 2,000 acres [809 hectares] of agriculture land have been destroyed, resulting in 70% losses for farmers,” the group said in a statement.

The use of white phosphorus munitions and explosives is affecting the fertility of the land, while the destruction of essential civilian infrastructure, such as roads, hospitals, schools, electricity and water supply facilities “has had very serious impacts,” the NGO said.

A staff member said: “Everyone we work with seems very concerned that the violence will continue to escalate. We are already seeing thousands of people injured, many of them complaining about food and water shortages, or the effects of white phosphorus on their fields and related loss of their livelihoods.”

Israel must act against Lebanon with ‘greatest force’: Israeli energy minister

Israel’s energy minister, Eli Cohen, has said Israel must act strongly against Lebanon, as Hezbollah continues to strike at Israel with escalating drone and missile attacks.

“One clear message needs to be conveyed here. Anyone who harms Israel will pay a heavy price. Look at Gaza,” Cohen told Israel’s Ynet news site. “As far as I’m concerned, the political hourglass has run out,” he added.

Cohen also said Israelis in the north should not “panic” about the volatile security situation, saying many continue to go out and enjoy their “summer vacation”.

US legislator critical of Israel’s war on Gaza loses primary

Progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush has lost the Democratic Party’s primary contest in the state of Missouri, AP reported, after a pro-Israel lobby spent $8.5m to remove her over her criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza.

With nearly all ballots counted from Tuesday’s vote, Bush won 45.8 percent while her rival, St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, won 51 percent, according to AP.

Bell’s campaign had received a big financial boost from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) through its super political action committee, United Democracy Project (UDP).

In June, the Super PAC also spent $15m in June to defeat another progressive congressman, Jamaal Bowman. Bowman lost to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist.

The UDP said the wins by Bell and Latimer, along with John McGuire’s defeat of US Representative Bob Good in a Republican primary last week in Virginia, are “further proof that being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics on both sides of the aisle”. It added that it will continue its “efforts to support leaders working to strengthen the US-Israel alliance while countering detractors in either political party”.

Western ambassadors skipping Nagasaki memorial because Israel not invited

Ambassadors from the US, UK, EU, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada will not attend Japan’s memorial service for the bombing of Nagasaki on Friday because Israel is not invited, reports the AFP news agency.

Nagasaki’s mayor Shiro Suzuk said it had not extended an invitation to Israel’s ambassador Gilad Cohen because of fears it could prompt Gaza war protests, emphasising the need for a “sombre atmosphere”.

But a spokesperson for the US embassy in Japan said that decision had “politicised the event”, which US ambassador Rahm Emanuel will not attend.

Instead, the US and other Western countries are set to send lower-level delegations as representatives, reported AFP.

The axis of evil stands behind each other.