Hezbollah lost contact with chairman of executive council: Source

Lebanese security source has told Al Jazeera that Hezbollah has lost contact with the chairman of its executive council, Hashem Safieddine, since last Friday

The source said Safieddine was in an underground headquarters when he was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the area of Marijah.

‘Sense of urgency’ over losing contact with Safieddine

Since Friday, security sources and Hezbollah sources have told Al Jazeera that they have not been able to contact Hashem Safieddine.

Now, this is a very high-ranking member of the organisation. He is a cousin of the late Hassan Nasrallah, the former secretary-general, and they are trying to get to this location since the strike happened on Friday morning, but constant Israeli air strikes are preventing them from reaching the site.

So they are making a plea to the international community to urge Israel to halt its air strikes in that vicinity so rescue workers can try and retrieve the bodies from that air strike.

So, there is a sense of urgency now since we understand that the Lebanese officials and Hezbollah officials are now making a plea to other countries to intervene, to force Israel to at least have a lull in the air strikes in the area for them to try and reach the attack site from Friday morning.

So the situation is very dire at the moment. This person that most people in Lebanon have never heard of before, this is not a common household name.

Most commanders within the higher echelon of Hezbollah are shadowy figures. This name only came to light after Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated, believed to be someone who was groomed over the past few decades as a possible successor to Hassan Nasrallah and now with the possibility of him also being assassinated, it leaves in question the issue of succession within the organisation.

A year after October 7, Houthi Red Sea attacks still torment global trade

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/10/5/a-year-after-october-7-houthi-red-sea-attacks-still-torment-global-trade

As the war in Gaza approaches the one-year mark on October 7, Houthi attacks are still disrupting commercial shipping, exposing the vulnerability of the supply chains that form the backbone of international trade.

While a United States-led international force has been able to thwart many attacks, commercial ships continue to be targeted and operators remain hesitant to use the waterway, raising the likelihood that trade will continue to suffer as long as conflict persists in the Middle East.

Syrian air defences engage ‘hostile targets’

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA is reporting that air defences confronted “hostile targets in the skies of western Homs countryside”.

This comes amid initial unconfirmed reports that an air strike by a suspected Israeli drone targeted the city of al-Bukamal on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

At least 4 Palestinians killed by Israeli shelling in northern Gaza

At least four Palestinians have been killed and many wounded after the Israeli military shelled and opened fired on people on Banat Street in Beit Hanoon city, northern Gaza, according to the Quds News Network and the Palestinian Information Center.

A systematic destruction of residential areas in Gaza

The security situation in Gaza is incredibly unstable because the Israeli military is targeting neighbourhoods and densely populated residential areas in multiple parts of the enclave.

There has been a systematic destruction of these areas. We’re talking about buildings and refugee camps being targeted.

In the north of Gaza, there has been an expansion of military operations with the infiltration of residential homes that are near the Netzarim Corridor.

In Rafah, the situation is getting much more critical where a ground invasion has been ongoing for four months. The death toll among Palestinian civilians is increasing daily.

The vast majority of those killed were innocent civilians, and people have been saying they did not receive any sort of warning, which is a reflection on how the Israeli military is killing families and wiping them off the civil registry.

Twelve killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza today

We’ve been reporting of intensified Israeli attacks across Gaza today:

Waking up to panic this morning as more evacuation orders issued in middle #Gaza areas.

Everyone asking "Where are we supposed to go?"

The question that has repeatedly haunted families over the last 12 months. There is no answer.

Displacement on displacement on displacement. pic.twitter.com/vKiIecVmv8

— Louise Wateridge (@UNWateridge) October 5, 2024

‘Everyone in Gaza is desperate’

New Israeli evacuation orders for areas in central Gaza include Salah al-Din Street – one of the main routes in the Strip.

All of these Palestinians, who are currently in the middle area of the enclave, particularly in Nuseirat, are people who have already been displaced for nearly a year now from northern Gaza and Rafah in the south.

These Palestinians have lost everything, with no belongings, and they don’t have any homes.

This comes after couple of attacks in Nuseirat, where the Israeli forces targeted a house and killed six members of the same family. And in Deir el-Balah, a school was targeted and a displaced person was killed.

All of this comes as we are close to marking a year. Everyone in Gaza is very desperate.

There is no safe place across the Gaza Strip.

Israeli army destroys 814 mosques, 3 churches, 19 cemeteries

The Israeli army has destroyed 814 mosques, three churches and 19 cemeteries during its year of attacks on Gaza, the region’s Religious Affairs Ministry says. Another 148 mosques were damaged in the attacks, it said, adding that the estimated financial cost of the damage to the ministry’s properties is $350m.

The ministry said the Israeli army was also guilty of desecrating graves, exhuming bodies and committing acts of violence against those who died, such as stealing their remains and mutilating them. In addition, 11 administrative and educational facilities under its authority were destroyed, accounting for 79 percent of such structures in Gaza.

The ministry added that Israeli forces killed 238 of its employees and detained 19 others during ground offensives in the territory.

Clashes as Israeli military storms Nablus area, use Palestinian as ‘human shield’: Report

Israeli forces used a Palestinian as a human shield during the storming of the al-Ein refugee camp, located east of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

Palestinian resistance groups have fired at Israeli forces after they stormed the old city of Nablus.

Israeli forces have also stormed the nearby town of Burqa, northwest of Nablus.

Palestinian killed in Israeli forces’ raid in West Bank

The Israeli military shot dead a man after storming his home in the village of Wadi al-Far’a in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports, citing security sources.

The man was released from an Israeli prison last month after two years in custody, according to the director of the Prisoners Club in Tubas.

Israeli military raids have been reported elsewhere in the occupied West Bank. Incidents include:

Israeli war ‘deep shame’ for UK, world: Palestine Solidarity Campaign leader

In the past 12 months, Palestinians have gone through the “darkest moment” in their struggle for liberation, according to the head of Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign Director Ben Jamal calls the pro-Palestinian rallies across the UK “unprecedented” in British history.

“This genocide is built on the foundations of more than 76 years of oppression by the Israeli state of the Palestinian people through mechanisms of ethnic cleansing, colonisation, military occupation and imposition of a system of apartheid,” he was quoted as saying by the Anadolu Agency.

“This is a moment of reflection, a moment of deep sorrow. It’s a moment where we acknowledge the strength of the Palestinian people and their ongoing resilience,” he said.

“But it’s a moment of deep shame for our government, for the international community, that they have allowed this to occur, that they have not made Israel pay the cost for its crimes.”

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters rally in central London

Pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered in central London as events are being organised to mark the anniversary of the start of the war on Gaza.

About 200 pro-Palestinian activists convened in Bedford Square on Saturday morning ahead of a planned march amid a heavy police presence.

Some were holding Lebanese and Iranian flags while others held up banners stating “We do not stand with genocide” and “Zionism is racism”, with many chanting “Free, free Palestine”.

_{People attend a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza, ahead of the October 7 attack anniversary, amid the continuing Israel-Hamas conflict, in London, Britain on October 5}

Macron says priority is to ‘stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza’

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, which has been criticised over the conduct of its war in Gaza.

“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told broadcaster France Inter, adding that France was not sending any arms to Israel.

Failing Gaza – Behind the Lens of Western Media

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/5/failing-gaza-pro-israel-bias-uncovered-behind-the-lens-of-western-media

When political leaders speak of genocide, they repeat a timeworn mantra: “Never again”. Over the past year, for the Palestinians of Gaza, “again” has become reality – mass casualties broadcast almost in real time by its victims.

This film is about an alternative version of that reality – the one told by major Western news organisations – and how it has provided cover for Israel’s war on Gaza. Based on interviews with more than a dozen insiders, it lifts the curtain on the inner workings of agenda-setting outlets like CNN, the BBC and The New York Times.

Israel figuring out its response to Iran

Israel says it will respond soon to Iran’s recent attack.

The Jewish New Year ends at sunset. It will be interesting to see how the next few days play out. Netanyahu made it clear Iran has made a mistake and it is going to pay.

Full-blown conflict between Iran and Israel may not be ‘inevitable’

Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Doha, says there is “tremendous concern” in Iran over how Israel will respond to Tuesday’s missile attack.

“A couple of days ago, after Iran’s attack, we saw long lines in Tehran and in other Iranian cities for people lining up at petrol stations trying to fill up their cars,” he told Al Jazeera. “There’s concern that Israel might knock off the electricity grid or Iran’s oil installations.”

Kamrava said groups in Iran are divided over how to respond if or when Israel retaliates.

“There are groups inside the political establishment that want to expand the war and make sure that American targets in the region are hit,” he said. “And there are those who say, ‘Let’s not alienate our allies or our newly found friends in Riyadh, in Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere.'”

Kamrava added that a full-blown conflict between Iran and Israel may not be “inevitable”.

“Iran … does have a doctrine of what they call ‘strategic patience‘,” he said. “They say we will respond at a time of our own choosing.” “Iran has been quite reluctant to fall for the Israeli trap of engaging Israel and then the United States directly.”


Israeli military preparing for major attacks on Iran, Lebanon, Gaza

The Israeli military is preparing for large-scale assaults on multiple fronts, according to its public broadcaster Kan and other Israeli media.

The army is aiming for a “significant and difficult” attack on Iran in response to its launch of ballistic missiles on Israel, which had come in retaliation for the assassination of top Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian officials.

Israeli authorities are said to expect their Western allies, who also oppose Iranian influence, to participate in the attack. This comes as General Michael Kurilla, the head of the US military in the region, is expected to arrive in Israel today to discuss the operation.

In Gaza, the Israeli military is planning for “intense manoeuvres”, especially around the Netzarim Corridor, as the war approaches the one-year mark.

Operations in Lebanon will “take place as often as necessary” and what the army has described as a “limited” operation in south Lebanon is set to expand, according to Israeli reports. More than 2,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war last year.

US saying it’s not OK for ‘region to interfere in Israel’s genocide’

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says that US President Joe Biden encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “go get justice” in Gaza as the US did in Afghanistan.

“At the same time, Biden sent US armadas to Middle East under pretext of not allowing the war to widen,” he said, adding that the warships were “meant to shield Israel’s genocide”, which the president knew was going to take place.

“It was OK for the US, for Israel, to regionalise the war. But for the region to interfere in Israel’s genocide, that’s not OK for the Biden administration,” Bishara said, pointing out that if the conflict drags on, other nations, like Russia, may also indirectly join in.

He said Netanyahu is now calling the shots, telling lame-duck President Biden “to shut up and sit up, and continue in Israel’s footsteps”.

“Once Israel retaliates and then Iran retaliates to that, this could really escalate to a major regional blowup.”

We commit to holding Biden administration accountable for genocide: US legal rights group

The Center for Constitutional Rights has said it remains committed to fighting alongside Palestinians for accountability for the US-sponsored Israeli genocide being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza, almost one year since it began.

“While US courts have so far failed in their constitutional responsibility to serve as a check on abusive executive power, we remind all who have chosen to fund and fuel Israel’s relentless, escalating violence, that there is no statute of limitations for genocide, and we will pursue you until justice comes,” the organisation said in a statement.

The group highlighted that in the last year, with full US support, Israel has manufactured a famine, blocked lifesaving humanitarian aid, turned most of Gaza into rubble, bombed countless civilian targets including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, killed more than 41,000 Palestinians – nearly half of whom are children – and injured more than 96,000.

“The Biden administration has provided unconditional and indispensable support for Israel’s genocide, in defiance of the law, universally-recognised international norms, some of its own officials’ recommendations, and the outcry of the vast majority of people in the world, including most Americans.”

 
Thousands march in Paris in solidarity with Palestinians and Lebanese

A few thousand people are walking across the city [of Paris], showing solidarity with the Palestinian people. They are calling on Israel to stop its war on Gaza, but people are also here for the Lebanese as those attacks on their country by Israel escalate.

There is a very big Lebanese community in France and Lebanon has historic ties here; that’s something we heard from France’s prime minister earlier this week as he addressed the parliament and called for calm.

A lot of people here say they are frustrated that the conflict has been going on for nearly a year and feel that the international community is simply not doing anything. They feel that France isn’t doing enough to protect civilians and the people who are really suffering.