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Israel Warns it Can Return Lebanon to 'Stone Age' But Does Not Want War With Hezbollah

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcomes Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcomes Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Israel Warns it Can Return Lebanon to 'Stone Age' But Does Not Want War With Hezbollah

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcomes Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcomes Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned during a visit to Washington that Israel's military is capable of taking Lebanon "back to the Stone Age" in any war with Hezbollah militants but insisted his government prefers a diplomatic solution on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Speaking to reporters, Gallant also said he discussed with senior US officials his "day after" proposals for governance of post-war Gaza that would include local Palestinians, regional partners and the US, but that it would be "a long and complex process."
Cross-border strains between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah have been escalating in recent weeks, stoking fears of an all-out Israel-Hezbollah war.
More than eight months of cross-border fire between the two sides have left at least 481 people dead in Lebanon, mostly fighters, but also including 94 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

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Director of Yeyha al-Houthi's Office Arrested for Allegedly Spying for US

The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
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Director of Yeyha al-Houthi's Office Arrested for Allegedly Spying for US

The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias continued their wave of arrests, reaching the highest ranks of the Houthi command.

Under the supervision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) experts, they arrested Ali Abbas, the director of the office of Yehya al-Houthi – the militias’ leader – on alleged charges of spying for the United States.

Political sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi intelligence, which operates under the IRGC, arrested Abbas and deputy at the Ministry of Education Ahmed al-Nunu on spying charges.

The sources said the arrests were based on investigations the Houthis have carried out with dozens of detainees who used to work for United Nations offices and other international organizations, as well as former staff at the US embassy in Yemen and the Netherlands.

The legitimate Yemeni government condemned the Houthis for kidnapping Nunu.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the arrest sheds light on the ongoing oppression the Houthis practice in regions under their control.

“No one is safe from their violent practices, not even people who have worked for them since their coup,” he added.

The Houthis had kidnapped other senior Education Ministry officials, professor Mohammed al-Mekhlafi and expert Mujib al-Mekhlafi, nine months ago.

Eryani said the Houthis also executed educational expert Sabri al-Hakimi while in detention because he refused to join their effort to change curricula that would promote the militias’ goals.

He called on the international community, UN and rights organizations to speak out against these “heinous crimes.”

He also called for the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization and for the international community to offer real and effective support to the government so that the state can impose its control throughout the country and end the violations against the Yemeni people.