Hezbollah Declares 'Open-ended Battle' with Israel

Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary-general, speaks during the funeral procession of Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary-general, speaks during the funeral procession of Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Hezbollah Declares 'Open-ended Battle' with Israel

Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary-general, speaks during the funeral procession of Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary-general, speaks during the funeral procession of Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, declared on Sunday that the group is now in an “open-ended battle of reckoning” with Israel, and he vowed to prolong the misery of those displaced from the country's north.

Qassem spoke at the funeral of Hezbollah's senior commander and founder of the elite Radwan forces Ibrahim Aqil.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said operations would continue until it was safe for evacuated people on his side of the border to return.

The conflict - which sharply escalated over the past week - has raged since Iran-backed Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians facing an Israeli offensive further south in Gaza.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

The next day, Israel launched its heaviest bombardment of Lebanon yet. Friday saw Aqil killed along with several other senior Hezbollah military figures in a strike on Beirut's southern suburb.

Saturday again saw unprecedented bombardment that the Israeli military said struck around 290 targets, including thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels.

Qassem said Israel was seeking to paralyze the group, but would not succeed.

He added that Israel's escalation of the conflict would lead to further displacement of its own citizens.

“We admit that we are pained. We are humans. But as we are pained, you will also be pained,” Qassem warned.

He has said Hezbollah will stop attacking northern Israel only if the country can reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip with Hamas.

Israel has closed schools, restricted gatherings in the north and ordered hospitals there to move patients and staff to protected areas - many have secured or underground facilities designed to withstand rocket fire.

Air raid sirens sounded constantly in Israel on Sunday. About 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones were fired at Israel overnight and into Sunday, most of which were intercepted by air defenses, including an "aerial target" that came from the east, the military said.

Several buildings were struck, including a house badly damaged near the Israeli city of Haifa. Rescue teams treated wounded but there were no reports of deaths. Residents had been instructed to stay near bomb shelters and safe rooms.

Hezbollah said it hit a barracks and another Israeli position with squadrons of attack drones on Sunday, and also launched rockets at military-industrial facilities in an "initial response" to the device attacks last week.



Widespread Protests in Southern Iraq over Arrest of Activists

Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Widespread Protests in Southern Iraq over Arrest of Activists

Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The city of Nasiriyah, the center of Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, has recently witnessed large-scale protests, peaking on Friday night. The number of demonstrators is expected to rise following calls from activists to escalate against the local authorities.

Protesters are calling for the dismissal of the city’s police chief and the release of detainees, according to activists. The unrest was triggered by the new police chief, Major General Najah Al-Abadi, who launched widespread arrests of wanted individuals over the past two weeks.

Political sources in Baghdad are expressing concern over the severity of the situation in Nasiriyah, fearing that unrest could spread to other provinces, especially amid the sensitive conditions in the region due to the ongoing Israeli war.

Local and security authorities in the province have justified the arrests, claiming they were carried out under judicial warrants for suspects. However, protest groups accuse the new police chief, who hails from Najaf and is close to the Badr Organization led by Hadi Al-Amiri, of targeting activists from the protest movement that erupted in Oct. 2019. Nasiriyah was a key stronghold of that movement, which lasted for over a year.

According to civil organizations, around 180 protesters were killed and over 5,000 were injured in Dhi Qar during the 2019 Tishreen Protests. On Friday, security forces stormed the protest site in Al-Habboubi Square, leading to injuries among both protesters and police. Police reported that three officers and 19 police members were injured, while activists claim many protesters were also hurt. However, many of them avoided hospitals, fearing arrest or legal repercussions.

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior has emphasized the need to protect demonstrators in Dhi Qar but rejected what it called “unacceptable methods” of protest. Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Muqdad Miri stated during a Saturday press conference that the ministry “will not allow tire burnings, road blockages, or attacks on public property,” stressing that the authority of the state and the law “will prevail in Dhi Qar.”

Miri also disclosed that security forces had arrested 578 individuals, most of whom, he claimed, were not protesters.

Activists and protest groups present a different narrative, accusing “influential political parties” of being behind the recent escalation in Nasiriyah. Three activists told Asharq Al-Awsat that these parties had pushed government agencies to target those wanted by law, conflating criminal suspects with individuals involved in protests. One activist pointed out that the timing of the arrest campaign, coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the Tishreen Movement, underscores the political motives behind it.