Israeli Messages against ‘Iranian Proxies’ in Syria

The funeral of a Hezbollah member. AFP file photo
The funeral of a Hezbollah member. AFP file photo
TT
20

Israeli Messages against ‘Iranian Proxies’ in Syria

The funeral of a Hezbollah member. AFP file photo
The funeral of a Hezbollah member. AFP file photo

A group of Israeli officers have issued statements on “Iranian proxies” in Syria and Lebanon over their threats to Israel and its offshore gas fields, which observers saw as warnings to the Iranian leadership.

Israel's Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot accused Iran of working to forge a “Shi’ite crescent”.

“Just glance at the scale of Iranian investment in order to achieve regional hegemony – it adds up to giving “Hezbollah” between $1 billion and $700 million each year," Eizenkot said in a speech to the IDC Herzliya University.

Eizenkot further said Iran currently had around 2,000 military advisers in Syria deployed alongside 10,000 foreign Shi’ite militiamen and 8,000 “Hezbollah” fighters.

Hezbollah “has built a significant offensive missile array, which can be defined as a strategic offensive array in every respect,” according to Israeli Navy commander Major General Eli Sharvit.

Col. Yuval Eilon, commander of the Navy base in Ashdod, wrote in an article that “it can be assumed that in future confrontations the subterranean medium will be threatened significantly by those who wish to harm Israel’s strength.”

He assumed that “the range of means and capabilities is wide and varied – from suicide swimmers, through explosive boats to deep-water and explosives expert divers and even dwarf submarines and homemade mining and sabotage systems.”

It is well known that Israel will start next year more drilling in the north of the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone.

This would spur tension with “Hezbollah” that considers the area Lebanese territory.

Israel's Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot said earlier that “Hezbollah” has witnessed a change in the past years. It has become an organization that fights as an Iranian arm.

“Hezbollah lost more than 2,000 fighters and has more than 10,000 wounded fighters,” he added.

Some Israeli generals said certain restrictions might prevent “Hezbollah” from waging a war against Israel.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
TT
20

Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.