عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Lebanon: Syrian Minors Arrested in Assassination Case of Key ‘Qassam’ Figure

Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Naqoura near the border with Israel on March 13, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP)
Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Naqoura near the border with Israel on March 13, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP)
TT
TT

Lebanon: Syrian Minors Arrested in Assassination Case of Key ‘Qassam’ Figure

Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Naqoura near the border with Israel on March 13, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP)
Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Naqoura near the border with Israel on March 13, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP)

The Palestinian factions and Islamic forces in the Tyre region in Lebanon announced on Friday the arrest of a group of Israeli agents it said were involved in the assassination of a member of the Qassam Brigades earlier this month, and handing them over to the relevant Lebanese authorities.
It is a first for the factions to make such an announcement since the outbreak of clashes between the Hezbollah group and Israel in southern Lebanon, following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation in Gaza and Israel’s focus on assassinating members and officials of Hamas and Hezbollah.
In its statement, the factions said: "After the cowardly assassination of Qassam Brigades member Hadi Mustafa (Abu Shadi), carried out by the Zionist enemy on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the leadership of the factions and Islamic forces conducted thorough field monitoring and surveillance operations, during which investigations revealed the involvement of a group of infiltrators in our camp in the assassination operation”.
“They have been handed over to the relevant security authorities in the Lebanese state”, it added.
Two Individuals in Army’s Custody
The Palestinian factions have handed two Syrian minors to the Lebanese army intelligence, according to Lebanese security sources. They are being interrogated for their involvement in the assassination of Hadi Mustafa.
A source told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity that the detainees planted a tracking device in the vehicle of a member of the Qassam Brigades, facilitating his assassination with an Israeli drone.
A Lebanese judicial source also confirmed the arrest of two individuals suspected of involvement in the assassination of Mustafa. “The army intelligence is conducting an investigation with two Syrian minors based on information linking them to this assassination”, he told Asharq AlAwsat.
Hamas: Arresting the Operator
A source in the Hamas group told Asharq Al-Awsat that a third person, the operator of the Syrian minors, was arrested in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp. According to information, each of the detainees received the sum of approximately 11 US dollars in exchange for planting the tracking device.
The Israeli army had said that Mustafa was a "central figure" in Hamas in Lebanon and that he was "promoting terrorist activities against Israeli targets worldwide, and was involved in directing sabotage cells and field activities to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in various countries around the world."
Record Full of Assassinations
One of the most notable assassinations attributed to Israeli operatives is the killing of Hamas leader and head of its political office, Saleh al-Arouri, in an Israeli raid targeting a building in the southern suburb of Beirut, the stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Additionally, the assassination of the son of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc leader, MP Mohammed Raad, occurred during a raid targeting a residence in southern Lebanon while he was inside with several party members.
Furthermore, the assassination of Wissam al-Taweel, a commander in the Al-Ridwan Force affiliated with Hezbollah, took place in a bombing targeting his car in southern Lebanon.
According to Dr. Riad Kahwaji, the CEO of the Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), "In wars, armies always seek to strengthen their intelligence capabilities against the targeted party, which is why Israel always resorts to enhancing human intelligence and recruiting agents for it is not a new matter."
“The repeated successes in targeting leaders, whether from Hezbollah or Hamas and knowing their movement methods and times, as well as identifying weapon storage locations, require advanced intelligence work through agents present on the ground.
“It appears that the Israeli side has succeeded in recruiting a large number of these agents, enabling it to achieve the desired hits”, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Iran Mobilizes Remnants of Fourth Division to Stoke Syria Unrest

Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division
Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division
TT
TT

Iran Mobilizes Remnants of Fourth Division to Stoke Syria Unrest

Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division
Circulating images of Syria’s Fourth Division

The Syria TV website said Iran has been working since early December to mobilize remnants of the Fourth Division, which was linked to Iran and previously overseen by Maher al-Assad, the brother of fugitive President Bashar al-Assad, to inflame the situation in Syria.

Citing regional security sources, the website reported that Iran is utilizing Ghiyath Dalla, the former commander of the Fourth Division, along with Maj. Gen. Kamal Hassan, a former head of military intelligence, and Maj. Gen. Ghassan Bilal, who previously served in the Fourth Division’s command.

According to the sources, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has over recent months kept dozens of officers from the Fourth Division and military intelligence in camps it controls along the Iraqi border, in Lebanon’s Hermel area, and in areas under the control of formations linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party in eastern Syria, is pushing for their return to Syrian territory and the mobilization of former Assad regime elements for a new wave of security operations.

The New York Times recently published a report based on interviews with participants in those moves and a review of correspondence between them, showing that the former leadership figures are determined to reassert their influence in Syria, which remains gripped by tensions more than 13 years after the outbreak of civil war.

The newspaper said it had received credible information that some former figures in the Assad regime are working to build an armed insurgent movement from exile.

One of them is backing a lobbying campaign in Washington, estimated to cost millions of dollars, in the hope of securing control over Syria’s coastal region, the stronghold of the Alawite sect to which Assad and many of his senior military and security commanders belong.

Returning to the information cited by Syria TV, Iran has several objectives in fueling tensions in Syria. Chief among them is easing US pressure on Iran in the Iraqi arena along the Iranian border, where the US envoy to Baghdad is pressing Iraqi factions to disband.

Escalation in Syria would serve as a distraction and diversion from those efforts.

The report said pressure is also expected to intensify on Lebanon’s Hezbollah to complete the process of disarming, with the possibility that it could face new military operations, alongside a potential new Israeli attack on Iran.

Mobilizing remnants of the Assad regime and extending their presence in Syria would give Tehran and Hezbollah greater room to maneuver, rather than remaining confined to a defensive posture.

They could also be used in intelligence operations to track future Israeli movements preemptively.

 

Arab World

Somali President to Visit Türkiye After Israeli Recognition of Somaliland

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Somali President to Visit Türkiye After Israeli Recognition of Somaliland

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Somalia's president is to visit Türkiye on Tuesday following Israel's recognition of the breakaway territory of Somaliland, Türkiye’s presidency said.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will hold talks "on the current situation in Somalia in the fight against terrorism, measures taken by the federal Somali government towards national unity and regional developments", Burhanettin Duran, head of the Turkish presidency's communications directorate, said on X.

Türkiye on Friday denounced Israel's recognition of Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic, calling it "overt interference in Somalia's domestic affairs".

Somaliland declared independence in 1991.

The region has operated autonomously since then and possesses its own currency, army and police force.

It has generally experienced greater stability than Somalia, where Al-Shabaab militants periodically mount attacks in the capital Mogadishu.

Diplomatic isolation has been the norm -- until Israel's move to recognize it as a sovereign nation, which has been criticized by the African Union, Egypt, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The European Union has insisted Somalia's sovereignty should be respected.

The recognition is the latest move by Israel that has angered Türkiye, with relations souring between the two countries in recent years.

Ankara has strongly condemned Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, and Israel has opposed Türkiye’s participation in a future stabilization force in the Palestinian territory.

Arab World

Iraq's Parliament Elects Al-Halbousi as Its New Speaker

The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
TT
TT

Iraq's Parliament Elects Al-Halbousi as Its New Speaker

The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The new speaker of parliament Haibet Al-Halbousi, center, looks on before the start of their first legislative session in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraq's parliament on Monday elected a new speaker following overnight talks to break a political deadlock.

Haibet Al-Halbousi received 208 votes from the 309 legislators who attended, according to The AP news. He is a member of the Takadum, or Progress, party led by ousted speaker and relative Mohammed al-Halbousi. Twenty legislators did not attend the session.

Iraq held parliamentary elections in November but didn’t produce a bloc with a decisive majority. By convention, Iraq’s president is always Kurdish, while the more powerful prime minister is Shiite and the parliamentary speaker is Sunni.

The new speaker must address a much-debated bill that would have the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units become a formal security institution under the state. Iran-backed armed groups have growing political influence.

Al-Halbousi also must tackle Iraq’s mounting public debt of tens of billions of dollars as well as widespread corruption.

Babel Governor Adnan Feyhan was elected first deputy speaker with 177 votes, a development that might concern Washington. Feyhan is a member of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, a US-sanctioned, Iran-backed group with an armed wing led by Qais al-Khazali, also sanctioned by Washington.