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Hezbollah Launches Donation Campaign to Purchase Missiles, Drones

Hezbollah members take part in a military exercise during a media tour organized for the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day, in Aaramta, Lebanon, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Hezbollah members take part in a military exercise during a media tour organized for the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day, in Aaramta, Lebanon, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
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Hezbollah Launches Donation Campaign to Purchase Missiles, Drones

Hezbollah members take part in a military exercise during a media tour organized for the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day, in Aaramta, Lebanon, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Hezbollah members take part in a military exercise during a media tour organized for the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day, in Aaramta, Lebanon, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group did not stop at involving foreign armed parties in its fight against Israel allegedly in support of Gaza, but has moved further to involving civilians in a donation campaign in order to purchase missiles and drones to continue its fight against Israel.
The Iran-backed party launched the campaign, providing telephone numbers for contact purposes, encouraging civilians to “be part of the battle” that it has waged against Israel in what it says is in support of Gaza.
Some sides have interpreted Hezbollah’s move as a “weakness”, criticizing it for boasting about its military powers and ability to “change the equation to eliminate Israel”, meanwhile asking for donations to purchase weapons.
The party’s campaign came in parallel with an announcement made by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who said he “opened channels” with the World Bank and friendly countries to “participate in the reconstruction of what Israel destroyed in South Lebanon during the Gaza war”.
Former MP Fares Souaid, head of the Lady of the Mountain gathering, criticized Hezbollah and Berri’s “double standards”.
“Double standards are extremely annoying because one side is asking the world to help rebuild the South, and another asks for donations to continue the war and prolong destruction”, said Souaid.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the MP said Hezbollah “is indirectly declaring itself in a deep political and financial crisis, which indicates that Iran has taken a decision to stop funding (Hezbollah’s) war in South Lebanon”.
Strength or Weakness?
The confrontation that Hezbollah chose to wage against Israel has so far achieved none of the party’s goals, mainly in preventing Israel from invading Gaza or preventing it from diminishing the capabilities of Hamas.
Hezbollah only succeeded at driving Israeli civilians out of their settlements in northern Israel and away from Lebanon’s southern border.
But, this war has caused massive destruction to more than 40 villages in south Lebanon, and has displaced its residents and left more than 500 Lebanese civilians and fighters dead.
The donation campaign “raises a lot of question marks for people of the South” on whether it implies the party’s “strength or weakness”, said Souaid.
He said Hezbollah has always boasted about its ability to wage a “war of that size with Israel”, and has always challenged the international will and claimed an ability to eradicate Israel, “is it possible that it begs for donations from the southerners to continue its war?” he asked.
In February 2022, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that his group has been manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn thousands of missiles in their possession into precision-guided munitions.
“We have started manufacturing drones in Lebanon a long time ago. Those who want to buy can fill out an application,” he had said.
Media Provocation
For his part, political analyst Qasem Qasir, told Asharq Al-Awsat the campaign could be part of an effort to engage people in the party’s warfare. He ruled out the possibility of any diminishing Iranian support.
“It could be an attempt to make people feel involved in the confrontation...and to show popular support for the party at this stage”, he underlined.
Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on military positions in northern Israel.

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Arab World

For First Time in Two Months, 323 Trucks Enter Gaza in One Day

A convoy carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, after it was reopened by Israel on Sunday for a limited number of people, rides through Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A convoy carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, after it was reopened by Israel on Sunday for a limited number of people, rides through Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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For First Time in Two Months, 323 Trucks Enter Gaza in One Day

A convoy carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, after it was reopened by Israel on Sunday for a limited number of people, rides through Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A convoy carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, after it was reopened by Israel on Sunday for a limited number of people, rides through Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)

For the first time in two months, the Gaza Strip has seen a sharp increase in trucks carrying aid and commercial goods, alongside a rise in travelers crossing through the Rafah land crossing in both directions.

A total of 323 trucks entered Gaza on Monday, including 220 commercial shipments for the private sector and 103 aid trucks from international organizations.

Of these, 234 trucks came through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the far south, and 89 through the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza, which reopened on Sunday after 44 days.

Workers in Gaza’s civil and charitable sectors expect the Kissufim crossing, between northern Khan Younis and southern Deir al-Balah, to open on Sunday to further increase the flow of trucks.

A source in Gaza’s economy ministry said most of the incoming shipments were commercial goods, including food supplies carried on more than 270 trucks, along with shelter materials, relief items, consumer goods, household supplies, fuel, and telecommunications equipment.

“For the first time in about two months, this number of trucks has been allowed in,” the source told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that fewer trucks had entered since the ceasefire took effect on October 10.

The ceasefire deal stipulates the entry of 600 trucks per day, but Hamas and UN bodies have accused Israel of allowing only limited numbers.

The source said most trucks entering since the ceasefire have carried commercial goods, while aid shipments from Arab, Islamic, and international donors, including UN agencies, have been more limited.

Gaza officials have been told that more trucks and goods could be allowed in to help ease prices.

Israel on Tuesday allowed 126 Palestinians, including 41 patients and 85 companions, to travel after coordination by the World Health Organization. About 18 foreign passport holders also left through the crossing in coordination with their countries.

Israel partially reopened the Rafah crossing under the ceasefire at the start of February, shut it again when the war with Iran began later that month, and reopened it on March 19.

Since the ceasefire, the number of people allowed to pass through Rafah has remained limited, occasionally reaching 100, with expectations that it could rise to 150 a day.

A Palestinian source in Gaza said the recent easing in truck entries and movement through Rafah followed an agreement reached by Gaza’s representative at the Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, with Israel to push compliance with the ceasefire terms.

For now, only patients are allowed to travel through Rafah, but other categories, including students and stranded civilians, could be permitted within about two weeks.

Palestinian factions, led by Hamas, have called on Mladenov and mediators to press Israel to fully implement the first phase of the ceasefire before moving to the second. Contacts and meetings on the issue are ongoing in Cairo.

Arab World

After Three Years of War, Sudan in Shambles as Donors Gather in Berlin

A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
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After Three Years of War, Sudan in Shambles as Donors Gather in Berlin

A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on April 14, 2026. (AFP)

The vast majority of Sudanese people have been plunged into poverty, with 11 million uprooted from their homes and nearly twice as many facing hunger as the war between the army and its paramilitary foes enters its fourth year.

On the third anniversary of the start of the grinding conflict on Wednesday, donors will gather in Berlin for an international conference aimed at reviving faltering peace talks and mobilizing aid for one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

"People are exhausted," said Amgad Ahmed, 42, who has lived in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, throughout the conflict.

"Three years of war have worn people down. We have lost work, savings and any sense of stability," he told AFP.

The meeting in Berlin brings together governments, aid agencies and civil society groups, but excludes both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- the two sides fighting the conflict.

It follows similar conferences hosted by London and Paris over the past two years that failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough.

The war between Sudan's army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people, sparking what German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called "the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, which is not very often in the public eye".

Nearly 700 civilians have been killed in drone strikes since January, as attacks have escalated on both sides, particularly in the southern Kordofan region and Blue Nile State, according to the United Nations.

A semblance of normality, however, has taken root in the capital Khartoum since the army re-established control there last year.

In parts of the city, reconstruction has begun. Markets have reopened, traffic has returned to streets that were once largely empty, and national secondary school exams were held this week after nearly two years of widespread school closures.

According to the UN, around 1.7 million people have returned to the capital.

But danger still lurks among the soot-stained buildings, with authorities slowly working to clear tens of thousands of unexploded bombs left behind by the fighting.

- 'Heartbreaking' -

Al-Basheer Babker al-Basheer, 41, who visited Khartoum twice this year after three years away, said the city would need years to recover.

"I was happy to come back," he told AFP. "But when I went into the city center, it was heartbreaking."

"The road to the university where I studied is no longer the same. The walls are black," he said. "They are not the same places we used to go to."

Quad-led talks stalled after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused the group in November of bias over Abu Dhabi's membership.

German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said the Berlin conference would discuss how to "exert influence on the key actors".

"There are many external actors involved in this war," said Luca Renda, the UN Development Program's representative in Sudan.

"And as long as this continues, unfortunately, the chances of peace are very slim."

Beyond widespread infrastructure destruction, the war has pushed Sudan deeper into hunger and poverty, with humanitarian funding at just 16 percent of what is needed, Renda said.

Famine was declared last year in North Darfur capital el-Fashir and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, with 20 additional areas at risk, the UN said.

African Union Commission Chairman Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, in Berlin for the meeting, voiced hope for a cessation of hostilities but acknowledged "we are not there yet".

"When the whole world is focusing on Iran and Ukraine and other crises, I think it is very much appreciated that Germany puts this agenda on the table so that we do not lose sight about the suffering of the people of the Sudan."

Arab World

Canada, UK, Australia and Japan Call for ‘Urgent End to Hostilities in Lebanon’

Israeli military armored vehicles operate in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in northern Israel, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli military armored vehicles operate in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in northern Israel, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Canada, UK, Australia and Japan Call for ‘Urgent End to Hostilities in Lebanon’

Israeli military armored vehicles operate in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in northern Israel, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli military armored vehicles operate in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in northern Israel, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan and six other countries condemned the killings of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Tuesday while calling "for an urgent end to hostilities" in the country where Israeli attacks have killed over 2,000 people since March.

"Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and the United Kingdom remain deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon," the countries said in a joint statement without directly mentioning US ally Israel or Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The statement ‌comes after ‌the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers last month. ‌The ⁠UN has said ⁠preliminary findings from its probe showed one was killed by an Israeli tank projectile and two by an improvised explosive device most likely placed by Hezbollah.

Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the US.-Israeli war on Iran.

Israel has since widened a ground invasion into Lebanon's south, ordering hundreds ⁠of thousands of Lebanese to flee villages. The Israeli ‌offensive has killed more than ‌2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah missile ‌fire has mainly targeted towns near Israel's northern border but has ‌also been aimed at major cities. Two Israelis and 13 soldiers have been killed since March 2, Israel says.

"We condemn in the strongest terms actions that have killed UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian ‌personnel in southern Lebanon," the 10 countries said in the joint statement, which only noted Israel ⁠in the context of ⁠the ceasefire in the US and Israel's war against Iran.

"We welcome the ceasefire agreed between the United States, Israel and Iran. We call for an urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon."

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran have killed thousands and displaced millions. A fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran still has a week to run.

Iran says Israel's war in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider conflict. Israel has ruled out discussing a ceasefire in Lebanon and demanded that Beirut disarm Hezbollah.