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.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.