Spanish UN peacekeepers patrolling along the Lebanese-Israeli border pass a Hezbollah flag in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. AP
Spanish UN peacekeepers patrolling along the Lebanese-Israeli border pass a Hezbollah flag in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. AP
Spanish UN peacekeepers patrolling along the Lebanese-Israeli border pass a Hezbollah flag in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. AP
Spanish UN peacekeepers patrolling along the Lebanese-Israeli border pass a Hezbollah flag in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. AP

Despite calm returning to Israeli-Lebanon border, Hezbollah warns more action to come


Sunniva Rose
  • English
  • Arabic

A Hezbollah minister said new strikes against Israel are coming, a week after the group launched a bloodless cross-border retaliation by firing anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military vehicle.

Last Sunday’s attack was a “response to the bombing of a Hezbollah centre in Syria” two weeks ago by Israel, Hezbollah Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mahmoud Qomati, said on Saturday.

Echoing a warning made by the Iran-backed group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah last week, Mr Qomati said that Hezbollah has yet to respond to the drone attack in south Beirut.

“The more the resistance [Hezbollah] is ready, the further away war is,” Mr Qomati said.

Meanwhile late on Sunday evening, a former Hezbollah official was found dead in his flat in a Beirut neighbourhood.

Security forces immediately opened an investigation and were awaiting the arrival of a forensic doctor to determine the cause of death, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

A Hezbollah official confirmed the death of Ali Hatoum and told Reuters an investigation was under way, but that it did not appear to be security related.

The news agency gave no other information.

On August 24, Israel claimed it had carried out air strikes against Iranian-allied militia forces near the Syrian capital, Damascus, to thwart an Iranian plan to attack Israel with “killer drones”.

The following night, a booby-trapped drone exploded in mid-air near Hezbollah’s media office in Beirut’s southern suburb, damaging the building.

A second drone, which Hezbollah said was also carrying explosives, crashed without exploding.

Lebanon's president, prime minister and Hezbollah accused Israel, which did not officially comment.

But unidentified Israeli sources quoted by British and Israeli media claimed that the drones were supposed to attack sophisticated Iranian equipment used to make precision-guided missiles.

In a speech a few hours after the Israeli attacks, Nasrallah said Israel had killed two of the group’s fighters in the raid near Damascus. He warned Israel that it would “pay the price” for its actions in Lebanon and Syria.

One week later, Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles across Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, damaging vehicles.

Israel responded by firing about 100 artillery shells, including cluster and phosphorous bombs, the Lebanese army said.

A few hours later, calm had returned to the area. No casualties were reported on either side.

In his third speech in little over a week, Nasrallah said on Monday that the group had divided its response to Israel’s attacks in two phases.

The first one, which included Hezbollah’s Sunday attack against the Israeli military, was over.

The second phase will be a “clean” strike against Israeli drones that violate Lebanese airspace.

“We are not in a hurry,” Nasrallah said. The operation was now in the hands of field commanders, he said.

“Internal Lebanese considerations” stopped Hezbollah from shooting down Israeli drones in the past, he said.

But Nasrallah said that there would be no more “red lines”.

He said on August 31 that should Hezbollah “take down each Israeli drone”, it would exhaust the group’s air defence capabilities.

Israel breaches Lebanese airspace with surveillance drones or warplanes nearly every day.

Officials complain to the UN but do not take military action, despite a rare incident on August 28 when a Lebanese soldier opened fire with an assault rifle on a drone, which flew back to Israel.

The Lebanese army does not have the ability to stand up to Israel.

Hezbollah supporters say this is the main reason the group should stay armed to protect the country in the event of an Israeli attack, although its critics believe that the group’s fighters should be integrated into the Lebanese army.

Hezbollah, which also functions as a political party and is represented in the government, is the only Lebanese militia to have kept its weapons at the end of the civil war in 1990.

'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
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  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 

The Sky Is Pink

Director: Shonali Bose

Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf

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The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.

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Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris

 
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Retail gloom

Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.

It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.

The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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