All posts tagged "Hezbollah"

The Israeli military launched pre-emptive strikes in Lebanon on Sunday after detecting preparations for "large-scale" attacks by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.The military also warned Israelis to expect incoming missiles and drones launched by Hezbollah, with the government declaring a 48-hour state of emergency.

Hezbollah issued a statement shortly after announcing large-scale drone and rocket launches targeting deep into Israeli territory in retaliation for the death of its military commander in an Israeli strike last month.

The United States responded by reaffirming its "ironclad commitment" to Israel's defence, and said it was "postured" to support its ally. The Middle East had been on edge for weeks after the group and its patron Iran vowed to respond to the Beirut strike, and to the assassination in Tehran of Hezbollah ally Hamas's political leader hours later.In a statement released shortly before 5:00 am (0200 GMT), the Israeli military said its jets were striking targets in Lebanon "that posed an imminent threat" to Israelis." ...

Israeli helicopters struck Rafah on Thursday, residents said, with militants reporting street battles in the southern Gazan city as President Joe Biden called Hamas the “biggest hang-up” to another truce.

Tensions were also soaring on Israel’s northern border, with more attacks by Hamas ally Hezbollah targeting military positions and a civilian reported killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon.

Israeli ground forces have operated in Rafah since early May, despite widespread alarm over the fate of Palestinian civilians there and an International Court of Justice ruling later that month....

Former President Donald Trump has been working hard to control damage done by his criticism of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and praise of the Lebanese terrorism group Hezbollah as "very smart," according to a new report.

Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reports Trump's appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas last weekend, where he presented himself as the most pro-appearance pro-Israel candidate in the 2024, was a prime example of such "damage control."

The appearance came on the heels of Trump's comments, which made national headlines in the wake of Hamas's deadly surprise attack on Oct. 7, and spurred a bipartisan outcry. ...

Former President Donald Trump triggered outrage and controversy at a recent campaign event by characterizing Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militants designated as a terrorist group for their violent attacks on Israel, as "very smart."

This week, Maegan Vasquez flagged in The Washington Post that Trump is now doubling down on that — by sharing a column from MAGA superfan and former CNN contributor Jeffrey Lord, making the same argument.

"At the time, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung defended the former president’s comments, saying Trump 'was clearly pointing out how incompetent Biden and his administration were by telegraphing to the terrorists an area that is susceptible to an attack' and added that 'smart does not equal good,'" wrote Vasquez, noting that Lord made the same assertion in his column: "There is no connection whatsoever — zero — between the definition of ‘smart’ and the concepts of good, bad, or indifferent, much less any tie between ‘smart’ and ‘evil.’ What is particularly astonishing here with [these criticisms of Trump] is, as mentioned, the utter lack of knowledge about the truly evil figures in world history — and, specifically, that these people were hardly dumb.”...

He's trading potshots for white doves.

After days of scorn aimed at Israel (and particularly Prime Minister Netanyahu), former President Donald Trump wants to show he's a loyal friend to the country and can assure the world will be "safe" again if he is reelected in 2024.

"There is no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump," the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. ...

Donald Trump spoke to a small group of supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, Wednesday night, and called Hezbollah "smart." The move comes after Hamas, the group most countries consider a terrorist organization, orchestrated a brutal attack on Israel.

The comments drew attacks from President Joe Biden, who said that there's nothing positive anyone can say about a terrorist group.

Others were just as harsh, asking what Trump could possibly be thinking after spending years being a supporter of Israel. ...