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UN slams Israel for attack on peacekeeping troops in Lebanon

By
IFP Media Wire
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UNIFEL

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that the previous day’s attack on UNIFIL troops, which he stated involved an Israeli drone dropping a grenade in the vicinity of a patrol, as well as a tank opening fire on peacekeepers near the border town of Kfar Kila, was “very, very dangerous”.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) works with the Lebanese army to enforce a ceasefire struck last year between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Israel has violated the truce on a near-daily basis.

France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs also condemned “the Israeli fire that targeted a UNIFIL detachment” and noted that the incidents followed similar attacks on October 1, 2 and 11.

Dujarric added: “It’s not the first time that we feel we’ve been targeted in different ways by the [Israeli army, including] pointing lasers or warning shots. He said his colleagues at UNIFIL were in touch with the Israeli military to “protest vehemently” against the attacks.

On Sunday, UNIFIL reported an Israeli drone flying over its patrol in an “aggressive manner”, saying its peacekeepers “applied necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralise the drone”. No injuries or damage were reported.

Israel still occupies five positions in southern Lebanon and has been launching near-daily attacks in defiance of the ceasefire. At least two brothers were killed in a strike on the village of al-Bayyad in the Tyre district on Monday.

The Lebanese official news agency ANI reported that the two were killed in an attack on a sawmill in al-Bayyad.

Three people were killed on Sunday in raids on southern and eastern Lebanon.

The military says that it is targeting members of Hezbollah and its infrastructure, but Lebanese leaders have accused it of attempting to obstruct reconstruction by striking machinery like diggers and bulldozers.

The Israeli army added that its Sunday attacks targeted an arms dealer working for Hezbollah and another man who was “aiding the group’s attempts to rebuild its capacity for military action”.

Hezbollah, severely weakened by Israel’s attacks, has said it is ready to defend itself.

“The possibility of war exists but is uncertain; it depends on their calculations,” stated Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem in reference to Israel.

The United States government has been pressuring Lebanon to have the group surrender its arms to the country’s army.

US Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived late on Monday in Beirut, where she is scheduled to meet Lebanese leaders.

 

Pope Leo to visit several cities in Turkey, Lebanon on first trip abroad as pontiff

By
IFP Media Wire
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Leo, the first U.S. pope, will visit Turkey from November 27 to 30 and then will be in Lebanon from November 30 to December 2.

Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis had planned to visit both countries but was unable to go because of his worsening health. Francis died on April 21 and Leo was elected as the new pope on May 8 by the world’s cardinals.

A central part of the visit to Turkey will be several joint events with Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, who is based in Istanbul.

They will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of a major early Church council, which took place in Nicaea, now called Iznik.

“It is profoundly symbolical that Pope Leo … will visit (the patriarch) on his first official journey,” Rev. John Chryssavgis, an adviser to Bartholomew, told Reuters.

Leo will also meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, visit the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and will celebrate a Catholic Mass at Istanbul’s Volkswagen Arena.

In Lebanon, the pope will meet President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, will host an inter-religious meeting and will lead an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront.

The pope will also pray at the site of the 2020 chemical explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

Travelling abroad has become a major part of the modern papacy, with popes seeking to meet local Catholics, spread the faith, and conduct international diplomacy.

A new pope’s first travels are usually seen as an indication of the issues the pontiff wants to highlight during his reign.

Both Turkey and Lebanon are majority Muslim countries, and Francis put a strong focus on Muslim-Catholic dialogue during a 12-year reign that included 47 trips abroad.

The official motto of Leo’s Lebanon trip is “Blessed are the peacemakers”.

Iran FM: No Access granted to sensitive nuclear sites during recent IAEA inspections

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Abbas Araghchi

According to committee spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei, Araghchi said the limited inspections were authorized only for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, for fuel replacement, and the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces medical isotopes for over one million Iranians.

Both were conducted with the approval of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Supreme National Security Council.

Rezaei noted that Araghchi reaffirmed Iran’s foreign policy as increasingly economy-driven, highlighting the government’s focus on provincial diplomacy to expand trade with neighboring countries. Two regional conferences have already been held, with two more planned by the end of the year.

Lawmakers also questioned the minister on sanctions, the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), and cooperation with China and Russia.

Araghchi said Iran remains a JCPOA signatory because some of its clauses benefit the country, adding that partnerships with Beijing and Moscow under 20- and 25-year agreements are progressing effectively.

US Colonel says Washington watered down report on Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The statements from Colonel Steve Gabavics in an interview with the New York Times published on Monday represent the first time any military official involved in the report has spoken publicly. Gabavics had previously spoken anonymously for a documentary by the Zeteo news organisation.

The official, who left the government in January, recounted being “flabbergasted” by a State Department statement that described Abu Akleh’s May 11, 2022, killing as “the result of tragic circumstances”. The statement, the only official assessment of the killing to date by the US government, added that US officials “found no reason to believe that this was intentional”.

At the time Abu Akleh was fatally shot in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Gabavics had been working at the inter-agency Office of the United States Security Coordinator, which oversees cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces.

The office, led by Lieutenant General Michael R Fenzel, had been tasked by the Biden administration with compiling a report on the killing, which informed the State Department’s public account.

Gabavics and four unnamed officials told the New York Times that the official US government line did little to reflect the impassioned debate among those who compiled the report about whether the attack was intentional.

The report relied on findings from Israeli and Palestinian investigations, as well as visiting the site and overseeing a ballistic analysis. The US has never released its own investigation into the killing. While the FBI launched a probe in 2022, its status remains unknown.

Gabavics said he was among the officials who believed the shooting was intentional. The government’s watered-down account “continued to be on my conscience nonstop”, he told the New York Times.

While it was not clear if the soldier who fired the fatal shot was deliberately targeting Abu Akleh, he, at the very least, would have known he was targeting a journalist, Gabavics added.

The assessment is in line with several probes by rights groups, a United Nations investigative body, Palestinian officials, and media organisations, including Al Jazeera. For its part, Israel eventually admitted one of its soldiers was likely behind the killing, which it called “an accident”. It announced that no personnel would be punished.

In support of his conclusion, Gabavics pointed to Israeli radio military traffic that showed soldiers were aware of journalists in the area at the time of the shooting. He added there had been no gunfire coming from the direction of the journalists at the time of the fatal shooting.

An Israeli military vehicle had been parked down the road from the group of journalists Abu Akleh was travelling with, which would have been clearly visible via a sniper scope, he said.

Gabavics said that the apparent precision of the shots did not indicate a spray of uncontrolled bullets. The fact that the soldier shot at a producer, then Abu Akleh, and then at another person who tried to help, also indicated intentionality.

He told the Times that for the shooting to have been an accident, “the most absurd thing in the world” would have had to happen.

“The individual popped out of the truck, just was randomly shooting, and happened to have really well-aimed shots and never looked down the scope. Which wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Gabavics said he had reported his conclusion both orally and in writing to General Fenzel, but the account did not appear in the assessment shared with the State Department. Gabavics and several officials said he was subsequently sidelined from the review.

For his part, General Fenzel, in a statement to the Times, stood by his approach.

“Ultimately, I had to make judgements based on the full set of facts and information available to me,” he said, adding, “I stand by the integrity of our work and remain confident that we reached the right conclusions.”

Gabavics said the incident underscored the US bias towards Israel he witnessed while working in the office. The US provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, which it has surged during the war in Gaza.

“The favouritism is always toward the Israelis. Very little of that goes to the Palestinians,” he stated.

He added that Abu Akleh’s case has left the most lasting impact of any during his career.

“Because we had everything there.”

 

Powerful earthquake hits Turkey, causing buildings to collapse

By
IFP Media Wire
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The magnitude 6.1 quake was centered in the town of Sindirgi in Balikesir province, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management agency, AFAD. It struck at 22:48 local time (1948 GMT) at a depth of 5.99 kilometers (3.72 miles.)

The quake, which was followed by several aftershocks, was felt in Istanbul, and the nearby provinces of Bursa, Manisa and Izmir.

At least three unoccupied buildings and a two-story shop collapsed in Sindirgi, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. The structures had already been damaged in a previous earthquake.

A total of 22 people were injured due to panic-related falls, which can occur because of the physical and psychological impact of earthquakes, according to Balikesir’s governor, Ismail Ustaoglu.

“So far, we have not identified any loss of life, but we are continuing our assessment,” Sindirgi’s district administrator Dogukan Koyuncu told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Many people remained outdoors too afraid to return to their homes, Haberturk television reported. As rain began to fall, Ustaoglu added mosques, schools and sports halls were being kept open to shelter people reluctant to go back.

Sindirgi also was struck in August by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake, which killed one person and injured dozens of other people. Since then, the region around Balikesir had been hit by smaller shocks.

Turkey sits on top of major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.

In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.

Iran establishes itself as a missile superpower through advanced precision and hypersonic technology

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran Missile

Iran’s missile program — long regarded as a principal instrument of strategic deterrence — has in recent years undergone pivotal technological leaps that have turned the country into a missile superpower.

The introduction of guided reentry warheads (MaRVs) into near-space has produced a dramatic improvement in the accuracy of Iran’s missiles.

After separating from the main booster and re-entering the atmosphere, these warheads locate and strike their targets.

MaRV technology (Maneuverable Re-entry Vehicle) represents Iran’s most important step toward becoming a precision missile power.

Iranian MaRV-equipped missiles have achieved accuracies below 10 meters.

The adoption of composite (solid) propellants has allowed missiles to remain concealed in storage or on mobile launchers for years and be fired within minutes.

A sharp reduction in operational readiness time, greater survivability, and easier maintenance are among the benefits of using composite solid fuel in Iran’s missiles.

Hypersonic capability is another feature of Iran’s Fattah-1 missiles. Nearly all ballistic missiles travel at hypersonic speeds (faster than Mach 5) during part of their flight.

The unveiling of Fattah-1 brought Iran into the exclusive club of countries possessing maneuverable hypersonic weapons.

Fattah-2 is another type of Iranian missile that uses HGV (hypersonic glide vehicle) technology.

Rather than following a purely ballistic descent, this weapon behaves like a very fast paper airplane.

The booster launches it to the edge of space; the warhead separates and then glides for hundreds of kilometers above the atmosphere. This glide capability lets it change course and strike from unexpected angles.

The Hormoz anti-radar ballistic missile acts like a hunter descending from space; instead of pursuing a conventional target, it homes in on enemy radar emissions and attacks the signal source itself (the radar). The Hormoz-1 is a short-range ballistic missile optimized for SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses) missions.

In a conflict scenario, Iran could begin its first wave of attacks with anti-radar ballistic missiles to blind the enemy’s air-defense sensors. That forces enemy radar operators into a deadly dilemma: keep their radar on to detect threats and be targeted, or switch it off and allow subsequent waves of missiles and drones to reach their targets unimpeded.

Hamas hands over remains of captive to Israel

By
IFP Media Wire
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The Israeli military announced on Monday that the Red Cross had taken custody of the coffin and was in the process of transporting it to the army’s troops in Gaza.

Under the terms of a United States-brokered ceasefire that took effect on October 10, Hamas has undertaken to return the bodies of all the 28 deceased captives. The remains of 16 had been handed over as of Monday.

The 20 surviving captives were freed on October 13 as part of the truce.

The release of the latest body comes as the families of some of the captives called on the Israeli government to pause the ceasefire if Hamas fails to locate and hand over the bodies.

“Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.

“The families urge the government of Israel, the United States administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel,” the association added.

The statement echoed the Israeli government’s claim that Hamas knows where the remains are.

On Saturday, Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya stated there were “challenges” in locating the captives’ bodies because “the occupation has altered the terrain of Gaza”.

He suggested that some of those who had buried the bodies had been killed during the war, while others had forgotten the burial locations.

The day after al-Hayya’s comments, Israel permitted an Egyptian technical team to enter Gaza to help with the task of finding the bodies. The search involves the use of excavator machines and trucks.

Despite the ceasefire, an Israeli drone attack close to the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis killed at least two people on Monday, according to Nasser Hospital.

In total, eight Palestinians have been killed and another 13 injured in Israeli attacks across the enclave over the last 48 hours, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Monday.

At least 68,527 people have died and 170,395 have been injured since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, it added.

Speaking on board Air Force One on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that Israel had not violated the truce through its strike against a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Saturday.

“We don’t view that as a violation of the ceasefire,” he said, accusing the target of planning an attack on Israeli troops.”They have the right if there’s an imminent threat to Israel, and all the mediators agree with that.”

In the more than two weeks since the truce began, about 473,000 people have returned to northern Gaza, where they face widespread destruction of property and critical shortages of basic necessities like food and water, according to the United Nations.

Younis al-Khatib, the head of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, has warned that Gaza’s population still faces the same desperate humanitarian emergency as it did before the truce.

“Rebuilding human beings is more difficult than rebuilding destroyed homes,” he added during meetings with Norway’s prime minister and foreign minister in Oslo, noting that residents would need mental health care for years to come.

The World Health Organization also warned that the number of Palestinians in Gaza who need mental health support had risen from about 485,000 to more than one million after two years of Israel’s war.

Almost all the children in the enclave need such help, according to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, which has announced that Gaza has been “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child” over the last two years.

 

President Pezeshkian says Iran, Oman enduring allies through regional challenges

By
IFP Media Wire
-

President Pezeshkian highlighted that the interactions between the two nations have always been founded on brotherhood, mutual respect, and goodwill, making them steadfast allies through regional ups and downs.

The president praised Oman’s constructive role in regional affairs, particularly its mediation efforts and hosting negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

He commended Oman’s clear stance in support of the oppressed people of Gaza and its condemnation of the Israeli regime’s atrocities, recognizing this humanitarian position as highly valuable.

Pezeshkian also underscored the importance of unity among Muslims nations, urging that adherence to religious teachings could transform the Islamic community into a powerful entity that safeguards the interests and security of Muslim nations.

Expressing hope that today’s visit would further strengthen ties between Tehran and Muscat, the president stated that Iran is ready to expand cooperation with Oman across various fields, including scientific, economic, cultural, social, and political domains.

Minister Al-Busaidi, expressing his satisfaction with the visit, described Iran-Oman relations as unique and historically significant, free from any doubts.

He appreciated President Pezeshkian’s commitment to enhancing relations with Islamic countries, particularly Oman, and reiterated Muscat’s dedication to deepening and elevating bilateral ties.

The minister noted that President Pezeshkian’s visit to Muscat five months ago, along with the valuable agreements that emerged from it, signifies a clear path for cooperation between the two countries.

 

EU member states could borrow money to finance Ukraine: Politico

By
IFP Media Wire
-

According to the report, several leaders discussed this alternative at last week’s EU summit after Belgium refused to back a €140 billion ($160 billion) Ukraine loan secured by the frozen Russian assets.

Although the details of the new plan remain unclear, joint debt typically refers to shared borrowing through jointly issued bonds by multiple nations, where all participants share responsibility for repayment.

Sources stated that the European Commission will outline the borrowing plan in an upcoming paper alongside a revised “reparations loan” proposal, and will include a third option – to halt Ukraine funding. They suggested the idea could be a “scarecrow” tactic to push EU nations already burdened by debt to vote for using the Russian assets.

Western nations froze $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets in 2022 and have sought to use the interest the funds have generated to finance Kiev’s war effort.

The G7 previously supported using the immobilized funds to secure $50 billion in loans, but EU leaders last week failed to agree on a similar “reparations loan,” largely due to Belgian opposition.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever warned that Belgium, which holds most of the frozen assets, could face disproportionate retaliation from Russia, and demanded a solid legal basis for the move and shared responsibility.

Sources told Politico that despite legal concerns, Brussels views using frozen Russian assets as the “most preferred” option to keep funding Kiev. A final decision is expected at the European Commission summit in December.

Moscow has denounced the asset freeze and attempts to redirect Russian funds as “theft,” vowing retaliation and warning that the move will erode trust in the Western financial system. The Kremlin has also said Western aid to Kiev only prolongs the conflict without changing the outcome.

Chinese ambassador to Tehran urges diplomatic path on Iran nuclear issue

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Cong Peiwu

Zhong stressed that resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy remains the only viable option.

“The Chinese side insists that the issue of Iran must be settled diplomatically….we oppose sanctions and pressure”, the Chinese ambassador said.

Zhong added that insisting on activating the snapback mechanism is unconstructive and only delays a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue.

He called on the US and the European troika to show goodwill, return the nuclear issue to a diplomatic track, and avoid further escalation of tensions.

“China maintains an equal position and seeks a constructive solution based on the interests and logic of all parties”.

Zhong maintained that Beijing is willing to maintain communication with the Iranian side. Referring to Iran–China relations, Zhong underscored that China consistently opposes unilateral sanctions.

The Chinese ambassador said normal cooperation between all countries and Iran is fair and reasonable.

“If China’s legitimate interests related to Iran are harmed due to sanctions, we will undoubtedly take necessary measures”, he said.

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