Rockets are launched from Lebanon towards Israel. File picture
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) it launched a rocket targeting Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, which it says was responsible for assassinating its leaders and blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group, in a new escalation.

Warning sirens sounded in Israel’s economic capital Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defence systems after it was detected crossing from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

There were no reports of damage or casualties and the military said there was no change to civil defence instructions for central Israel.

Warning sirens also sounded in other areas of central Israel, including the city of Netanya.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Israel in recent days as months of conflict across the border with southern Lebanon has intensified sharply.

The Israeli military has been conducting its heaviest air strikes of the war this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of targets deep inside Lebanon that have killed more than 500 people and wounded more than 1,800.

On Tuesday, a strike in Beirut killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Qubaisi, who headed the group’s missile and rocket force.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia October 27, 2023.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting of top security and law enforcement officials on October 30, the day after a mob stormed the airport in the region of Dagestan after a plane from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv landed there.

Hundreds of angry men rushed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, late on October 29, looking for Israeli passengers, according to Russian news reports.

Dagestan’s Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. It said the injured included police officers and civilians. The local Interior Ministry said 60 people were detained in the unrest. It was not clear if charges had been filed against any of them, but Russia’s Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal probe on charges of organizing mass unrest.

The crowd broke out onto the landing field and surrounded the airliner belonging to the Russian carrier Red Wings, with seemingly little resistance from the police, Russian news outlets reported.

Video and photos on social media showed some in the crowd waving Palestinian flags and some trying to overturn a police car. Others held hand-written banners saying “Child killers are not welcome in Dagestan” and “We’re against Jewish refugees.”

Some in the crowd examined the passports of arriving passengers, apparently in an attempt to identify those who were Israeli. The riot was later broken up.

The Makhachkala airport was to remain closed until 3 a.m. on October 31, Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said.

The Kremlin on October 30 blamed the unrest on “outside interference,” and Mr. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting will discuss “attempts by the West to use the events in the Middle East to divide the (Russian) society.”

“It is well known and obvious that yesterday’s event around the Makhachkala airport is largely the result of outside interference, including information influence from outside,” Mr. Peskov told reporters at his daily news conference.

Also on October 30, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti cited Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov as saying that the unrest was coordinated in a Telegram channel run by “traitors” based in Ukraine, with the goal of destabilising the situation in Dagestan and fueling unrest.

According to Russia’s independent news site Mediazona, local Telegram channels had said before the unrest that “refugees from Israel” were about to arrive in Dagestan. One such channel, Mediazona said, was founded by former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, who currently resides in Ukraine and claims to be involved with a guerilla movement inside Russia.

The Associated Press could not independently confirm the report. Mr. Ponomaryov has said he no longer has ties with the channel.

Russia has issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the war between Israel and Hamas, a conflict that is giving Moscow bold new opportunities — to advance its role as a global power broker and challenge Western efforts to isolate it over Ukraine.

Following the Dagestan unrest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s office added that the Israeli Ambassador to Russia was working with Russia to keep Israelis and Jews safe.

While voicing support for Palestinians in Gaza, the regional Dagestani government appealed to citizens to remain calm and not take part in such protests. The Supreme Mufti of Dagestan, Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, also appealed for peace.

“We understand and perceive your indignation very painfully. … We will solve this issue differently. Not with rallies, but appropriately. Maximum patience and calm for you,” he said in a video published to Telegram.

Dagestan Gov. Melikov promised consequences for anyone who took part in the violence, and wrote on Telegram that what happened at the airport was “outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies!”

People in the crowd walk shouting antisemitic slogans at an airfield of the airport in Makhachkala, Russia, Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Russian news agencies and social media say hundreds of people have stormed into the main airport in the Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner coming from Tel Aviv, Israel.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sixty people were detained after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed an airport in Russia’s predominantly Muslim Dagestan region on Sunday, the RIA news agency reported on Monday.

RIA said the identity of 150 of what it called the most active protesters had been identified. It said nine police officers had received injuries in the incident, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

The protesters stormed into the main airport in Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner from Tel Aviv, Israel, Russian news agencies and social media reported.

Russian news reports said people in the crowd were shouting antisemitic slogans and tried to storm the airliner belonging to Russian carrier Red Wings.

Video on social media showed some in the crowd on the landing field waving Palestinian flags, protesters attempting to overturn a police car and others checking the passports of passengers who had arrived in Makhachkala.

In a statement released Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.” Netanyahu’s office added that the Israeli ambassador to Russia was working with Russia to keep Israelis and Jews safe.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs for Russia’s North Caucasian Federal District, where Dagestan is located, stated that CCTV footage would be used to establish the identities of those who stormed the airport, and that those involved would be brought to justice.

While voicing support for Gaza, the regional Dagestani government appealed to citizens to remain calm and not take part in such protests.

“We urge residents of the republic to treat the current situation in the world with understanding. Federal authorities and international organizations are making every effort to bring about a ceasefire against Gaza civilians … we urge residents of the republic not to succumb to the provocations of destructive groups and not to create panic in society,” the Dagestani government wrote on Telegram.

The Supreme Mufti of Dagestan, Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, called on residents to stop the unrest at the airport.

“You are mistaken. This issue cannot be resolved in this way. We understand and perceive your indignation very painfully. … We will solve this issue differently. Not with rallies, but appropriately. Maximum patience and calm for you,” he said in a video published to Telegram.

Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov was more assertive in his criticism of the protesters, and promised consequences for anyone who took part in the storming of the airport.

“The actions of those who gathered at the Makhachkala airport today are a gross violation of the law!… what happened at our airport is outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies! And this will definitely be done!” he wrote on Telegram.

He called the protests a “knife in the backs of those who gave their lives for the security of the Motherland,” referring to the 1999 war in Dagestan and troops currently fighting in Ukraine.

Russia’s civilian aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, later reported that the airfield had been cleared of unauthorized people, but that the airport would tentatively remain closed to incoming aircraft until Nov. 6.

Taylor Swift’s bodyguard who protected her during the summer leg of her Eras Tour has returned to his homeland Israel to fight for his country against Hamas operatives. According to The Independent, the bodyguard, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, decided to fly back home and join the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) reserves after he saw the deadly attacks on Israeli citizens by Hamas. He left the United States after the first strike took place on October 7. 

The news first broke as Israeli journalist Eran Swisa spotted the security guard fighting in the IDF. Variety magazine later confirmed that the guard has indeed travelled to Israel in order to join the IDF reserves. Mr Swisa told the outlet that the man was born in a Kibbutz in Israel before he moved to America for work. 

“I got a pretty great life back in the US,” Ms Swift’s former security guard told Mr Swisa in a statement he shared with Variety. “I got an amazing dream job that I love, great friends that I call family and a very comfortable home. I didn’t HAVE to come here… But I could not stand on the sidelines while families are being slaughtered and burned alive in their homes!!! Just for being Jewish or for being Israelis,” the bodyguard added. 

Also Read | US Man Used Phone, Apple Watch To Locate Daughter Who Was Killed By Hamas

He also condemned Hamas operatives in his statement and urged others to stand with Israel. “While one side is protecting babies, kids and the elderly, the other side is using those as human shields!!! It’ll be an insult to animals worldwide to call them ‘animals’ but those are not human beings,” he said of Hamas.

“They killed and slaughtered families in their beds alongside family’s [sic] pets!!!! And then they burned the houses down!!!! Try to imagine that happening in your own neighborhood, to your next door neighbours or to a family you know,” the security guard added. 

Israel was caught off-guard by Hamas last weekend as the group attacked its civilians. In response, Israel also launched airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and even stopped food and electricity supply to the region. 

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said that around 500,000 Israelis have been evacuated and displaced in the 10 days since Hamas unleashed the bloodiest attack in the country’s history. Israel’s airstrikes, on the other hand, have claimed at least 2,750 lives in Gaza. 

President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Washington. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have carried out an unprecedented, multifront attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States on Saturday condemned the attacks by “Hamas terrorists” against Israel and vowed to ensure the key U.S. ally has the means to defend itself.

President Joe Biden described the assault as “a terrible tragedy on a human level” and said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to underline his support.

“I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House.

“In my administration, support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.

“We’ll make sure that they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves.”

As the attacks threatened to trigger a wider conflict, Biden also warned “this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching.”

Biden stressed that Israel — which the United States has supplied with billions of dollars of arms — has “a right to defend itself” after the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas launched air, sea and land strikes.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed Washington’s commitment, saying “over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs.”

Meanwhile, top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas — whose West Bank-based Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas — and “called on all leadership in the region to condemn” the attack on Israel.

Former president Donald Trump weighed in, blaming Biden, without evidence, for indirectly funding the attacks.

“These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force,” Trump said in a statement.

“Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration.”

Trump’s allegations reflected Republican claims that $6 billion released last month to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange deal was used to fund the Hamas attack.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said on social media that “this is a shameful lie in every respect, at a time when both parties should be totally united in supporting Israel’s defense.”

The money “can only be used for verifiable purchases of humanitarian needs like food & medicine,” Bates added, in a fierce pushback against the claims.

Israel normalized relations decades ago with neighboring Egypt and Jordan and in 2020 added three more Arab states to the list — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco — in what Trump considered his towering foreign policy achievement.

The so-called “Abraham Accords” also included sweeteners from Trump, including a promise to sell jets to the United Arab Emirates.

“We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible,” Trump, who plans to stand against Biden in the 2024 election, said.

Before Saturday’s assault, Biden had been hoping to transform the Middle East — and score a pre-election diplomatic victory — by securing recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Saturday that “this unprecedented and brutal attack by Hamas is not only supported by Iran, it was designed to stop peace efforts between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“A peace agreement between those two nations would be a nightmare for Iran and Hamas.”

“It would serve Israel and the world well to respond to this outrage by launching an operation that will destroy the Hamas organization — not just contain it,” he added.

Hamas is backed by Iran, a foe of Israel, with Iran’s supreme leader declaring he was “proud” of Saturday’s attacks.

Biden has had recently rocky relations with Netanyahu, publicly criticizing him for overhauling Israel’s judiciary, a step seen by opponents as undermining democracy.