Hassan Nasrallah: Israel targeting missile sites in Syria

Hezbollah chief also denies presence of Iranian troops in Syria beyond 'military advisers and experts'.

Nasrallah also denied there was a power struggle in Syria between Bashar al-Assad allies Russia and Iran [Anwar Amro/AFP]

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, has said Israel is now concentrating its attacks in Syria on missile-manufacturing sites, while denying that Iranian troops were currently operating in the war-torn country beyond serving as "military advisers and experts".

Israel has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of Syria's war in 2011, saying any presence of Hezbollah and Iran, which have played a vital role in supporting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, remained a strategic threat in the neighbouring country.

In rare comments on Israeli attacks in Syria, Nasrallah said that with al-Assad firmly in control, Israel has turned its attention more recently to striking targets "linked to missile production in Syria", saying Israel feared that the manufacturing of "precision missiles" could spell "new dangers" for Israel.

During the televised statements on Wednesday, Nasrallah also denied that any Iranian troops were currently operating in Syria or that Israeli air attacks have pushed either Hezbollah or Iran to retreat from Syria, calling Israel's claims that they have done so "imaginary victories".

"In Syria, there is an imaginary battle that Israel is waging, called 'not allowing the presence of Iranian military troops in Syria'," he said.

Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said in April that the Israeli military was working to drive Tehran out of Syria.

Nasrallah instead said that Iranian military experts were in Syria with the aim of "advising and helping Syrian troops, and managing groups of Syrian, Arab and Islamic popular resistance forces".

"They train them, prepare them and manage them in ongoing battles," as well as handle "coordination with resistance movements including Hezbollah", he said.
     
The head of the Shia movement, which officially joined the war in Syria in 2013, however, conceded that in "an exceptional case" Iranian troops took part in the battle for the northern city of Aleppo in late 2016. The victory dealt a major blow to the armed opposition in the country.

Iran 'not waging a battle for influence'

Nasrallah also rejected the notion that the Damascus regime's allies Iran and Russia are entangled in a power struggle in Syria.

"Iran is not waging a battle for influence with anybody, not with Russia ... and not with anybody" else, he said.

"The Islamic Republic's position in Syria has been clear, and based on preventing Syria from falling under the hegemony of America and Israel," he added.

The Hezbollah chief spoke on the four-year anniversary of the death of a top Hezbollah commander in Syria, who was killed in an explosion near Damascus International Airport.

The group has blamed Sunni fighters for killing Mustafa Badreddine, who was on a US sanctions blacklist and wanted by Israel.

He had been on trial in absentia before a special tribunal in The Hague accused him of masterminding the 2005 bombing that killed Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

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Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/hassan-nasrallah-israel-targeting-missile-sites-syria-200513175315496.html

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It is telling that Donald Trump chose to invite two Israeli politicians and no Palestinians to Washington for the launch of his peace plan to tackle the decades-old conflict.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz – both vying for Israel’s premiership in elections due in a few weeks – are to fly out this weekend for separate discussions with the US president on what has been dubbed the “deal of the century”.

Back home, the Palestinian leadership, which cut contact with Washington years ago and has long said the US cannot be an honest broker, allegedly found out about the plan from Israeli media.

Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh has said the Palestinians’ “clear and unwavering position” is to reject any Trump-led initiatives. The territories’ chief negotiator Dr Saeb Erekat added that any proposal that ignores that Israel is occupying the Palestinian Territories will be “recorded in history as the fraud of the century”.

Certainly, the leaks in Israeli media, if they are to be believed (Trump has called them “speculative”) point to an agreement which the Palestinians – if they have any interest in having a proper functioning sovereign state – cannot accept.

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Ramadan: Muslims fast under coronavirus lockdowns

Millions of Muslims around the world have found different ways to celebrate Ramadan this year, as restrictions imposed by countries to curb the spread of the coronavirus have closed mosques and banned gatherings.

 This is when the world's 1.8 billion Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset. Families and friends usually gather to break the fast and many attend prayers.This year, however, people are having to mark the holy month at home instead.Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and it started on or around Thursday. In parts of the world particularly hard hit by the virus, this year's celebrations are tinged with sadness.

- Muslims prepare for a Ramadan under lockdown

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Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound has been closed to worshippers since mid-March and will not open during Ramadan. Even Islam's holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has been affected by the pandemic.

In Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - the government has banned travel during Ramadan

Muslims in Jerusalem prayed in an alley of the Old City on Friday

A man breaks his fast outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, which is also closed as India remains under lockdown

In Pakistan, customers maintained social distancing while buying food to break their fast

In New York, this imam made the afternoon call to prayer at an empty mosque

A Muslim devotee attends a prayer in Kathmandu amid a government-imposed lockdown across Nepal

Mecca's Grand Mosque would normally be full of worshippers during Ramadan, but now stands largely empty

A house is decorated with traditional Ramadan lanterns in the town of Toukh, in Egypt, where a night-time nationwide curfew is still in place

Calm returned to Niger's capital Niamey after protests against the coronavirus restrictions, including the ban on collective prayers

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52428992

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Saudi eases coronavirus curfews, keeps 24-hour curfew in Mecca

Saudi Arabia eased curfews on Sunday across the country, while keeping 24-hour curfews in the city of Mecca and in neighbourhoods previously put in isolation, state news agency SPA said.

Outside those exceptional areas, curfews will be eased between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (0600-1400 GMT) effective Sunday until May 13. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began on Friday.

The royal order also allowed some economic and commercial activities to re-start, including wholesale and retail shops and shopping malls, from Wednesday until May 13.

Activities which do not allow for physical distancing, including salons and cinemas, will remain closed. Social gatherings of more than five people are forbidden. Authorities in the capital Riyadh issued additional advice saying banknotes were not to be used.

Shops that do open should ensure no more than one customer per 10 square metres. Malls must be sterilised every 24 hours and children under 15 are not allowed to enter.

Saudi Arabia has recorded 16,299 cases of infection with the new coronavirus and 136 deaths. 

Source at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

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