Orientul Mijlociu

In the initial sales pitch to Hezbollah two years ago, the new line of Apollo pagers seemed precisely suited to the needs of a militia group with a sprawling network of fighters and a hard-earned reputation for paranoia.

The AR924 pager was slightly bulky but rugged, built to survive battlefield conditions. It boasted a waterproof Taiwanese design and an oversized battery that could operate for months without charging. Best of all, there was no risk that the pagers could ever be tracked by Israel’s intelligence services. Hezbollah’s leaders were so impressed they bought 5,000 of them and began handing them out to mid-level fighters and support personnel in February.

[O]ne thing is certain: his [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s] 30-year-long policy of using costly proxies to keep war away from Iran has failed. Now he may be forced into doing his own fighting.

Depending on how far this goes, Khamenei’s latest move could put the very fate of his regime in the bargain.

Terror organization: Hamas

Status: Current chairman of Hamas’s political bureau;

Role: Palestinian politician who is a senior political leader of Hamas, the current chairman of Hamas’s political bureau; as of 2023, Haniyeh lives in Qatar;

Location: Qatar;

Born: 29 January 1962;

The general secretary of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, is gone. Decades of his reign over Hezbollah, his personal connection to the spiritual leader Khamenei, and his everlasting equations – all gone. He may be mourned by his followers, maybe even by Hezbollah experts, who have studied Nasrallah for years, but many are celebrating. Many more than you could imagine. The reason for it is much more complex, much more delicate and sensitive, and far more dangerous than meets the eye. This is unexpected, and mind-blowing but makes a lot of sense. Where did the intel come from? Who played along? Why would anyone double-cross the undisputed leader and “guardian of Lebanon” and the best friend of the Iranian homeland? To understand it fully, you have to know the basic facts.

Terror organization: Hezbollah

Status: Was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in September 2024

Role:

Under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah acquired rockets with a longer range, which allowed them to strike at northern Israel. After Israel suffered heavy casualties during its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, it withdrew its forces in 2000, which greatly increased Hezbollah’s popularity in the region, and bolstered Hezbollah’s position within Lebanon

How Israeli spies penetrated Hezbollah

In a shocking report The Financial Times reports that Israel’s relentless efforts to eliminate Hezbollah’s leadership have reached unprecedented levels of sophistication, marked by cutting-edge intelligence gathering and military precision.

The prices for dairy products have soared, with a kilogram of sheep cheese costing up to 100 Turkish liras, al-Araby al-Jadeed.

Livestock in Idlib governorate, northwestern Syria, is experiencing a sharp decline, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of families dependent on this sector. The crisis is exacerbated by ongoing conflict, soaring costs of fodder and veterinary care, and a deteriorating climate.

Netanyahu’s ruthless strategy sets off a wave of retribution that could drag the U.S. into a showdown with Iran, and risks a broader war

The war in the Middle East is continuing to spiral toward catastrophe: Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles against Israel Tuesday, targeting what it said were three military bases around Tel Aviv. Only moments before, two attackers fired on a crowd of train passengers in the same city, killing seven before being themselves killed by armed members of the public.

Israeli media said Hashem Saifeddine was likely wounded in an attack on Beirut, but Hezbollah has issued no official statement

Israeli media has reported that Hashem Saifeddine, widely considered to be a possible successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was wounded in an attack on Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Thursday or Friday.

Earlier this month, Iraq’s prime minister said American troops were no longer needed in his country. That might sound surprising, but it’s nothing new: Iraqi leaders have been calling on the U.S. to withdraw its forces for years.

American troops in Iraq completed their mission fully more than five years ago, in March 2019, when ISIS lost all of its territory. Yet for inexplicable reasons, U.S. troops have remained, overstaying their welcome and becoming magnets for insurgent attacks, including from Iranian proxies.