January 31, 2024

Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah has announced the suspension of hostile operations against US troops as Washington ponders its response to a deadly drone attack that killed three of its soldiers. The group’s attempt to de-escalate late on Tuesday, which it said was motivated by a desire not to “embarrass” the Iraqi government, was met with some scepticism in the United States. The Pentagon alleges that there have been three further attacks since the attack in Jordan on January 28. end of list However, the White House has indicated that it is pondering a “tiered response” to Sunday’s attack. Speaking on Tuesday in Washington, DC, Biden tied the attacks to Iran. “I do hold them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” he said. However, he specified he did not want “a wider war” in the region. However, Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said Republican hawks were calling for strikes inside Iran. “For months, this administration has been saying the biggest concern they have is that this will lead to a wider war, and it seems fairly clear that striking inside of Iran would make it more likely rather than less,” she said. The threat of escalation has risen since Sunday’s attack, with tension mounting across the region. On Wednesday, Iran said it would respond to any threats from the US. “We hear threats coming from American officials, we tell them that they have already tested us and we now know one another, no threat will be left unanswered,” said Hossein Salami, chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. Powerful element Kataib Hezbollah is the most powerful element in a group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since October 7. The US has so far responded to that campaign by conducting air raids and imposing sanctions against Iran-backed groups in Iraq, particularly Kataib Hezbollah. In its statement on Tuesday, Kataib Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi noted that many of its allies, in particular Iran, “often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria”. Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed said the statement aimed to “alleviate or reduce the burden, the pressure that the government in Iraq has been facing since … the beginning of these attacks”. The Iraqi government, he said, has been engaged in talks with US military officials to find mechanisms guaranteeing the withdrawal of US and coalition troops from the country. Hawks apply pressure In the face of Biden’s caution over the US response to the attack in Jordan, hawkish members of the Republican Party have gone into overdrive as they appeal for more direct military action against Iran. Senator Lindsey Graham called on the Biden administration to “strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces but as deterrence against future aggression”. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called for “striking directly against Iranian targets and its leadership”. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/31/kataib-hezbollah-says-it-suspends-attacks-on-us-forces

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it could not deliver food to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis despite a “serious shortage” after delays at checkpoints. “I witnessed two people suffocating to death from the overcrowding,” says Mercy Corps aid worker after a rare food delivery reached northern Gaza. “We don’t know where they were injured or even their names,” Dr Omar Abu Taha tells Al Jazeera as Palestinians bury dozens of bodies, released by Israel, in Rafah. Israeli troops have stormed al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis and are demanding doctors and displaced Palestinians evacuate, the Palestine Red Crescent says. At least 26,751 people have been killed and 65,636 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. Kataib Hezbollah announces halt of attacks on US forces Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah has announced the suspension of hostile operations against US troops as Washington ponders its response to a deadly drone attack that killed three of its soldiers. The group’s attempt to de-escalate late on Tuesday, which it said was motivated by a desire not to “embarrass” the Iraqi government, was met with some scepticism in the United States. Read the full story here. Coffins of Kataib Hezbollah members killed by US air strikes are carried through Najaf city in Iraq [Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters] Click here to share on social media Iran expresses confidence Israel’s leader soon out of power Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian says he imminently expects Israel’s beleaguered leader to be done as prime minister and the Gaza war to subsequently wind down. “Diplomacy is moving forward on this path. Benjamin Netanyahu is nearing the end of his criminal political life,” said Amirabdollahian. Fears of American strikes on Iranian territory have emerged after the deadly drone attack on a US base in Jordan. But Iran’s top diplomat played the threat down. “The White House knows very well the solution to ending the war and genocide in Gaza and the current crisis in the region is political,” Amirabdollahian said. On Sunday, an organisation calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens of others in the drone strike. Washington blamed Iran and President Biden said on Tuesday said he’s decided how to respond, but reiterated the United States is not looking for a “wider war in the Middle East … that’s not what I’m looking for”. Click here to share on social media Houthis threaten more attacks on US-UK warships after missiles fired Yemen’s Houthi militia has decided to keep up attacks on US and UK warships in the Red Sea in what it called “acts of self-defence”, stoking fears of long-term disruption to world trade. The group said all US and UK warships participating in “aggression” against its country were targets. On Wednesday, the Houthis fired missiles at the US warship USS Gravely. The US Central Command said the Gravely shot down a Houthi missile late on Tuesday. “The naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces, with the help of God Almighty, fired several missiles at the American destroyer USS Gravely in the Red Sea,” a Houthi statement said. The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have been attacking ships in and around the Red Sea, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. Houthi fighters and supporters [File: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] Click EU to pick country to lead Red Sea command: Borrell EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he is hopeful it could be decided later in the day which member state could lead the upcoming EU mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea, adding this operation could be launched before mid-February. “We have to decide which country will take the command, where the headquarters will be and what navy assets the member states will provide,” he said before the start of an EU defence ministers meeting, adding he hopes the country leading the mission would be decided today. “Not all member states will be willing to participate, but no one will obstruct … I hope that on the 17th of [February] the mission can be launched,” Borrell said. He added the operation would be named Aspires, “which means protector”. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/31/israels-war-on-gaza-live-severe-hunger-in-gaza-as-aid-trucks-surrounded

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 14 years in jail for illegally selling state gifts. The sentencing comes a day after Khan was given a 10-year prison term in a case related to the leaking of state secrets. The double sentencing against Pakistan’s popular politician comes about a week before the national elections on February 8. Khan is barred from running in the vote as his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party witnesses a massive crackdown by the state. More reactions to the sentencing Lawyer Rida Hosain says the haste in which Khan’s back-to-back convictions were announced is explicable. “The right to a fair trial lies at the heart of any civilised society governed by the rule of law. Even those accused of the harshest of crimes must get a fair process. It is blatant that there was no fair process in this case,” she told Al Jazeera. However, ex-Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali said the PTI’s legal team was given ample opportunity to present its arguments. “They failed to rebut or impeach the prosecution’s case,” he said. Click here to share on social media PTI says Islamabad police preventing party meeting The PTI say its central offices in Islamabad have been cordoned off and sealed by police. The party was scheduled to hold a general meeting at the premises in preparation for the upcoming elections. “Tehreek-e-Insaaf is being prevented from meeting even inside its office. Is it a level playing field?” the party said in a post on X, accompanied by a video showing police outside the building. Click here to share on social media WATCH: Who is Imran Khan? The former prime minister has long been at the centre of a political storm in Pakistan. A few months ago, Start Here, Al Jazeera’s online video explainer series, took a look at his life and career to explain how he became so popular – and so divisive. Watch the episode – featuring Farzana Shaikh, associate fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House; Uzair Younus, director, Pakistan Initiative, Atlantic Council; and Abid Hussain, Al Jazeera’s digital correspondent – below. Flawed and ridiculous decision: PTI official We have some reaction from Khan’s party. PTI official Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari has told Al Jazeera the sentencing of the opposition leader was “yet another sad day in Pakistan’s judicial history” that showed that the “judiciary is being dismantled. He described the ruling as “flawed” and “ridiculous” that “witnesses clearly seemed compromised”. “Star witnesses were changed … with no cross-questioning allowed, no final argument concluded, and the decision pops up like a predetermined process in play,” Bukhari said. Click here to share on social media Khan’s third conviction comes week before national elections It is the third conviction for Imran Khan, the embattled former prime minister and the main opposition leader, in the last few months. The sentencing comes only a week before the general elections, scheduled to be held on February 8. The verdict also includes a 10-year disqualification on Khan from holding public office, said his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Click here to share on social media Who is Bushra Bibi? Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Khan, commonly known as Bushra Bibi, gave herself up for arrest shortly after the verdict, reports said. Bibi, who has also been sentenced to 14 years in jail with Khan, is known for her spirituality and devotion to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. Born Bushra Riaz Watto, she changed her last name to Khan after her marriage in 2018. Her husband and followers commonly refer to her as Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, titles that in Urdu denote respect. She has kept a low profile since her marriage to Khan, a former cricket hero who has been in the public eye for decades. Khan, right, and Bushra Bibi talk to reporters at the Lahore High Court in Lahore [File: KM Chaudary/AP] Click Imran Khan sentenced twice in two days The sentencing comes a day after the former prime minister and his close aide and ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced to 10 years in jail in a case related to the leaking of state secrets. The so-called cypher case pertains to a diplomatic cable that Khan claims proves his allegation that his removal from power in 2022 was a conspiracy. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/31/imran-khan-sentencing-live-news-ex-pakistan-pm-wife-jailed-for-14-years