GOLAN – Hezbollah has launched dozens of rockets at the occupied Golan Heights after Israeli aircraft struck deep inside Lebanon, as fears of an all-out war grow. The Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the Bekaa Valley overnight. The Lebanese health ministry said one person was killed and 30 others injured. In response, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said it targeted Israeli military positions in the Golan with a rocket barrage. Israeli authorities said two homes were hit and one person was injured.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Fatah movement accused Israel of assassinating a senior member of its armed wing in Lebanon in an effort to ignite a regional conflict. The Israeli military said it had killed Khalil al-Makdah in a strike in the southern port city of Sidon because he was operating on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and was involved in directing attacks in and smuggling weapons to the occupied West Bank. It was reportedly the first strike on a Fatah member since the start of the Gaza war, which has led to escalating cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Tensions have risen in recent weeks after Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, who it blamed for the killing of 12 children in a rocket attack. So far, more than 530 people have been reported killed in Lebanon, among them at least 130 civilians, and 49 people in Israel, including 26 civilians. Almost 200,000 people have also been displaced on both sides of the border.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Tuesday that the military’s centre of gravity “was gradually shifting from Gaza and to the Lebanese border. Attacking munitions warehouses in Lebanon is preparation for anything that might happen,” he noted. On Wednesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that jets had struck overnight a number of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the northern Bekaa Valley – a stronghold of the group – as well as a compound used by an air defence system. The IDF also said it had targeted a Hezbollah fighter in the southern border village of Beit Lif. Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes in the Bekaa region had killed one person, whom was not identified, and that nine children had been among the 30 injured. The state-run National News Agency said the strikes had targeted the outskirts of the town of Bodai, the area between Saraain and Safri, and Nabi Chit. The health ministry also reported that a man had been killed in Beit Lif, while Hezbollah confirmed the death of a fighter from the village called Hussein Mostafa. In response to the strikes, Hezbollah said it had launched a barrage of rockets towards an IDF logistics base in the Golan Heights. The IDF said about 50 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon and that some had fallen in the settlement of Katzrin. A 30-year-old man was moderately wounded by shrapnel when a rocket hit his home and set it on fire, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service .The deputy commander of the IDF’s Northern Command, Brigadier General Alon Friedman, accused Hezbollah of directly targeting the 8,000 civilians living in Katzrin. Hezbollah also said it had carried out a separate drone attack on Israeli military bases and warehouses in Amiad, a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee. The IDF said some of the drones had come down in the area, without causing any casualties.  (BBC)…[+]

UNITED NATIONS – A Chinese envoy on Wednesday urged some countries to immediately” lift all unilateral sanctions, as the indiscriminate imposition of illegal unilateral sanctions by these countries in violation of the UN Charter and international law not only “exacerbate the economic and social difficulties of the countries targeted, but also sow the seeds for new conflicts and instability. Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, made the remarks at the Security Council open debate on peacebuilding and sustaining peace: the new agenda for peace  addressing global, regional and national aspects of conflict prevention.

Effective conflict prevention requires favorable external conditions,” he said, highlighting the role of the United Nations in conflict prevention. The envoy called on the world body to increase its input in the area of development, noting that UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions should pay attention to the needs of the countries concerned and do more practical work conducive to promoting their economic growth and sustainable development. He also underlined the role of regional and subregional organizations in enhancing political trust among countries and promoting regional cooperation, calling for building an open and non-discriminatory international economic and trade environment, so that more developing countries can participate fairly in economic, scientific, and technological cooperation and share the dividends of development.

He stressed efforts to promote the reform of the international financial architecture, to better meet the needs of developing countries in such areas as financing for development, climate change, and capacity building. We should uphold international justice, oppose interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and oppose unilateralism and hegemony,” Fu said. He emphasized that the indiscriminate imposition of illegal unilateral sanctions by some countries in violation of the UN Charter and international law “not only exacerbate the economic and social difficulties of the countries targeted, but also sow the seeds for new conflicts and instability We urge these countries to immediately lift all unilateral sanctions,” Fu said. Addressing the international situation undergoing profound and complex evolution, with some regions facing intensifying turmoil with a serious spillover effect, the ambassador highlighted the need to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of conflict prevention and to address both the symptoms and underlying issues, in particular the root causes of conflict. He also stressed the need to translate the international community’s shared vision for peace into effective actions to realize lasting peace, saying that poverty and under-development are “major sources of conflict,” and conflict prevention must take up poverty reduction and development as a foundational task. The ambassador noted that effective governance is indispensable for a country to maintain long-term stability and achieve sustainable economic and social development, adding that the government should play its role in making up for the shortcomings of market mechanism, investing more in infrastructure, education, health, among others, to enhance people’s sense of benefit, hereby solidifying public buy-in of government policies and actions.

He also underlined the importance of inclusive development in building the foundation of lasting peace. We must see to it that the human rights of women, youth, and other groups are safeguarded in the context of development, with the right to life and right to development being put front and center in our work, while other human rights being promoted and safeguarded in a balanced manner.” Fu stated that China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an important member of the Global South, along with realizing its own development, has always taken as its responsibility to support the Global South in achieving lasting peace and sustainable development.   (Xinhua)…[+]

A group representing the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza plans to boycott the government’s commemoration of the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, frustrated by the slow progress in negotiations to bring back their loved ones. The Israeli government’s glaring inability to secure the hostages’ return makes any attempt to conclude this chapter impossible,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement on Wednesday. “Since October 7, the situation has remained stagnant.” The government is scheduled to hold a formal memorial event on October 7, a year after Hamas’ attack on Israel. Transport Minister Miri Regev, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, has been appointed by the government to organize the memorial. A year has passed since citizens were abandoned in the greatest disaster in Israel’s history. One-hundred-and-nine hostages have yet to return, and the living have not been brought back for rehabilitation, nor have the bodies of the murdered been returned for burial,” the forum added. The forum said it would instead join communities of the Gaza border area and southern Israel to mark October 7.

Monthslong talks to release the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza have repeatedly stalled as mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt ramp up efforts to reach an agreement. Israel insists that it won’t end the war until Hamas is eliminated from Gaza and has demanded that it retain control over the Gaza-Egypt border and restrict the movement of armed men from the south of the strip to its north. Hamas has rejected those demands. There are currently 109 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, including 36 believed to be dead, according to data from the Israeli government press office. This week, the bodies of six Israeli hostages were retrieved from tunnels in Gaza in an Israeli military operation in the city of Khan Younis.Israel’s war in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led militants attacked the country on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. More than 40,200 people have died in Gaza during the war, according to Palestinian authorities. Hostage families have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of stalling negotiations and abandoning the captives to keep his governing coalition intact. Hardline ministers in his cabinet have threatened to collapse the government if he agrees to end the war. Together, we’ll demand the restoration of security, the return of the hostages, the rehabilitation of communities, and an investigation into the failures that led to the terrible disaster of October 7,” the forum said.The boycott announcement came after a number of kibbutzim Israeli agricultural communes from the Gaza border area announced they would not participate in the memorial. According to Israeli public broadcaster Kan, a CNN affiliate, many of those kibbutzim that were attacked on October 7, including Be’eri, Re’im, Nirim, Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, Nir Oz, Yad Mordechai and Nir Yitzhak, will boycott the event.Leader of Israel’s National Unity party and former war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday said that it should be the affected communities and not Regev  organizing the event.  The nature of this day must be determined by those who endured the inferno: the residents of the Western Negev settlements, the hostages and their families, the families of the fallen, and the wounded, Gantz wrote on X. Addressing Regev, Gantz added: “It is not too late to reconsider and do what is right. Transfer the responsibility for managing the ceremony to the Minister of Culture, establish a joint steering committee with the leaders of the Western Negev communities and the bereaved families, and truly listen to them.   (CNN)…[+]

While ExxonMobil Guyana Limited EMGL and its Stabroek Block partners, Hess and CNOOC, continue to enjoy tax exemptions and other benefits from a lopsided deal in Guyana, foreign oil companies operating in Senegal now face the possibility of contract revisions by the new administration to ensure a fairer distribution of benefits for its citizens. On Monday, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko announced that the government has officially set up a commission that is tasked with reviewing oil and gas contracts that were signed with multinational corporations. African News reported that the PM made the announcement on national television insisting that the team of legal, tax, and energy sector experts will work meticulously to make sure all legal aspects are carefully examined and are aligned with the country’s national interest. Sonko reiterated his government’s ambition to rebalance the energy contracts in the national interest. Back in April, Senegal’s newly elected President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye had revealed plans for a comprehensive audit of the nation’s oil, gas, and mining sectors, and their terms and conditions under which they were handed out by his predecessor. Reuters reported that the announcement followed a campaign promise to renegotiate the terms of oil, gas and mineral contracts with foreign operators in the country.

On June 11, 2024 Senegal officially became an oil and gas producer for the first time after Australian group Woodside Energy announced first oil at its Sangomar project off the African country  S& P Global reported. Phase one of Sangomar, which alongside BP’s massive Greater Tortue Ahmeyim GTA gas project could overhaul the Senegalese economy, will produce 100,000 barrel of crude, according to the Australian oil and gas company.

President Faye has vowed to ensure the nation benefits from its resources that are being extracted by foreign companies. Faye’s announcement looking for a change in a country of approximately 18 million people, strongly contrasts with that of Guyana’s Vice President VP Bharrat Jagdeo who while in opposition promised to renegotiate the lopsided ExxonMobil Guyana Limited EMGL a subsidiary of American oil giant Exxon, but has since changed his tune- even denying that he had ever made such a promise. In Guyana’s case, there is the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement PSA that was signed by the former APNU+AFC Government with Exxon. While Guyanese have long accepted that the deal is lopsided–one that benefits the oil companies more than it does the country,  the PPP/C Government has refused to bring Exxon back to the negotiation table, all while allowing the oil company to ramp up production offshore Guyana.  (Kaieteur News)…[+]

Photo: Guyana’s Vice President VP Bharrat Jagdeo