Hamas strikes Israel with rocket salvo from southern Lebanon

Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, over northern Israel, Feb. 28, 2024. (AFP)

Hamas’ armed wing in Lebanon has struck Israel with a rocket salvo in a resumption of the group’s military operations in the country.

The militant group’s wing in Lebanon paused attacks south of the border following the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri in early January.

The senior Hamas leader and founding commander of the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades was killed in an Israeli drone strike on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh on Jan. 2.

Al-Qassam announced on Wednesday it had targeted Camp Gibor, the headquarters of Israel’s 769th Eastern Brigade, as well as the airport barracks in Beit Hillel, using 40 “Grad” rockets.

The Israeli media reported sirens sounding in Kiryat Shmona, Ma’ayan Baruch, Kfar Yuval, Goshrin and Beit Hillel in the Upper Galilee.

Israeli Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that 10 of the rockets had struck sites in Israel, while 30 were intercepted. In response, the Israeli military targeted the sources of fire, Adraee added.

Interceptor missiles launched by Israel’s Iron Dome exploded above border villages in the eastern section of southern Lebanon.

Army helicopters evacuated Israelis wounded in the attack to hospitals south of the border, Israeli media reported.

Hezbollah did not announce any military operations against the Israeli Army on Wednesday, after two days of extensive operations.

Meanwhile, Israeli F-15 jets cruised throughout Lebanese airspace.

Political activist Ali Al-Amin told Arab News: “Hezbollah took a decision over a month ago to stop any operations by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from southern Lebanon toward the Israeli Army. It seems now that there is a retreat from this decision. The aim may be to pressure the Americans.”

He added: “The decision to stop Hamas and Islamic Jihad operations was in response to a previous American request to Hezbollah to control the confrontations from the south and prevent their expansion.

“It now seems that there is a need to pressure the American side again to link the truce, if reached in the Gaza Strip, to Lebanon, as the Israeli side had rejected this link and said it would leave the confrontation open in Lebanon after the truce.”

Hezbollah has said it will refuse a ceasefire in southern Lebanon until Hamas accepts a settlement in Gaza.

Israeli jets carried out an airstrike on a home in the border city of Bint Jbeil, targeting a local Hezbollah leader, Ali Wahbi, though there were no reported injuries from the attack.

Jets also struck the Al-Khuraybah area, located between Khiam and Rashaya Al-Fakhar.

Adraee said on X that jets attacked “a weapons depot and military buildings belonging to Hezbollah in Ramyah in southern Lebanon, and a weapons production site for Hezbollah in the area of Khirbet Salim.”

Brig. Gen. Mounir Shehadeh, the former Lebanese government coordinator to UNIFIL, said that Hezbollah has avoided causing civilian casualties in its strikes on strategic targets in Israel.

He added: “Although Hezbollah can launch 1,000 missiles a day, they are not looking for war.

“However, if Israel escalates the conflict, Hezbollah seems prepared to retaliate strongly, potentially altering the region’s landscape.”

Hezbollah’s campaign in support of Gaza, which has lasted 144 days, has seen more than 200 members of the group killed, as well as allied militants and civilians.

The “support war” has also resulted in extensive material damage, with 8,000 homes completely destroyed and 10,000 homes partially destroyed in southern Lebanon.

About 100,000 civilians in Lebanon’s south have also been displaced by the violence.

We are not at war with Russia – Italy

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. AFP/Marco Bertorello

Talk about sending troops to Ukraine is dangerous, the Italian government has said, responding to remarks by the president of France.

Italy is “not at war with Russia” and has no plans to send troops to Ukraine, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani clarified on Tuesday.

The remarks were part of a wave of denial from NATO nations about harboring any plans to deploy troops on behalf of Kiev in its fight against Moscow. Italy’s continuing support for Ukraine does not include such an option, Tajani insisted.

“When we talk about sending troops, we must be very cautious because we must not make people think we are at war with Russia,” he explained.

We are not at war with Russia.

The political firestorm was sparked by comments French President Emmanuel Macron made on Monday. Speaking to reporters following a meeting of European leaders in Paris, Macron said that the deployment of troops to Ukraine by NATO and other Western countries could not be ruled out.

“There’s no consensus today to send, in an official manner, troops on the ground,” he stated, adding, however, that the West should not stop at anything to prevent Russia from emerging victorious in the conflict.

“In terms of dynamics, we cannot exclude anything. We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war,” the French leader said.

The statements prompted the US and several other NATO members to publicly reject such a possibility, with the bloc’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, stressing there are “no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.” The UK produced by far the weakest denial, stating only that it does not have plans for a “large-scale” troop deployment.

Moscow has condemned Macron’s remarks, cautioning the US-led bloc against hostile moves. The potential use of NATO troops in Ukraine would make a direct confrontation between the bloc and Moscow not only “possible,” but actually “inevitable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned.

“This is absolutely not in the interests of these countries, they should be aware of this,” he said.

Zelensky facing disaster on frontline, Macron’s pledge won’t help — Russian diplomat

The situation on the frontline is catastrophic for Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, and the recent statement by French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible deployment of French troops to Ukraine will be of no help, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
©Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

"The Kiev regime is facing a deplorable situation on the frontline, and nothing will help it," the Russian diplomat said. According to her, some bold and powerful rhetoric was needed to encourage Ukrainian troops.

"Has Macron’s statement had any effect? The situation is the complete opposite," Zakharova maintained.

In addition, Zakharova said, in the wake of Macron’s statements, a lot of NATO officials and agencies ruled out sending troops to Ukraine.

Macron said at a press conference after a meeting of around Western leaders in Paris on Monday that there was no consensus on the formal deployment of ground troops to Ukraine. However, he did not rule out such a possibility in the future.

KPU akan gelar pleno terbuka hasil penghitungan suara luar negeri

Aesip foto - Ketua KPU Hasyim Asy’ari membetulkan posisi kacamata saat konferensi pers di Kantor KPU, Jakarta, Jumat (23/2/2024). ANTARA FOTO/Erlangga Bregas Prakoso/aww.

Komisi Pemilihan Umum Republik Indonesia dijadwalkan menggelar rapat pleno terbuka rekapitulasi hasil penghitungan suara Pemilu 2024 di luar negeri pada hari ini, hari Rabu, 28/02/2024.

Ketua Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) RI Hasyim Asy'ari kepada wartawan di Jakarta, Selasa, mengatakan rapat tersebut akan dimulai pukul 09.00 WIB di Kantor KPU RI, Jakarta.

Proses rekapitulasi dimulai dari hasil penghitungan suara yang sudah diselesaikan Panitia Pemilihan Luar Negeri (PPLN).

"Kami akan mulai hari Rabu besok, tanggal 28 Februari 2024, pukul 9 pagi," ujar Hasyim kemarin malam.

Ia menjelaskan dari 128 PPLN di seluruh dunia, sampai hari ini sebanyak 36 PPLN sudah siap hadir di Kantor KPU RI.

"Dan sudah siap mengikuti rapat pleno terbuka rekapitulasi hasil penghitungan suara," katanya.

Hasyim menjelaskan rekapitulasi penghitungan suara itu bersifat rapat pleno dan terbuka yang dihadiri masing-masing saksi peserta pemilu, baik saksi dari calon presiden dan wakil presiden maupun partai politik.

Selain itu, akan disaksikan Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum (Bawaslu), Dewan Kehormatan Penyelenggara Pemilu (DKPP), dan para pemangku kepentingan lainnya.

"Rapat pleno terbuka sehingga siapa pun bisa mengaksesnya," tambah Hasyim.

Rapat pleno terbuka hasil penghitungan suara Pemilu 2024 oleh PPLN sudah berlangsung hingga 22 Februari lalu. Sementara rapat pleno di tingkat kecamatan akan berlangsung hingga 2 Maret.

Kemudian rapat pleno tingkat kabupaten/kota berlangsung hingga 5 Maret 2024. Terakhir, rapat pleno terbuka hasil perhitungan suara Pemilu 2024 tingkat nasional berlangsung hingga 20 Maret.

MKGR Konsisten Dukung Airlangga Hartarto sebagai Ketum Golkar

Ormas pendiri Partai Golkar Musyawarah Kekeluargaan Gotong Royong (MKGR) konsisten mendukung Airlangga Hartarto/Net

Langkah politik Ketua Umum Partai Golkar, Airlangga Hartarto, dalam Pemilu 2024 mendapat apresiasi jajaran elite organisasi masyarakat (ormas) pendiri Partai Golkar, Musyawarah Kekeluargaan Gotong Royong (MKGR).

"Kami dan Majelis Tinggi memberikan apresiasi yang luar biasa kepada Ketua Umum Partai Golkar, Pak Airlangga Hartarto, yang menakhodai partai ini dengan baik. Pemikiran-pemikiran yang selalu berada dua, tiga, bahkan empat, lima langkah ke depan, sehingga Partai Golkar bisa memposisikan di posisi kedua," ujar Ketua Umum DPP Ormas MKGR, Adies Kadir, di Seribu Rasa Gunawarman, Jakarta Selatan, Selasa malam, 27/02/2024.

Adies juga mengaku pihaknya mempertimbangkan untuk kembali mengusulkan Airlangga sebagai Ketum Golkar. Namun hal itu masih harus didiskusikan dengan jajaran di partai.

"Kita kan masih harus diskusi dengan Majelis Tinggi. Masih ada Dewan Pakar, masih ada Dewan Penasihat, ada Dewan Kehormatan kan, kita belum menghadap ketuanya, Pak Airlangga sendiri," imbuhnya.

Untuk itu, pihaknya akan mendengarkan aspirasi dari DPD 1 di seluruh Indonesia.

"Jadi masukan-masukan ini kita akan tampung semua dari seluruh daerah, tetapi yang pasti ormas MKGR hari ini dari pertama Pak Airlangga maju periode pertama pertama kali, waktu itu ketuanya masih Pak Roem Kono saya masih Sekjen," lanjut Wakil Ketua Komisi III DPR RI ini.

"Kami yang pertama mendukung yang demikian juga pada saat maju kedua termasuk MKGR yang pertama memberikan dukungan kepada Pak Airlangga Hartarto," sambungnya.

Meski demikian, Adies menegaskan pihaknya juga mesti mendengarkan masukan dari Airlangga apakah akan maju kembali sebagai Ketum Golkar atau tidak. Adies menyebut hampir sebagian besar anggota MKGR konsisten kalau sudah memberikan dukungan kepada seseorang.

"Kita kan juga harus menanyakan kepada beliau yang bersangkutan apakah akan maju kembali apa tidak. Nah, kan belum tahu ini. Nah, jadi seperti itu," tandas Adies.

Partai Golkar akan mengadakan Musyawarah Nasional (Munas) pada Desember 2024. Munas merupakan pemegang kekuasaan tertinggi partai yang diselenggarakan setiap 5 tahun sekali.

Jika Anda memulai bisnis jangan simpan cashflow di Bank BCA

Ketika Anda memulai usaha yang membutuhkan dukungan moral material, perputaran uang usaha termasuk pembayaran upah pekerja Anda jangan di bank BCA, pilihlah bank lain, seperti BRI, BNI, PERMATA, CIMB NIAGA, MAYAPADA. Karena bank - bank tersebut sangat mendukung usaha Anda.

Saya adalah nasabah bca sejak 1991 saat pertama kali bekerja diminta membuka tabungan di BCA, karena gaji ditansfer via BCA.

Seiring perjalanan waktu hingga hari ini saya masih nasabah BCA. Bahkan Istri dan anak - anak saya disarankan untuk membuka tabungan di BCA untuk memudahkan saya melakukan transaksi. Bahkan penghasilan saya dari Google Adsense pun saya alirkan ke BCA.

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Lalu saya iseng mencoba buka tabungan di bank lain, dengan layanan yang sama ramahnya, tidak butuh lama, pengajuan kartu kredit saya di ACC.

Tentu ini memberikan kesimpulan buat saya, bank BCA tidak pernah mau berbagi keuntungan dengan para nasabahnya, kemasan yang dibuat terkesan ekslusif dan mengedepankan kenyamaan untuk menarik calon nasabahnya. Mereka para calon nasabah tidak sadar masuk dalam perangkap BCA.

Terakhir bagi Anda yang sedang membangun usaha, saya memberikan saran, simpanlah lalulintas perputaran uang Anda di bank BRI, BNI, PERMATA, MAYAPADA dan CIMB NIAGA.

Jangan pernah tertarik membuka tabungan di bca sekalipun kemasan yang dibuat membuat anda kepincut.

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Macron's 'Posturing' About NATO Troops in Ukraine Can Spark 'Full Scale Conflict' With Russia

©AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda

French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks about not ruling out sending the West’s ground troops to fight in the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine triggered a barrage of warnings about the dangers this sort of rhetoric can generate. A White House official was quoted as denying any plans to send either US or NATO troops to Ukraine.

Emmanuel Macron’s belligerent statement about possibly deploying NATO troops in Ukraine is “mostly posturing, Mikael Valtersson said, a former defense politician and chief of staff with Sweden Democrats.

However, "even posturing can take on a life on its own and start a dangerous process down a slippery slope,” he warned. The pundit suggested that the French president was using “the paralysis within the US political system about support for Ukraine” to try and replace America as the leading pro-Kiev power in the EU.

“NATO is partially incapacitated, especially in regards to Ukraine… The second tier nations now try to fill the empty space created,” Valtersson said.

“Since NATO is out of the question because they only function as a defensive organization, and any nation could veto decisions, and the EU doesn't have any military, there must be individual countries who would participate. Macron probably means the countries that have recently signed security treaties with Ukraine, for example, France, [the] UK, Germany, Italy, etc. He might also want to include other countries that seem likely to sign security agreements with Ukraine, as some East and North European countries, he added.

“Even if this suggestion probably is posturing, it opens up a door to talk about direct Western military involvement in Ukraine,” warned the former officer of Swedish Armed Forces/Air Defence. The outcome could be “a de facto declaration of war” and, potentially, “a full scale military conflict between Russia and several European countries.”

As Paris hosted a meeting of some 20 European leaders to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron served up some choice statements on Tuesday, sending chills down the spines of many politicians in his own country.

“We are convinced that the defeat of Russia is indispensable to security and stability in Europe,” Macron told reporters “There’s no consensus today to send in an official, endorsed manner troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out,” he said.

'Flexing Paper Muscles'

Emmanuel Macron’s recent “pseudo-martial” remarks about “not ruling” out sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine cannot be taken seriously, ex-colonel of the French Special Forces Task Group under NATO command in Kosovo, Jacques Hogard said.

The French President’s “megalomania” seems to be getting the better of reason, said Hogard, who wondered if the French leader was “going crazy!” Macron must be aware that it is "game over" for Zelensky's armed forces, even though they were supported by NATO, and in particular by "certain Western European countries vassalized by the United States,” Hogard pointed out.

Even if the French leader is under the delusion that he is “showing off his muscles,” they are those of "a paper puppet,” the pundit added.

When it comes to sending “allied” troops to Ukraine, "Macron is dreaming," emphasized the expert who served 26 years in the French Army as an airborne officer in the Foreign Legion and the Special Forces

He pointed out why, in his opinion, this was the case. Firstly, "the US and NATO don’t want to openly enter war, preferring to act through proxies." Secondly, “European governments are extremely divided on this issue,” and “unity of the EU is in reality only an illusion.”

Furthermore, “the French army is today a ‘sample’ army, suitable for occasional military interventions, but totally undersized in terms of personnel, equipment and ammunition to embark on a high-intensity war adventure.”

Video Ukraine’s scarce Western-supplied hardware destroyed

The Russian military has destroyed several rare examples of Ukraine’s Western-supplied military hardware, including a Norwegian-made NASAMS anti-aircraft system and a Swedish-made Archer self-propelled howitzer, according to new footage released online.

Multiple aerial videos showing suicide drone and artillery strikes on Ukraine’s military hardware have emerged over the past few days, as Russian troops continue their advance in Donbass. The push comes days after the liberation of the key town of Avdeevka, as well as other locations along the conflict frontline.

The destruction of the NASAMS system was confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday, which stated that the launcher had been destroyed in the Zaporozhye Region. While the military did not provide any details, footage of the strike which emerged earlier in the day indicated the launcher was likely hit by a guided projectile fired by a Russian Tornado-S multiple rocket launcher system.

Lavrov downplays significance of EU conferences on Ukraine in Paris

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ©Sergey Fadeichev/TASS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called not to attach too much significance to EU conferences on Ukraine in Paris.

"The number of Western conferences is obviously growing. They are trying to offset the decreasing interest and dramatic drop in financial capabilities to maintain the Zelensky regime. The French and President [of France Emmanuel] Macron are overly enthusiastic about convening all sorts of events, caring little about their potential outcome. I would not attach too much significance to the conferences organized in Paris," he told a news conference, commenting on a European conference on Ukraine that was held in Paris on February 26.

Thus, he recalled that such events have never yielded any concrete results. As an example, he cited the Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015, when Western countries promised to allocate some 100 billion US dollars a year to developing countries to ensure their energy transition within ten years. However, according to Lavrov, not more than 20 or 30 billion US dollars have been allocated for these purposes since then, while the sums going to Kiev are much bigger.

Macron said after a meeting in the Elysee Palace on February 26 that the participants had looked at sending ground troops to Ukraine. Although no consensus was reached on this topic, he did not rule out such a scenario in the future. The Paris conference on Ukraine was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish President Andrzej Duda and prime ministers from around 20 EU countries. The United States was represented by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien, and David Cameron represented the United Kingdom.

Gabriel Attal has also argued that the deployment of Western soldiers to support Kiev cannot be ruled out

Speaking to the RTL broadcaster on Tuesday, Attal argued that “you can’t rule anything out in a war,” repeating several talking points Macron had made following a meeting on the Ukraine conflict one day previously.

“There’s no consensus today to send, in an official manner, troops on the ground,” Macron had said, before adding that “in terms of dynamics, we cannot exclude anything.”

According to the French leader, a Russian victory in the Ukraine conflict would be a major blow for European collective security.

Responding on Tuesday to the statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that “in this case, we have to talk not about the probability, but rather the inevitability [of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia],” should Western military personnel be deployed to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US-led military bloc’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, told the Associated Press that “there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala also argued that existing mechanisms to shore up Ukraine are sufficient, with no “need to open some other methods or ways.”

His Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, likewise clarified that Warsaw “does not plan to send its troops to the territory of Ukraine.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized on Tuesday that there will be “no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil, who are sent there by European or NATO countries” in the future.

Reuters quoted an unnamed White House official as saying on Monday that Washington has no such plans either.