Current Wars in the World See Israeli Claim of Control Over Lebanon Ridge

Multiple active conflicts continue across the globe, with Israeli forces claiming operational control of Lebanon’s Ali al-Taher ridge, renewed fighting in Yemen killing at least 120, a deadly attack on a South Sudanese military base, and documents indicating Sudan’s military built a secret chemical weapons stockpile in current wars in the world.

Israeli Advances in Southern Lebanon

Israel this week has claimed to have established operational control over the strategically vital Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, after an extended operation against positions of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. [1] In a statement on Friday, Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed Israeli forces had driven Hezbollah fighters out of what he said was a network of tunnels under the contested highland, 15km from the border. [1] “Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are leading a clear and uncompromising policy, reinforced every day by the [Israeli military]: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threats to the residents of the Galilee are removed,” he was quoted as saying by Israeli media. [1] “The capture of Ali Taher is an important step towards achieving this goal.” [1] Iran-backed Hezbollah has yet to formally comment on the Israeli claims. [1] However, hours before Katz’s comments, Reuters news agency reported that Iran had warned the United States last month that it would respond forcefully if Israeli attacks on the ridge, which rises 600 metres above sea level, continued. [1]

Ongoing Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Context

Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting, with varying levels of intensity, since October 2023. [1] Israel has twice escalated the conflict – first in September 2024 and then in March this year, following the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. [1] Israel has been working to embed its occupation of southern Lebanon since the latest escalation, when it announced the creation of a “security” or “buffer” zone, which rights groups say has involved the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure – potentially a war crime – and is responsible for the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese. [1] Israeli strikes and ground operations around the Ali al-Taher ridge continued despite a ceasefire agreed in June, after Israel gained control of nearby Beaufort Castle and part of the higher ground overlooking much of southern Lebanon and northern Israel. [1] According to Mohanad Hage Ali, of the Carnegie Middle East Centre, Israel’s success has partly been down to technological superiority but also due to the complete absence of “inhibition” in their assaults upon Lebanese towns and villages, which have often accrued daily casualty rates of dozens of people. [1] “There aren’t any consequences to their actions,” he said. “They can demolish entire villages and wipe out whole societies in a way they could never do before. It’s ethnic cleansing.” [1] Pitched as a measure to protect citizens of northern Israel, who Israeli analysts such as Ori Goldberg described as being owed an electoral debt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of crucial elections later this year, the occupation is also a means of exerting additional pressure on the government in Beirut. [1] “The Israeli ‘operational control’ over the ridge is no doubt a tactical, even strategic, gain, enabling Israel a better control over southern Lebanon,” said Ahron Bregman, an Israeli security analyst and senior teaching fellow at King’s College London. [1] “From an Israeli perspective, it is a way to put pressure on the Lebanese government: Tackle Hezbollah head-on, or we stay here.” [1] Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an authority on the group, said Hezbollah’s lack of comment on the Israeli claims raised a number of questions. [1] “It could be that a deal’s been done. It could be that Israel is exaggerating what it means by ‘operational control’,” he said, noting that neither the extent of Israel’s military control over the ridge, nor the infrastructure contained within it, is known. [1] Defence Minister Israel Katz, who faces re-election later this year, has threatened to “return Iran to the Stone Age” if it responds to Israel’s latest attacks in southern Lebanon. [1] “What we do know is that Hezbollah appears ready to get back into the resistance business, but no longer seems to be making the decisions,” he said. [1] “Those are coming from Iran, who appear to want to keep things quiet for now.” [1] Analysts also suggested that a lack of a response from Tehran may frustrate Netanyahu, who has invested much of his electoral stock in finishing the war with Iran, an opponent he has characterised as posing an existential threat to the country since at least the early 1990s. [1] Katz has described an attack against Israel as freeing its military “from all constraints”, and that in such a scenario, the military would “strike all infrastructure – including energy infrastructure – and return Iran to the Stone Age and darkness”, all of which would almost certainly constitute war crimes. [1] However, how far Israel – diplomatically, economically and militarily dependent upon the US – can proceed beyond rhetoric is open to question. [1] With Netanyahu predicted to struggle in October’s elections, what happens in southern Lebanon may prove crucial. [1] “Will Iran come to Hezbollah’s aid?” Bregman asked. [1] “One person for sure – a certain Benjamin Netanyahu prays that they do – as it could even postpone the forthcoming elections in Israel in which, if judged by current polls, he will be defeated.” [1]

Documents reveal Sudan's secret chemical weapons stockpile. — Source: newsmax

Renewed Clashes in Yemen

При сблъсъците между йеменските бунтовници хути и правителствените сили от четвъртък насам са били убити 120 бойци. [4] Това показват данни на двама военни служители и медицински източници в контролирана от бунтовниците територия, съобщава АФП. [4] Военен служител на брега на Червено море съобщи за 24 убити мъже, докато друг във вътрешността на района на Таиз заяви, че 15 са били убити там. [4] Най-малко 42 хути също са били убити, според медицински източници в райони под техен контрол. [4] Смъртоносни сблъсъци избухнаха в Йемен в четвъртък, след като силите на хутите започнаха наземно нападение, ракетни и дронови атаки близо до крайбрежните райони в Червено море и около региона Таиз. [4] Източници от военното правителство съобщиха пред АФП, че бунтовниците се опитват да откъснат ключовия пристанищен град Моха, под обстрел от седмици, от други правителствени райони и да напреднат към райони, граничещи със стратегическия проток Баб ал-Мандаб. [4] Йемен, след повече от десетилетие граждански конфликт, през юли бе въвлечен и във войната в Близкия изток, след като хутите нарушиха примирието с правителството от 2022 г. [4]

Humanitarian Impact in Southwestern Yemen

Nearly 1,800 families were displaced in two days by intensified fighting in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province districts of Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi. [5] Displacement continues as hostilities intensify in Taiz province’s Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi districts, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. [5]

Violence and Crisis in South Sudan

A deadly attack on a military base in South Sudan, combined with the declaration of an "unprecedented" drought emergency, have underlined the challenges facing the world's youngest nation as it prepares for its first elections. [3] On Friday, a group of armed men attacked the military base in Warrap, in the country's northeast, killing 16 military and police personnel, and four civilians, state information minister William Deng Wol told AFP. [3] Also on Friday, the state declared an emergency over a prolonged drought. [3] "The state faces an unprecedented dry spell caused by severe rainfall deficits, causing severe crop failures, also leading to catastrophic loss of livestock and grazing lands," the information minister said in a statement. [3] With the El Nino weather pattern threatening much of eastern Africa with major climate disasters in the coming weeks, the Warrap official appealed for help from the central government and international partners "to avert the looming catastrophic famine". [3] Warrap State is plagued by inter-communal violence, usually involving revenge killings and cattle raids, though it was not clear what triggered the attack on the military base, which also led to the deaths of six attackers. [3] The country faces myriad challenges at a time when international aid is also falling sharply. [3] South Sudan's government under President Salva Kiir is considered one of the most corrupt in the world. [3] A United Nations report last year detailed how officials had stolen billions of dollars in oil money while leaving the population with hardly any essential services. [3] Shortly after independence, the country was plunged into a devastating civil war between Kiir and his longtime rival, Riek Machar. [3] A 2018 power-sharing agreement brought peace but has lately fallen apart, with Machar now under arrest and facing a treason trial. [3] Their forces have fought sporadic battles in recent months. [3] In these circumstances, the long-awaited elections could fuel renewed conflict and heighten the risk of atrocities, the UN-appointed Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last month. [3] It is due to hold another fact-finding mission this week. [3]

Sudan Chemical Weapons Allegations

Sudan's military built a secret chemical weapons stockpile of up to 290 chlorine munitions and moved to conceal it after 2024 attacks on rival forces, according to a Washington Post investigation published Saturday. [2]

What to watch next: Analysts noted that a lack of response from Tehran may frustrate Netanyahu ahead of October elections, while the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan plans another fact-finding mission this week and the Warrap official appealed for help to avert famine.