UAE Maintains Ties With Israel Despite War In Gaza

"Resistance forces have been able to continue to fight due to the Islamic Republic's support," Nasrallah said in his second speech since Hamas launched a terror attack against Israel that resulted in an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in pursuit of militants.

The "Resistance Front" refers to the alliance of armed militant groups sponsored by Iran, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Houthis in Yemen, and Iraqi Shiite militias.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to provide military and financial support to Palestinian groups and the resistance front, and has never concealed this support," Nasrallah said.

Established in 1982 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah is the cornerstone of a Tehran-backed alliance hostile to Israel and the United States.

Continuing on with the same rhetoric of his first speech, Nasrallah praised Hamas and denounced Israel without calling for a full-blown war by his group, however, he did point toward "an upgrade" in Hezbollah operations.

Meanwhile, in Riyadh, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday. The Iranian official is in Riyadh for the joint Arab League- Organisation of Islamic Co-operation summit to discuss the situation in Gaza. Moslem leaders attending the summit called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Esmail Khatib alleged that Blinken, with the assistance of certain countries, is actively pursuing what he termed a "dignified ceasefire" in the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Khatib asserted on Saturday that “a regime, initially claiming victory in the region following operations against Hamas, is now shifting its focus towards negotiating a ceasefire.” He suggested that the ceasefire is being sought in exchange for the release of prisoners and an attempt to diminish Hamas's control over Gaza.

The Iranian minister claimed that the October 7 attack by Hamas was a setback for the United States in the region. He alleged that “the US dominance, previously asserting military, intelligence, economic, and political support for the Zionist regime, has collapsed.”

However, Khatib did not provide details on how the US has been defeated despite deploying significant military assets, including a nuclear submarine and two aircraft carriers, along with thousands of forces to the region amid the conflict.

On the contrary, the ongoing conflict has seen Israel intensify its attacks on Gaza, aiming to uproot Hamas. The war has become exceptionally bloody due to Hamas's strategy of operating within the civilian population and beneath non-military facilities in the coastal enclave.

While Iran supports Hamas, it denies any involvement in the October 7 terror attack that triggered the current crisis. Additionally, Iran backs Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group with close ties to both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian faction in Gaza supported by Iran.

The assault caused damage to the airport infrastructure, but no human casualties have been reported at this time.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a faction primarily composed of Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary groups, has claimed responsibility for a series of similar drone and rocket attacks since war broke out between Israel and Hamas. In a similar incident, the airbase caught fire late Thursday after being struck by two suicide drones, as confirmed by local authorities.

US and international forces stationed in Iraq and Syria have heightened their alert status following numerous attacks on their bases since the October 7 terror attack on Israel.

Iran's proxies resumed rocket and drone attacks on US bases in Syria and Iraq, breaking more than a year of relative calm.

Responding to the escalating situation, the US military on Thursday conducted strikes in eastern Syria, targeting a weapon storage facility used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.

President Joe Biden emphasized that the strikes were a response to attacks on US troops. He also indicated the possibility of further responses if deemed necessary. However, numerous US threats so far have failed to deter the militant groups supported by Tehran.

Despite accusations, Iran has denied involvement in the attacks. Amir Saeid Iravani, Tehran's ambassador to the United Nations, claimed that separatist groups were reacting to the Israeli assault on Gaza, which has resulted in the death of over 10,800 Palestinians.

"There is no other way but to resist Israel, we kiss the hands of Hamas for its resistance against Israel," Raisi said in his address to a joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh. He also called on Islamic countries to impose oil and goods sanctions on Israel.

The summit called on Saturday for an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza, declaring that Israel is responsible for "crimes" against Palestinians.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, gathered Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh as the kingdom has sought to exert its influence to press the United States and Israel for an end to fighting in Gaza.

The Iranian regime praised Hamas as soon as news about the October 7 attack emerged and immediately organized street celebration. However, it has refrained from direct involvement in the fighting. However, its Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni proxy forces have launched more than 40 rocket and drone attacks against American forces in the region, not deterred by a large deployment of US naval forces in the region.

Dozens of leaders including Iran’s Raisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was welcomed back into the Arab League earlier this year, attended the meeting.

Prince Mohammed said the kingdom affirms its "condemnation and categorical rejection of this barbaric war against our brothers in Palestine".

"We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe that proves the failure of the Security Council and the international community to put an end to the flagrant Israeli violations of international laws," he said in an address to the summit.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians are facing a "genocidal war" and called on the United States to end Israeli "aggression".

As he headed to Riyadh, Raisi said it was time for action over the conflict rather than talk.

The Middle East has been on edge since Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Since then, Israel has escalated its assault on Gaza, where 11,078 people had been killed as of Friday, 40% of them children, according to Hamas officials. It is not possible to independently verify these numbers.

ARAB COUNTRIES DIVIDED

Fighting intensified overnight into Saturday near Gaza City's overcrowded hospitals, Palestinian officials said.

The war has upended traditional Middle East alliances as Riyadh has engaged more closely with Iran, pushed back against US pressure to condemn Hamas and put on hold its plans to normalize ties with Israel.

Raisi's trip to Saudi Arabia is the first by an Iranian head of state since Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostility under a Chinese-brokered deal in March.

Erdogan called for an international peace conference to find a permanent solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

"What we need in Gaza is not pauses for a couple of hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire," Erdogan told the summit.

The kingdom had been scheduled to host two extraordinary summits, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League, on Saturday and Sunday. The joint summit will replace the two gatherings in light of the "extraordinary" Gaza situation, the Saudi Foreign ministry said.

Hamas called on the summit to take "a historic and decisive decision and move to stop the Zionist aggression immediately".

"We call on Arab and Muslim leaders ... to put pressure on the American administration, which bears direct responsibility in the genocidal war that our people are facing in the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Palestinian militant group said.

Arab foreign ministers were divided as some countries, led by Algeria, called for a complete cut in diplomatic ties with Israel, two delegates told Reuters.

Other Arab countries, which have established diplomatic relations with Israel, pushed back, stressing the need to keep channels open with Netanyahu's government, they said.

With reporting by Reuters

She allegedly rammed her vehicle into the gates of the Eretz Synagogue and Cultural Center on Wilbur Avenue, not once but twice, just after midnight on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Police Department took Mottahedeh into custody for vandalism as a hate crime on a house of worship. The synagogue, which became the target of the attack, suffered damage to its gates.

Investigations revealed that Mottahedeh had an Instagram account under her name, featuring posts in Persian, Hebrew, and English. The account included critical writings against the government of Israel and the policies of the Iranian government. Similarly, her Meta (Facebook) account indicated that she is an Iranian Jewish woman.

However, Iran International cannot confirm whether the social media accounts truly belong to the assailant. The United States has detained her on a $25,000 bail but further details of the incident have not been disclosed.

The incident follows a series of anti-Jewish attacks in different countries, notably after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, leading to conflict in the Gaza Strip.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in reaction on Thursday that he was "ashamed and outraged" at a recent wave of antisemitic incidents in Germany, warning Berlin would not tolerate such anti-Jewish hatred.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley had earlier called for stringent laws to combat extremism, especially in the aftermath of the Hamas-Israel conflict, highlighting a "gap" in dealing with extremism within the existing legal framework.