KUWAIT/GAZA: Kuwait’s armed forces must remain "alert” given the current developments in the wider region, First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior and Defense Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah said on Wednesday. Kuwait’s political leaders "firmly back” all measures taken by the military to ensure national security and stability, Sheikh Fahad was quoted as saying during talks with senior defense ministry officials. These talks underlined the need for cooperation across state bodies to achieve these goals. The discussions also reviewed major plans and initiatives within the military, according to an army statement.
In a related development, the Cabinet reviewed the precautions set by each government agency to address the accelerated developments of the security situation in the Middle East. During a Cabinet meeting held at Bayan Palace on Tuesday, ministers reviewed the preparations made by their respective ministries to tackle any eventuality related to the security and military escalations in the region, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sharida Al-Maousherji. The discussions focused on ways to secure basic services and needs of citizens and residents, ensure the smooth operation of all public utilities and protect the safety and stability of the country, he said following the meeting.
On Wednesday, a rattled Zionist entity vowed to "eliminate” new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the Oct 7 attack, whose appointment further inflamed regional tensions as the Gaza war entered its 11th month. The naming of Sinwar to lead the Palestinian militant group came as the Zionist entity braced for potential Iranian retaliation over the killing of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh last week in Tehran.
Sinwar - Hamas’ leader in Gaza since 2017 - has not been seen since the Oct 7 attack, which was the deadliest in the Zionist entity’s history. A senior Hamas official told AFP that the selection of Sinwar sent a message that the organization "continues its path of resistance”.
Hamas’ Lebanese ally Hezbollah congratulated Sinwar and said the appointment affirms "the enemy... has failed to achieve its objectives” by killing Hamas leaders and officials.
Analysts believe Sinwar has been both more reluctant to agree to a Gaza ceasefire and closer to Tehran than Haniyeh, who lived in Qatar. "If a ceasefire deal seemed unlikely upon Haniyeh’s death, it is even less likely under Sinwar,” according to Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group. "The group will only lean further into its hardline militant strategy of recent years,” she added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that it was up to Sinwar to help achieve a ceasefire, saying he "has been and remains the primary decider”. Civilians in both the Zionist entity and Gaza reacted to Sinwar’s appointment. Mohammad Al-Sharif, a displaced Gazan, told AFP: "He is a fighter. How will negotiations take place?” In Tel Aviv, logistics company manager Hanan, who did not want to give his second name, said Sinwar’s appointment meant Hamas "did not see fit to look for someone less militant”.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has also pledged to avenge the deaths of Haniyeh and its own military commander Fuad Shukr in a Zionist strike in Beirut hours earlier. In a televised address to mark one week since Shukr’s death, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday his group would retaliate "alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis” of Iran-backed groups in the region.
The United States, which has sent extra warships and jets to the region, urged both Iran and the Zionist entity to avoid an escalation. President Joe Biden had calls with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Tuesday. "No one should escalate this conflict. We’ve been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message directly to (the Zionist entity),” Blinken told reporters.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a telephone call that the West "should immediately stop selling arms and supporting” the Zionist entity if it wants to prevent war, his office said.
The Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation met on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara, whose country currently chairs the bloc, said the "heinous” killing of Haniyeh risked "leading to a wider conflict that could involve the entire region”.
The Zionist war in the Gaza Strip has already drawn in Iran-backed militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. The Zionist military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,677 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, mostly women and children. The toll included two dozen deaths in the past 24 hours, according to ministry figures. – Agencies