News of the Day with Nasser Kandil
Hamas Unanimously Chooses Sinwar as Leader, Israeli
Experts Question Netanyahu: What Have You Done to Us?
Nasrallah: The Response Will be Painful and ‘the wait’ is Punishment… This Battle will Decide the Future of Resettlement
Shiraga Barracks – Acres Burn Due to a Resistance
Aircraft… and 20 Injured in Nahariya From an Iron Dome Rocket
The Political Editor Wrote:
Hamas has concluded its consultation sessions to elect a successor to its late leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The relevant institutions have unanimously selected Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the movement and resistance in Gaza, as the new head of Hamas. Sinwar, who led the Sword of Jerusalem battle and the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, is one of the most prominent faces of the resistance option in Palestine and the Gaza Strip. After the Al-Aqsa Flood, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the main goal of the war on Gaza was to kill Sinwar.
Palestinian experts believe that Sinwar’s selection was a natural outcome, symbolising the new phase initiated by the Al-Aqsa Flood, with Sinwar as its foremost emblem. On the other hand, most Israeli experts and commentators on Israeli television consider Sinwar’s election as a punishment for Netanyahu’s assassination of Haniyeh. Many have questioned Netanyahu, asking, “What have you done to us? You killed Haniyeh, paving the way for Sinwar to lead the most significant Palestinian movement.”
In Lebanon, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah spoke at a memorial for the senior resistance leader, martyr Fouad Shukr. He questioned the credibility of intermediaries who believe that the only way to prevent escalation is by urging resistance forces and Iran to abandon their legitimate right to respond to occupation attacks. These attacks have reached unacceptable levels, including assaults on Hodeidah, Beirut, and Tehran. Nasrallah questioned whether these intermediaries have condemned the occupation’s crimes to prove their neutrality. He also criticised them for failing to recognize that by endorsing the occupation’s actions under the guise of self-defence, they were essentially giving it a green light to continue its aggressions.
Nasrallah asserted that there is always a possibility for an agreement that meets the resistance’s demands in Gaza and halts the firing from supporting fronts. However, he questioned the reliability of American guarantees, particularly given that the U.S. has deployed all its forces to the region to protect the occupation. He recalled the Oslo Accords and the American promises to ensure the occupation’s compliance with its obligations, which have remained unfulfilled for thirty years.
Nasrallah affirmed that Iran and the resistance forces will deliver a painful response, adding that the wait itself is part of the punishment for the occupation, draining it psychologically, economically, and militarily. He emphasised that the current battle is about the future of the Palestinian cause. A victory for the occupation over the resistance in Gaza, which the resistance forces are determined to prevent, would end the Palestinian cause. For Lebanon and its people, this outcome would push for the resettlement project.
On the Lebanese support front, the resistance intensified its strikes, targeting deeper areas with an attack by a drone on the Shiraga Barracks near Acre, causing fires. The Iron Dome failed to intercept and shoot down the drone. One of the Iron Dome’s missiles, intended to down the resistance drone, fell on a highway in Nahariya, exploding in a car and injuring around 20 settlers.
with: Randa Siksik