Israel Financial News

oil output offset concerns about the Chinese and global economies. Brent futures settled 54 cents lower at $78.56 a barrel. U.S.

Hezbollah on Friday warned Israel would «receive a real slap in the face» if it expanded the conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border. Since the surprise October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel, there have been near daily exchanges of cross-border fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian militants. Israel has repeatedly bombarded border villages, with the violence killing more than 195 people in Lebanon, including at least 142 Hezbollah fighters, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, 15 people have been killed, of whom nine were soldiers and six civilians, according to the Israeli army. «If Israel decides to expand its aggression, it will receive a real slap in the face in response,» Hezbollah's number two, Naim Qassem, said in a statement. Any restoration of stability on the border is contingent on «the end of the aggression in Gaza», he added. «The enemy must know the party is ready, that we are preparing based on the principle that an endless aggression can happen, just like our will to push back the aggression is infinite.» His remarks came after Israeli air strikes «completely destroyed» at least three houses in southern Lebanon on Friday, the official Lebanese news agency NNA and the mayor of the affected border community said. The agency reported four houses were targeted «since this morning by the Israeli air force in Kfar Kila», a village near the Israel-Lebanon border, while three were «completely destroyed». A fifth home was also targeted by artillery fire, NNA said. The Israeli army said on Friday it had «conducted air strikes and carried out artillery and tank fire against Hezbollah observation posts and terrorist infrastructure» in the Kfar Kila

Palestinian lives and properties by Israel backed by the US, Iran sprung a surprise by launching missile and drone attacks in its neighbourhood. The Iranian strikes against, what it claimed to be, a «Mossad-affiliated spy base» in Erbil (Iraq) and a «terrorist-affiliated» headquarter in Idlib (Syria) were followed by similar attacks against «terrorists» of Jaish al Adl in Balochistan (Pakistan) on January 16-17.

RAMALLAH, West Bank—The Israeli-occupied West Bank has become an increasingly deadly front in a Middle East conflict that has spread beyond the war in Gaza, with near-daily Israeli raids into Palestinian villages and cities which Israel says are aimed at uprooting growing militant activity and preventing new attacks. Early on Friday, Israeli security forces ended a two-day raid in Tulkarem, a West Bank city straddling the wall separating Palestinian communities and Israel that hasn’t been known as a hotbed of militancy in recent years, leaving at least eight Palestinians dead. The raids, which lasted for more than 35 hours, occurred in the city and its two refugee camps, Tulkarem and Nour Shams, where residents said Israeli forces destroyed homes and damaged infrastructure, including roads.

An estimated 320 journalists around the world were imprisoned because of their work toward the end of 2023

Iran's strikes this week in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria have brought back into the spotlight its ballistic missile programme, which has ground forward over the past 40 years despite sanctions. On Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit what it called «a spy headquarters» in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and «terrorist» targets in Syria. Its forces also fired on «an Iranian terrorist group» in Pakistan, which said the attack killed two children and riposted with a strike on Iranian territory that Tehran said claimed nine lives. Iran's missile capabilities are one reason why Western attention remains fixated on this regional power, as the Islamic republic and its proxies step up attacks in the Middle East in solidarity with Gaza's Hamas militants in their war with Israel. — Range and accuracy - The massive Iranian missile armoury covers ranges from short (300 kilometres or 186 miles) to medium (300-1,000 kilometres) and long (up to 2,000 kilometres). A majority are produced or assembled locally thanks to Iran's advanced industries and university sector. «Hardly a year goes by without an Iranian announcement about the development of a new type of ballistic or cruise missiles,» said Eva Koulouriotis, an independent expert. Tehran has gradually advanced into solid-propellant missiles — which are «easier to store and much quicker to bring into action than liquid-fuel ones, so they are much more useful tactically,» said Jeremy Binnie of British private intelligence firm Janes. «The Iranians have taken Scud technology from the 300 kilometres of the missiles they received in the 1980s to 1,600 kilometres or more,» he added, as well as developing «much better guidance systems… enabling them to carry out

Iran's recent air strikes in Pakistan, India has chosen a diplomatic path by refraining from direct comments on Islamabad's subsequent actions. The Indian government's muted response underscores its belief that Iran's targeted strike against the Balochi terror group, Jaish al Adl, aligns with India's persistent stance on the menace of cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. India's Anti-Terror Position The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a press release clarifying India's position on terrorism, with a spokesperson stating, «We will not be commenting on the Pakistan-Iran matter.» This statement follows the government's recent affirmation of its zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism, expressing understanding for nations resorting to self-defense measures. Historical Alignments India's tacit support for Iran's actions mirrors its own anti-terror operations on Pakistani soil in 2016 and 2019.

Houthi anti-ship missiles directed at the Red Sea. As reported by Reuters, escalating tensions in the region's maritime routes have caused disruptions in global trade, leading to concerns about potential supply constraints that could potentially revive inflation.

By Jonathan Saul

President Joe Biden says that U.S. military strikes against Iranian-back Houthi rebels in Yemen will continue, but he acknowledges that the American and British bombardment has yet to stop shipping attacks by the militants on vessels in the Red Sea

Israel’s president says normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be a key element of ending the war with Hamas and a game-changer for the entire Middle East

Pakistan’s air force launched retaliatory airstrikes early Thursday in Iran, allegedly targeting militant hideouts, an attack that killed at least nine people and further raised tensions between the neighboring nations.

Israel, where the offensive in Gaza, now in its fourth month, has caused a shortage of labour. Masons, painters, electricians, plumbers and some farmers said they were looking for jobs in Israel with some willing to risk going into a conflict zone because they could make five times more money in a year than they would at home. «There is unemployment here and it's because of it that people want to leave,» said Lekharam, a mason who was among the workers gathered at a recruitment camp in Rohtak, 66 km (40 miles) from the capital, New Delhi. «If it's in our destiny to die, then we can die either here or there. My hope is that we will go and do good work and spend some time and come back.» India, now the world's most populous nation with a population of 1.4 billion, has an urban unemployment rate of 6.6%, government data shows, but more than 17% of workers younger than 29 are unemployed and others work as casual labour. Unemployment and underemployment are a key concern for authorities, despite world-beating economic growth of 7.3%.

Retired U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot Lt. Col. Darin Gaub says the only hope to mitigate conflict in the Middle East is for Israel to uphold its defense.

The United States has put Yemen’s Houthis rebels back on its list of specially designated global terrorists

Indian Navy has its assets deployed along the western coast to protect India's maritime interests and will not allow any «instability», Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Thursday. On the situation in the Arabian Sea and Red Sea area, the Navy chief said Indian assets are already deployed in the area for two anti-piracy operations. He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the Global Artificial Intelligence Summit.

With war in Ukraine, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, Israelis fighting Hamas in Gaza, and missiles flying through the skies from the Red Sea to Pakistan, Davos Man wants to know how Uncle Sam plans to restore order. The Biden administration doesn’t want its allies and adversaries to think things are spinning out of control, so Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan dropped into Davos to reassure all and sundry that the Americans are on the job. Mr.

INS Vishakhapatnam reportedly responded to a drone attack distress call in the Gulf of Aden. The drone attack distress call was made from Marshall Islands-flagged vessel in the Red Sea.

diplomats of Iran and the United States sit down for public — and separate — one-on-one chats while the U.N. chief and leaders of France, Argentina and Spain will deliver speeches as the World Economic Forum's annual meeting saunters into a busy second day on Wednesday. The elite gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos takes a turn toward the environmental and climate concerns that have animated plea after plea from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the world to come together do take more united action against global warming — after a record-hot year in 2023.

Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups, as the militants claimed their second attack this week on a U.S. operated vessel in the Red Sea region. Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers — an escalation of the more than three-month-old war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

Gold prices edged higher on Thursday, helped by a softer U.S. dollar and lower Treasury yields, but hovered near five-week lows as investors tempered rate-cut optimism after hawkish comments from central bank officials and robust data.