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At least 500 children from Hezbollah's Al Mahdi schools gathered in solidarity with Gaza's children on Thursday morning in Beirut, responding to the militant group's call to protest against “Zionist and American aggression and their commission of massacres against children in Gaza and Lebanon”.
“We're here to show the world that our hearts are in Gaza, and that we are standing in solidarity with innocent children who are dying for nothing in Gaza and southern Lebanon,” said Mohamed, 16, wearing a kaffiyeh around his head.
At least 4,324 children have been killed in more than a month since the Israel-Gaza war erupted when Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack into Israel, killing about 1,000 civilians and taking 240 hostages.
The assault kicked off a massive escalation of violence with relentless Israeli air strikes and a ground operation in Gaza, a Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist group.
Samia, a 46-year-old teacher from the Mahdi school network, said: “Children need to be aware early on that Israel is a terrorist state, and they need to know who are the oppressed ones.”
“We want to show them that the Palestinian cause is a human cause,” she added.
The Mahdi schools are part of the private educational system of Lebanese Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militia and powerful political party, which is allied with Hamas. Several branches of the Mahdi school's network across Lebanon were mobilised for the protest.
The rally followed the killing of three sisters from Ainata in south Lebanon – Rimas, Taline, and Liane Chour, aged 14, 12, and 10, along with their grandmother, in an Israeli air strike on Sunday.
In the square where the children gathered, a large picture of the three sisters read: “From Ainata to Gaza, children living on the road to Jerusalem.”
Daily clashes pitting Hezbollah against Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border have erupted since October 8, against the backdrop of the Israel-Gaza war.
The violence has resulted in at least 14 civilian deaths on the Lebanese side, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, and about 60 Hezbollah fighters.
At the rally in downtown Beirut, pupils held pictures of children killed in Gaza along with signs proclaiming, “Stop the genocide in Gaza” and “Free Palestine”.
The crowd, carrying Palestinian, Lebanese, and Hezbollah flags, chanted “From Gaza to Beirut, united we cannot die” and “Death to Israel, death to America”.
“We stand with the children of Gaza, unwavering and unafraid. We will not leave,” said Celine, a 10-year-old pupil.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday that “all options are open” on the Lebanese front, promising every attack would provoke retaliation.
“For every civilian, a civilian,” he said in a long-awaited televised speech.
Concerns are rising that the slightest miscalculation could lead to a wider escalation dragging Lebanon into a devastating war.
So far Israel and Hezbollah have refrained from launching full-scale military offensives, while conducting deadly skirmishes.
The last conflict between Israel and Hezbollah occurred in 2006. It claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Lebanese – mostly civilians – and 165 Israelis, mainly soldiers, over 34 days.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
