Hezbollah received $157M in weapons in 2024, mostly from 1 nation, report says

Hezbollah terrorists in Yemen received $157 million worth of weapons in 2024, most of it given freely by Iran, according to a new report from the Israeli nonprofit Center for Research of Terror Financing (CENTEF).

The report, titled "Hezbollah Financial Statements," relied on open-source data as well as known valuations of Hezbollah's military assets, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The report found that Hezbollah spent just $28 million on procuring weapons, and those were limited to small arms, ammunition, drone components, dual-use equipment and equipment obtained through its international procurement networks.

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Meanwhile, CENTEF said Iran provided roughly $129 million worth of weapons as an in-kind grant, including rockets, missiles, drones, ATGMs, air-defense systems, ammunition, launchers, naval equipment and IED-related assets.

The CENTEF analysis found that Hezbollah acquired 4,000 short-range Katyusha rockets, 400 Falaq-1 and 2 rockets, and 120 Burkan rockets in 2024. The short-range rockets are estimated to cost $300 per unit, while the Burkan rockets are estimated to cost $400.

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The report also detailed more sophisticated weaponry obtained by Hezbollah, including Iran’s Fajr series and Syrian-origin heavy rockets. The Fajr-3 is a 240mm artillery rocket armed with a 45-kilogram warhead, while the Fajr-5 is a 333mm rocket with a GPS-guided Fajr-5C variant, according to the Post.

The rockets are estimated to cost $2,000 to $10,000, and CENTEF estimates Hezbollah obtained 600 of them in 2024.

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Anti-tank guided missiles make up a major portion of Hezbollah's arsenal. The research found that the Russian-made Kornet and Iran's reverse-engineered Dehlavieh make up the bulk of Hezbollah's ATGMs, with the former costing approximately $26,000 per round and the latter costing an estimated $12,000 to $15,000, according to the Post.

Hezbollah has expended vast measures of its arsenal in its attacks against Israel over the past year, and Israeli forces have decimated the group's leadership ranks.

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IDF Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Israel-based Alma Research and Education Center, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that the IDF has decimated 90% of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile arsenal.

"Today Hezbollah is holding between 10,000 to 15,000 rockets, which is much less than what it used to have. Most of the array of sophisticated missiles, accurate missiles and long-range missiles was either eliminated or neutralized," Zehavi said.

Fox News' Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.

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FlyDubai pilot showed world 'the highest form of courage,' India's PM says

The Indian pilot being credited with helping save the lives of 174 passengers after being stabbed on a FlyDubai aircraft heading to Israel has "shown the world the highest form of courage," India’s prime minister said.

Narendra Modi said Thursday that Captain Smit Machchhar, "without fearing for his own life," had "fought valiantly and prevented another 9/11-like attack from happening" on Wednesday onboard FlyDubai Flight FZ1073, which had to make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Modi added that India is saluting Machchhar and is "praying for his wellbeing." The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia described the "brave" pilot as being in stable condition after being taken to a hospital.

"Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian captain of FlyDubai Flight 1073, fought back after being stabbed in the cockpit," according to the Israel Foreign Ministry. "Despite being severely injured, he managed to unlock the cockpit door – allowing Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew to intervene and save all the passengers."

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Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said on Wednesday there was "no doubt" that a FlyDubai pilot who allegedly stabbed Machchhar was attempting to bring down the plane, calling it a miracle that the aircraft was able to land safely.

"We have no doubt that it was a terror attack of a radical individual," Danon said on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."

"We know that there was an intention to bring that plane down, and we are grateful," he continued.

After the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia, another FlyDubai aircraft was brought in to bring the passengers to their destination of Tel Aviv.

"I did speak to [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu at length about this event, and it seems as though the copilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job. And he stabbed the pilot," President Donald Trump had said Wednesday.

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Machchhar’s LinkedIn profile stated he has worked for FlyDubai for about four years, according to The Associated Press.

Before joining the airline, Machchhar, who is from Mumbai, spent 11 years with SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost carrier, where he served as a senior commander and line training captain. He logged more than 9,750 flying hours with SpiceJet, according to the profile.

SpiceJet, in a post on X, praised Machchhar’s "heroic courage" and "selfless actions."

"You are a hero to us all, Captain," the airline wrote.

Machchhar, who is married and has two children, trained as a pilot at Mainland Air in the New Zealand city of Dunedin for 18 months, beginning in 2008, the school’s head Philip Kean told 1News, a New Zealand television news channel.

Shota Musayev, a dentist and eyewitness, told The Associated Press how the wounded Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door to let passengers in before they grappled with the copilot.

Musayev then treated Machchhar.

"Poor pilot, he was just praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I was afraid we would really lose him," Musayev said.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz, Stepheny Price and The Associated Press contributed to this post.

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Billion-dollar power link connecting Israel to Europe hits roadblock in bitter regional feud

UNITED NATIONS — Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of "hypocritical and provocative" rhetoric over Gaza while warning that Ankara is trying to obstruct a major energy project linking Israel, Cyprus and Europe.

"Turkey has been making threats and has been acting on threats against Cyprus, especially in the exclusive economic zone," Kombos told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Kombos pointed to the Great Sea Interconnector, a planned subsea electricity cable linking Israel to Cyprus and Cyprus to Greece, connecting the island to Europe’s power grid.

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"The main project of the electrical connection between Greece-Cyprus and then Cyprus-Israel has been blocked by Turkey because of illegal claims they have in terms of delimitation in the exclusive economic zone," Kombos said.

The roughly €1.9 billion Great Sea Interconnector is designed to carry up to 1,000 megawatts across more than 1,200 kilometers of subsea cable. The EU has committed €657 million to the Cyprus-Crete section, which is intended to end Cyprus’ isolation from the European electricity system and eventually connect Israel more directly to the European market.

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The project has faced financial delays and geopolitical tensions tied to competing Greek and Turkish maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"The fact that we have someone challenging all the bases and all the norms of international law cannot be the answer to how we plan the future of our people," Kombos said.

Those tensions also framed his sharp response to Erdoğan’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

"We decided to stay in the room and hear Mr. Erdogan’s speech," Kombos said, referring to himself and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. "And we are both, at the same time, thinking that this is hypocritical and provocative."

Kombos said Erdoğan’s appeals to the U.N. Charter stood in stark contrast to Turkey’s record on the divided Mediterranean island.

"It’s an ongoing violation, an act of aggression, of invasion, of occupation," he said. "So it’s a very clear example of a distance between rhetoric and action, words and deeds."

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Erdoğan delivered a blistering attack on Israel during his Sept. 22 U.N. address, accusing the Israeli government of refusing to end its "occupation" and saying Gaza had become "the most inhumane and shameful concentration camp of our time." He also accused Israel of having a "genocidal mindset." Israel has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a coup backed by Greece’s then-military junta was followed by a Turkish military intervention that left the island split. The internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus controls the south, while the northern third is administered by Turkish Cypriots with Turkey’s support. The self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey, and a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone separates the two sides.

Efforts to reunify the island have repeatedly stalled. The U.N.-backed framework has centered on a bizonal, bicommunal federation, while Turkey has in recent years backed a two-state solution.

Kombos said Cyprus wants negotiations to resume from where they broke down in 2017 but argued that progress ultimately depends on Ankara.

"We need Turkey to give the green light to the Turkish Cypriot leadership," he said, adding that a two-state approach "runs contrary to everything this very organization and the United Nations Security Council have decided."

The U.N. has recently stepped up efforts to revive the process. Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Cyprus from July 28-29, meeting separately and jointly with Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman in an effort to advance talks toward a "comprehensive and sustainable settlement."

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Kombos also raised concern over the possibility of Turkey obtaining U.S. F-35 fighter jets.

"This is something that is of concern to us, of course, as well as to other countries in the region," he said. "We cannot just accept this as the usual day at the office. This is something that’s important. It’s upsetting regional balances."

At the same time, Cyprus has moved significantly closer to Washington.

Kombos said the U.S.-Cyprus relationship is "probably right now at the highest level we have ever been," pointing to strategic dialogue, military cooperation, joint exercises and work to make Cypriot facilities compatible with assets used by the US and NATO partners.

Earlier this month, Washington renewed Cyprus’ exemption from U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations restrictions for fiscal year 2027, allowing transfers of US defense articles and services. Cyprus is also eligible for US Foreign Military Sales and the Excess Defense Articles program.

"We want to make sure that we are an active, useful partner in the international system," Kombos said, arguing that Cyprus’ location and close ties with Israel, Gulf states, Europe and the US give it an increasingly important regional role.

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