Israeli air force commander confirms ‘increase in readiness for any attack on Lebanon’

Special Israeli air force commander confirms ‘increase in readiness for any attack on Lebanon’
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An Israeli air force F-16 Jet fighter aircraft flies over the border area between northern Israel and southern Lebanon on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
Special Israeli air force commander confirms ‘increase in readiness for any attack on Lebanon’
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Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Beirut on Jun. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 25 June 2024
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Israeli air force commander confirms ‘increase in readiness for any attack on Lebanon’

Israeli air force commander confirms ‘increase in readiness for any attack on Lebanon’
  • German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrives in Beirut for talks following meetings in Tel Aviv and the West Bank
  • Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, holds talks at HQ of the Maronite Patriarchate focused on ‘finding solutions for Lebanon and its suffering people’

BEIRUT: Fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army continued in regions along the border between Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday, with artillery exchanges and drone strikes in both directions.

During a meeting with Ori Gordin, the head of the Northern Command, Israeli Air Force Commander Tomer Bar confirmed “an increase in readiness for any attack on Lebanon,” Russia Today reported.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it carried out “an attack with assault drones on a brigade headquarters in Nahal Gershom, targeting the positions and settlement of enemy officers and soldiers.” The group said it also attacked “the Bayad Blida and Birkat Risha sites.”

The Israeli army targeted the outskirts of the town of Khiam and the village of Blida with artillery and warplanes. In the Wazzani area, a Syrian driver was forced to jump from his truck for his life when the Israeli army opened fire on it with machine guns.

Israeli combat drones launched from Misgav Am dropped shells on the border town of Taybeh. No injuries were reported as the town, like many close to the border, has been abandoned by residents.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Beirut on Tuesday evening following meetings in Tel Aviv on Monday and the West Bank on Tuesday. She was expected to meet Lebanese officials to discuss the situation in southern Lebanon and Israel’s threats of an expanded war against Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who is also visiting Lebanon, held talks at the headquarters of the Maronite Patriarchate that focused on “finding solutions for Lebanon and its suffering people.”

He said there is a deep political rift between Christians in Lebanon and Hezbollah over the latter’s decision to go to war without consulting the state, the group’s demands relating to the selection of a candidate to fill the post of president, which has been vacant since October 2022, and the disruptions it has caused during parliamentary sessions to discuss the election of a new president.

The vice president of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib, declined an invitation to attend a lunch hosted by the Maronite Patriarchate in honor of Parolin, to which all Islamic and Christian spiritual authorities and the heads of Christian political parties in Lebanon were invited.

A council source said: “The sheikh did not take part in the meeting in protest against positions expressed by the Maronite patriarch, Bechara Al-Rahi, concerning the resistance.”

In his most recent Sunday sermon, Al-Rahi objected to the failure to elect “a president who negotiates according to constitutional powers, and asks the UN Security Council to implement its resolutions. This means that Lebanon will not go back to being a launching pad for terrorist actions that destabilize the region’s security and stability.”

Al-Khatib is considered a supporter of Hezbollah. His representative, Grand Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan, criticized Al-Rahi’s sermon without naming him, saying: “There is no neutrality when it comes to what is right and there should be no bias toward what is wrong.” He also spoke of “the resistance’s role in protecting the church in Syria and Lebanon in the face of Daesh and Al-Nusra attacks.”

When Lebanon’s religious leaders met Parolin, Al-Rahi called on all Christians in the country “to consider next Sunday as a day of prayer for peace in southern Lebanon and Gaza.”

During a ceremony hosted by the Embassy of Malta, Parolin stressed the “importance of the church in Lebanon being a testament to coexistence, which is one of the most significant characteristics of the ‘Land of the Cedars.’”

He added: “Lebanon is suffering from a great vacuum and a diminishing Christian life,” as he called on officials “to elect a president as soon as possible to calm the situation and overcome the current difficulties.”


Lufthansa group suspends Tel Aviv flights following Houthi attacks on Israel

Lufthansa group suspends Tel Aviv flights following Houthi attacks on Israel
Updated 52 min 56 sec ago
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Lufthansa group suspends Tel Aviv flights following Houthi attacks on Israel

Lufthansa group suspends Tel Aviv flights following Houthi attacks on Israel
  • Airline group Lufthansa will suspend its flights to Tel Aviv through May 25

BERLIN: Airline group Lufthansa will suspend its flights to Tel Aviv through May 25, it said on Thursday, citing the “current situation.”
This affects flights operated by Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, ITA Airways, Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo, it added.
Global airlines have again halted their flights to and from Tel Aviv after a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis toward Israel on May 4 landed near the country’s main international airport in Tel Aviv.


Madinah municipality continues intensive food safety inspections

Madinah municipality continues intensive food safety inspections
A picture taken on April 4, 2024 shows a view of one of the minarets of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Saudi Arab
Updated 15 May 2025
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Madinah municipality continues intensive food safety inspections

Madinah municipality continues intensive food safety inspections

MADINAH: Food safety inspections have been stepped up ahead of the arrival of Hajj pilgrims, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.

The Madinah Regional Municipality has carried out routine testing of commercial establishments, with 4,165 samples to date confirmed as conforming to approved standards. So far, 186 samples have been deemed unfit for human consumption.

The municipality emphasized the importance of adhering to health standards for the safety of consumers. Individuals are encouraged to report any food safety concerns via the hotline on 940 or through other official communication channels.


Jordan evacuates second group of cancer patients from Gaza

Jordan evacuates second group of cancer patients from Gaza
Updated 15 May 2025
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Jordan evacuates second group of cancer patients from Gaza

Jordan evacuates second group of cancer patients from Gaza

AMMAN: Jordan’s government on Wednesday began evacuating four child cancer patients and 12 family members from Gaza.

They are the second group of patients evacuated for treatment under the Jordan Medical Corridor initiative, started in March this year, that aims to treat 2,000 Gazan children.

The children and their families were evacuated by the Royal Jordanian Air Force in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.

They will be treated at the King Hussein Cancer Center.

The first evacuees were 29 children and 44 family members. Seventeen of these children have since returned to Gaza with their families after completing their treatment.


Trump says US close to a nuclear deal with Iran

Trump says US close to a nuclear deal with Iran
Updated 44 min 8 sec ago
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Trump says US close to a nuclear deal with Iran

Trump says US close to a nuclear deal with Iran
  • Trump says the US is in serious negotiations with Iran to reach a long-term peace

DUBAI: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.

“We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by AFP.

“We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this... there (are) two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way,” he said.

An Iranian source familiar with the negotiations said there were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the United States.

Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.

Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal and avert future military action.

Iran’s president reacted to Trump’s comments on Tuesday calling Tehran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East.

“Trump thinks he can sanction and threaten us and then talk of human rights. All the crimes and regional instability is caused by them (the United States),” Masoud Pezeshkian said.

“He wants to create instability inside Iran.”

US officials have publicly stated that Iran should halt uranium enrichment, a stance Iranian officials have called a “red line” asserting they will not give up what they view as their right to enrich uranium on Iranian soil.

However, they have indicated a willingness to reduce the level of enrichment.

Iranian officials have also expressed readiness to reduce the amount of highly enriched uranium in storage— uranium enriched beyond the levels typically needed for civilian purposes, such as nuclear power generation.

However, they have said it would not accept lower stockpiles than the amount agreed in a deal with world powers in 2015 — the deal Trump quit.

The Iranian source said that while Iran is prepared to offer what it considers concessions, “the issue is that America is not willing to lift major sanctions in exchange.”

Western sanctions have severely impacted the Iranian economy.

Regarding the reduction of enriched uranium in storage, the source noted: “Tehran also wants it removed in several stages, which America doesn’t agree with either.”

There is also disagreement over the destination to which the highly enriched uranium would be sent, the source added. 


54 people killed in overnight airstrikes on southern Gaza city, hospital says

54 people killed in overnight airstrikes on southern Gaza city, hospital says
Updated 15 May 2025
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54 people killed in overnight airstrikes on southern Gaza city, hospital says

54 people killed in overnight airstrikes on southern Gaza city, hospital says
  • Some bodies arrived in pieces, with some body bags containing the remains of multiple people
  • There had been hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza

KHAN YOUNIS: A hospital in southern Gaza says 54 people have been killed in overnight airstrikes on the city of Khan Younis.
An Associated Press cameraman in Khan Younis counted 10 airstrikes on the city overnight into Thursday, and saw numerous bodies taken to the morgue in the city’s Nasser Hospital. Some bodies arrived in pieces, with some body bags containing the remains of multiple people. The hospital’s morgue confirmed 54 people had been killed.
It was the second night of heavy bombing, after airstrikes Wednesday on northern and southern Gaza killed at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children.
The strikes come as US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East, visiting Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.