Hezbollah attacks Israeli settlement in response to Nabatieh massacre 

Update Fire sweep over the Marjayoun plain in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel after being hit by Israeli shelling on August 16, 2024, amid the ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Fire sweep over the Marjayoun plain in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel after being hit by Israeli shelling on August 16, 2024, amid the ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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Updated 17 August 2024
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Hezbollah attacks Israeli settlement in response to Nabatieh massacre 

Hezbollah attacks Israeli settlement in response to Nabatieh massacre 
  • Southern Lebanon suffers from growing displacement and food shortages amid fighting
  • Woman and two children among those killed

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Saturday that it struck the Ayelet Hashahar kibbutz in northern Israel in retaliation for a new massacre in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said that two soldiers were wounded in a rocket attack from Lebanon, adding that a total of 55 rockets had been fired in the latest strikes.

Hezbollah said that its attack came in response to “the Israeli army’s assaults on the Kfour village in Nabatieh, north of the Litani Line, earlier on Saturday, killing 10 people, including Syrian children and their mother, and injuring others, including Sudanese workers.”

Hezbollah said that it added Ayelet HaShahar to its firing schedule and struck the settlement with Katyusha rockets for the first time.

According to Hezbollah’s military media, the settlement “is located northeast Safad in the upper Galilee and some 10 km from the Lebanese southern border.”

In another statement, Hezbollah announced “targeting a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the Al-Burj site with two attack drones, hitting it directly.”

Israeli media outlets said that “the barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon toward the north landed in areas that weren’t evacuated, causing fires to erupt.”

They added that “violent explosions were heard in Safad and its surroundings, in addition to heavy shelling with dozens of rockets launched from Lebanon toward the upper Galilee, causing casualties.

“Ambulances headed to the perimeter of the Mahanayim intersection, while the Hatzor HaGlilit area experienced a power outage following the bombing.”

Israeli Army Radio said that “around 40 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward the upper Galilee.”

The Israeli media reported that “a drone exploded in Margaliot, the upper Galilee,” adding that “settlers of areas located in the Hula valley in the upper Galilee were instructed to stay near shelters.”

Tension escalated on the Lebanese southern border on Friday night and Saturday morning, as 10 people died in Kfour, Nabatieh, as a result of an Israeli raid that targeted a building in the village.

The raid hit a cement stone factory in the industrial zone of Toul-Kfour.

It is the second Israeli attack on the village, hundreds of meters from a previous raid that destroyed a house last week.

The raid killed an entire Syrian family, comprised of the factory’s janitor, the mother, and their children, and injured others, including Syrian and Sudanese workers.

Rescuers worked on lifting the rubble until the morning.

The Ministry of Health’s emergency operations center said that the raid killed 10 people, including a woman and her two children, and injured five others, including two critical injuries.”

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed that the forces “raided a Hezbollah weapons storage.”

Adraee said that several raids targeted “Hezbollah military buildings in Hanine and Maroun Al-Ras” on Friday night and Saturday morning.

The Israeli army immediately responded to the attack that targeted the new settlement, as a military drone struck a motorcycle northeast of Tyre, killing one person, according to the emergency operations center.

According to the center, the Israeli shelling of border villages caused injuries to a citizen in Khiam.

It resulted in the death of one person and the injury of another in an Israeli airstrike in Aitaroun.

Hezbollah’s release of a video on Friday showing tunnels it uses for military purposes in the mountains sparked criticism from Lebanese people on social media, including opposition politicians and activists.

The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, said: “Hezbollah has no right, even if it has one or more underground facilities, to single-handedly decide the fate of the Lebanese people.”

Fares Souaid, the head of the “Lady of the Mountain” Gathering, described the tunnel video as “fake.”

Political analyst Khaled Mumtaz stated that the video was an unjustified revelation.

He believes it reflects a desperate attempt to regain prestige against the Israelis.

He said the Israelis struck the party in its stronghold and killed its general commander. So far, Mumtaz said the party had been unable to respond or boost the morale of its community and fighters.

University academic Makram Rabah addressed Hezbollah, saying: “If you can build such tunnels, why didn’t you build shelters in the south? It is an unethical act.”

Also on Saturday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, reported that the number of displaced people from the southern border area had risen to more than 110,000 as the exchange of fire continued between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Lebanese government statistics indicated 97,000 people were displaced from the south as of last month.

In its latest update, OCHA stated that “35 percent of the displaced are children,” adding that estimates suggest that about 150,000 people remained in the border areas of southern Lebanon.

“According to the World Health Organization, 16 attacks on health care have been reported since October last year, and 21 paramedics have been killed in hostilities. Severe damage to water, electricity, telecoms infrastructure, and roads in southern Lebanon have been recorded.”

OCHA said food insecurity had worsened, with 23 percent of the population now affected, up from 19 percent in March.

“The UN and partners continue to scale up relief efforts to support the government-led response. But additional funding is urgently needed. Humanitarian partners need $110 million for ongoing response for conflict-affected people until the end of the year,” OCHA said.


Germany says Gaza civilian deaths ‘extremely worrying’

Germany says Gaza civilian deaths ‘extremely worrying’
Updated 30 sec ago
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Germany says Gaza civilian deaths ‘extremely worrying’

Germany says Gaza civilian deaths ‘extremely worrying’
BERLIN: Germany said on Monday it was extremely worried by the surge in civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip since Israel renewed its full-scale military offensive on the occupied Palestinian territory.
Israel restarted intense air strikes across the densely populated Strip on Tuesday followed by ground operations, shattering the relative calm of a six-week ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which governs Gaza.
Negotiations have stalled over an extension of the ceasefire.
Israel and the United States have sought to change the terms of the ceasefire deal, a move rejected by Hamas as a violation of the agreement all parties signed.
“It is now very clear that we must quickly return to negotiations and to the ceasefire that was in place,” German foreign ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said in Berlin.
Israel’s renewed military operations would not lead to the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza being released and meant that “the humanitarian situation is once again catastrophic,” he said.
Berlin, traditionally a staunch ally of Israel, also condemned “unacceptable statements” by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who last week threatened to annex parts of Gaza unless Hamas releases the remaining Israeli hostages.
Katz has also said that measures targeting Hamas could include implementing US President Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to redevelop Gaza as a Mediterranean resort after the removal of its Palestinian inhabitants to other Arab countries.
The Israeli government has announced plans for a special agency for the “voluntary departure” of Gazans.
“If the aim is to set up an authority that has the permanent expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as its goal, then that is unacceptable and must be condemned,” Wagner said.
He also condemned an Israeli decision to recognize more than a dozen new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the “expansive settlement policy” undermines efforts toward a two-state solution.
“The German government rejects Israel’s entire settlement policy as legally unacceptable. It is clear that this policy must end,” he said.
On October 7, 2023, fighters from Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people and the capture of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s ensuing bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed at least 50,021 people in the territory, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.
The United Nations considers the ministry’s figures to be reliable.

Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say

Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say
Updated 24 March 2025
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Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say

Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say
  • The Egyptian plan suggests Hamas release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week

CAIRO: Egypt made a new proposal last week aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources told Reuters on Monday.
The proposal follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations against Hamas last Tuesday, effectively ending a two-month period of relative calm.
The Egyptian plan suggests Hamas release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week, the sources said.
Both the US and Hamas agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel had not yet responded.
The sources said Egypt’s proposal also includes a timeline for the release of all hostages in exchange for a timeline for Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza, backed by US guarantees.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement but has said it is still willing to negotiate a ceasefire and was studying proposals from US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.


Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official

Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official
Updated 24 March 2025
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Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official

Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official
  • The aim of the visit was to “discuss ways to manage the situation at the border”

BEIRUT: Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa will visit Syria on Wednesday to discuss recent tensions along the border between the two countries, a Lebanese official said.
“The defense minister will head a security delegation to Damascus to meet with his counterpart, Marhaf Abu Qasra,” the official told AFP on Monday on condition of anonymity.
The aim of the visit was to “discuss ways to manage the situation at the border, strengthen bilateral coordination and prevent cross-border aggression,” the source said.
Ten people were killed in clashes that broke out along the fronter in mid-March.
Damascus accused Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group once allied with deposed president Bashar Assad, of abducting and killing three Syrian soldiers, which the Iran-backed movement strongly denied.
Subsequently, seven Lebanese were killed in air strikes from Syria, according to Lebanese authorities.
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Syrian forces shelled the border area after three Syrian soldiers were killed by armed Lebanese smugglers.
Both countries later announced they had reached a ceasefire agreement.
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation.
In February, Syrian authorities announced the launch of a security campaign in the border province of Homs aimed at shutting down routes used for arms and goods smuggling.
Hezbollah, which fought alongside Assad’s forces during the Syrian war, has long exerted influence over large parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The group was massively weakened in its war with Israel late last year.


Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital

Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital
Updated 24 March 2025
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Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital

Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital
  • Member of Hamas’s political bureau was getting treatment at Nasser Hospital
  • Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday

GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed a member of Hamas’s political bureau as he underwent treatment in hospital, a source in the Islamist movement said, after Israel confirmed it targeted “a key terrorist.”
“The Israeli army assassinated Hamas political bureau member Ismail Barhoum,” the Hamas source said, requesting anonymity to speak more freely.
“Warplanes bombed the operating room at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where Barhoum was receiving treatment after sustaining critical injuries in an air strike targeting his home in Khan Yunis at dawn last Tuesday.”
AFP photos showed the building of about four-storys largely undamaged except for fire blazing in one section off a stairwell.
Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday when Israel resumed air strikes in the territory after an impasse over continuing a ceasefire.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement that Barhoum had been targeted in the strike.
The Israeli military said it hit the hospital with “precise munitions” following extensive intelligence-gathering.
It said the target was a key member of “the Hamas terrorist organization who was operating inside the Nasser Hospital compound.”
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces “have just targeted the surgery building inside the Nasser Medical Complex, which houses many patients and wounded individuals, and a large fire has erupted at the site.”
The ministry later confirmed that one person had been killed and said many others were injured, including some medical staff. The entire department was evacuated, the ministry said in a statement.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency said the hospital’s emergency department had been targeted.
Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, a senior member of its political bureau.
Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, the group said.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had targeted Bardawil, saying that “as part of his role, (he) directed the strategic and military planning” of Hamas in Gaza.
His “elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” it added.


EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’

EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’
Updated 20 min 31 sec ago
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EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’

EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’
  • Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon
  • In Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since Islamist-led rebels overthrew strongman Bashar Assad

JERUSALEM: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Monday during a visit to Jerusalem that Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon threatened to worsen the situation.
The most intense escalation since a November ceasefire, which ended the war between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, occurred on Saturday.
Lebanon’s health ministry said seven people were killed, with Israel saying it attacked in response to rocket fire, which Hezbollah denied responsibility for.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon, and both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the truce.
“Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation,” Kallas said at a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
In Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since Islamist-led rebels overthrew strongman Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities it considers jihadists.
“We feel that these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel and that feeds more radicalization that is also against Israel, which we don’t want to see,” Kallas told journalists.
The Israeli military has also deployed to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, separating the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan from that still controlled by Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria and said his country will not tolerate the presence of forces from the new authorities south of Damascus.
Syria’s foreign ministry has accused Israel of waging a campaign against “the stability of the country.”
Kallas will hold talks with Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa in the occupied West Bank later on Monday.