Gunman kills 4 in attack on Tripoli security patrol

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Lebanon's Interior Minister Raya Al-Hassan visits the scene where a militant attacked a security forces patrol on Monday night, in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli. (Reuters)
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A Lebanese Army investigator takes photos outside a building where clashes erupted between Lebanese troops and a a former member of the Islamic State group, who had engaged in an hours-long shootout with the security forces, in Tripoli, Lebanon. (AP)
Updated 04 June 2019
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Gunman kills 4 in attack on Tripoli security patrol

  • Tripoli has prevailed because of coordination between the security and military forces
  • The US Embassy in Lebanon said that it “stands by the legitimate security institutions in their war on terror

BEIRUT: A lone gunman who killed an army officer and three Lebanese security personnel in Tripoli had been released from prison on terror charges in mid-2017, Interior Minister Raya Al-Hassan said.

The “lone wolf” attacker, Abdul Rahman Mabsout, struck shortly before midnight on Monday, killing a Lebanese army officer and three Internal Security Forces (ISF) personnel.

Mabsout was known to security and judicial services in Lebanon. He had fought with the Daesh terror group in Syria and was arrested in Lebanon in early 2016 where he was imprisoned for 18 months before being released in mid-2017.

“Lone wolves are a new type of terrorism and security services are doing their best to prevent such attacks,” said Al-Hassan, who went to Tripoli after the incident.

According to Lebanon’s army command, the militant was riding a motorcycle when he opened fire on a Bank of Lebanon branch and an adjacent ISF post, killing one soldier and wounding several others.

He then moved to another area and threw a bomb at an ISF patrol before shooting and killing two security personnel and fleeing.

Security forces chased and exchanged gunshots with the terrorist, who barricaded himself in an apartment after forcing a woman occupant to flee. 

The man is believed to have killed himself by detonating an explosive belt when security forces raided the property, though earlier reports said he was killed by a grenade blast as security forces stormed the building.

“Tripoli has prevailed because of coordination between the security and military forces, and thanks to the Lebanese,” Al-Hassan told a press conference. 

The four men who died in the attacks were Lt. Hassan Farahat, 29, Pvt. Ibrahim Saleh, 21, Sgt. Johnny Khalil, 26, and Cpl. Yousef Faraj, 36.

Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab said the attack was likely to be part of a wider terrorist plot.

“However, there are still unanswered questions about the attacks,” he said.

Bou Saab linked the incident to benefit cuts imposed on retired soldiers in the 2019 budget. “The army is sacrificing its blood for the homeland and we hope everyone appreciates the value of these sacrifices,” he said.

MP Hikmat Deeb, from the Free Patriotic Movement bloc, said on Twitter that terrorism should not be tolerated, stressing that “amnesty for the killers of security personnel facilitates terrorism.”

“Lone wolves are a new type of terrorism and security services are doing their best to prevent such attacks.”

Raya Al-Hassan, Interior minister

In an interview with Arab News, former Lebanese MP Mustapha Allouch said: “I am surprised that this terrorist could be released from prison. He fought in the ranks of Daesh in Syria, but this incident should not be linked to Islamic detainees because some of them are oppressed.”

He said: “Someone may have encouraged Mabsout to carry out the attacks. Poverty and resentment may have been his motives. Or he may have found that the other world was better than his current life, so he did what he did. We do not know. We have to wait for investigations.”

Allouch described Tripoli as “the weakest link to carry out this attack. I do not think what happened is an accident.” 

Tripoli MP Mohammed Kabbara said the incident involved the “direct targeting of Tripoli.”

“Conspiracies want to drain it, distort its image and weaken it. What happened has serious implications, because the perpetrators are people who were deceived by one or more parties in the context of using Tripoli as a mailbox to send bloody messages.”

The US Embassy in Lebanon said that it “stands by the legitimate security institutions in their war on terror.”

More than 1,200 prisoners, including 700 Lebanese, are being held in Roumieh prison on terror-related charges. About 500 detainees have been accused of murder or attempted murder.

For years, families of detainees have been pressuring the Lebanese government to issue a general amnesty or speed up prisoners’ trials and ensure proper humanitarian conditions in the prison.

President Michel Aoun hailed “the lives of the martyrs of the army and ISF” after the Tripoli attack.

“Any tampering with security will receive a quick and decisive response,” he said. “What happened in Tripoli will not affect stability in the country.”

Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri, who is in Saudi Arabia, called Al-Hassan, Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun and Director General of the ISF Maj. Gen. Imad Othman following terrorist attack.

According to his press office, Al-Hariri stressed that “all measures that protect the security of Tripoli and its people must be taken and the remnants of terrorism must be uprooted.”


US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart

Updated 55 min 59 sec ago
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US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart

  • Katz was sworn in before parliament the previous day
  • The US defense chief also discussed “the need to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza“

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed Lebanon and Gaza on Friday in his first call with his new Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, the Pentagon said.
Katz was sworn in before parliament the previous day, after his predecessor’s shock dismissal by the prime minister over a breakdown in trust during the war in Gaza — a conflict that began with a devastating Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Austin “held an introductory call today with the new Israeli minister of defense, Israel Katz, and congratulated him on his recent appointment,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement.
He told Katz that Washington is committed to a deal that allows Lebanese and Israeli citizens displaced by more than a year of cross-border violence to return to their homes, as well as to the return of hostages seized by Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ryder said.
The US defense chief also discussed “the need to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza,” after he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel in a letter earlier this month that it needed to allow more aid into the small war-wracked coastal territory.


Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

Mahmud Abbas told Donald Trump he was ready to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza. (Reuters)
Updated 56 min 46 sec ago
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Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expressed readiness to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza during a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, his office said.
Trump’s victory came with the Middle East in turmoil after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Congratulating Trump on his victory, Abbas expressed “readiness to work with President Trump to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on international legitimacy,” his office said in a statement.
It said that Trump also assured Abbas that he will work to end the war.
“President Trump stressed that he will work to stop the war, and his readiness to work with president Abbas and the concerned parties in the region and the world to make peace in the region.”
While Trump struck a note of peace during his campaign, he also touted his status as Israel’s strongest ally, even going so far as to promise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would “finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.


Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre

Updated 08 November 2024
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Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre

  • The strikes targeted three buildings in the city
  • Israel had issued no evacuation warning ahead of the strikes

BEIRUT: The Lebanese health ministry said at least three people were killed and 30 others wounded on Friday in Israeli strikes on the southern city of Tyre.
The official National News Agency said the strikes targeted three buildings in the city and caused heavy damage to neighboring apartment blocks.
It said Israel had issued no evacuation warning ahead of the strikes.
Israel has been at war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since late September, when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its Palestinian ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.


‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts

Updated 08 November 2024
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‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts

  • The warning comes just days ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza

LONDON: There is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of the northern Gaza Strip, a committee of global food security experts warned on Friday, as Israel pursues a military offensive against Palestinian militants Hamas in the area.
“Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict, or have influence on its conduct, to avert and alleviate this catastrophic situation,” the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said in a rare alert.
The warning comes just days ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid.


Israeli army claims discovery of ‘Hezbollah training center’ near UNIFIL outpost as raids continue in Lebanon

Updated 08 November 2024
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Israeli army claims discovery of ‘Hezbollah training center’ near UNIFIL outpost as raids continue in Lebanon

  • Several videos showed residential houses and tourist, social and religious facilities being set with explosives and blown up remotely
  • Adraee also accused Hezbollah of “using ambulances to transport saboteurs and arms” and called on “medical personnel to avoid dealing and cooperating with Hezbollah members”

BEIRUT: The Israeli army on Friday continued to destroy houses in Lebanon’s southern border villages to establish a buffer zone. The latest bombing targeted the areas of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras in Bint Jbeil.
Several videos showed residential houses and tourist, social and religious facilities being set with explosives and blown up remotely.
In parallel with the deliberate destruction, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued “a new urgent warning to the residents of southern Lebanon,” instructing them “to refrain from returning to the south, or to their houses or olive fields,” describing the region as “a dangerous combat zone.”
Adraee also accused Hezbollah of “using ambulances to transport saboteurs and arms” and called on “medical personnel to avoid dealing and cooperating with Hezbollah members.”
The army will take the “necessary measures against any vehicle transporting armed members regardless of its type,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed that “surveillance cameras of the Oded Brigade reservists captured a Hezbollah training center just 200 meters from a UNIFIL outpost.”
The army claimed that “the forces discovered the training facility, which was used by Hezbollah for training, studying, and storing large quantities of weapons.”
It said that “the facility contained missile launchers used for firing at Israeli settlements, as well as documents and instructional books detailing Hezbollah’s operational methods, maps of Israel, explanations of the Israeli army’s equipment, and additional weapons.” The army said “the weapons were confiscated and the compound was dismantled.”
The Israeli army resumed raids on the Baalbek-Hermel area, killing and injuring people and causing further destruction.
The Ministerial Emergency Committee estimated that, as of Thursday evening, Israel had conducted 121 raids, including 56 on Nabatieh, 24 on Baalbek and 23 in the south.
The committee said the number of people killed so far in Israeli attacks on Lebanon exceed 3,100, while 14,000 people have been injured.
More than 1.2 million people have been displaced, with close to 200,000 staying in shelters, it added.
Lebanese observers believe this transitional phase, from now until US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, is the most dangerous period for Lebanon.
Raids on Kfar Tebnit killed two people after a building comprising residential apartments and commercial shops was destroyed.
A raid on Zebdine in Nabatieh killed Mohammed Fayez Mokaddam and his sons, Fayez and Hadi Mokaddem, after their building was destroyed.
Zaher Ibrahim Ataya, a medic with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Committee from the southern town of Tair Harfa, was killed when Israeli forces struck a newly established medical center.
The strike was part of a broader Israeli aerial campaign that targeted more than 50 towns across the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts in the past 48 hours.
The Lebanese Red Cross chief Georges Kettaneh announced that rescue teams have returned to Wata Al-Khiyam to complete the recovery of victims from an incident on Oct. 27.
Working alongside UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army, teams recovered four bodies and remains, with efforts continuing to ensure the mission’s completion.
Earlier the Red Cross retrieved 17 bodies from the site where civilians, who had been tending to livestock, sought shelter in a building during an Israeli incursion.
The Israeli military initially stalled permission for the Lebanese Red Cross to recover the victims, eventually granting only a four-hour window for the operation.
The Israeli air campaign extended to Lebanon’s Bekaa region, with strikes hitting Hrabta town west of Baalbek and Hosh Al-Sayyed Ali near the Syrian border north of Hermel.
Sirens sounded across northern Israel, including Haifa, Nazareth, Kiryat Shmona and surrounding areas, as well as the Ramat Trump settlement in the Golan Heights and Israeli media reported approximately 30 rockets launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel and Haifa’s suburbs.
The Israeli military confirmed detecting about 20 rockets, with some being intercepted, and reported drone incursions in northern airspace, including one near Caesarea.
The Israeli military announced the death of a soldier from Battalion 8207, Alon Brigade (228), who succumbed to wounds sustained in southern Lebanon on Oct. 26, while Israeli army radio detailed a fierce battle in the border village of Aitaroun that claimed the lives of six Israeli soldiers.
Hezbollah said on Friday it had launched “dozens of rockets reaching as far as Haifa and south of Nazareth.”
The group claimed strikes on several targets, including the Stella Maris naval base and Ramat David air base, northwest and southeast of Haifa, respectively, Kiryat Shmona settlement, and military gatherings in Misgav Am and Margaliot settlements.
In response to Israeli infiltration attempts, Hezbollah reported targeting Israeli forces south of Adaisseh with artillery fire. The group also claimed to have destroyed a military bulldozer and inflicting casualties on accompanying infantry forces trying to advance northwest of Kfarkila.