BEIRUT: Lebanon has retrieved the bodies of four people including a child after they tried to flee the crisis-hit country by sea on an overloaded dinghy, the civil defense said Monday.
A week ago, UN peacekeepers retrieved one body and rescued 36 people from a boat in trouble in international waters off the Lebanese coast.
Families of the survivors said the boat had been adrift without food or water for around a week, during which time several passengers had died or jumped overboard to find help.
The bodies are presumed to be from the same ill-fated crossing.
Since Friday, “we have retrieved four bodies — belonging to two Lebanese, one of whom was a child, a young Indian man and a Syrian man,” Samir Yazbek, the head of the civil defense’s sea rescue unit, told AFP.
The bodies were found in four separate locations off the north and south coasts of the country, and the search was ongoing, he added.
The UN refugee agency said last week that 25 Syrians, eight Lebanese and three people of other nationalities had been rescued from the boat.
It is unclear how many men, women and children originally clambered aboard the dinghy, and therefore how many are still missing.
On Saturday, the navy said it would step up its searches within and outside Lebanon’s territorial waters to find any other victims.
Relatives of those who went missing from the impoverished north Lebanese city of Tripoli say the people smuggler involved in the crossing has dropped off the radar since the tragedy.
They have filed three legal complaints against the man, who they say is a well-known figure in the community.
A military source on Saturday said a person acting as an intermediary between passengers and the boat owner had been arrested.
In recent weeks, dozens of Lebanese and Syrians have tried to make the perilous sea journey from Lebanon to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, authorities on both sides say.
The Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member, lies just 160 kilometers (100 miles) away.
Lebanon is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades, compounded since February by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
It is also reeling from a monster blast at Beirut’s port last month that killed more than 190 people, ravaged large parts of the capital and reignited public anger against the political class.
Lebanon finds four bodies after deadly sea crossing
Lebanon finds four bodies after deadly sea crossing
- UN peacekeepers retrieved one body and rescued 36 people from a boat in trouble in international waters off the Lebanese coast
- Families of the survivors said the boat had been adrift without food or water for around a week
Gaza life expectancy nearly half prewar levels: Study
- Data published in Lancet shows average life expectancy fell from 75.5 to 40.5 in a year
- Figures could be worse due to collapse of Gaza’s health systems, researchers warn
LONDON: Israel’s war in Gaza has led to a drop in average life expectancy of 35 years in the Palestinian enclave, a new study has found.
The Lancet journal published data suggesting that life expectancy had dropped to 40.5 years by September 2024, having been 75.5 years before Israel began its invasion in October 2023.
Researchers for the study at the University of Pennsylvania said the true average age could be lower as only data from those killed by war injuries was considered rather than overall casualty figures, which were likely exacerbated by the collapse of Gaza’s health system.
Casualty lists from Gaza’s health authorities were cross-referenced with a UN refugee list and census data to arrive at the findings.
“Our life expectancy results show that the … war in the Gaza Strip generated a life expectancy loss of more than 30 years during the first 12 months of the war, nearly halving pre-war levels,” the study’s authors said.
Despite the logistical issues caused by the war, the UN considers the Gaza health data — which claims that 47,000 have died — accurate.
The UN Human Rights Office said it verified the identities of 8,119 people killed from November 2023 to April 2024.
It added that 44 percent were children and 26 percent were women, with the largest age bracket 5-9-year-olds, and that around 80 percent of people were killed in residential buildings.
“Our case-by-case evaluation of the Gaza Health Ministry list of killed individuals did not detect any substantial errors or signs of intentional inflation,” the researchers said.
“It is highly likely that our central estimates underestimate true losses, because they do not include individuals reported missing or under the rubble.
“Even more importantly, our results do not include the indirect effects of the war on mortality.”
A separate Lancet study published earlier this month suggests that the 47,000-casualty figure may be an underestimate by around 40 percent.
Iraq ministry says two border guards killed by PKK fire
- “They were fired at by terrorists from the banned PKK organization” in Zakho district, the interior ministry said
- The two guards were killed and a third wounded
IRBIL, Iraq: A shooting which officials blamed on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed two Iraqi border guards on Friday near the Turkish boundary in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Iraq’s interior ministry said.
The PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, has several positions in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, which also hosts Turkish military bases used to strike Kurdish insurgents.
“When the Iraqi border forces were carrying out their duties securing the Iraqi-Turkish border... they were fired at by terrorists from the banned PKK organization” in Zakho district, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The two guards were killed and a third wounded, it added.
A border guard official told AFP that the guards were patrolling a village near the Turkish border when the “shooting and clashes” with the PKK took place.
Baghdad deploys federal guards along its border with Turkiye in coordination with the government of the Kurdistan region and its forces, the peshmerga.
The Iraqi federal authorities in Baghdad have recently sharpened their tone against the PKK. Last year, Baghdad quietly listed the group as a “banned organization” — though Ankara demands that the Iraqi government do more in the fight against the militant group.
Ankara along with the United States deems the PKK a “terrorist” organization.
Türkiye has conducted hundreds of strikes against PKK fighters in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
Israel sees more to do on Lebanon ceasefire as deadline nears
- “We’ve also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do,” Mencer said
- Three diplomats said on Thursday it looked like Israeli forces would still be in some parts of southern Lebanon after the 60-day mark
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel said on Thursday the terms of a ceasefire with Hezbollah were not being implemented fast enough and there was more work to do, while the Iran-backed group urged pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave south Lebanon by Sunday as set out in the deal.
The deal stipulates that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah remove fighters and weapons from the area and Lebanese troops deploy there — all within a 60-day timeframe which will conclude on Sunday at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).
The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities triggered by the Gaza war. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.
“There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement,” Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
“We’ve also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do,” he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.
Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after Monday’s deadline.
Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks talking about Israel postponing its withdrawal beyond the 60-day period, and that any breach of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that possibility required everyone, especially Lebanese political powers, to pile pressure on the states which sponsored the deal to ensure “the implementation of the full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly.”
Any delay beyond the 60 days would mark a blatant violation of the deal with which the Lebanese state would have to deal “through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters” to recover Lebanese land “from the occupation’s clutches,” Hezbollah said.
Israel said its campaign against Hezbollah aimed to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced to leave their homes in northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire.
It inflicted major blows on Hezbollah during the conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and thousands of the group’s fighters and destroying much of its arsenal.
The group was further weakened in December when its Syrian ally, Bashar Assad, was toppled, cutting its overland supply route from Iran.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, said Israel had put an end to hostilities and was removing its forces from Lebanon, and that the Lebanese army had gone to locations of Hezbollah ammunition stores and destroyed them.
He also indicated there was more to do to shore up the ceasefire. “Are we done? No. We will need more time to achieve results,” he said.
Three diplomats said on Thursday it looked like Israeli forces would still be in some parts of southern Lebanon after the 60-day mark.
A senior Lebanese political source said President Joseph Aoun had been in contact with US and French officials to urge Israel to complete the withdrawal within the stipulated timeframe.
The Lebanese government has told US mediators that Israel’s failure to withdraw on time could complicate the Lebanese army’s deployment, and this would be a blow to diplomatic efforts and the optimistic atmosphere in Lebanon since Aoun was elected president on Jan. 9.
UN suspends all trips into Houthi-held areas of Yemen over staffers being detained
- The statement comes after the Houthis detained UN staffers
DUBAI: The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after more of their staff were detained by the rebels.
The statement comes after the Houthis detained UN staffers, as well as individuals associated with the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa and aid groups.
“Yesterday, the de facto authorities in Sanaa detained additional UN personnel working in areas under their control,” the UN statement read. “To ensure the security and safety of all its staff, the United Nations has suspended all official movements into and within areas under the de facto authorities’ control.”
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the UN’s decision, which came as they have been trying to deescalate their attacks on shipping and Israel after a ceasefire was reached in the Israel-Hamas war.
US President Donald Trump separately has moved to reinstate a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by President Joe Biden, potentially setting the stage for new tensions with the rebels.
The Houthis earlier this week said they would limit their attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor and released the 25-member crew of the Galaxy Leader, a ship they seized back in November 2023.
Israel building military installations in Golan demilitarized zone
- UN: Israeli construction along Area of Separation is ‘severe violation’ of 1974 ceasefire agreement
- Israeli forces have been operating in southern Syria since fall of Assad regime in December
LONDON: The Israeli military is building installations in the demilitarized zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, satellite images published by the BBC have revealed.
Israeli forces moved into the Area of Separation agreed in the 1974 ceasefire with Syria, crossing the so-called Alpha Line following the fall of the Assad regime in December.
The satellite images, taken on Tuesday, show construction work and trucks around 600 meters inside the Area of Separation, including a track linking the site to another Israeli-administered road in the area.
Footage obtained by a drone operated by a Syrian journalist on Monday also identified excavators and bulldozers at the location.
The Israeli military told the BBC that its “forces are operating in southern Syria, within the buffer zone and at strategic points, to protect the residents of northern Israel.”
The UN Disengagement Observer Force has said Israeli construction along the Area of Separation is “a severe violation” of the 1974 ceasefire agreement.
Jeremy Binnie, Middle East specialist at defense intelligence company Janes, told the BBC: “The photo shows what appear to be four prefabricated guard posts that they will presumably crane into position in the corners, so this is somewhere they are planning to maintain at least an interim presence.”
It is not the first time that the BBC has identified Israeli forces inside the Area of Separation. Soldiers were spotted near the town of Majdal Shams, around 5.5 km from the new site, while satellite pictures taken in November found a trench being dug by Israeli personnel along the Alpha Line near the town of Jubata Al-Khashab.
