JERUSALEM: An Israeli drone fell in Syria on Wednesday during routine activity, the Israeli military said.
A military statement said there had been no breach of information and the incident was under investigation. It did not provide further details.
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Israeli drone falls in Syria during routine activity, Israeli military says
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Israeli drone falls in Syria during routine activity, Israeli military says
- A military statement said there had been no breach of information
Lebanese army fully redeployed in eastern sector villages
- Israeli forces are still stationed at Labbouneh Heights and Jabal Blat
- Lebanon and the US have approved extending the deadline for the Israeli forces’ withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Feb. 18
BEIRUT: The Lebanese army continued on Tuesday to be deployed in the eastern sector’s villages, from the coastal city of Naqoura to Marwahin.
Israeli forces are still stationed at Labbouneh Heights and Jabal Blat.
Lebanon and the US have approved extending the deadline for the Israeli forces’ withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Feb. 18.
The deadline falls within the framework of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that went into force on Nov. 27.
The Lebanese army continued to be deployed in the central sector’s villages, following the Israeli withdrawal. On Tuesday, it entered Yaroun’s old town on the border. The army’s bulldozers also reopened all the village’s roads.
The Lebanese Red Cross retrieved the bodies of Hezbollah fighters, which had been trapped under rubble since the confrontations began between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli forces invaded Lebanese territory as part of Israel’s expanded war against Hezbollah last October.
Meanwhile, Israeli hostilities continue to hinder residents’ attempts to return to their villages.
An Israeli drone dropped stun grenades near several civilians while they were trying to enter Yaroun following the Lebanese army’s entry into the village.
Kfarkila’s residents blocked the Khardali highway to protest the delayed entry of the Lebanese army to their village.
In a statement, they said that “their village is disaster-stricken, and that the bodies of the victims who defended their town are still under rubble.”
They called on the Lebanese state to “assume its full responsibility toward its people and land and pressure the international community into forcing the occupation to abide by international laws.”
The residents re-opened the road after receiving official promises reassuring them that the matter would be addressed.
The mayor of Aitaroun informed its residents that Israeli forces had not cleared the area yet, which prevented them from returning. Aitaroun residents have been waiting at the village entrance for days.
In a post on social media, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee reminded border area residents of the deadline extension for the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
He said: “The redeployment in certain sectors where Israeli forces are stationed may be delayed as additional time is required to ensure that Hezbollah is not able to reestablish its military strength.”
Adraee added that in the near future, Israel would inform them about the locations residents can return to. “Until that time, we ask you to wait and not allow Hezbollah to return and exploit you in an attempt to cover up the devastating consequences of its irresponsible decisions at the expense of the security of the State of Lebanon.”
Israeli forces have opened fire on unarmed civilians attempting to return to their villages along the border since Sunday, resulting in a total of 26 fatalities, including women, and injuring 160 civilians, including children.
The UN said: “Israel’s use of lethal force against civilians returning to their homes in southern Lebanon constitutes a violation of international law.”
It called for “the transformation of the ceasefire into a lasting and sustainable peace in the region.”
The Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a post via its official social media account: “We are concerned by reports that at least 24 people were killed and more than 100 others injured in recent days as civilians attempted to return to their homes in southern Lebanon.”
The commission stressed that “civilians must be allowed to return to their villages under voluntary, dignified and safe conditions.”
Lebanon has recorded no fewer than 670 violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel since its implementation, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.
Israeli forces freed six Lebanese civilians on Monday evening as a result of diplomatic efforts led by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
They were apprehended while making their way back to their hometowns of Houla and Markaba on Sunday and Monday, with two women among those released.
The footage captured by residents returning to their villages revealed the extent of the destruction caused by Israel, particularly during the ceasefire period, during which entire villages were obliterated.
The Israeli military conducted a demolition operation near a mosque in the town of Al-Wazzani.
Several residences and structures in the Al-Mufilha region, west of Mays Al-Jabal, were bulldozed.
France says forced displacement of Gazans would be ‘unacceptable’
- “Any forced displacement of the population in Gaza would be unacceptable,” a French foreign ministry spokesman said
- “It would not only be a serious violation of international law, but also a major hindrance to the two-state solution”
PARIS: France on Tuesday said any forced displacement of Gazans would be “unacceptable” after US President Donald Trump proposed moving Gaza Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.
“Any forced displacement of the population in Gaza would be unacceptable,” a French foreign ministry spokesman said when asked about Trump’s comments.
“It would not only be a serious violation of international law, but also a major hindrance to the two-state solution,” the spokesman said, referring to calls for Israeli and Palestinian states living side-by-side.
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It would also be a “destabilization factor (for) our close allies Egypt and Jordan.”
Almost all of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war that began with Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
But a fragile ceasefire that came into force this month could boost permanent peace efforts.
Trump on Monday expressed his desire to move Palestinians from Gaza to “safer” locations such as Egypt or Jordan.
Trump had on Saturday floated the idea to “clean out” Gaza after the conflict, which he said had reduced the Palestinian territory to a “demolition site.”
After jointly mediating the ceasefire with the United States and Egypt, Qatar on Tuesday said the two-state solution was “the only path forward.”
Egypt and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas have also strongly opposed Trump’s proposal.
Crew abandon HK-flagged container ship in Red Sea after fire, sources say
- The crew were rescued by another vessel and are safe, the sources said
- The incident took place in the open sea off Yemen
LONDON/ATHENS: The crew of the Hong Kong-flagged ASL Bauhinia have abandoned the container ship in the Red Sea after it caught fire on Tuesday, two maritime sources said, adding the cause of the incident was not immediately clear.
The crew were rescued by another vessel and are safe, the sources said, adding that the incident took place in the open sea off Yemen.
The Shanghai-based manager of ASL Bauhinia, Asean Seas Line, was not immediately available for comment.
Earlier this month, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia said the group would limit their attacks on commercial vessels sailing through the Red Sea to Israel-linked ships provided the Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented.
Commercial ship owners, insurers and retailer remain cautious over the Houthis’ announcement with current traffic through the Red Sea and Suez Canal dominated by Chinese and Russian linked vessels, which have been seen as lower risk.
Since the Houthis began attacks on shipping in sympathy with the Palestinians in Gaza, most vessels have diverted to the longer east-west route via the southern tip of Africa.
Qatar reiterates support for two-state solution
- “Our position has always been clear to the necessity of the Palestinian people receiving their rights, and that the two-state solution is the only path forward,” Ansari said
DOHA: Qatar reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump repeated his call to move Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt or Jordan.
Foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari did not reveal details of conversations with US officials, but said Qatar often didn’t see “eye to eye” with its allies.
“Our position has always been clear to the necessity of the Palestinian people receiving their rights, and that the two-state solution is the only path forward,” Ansari told a regular media briefing when asked about Trump’s comments.
“We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things with all our allies, not only the United States, but we work very closely with them to make sure that we formulate policy together,” he added.
Qatar, the US and Egypt jointly mediated the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal that went into effect a little over a week ago, halting more than 15 months of fighting sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
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On Monday, Trump repeated his wish to move Gazans to another country, after earlier saying he wanted to “clean out” the devastated Palestinian territory.
The US president told reporters he would “like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much.”
Ansari said Qatar, which hosts the region’s biggest US military base, was “engaging fully with the Trump administration and with envoy (Steve) Witkoff,” the president’s special representative for the Middle East.
“I’m not going to comment on the type of discussions we are having with them right now, but I would say that it is very productive,” Ansari said.
“We have been working very closely with the Trump administration over the regional issues as a whole, including the Palestinian issue.”
Turkiye says it killed 15 Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq
ISTANBUL: Turkiye said on Wednesday it had killed 13 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and two in Iraq, a sign that Ankara has pressed on with its campaign against fighters, some with possible links to US allies, since Donald Trump took office in the White House last week.
The Turkish defense ministry said the Kurdish fighters it had “neutralized” in Syria belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.
Turkiye considers the PKK and YPG to be identical; the United States considers them separate groups, having banned the PKK as terrorists but recruited the YPG as its main allies in Syria in the campaign against Islamic State.
Turkiye has long called on Washington to withdraw support for the YPG, and has expressed hope that Trump would revise the policy inherited from the previous administration of President Joe Biden.
Tuesday’s report of major clashes was the second within days: Turkiye also reported having killed 13 Kurdish militants on Sunday.
Turkish forces and their allies in Syria have repeatedly fought with Kurdish militants there since the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month.
Turkiye has said that the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed umbrella group that includes the Kurdish YPG, must disarm or face a military intervention.
Under the Biden administration the United States has had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.
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