SHLOMI, Israel: A stationary cable car, an abandoned tourist van, empty roads -- the scene around Rosh Hanikra, an Israeli seaside kibbutz bordering Lebanon, looked like still life if not for the goats grazing languidly under the hot wind.
The kibbutz has over the years seen its share of rockets launched by Hezbollah militants from Lebanon, but this time, it has become a ghost town over fears that it could be the target of an Islamist incursion like the deadly attack by Hamas fighters in southern Israel.
Under cover of a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Hamas militants breached Israel's border on Saturday, storming kibbutzim and gunning down civilians in the streets, at a rave party and in their homes, claiming more than 1,200 lives.
Israel has responded by declaring war on Hamas, pounding targets in Gaza where officials said more than 1,300 people have been killed.
Wary of Hezbollah -- also backed by Iran like Hamas -- in its north, Israel has rushed troops to villages like Rosh Hanikra. But terrified inhabitants were not taking any chances.
In the neighbouring town of Shlomi, Ida Lannkri said she was still "shaking with fear" hours after an anti-missile rocket fired from Lebanon landed near a military post on Wednesday morning.
"There was a loud boom that set fire to all of the mountain," said Lannkri, recalling the "smell of gunpowder".
From her balcony, Lannkri has a view of a green slope where a thick wall zig-zags across, marking the Israeli-Lebanese border.
She will be leaving for the Red Sea coastal resort Eilat imminently, the 61-year-old with short dark hair said.
Only "a family or two remain" in her 28-apartment building, said Lannkri.
With most civilians gone, Israeli soldiers have fanned out across Shlomi's numerous homes, casting a watchful eye on the mountain border.
Tanks were also parked near the village while Hummer armoured trucks could be spotted in walled compounds.
The village's petrol station is now one of the rare places that has stayed open, becoming the go-to store for the few residents remaining to get water, biscuits or milk.
Israel Ravid, 34, who works at a petrol station, said his wife had already left Shlomi with their two children.
Deeply shaken by the bombing that she had suffered during the 2006 war with Hezbollah, he said "she doesn't want our children to suffer the same trauma".
The 2006 war left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.
Since then, cross-border skirmishes have been common, but both sides have refrained from all-out conflict.
Ravi said he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome, but wanted to keep busy because staying at home and watching the horrors unfold on television news was "horrible".
Teacher Leon Gershovich, 40, also tried not to let his fears take over him.
From his garage, the border is less than a kilometre away.
His elderly mother had sought to dissuade him from talking to AFP, fearing that the journalists were Hezbollah fighters in disguise.
"She isn't afraid so much of rockets, but of what can repeat itself like it happened in the Gaza border. And we know how close we are to the border," said Gershovich.
"If they cross and run, how many will it take for them to get here? Knowing that actually it could happen right here like it happened there in itself is extremely frightening."
'Shaking with fear', Israelis desert villages bordering Lebanon
https://arab.news/m5pg7
'Shaking with fear', Israelis desert villages bordering Lebanon
- Terrified inhabitants were not taking any chances
- Ida Lannkri said she was still "shaking with fear" hours after an anti-missile rocket fired from Lebanon landed near a military post on Wednesday
UAE launches 4th phase of Gaza water supply project
- The UAE-supported project focuses on maintaining and restoring central wells across Gaza’s municipalities, ensuring the continuity of essential water services
DUBAI: The UAE has launched the fourth phase of its humanitarian water supply initiative in the Gaza Strip this week.
The project is part of the ongoing “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3,” aimed at alleviating the suffering of Palestinian civilians amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The UAE-supported project focuses on maintaining and restoring central wells across Gaza’s municipalities, ensuring the continuity of essential water services.
This latest phase includes the repair of 28 non-operational wells across several governorates, a move expected to benefit nearly 700,000 residents.
Sharif Al-Nayrab, media director for Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, praised the long-standing support of Emirati humanitarian organizations for Gaza’s critical sectors.
“This initiative reflects the UAE’s firm commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, especially during times of acute need,” he said.
This is the fourth water-related project implemented under the UAE initiative.
Earlier phases included daily distribution of water via tankers, the drilling of emergency wells along southern coastal areas and the construction of submersible wells to increase supply.
Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has provided critical relief and development efforts across Gaza, delivering food, health and utility support.
Israeli army says body of soldier missing for 43 years found in ‘heart of Syria’
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Sunday that the body of a soldier missing for 43 years had been found in the “heart of Syria” and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency.
“In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and brought back to Israel,” the army said in a statement.
Feldman went missing along with two other soldiers in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub that pitted Israeli and Syrian forces against each other in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon, near the border with Syria.
In a separate statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts to locate Feldman’s body, noting that the search for him and his comrades — Zachariah Baumel and Yehuda Katz — had been ongoing for decades.
“Approximately six years ago, we returned for a Jewish burial, Sgt. First Class Zechariah Baumel; today we have returned Tzvika, of blessed memory. We will not cease our efforts to return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, who is also an MIA from the same battle,” Netanyahu’s statement said, adding that the prime minister had personally notified Feldman’s parents.
The army statement said that Feldman’s body had been identified by the Genomic Identification Center for Fallen Soldiers of the Military Rabbinate but gave little details of how his remains were located deep inside Syria.
“The return of Sgt. Feldman was made possible through a complex and covert operation, enabled by precise intelligence and the use of operational capabilities that demonstrated ingenuity and courage,” the statement said.
“This concludes an extensive intelligence and operational effort that spanned more than four decades, involving close cooperation between the POW/MIA Coordinators in the Prime Minister’s Office, intelligence and operational units within the Mossad and IDF Intelligence Directorate, along with the Shin Bet and the IDF Human Resources Directorate,” the army said.
Iran and the US begin a 4th round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program in Oman
- Iran FM says hopes fourth round of talks with US reaches ‘decisive point’
- Araghchi said Tehran's right to enrich uranium was ‘non-negotiable’
DUBAI: Iran and the United States began a fourth round of negotiations Sunday over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, officials said, just ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump to the Middle East this week.
The round of talks, again happening in the sultanate of Oman, likely will see Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi mediating. American officials believe the talks will include both indirect and direct portions, as in previous rounds of negotiations, but like the other rounds in Muscat and Rome, details remain scarce.
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian state television announced the talks had begun. There was no immediate comment from the US side.
The fourth round comes ahead of Trump’s trip
The talks will again see Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff lead the negotiations. They have met and spoken face-to-face in the talks, but the majority of the negotiations appear to have been indirect, with Al-Busaidi shuttling messages between the two sides.
Iran has insisted that keeping its ability to enrich uranium is a red line for its theocracy. Witkoff also has muddied the issue by first suggesting in a television interview that Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67 percent, then later saying that all enrichment must stop.
“An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again,” Witkoff told the right-wing Breitbart news site in a piece published Friday. “That’s our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — those are their three enrichment facilities — have to be dismantled.”
Araghchi, however, warned again that enrichment remains a red line for Iran.
“This is a right of the Iranian people that is not up for negotiation or compromise. Enrichment is one of the achievements and honors of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi said before leaving Tehran. “A heavy price has been paid for this enrichment. The blood of our nuclear scientists has been shed for it. This is absolutely non-negotiable. That has been our clear stance that we have always voiced.”
Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers capped Tehran’s enrichment at 3.67 percent and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms (661 pounds). That level is enough for nuclear power plants, but far below weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
Since the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the US from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program and enriched uranium to up to 60 percent purity — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. There have also been a series of attacks at sea and on land in recent years, stemming from the tensions even before the Israel-Hamas war began.
UAE exempts Sudanese nationals from residency, visa fines
- The authority clarified that this decision takes effect on May 19, 2025
DUBAI: The UAE announced on Saturday that Sudanese nationals would be exempt from paying outstanding residency or visa fines.
A statement released by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security said: “The decision aligns with the UAE’s long-standing commitment to supporting brotherly nations and offering humanitarian aid during crises.”
The move underlines the country’s role in promoting humanity and peace, it added.
The decision will come into effect on May 19 and remain valid until the end of 2025.
Sudanese nationals with outstanding fines can regularize their status and submit renewal applications via the ICP’s official digital platforms. Any fines incurred will be waived.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 10 people, mostly women and children
- Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents
- Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 10 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents. Other strikes killed a child and a man riding a bicycle, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies from all the strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
Aid groups say food supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes.
US President Donald Trump, whose administration has voiced full support for Israel’s actions, is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour that will not include Israel.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. Fifty-nine hostages are still inside Gaza, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced some 90 percent of its population of around 2 million.
