BEIRUT: Lebanon is ready to implement a UN resolution that would help end Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks on Israel if Tel Aviv also complies and withdraws from occupied territory, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday.
His remarks came as Hezbollah intensified its operations against Israeli military sites amid the heated confrontation on the southern Lebanese front.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, called for the removal of armed personnel south of Lebanon’s Litani River, except for UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese security forces.
The solution to the latest cross-border hostilities “is the implementation of international resolutions,” including Resolution 1701, Mikati said in his statement.
“We are ready to commit to their implementation, on the condition the Israeli side does the same and withdraws — according to the international laws and resolutions — from occupied territory,” he added.
On Friday, more residents fled their homes in southern Lebanon when Israeli bombing targeted the area.
The UN Development Programme this week published a report providing a preliminary analysis of the impact of the Gaza war on Lebanon and the repercussions of the hostilities in southern Lebanon on the local economy as of Dec. 6.
The report said: “As per the National Council for Scientific Research, or CNRS, 91 towns in Nabatieh and southern Lebanon have faced 1,768 Israeli attacks, including 1,564 airstrikes, 90 incendiary bombs, 62 phosphorus shells, as well as other types of attacks, causing casualties and the displacement of 64,000 civilians scattered across 10 districts.”
The hostilities have directly affected more than 50 villages across four districts — Tyre, Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun and Hasbaya — and destroyed assets and infrastructure, as well as disrupted economic and social services.
Regions that were directly affected by bombing and displacement include all the border villages from Naqoura toward the Shebaa Farms — an area that is 100 km long and 5 km deep.
The Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture reported “the loss of around 47,000 olive trees in the conflict area, representing about 0.44 percent of the total number of olive trees in Lebanon.”
It added that the trees were directly burnt down “due to the use of internationally banned white phosphorous bombs and other explosives.”
The ministry added that the agricultural areas affected by the fires caused by Israel include 97,800 square meters of olive groves, 66,000 square meters of citrus farms and 98,800 square meters of banana farms.
Fires have also ignited in 20,800 square meters of pasture lands.
Moreover, the Agriculture Ministry reported the destruction of a 600-square-meter fodder warehouse and the complete destruction of about 60 agricultural greenhouses.
More than 200,000 birds and chickens and 700 heads of livestock were reported killed, in addition to the destruction of 250 beehives.
In Tyre, fishermen have found it challenging to access fishing grounds due to the conflict.
The report warned that “forest fires caused by white phosphorus bombs significantly impact natural ecosystems, leading to documented incidents of death among mammals, birds and fish.”
It added: “The water infrastructure has been significantly damaged.”
Soil quality in the conflict area had been affected by physical destruction and pollution due to the spread of heavy metals and toxic compounds from explosive weapons, the report said, warning that white phosphorus usage had “further reduced fertility and increased soil acidity.”
Also on Friday, Israeli media reported that a missile and machine gun fire injured several Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon.
Israeli media said that “unusual incidents took place on the northern border with Lebanon, and military censorship was imposed on a security event in the north.”
In the afternoon, six missiles were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israeli positions in the Upper Galilee.
Hezbollah announced in the afternoon the targeting of “a gathering of officers and soldiers of the Israeli enemy in Even Menachem with missile weapons, causing confirmed injuries.”
The Lebanese group carried out operations before noon and announced in successive statements that it targeted “a building in the Shomera settlement with a missile launched from Lebanon.”
It then said it had targeted “gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Shomera barracks with missile and artillery fire, causing direct hits.”
A missile fell near the Nahariya settlement without any sirens sounding.
The Israeli army responded with airstrikes and artillery fire on the Lebanese border area. Jets struck the Labouneh forests south of Naqoura with missiles.
The Israeli shelling of the Ras Naqoura area led to stones flying toward a Lebanese army position in the area. Sirens sounded at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura.
The shelling targeted the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab, Ramyah, Al-Qawzah, Beit Lif and Jabal Blat near Marwahin, in addition to the outskirts of Tayr Harfa and the Hamoul area in the western sector.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it attacked “military sites as well as terrorist infrastructure of the Hezbollah organization.”
Fighter jets also attacked a series of Hezbollah targets, it added.
Hezbollah mourned two fighters who died in the south: Hussein Ali Ezzedine from the town of Maaroub and Abdul Aziz Ali Maslamani from the town of Al-Shaitiya.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar channel reported Israeli army soldiers, quoted by the media, as saying that they felt “like sitting ducks on a shooting range” while operating on the border with Lebanon.
The soldiers said: “The pace of events is increasing here; it is a war on everything, and the higher ranks of the army believe everything is fine.”
Mikati: Lebanon ready to apply UN resolution on border if Israel complies
https://arab.news/mx4xy
Mikati: Lebanon ready to apply UN resolution on border if Israel complies
- Southern front sees further escalation as more than 50 villages directly affected
- On Friday, more residents fled their homes in southern Lebanon when Israeli bombing targeted the area
Even with Lebanon truce deal, Israel will operate against Hezbollah: Netanyahu
“The most important thing is not (the deal that) will be laid on paper,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament.
“We will be forced to ensure our security in the north (of Israel) and to systematically carry out operations against Hezbollah’s attacks... even after a ceasefire,” to keep the group from rebuilding, he said.
Netanyahu also said there was no evidence that Hezbollah would respect any ceasefire reached.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the state it was in on October 6” 2023, the eve of the strike by its Palestinian ally Hamas into southern Israel, he said.
Hezbollah then began firing into northern Israel in support of Hamas, triggering exchanges with Israel that escalated into full-on war in late September this year.
Lebanon’s government has largely endorsed a US truce proposal to end the Israel-Hezbollah war and was preparing final comments before responding to Washington, a Lebanese official told AFP on Monday.
Israel insists that any truce deal must guarantee no further Hezbollah presence in the area bordering Israel.
US envoy has first meeting in Sudan with army chief
- Experts say both sides have stonewalled peace efforts as they vie to gain a decisive military advantage, which neither has managed to hold for long
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: A US special envoy on Monday made his first visit to Sudan for talks with the country’s army chief and de facto leader to discuss aid and how to stop the war.
Tom Perriello met Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan in the Red Sea city for what Burhan’s ruling Sovereignty Council called “long, comprehensive and frank” talks.
It said Burhan and Perriello discussed “the roadmap for how to stop the war and deliver humanitarian aid.”
The envoy’s visit came as Russia on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities in Sudan.
Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 between the regular army led by Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
It has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of 11 million, according to the United Nations.
The conflict has also resulted in what has been described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in recent history.
A US State Department release said Perriello “engaged in frank dialogue with Sudanese officials.”
It said these centered “on the need to cease fighting, enable unhindered humanitarian access, including through localized pauses in the fighting to allow for the delivery of emergency relief supplies, and commit to a civilian government.”
Monday’s visit was the special envoy’s first to Port Sudan, the Red Sea city where government offices and the UN have relocated since fleeing the war-torn capital Khartoum.
It is also the first diplomatic overture in months, since Sudan’s military opted out of US-brokered negotiations in Switzerland.
Experts say both sides have stonewalled peace efforts as they vie to gain a decisive military advantage, which neither has managed to hold for long.
Perriello’s trip comes after repeated failed efforts at mediation.
The statement from Burhan’s office said Perriello expressed the “shared ambition for an end to the war to put a stop to the atrocities and violations we have witnessed recently.”
Writing on social media platform X, the US envoy welcomed “recent progress to expand humanitarian access.”
“As the largest aid donor to Sudan, we will work around the clock to ensure that food, water and medicine can reach people in all 18 states plus refugees,” Perriello posted.
Peace efforts, including by the United States, Saudi Arabia and the African Union, have only succeeded in marginally increasing access to humanitarian aid, which both the military and the RSF are accused of blocking.
International pressure has managed to secure government authorization for aid to be delivered through Adre, a key border crossing with Chad and the only access point to famine-stricken Darfur in western Sudan.
However, on Monday Burhan told Perriello his government rejects “the exploitation of the Adre crossing to deliver weapons to the rebels,” a reference to the RSF’s reported use of the border as a weapons supply route.
Monday’s Russian veto at the UN came with the Security Council largely paralyzed in its ability to deal with conflicts because of splits between permanent members, notably Russia and the United States.
Yemen’s Houthi militants linked to ship attacks in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
- The ship’s captain saw a missile splashing in close proximity to the vessel twice, once in the Red Sea and the second time in the Gulf of Aden.
DUBAI: Suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants targeted a Panama-flagged bulk carrier traveling through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, though no damage or injuries were reported, authorities said Monday.
The attacks come as the the militant group continue their months long assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.
The bulk carrier Anadolu S first had been contacted over VHF radio by someone claiming to be authorities in Yemen, demanding the ship turn around, said the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational task force overseen by the US
“The vessel did not comply with the order and continued its transit,” the center said.
The ship’s captain later saw that “a missile splashed in close proximity to the vessel” as it traveled in the southern Red Sea near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting to the Gulf of Aden in the first attack late Sunday night, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said in an alert. The attack happened some 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Yemen port city of Mocha.
On Monday, another attack some 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Aden in the Gulf of Aden similarly saw a missile splash down close to the vessel, the UKMTO said.
“The vessel and crew are safe and proceeding to its next port of call,” the UKMTO added.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the attacks. However, it can take the group hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.
The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.
The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The Joint Maritime Information Center said the Anadolu S had an “indirect association to Israel.” However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The Houthis have shot down multiple American MQ-9 Reaper drones as well.
In their last attack on Nov. 11, two US Navy warships targeted with multiple drones and missiles as they were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful.
Nearly 100 food aid trucks violently looted in Gaza, UN agencies say
- This is one of the worst aid losses during 13 months of war in the besieged enclave
- 98 of 109 trucks in convoy were raided and some transporters were injured
GENEVA/CAIRO: Nearly 100 trucks carrying food for Palestinians were violently looted on Nov. 16 after entering Gaza in one of the worst aid losses during 13 months of war in the enclave, where hunger is deepening, two UN agencies told Reuters on Monday.
The convoy transporting food provided by UN agencies UNRWA and the World Food Programme was instructed by Israel to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route from Kerem Shalom border crossing, said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer.
Ninety-eight of the 109 trucks in the convoy were raided and some of the transporters were injured during the incident, she said, without detailing who carried out the ambush.
“This ... highlights the severity of access challenges of bringing aid into southern and central Gaza,” she told Reuters.
“The urgency of the crisis cannot be overstated; without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over two million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive.”
The Hamas TV channel Al-Aqsa quoted Hamas interior ministry sources in Gaza as saying that over 20 gang members involved in looting aid trucks were killed during an operation carried out by Hamas security forces in coordination with tribal committees.
It said anyone caught aiding such looting would be treated with “an iron fist.”
A WFP spokesperson confirmed the looting and said that many routes in Gaza were currently impassable due to security issues.
An Israeli official said Israel had been working to address the humanitarian situation since the start of its war against Hamas, adding that the main problem with aid deliveries was UN distribution challenges.
A UN aid official said on Friday that access for aid to Gaza had reached a low point, with deliveries to parts of the Israeli-besieged north of the enclave all but impossible. Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.
UNESCO ‘enhanced protection’ for 34 Lebanon heritage sites
- Baalbek and Tyre ‘will receive technical and financial assistance from UNESCO’
PARIS: Dozens of heritage sites in Lebanon were granted “provisional enhanced protection” by UNESCO on Monday, offering a higher level of legal shielding as fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
The 34 cultural properties affected “now benefit from the highest level of immunity against attack and use for military purposes,” the United Nations cultural body said in a statement.
Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south — both strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah — hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as World Heritage sites.
UNESCO said the decision “helps send a signal to the entire international community of the urgent need to protect these sites.”
“Non-compliance with these clauses would constitute ‘serious violations’ of the 1954 Hague Convention and... potential grounds for prosecution,” it added.
Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war plows on.
UNESCO’s move followed an appeal Sunday by hundreds of cultural professionals, including archaeologists and academics, to activate the enhanced protection.
Baalbek and Tyre “will receive technical and financial assistance from UNESCO to reinforce their legal protections, improve risk anticipation and management measures, and provide further training for site managers,” the body said.
