BEIRUT: The residents of Nabatiyeh took to the streets on Saturday to hold funerals for the seven civilians who were killed on Wednesday when Israeli rockets struck a residential building in the southern city.
A representative of the speaker of the parliament attended the funerals, which were held in the courtyard of the city mosque.
Sheikh Abdel Hussein Sadiq, imam of Nabatiyeh, said during the funeral: “The innocent blood that was shed unjustly and savagely in a safe home in Nabatiyeh — which included a father, five women, and two children — proves the deliberate intention of the Israeli enemy to crush all human values and international conventions and laws.”
Elsewhere, hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army continued on Saturday. Hezbollah announced the “targeting of the Baranit Barracks with a Falaq-1 missile, causing a direct hit.”
The Israeli Army carried out successive airstrikes on the outskirts of Beit Lif, Ramyah, and Aita Al-Shaab, and missile strikes on the outskirts of Aitaroun in the Bint Jbeil district. The Hamoul-Naqoura area and the outskirts of Alma Al-Shaab were subjected to artillery shelling.
A spokesman for the Israeli Army said its planes “attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Jabal Blat and a military building in Bint Jbeil.”
Amos Hochstein, US envoy for energy affairs, said the US is trying to “keep the conflict in southern Lebanon at the lowest possible level.”
In a statement to CNBC, Hochstein stressed the “need for residents of southern border towns and villages to return to their homes, as well as residents on Israel’s northern border.”
Hochstein met with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during the ongoing Munich Security Conference.
“The situation on the border between the two countries changed after Oct. 7, and we will have to do a lot to support the Lebanese Army and build the economy in southern Lebanon. This will require international support from the Europeans and the Gulf states, and I hope to see their support in the coming phase,” Hochstein said.
Hochstein told Al-Arabiya TV: We are working quietly to end the conflict on the Lebanese border and prevent the war from expanding, which will not be in anyone’s interest.”
In other news, media reports stated that the French company Total had not signed contracts for gas and oil extraction in blocks 8 and 10 of Lebanese territorial waters. The signing deadline set by the Cabinet passed on Friday.
A source in Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy said: “The dispute with the consortium (which includes Qatar Energy and Italy’s Eni) is due to Total’s refusal to shorten the deadline for seismic surveys and drilling in Block 8 and Block 10. Total wants to continue this process until 2027, while the Lebanese side insists that this process be completed within a year and a half.”
Attorney Christina Abi Haidar told Arab News that those terms were “unjust to Lebanon because Total requested a year to determine if they would begin drilling an exploratory well.”
Abi Haidar said: “The Lebanese Cabinet requested better conditions for both parties before signing the contract. It is important to note that Total still holds the license to drill in Block 9. The company drilled one well, which was found to be non-commercial, and refused to drill a second one.”
Abi Haidar continued: “What happened is beneficial for Lebanon. Why should a French company be the sole owner of the licenses for all the blocks in our waters? Let others participate in the third licensing round.”
Israel-Hezbollah hostilities continue amid funerals for victims in Lebanon
https://arab.news/wac97
Israel-Hezbollah hostilities continue amid funerals for victims in Lebanon
- Hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army continued on Saturday
- The Israeli Army carried out successive airstrikes on the outskirts of Beit Lif, Ramyah, and Aita Al-Shaab
At least 70 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, Gaza health authorities say
- Medics say Israeli strikes targeted several houses in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip
- Since Tuesday, airstrikes have killed 510 Palestinians, with more than half of them women and children
GAZA/CAIRO: At least 70 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, after Israel resumed its bombing campaign on the enclave, a Gaza health official said.
Medics said Israeli strikes targeted several houses in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said its forces had resumed ground operations in central and southern Gaza, after a ceasefire that had broadly held since January collapsed.
The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023.
Since Tuesday, airstrikes have killed 510 Palestinians, with more than half of them women and children, the health official said.
The Israeli military said its operations extended Israel’s control over the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects Gaza, and were a “focused” maneuver aimed at creating a partial buffer zone between the north and the south of the enclave.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said the ground operation and the incursion into the Netzarim Corridor were a “new and dangerous violation” of the two-month-old ceasefire agreement. In a statement, the group reaffirmed its commitment to the deal and called on mediators to “assume their responsibilities.”
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a Hamas official said mediators had stepped up their efforts with the two warring sides but added that “no breakthrough has yet been made.”
The group has made no clear threats to retaliate.
The war started after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
More than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health authorities, with the enclave reduced to rubble.
Israel launches a ground operation to retake part of a key corridor in northern Gaza
- Israel used the Netzarim corridor as a military zone which bisected northern Gaza from the south.
DEIR AL-BALAH: Israel said Wednesday it launched a “limited ground operation” in northern Gaza to retake part of a corridor that bisects the territory, and the country’s defense minister warned that the army plans to step up the attacks that shattered a two-month ceasefire “with an intensity that you have not seen.”
The military said it had retaken part of the Netzarim corridor, which bisects northern Gaza from the south and from where it had withdrawn as part of the ceasefire with Hamas that began in January.
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Palestinians in Gaza that the army would again order evacuations from combat zones soon, and that its attacks against Hamas would become more fierce if dozens of hostages held for more than 17 months weren’t freed.
The move appeared to deepen a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza, which shattered a ceasefire with Hamas.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded.
The military says it only strikes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The military said in a statement that as part of the new offensive, it struck dozens of militants and militant sites on Wednesday, including the command center of a Hamas battalion.
The war in Gaza, which was paused in January by an internationally-mediated ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, has been among the deadliest conflicts ever for humanitarian workers, according to the UN.
The resumption of fighting launched by Israel early Tuesday risks plunging the region back into all-out war. It came weeks after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire, during which Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages for prisoners and were set to negotiate an extension to the truce that was meant to bring about an eventual end to the war.
But those negotiations never got off the ground. Hamas has demanded that Israel stick to the terms of the initial ceasefire deal, including a full withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. Israel, which has vowed to defeat Hamas, has put forward a new proposal that would extend the truce and free more hostages held by Hamas, without a commitment to end the war.
Israel says it intercepted missile launched from Yemen
- Israel’s ambulance service said no serious injuries were reported
Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early on Thursday as hostilities with the Houthis intensified, amid US President Donald Trump’s threats to punish Iran over its perceived support for the Yemeni militant group.
Sirens sounded across several areas in Israel after the projectile was fired, the military said. The Israeli police said sirens were heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“A missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF prior to crossing into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol,” the Israeli military said in a statement, referring to its air force.
Israel’s ambulance service said no serious injuries were reported.
Yemen’s Houthi militants, undeterred by waves of US strikes since Saturday, fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson said in a televised statement.
The group has recently vowed to escalate their attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to the US campaign.
US strikes which began on Saturday over the Houthis’ attacks against Red Sea shipping are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 31 people.
Trump also threatened on Monday to hold Iran accountable for any future Houthi attacks, warning of severe consequences. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Houthis were independent and took their own strategic and operational decisions.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had fired a ballistic missile toward Israel and would expand their range of targets in that country in coming days in retaliation for renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza after weeks of relative calm.
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been called the “Axis of Resistance” — an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.
UK demands transparent probe of Israel strike on Gaza UN building
- “Appalled a UN compound in Gaza was hit this morning,” Lammy wrote on X
LONDON: Britain’s foreign minister David Lammy on Wednesday called for a transparent investigation into an Israeli air strike on a UN building in Gaza.
“Appalled a UN compound in Gaza was hit this morning,” Lammy wrote on X. “This incident must be investigated transparently and those responsible held to account.”
Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem
- Relatives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza joined the rally outside the parliament in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM: Thousands of protesters massed in Jerusalem on Wednesday, chanting slogans against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who they accuse of undermining democracy and resuming Gaza strikes without regard for hostages.
Protesters shouted “You are the head, and you’re to blame” as well as “The blood is on your hands” at the demonstration near parliament, the largest to take place in Jerusalem for months.
The demonstration was organized by anti-Netanyahu opposition groups protesting the premier’s move to sack Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
Following Netanyahu’s announcement to dismiss Bar, which threatened to trigger political crisis, Israel launched a wave of overnight strikes on Gaza, by far the deadliest since the start of a fragile ceasefire in January.
Relatives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza joined the rally outside the parliament in Jerusalem.
“We hope all people from Israel will join this movement and we will not stop until we restore democracy and freedom for the hostages,” said Zeev Berar, 68, from Tel Aviv.
“At this rate we won’t have a country left, not a democratic one. It will be a dictatorship,” student Roni Sharon, 18, told AFP.
Some in the crowd brandished banners reading: “We are all hostages.”
Relatives of the hostages in the Gaza Strip have said the decision to resume strikes could “sacrifice” their loved ones.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the unprecedented October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The demonstrators in Jerusalem also accuse Netanyahu of using the war against Hamas to distract from domestic political concerns.
The prime minister has so far refused to set up a national commission of inquiry into Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, while his bid to dismiss Bar threatened to plunge Israel back into deep political crisis.
Netanyahu’s government recently also moved to oust Israel’s attorney general and government judiciary adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, a fierce defendant of the judiciary’s independence.
A 2023 judicial reform project aimed at curbing the supreme court’s powers fractured the country and sparked major protests — before coming to an abrupt halt with Hamas’s October 7 attack.
“The last two years have been a nightmare for us,” said Yael Baron, 55, from the city of Modiin.
“I feel as though we are in the 99th minute and time is running out to save the country, the oxygen is running out for us, like democracy is running out.”
