BEIRUT: Israeli strikes on Saturday killed two people and sparked wildfires in southern Lebanon, state media said, with Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah announcing the death of one fighter.
Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in the eight months since the Gaza war began, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack.
The deadly clashes have intensified in recent weeks, causing multiple brush fires on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said on Saturday that “an Israeli drone carried out an air attack with two guided missiles, targeting a cafe in Aitarun and killing the cafe’s owner, Ali Khalil Hamad, 37, and a young man named Mustafa A. Issa.”
The agency also reported a “violent airstrike” on the border village of Khiam.
Shortly after, Hezbollah said it launched Katyusha rockets on a town across the border “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks against southern villages and safe houses, and the targeting of civilians, notably in Aitarun where two people were killed.”
The Shiite Muslim movement later announced that one of its fighters was killed by Israeli fire. It identified him as Radwan A. Issa, without providing further details.
The Israeli army said in a statement that “one of its planes struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the Aitarun region,” adding that they also struck targets in the area of Khiam.
More than eight months of border violence, which began on October 8, has killed 458 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including about 90 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side of the border, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the army.
“Israeli artillery bombarded today the outskirts of the town of Alma Al-Shaab with incendiary phosphorus shells, causing fires in the forests that spread to the vicinity of some homes,” NNA reported earlier on Saturday.
It added that the fire had reached “large areas of olive trees.”
Lebanese authorities and several international rights groups have accused Israel of using white phosphorus rounds in its strikes on its northern neighbor.
White phosphorus, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen, can be used as an incendiary weapon.
Its use as a chemical weapon is prohibited under international law, but it is allowed for illuminating battlefields and can be used as a smokescreen.
Rescuer Ali Abbas of the Risala Scout association, affiliated with Hezbollah ally the Amal movement, told AFP that “Israel deliberately bombs forested areas with phosphorus with the aim of starting fires.”
According to him, rescuers on the grounds have been struggling to extinguish the flames, while the Lebanese military avoids sending helicopters to assist for fear of more Israeli attacks.
Further east, the NNA reported that “a large fire broke out at positions belonging to the Lebanese army and UNIFIL,” the UN peacekeeping mission, in the area of the border village of Mais Al-Jabal.
It is located near the UN-demarcated Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel.
A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that fires broke out near military positions but have not reached them or caused any casualties.
The UN peacekeepers in a statement reported a “bushfire near one of their positions in Hula,” which was put out with help from Lebanese troops and civil defense forces.
“The fire didn’t cause any damage to UNIFIL assets or personnel,” it said.
The NNA said “several land mines exploded, and firefighting operations are still continuing” in the area.
Two dead, fires in south Lebanon after Israeli strikes
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Two dead, fires in south Lebanon after Israeli strikes
- Hezbollah, Hamas ally, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in eight months since Gaza war began
Amnesty slams Hezbollah for unguided rocket fire at Israeli towns
- Amnesty already released the findings of its investigation into Israeli actions during the war
- A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on November 27
“Hezbollah’s reckless use of unguided rocket salvos has killed and wounded civilians, and destroyed and damaged civilian homes in Israel,” said Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard.
“The use of these inherently inaccurate weapons in or near populated civilian areas amounts to prima facie violations of international humanitarian law,” she said.
“Direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects and indiscriminate attacks that kill and injure civilians must be investigated as war crimes.”
Amnesty said it had documented three Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities that killed eight civilians and wounded at least 16 others following the escalation of the conflict in late September.
In footage of the attacks, it said it had identified the use of unguided multiple launch rocket systems that violate the bedrock principle of distinction under international humanitarian law.
At the time, Hezbollah announced a series of rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers in response to Israeli air strikes on Lebanese towns and villages.
Amnesty already released the findings of its investigation into Israeli actions during the war.
It said it had documented unlawful Israeli air strikes that killed 49 civilians, which must be investigated as war crimes.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on November 27.
Despite the truce, Israeli air strikes have killed more than 20 people in Lebanon since November 27, according to an AFP tally based on health ministry figures.
Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of repeatedly violating the ceasefire.
Since Hezbollah first started trading cross-border fire with the Israeli army in October 2023, the war has killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, according to health ministry figures.
On the Israeli side, the conflict has killed 30 soldiers and 47 civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Security for Kurds ‘essential’ for a secure Syria: German FM
- “The view that the PKK/YPG represents the Kurds in Syria is wrong,” the source quoted him as saying, stressing Turkiye would never allow such “terrorist organizations to abuse the situation in Syria”
ANKARA: Security for the Kurdish people is critical for Syria to have a secure future, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told her Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Friday.
“Security, especially for Kurds, is essential for a free and secure future for Syria,” she told journalists after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, warning of the dangers of any “escalation” with Kurdish forces in Syria.
Earlier Friday, Baerbock raised the alarm over fresh violence in northern Syria, where Turkish troops and Ankara-backed fighters have been battling the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led group supported by the US.
Ankara sees the SDF as an extension of its domestic nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has led a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisting Friday it was “time to neutralize the existing terror organizations in Syria.”
Her comments came as concerns grew over a possible Turkish assault on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, after pro-Turkish fighters seized Manbij and Tal Rifaat, two other key Kurdish-held towns.
As Islamist-led rebels pressed their lightning that toppled Bashar Assad, Turkish-backed fighters began a parallel operation against Kurdish-led forces in the north, sparking clashes that left hundreds dead in just a few days.
“Thousands of Kurds from Manbij and other places are on the run in Syria or are afraid of fresh violence,” the German minister said.
“I made it very, very clear today that our common security interests must not be jeopardized by an escalation with the Kurds in Syria.”
But she expressed understanding for Ankara’s “legitimate” security concerns, saying “northeast Syria must not pose a threat to Turkiye” while also warning that Islamic State (IS) group jihadists must not be allowed to regain a foothold in Syria.
“No one would be helped if the real winner of a conflict with the Kurds turned out to be the terrorists of IS: that would be a security threat for Syria, Turkiye and also for us in Europe.”
According to a foreign ministry source, Fidan told her the PKK and the YPG — the main force within the SDF — did not represent the Kurdish people.
“The view that the PKK/YPG represents the Kurds in Syria is wrong,” the source quoted him as saying, stressing Turkiye would never allow such “terrorist organizations to abuse the situation in Syria.”
“We expect all our allies to respect Turkiye’s security concerns,” he added.
Baerbock also said Berlin would judge Syria’s new Islamist-led HTS rulers on the basis of their actions amid concerns over the group’s Al-Qaeda origins.
“A radical Islamist order will only lead to new fragmentation, new oppression and therefore new violence,” she said.
“We will judge the new rulers by their actions.”
UN extends peacekeeping mission between Syria, Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
- Armed forces from Israel and Syria are not allowed in the demilitarized zone — a 400-square-km (155-square-mile) “Area of Separation” — under the ceasefire arrangement
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council on Friday extended a long-running peacekeeping mission between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights for six months and expressed concern that military activities in the area could escalate tensions.
Since a lightning rebel offensive ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this month, Israeli troops have moved into the demilitarised zone — created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war — that is patrolled by the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
Israeli officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders but have given no indication of when the troops might be withdrawn.
In the resolution adopted on Friday, the Security Council stressed “that both parties must abide by the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic and scrupulously observe the ceasefire.”
It expressed concern that “the ongoing military activities conducted by any actor in the area of separation continue to have the potential to escalate tensions between Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic, jeopardize the ceasefire between the two countries, and pose a risk to the local civilian population and United Nations personnel on the ground.”
Armed forces from Israel and Syria are not allowed in the demilitarized zone — a 400-square-km (155-square-mile) “Area of Separation” — under the ceasefire arrangement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday: “Let me be clear: There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than UN peacekeepers – period.” He also said Israeli airstrikes on Syria were violations of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and “must stop.”
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
- Authorities in Gaza say Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the population of 2.3 million
CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 25 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Friday, medics said, including at least eight in an apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp and at least 10, including seven children, in the town of Jabalia.
Mediators have yet to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas after more than a year of conflict.
Sources close to the discussions told Reuters on Thursday that Qatar and Egypt had been able to resolve some differences between the warring parties but sticking points remained.
Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says about 100 hostages are still being held, but it is unclear how many are alive.
Authorities in Gaza say Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the population of 2.3 million. Much of the coastal enclave is in ruins.
US says new Syria rulers helping in hunt for reporter Tice
- Tice was working for Agence France-Presse, McClatchy News, The Washington Post, CBS and other media outlets when he was detained at a checkpoint in August 2012
WASHINGTON: US officials said Friday that Syria’s new leaders had assisted in the hunt for missing journalist Austin Tice, with searches underway at sites of interest.
US diplomats, paying the first visit to Damascus since Islamist-led rebels toppled strongman Bashar Assad earlier this month, said they told the new Islamist-led authorities of their priority of finding Tice and other missing Americans.
“We feel it’s our duty as the US government to press on until we know with certainty what happened to him, where he is and to bring him home,” said Roger Carstens, the US pointman on hostages.
He said that he worked Friday with the new Syrian leadership to search a location where Tice could have been held.
“There are other locations that need to be searched in the coming days, weeks and months, and we’ll be working with the interim authorities,” Carstens told reporters after the trip.
Tice was working for Agence France-Presse, McClatchy News, The Washington Post, CBS and other media outlets when he was detained at a checkpoint in August 2012.
Carstens said that US teams were not yet authorized to operate in Syria but that he has reached out to non-governmental groups as well as journalists for assistance.
“The bottom line is that over 12 years, we’ve been able to pinpoint about six facilities that we believe have a high possibility of having had Austin Tice at one point or another,” he said.
Carstens said up to three more sites of interests have been added recently and that he hoped for thorough searches of all of them.
Tice’s mother Debra said earlier this month that she had information that her son was alive.
Carstens said that the United States was also seeking information about other Americans including Majd Kamalmaz, a Syrian-American psychotherapist believed to have died after being detained under the Assad government in 2017.
