Tension prevailed across southern Lebanon on Sunday in the wake of a stoning attack by followers of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah that left 14 UN peacekeepers injured.
Problems started on Saturday afternoon when a UN Interim Force in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) team, accompanied by a Lebanese army patrol, tried to enter the village of Khirbit Selim to search a house for a suspected ammunition depot, a villager who requested anonymity said.
As the joint force tried to enter the village, some 100 villagers believed to be loyal to Hezbollah started to throw stones, slightly injuring 14 peacekeepers — three Italians and 11 French, the villager told a reporter from the German Press Agency DPA.
The Voice of Lebanon radio broadcaster reported that Khirbit Selim residents smashed the windows of two UN vehicles as the French peacekeepers tried to inspect the house.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency also reported that residents blocked main roads with burning tires after engaging in fistfights with the peacekeepers and throwing stones at them to protest the patrol’s attempt to raid the house.
INVESTIGATION
The house was near the site last Tuesday’s explosion of a suspected Hezbollah weapons storage facility.
The UN and the Lebanese army have launched an investigation into the explosion. Hezbollah has so far refused comment on the incident.
Shiite clergy loyal to Hezbollah in Tyre issued a press statement strongly denouncing the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon and accusing the international force’s presence in south Lebanon of working for “Israel’s benefit and not Lebanon’s.”
The Lebanese army issued a statement on Sunday expressing regret for Saturday’s incident and reaffirmed its commitment to “work closely with UNIFIL on implementing UNSC 1701,” the UN Resolution that ended a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon.
A Lebanese security source described the attack by residents as “very serious,” as it is considered an attempt to stop an investigation near the site of a recent explosion.
Yasmina Bouziane, UNIFIL spokeswoman, told DPA that peacekeepers had to fire warning shots to clear the way.
Bouziane said the incident took place only 1km from the blast site. She said tensions were easing on Sunday, but that the investigation was ongoing.
GOOD RELATIONS
The number of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon was boosted to 13,300 members after the 2006 war. Almost 1,200 people, mostly Lebanese civilians, died in the war.
Relations between UN forces and Hezbollah and its allies have been largely good since the deployment of UNIFIL.
However, Hezbollah has refused to hand over its weapons, claiming that its arsenal is needed to protect Lebanon from any Israeli attack.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
RSS