Nine people were killed on Monday in Israeli strikes on villages in southern Lebanon, after Israel said it was taking aim at dozens of Hezbollah targets in retaliation for an attack claimed by the militant group amid a fragile ceasefire.
Both Israel and Hezbollah faced accusations of breaching the truce, which took effect on Wednesday last week to end a war that has killed thousands of people in Lebanon and sparked mass displacements on both sides of the border.
The Israeli military in a statement said that it “struck Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon.”
Photo: Reuters
“Israel demands that the relevant parties in Lebanon fulfill their responsibilities and prevent Hezbollah’s hostile activity,” the statement said.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the strikes killed five people and wounded two in the village of Haris “in an initial toll,” while in the village of Tallous, another four people were killed and one wounded.
Earlier, Hezbollah said that it had launched an attack targeting an Israeli position in “the occupied hills of Kfar Shouba,” in a disputed part of the border area between Israel and Lebanon.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched two projectiles toward one of its posts in the area of Har Dov, Israel’s term for the disputed Shebaa Farms.
After that attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of a “serious violation” and vowed to “respond forcefully.”
“We are determined to uphold the ceasefire and respond to any violation by Hezbollah, no matter how minor or serious,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz also vowed a “harsh response.”
Shortly afterward, the Israeli military said it was striking targets in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported strikes on areas of south Lebanon, where Hezbollah has long held sway, that are located about 20km from the border with Israel.
Israel has carried out a near-daily series of strikes in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire was put in place, and earlier on Monday Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri accused it of violating the truce.
“The aggressive actions carried out by Israeli occupation forces ... represent a flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement,” said Berri, who helped mediate the truce on behalf of ally Hezbollah.
The fighting escalated after Israel moved its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks, dealing the Iran-backed Shiite Muslim movement a series of stunning blows.
Also on Monday, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot told Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar in a telephone call of “the need for all sides to respect the ceasefire in Lebanon,” the Israeli ministry said.
Saar rejected accusations that Israel had violated the truce, claiming instead that his nation’s strikes were “enforcing” the ceasefire.
“We hear claims that Israel is violating the ceasefire understandings in Lebanon. On the contrary! Israel is enforcing them in response to Hezbollah’s violations, which demand immediate action,” Saar said in a statement.
He also said Hezbollah had attempted to move weapons in southern Lebanon and their presence “south of the Litani river is the most basic violation of the understandings.”
Under the deal, Hezbollah must withdraw its fighters from areas south of the river, and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south.
As part of the agreement, the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are to deploy in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS