Ƶ

UNIFIL patrols continue in southern Lebanon to ‘calm the situation’

Special UNIFIL patrols continue in southern Lebanon to ‘calm the situation’
1 / 2
UNIFIL soldiers in Klayaa, southern Lebanon, Mar. 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Special UNIFIL patrols continue in southern Lebanon to ‘calm the situation’
2 / 2
UNIFIL vehicles are driven along the main road leading to Lebanon’s southern town of Naqura, close to the border with Israel, Oct. 27, 2022. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 03 April 2024

UNIFIL patrols continue in southern Lebanon to ‘calm the situation’

UNIFIL patrols continue in southern Lebanon to ‘calm the situation’
  • Israeli army fires phosphorus shells at town of Aita Al-Shaab 
  • Two UNIFIL vehicles were targeted, on Saturday, near the border town of Rmeish

BEIRUT: Peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon are present on the ground in the south of the country “despite the escalation in tensions” between Israel and Hezbollah, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said on Wednesday.  

He added that UNIFIL continues “to carry out its activities, including patrols, and continues its main work with the parties to calm the situation and reduce tensions in the region.”  

On Tuesday UNIFIL declared that its patrols in southern Lebanon would cease temporarily. 

The decision was made while the international forces’ command investigated an incident on Saturday in which two vehicles carrying four officers were targeted in a valley near the border town of Rmeish. 

The officers, who were from Australia, Switzerland, Norway and Chile, along with a Lebanese translator, suffered injuries, some of which were serious. Lebanon accused Israel of the attack. 

While UNIFIL said it was “still in the process of collecting evidence,” reports from Lebanon’s media on Wednesday suggested that a field investigation by the Lebanese Army indicated that the explosion was caused by an anti-personnel device, and not an Israeli drone bombing as previously thought. 

The investigation showed that “the package is a leftover of the Israeli enemy, as the entire area is full of enemy remnants as a result of the recent Israeli aggression.” 

Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper that is close to Hezbollah, reported the news citing an “informed source,” but did not explain how the device exploded. 

It said that “there was also a mine 15 meters (49 feet, 2 inches) away from the site of the explosion,” and pointed out that the UNIFIL patrol “did not inform the Lebanese Army of its intention to conduct a patrol within the framework of coordination between them.” 

Israel has accused Hezbollah of causing the explosion. 

Avichay Adraee, an Israeli army spokesperson, announced on X that “according to the information available to the (army),” the incident was caused by the detonation of an explosive device. “The device had previously been planted by Hezbollah in this area.” 

Hezbollah carried out military attacks on Israeli army bases on Wednesday. 

They claimed in a statement to have “targeted the Al-Rahib site and a group of Israeli soldiers nearby using missile weapons. This was in response to Israeli attacks on civilian homes, including the recent incident in the southern border town of Yarin where a woman named Alia Abdel Karim was injured during an Israeli raid.” 

Hezbollah also targeted “a new command center located in the Pranit barracks.” 

The Israeli media said: “A number of rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward an Israeli army position in Har Dov.” 

Heavy Israeli artillery fire targeting southern towns resumed, hitting the outskirts of Naqoura, Jabal Al-Labouneh, Alma Al-Shaab, Al-Dhahira, and valleys near Shehin and Tayr Harfa. 

The bombing was accompanied by reconnaissance aircraft flying over Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts, while warplanes attacked the villages of Hebbariye and Kfar Hamam in the Arqoub area. 

The Israeli army also said that it “fired 60 phosphorus shells, 20 heavy artillery shells, and 20 (other) shells directly at the town of Aita Al-Shaab and attacked Ramyah with five phosphorus shells.” 

Hezbollah, meanwhile, was mourning one of its members, Hassan Ibrahim Alloul, who was from the town of Saskikiyah in southern Lebanon. Alloul died in a bombing attack on the town of Blida.

Battleground: Jerusalem
The biblical battle for the Holy City

Enter


keywords

Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role

Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role
Updated 15 November 2024

Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role

Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role
  • National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized for interfering in police matters

JERUSALEM, Nov 14 : Israel’s Attorney General told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reevaluate the tenure of his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his apparent interference in police matters, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
The news channel published a copy of a letter written by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in which she described instances of “illegitimate interventions” in which Ben-Gvir, who is tasked with setting general policy, gave operational instructions that threaten the police’s apolitical status.
“The concern is that the government’s silence will be interpreted as support for the minister’s behavior,” the letter said.
Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Ben-Gvir, who heads a small ultra-nationalist party in Netanyahu’s coalition, wrote on social media after the letter was published: “The attempted coup by (the Attorney General) has begun. The only dismissal that needs to happen is that of the Attorney General.”


Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem

Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem
Updated 15 November 2024

Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem

Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem
  • Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities

LONDON: Israeli forces demolished the office of the Palestinian Al-Bustan Association in occupied East Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Silwan, whose residents are under threat of Israeli eviction orders. 

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Culture condemned on Thursday the demolition of Al-Bustan by Israeli bulldozers and a military police force. 

The ministry said that “(Israeli) occupation’s arrogant practices against cultural and community institutions in Palestine, and specifically in Jerusalem, are targeting the Palestinian identity, in an attempt to obliterate it.” 

Founded in 2004, the Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities alongside hosting meetings for diplomatic delegations and Western journalists who came to learn about controversial Israeli policies in the area. 

Al-Bustan said in a statement that it served 1,500 people in Silwan, most of them children, who enrolled in educational, cultural and artistic workshops. In addition to the Al-Bustan office, Israeli forces also demolished a home in the neighborhood belonging to the Al-Qadi family. 

Located less than a mile from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s southern ancient wall, Silwan has a population of 65,000 Palestinians, some of them under threat of Israeli eviction orders.  

In past years, Israeli authorities have been carrying out archaeological digging under Palestinian homes in Silwan, resulting in damage to these buildings, in search of the three-millennial “City of David.” 


Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters

Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters
Updated 14 November 2024

Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters

Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters
  • Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack

CAIRO: An Israeli strike killed 12 people after it hit a civil defense center in Lebanon’s city of Baalbek on Thursday, the regional governor told Reuters adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack on the Lebanese city, health ministry reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lebanese civil defense official Samir Chakia said: “The Civil Defense Center in Baalbek has been targeted, five Civil Defense rescuers were killed.”
Bachir Khodr the regional governor said more than 20 rescuers had been at the facility at the time of the strike.


‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret

‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret
Updated 14 November 2024

‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret

‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret
  • Workers complete reconstruction of 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque
  • Tower and mosque were blown by Daesh extremists in 2017

High above the narrow streets and low-rise buildings of Mosul’s old city, beaming workers hoist an Iraqi flag into the sky atop one of the nation’s most famous symbols of resilience.

Perched precariously on scaffolding in high-vis jackets and hard hats, the workers celebrate a milestone in Iraq’s recovery from the traumatic destruction and bloodshed that once engulfed the city.

On Wednesday, the workers placed the last brick that marked the completed reconstruction of the 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque. The landmark was destroyed by Daesh in June 2017 shortly before Iraqi forces drove the extremist group from the city.

Known as Al-Hadba, or “the hunchback,” the 45-meter-tall minaret, which famously leant to one side, dominated the Mosul skyline for centuries. The tower has been painstakingly rebuilt as part of a UNESCO project, matching the traditional stone and brick masonry and incorporating the famous lean.

“Today UNESCO celebrates a landmark achievement,” the UN cultural agency’s Iraq office said. “The completion of the shaft of the Al-Hadba Minaret marks a new milestone in the revival of the city, with and for the people of Mosul. 

“UNESCO is grateful for the incredible teamwork that made this vision a reality. Together, we’ve created a powerful symbol of resilience, a true testament to international cooperation. Thank you to everyone involved in this journey.”

The restoration of the mosque is part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul project, which includes the rebuilding of two churches and other historic sites. The UAE donated $50 million to the project and UNESCO said that the overall Al-Nuri Mosque complex restoration will be finished by the end of the year.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay celebrated the completion of the minaret by posting “We did it!” on social media site X.

She thanked donors, national and local authorities in Iraq and the experts and professionals, “many of whom are Moslawis,” who worked to rebuild the minaret.

“Can’t wait to return to Mosul to celebrate the full completion of our work,” she said.

The Al-Nuri mosque was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Seljuk ruler Nur Al-Din. 

After Daesh seized control of large parts of Iraq in 2014, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of its so-called caliphate from inside the mosque.

Three years later, the extremists detonated explosives to destroy the mosque and minaret as Iraqi forces battled to expel them from the city. Thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting and much of Mosul was left in ruins.


US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources

US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources
Updated 14 November 2024

US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources

US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources
  • The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Hezbollah

BEIRUT: The US ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal to Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri on Thursday to halt fighting between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, two political sources told Reuters, without revealing details.
The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, but efforts have yet to yield a result. Israel launched a stepped-up air and ground campaign in late September after cross-border clashes in parallel with the Gaza war.