Israeli strikes trigger ‘earthquake fears’ in Lebanese border region

UNIFIL vehicles patrol the Marjayoun area in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
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Updated 26 October 2024
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Israeli strikes trigger ‘earthquake fears’ in Lebanese border region

  • Hezbollah drone strike targets Israeli airbase, rocket salvo hits intelligence base in Safed
  • UNIFIL confirms it will remain in all its locations, monitoring, submitting reports

BEIRUT: The Israeli army is continuing its aggressive operations, causing devastation in the Lebanese border region.

Israeli booby-traps were found on Saturday while explosions were heard in Odaisseh and Rab Al-Thalathine.

The attacks sent tremors through neighboring towns, causing residents to believe an earthquake had struck.

The sound of explosions could be heard in Marjayoun and Nabatieh.

Activists on social media shared images showing a great strip of explosions, fire, and smoke caused by explosions along the border in the eastern sector.

The extent of the destruction in the border region remains unclear as access to the affected area presents a challenge following Israel’s complete displacement of residents and the prohibition of entry due to military action.

The Israeli army said that “the explosions in the north are a result of our forces’ operations in southern Lebanon,” adding that “there is no fear of a security incident.”

Israeli sources added: “Authorities confirm that there was no earthquake in the Galilee, but rather explosions from the army in southern Lebanon activated the seismic monitoring devices.”

Clashes were continuing as the 13th relief plane operated by the Saudi aid agency KSrelief arrived at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport on Saturday, carrying essential humanitarian supplies including food and medical aid.

Officials said the initiative reflected “the humanitarian role of Saudi Arabia in supporting the Lebanese people during various crises and hardships.”

A month has passed since the expansion of Israel’s war against Lebanon under the pretext of pushing back the Iran-backed Hezbollah north of the Litani River and returning Israeli settlers to their homes.

The Israeli army claimed that it had “found a tunnel underground and raided houses used as Hezbollah weapon and ammunition depots.”

Political analyst Ali Al-Amin told Arab News: “The Israeli army’s land incursion focuses on Hezbollah’s tunnels, and the nature of the explosions proves so.

“The Israeli army had previously bombed buildings in Mhaibib, and we did not witness such tremors because the operations were above ground.”

He added: “The Israeli incursion depends on its costs. If the cost is high, it will stop. There’s also the time factor.

“It is obvious that the Israeli incursion went beyond Aita Al-Shaab, for instance, and reached other towns across from Aita Al-Shaab.

“It seems as if the Israeli army is imposing an implicit blockade on the towns where the incursion was difficult, so it can return later after it depletes Hezbollah’s power, especially since the militant group’s supplies had been cut off.”

Al-Amin pointed out that “the Israeli army had previously occupied southern Lebanon in the 1970s and 80s without destroying towns and displacing its residents in advance, which means that the Israeli army seeks a fully burned land and a burned border strip in which all of Hezbollah’s infrastructure is destroyed.”

He added: “So far there are no opportunities for an agreement, settlement, or de-escalation.

“I think that the decision-making in Lebanon is largely in the hands of Israel, with certain red lines established by the US, particularly concerning the airport and the capital Beirut.”

Israeli airstrikes in the southern region on Saturday resulted in the deaths of several civilians in the Sidon district.

Five members of the Abouria family, including women and children, were killed in an attack on the town of Tuffahata in the Sidon district.

A paramedic was killed and 12 others injured in an airstrike on a health center in Al-Bazourieh, while two brothers from the Hamada family were killed after their home in the town of Al-Duwair was targeted by an airstrike, and a raid on Al-Shaitiya resulted in the deaths of three people.

Raids also targeted residences in the towns of Kfar Remen, Mayfadoun, Burj Al-Shamali in the Tyre district, Tayr Debba, Ansar, Mount Al-Rayhan Heights, Bissariyeh, Ansar, Bedias, and the city of Nabatieh, where several targets were hit including the Nabatieh Vocational School building where displaced families were taking refuge.

Phosphorus artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of the towns of Halta and Wadi Khansa, and ignited fires in the Majdal Zone and Chamaa, while Yahmar Al-Shaqif was targeted by internationally prohibited cluster bombs.

Up to Friday night in the Baalbek-Hermel region and central Bekaa, the total number of strikes had reached 961 and resulted in the deaths of 427 people and injuries to 988 others.

Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched a drone attack on Israel’s Tel Nof Airbase south of Tel Aviv and targeted an intelligence base in northern Safed with rockets.

Its statement said it had targeted “the Kiryat Shmona settlement and an Israeli military gathering in the vicinity of Aita Al-Shaab.”

The group also targeted a military assembly in the Masharifa area in Ras Al-Naqoura and a gathering of soldiers in Shlomi.

Explosions and airstrikes targeting residential areas in the populated towns of the southern region, as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, were accompanied by the release of odors following each bombardment.

Warnings regarding these gasses have been disseminated through social media alerts by individuals who experienced the events.

Israeli airstrikes on Friday targeted Haret Hreik, Burj Al-Barajneh, and the vicinity of Al-Laylaki in the southern suburbs of Beirut and followed an Israeli warning to evacuate buildings.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that “sites (used) for the production of weaponry and the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut were targeted.”

Meanwhile, Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, confirmed on Saturday that units of the peacekeeping force were remaining in their positions south of the Litani River.

He said that peacekeeping soldiers were continuing their primary mission of monitoring the situation on the ground and reporting on developments, despite facing challenges.

He added: “When we say we are in our locations, we mean every one of these sites.”

UNIFIL on Friday announced that its soldiers had “withdrawn, two days ago, from an observation post in the border town of Dhahira in the western sector to avoid injury after the Israeli army deliberately fired upon it while peacekeeping soldiers were observing Israeli army soldiers carrying out clearing operations in nearby homes.”


Israel vows ‘significant force’ if Syria govt fails to protect Druze

Updated 7 sec ago
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Israel vows ‘significant force’ if Syria govt fails to protect Druze

JERUSALEM: Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday that Israel will respond forcefully if Syria’s Islamist-led government fails to protect the Druze minority, after two days of deadly sectarian clashes near Damascus.
“Should the attacks on the Druze resume and the Syrian regime fail to prevent them, Israel will respond with significant force,” Katz said in a statement.
Israel has ramped up its support for Syria’s Druze in recent days, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday urging the international community to “fulfil its role in protecting the minorities in Syria — especially the Druze — from the regime and its gangs of terror.”
At least 101 people have been killed in two days of sectarian clashes near Syria’s capital, most of them Druze fighters, a war monitor said in an updated toll on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Israel carried out a strike against what it called an “extremist group” preparing to attack members of the Druze community near Damascus.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike on the town of Sahnaya sent a “stern message” to Syria’s new government.
Israel’s armed forces chief later ordered the military to prepare to strike Syrian government targets if the Druze community faced more violence.
Israel’s military said two injured Druze Syrians were evacuated from Syria on Thursday for treatment in Israel, after announcing Wednesday that three had been evacuated.
It did not specify how or where they had been injured.
In its statement on Thursday, it said they were taken for treatment to the town of Safed in northern Israel “after sustaining injuries in Syrian territory.”
“The IDF (military) is deployed in southern Syria and is prepared to prevent the entry of hostile forces into the area of Druze villages,” it added.

Weekend round of nuclear talks between US and Iran postponed

Updated 10 min 29 sec ago
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Weekend round of nuclear talks between US and Iran postponed

  • Message online from Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X

DUBAI: Planned negotiations between Iran and the United States this weekend over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program have been postponed, Oman announced Thursday.
A message online from Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X.
“For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd,” he wrote. “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”
Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei issued a statement describing the talks as being “postponed at the request of Oman’s foreign minister.” He said Iran remain committed to reaching ”a fair and lasting agreement.”
Meanwhile, a person familiar with the US negotiators said that America “had never confirmed its participation” in a fourth round of talks in Rome. However, the person said the US expected the talks to occur “in the near future.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.
Rome soon will see the Vatican begin the conclave on Wednesday to pick a new pope after the death of Pope Francis. Two other rounds of talks have been held in Muscat, the capital of Oman.
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing in on a half-century of enmity. The negotiations have been led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers did limit Tehran’s program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the US continues an airstrike campaign, called “Operation Rough Rider,” that has been targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who long have been backed by Iran. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth early Thursday warned Iran over the rebels.
“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” he wrote. “You know very well what the US Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”
Last Saturday’s round of talks, which included experts drilling down into the details of a possible deal, also took place as an explosion rocked an Iranian port, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 1,000 others.


Israeli settlers perform ‘epic prostration’ after storming Al-Aqsa Mosque

Updated 01 May 2025
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Israeli settlers perform ‘epic prostration’ after storming Al-Aqsa Mosque

  • Israeli settlers regularly tour Al-Aqsa under the protection of Israeli police
  • 13,064 settlers entered the site in the first quarter of 2025

LONDON: Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, conducting a provocative tour in front of Palestinian worshippers.

Settlers regularly tour the site under the protection of Israeli police and are often accompanied by government officials and far-right ministers.

On Thursday, they performed Talmudic rituals in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque, chanting loudly in the presence of Palestinian worshippers, eyewitnesses told the Wafa news agency.

Some settlers performed the Talmudic ritual known as “epic prostration,” in which the worshipper bows low to the ground in a display of humility and reverence, while others raised Israeli flags.

In April, thousands of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa compound to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover. In the same month, several Arab countries condemned a video generated by artificial intelligence that depicted the destruction of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques, which was attributed to Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem governorate reported that 13,064 settlers visited the site in the first quarter of 2025.


Devastated father wonders why an Israeli strike killed his 4-year-old daughter

Updated 01 May 2025
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Devastated father wonders why an Israeli strike killed his 4-year-old daughter

  • That afternoon, an Israeli strike hit a tent on the side of the road, killing Massa and some of the other children
  • “She had a ball on her lap with a doll in her hand. Will she fight them with her football or doll?” her father said

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Massa Abed, 4, brought a rubber ball and her doll to play with friends on the street near her family’s home on Sunday. It was a mundane day in Zawaida, the central Gaza town where the Abeds returned weeks ago, with calm largely restored in the area.
But that afternoon, an Israeli strike hit a tent on the side of the road, killing Massa and some of the other children.
Her older brother, 16, grabbed Massa’s little body and rushed to the hospital on a donkey cart. When she was pronounced dead, he wailed, holding her.
Days later, Massa’s father, Samy Abed, turned the green ball in his hand, describing the incident to The Associated Press.
“She had a ball on her lap with a doll in her hand. Will she fight them with her football or doll?” he said. “She’s 4 years old. What can she do? She can’t even carry a rock.”
The Israeli army did not respond to requests for comment on the strike, and it remains unclear why the area — near the city of Deir Al-Balah — was struck or who was targeted. Israeli officials have often blamed Hamas for civilian casualties, saying the Palestinian militant group regularly operates from residential areas and hospitals and accusing it using civilians as human shields.
Since Israel resumed attacksmore than a month ago, at least 809 children have been killed, said Zaher Al-Wahidi, a spokesperson with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Overall, the ministry says, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, in October 2023. Ministry officials do not differentiate between civilians and militant deaths but say that more than half the dead have been women and children. Israel says it has killed over 20,000 militants, without providing details on those deaths.
On March 18, a surprise Israeli bombardment shattered a six-week ceasefire mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt; hundreds of Palestinians were killed. Mediation efforts to restore the ceasefire have faltered, and Israel has vowed more devastation if Hamas doesn’t release the remaining hostages kidnapped in its rampage on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
That Hamas attack killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others. Israel says 59 hostages remain in captivity, at least 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza, not allowing food, medicine, or assistance to enter the strip. The United Nations World Food Program said its stockpiles that it used to feed over 600,000 people daily are empty. Israel says the blockade’s aim is to increase pressure on Hamas to release the rest of the hostages and to disarm.
At the hospital where Massa’s brother brought her, bodies of her young playmates lay nearby — a reminder, relatives said, of children in danger as attacks continue.
Massa had the confidence and bubbly personality of a teenager, socializing and conversing with everyone, her father said as he scrolled through photos and videos where she played and posed for the cameras.
He soon turned to photos of her body at the hospital.
“We see her when we’re asleep. When we wake up, we remember her,” he said.
Majdi Abed, Massa’s uncle, says he has regular visions of her. “I was sitting right here at 7 a.m., and I felt the girl coming toward me,” he said, describing how he frequently bursts into tears upon realizing it’s not really Massa.
The family still expects her to show up at their breakfast table.
But, her father said, “her spot is empty.”


Omani, Iraqi foreign ministers hold talks in Muscat

Updated 01 May 2025
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Omani, Iraqi foreign ministers hold talks in Muscat

  • Discussion focused on achieving greater benefits for the people of Oman and Iraq

LONDON: Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al-Busaidi discussed regional and international developments with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Muscat on Thursday.

The ministers highlighted the need for continued coordination to enhance regional security, stability and peace through dialogue, diplomacy and respect for sovereignty and international law.

They also talked about securing common interests and achieving greater benefits for the people of Oman and Iraq.

Qais Saad Al-Amri, the Iraqi ambassador to Oman, and other senior officials attended the meeting.