Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town

A photo taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun, shows smoke rising from buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila during an Israeli army operation in the village on February 15, 2025. (AFP)
A photo taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun, shows smoke rising from buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila during an Israeli army operation in the village on February 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 16 February 2025
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Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town

A photo taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun, shows smoke rising from buildings in a southern Lebanese village
  • Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment
  • NNA said Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people”

BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said Israeli forces killed a woman in a southern border town on Sunday as residents sought to return home, two days ahead of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deadline.

Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment.

The official National News Agency (NNA) said that Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people.”

“Three citizens were kidnapped by Israeli forces in the town,” the NNA added, after earlier reporting that residents had entered by passing a Lebanese army checkpoint and “dirt barriers set up by the Israeli army.”

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah came into effect on November 27 after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.

Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period.

Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The withdrawal period was extended to February 18, after Israel missed the initial deadline.

Both sides have accused each other of violations.

When the initial ceasefire deadline expired in late January, Lebanese authorities said Israeli fire killed 26 people in two days as residents tried to return to border villages.

Lebanon’s army on X emphasized “the need for citizens not to head toward southern areas where the (Lebanese military) deployment has not been completed... in order to preserve their safety and avoid the death of innocent people.”

It pointed to “the danger of unexploded ordnance left by the Israeli enemy, as well as the possibility of the presence of enemy forces in those areas.”

This week, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X again warned people against heading south, noting that the Israeli army “is still deployed on the ground.”

On Saturday, the NNA said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south’s Lebanon’s Iqlim Al-Tuffah area killed two people. The Israeli army said it targeted a senior militant from Hezbollah’s aerial unit.

On Thursday, a senior Israeli security official said the military was prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory “within the timeline” set by the US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement.

The same day, Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said the United States had informed him that, while Israel would withdraw on February 18, “it will remain in five locations.”

Lebanese officials have rejected the demand.


Trump on Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire deal: will know in 24 hours

Trump on Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire deal: will know in 24 hours
Updated 56 min 47 sec ago
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Trump on Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire deal: will know in 24 hours

Trump on Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire deal: will know in 24 hours
  • Israel has earlier agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours how Palestinian militant group Hamas would respond to a proposal for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.

Trump announced the development as he prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House on Monday. The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.


Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’

Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’
Updated 04 July 2025
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Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’

Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’
  • Medical charity warns of new threat from escalation in fighting in Sudan civil war

KHARTOUM: Civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan face mass atrocities and ethnic violence in the civil war between the regular army and its paramilitary rivals, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned on Thursday.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have sought to consolidate their power in Darfur since losing control of the capital Khartoum in March. Their predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.

The paramilitaries have intensified attacks on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state which they have besieged since May 2024 in an effort to push the army out of its final stronghold in the region.

“People are not only caught in indiscriminate heavy fighting ... but also actively targeted by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies, notably on the basis of their ethnicity,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharite, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ head of emergencies. There were “threats of a full-blown assault,” on El-Fasher, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people largely cut off from food and water supplies and deprived of access to medical care, he said.


Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed
Updated 04 July 2025
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Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia moved on Thursday to reassure Egypt about its water supply after completing work on a controversial giant $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile.

“To our neighbors downstream, our message is clear: the dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

“The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia. We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water. Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is 1.8 km wide and 145 meters high, and is Africa's largest hydroelectric project. It can hold 74 billion cubic meters of water and generate more than 5,000 megawatts of power — more than double Ethiopia’s current output. It will begin full operations in September.

Egypt already suffers from severe water scarcity and sees the dam as an existential threat because the country relies on the Nile for 97 percent of its water. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met last week and “stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in the Blue Nile basin.” They were committed to safeguarding water security in the region, Sisi’s spokesman said.


Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says

Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says
Updated 03 July 2025
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Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says

Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says
  • The “Flight operations at the airport continued normally,” the Irbil airport authority said

IRBIL, Iraq: An explosive drone was shot down near Irbil airport in northern Iraq on Thursday, the Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement.

There were no casualties reported, according to two security sources.

The “Flight operations at the airport continued normally and the airport was not affected by any damage,” the Irbil airport authority said in a statement.

The incident only caused a temporary delay in the landing of one aircraft, the statement added.


Jordanian and Vatican officials discuss promotion of Petra as destination for Christian pilgrims

Jordanian and Vatican officials discuss promotion of Petra as destination for Christian pilgrims
Updated 03 July 2025
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Jordanian and Vatican officials discuss promotion of Petra as destination for Christian pilgrims

Jordanian and Vatican officials discuss promotion of Petra as destination for Christian pilgrims
  • They say there is a strategic opportunity to integrate the UNESCO World Heritage Site into routes for Christian travelers
  • Head of tourism authority says highlighting Petra’s significance to Christian heritage itineraries could enhance Jordan’s position on global religious tourism map

LONDON: Officials from Jordan and the Vatican met on Thursday to discuss ways in which they can cooperate to advance religious tourism, including the promotion of the ancient city of Petra as a destination for Christian pilgrims.

Fares Braizat, who chairs the board of commissioners of the Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority, said that highlighting the significance of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of Christian heritage itineraries could enhance Jordan’s position on the global religious tourism map.

The country has a number of important Christian sites, the most significant of which is the location on the eastern bank of the Jordan River where Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist. Several popes have visited it, including Francis and John Paul II.

Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, the Vatican’s ambassador to Jordan, confirmed the interest in collaborating with Jordanian authorities, and praised the nation’s stability and its rich historical and religious heritage.

Both officials acknowledged the strategic opportunity that exists to integrate Petra into pilgrimage routes for Christian travelers, the Jordan News Agency reported.

The Petra tourism authority recently lit up the Colosseum in Rome with the signature colors of the historic Jordanian site to celebrate a twinning agreement as part of a marketing strategy to attract European visitors, and to raise Petra’s profile globally as a premier cultural and spiritual tourism destination.

The Vatican itself is also a major tourism destination, for Christian pilgrims in particular. In 2025 it is expected to welcome between 30 and 35 million visitors during its latest Jubilee Year, a significant ecclesiastical event that takes place every 25 years.