SIDON: An Israeli airstrike hit two vehicles near a Lebanese army checkpoint in south Lebanon on Sunday, killing a Hezbollah member and wounding several other people, including civilians, Lebanese state media and health officials reported.
The strike appeared to be part of a shift in Israeli strategy toward targeted killings in Lebanon after more than three months of near-daily clashes with Hezbollah militants on the border against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah announced that one of its members, identified as Fadel Shaar, had been killed in the strike in the town of Kafra. Local civil defense and hospital officials said seven people were wounded, including two women, one of whom was in critical condition.
Video from the scene showed a passenger sedan in flames next to a small truck stopped in the middle of the road.
The Israeli military did not comment on the strike.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah forces have engaged in near-daily clashes with Israeli troops along the border.
While the clashes had previously been limited mainly to a narrow strip within a few kilometers (miles) from the border, Israel in recent weeks appears to have moved to a strategy of targeted killings of figures from Hezbollah and allied groups, sometimes hitting in areas relatively far from the border, as was the case in Sunday’s strike.
On Saturday, another strike near the Lebanese port city of Tyre killed two people in a car — one of them a Hezbollah commander — and two people in a nearby orchard. The commander, Ali Hudruj, was buried Sunday in south Lebanon. The other occupant of the car, tech sector businessman Mohammad Baqir Diab, was identified as a civilian and was buried in Beirut on Sunday.
On Jan. 2, a presumed Israeli airstrike killed a top Hamas official, Saleh Arouri, in a suburb of Beirut, the first such strike in Lebanon’s capital since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brutal one-month war in 2006.
Speaking at Hudruj’s funeral Sunday, Hezbollah Member of Parliament Hussein Jeshi said Israel had “resorted to the method of assassinating some members of the resistance" to compensate for being unable to reach a military victory against Hamas after more than 100 days of war in Gaza.
The Lebanese militant group said in a statement later Sunday that it had launched an attack against the town of Avivim in northern Israel in retaliation for a civilian woman killed in the Israeli strike in Kafra and for other “attacks that targeted Lebanese villages and civilians.”
It later modified the statement to remove the reference to the civilian death after hospital officials and family members said the woman was still alive.
Israel did not comment on the strike in Kafra but announced it had struck Hezbollah targets in several locations in Lebanon on Sunday. It later said that an anti-tank missile had hit a house in Avivim and no injuries were reported.
With dangers of a regional conflict flaring on multiple fronts, officials from the United States and Europe have engaged in a flurry of shuttle diplomacy in recent weeks between Israel and Lebanon, attempting to head off an escalation of the conflict into a full-on war on the Lebanese front.
Strike kills Hezbollah official in Lebanon, amid apparent Israeli shift to targeted killings
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Strike kills Hezbollah official in Lebanon, amid apparent Israeli shift to targeted killings
- Hezbollah announced that one of its members, identified as Fadel Shaar, had been killed in the strike in the town of Kafra
Pope urges Middle East Christians not to abandon homelands
“Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence. Please, let us strive for this!” he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches at the Vatican.
The pope also offered on Wednesday to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail.”
“The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace. The peoples of our world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!” he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches.
Trump meets new Syria leader after lifting sanctions
- Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups
- Trump said he agreed to meet with Al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Donald Trump became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader on Wednesday after he offered sanctions relief in hopes of offering a new path to the war-battered country.
Trump, in Riyadh on the first state visit of his second term, met with Ahmed Al-Sharaa, an erstwhile Islamist guerrilla turned interim president after the December of longtime strongman Bashar Assad.
The two held brief talks ahead of a larger gathering of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia during Trump’s tour of the region, a White House official said.
No US president has met a Syrian leader since Bill Clinton saw Hafez Assad, Bashar’s father, in Geneva in 2000 in a failed effort to persuade him to make peace with Israel.
Trump announced on Tuesday that he was lifting “brutal and crippling” Assad-era sanctions on Syria in response to demands from Sharaa’s allies in Turkiye and Saudi Arabia — in his latest step out of tune with US ally Israel.
Trump said it was Syrians’ “time to shine” and that easing sinctions would “give them a chance at greatness.”
Syrians celebrated the news, with dozens of men, women and children gathering in Damascus’s Umayyad Square.
“My joy is great. This decision will definitely affect the entire country positively. Construction will return, the displaced will return, and prices will go down,” said Huda Qassar, a 33-year-old English-language teacher.
The Syrian foreign ministry called Trump’s decision a “pivotal turning point” that would help bring stability.
The United States imposed sweeping restrictions on financial transactions with Syria during the brutal civil war and made clear it would use sanctions to punish anyone involved in reconstruction so long as Assad remained in power without accountability for atrocities.
Trump gave no indication that the United States would remove Syria from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism — a designation dating back to 1979 over support to Palestinian militants that severely impedes investment.
Other Western powers including the European Union have already moved to lift sanctions but the United States had earlier held firm on conditions.
A senior envoy of the Joe Biden administration met Sharaa in Damascus in December and called for commitments, including on the protection of minorities.
In recent weeks, Syria has seen a series of bloody attacks on minority groups, including Alawites — the sect of the largely secular Assad family — and the Druze.
Israel has kept up a bombing campaign against Syria both before and after the fall of Assad, with Israel pessimistic about change under Sharaa and hoping to degrade the military capacity of its longtime adversary.
Rabha Seif Allam of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo said that the easing of US sanctions would allow Syria to reintegrate with the global economy, including by allowing bank transfers from investors and some of the millions of Syrians who fled during the civil war.
“Lifting sanctions will give Syria a real opportunity to receive the funding needed to revive the economy, impose central state authority and launch reconstruction projects with clear Gulf support,” she said.
Israel warns Yemenis to avoid ports after intercepting missile
- A missile fired by the group struck the airport in early May, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and wounding several people
- The Israeli military issued a warning on Sunday for Yemenis to leave three Houthi-controlled ports,
JERUSALEM: Israel’s army on Wednesday urged Yemenis to stay away from Houthi-held ports, in a likely warning of retaliation after it intercepted a missile fired by the Iran-backed rebels.
The Houthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, have repeatedly targeted Israel and shipping in the Red Sea since the October 2023 start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted,” said the Israeli military.
AFP correspondents in Jerusalem heard explosions, likely from the interception of the missile.
The Houthis, who control large swathes of the Arabian Peninsula country, claimed responsibility for launching the missile in what they said was their third attack on Israel in less than 24 hours.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said they targeted Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s main gateway near Tel Aviv, using what they called “a hypersonic ballistic missile.”
The Israeli military later warned Yemenis to stay away from three Houthi-held sea ports.
“Due to the use of sea ports by the terrorist Houthi regime... we urge all people present in these ports to evacuate and stay away from them for your safety until further notice,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, mentioning the Yemeni ports of Hodeida, Ras Issa and Salif.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, said the missile threat from Yemen was disrupting daily life.
“While we handle this press conference, there are sirens in Jerusalem and the center of Israel after missiles from the Houthis in Yemen,” he said.
“Millions of Israelis are now running for shelter, and it happens during the time that all the children go to schools or to kindergartens, and this is daily life under these attacks.”
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it intercepted another missile with which the Houthis claimed they targeted Ben Gurion.
Last month, a missile fired by the Iran-backed group struck the grounds of the airport, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and wounding several people, in a rare penetration of Israel’s air defenses.
Israel retaliated against the Houthis by striking the airport in Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital Sanaa and three nearby power stations.
The Israeli military had issued a warning on Sunday for Yemenis to leave three Houthi-controlled ports, but no strikes have been reported since.
The Houthis paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire in the Gaza war, but in March threatened to renew them over Israel’s aid blockade on Gaza.
US President Donald Trump, currently in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a tour of the Gulf, last week announced the Houthis had agreed to halt attacks on shipping.
The United States began carrying out strikes against the Houthis in early 2024 under president Joe Biden, and Trump’s administration launched renewed attacks on the rebels in March.
The Pentagon said on April 30 that US strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider.”
UK and 4 other European nations urge Israel to lift Gaza aid blockade, warn against annexation
- Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia tell UN Security Council the obstruction of aid deliveries, in its 3rd month, is ‘unacceptable’ with famine looming
- ‘Blocking aid as a “pressure lever” is unacceptable. Palestinian civilians, including children, face starvation,’ they warn
NEW YORK CITY: The UK and four other European countries on Tuesday called on Israeli authorities to immediately lift their blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza. They said the continuing restrictions are placing millions of Palestinian civilians at risk of starvation, and undermining prospects for peace.
In a joint statement delivered at the UN, Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia said the Israeli government’s ongoing obstruction of aid deliveries, now entering its third month, was “unacceptable” and risked compounding what UN agencies have warned is a looming famine.
“Blocking aid as a ‘pressure lever’ is unacceptable,” the nations said. “Palestinian civilians, including children, face starvation … Without an urgent lifting of the aid block, more Palestinians are at risk of dying; deaths that could easily be avoided.”
The nations, which had called an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the situation in Gaza, also warned that any Israeli move to seize parts of the territory would breach international law and increase instability in the region.
“Any attempt by Israel to annex land in Gaza would be unacceptable and violate international law,” they said. “Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.”
The intervention followed the recent approval by the Israeli Security Cabinet of plans to expand military operations in Gaza, a move the European countries said would only add to Palestinian suffering while doing little to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas.
“We strongly oppose both these actions,” they added, referring to the blockade and the expansion of military activity. “They do nothing to serve the long-term interests of peace and security in the region, nor to secure the safe return of the hostages.”
The governments of the five countries welcomed the release on Monday of Edan Alexander, an Israeli American hostage held by Hamas since the attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but reiterated their demands for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining captives.
“Their suffering must end,” they said. “Hamas must have no future role in Gaza or be in a position to threaten Israel.”
The five nations also expressed concern about Israeli proposals for a new aid-delivery mechanism in Gaza that the UN warns would fail to meet established humanitarian principles.
“Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool or military tactic,” the countries warned. “Any model for distributing humanitarian aid must be independent, impartial and neutral, and in line with international law.”
They said international humanitarian law places an obligation on Israel to allow “safe, rapid and unimpeded” access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, adding: “Gaza is not an exception.”
The nations also condemned recent attacks on humanitarian workers, including the killing of representatives of the Palestinian Red Crescent and a military strike on a UN compound on March 19, which they described as “outrageous.”
“At least 418 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began,” they said. “That is at least 418 too many.”
The countries urged Israel authorities to complete their investigation into the incident at the UN compound, publish the findings and “take concrete action to ensure this can never happen again.”
They repeated previous calls for an immediate ceasefire agreement, the release of all hostages, and renewed efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the wider conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. They backed plans by France and Saudi Arabia to host an international conference on this issue in New York next month.
“This is the only way to achieve long-term peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis,” the countries said.
WHO warns of permanent impact of hunger on a generation of Gazans
GENEVA: Malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza, emergency treatments to counter it are running out and hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation,” a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.
Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, and a global hunger monitor on Monday warned that half a million people there faced starvation.
WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 percent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.
“What we see is an increasing trend in generalized acute malnutrition,” Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir Al-Balah. “I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.”
“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected,” he said, warning of stunting and impaired cognitive development.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency Philippe Lazzarini told the BBC that he thought Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war.
The WHO criticized it in a statement late on Monday as “grossly inadequate” to meet the population’s immediate needs.
Due to the blockade, WHO only has enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, which is only a fraction of what is needed, Peeperkorn said.
Already, 55 children have died of acute malnutrition, he said.
