Page 5 - Lebanon

Israeli strikes kill at least 12 Lebanese rescuers, 15 people in Syria

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 Lebanese rescue workers on Thursday inside a civil defence centre in the eastern city of Baalbek, according to health and rescue officials, hours after state media in Syria said Israeli strikes in and around the capital killed at least 15 people. Lebanese emergency workers were digging through the rubble Thursday evening to search for more of their colleagues still trapped under the destroyed rescue centre, the group said in a statement. At least three civil defence members were wounded. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Lebanon's civil defence forces have no affiliation with the militant group Hezbollah, and they provide crucial rescue and medical services in one of the world's most war-torn nations. The Health Ministry condemned what it called a "barbaric attack on a Lebanese state-run health centre", adding that it is the second Israeli attack on a health emergency facility in less than two hours. In southern Lebano

Children from Gaza brought to heal wounds now caught in Lebanon conflict

When Zarifa Nawfal's family arrived in Beirut for her wounded daughter's surgery, one of the first things she wanted to do was go to the sea. The Mediterranean had been a constant companion at their home in Gaza before the war. The moment I smelled the sea, I felt at peace inside as if I were in Gaza, she said. But soon their place of refuge reminded her of home in far more distressing ways. Nawfal's 7-year-old daughter, Halima Abou Yassine, is one of a dozen severely wounded Palestinian children brought to Lebanon this year for treatment through a program launched by a British-Palestinian surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta. But months after their arrival, Lebanon is itself embroiled in a war some fear will end in Gaza-like destruction. In February, Nawfal was staying with her five children and her mother in an apartment in central Gaza. They had been displaced from their home in the north and Nawfal's husband was missing, likely dead. The children were filling water containers outs

Israel begins construction along UN-patrolled demilitarised zone in Syria

Israel has begun a construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, apparently laying asphalt for a road right along the frontier, satellite photos analysed by The Associated Press show. Israeli troops have entered the demilitarised zone during the work, the United Nations confirmed to the AP, a violation of the cease-fire rules governing the area. The work, which earlier satellite photos show began in earnest in late September, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip's frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where United Nations peacekeepers have come under fire. So far, there has been no major violence along the Alpha Line, which delineates the demilitarised zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied territory that UN peacekeepers have patrolled since 1974. Syria, which has been at war wit

Lebanon: Traumatised by war, children facing physical and emotional scars

Curled up in his father's lap, clinging to his chest, Hussein Mikdad cried his heart out. The 4-year-old kicked his doctor with his intact foot and pushed him away with the arm that was not in a cast. My Dad! My Dad!" Hussein said. "Make him leave me alone! With eyes tearing up in relief and pain, the father reassured his son and pulled him closer. Hussein and his father, Hassan, are the only survivors of their family after an Israeli airstrike last month on their Beirut neighbourhood. The strike killed 18 people, including his mother, three siblings and six relatives. Can he now shower? the father asked the doctor. Ten days after surgery, doctors examining Hussein's wounds said the boy is healing properly. He has rods in his fractured right thigh and stitches that assembled his torn tendons back in place on the right arm. The pain has subsided, and Hussein should be able to walk again in two months albeit with a lingering limp. A prognosis for Hussein's invisible wounds is much .

Netanyahu admits Israel's role in Hezbollah pager, walkie-talkie attacks

The attacks, carried out on September 17 and 18, targeted thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria

Dubai Humanitarian mobilises relief aid for displaced people in Lebanon

The mission aims to ensure swift and organised distribution of aid to distressed communities in Lebanon as the approaching winter heightens the need for accelerating humanitarian interventions

Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon, Gaza; Netanyahu, Trump speak

Israeli strikes killed dozens of people including children on Sunday in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the US election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday's election and they see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components. Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday. The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah has a major presence. There was no Israeli evacuation warning. There was no immediate Israeli comment. Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza, in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated, and a series of escalati

Refugees don't want to return to Syria, Lebanon sees exodus as opportunity

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians refugees have returned to their country since Israel launched a massive aerial bombardment on wide swathes of Lebanon in September. Many who fled to Lebanon after the war in Syria started in 2011 did not want to go back. But for officials in Lebanon, the influx of returnees comes as a silver lining to the war between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced some 1.2 million in Lebanon. Some in Syria hope the returning refugees could lead to more international assistance and relief from western sanctions. 'I wasn't thinking at all about returning' Nisreen al-Abed returned to her northwest Syrian hometown in October after 12 years as a refugee in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The airstrikes had been terrifying, but what really worried her was that her 8-year-old twin daughters need regular transfusions to treat a rare blood disorder, thalassemia. I was afraid that in Lebanon, in this situation, I wouldn't be able to get bloo

Large airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs as Israel expands north Gaza operations

Several large airstrikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs early Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon's only international airport. The Israeli military had issued an evacuation notice for the site, saying there were Hezbollah facilities there, without giving more details. Also Thursday, the Israeli military announced it expanded its month-old ground operation in northern Gaza to include part of Beit Lahiya, a town that has been heavily bombed since the earliest days of the war, where Israel says Hamas militants have regrouped. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a speech aired Wednesday that the Lebanese militant group is open for cease-fire negotiations only once the enemy stops its aggression. His speech marked the 40-day mourning period since former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut. Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,000

Red Cross launches international emergency appeal urging aid for Lebanon

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Tuesday launched an international emergency appeal asking donors to provide resources for Lebanon during the Israel-Hezbollah war. IFRC also called on all parties to protect paramedics in the conflict that has left thousands of people dead and wounded, many of them over the past six weeks. Jagan Chapagain, the secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told The Associated Press in Beirut that needs are just growing so fast. He met with officials and toured shelters housing people displaced by the conflict. The IFRC said its emergency appeal for 100 million Swiss Francs (USD 115.8 million) is aimed at helping Lebanon and the Lebanese Red Cross through the ongoing conflict. The 13-month war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 3,000 people, wounded over 13,000 in Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of the displaced are staying in shelters around the small ..

Netanyahu visits Lebanon border, vows to push Hezbollah beyond Litani River

Netanyahu's visit to the Lebanese border included an assessment with the commanders regarding the operational picture

Israel's path of destruction in Lebanon raises fears of buffer zone

Perched on a hilltop a short walk from the Israeli border, the tiny southern Lebanese village of Ramyah has almost been wiped off the map. In a neighbouring village, satellite photos show a similar scene: a hill once covered with houses, now reduced to a gray smear of rubble. Israeli warplanes and ground forces have blasted a trail of destruction through southern Lebanon the past month. The aim, Israel says, is to debilitate the Hezbollah militant group, push it away from the border and end more than a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel. Even United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanese troops in the south have come under fire from Israeli forces, raising questions over whether they can remain in place. More than 1 million people have fled bombardment, emptying much of the south. Some experts say Israel may be aiming to create a depopulated buffer zone, a strategy it has already deployed along its border with Gaza. Some conditions for such a zone appear already in place, ...

Israel pummels Gaza, Lebanon, killing dozens in latest waves of airstrikes

Israel launched waves of deadly airstrikes across Lebanon and Gaza that killed at least 24 people in Lebanon's northeast on Friday, according to the state-run National News Agency, and transformed once-bustling neighbourhood blocks in Beirut into smoldering ruins. Meanwhile in central Gaza, Palestinians recovered the bodies of 25 people killed in a barrage of Israeli attacks that began Thursday, hospital officials said. Israel said it targeted Hamas infrastructure near the Nuseirat refugee camp. The latest violence comes against the backdrop of the Biden administration's renewed diplomatic push days before the US election to reach temporary cease-fire deals. Israel has stepped up its war against Hamas' remaining fighters in Gaza, pulverizing areas in the north and raising fears of worsening humanitarian conditions for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still there. Israel has broadened its strikes in Lebanon to bigger urban hubs in recent weeks after initially targeted smalle

Israeli strikes kill 25 persons in central Gaza, 13 people in Lebanon

The death toll from Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip rose to 25, including five children, as more bodies were recovered, while officials said that 13 people were killed in airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday. Sixteen people had initially been reported killed in two strikes on Thursday on the Gaza Strip's central Nuseirat refugee camp, but officials from the Al-Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in. Overall, the hospital said they had received 21 dead from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been brought the day before. One of the strikes killed an 18-month-old and his 10-year-old sister the children's mother was missing as of Friday while the father was killed by an Israeli airstrike four months ago, the family told The Associated Press at Aqsa hospital. Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al-Balah on Friday killed four more people, the hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25. Th

Middle East: Israel pounds Beirut suburb Dahiyeh with airstrikes overnight

Israel's air force pounded Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh overnight, destroying dozens of buildings in several neighbourhoods, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Friday. There was no immediate word on casualties. Recently, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the northeastern city of Baalbek and nearby villages, as well as different parts of southern Lebanon. International mediators are ramping up efforts to halt the wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, circulating new proposals to wind down the regional conflict. Lebanon's Heath Ministry said more than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 wounded since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets almost daily into Israel, drawing retaliation. The death toll from more than a year of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has passed 43,000, Palestinian officials reported this week, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants. The war began after Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7,

Rocket fire from Lebanon kills 7 in Israel amid US push for ceasefires

Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border strikes in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel kept up airstrikes it says targeted Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, where health authorities on Thursday reported 24 people killed. U.S. diplomats were in the region pushing for cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East as the Biden administration enters its final months. Pressure has been building ahead of the U.S. election next week. In northern Gaza, Israeli forces struck one of the last functioning hospitals, according to the World Heath Organization said, destroying much-needed supplies that the U.N. agency had delivered to the facility. The strikes set off a fire that affected the dialysis unit, destroyed water tanks, damaged the surgery building and injured four medics trying to extinguish the blaze, said the hospital's ...

Rocket fire from Lebanon on Israel kills 5, including 4 foreign workers

Rocket fire from Lebanon killed five people in northern Israel on Thursday, including four foreign workers, in the deadliest such attack since Israel's invasion earlier this month. The attack came as senior US diplomats were in the region to push for cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East in the Biden administration's final months. The Hezbollah militant group has been firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel, and drawing retaliatory strikes, since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of the Gaza Strip triggered the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies backed by Iran. The conflict along the border escalated into a full-blown war last month, when Israel launched a wave of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his deputies. Israeli ground forces pushed into Lebanon at the start of October. The Metula regional council reported Thursday's attack, without detailing the number or ty

Top US officials to visit Mideast for talks on Gaza, Lebanon amid tensions

During a press briefing, the Press Secretary said that White House officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, along with other top officials, would be travelling to address various matters

War with Israel to continue for proper cease-fire terms: Hezbollah's Kassem

Hezbollah's newly named leader Naim Kassem said in his first public comments aired Wednesday that the militant group will keep fighting in its ongoing war with Israel until it is offered cease-fire terms it deems acceptable. "If the Israelis decide to stop the aggression, we say that we accept, but according to the conditions that we see as suitable," Kassem said, speaking from an undisclosed location in a pre-recorded televised address. "We will not beg for a cease fire as we will continue (fighting)... no matter how long it takes." The speech came as international mediators have launched a new push for negotiated cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza. More than 2,790 people have been killed and 12,700 wounded in Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel, drawing retaliation, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The conflict escalated sharply last month and Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon at the beginning of October. Some 1.2 million .

Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem - the new face of Hezbollah after Nasrallah?

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant labels Sheikh Naim Qassem's appointment a 'temporary' measure while predicting his term would not last