BEIRUT: Hostilities on the southern Lebanese front decreased on Thursday as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah entered its 110th day.
The displacement of people from the border area played a significant role in reducing civilian casualties, especially after Israeli shelling began targeting homes in Lebanese villages.
At noon, an Israeli strike on the town of Bazouriye — 7 km east of the city of Tyre — targeted a house, injuring two people, one of them a woman.
An Israeli warplane, meanwhile, struck the home of Radwan Ataya in the town of Tayr Harfa during a funeral procession for the mother of a dead Hezbollah member. No one was inside the house, which has now been targeted four times since the start of hostilities.
The Israel Defense Forces violated the rules of engagement as a strike targeted Birket Jabbour in the Jezzine area, which is a highland located north of the Litani River, above the village of Kfar Houneh, outside UNIFIL’s area of operations and not subject to the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had previously spoken in September of “the presence of a Hezbollah military airport in the Birket Jabbour area.”
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation later confirmed that the IDF attacked Hezbollah positions, including a military landing strip 20 km north of Metula.
Northern Israeli settlements woke up to media stories, including in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, reporting “infiltration of three individuals from Lebanon,” prompting IDF personnel to rush to the area.
The IDF asked the residents of the Hanita settlement — on the border area with Lebanon — to barricade themselves in their homes.
Roads were closed and checkpoints set up in several border areas.
The Israeli military also declared a state of alert in nine settlements near the border with Lebanon.
Israeli Channel 13 said military helicopters carried out search operations over the Shlomi settlement while soldiers combed the border area.
In a brief statement issued later, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee denied any infiltration had occurred.
The IDF claimed that two drones crossed from Lebanese territory into Israel and landed in Kfar Blum with no casualties reported.
Hezbollah announced that it carried out an aerial attack with two dive bombers against an air defense system site and Iron Dome platforms near the Kfar Blum settlement, causing direct hits.
The outskirts of the Tayr Harfa, Alma Al-Shaab, and Dhahira villages were subject to concentrated artillery bombardment from early morning, following cautious calm in the western and central sectors the previous night.
At the same time, the IDF carried out a sweep operation in the surroundings of the Israeli Al-Hadeb military outpost using medium and heavy machine guns.
It also launched flares over the surrounding area and adjacent forests to protect it.
Hezbollah announced targeting Al-Radar outpost in the occupied Shebaa Farms area with missiles, causing direct hits.
Israeli reconnaissance planes continued to fly over southern Lebanon amid foggy and rainy weather.
Lebanon will likely experience a polar storm from the Black Sea on Friday, and snow is expected to fall in some areas.
Israel targets Hezbollah’s ‘landing strip north of Litani River’
https://arab.news/4msws
Israel targets Hezbollah’s ‘landing strip north of Litani River’
- Two civilians wounded in Israeli raid on house in southern Lebanon
- The Israel Defense Forces violated the rules of engagement as a strike targeted Birket Jabbour in the Jezzine area
Jordan condemns Israel’s seizure of planning powers at Ibrahimi Mosque
- Announcement on Wednesday by Israeli Civil Administration said it had transferred planning powers from Palestinian Authority-run Hebron Municipality to its own Supreme Planning Council
AMMAN: Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs on Friday strongly condemned Israel’s decision to revoke the planning and construction authorities of the Hebron Municipality at the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The ministry described the move as a blatant violation of international law and the historical and legal status quo at the holy site, JNA added.
The condemnation follows an announcement on Wednesday by the Israeli Civil Administration the body overseeing the occupied West Bank, that it had transferred planning powers from the Palestinian Authority-run Hebron Municipality to its own Supreme Planning Council.
The decision was accompanied by approval for a project to construct a roof over the mosque’s internal courtyard, a move that has drawn fierce Palestinian opposition.
The Hebron Municipality also condemned the Israeli decision, describing it as a “serious and illegal violation” and part of a systematic effort to alter the status quo at the mosque and weaken the authority of Palestinian institutions responsible for its management.
In a statement, the Jordanian ministry said Israel, as the occupying power, was acting unlawfully by unilaterally approving construction works at the Ibrahimi Mosque and stripping Palestinian authorities of their administrative powers, warning that the measures undermine the Islamic administration of the site.
The ministry’s official spokesperson, Fouad Al-Majali, affirmed Jordan’s “absolute rejection and severe condemnation” of Israel’s continued illegal unilateral measures in the occupied West Bank, most recently those targeting the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Al-Majali added that the actions constituted clear violations of international law and international humanitarian law, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, as well as relevant United Nations resolutions.
He also pointed to UNESCO’s 2017 decision to inscribe Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
He called on the international community to shoulder its “legal and moral responsibilities” by compelling Israel to halt its illegal measures in the occupied Palestinian territory, protect the cultural and religious heritage of the Ibrahimi Mosque, and preserve its outstanding universal value, which he said is under increasing threat due to Israeli actions.
Al-Majali further emphasized that achieving security and a just and comprehensive peace would remain impossible without fulfilling the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
