BEIRUT: Tensions flared on Lebanon’s southern border on Thursday, with both Hezbollah and the Israeli army launching strikes on houses and military targets.
Israeli artillery shelled Lebanese border villages, targeting houses and industrial facilities in Yaroun, Odaisseh, Aita Al-Shaab and Marwahin.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar Channel said that missiles were launched at houses sheltering Israeli soldiers in the Metula settlement.
A 36-year-old member of the Amal Movement, Mohammed Ali Moussa Komayha from Kfarsir village, was killed on Wednesday night in an Israeli raid on a house in Qantara, Marjayoun.
Komayha was the first Lebanese casualty since the start of Ramadan.
At least 12 members of the Amal Movement have been killed in the conflict.
Israeli shelling also struck Dhahira village.
An Israeli army spokesperson said that the raid targeted a Hezbollah military building in the village.
However, civil defense teams took several civilians to hospitals in Tyre after they complained of breathing difficulties following the attack.
Correspondents reported that the missiles in Israeli strikes were now causing “skin rashes, shortness of breath and suffocation due to air pollution during and after the bombing in areas surrounding the target.”
The Israeli army organized a tour for Israeli journalists to the settlements of Metula and Kiryat Shmona on the other side of the border.
Photos of damaged buildings and burnt-out cars spread on Thursday, while Lebanese media personnel were unable to reach the Lebanese border area due to the Israeli bombardment.
In October 2023, Reuters photojournalist Issam Abdallah was killed, and six other journalists were seriously injured while covering the events in the border area.
Also on Thursday, the Israeli army announced “the deployment of a new military brigade on the Lebanese-Syrian border, based on an assessment of the situation and as part of the operational response to the situation on the border.”
According to Israeli media, the Mountains Brigade is part of the 210th division, with Col. Liron Appleman named as its commander.
The brigade specializes in combat in difficult terrain and mountainous areas, and will be tasked with protecting the Mount Hermon and the Shebaa Farms region, an area disputed between Lebanon and Syria with Israel.
Zion Ratzon, commanding officer of the 210th Division, said: “The establishment of the brigade will provide a high-quality operational response, and enable preparation for both defensive and offensive measures in a variety of scenarios that correspond to the terrain of the enemy area in the region, on both the Lebanese and Syrian fronts.”
Russian forces operating in Syria have set up a new observation post in the western plains of the western Quneitra area.
This comes “in the framework of reducing tensions in the region between groups affiliated with Hezbollah and Israel,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
There are now 11 Russian observation posts in the area near the occupied Syrian Golan, according to the observatory.
On the political level, Hezbollah reiterated, in the words of Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a member of its Central Council, that it was closely monitoring the areas of confrontation and not the arenas of negotiations.
People taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after Israeli raids in southern Lebanon
https://arab.news/6td8b
People taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after Israeli raids in southern Lebanon
- Hezbollah’s Al-Manar Channel said that missiles were launched at houses sheltering Israeli soldiers in the Metula settlement
- At least 12 members of the Amal Movement have been killed in the conflict
Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction
- Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
