Lebanon health ministry says woman dead in Israeli strikes

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 04 September 2024
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Lebanon health ministry says woman dead in Israeli strikes

  • It added that the strike wounded two other people, including a 12-year-old

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed a woman and wounded five other people in the country’s south on Wednesday, nearly 11 months since hostilities broke out between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed movement, has exchanged near daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces since Palestinian militants Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.

“Israeli enemy artillery fire targeting the locality of Qabrikha killed a woman and wounded two other people, including a 12-year-old,” the ministry said in a statement.

Three other people were wounded in an Israeli strike targeting the border locality of Hula, the ministry said.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that its air force had struck the Qabrikha region which Hezbollah had used to fire rockets at Israel during the past few days.

The military also said 65 projectiles were fired from Lebanon, and that it intercepted several of them, while others fell into open fields and started fires.

Hezbollah said it launched several attacks on Wednesday, including Katyusha rocket salvos on a barracks and artillery positions in two separate areas in Israel’s north.

The cross-border violence since October has killed some 610 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 135 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.


Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction

Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares. (AP)
Updated 02 January 2026
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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.