BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanese state media said Tuesday that Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of the village of Khiam, their deepest incursion yet into south Lebanon in a ground operation launched last month.
The official National News Agency reported the entry of “a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army” into the eastern outskirts of Khiam, some six kilometers (nearly four miles) from the border with Israel.
Hezbollah said it destroyed two tanks using guided missiles and targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam with rockets and artillery.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli forces carried out a series of air attacks on Khiam later on Tuesday and launched a large-scale sweep “using heavy and medium weaponry.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah, which named deputy chief Naim Qassem as its new leader on Tuesday, has been battling Israeli forces in Lebanese border villages since the ground invasion began on September 30.
According to an AFP count based on Lebanese health ministry figures, 1,754 people have been killed nationwide since intensive Israeli strikes on Lebanon began.
Hezbollah claims that Israeli forces are yet to assert full control over any village in Lebanon, weeks into the invasion, amid repeated operations to repel Israeli attempts at infiltration.
The large town of Khiam holds symbolic significance.
It was home to a notorious prison run by the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli proxy militia, during Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon.
Israeli troops withdrew from the region in 2000 after 22 years.
Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion
https://arab.news/mypev
Israeli tanks enter Khiam outskirts in deep south Lebanon incursion
- NNA reported the entry of ‘a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army’ into the eastern outskirts of Khiam
- Hezbollah said it destroyed two tanks using guided missiles and targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam
UN, aid groups warn Gaza operations at risk from Israel impediments
- Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations and aid groups warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a “vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized” registration process.
Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days, said the UN and more than 200 local and international aid groups in a joint statement.
“The deregistration of INGOs (international aid groups) in Gaza will have a catastrophic impact on access to essential and basic services,” the statement read.
“INGOs run or support the majority of field hospitals, primary health care centers, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centers for children with acute malnutrition, and critical mine action activities,” it said.
SUPPLIES LEFT OUT OF REACH: GROUPS
While some international aid groups have been registered under the system that was introduced in March, “the ongoing re-registration process and other arbitrary hindrances to humanitarian operations have left millions of dollars’ worth of essential supplies — including food, medical items, hygiene materials, and shelter assistance — stuck outside of Gaza and unable to reach people in need,” the statement read.
Israel’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement. Under the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas began on October 10. Hamas released hostages, Israel freed detained Palestinians and more aid began flowing into the enclave where a global hunger monitor said in August famine had taken hold.
However, Hamas says fewer aid trucks are entering Gaza than was agreed. Aid agencies say there is far less aid than required, and that Israel is blocking many necessary items from coming in. Israel denies that and says it is abiding by its obligations under the truce.
“The UN will not be able to compensate for the collapse of INGOs’ operations if they are de-registered, and the humanitarian response cannot be replaced by alternative actors operating outside established humanitarian principles,” the statement by the UN and aid groups said.
The statement stressed “humanitarian access is not optional, conditional or political,” adding: “Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay.”
