BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said Israeli forces killed a woman in a southern border town on Sunday as residents sought to return home, two days ahead of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deadline.
Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment.
The official National News Agency (NNA) said that Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people.”
“Three citizens were kidnapped by Israeli forces in the town,” the NNA added, after earlier reporting that residents had entered by passing a Lebanese army checkpoint and “dirt barriers set up by the Israeli army.”
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah came into effect on November 27 after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period.
Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
The withdrawal period was extended to February 18, after Israel missed the initial deadline.
Both sides have accused each other of violations.
When the initial ceasefire deadline expired in late January, Lebanese authorities said Israeli fire killed 26 people in two days as residents tried to return to border villages.
Lebanon’s army on X emphasized “the need for citizens not to head toward southern areas where the (Lebanese military) deployment has not been completed... in order to preserve their safety and avoid the death of innocent people.”
It pointed to “the danger of unexploded ordnance left by the Israeli enemy, as well as the possibility of the presence of enemy forces in those areas.”
This week, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X again warned people against heading south, noting that the Israeli army “is still deployed on the ground.”
On Saturday, the NNA said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south’s Lebanon’s Iqlim Al-Tuffah area killed two people. The Israeli army said it targeted a senior militant from Hezbollah’s aerial unit.
On Thursday, a senior Israeli security official said the military was prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory “within the timeline” set by the US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement.
The same day, Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said the United States had informed him that, while Israel would withdraw on February 18, “it will remain in five locations.”
Lebanese officials have rejected the demand.
Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town
https://arab.news/v27jf
Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town
- Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment
- NNA said Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people”
Libya holds funeral for military officials killed in plane crash
- Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah praises Gen. Mohammed Ali Ahmad Al-Haddad for organizing the military
TRIPOLI: Libya on Saturday held a military funeral for the military chief of western Libya and four of his officers who died in a plane crash in Turkiye.
The bodies arrived at Tripoli International Airport in caskets draped with Libyan flags and were carried in a funeral procession with soldiers holding their photographs.
The private jet with Gen. Mohammed Ali Ahmad Al-Haddad, four other military officers, and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Turkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said a technical malfunction on the plane caused the crash, but the investigation is still ongoing in coordination with Turkiye.
Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west.
Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s government governs the country from Tripoli, and Prime Minister Ossama Hammad’s administration governs the east.
Dbeibah praised Al-Haddad during a funeral speech for organizing the military “despite overwhelming darkness and outlaw groups.”
Al-Haddad played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, much like Libya’s institutions.
“Our martyrs weren’t just military leaders but also statesmen who were wise and disciplined and carried responsibility and believed that the national Libyan army is the country’s shield and ... that building institutions is the real path toward a stable and secure Libya,” Dbeibah said.
The burial will take place on Sunday in Misrata, about 200 km east of Tripoli, officials said.
The crash took place as the delegation was returning to Tripoli from Ankara, where it was holding defense talks aimed at boosting military cooperation.
A funeral ceremony was also held at Murted airfield base near Ankara, attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister.
Military chief Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu also accompanied the bodies on the plane to Libya, Turkish public broadcaster TRT reported.
Two French crew members of a Falcon 50 jet died in the crash, a French diplomatic source said.
The source did not identify the French crew members but said the French Foreign Ministry was in contact with their families and providing them with assistance.
The Dassault Falcon 50 is a French-made long-range business jet.
The one that went down was chartered by a Malta-based private company, Harmony Jets, which, according to its website, performs maintenance in Lyon, France.
Harmony Jets declined to give information about the nationalities or identities of the crew on its plane.
Airport Haber, a Turkish site specialized in aeronautical news, said the pilot and copilot were both French and cited a Greek newspaper report that a Greek cabin attendant had joined the company two months ago.
France’s BEA, which handles civil aviation investigations, said on X that it was participating in the probe into the crash launched by Turkiye.
Turkiye’s transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said the flight recorders would be analyzed in a “neutral” country.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said contact had been made with Germany to carry out that.
