BEIRUT: Lebanon said Thursday that Israeli strikes killed six people in the country’s south, with Israel saying it struck Hezbollah operatives.
The strikes were the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on south Lebanon, despite a November ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah after more than a year of hostilities.
The Lebanese health ministry said “two people were killed in an enemy strike on the village of Baraashit” in Nabatieh district.
Earlier the ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike on a car in Yohmor Al-Shaqeef led to the death of three people,” in a statement reported by the National News Agency.
The news agency said a drone targeted a vehicle near the town, in a strike that came at the same time as artillery shelling.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several Hezbollah terrorists were identified transferring weapons in the area of Yohmor in southern Lebanon,” adding that the army “struck the terrorists.”
NNA also reported that “one person was killed and another wounded in the Israeli drone targeting... of a car in the (southern) town Maaroub.”
The Israeli military said that overnight, the air force “struck and eliminated... a battalion commander” in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in the Derdghaiya area, near Maaroub.
It accused him of having “advanced and directed numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians” and troops during the war, and of also directing “terror attacks against Israel’s Home Front” in recent months.
Israel has continued to carry out raids in Lebanon since the November 27 ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the truce agreement.
Last weekend saw the most intense escalation since the truce, with Israeli strikes in the south killing eight people, according to Lebanese officials.
Israel’s raids were in response to rocket fire, the first to hit its territory since the ceasefire.
No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said originated north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun.
Hezbollah, heavily weakened by the war, denied involvement.
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel was to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but still holds five positions in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.
Lebanon says Israel strikes kill six people
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Lebanon says Israel strikes kill six people
- The Lebanese health ministry said “two people were killed in an enemy strike on the village of Baraashit” in Nabatieh district
- Earlier the ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike on a car in Yohmor Al-Shaqeef led to the death of three people“
Hundreds flee to government-held areas in north Syria ahead of possible offensive
- Many of the civilians who fled used side roads to reach government-held areas
- Men, women and children arrived in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes
DEIR HAFER, Syria: Scores of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria on Friday ahead a possible attack by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters east of the city of Aleppo.
Many of the civilians who fled used side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked with barriers at a checkpoint that previously was controlled by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, Associated Press journalists observed.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. The announcement appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo.
There were limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Men, women and children arrived in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
In other areas, people crossed canals on small boats and crossed a heavily damaged pedestrian bridge to reach the side held by government forces.
The SDF closed the main highway but about 4,000 people were still able to reach government-held areas on other roads, Syrian state TV reported.
A US military convoy arrived in Deir Hafer in the early afternoon but it was not immediately clear whether those personnel will remain. The US has good relations with both sides and has urged calm.
Inside Deir Hafer, many shops were closed and people stayed home.
“When I saw people leaving I came here,” said Umm Talal, who arrived in the government-held area with her husband and children. She added that the road appeared safe and her husband plans to return to their home.
Abu Mohammed said he came from the town of Maskana after hearing the government had opened a safe corridor, “only to be surprised when we arrived at Deir Hafer and found it closed.”
SDF fighters were preventing people from crossing through Syria’s main east-west highway and forcing them to take a side road, he said.
The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo, previously Syria’s largest city and commercial center, that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from three neighborhoods north of the city that were then taken over by government forces.
The fighting broke out as negotiations stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached in March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.
The US special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, posted on X Friday that Washington remains in close contact with all parties in Syria, “working around the clock to lower the temperature, prevent escalation, and return to integration talks between the Syrian government and the SDF.”
The SDF for years has been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Daesh group, but Turkiye considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkiye.
