BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon’s health ministry said two people were killed and another wounded in two Israeli strikes on the country’s south Saturday, the latest attacks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
In a statement, the ministry attributed the death to an “Israeli enemy strike on a car in Haruf, Nabatiyeh district.”
The ministry then reported another Israeli strike on a motorcycle in Qlaileh, Tyre district, which killed one person.
The Israeli military said it had killed Zayn Al-Abidin Hussein Fatouni, alleging he was “a commander in the anti-tank unit of the Radwan Force Battalion” of Hezbollah.
According to the army’s statement, Fatouni “was involved in efforts to re-establish Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
The military did not immediately comment on the attack on Qlaileh.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has intensified its attacks over the past week, killing two people in two separate strikes on vehicles Friday.
The military said it had killed a Hezbollah “logistics commander” in the first strike and a member “who was involved in efforts to reestablish Hezbollah’s military capabilities” in the second.
A series of Israeli raids Thursday on southern and eastern Lebanon killed four people, including an elderly woman, with the military saying its targets included a weapons depot, a training camp and military infrastructure.
Last week, a United Nations special rapporteur told AFP that deadly Israeli strikes on ostensibly civilian vehicles in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, despite Israel’s assertion they targeted Hezbollah members.
As part of last year’s ceasefire deal, Israeli troops were to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle any military infrastructure in the south.
Under US pressure and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan the movement and its allies oppose.
Despite the terms of the truce, Israel has kept troops deployed in five border points it deems strategic.
Lebanon says two killed in Israeli strikes on south
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Lebanon says two killed in Israeli strikes on south
- The ministry attributed the death to an “Israeli enemy strike on a car in Haruf, Nabatiyeh district“
- The Israeli military said it had killed Zayn Al-Abidin Hussein Fatouni, alleging he was “a commander in the anti-tank unit of the Radwan Force Battalion” of Hezbollah
Three brothers arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo
- The brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and police were investigating the motive
- While none of the brother were previously known to police, Hatlo said investigators were not ruling out links to “criminal networks“
OSLO: Norwegian police said Wednesday three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo, which caused minor damage but no injuries.
Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.
“We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity,” Hatlo said.
“This is quite natural given the target — the US embassy — and the security situation the world is in today,” he said.
Hatlo said the investigation would seek to clarify exactly what roles the brothers, who were in their 20s, had played.
“We believe that one of them is the person who placed the bomb outside the embassy and that the other two were complicit in the act,” Hatlo told reporters.
Oystein Storrvik, a lawyer for one of the suspects, told broadcaster TV 2 that his client had admitted “to being involved in the case.”
“He admits that he placed the bomb there,” Storrvik told the broadcaster.
Storrvik added that his client had been questioned by police.
“He has explained what happened, and I have no further comments at this time,” he said.
- ‘Proxy actors’ -
While none of the brother were previously known to police, Hatlo said investigators were not ruling out links to “criminal networks.”
In its annual threat assessment, Norwegian security service PST said last month that Iran, which it considers one of the main threats to the country, could rely on “proxy actors,” including “criminal networks,” to commit acts.
On Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador in Oslo denied any involvement by his country in the embassy explosion.
“It is unacceptable that we are being singled out,” Alireza Jahangiri told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.
According to police, the perpetrators of the bombing, described as “powerful,” may also have acted out of their own motives.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East due to American strikes on Iran. Several have faced attacks as Tehran responds by targeting industrial and diplomatic facilities.
The blast took place at around 1:00 am (0000 GMT) on Sunday at the entrance to the embassy’s consular section.
On Monday, two images were released from surveillance camera footage showing a suspect dressed in dark clothing with a hood over his head and wearing a backpack.
Roughly at the time the incident occurred, a video had been uploaded to the Google Maps page for the US embassy.
The video, which has since been taken down, appeared to show Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli strikes in Iran.
According to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, the person who uploaded the video wrote in Persian: “God is great. We are victorious.”
Police have also opened an investigation into this.
