BEIRUT: A Lebanese soldier was among three people killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in the country’s south, the army said Tuesday, denying Israeli claims that he was also a Hezbollah operative.
Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group, which it accuses of rearming.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Monday’s strike on a vehicle was carried out by an Israeli drone around 10 kilometers (six miles) from the southern coastal city of Sidon and “killed three people who were inside.”
The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that Sergeant Major Ali Abdullah had been killed the previous day “in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a car he was in” near the city of Sidon.
The Israeli army said it had killed three Hezbollah operatives in the strike, adding in a statement on Tuesday that “one of the terrorists eliminated during the strike simultaneously served in the Lebanese intelligence unit.”
A Lebanese army official told AFP it was “not true” that the soldier was a Hezbollah member, calling Israel’s claim “a pretext” to justify the attack.
Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, starting with the south.
The Lebanese army plans to complete the group’s disarmament south of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel — by year’s end.
The latest strike came after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on Friday took part in a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee for a second time, after holding their first direct talks in decades earlier this month.
The committee comprises representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
More than 340 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry reports.
Lebanese soldier among those killed in Monday Israeli strike: army
https://arab.news/wevup
Lebanese soldier among those killed in Monday Israeli strike: army
- A Lebanese soldier was among three people killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in the country’s south
Arab and Islamic states reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
- Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” on Friday
- Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity of Somalia
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The statement described the recognition as an unprecedented and flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations, which uphold the principles of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, JNA added.
Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region’s leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.
The ministers reaffirmed their full support for the sovereignty of Somalia, rejecting any measures that would undermine its unity or territorial integrity.
They warned that recognizing the independence of parts of states sets a dangerous precedent and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
The statement also reiterated categorical opposition to any attempt to link the move with plans to displace the Palestinian people outside their land, stressing that such proposals are rejected “in form and substance.”
Alongside the Jordanian foreign ministry, the joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, as well as the OIC.
Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Somalia, and expressed its rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between Israel and Somaliland.
