BEIRUT: Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed four people on Monday including a Lebanese security forces member and his child, hours after the Israeli army seized a member of Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya.
Israel frequently strikes Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire aimed at ending more than a year of hostilities with militant group Hezbollah.
On Monday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on the village of Yanuh in the south killed three people.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted Ahmad Ali Salameh, who it alleged was Hezbollah’s head of artillery and had been working to restore the group’s capabilities.
In addition to Salameh, the strike killed a member of Lebanon’s security forces and his three-year-old child, who were passing by, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
The Israeli military said the incident was “under review” after it was made “aware of the claim that uninvolved civilians were killed.”
Later on Monday, the health ministry reported that Israeli gunfire killed one person in the border village of Aita Al-Shaab, with the Israeli military saying it killed a Hezbollah member.
It alleged he was “gathering intelligence on (Israeli) troops and operated to rehabilitate Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
In addition to recurring attacks, the Israeli army still has troops deployed on five border positions in Lebanon it deems strategic.
Monday’s incidents come hours after the Jamaa Islamiya group, an ally of Palestinian militants Hamas, accused Israel of seizing one of its officials, Atwi Atwi, from his home in the Hasbaya district, south Lebanon, and taking him to an unknown location.
The group, which has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against Israel during the war with Hezbollah, condemned “the Israeli occupation forces’ infiltration.”
The Israeli military said that it “apprehended a senior terrorist” in the group who was then “transferred for further questioning in Israeli territory.”
Atwi’s capture came hours after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam completed a two-day visit to the south, which suffered extensive damage during the conflict with Hezbollah, with thousands displaced.
Salam in a statement condemned Atwi’s “abduction,” calling it a “blatant attack on Lebanese sovereignty, a violation of the ceasefire agreement and “a breach of international law.”
Hezbollah meanwhile called on the state to “take deterrent measures and firm and clear positions, and to act immediately at all political, diplomatic and legal levels, and to work seriously to protect citizens.”
Lebanon accuses Israel of having abducted several other citizens since the start of the hostilities.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan said last month that Israel was holding “20 Lebanese prisoners,” alleging 10 had been abducted “inside Lebanese territory after the ceasefire.”
Lebanon says Israel must release these detainees and withdraw from the border positions it retains, in addition to halting air strikes on Lebanon.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill four, including security officer and child
https://arab.news/54zqh
Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill four, including security officer and child
- Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli strike on village of Yanuh in the south killed three people
- Israeli gunfire also killed one person in the border village of Aita Al-Shaab
Israel police to deploy around Al-Aqsa for Ramadan, Palestinians report curbs
- The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Monday that they would deploy in force around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing restrictions at the compound.
Over the course of the month of fasting and prayer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed.
Arad Braverman, a senior Jerusalem police officer, said forces would be deployed “day and night” across the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the surrounding area.
He said thousands of police would also be on duty for Friday prayers, which draw the largest crowds of Muslim worshippers.
Braverman said police had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.
He did not say whether age limits would apply, adding that the final number of people would be decided by the government.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a separate statement it had been informed that permits would again be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50, mirroring last year’s criteria.
It said Israeli authorities had blocked the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian?run body administering the site — from carrying out routine preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.
A Waqf source confirmed the restrictions and said 33 of its employees had been barred from entering the compound in the week before Ramadan.
The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint.
Under long?standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound — which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD — but they are not permitted to pray there.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Braverman reiterated Monday that no changes were planned.
In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far?right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.
