Tag: lebanon

Israel warns Hezbollah – beware what happened to Hamas: Minister says Israel does NOT want a war in the north but if the Iran-backed militia force one ‘it will pay a very heavy price’ after rocket fired from Lebanon kills Israeli

Israel has warned Hezbollah it would pay a ‘very heavy price’ if the Iranian-backed movement enters the ongoing conflict.

The Israeli government said today it was willing to fight a war on two or more fronts as it issued a stark warning to its northern neighbour to stay out of the clashes taking place between it and Hamas.

The country’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the Jewish state did not want a war with Lebanon and was prepared to show restraint despite shooting from both sides taking place at the border which has claimed the life of at least one Israeli so far.

It comes Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza following last week’s raids by Hamas which are confirmed to have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers. It has confirmed that at least 155 people have also been taken hostage by the terrorist organisation.

Military leaders had warned the people of Gaza City, which is close to the border with Israel, that they should evacuate ahead of a planned ground offensive into the Palestinian territory. Officials have said at least 600,000 have done so so far. 

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Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon

Israel’s use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question and answer document on white phosphorus. Human Rights Watch verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border, and interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza.

White phosphorus, which can be used either for marking, signaling, and obscuring, or as a weapon to set fires that burn people and objects, has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk.

“Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians.”

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US to build regional CIA hub in Lebanon, report says

The US is working on building a new regional hub for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Lebanon, within a huge embassy complex with an area of 93,000 square meters on a 27-hectares (about 64 acres) site in the capital, Beirut, intelligence sources reported yesterday.

The complex, which is estimated to cost $1 billion, will also include an arts centre, a hospital, a swimming pool, residential towers and a data collection centre, according to the French Intelligence Online website.

The sources added that the US intelligence sees Lebanon as a safe and strategic location for the deployment of intelligence agents.

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Why the US & Israel are preventing aid from reaching one of the poorest countries in the Middle East

Despite the recent signing of a historic maritime border agreement, tensions continue to remain high, with both Israel and the United States attempting to force Lebanon into compliance with their regional agenda.

Although Israeli and Lebanese leaders signed letters of intent earlier this month ending their long-standing maritime border dispute and averting a major escalation in their ongoing conflict, the two sides still remain technically at war. Beirut refuses to recognise the Israeli state, maintaining the stance that first the Palestine issue must be resolved, as Israel maintains control over the Shebaa Farms area which Lebanon claims to be its territory.

Last week, drone strikes were reported to have killed up to 25 people after targeting a fuel aid convoy that had just passed the Al-Qaim crossing into Syria from Iraq. There are conflicting reports on who actually carried out the attack, with both Israel and the United States accused of having been behind it. The US military instantly distanced themselves from the incident, by denying they had carried out any strikes, whilst the Israeli government refused to comment and is now widely assumed to be culpable. According to Iraqi authorities, the fuel trucks, numbering 22 according to Iranian state-media, were approved for heading out of the country and seemed to be part of Iran’s new agreement with Lebanon to provide free fuel.

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