Sonic booms heard over Beirut as Israeli raids on Lebanon continue

Special Sonic booms heard over Beirut as Israeli raids on Lebanon continue
Residents check a destroyed vehicle in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike near Lebanon’s southern village of Jmaijmeh amid ongoing cross-border clashes. (AFP)
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Updated 23 July 2024
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Sonic booms heard over Beirut as Israeli raids on Lebanon continue

Sonic booms heard over Beirut as Israeli raids on Lebanon continue
  • Lebanon expects extension of UNIFIL mandate for another year, PM says
  • Mikati: ‘No one can guarantee Israel’s intentions’

BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut, Sidon and other parts of Lebanon on Monday.

The planes conducted mock raids over the Hasbaya area and the occupied Shebaa Farms, reaching as far as Bekaa.

Although hostile operations on the southern front have significantly decreased, sporadic strikes continue.

One Israeli air raid targeted a house in the town of Chihine in the Tyre district.

The raid resulted in injuries, and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party reported that one of its members was killed.

A Lebanese Army unit, meanwhile, found the wreckage of a drone in the town of Aaiha in the Rashaya district. Army command did not clarify the nature of the drone or whether it was Israeli-made or from another source.

A Lebanese Army watchtower was attacked by Israel on Sunday night on the outskirts of the town of Alma Al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, resulting in “moderate injuries to two soldiers, who were transferred to a hospital for treatment,” according to the military.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, targeted the Israeli military site of Al-Malikiyah with an attack drone, hitting one of its bunkers.

The developments in the south and the issue of renewing UNIFIL’s mandate, which is on the UN Security Council’s agenda, have been the focus of internal political attention.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said at a meeting with key officials that recent developments “naturally call for caution, but we continue to discuss with concerned parties and engage in necessary diplomatic contacts to prevent matters from spiraling into undesirable consequences.”

He added: “We cannot say there are reassurances and guarantees, as no one can guarantee the Israeli enemy’s intentions. However, we continue our diligent efforts to address the situation.”

Regarding the renewal of the mandate for the international forces operating in the south of Lebanon, Mikati said: “We continue diplomatic contacts to ensure a calm extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, whose essential role in the south we highly appreciate, along with the fruitful cooperation between them and the army.

“From the contacts we have made, we have sensed a keenness to maintain this role, especially under the delicate circumstances the south is going through.”

Speaking after a meeting with Mikati, Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said he informed the prime minister that “there is a quasi-agreement to renew the work of UNIFIL forces for one year, under the same conditions and without any modifications.”

Bou Habib, who briefed Mikati upon his return from New York, also said that US and European officials he met with emphasized “the importance of not expanding the war and working to avoid escalating military actions in the south.”

He added: “There is a kind of optimism, or less pessimism, about the outbreak of a wide war in Lebanon.”

Also on Monday, a group of opposition MPs submitted a petition requesting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri hold a session to discuss the repercussions of the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, now in its 10th month. 

The opposition MPs — Georges Okais, Mark Daou, Ashraf Rifi, and Salim Sayegh — demanded Berri “hold a parliamentary session at the earliest opportunity to discuss the ongoing war, prevent its escalation, and ensure that the government fulfills its constitutional duties.”

In their petition, the parliamentarians called for diplomatic efforts to return to the 1949 ceasefire agreement and fully implement UN Resolution 1701.

They stressed the need to put an end to military actions “outside the framework of the Lebanese state and its institutions, declare a state of emergency in the south, hand over control to the army, and allow it to respond to any attack on Lebanese territory.”

They referred to the “escalation and threats reaching the highest level since Oct. 8, and the increasing fears of the expansion of the ongoing war, which has cost us hundreds of Lebanese lives and thousands of destroyed residential units so far, in addition to the economic and environmental damage caused by daily Israeli attacks, and the repercussions of this in light of the political and economic crises plaguing the country, and the obstruction of electing a president for the country.”

Nabil Qaouk, a member of the Central Council of Hezbollah, stated that Israel had put the region “on a path of escalation.”

He said that “the support fronts in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen have entered a new phase, introducing new field equations through which we hope to increase pressure on the Israeli enemy to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip.”


Erdogan says Turkiye inflation to fall along with interest rates

Erdogan says Turkiye inflation to fall along with interest rates
Updated 3 sec ago
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Erdogan says Turkiye inflation to fall along with interest rates

Erdogan says Turkiye inflation to fall along with interest rates
ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkiye’s inflation rate will fall alongside its interest rate, adding that “no one should doubt” the steady decline in inflation, which on an annual basis began in May and fell below 49 percent last month.
Erdogan — who in past years was seen as influencing monetary policy — said that economic steps will continue with discipline and determination to ease price pressures, he was reported by broadcaster TRTHaber as telling reporters on a flight.

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says
Updated 2 min 40 sec ago
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Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says
  • UN Human Rights Office: Systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
  • The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman
GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN count covers the first seven months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago.
The 8,119 victims verified by the UN Rights Office in that seven-month period is considerably lower than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the full 13 months of conflict.
But the UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.
This finding indicates “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the report’s findings.
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
It has said approximately one civilian has been killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group uses civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.
YOUNGEST VICTIM AGED ONE DAY
The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.
Overall, children represented 44 percent of the victims, with children aged five-nine representing the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.
This broadly reflects the enclave’s demographics, which the report said reflected an apparent failure to take precautions to avoid civilian losses.
It showed that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, pointing to the Israeli military’s use of weapons with an effect across a wide area, although it said some fatalities may have been the result of errant projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack
Updated 28 min 46 sec ago
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Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack
  • Israel is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an “instinctive” response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic last month.
Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack on Israel at the start of the month.
“Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively,” the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday.
Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran.
After Israel hit back, it warned Iran against any counterattack, but the Islamic republic has vowed to respond.
“Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational,” Larijani added.
The former parliament speaker also praised Nasrallah for accepting a ceasefire during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war rather than making an “emotional decision.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a potential ceasefire between Tehran’s allies and Israel could affect Iran’s response to the Israeli strikes.


Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours
Updated 08 November 2024
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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours
  • The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area
  • Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the “Stella Maris” naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area.
In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David air base, southeast of Haifa, with missiles.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country’s south.
This came after a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, which has said it was acting in support of Hamas Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry.


UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
Updated 08 November 2024
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UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
  • UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far delivered 121 shipments in Gaza

GAZA: Two shipments of aid from the UAE entered the Gaza Strip this week via Egypt’s Rafah Crossing, state news agency WAM reported on Friday.

The UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far sent 121 shipments to ease the plight of Palestinians affected by Israel’s war on Gaza.

Nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, of the 2.3 million population in Gaza, are facing a dire humanitarian crisis.

The UAE’s various initiatives include the opening of a field hospital in Rafah last year, a floating hospital in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, and a prosthetics project to support those who have lost limbs.

The latest convoys involved 20 trucks carrying over 288 tonnes of aid, including food, medical supplies, children’s nutritional supplements, clothing, shelter materials, and health kits for women.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has so far delivered a total of 17,312 tonnes of aid for Gaza residents.