Israeli air strikes kill 12 in eastern Lebanon despite ceasefire
Eight other people were wounded on Tuesday in the Israeli air strikes that hit the Wadi Fara area in the northern Bekaa Valley, including a camp for displaced Syrians, Lebanon's National News Agency said.
The Israeli military said its air strikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses the group used to store weapons.
The air strikes were the deadliest on the area since a United States-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November – a truce repeatedly violated by Israel, which has carried out near-daily strikes across parts of the country.
Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.
Israel dealt Hezbollah significant blows in last year's war, assassinating its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a 'clear message' to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force.
Israel 'will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding', he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.
There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.
Under the November ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country, but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.
The US has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting air strikes and withdrawing troops from the positions they still hold in south Lebanon.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
11 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
Western foreign ministers denounce Israeli attacks on Gaza aid seekers
Western foreign ministers denounce Israeli attacks on Gaza aid seekers NewsFeed A group of over two dozen mostly European foreign ministers denounced Israeli attacks on Palestinian aid seekers in a joint statement condemning the 'drip feeding' of aid and saying 'the war in Gaza must end now.' Video Duration 01 minutes 24 seconds 01:24 Video Duration 00 minutes 58 seconds 00:58 Video Duration 01 minutes 18 seconds 01:18 Video Duration 02 minutes 24 seconds 02:24 Video Duration 00 minutes 58 seconds 00:58 Video Duration 01 minutes 01 seconds 01:01 Video Duration 00 minutes 36 seconds 00:36
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
'We're afraid to talk about Gaza'
"We're afraid to talk about Gaza" Quotable Video Duration 01 minutes 21 seconds 01:21 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 07 seconds 01:07 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 11 seconds 01:11 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 00 seconds 01:00
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Syria evacuates Bedouins from Suwayda as shaky ceasefire holds
The Syrian government is evacuating hundreds of Bedouin families trapped inside the southern city of Suwayda, where a fragile ceasefire is holding after Druze and Bedouin fighters fought for a week. The first Bedouin families left on Monday on buses and trucks accompanied by Syrian Arab Red Crescent vehicles and ambulances. They were taken to nearby Daraa as the government plans to evacuate 1,500 people. 'At least 500 people have already left on 10 buses this morning, and more are expected to exit Suwayda in the next few hours,' Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall said about noon (09:00 GMT) on Monday in a report from the capital, Damascus. The clashes between the Druze minority and Bedouin clans, which began on July 13, killed nearly 260 people and threatened to unravel Syria's post-war transition. The violence also displaced 128,571 people, according to the United Nations International Organisation for Migration. Israel intervened and launched air attacks on Syria's Ministry of Defence buildings in the heart of Damascus. Israeli forces also hit Syrian government forces in Suwayda province, claiming it was protecting the Druze, whom it calls its 'brothers'. Vall said some Bedouin families were evacuating the province voluntarily. 'There are seven districts of Suwayda that are inhabited partly or … mostly by Arab Bedouins, and they are all under threat – or they feel under threat – and some of them are willing to leave [on their own],' he said. Syrian Interior Minister Ahmad al-Dalati told the SANA news agency that the evacuation process will also allow displaced civilians from Suwayda to return as efforts for a complete ceasefire are under way. 'We have imposed a security cordon in the vicinity of Suwayda to keep it secure and to stop the fighting there,' al-Dalati told the agency. 'This will preserve the path that will lead to reconciliation and stability in the province.' According to the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, the ceasefire agreed on Saturday says the Bedouin fighters will release Druze women they are holding captive and leave the province. After talks for a captives swap fell through late on Sunday, the observatory and activist groups in Suwayda reported hearing what they said were Israeli air strikes and helicopters over villages where some skirmishes took place between the Bedouins and the Druze. The Israeli military said it was 'not aware' of any overnight strikes in Syria. Meanwhile, an initial Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy entered Suwayda on Sunday, carrying UN humanitarian assistance, including food, water, medical supplies and fuel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has tried to appeal to the Druze community while slamming its factions loyal to spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri who have been involved in the clashes. He promised to hold accountable perpetrators of targeted attacks and other violations. The Druze minority largely celebrated the downfall in December of the al-Assad family, which ruled Syria for 53 years. But al-Hijri, who had some allegiance to deposed President Bashar al-Assad, and his supporters have taken a more confrontational approach with al-Sharaa, contrary to most other influential Druze figures.
