Latest news with #BekaaValley
LBCI
16-07-2025
- Business
- LBCI
Lebanon sees high economic hopes in regulated cannabis sector
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday sponsored a conference at the Grand Serail on legal cannabis cultivation, reaffirming the government's push to activate Lebanon's law allowing medical and industrial use. In his opening remarks, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani framed the initiative as a turning point in Lebanon's approach to agriculture and economic development. 'This isn't just a new crop—it's a national responsibility,' he said, calling the cannabis sector a 'promising' field if regulated with transparency, science, and proper governance. Hani highlighted the law's potential to create a full value chain from cultivation to advanced industries, adding that 'Lebanon has a real chance to lead in this emerging global market." The minister added that legal cannabis farming aligns with a broader national strategy to diversify agricultural production in response to climate, environmental, and food security challenges. Prime Minister Salam echoed those points. He estimated that the sector could generate over $1 billion in annual revenue and provide high-quality jobs—particularly in marginalized areas like the Bekaa Valley. He warned against chaos or monopolies, stressing the need for equity and proper oversight. 'We don't want this to become a space for exploitation,' he said, urging all stakeholders to approach it with seriousness and scientific rigor.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
IDF strikes Hezbollah Radwan training camps deep in Lebanese territory
An attack on mere Hezbollah infantry training camps, which lack threatening weapons, shows how up against the wall Hezbollah is. The IDF on Tuesday attacked Hezbollah Radwan training camps around 100 km. deep into Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley, showing that it is now ready to attack the group anywhere in Lebanon, even if high-quality weapons are not in play. After the November 27, 2024, ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel and the IDF primarily relegated any attacks to keeping Hezbollah forces out of southern Lebanon – enforcing the letter of the law of the ceasefire deal. However, as weeks and months passed since the ceasefire, Israel started to occasionally target specific Hezbollah sites in Beirut or deeper into the country, where the Lebanese terror group was starting to try to restore or reposition its remaining high-quality missiles and rockets. Tuesday's attack was unusual because it did not involve southern Lebanon and did not involve any high-quality weapons. Rather, the IDF said it had attacked Hezbollah's Radwan special forces' training camps and their storage centers for ammunition. Located over 100 km. away, these camps and their regular ammunition present no immediate or even medium-term threat to Israel, given that they would need to try to return to southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah has failed to do to date, before they could even try to conceive of invading Israel. Despite these facts, the IDF stated that the sole reason for the existence of these camps was to train for invading Israel at some point, and as such, it was in Israel's interest to disrupt the training. Also, the IDF noted that the threat was not theoretical, as Radwan is the special forces whose primary goal for years had been to invade the Galilee and conquer portions of it, in a nightmare scenario that could have been worse than Hamas's October 7 invasion. Next, the IDF recalled that in September 2024, it had managed to kill almost all of Radwan's senior commanders, but that IDF intelligence had detected attempts by Radwan to remake itself in these Bekaa Valley camps. Likewise, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel will strike any attempt by Radwan or other Hezbollah forces to try to rebuild capabilities for invading the Jewish state. All of this takes place as Hezbollah is at a low point in its power militarily and politically in Lebanon versus the other ethnic groups in the country, which also have stakes in aspects of state power. Israel's periodically hitting its capabilities and mid-level commanders from the air, its loss at least for now of Iranian financial support due to Tehran's need to recover from its own war with Israel, and the loss of the alliance with the Assad regime in Syria, have left Hezbollah hounded on several fronts simultaneously, and other Lebanese groups vying to reduce its control over the state.
Asharq Al-Awsat
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters
Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself. The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon. The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals. Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal. Israeli Defense 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, Reuters reported. 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. The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon. Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.
LBCI
15-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Hezbollah calls Israel east Lebanon strike a 'major escalation'
Hezbollah condemned an Israeli airstrike that killed 12 people in the Bekaa Valley on Tuesday, as a "major escalation." In a statement, the group said Israel's attack "constitutes a major escalation in the context of the ongoing aggression against Lebanon and its people." It called on Lebanese authorities to "take serious, immediate, and decisive action" to uphold a November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. AFP
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
Israeli strikes renewed on Bekaa, S. Lebanon, amid border incursions
Israeli aggression on Lebanon intensified on Sunday evening as warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes across southern regions and the eastern Bekaa Valley. According to Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon, Israeli aircraft targeted the outskirts of the town of Bouslaiya. Additional raids targeted the area between Ain Qana, Sarba, and Houmin al-Fawqa, resulting in further damage to civilian areas and infrastructure. The occupation forces also launched four consecutive airstrikes on the outskirts of the town of Irzay, in the Saida district, marking a sharp escalation in the frequency and intensity of attacks. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces infiltrated the border town of Kfar Kila, advancing approximately 400 meters into Lebanese territory. The force is currently carrying out excavation work under the protection of tanks, providing cover for the operation. Another Israeli force infiltrated the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab. In the eastern Bekaa Valley, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that Israeli warplanes conducted an airstrike on the outskirts of the town of Bouday, west of the Baalbek District. This was followed by two additional airstrikes targeting the outskirts of Flaoui, also located west of Baalbek. These operations highlight a geographic expansion of the Israeli occupation's military actions, reaching deeper into Lebanese territory and targeting previously less-affected areas. These airstrikes come as part of a broader campaign of Israeli aggression on Lebanon, marked by repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement. Since the first day of the truce, the Israeli occupation has consistently disregarded commitments made under international auspices. The continued attacks have destroyed civilian infrastructure and continue to pose a threat to the lives of residents in both South Lebanon and the Bekaa region. This escalation unfolds amid persistent international silence and widespread complicity in the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation. It is also worth mentioning that Israeli movements were detected in the border town of Kfar Kila. In a similar development, Israeli occupation forces launched a series of drone strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring five others, according to Al Mayadeen's correspondent and Lebanese health officials. The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed that one civilian was killed and two others were wounded after an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in the Saf al-Hawa area, in the Bint Jbeil district. Elsewhere, an Israeli drone struck a house on the outskirts of Shebaa, injuring one member of the family residing inside. In a separate strike, a drone targeted a vehicle in the town of Shaqra, also in the Bint Jbeil region. The Public Health Emergency Operations Center reported that the Israeli attack left two Lebanese critically injured, both of whom were transferred to intensive care units for emergency treatment.
