Latest news with #JosephAoun
LBCI
20 hours ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Surveillance towers on the southern border? Lebanon weighs UK plan amid Israeli concerns
Report by Toni Mrad, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian A Lebanese soldier stands watch on a tower overlooking the eastern border with Syria. Now, the question is: could similar towers soon line the southern frontier with Israel? According to information obtained, the United Kingdom has revived a proposal to establish watchtowers along the southern border during talks held last week between British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and President Joseph Aoun. The proposal is not new—it dates back to before the most recent Israeli war on Lebanon. According to sources, the towers already exist in Lebanon but have not yet been installed. Israel previously rejected the project, insisting that land border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel must come first. It also demanded Hezbollah's withdrawal from the south of the Litani River. It also expressed reservations about the project, arguing it would grant the Lebanese army the authority to monitor activity inside Israeli territory. According to the information, the current proposal involves constructing fixed surveillance towers along the southern border, funded and implemented by the United Kingdom and later handed over to the Lebanese army. The aim is to secure the border, enhance stability, and help implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. Sources confirmed to LBCI that Lebanon is open to the British offer, which requires approval from the Lebanese army and a Cabinet decision, as well as the demarcation of the land border with Israel and the solidification of the ceasefire agreement between the two sides. The towers cannot be installed before an Israeli withdrawal, a ceasefire, and then border demarcation. As for Hezbollah, the group has left the decision on whether to install the towers to the Lebanese state and army, especially in light of its commitment to the ceasefire and its withdrawal from the south of the Litani River. Still, many questions remain on the Lebanese side about the towers, including: Who will have access to the data they collect? Could that information reach Israel through a third country? Will the surveillance be directed solely at the Israeli border, at Lebanese territory, or in both directions?
Ya Libnan
a day ago
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Israeli strike targets a Hezbollah anti-tank missile operative in South Lebanon, Update
Smoke billows from the reported site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Wata al-Khiam, July 12, 2025. Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday that an 'Israeli enemy strike' on a home in south Lebanon's Wata al-Khiam killed one person. Wata al-Khiam is about 5 kilometers from the Israeli border The Israel Defense Forces later issued a statement confirming the strike, saying it targeted an operative of Hezbollah's anti-tank missile unit. The ceasefire, which ended over a year of hostilities, required Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, and gave Israel 60 days to do so, to be replaced by the Lebanese military and international peacekeepers. Israel has since withdrawn from all but five points overlooking the border. On Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel's continued presence in south Lebanon was preventing the Lebanese army from deploying. The president expressed interest in peaceful relations with Israel but said normalizing relations was off the table for now. He also reaffirmed his government's commitment to maintaining a monopoly on arms — a veiled threat against Hezbollah's extensive arsenal. Unprovoked, Hezbollah began firing near-daily rocket attacks at Israel on October 8, 2023 — a day after its Iran-backed ally Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,139 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. Hezbollah's rocket fire displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to ensure their safe return, Israel stepped up operations in Lebanon in September, leading to two months of open warfare with Hezbollah in which the group's leadership was decimated. Lebanon faces Existential Threat if Hezbollah is not disarmed US Special Envoy Tom Barrack warned, in an interview with the Emirati newspaper The National, that Lebanon risks falling into the hands of regional powers unless Beirut moves to resolve the issue of Hezbollah's arms He pointed out that 'Lebanon needs to resolve this issue, otherwise it could face an existential threat,' adding, 'Israel on one side, Iran on the other, and now Syria is emerging very quickly. If Lebanon doesn't act, it will return to the Levant.' Updated to correct the target of Israeli strike News Agencies
The Sun
a day ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Israeli strike kills one in south Lebanon amid ceasefire tensions
BEIRUT: Lebanon's health ministry confirmed one fatality in an Israeli airstrike on a residential area in Wata al-Khiam, southern Lebanon, on Saturday. The attack marks another violation of the November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The ministry described the strike as an 'Israeli enemy strike' targeting a home. No immediate response was issued by the Israeli military regarding the incident. The ceasefire, intended to halt over a year of hostilities, required Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, approximately 30 kilometres from the Israeli border. Israel, meanwhile, was expected to fully withdraw its troops but has maintained a presence in five strategic border locations. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated on Friday that while Lebanon remains open to peaceful relations with Israel, normalisation of ties is 'not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy.' - AFP
Daily Tribune
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Tribune
Lebanese president rules out normalisation with Israel: statement
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ruled out normalisation between his country and Israel yesterday, while expressing hope for peaceful relations with Beirut's southern neighbour, which still occupies parts of southern Lebanon. Aoun's statement is the first official reaction to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's statement last week in which he expressed his country's interest in normalising ties with Lebanon and Syria. Aoun 'distinguished between peace and normalisation', according to a statement shared by the presidency. 'Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment. As for the issue of normalisation, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy,' the president said in front of a delegation from an Arab think tank. Lebanon and Syria have technically been in a state of war with Israel since 1948, with Damascus saying that talks of normalisation were 'premature'. The president called on Israel to withdraw from the five points near the border it still occupies. Israel was required to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon under a November ceasefire seeking to end its war with Iranbacked Hezbollah. Aoun said that Israeli troops in Lebanon 'obstruct the complete deployment of the army up to the internationally recognised borders'. According to the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah must pull its fighters north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Israel, leaving the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the area.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one as Beirut rules out normalisation
Lebanon's president says his country wants peace but not normalisation with Israel, as health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed one person in the south of the country. As well as causing one death on Friday, the drone attack on a car in Nabatieh district wounded five other people, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Health. It comes as Israel continues to launch regular strikes against sites in Lebanon, particularly in the south, despite a November 27 ceasefire agreement between it and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Under the terms of the truce, Hezbollah had to retreat to the north of the Litani River, which is about 30km (20 miles) from the Israeli border, while Israel had to fully withdraw its troops, leaving only the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers in the area. However, Israel still occupies five strategic locations in southern Lebanon. Speaking on Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed a desire for peaceful relations with his country's neighbour. But he stressed that Beirut was not currently interested in normalising ties with Israel, something mentioned as a possibility by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar last week. 'Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment. As for the issue of normalisation, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy,' said Aoun, who urged Israel to withdraw completely from Lebanon. In a reference to the US's ongoing call for Lebanon to fully disarm Hezbollah, the Lebanese president also expressed Beirut's desire to 'hold the monopoly over weapons in the country', but he did not give further details. Hezbollah, which is considerably weakened after more than a year of hostilities with Israel, has dismissed questions about disarmament. 'We cannot be asked to soften our stance or lay down arms while [Israeli] aggression continues,' its leader Naim Qassem told crowds in southern Beirut on Sunday. On Wednesday, the Israeli military confirmed that some of its troops had entered southern Lebanon, with the army saying they sought to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and to stop the group from 'reestablishing itself in the area'. The following day, a man was killed by an Israeli drone strike on a motorbike in the village of al-Mansouri near Tyre, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. Two others were injured in the attack, it added.
