Latest news with #KfarKila
The National
2 days ago
- General
- The National
Israeli attacks kill two people in southern Lebanon
At least two people have been killed in a wave of Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the country's National News Agency has reported. A drone strike killed a civilian while he was pumping water, local authorities said, and Israeli gunfire in the border town of Kfar Kila killed another civilian. The casualties late on Thursday night underscore a deeply unstable situation in south Lebanon, where daily attacks continue to be carried out despite the ceasefire Israel agreed with Hezbollah in November. Mahmoud Atwi was fixing a well that provided several neighbourhoods with water in Nabatiye El Faouqa when he was attacked, according to the municipality's mayor, Zein Ghandour. He said Mr Atwi was employed by the municipality and was killed while carrying out his work. The Israeli army claimed it struck 'a Hezbollah terrorist', alleging he was working to restore a site used to manage the group's 'fire and defence array'. The military later said it hit 'several military sites throughout Lebanon' belonging to Hezbollah, accusing the group of trying to reestablish its weaponry there. It did not immediately comment on the shooting in Kfar Kila. Israeli troops continue to occupy five areas of Lebanese territory, despite the ceasefire agreement which mandates their withdrawal. Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire more than 3,000 times. Vast swathes of south Lebanon lie in ruins from the bombardment, which has continued since last year. A low-level border conflict with Hezbollah, which broke out in parallel to Israel's war with Hamas, erupted in September when Israel invaded, killing more than 4,000 people. Many Hezbollah leaders were among them and large parts of the country were left in ruins.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Israel launches wave of strikes across south Lebanon
The Israeli military has launched several air raids across south Lebanon, killing at least one person, Lebanon's National News Agency reports, as it intensifies its attacks in the country, in the latest violations of a ceasefire agreement. Lebanon's Health Ministry also reported a second person shot dead by Israeli forces in a separate attack. The strikes on Thursday targeted areas near the towns of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Beit Lif, Ramia, al-Bisariya, Wadi al-Safa and al-Sarira. Low-flying Israeli jets and drones were also reported in several regions of southern Lebanon. An Israeli drone strike killed a municipal worker operating a water well in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, according to the town's mayor, Zein Ali Ghandour. Ghandour said on Thursday that the victim, Mahmoud Hasan Atwi, was 'martyred' while on his official duty of trying to provide water for the people of the town. 'We condemn in the strongest terms this blatant aggression against civilians and civilian infrastructure as well as the Lebanese state and its institutions,' the mayor said in a statement. Ghandour called on the international community to press the issue and put an end to Israeli violations. The Israeli military had claimed that it fired at a 'Hezbollah operative' who it said was 'rehabilitating a site' used by the group. Lebanon's Health Ministry later reported that a person was killed by Israeli gunfire on the Lebanese border town of Kfar Kila. Israel has been carrying out near-daily attacks in Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire agreement it reached with Hezbollah in November of last year, causing mostly civilian deaths and injuries. Last week, the Israeli military launched a wave of air strikes across south Lebanon that it said targeted Hezbollah infrastructure. Israel has also been regularly firing at fields and civilian homes on the Lebanese side of the border. In an earlier attack on Thursday, an Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade on the southern village of Beit Lif, injuring at least one person, the National News Agency reported. Israel claims that its attacks are in enforcement of the ceasefire, which requires Hezbollah to pull its forces to the north of the Litani River, about 30km (18 miles), from the border, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1701. But the Israeli military has been carrying out strikes in the entire country, not just south of the river. Israel has bombed the Lebanese capital Beirut several times this year. Early in April, an Israeli strike assassinated a Hezbollah official and killed three others in the Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh. Israeli troops also continue to occupy parts of southern Lebanon in breach of the truce. The ceasefire last year ended an intense Israeli bombing campaign that followed months of low-level hostilities linked to the war in Gaza between Hezbollah and Israel that were largely confined to the border area. Hezbollah emerged weakened from the war after losing its top political and military officials, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah, in Israeli attacks. Since the end of the war, Hezbollah has not responded to Israeli violations, saying that it is giving the Lebanese state the opportunity to stop the attacks through diplomatic channels. The group has warned, however, that its patience may run out. But it is unclear if Hezbollah is capable of confronting Israel militarily, as it had for decades – including hastening an end to Israel's occupation of south Lebanon in 2000 and fighting a 2006 war to a stalemate, after the heavy blows it suffered during the war. Lebanese officials, including President Joseph Aoun, have repeatedly called on France and the United States – the main sponsors of the ceasefire deal – to pressure Israel to end its abuses. Pressured by the US on disarming Hezbollah, Aoun has said the issue is a 'delicate' one.
National Post
3 days ago
- General
- National Post
'I guess they made a mistake': Israelis returning to north after Hezbollah demolished
Mount Tsifya, Israel — From an observation post overlooking the breathtakingly beautiful mountains on Israel's border with Lebanon, Lt.-Col Jordan Herzberg points to a scarred hillside where a town used to be. Article content Article content Lebanon's Kfar Kila was badly thumped during an Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, and further reduced to rubble by construction contractors engaged by Israel to largely wipe it from the Earth; it is now essentially a few roads with intermittent piles of rocks and vague outlines of what used to be houses. Article content Article content Herzberg said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) found what were essentially 'fake homes' there, filled with missiles and soldiers' rations and uniforms. It was the same story in settlements all along the Lebanese border, including in Christian towns that were essentially occupied by Hezbollah. Article content Article content The destruction done to southern Lebanon by the IDF's assault on Hezbollah last fall is devastatingly clear, but Herzberg wants a group of visiting Canadian journalists to understand the Israeli message: the war was not with Lebanon but with the terror group that had effectively colonized Kfar Kila and much of southern Lebanon. Article content The Montreal-born Herzberg has the unique seriousness of purpose of an Israeli soldier proud of the Jewish state army's capacity for killing its enemies. He looks like an accountant who runs marathons but speaks with the swagger of a warrior, sometimes against his country's own leadership. The army was embarrassed by October 7, and is determined not to be caught flat-footed again. Article content Article content Israel learned quickly from its inattention early on October 7, taking no chances in the north; two hours after Hamas invaded the south, the army sent troops to the north to counter any threat from the better-armed Hezbollah. Israel has since spent the last 19 months ensuring it is defanged. Article content Herzberg said Hamas are bunch of pikers who got lucky — he calls them 'a junior varsity team' while Hezbollah is 'a professional sports team.' But by hesitating when Hamas acted, Hezbollah lost the opportunity to seize an advantage. They sent their first rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, sparking a back-and-forth and a full-scale Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel Raises its Flag in Southern Lebanon
The Israeli army raised on Wednesday a large Israeli flag on the Hamames hilltop it had occupied during its war with Hezbollah last year. The area, one kilometer deep inside Lebanese territory, overlooks the Wazzani River in the South. Lebanese media said Israel raised several flags in the area that is located southeast of the city of Khiam. Images circulated on social media showed two new flags in the region. Even though Israel claims to be holding five hilltops in Lebanon since the end of the war, it is actually occupying seven areas in the country, revealed Lebanese security sources. The two undeclared areas are one inside the town of Kfar Kila and the other near the border town of al-Dhaira. In Kfar Kila, Israel is holding a road that extends around 200 meters from the border. In Dhaira, Israeli troops blocked a road in the area where they are deployed. The other positions that are openly occupied are in Hamames, one near the southeastern town of Markaba, another in the Aitaroun region, one in Jabal Blat and the fifth in al-Labbouneh near the coast and overlooking al-Naqoura. The raising of the Israeli flag is the latest in its violations of the ceasefire that ended the war. Overnight on Monday, Israeli troops infiltrated Mais al-Jabal and set up sand barriers. The Lebanese army swiftly contacted the quintet committee overseeing the ceasefire and removed the barriers on Tuesday. An Israeli drone also fired a sound bomb in Kfar Kila. Another targeted the main road in the town of al-Abbasiyeh north of the southern coastal city of Tyre. The drone fired two rockets; one did not explode. Israel also fired artillery on the outskirts of the town of Kfar Shouba and its forces opened fire at citizens in the town of Blida. No injuries were reported. On Wednesday morning, Israeli forces carried out a sweep of an area near the Marjeyon plain and flew drones at low altitude over the al-Zahrani region. An Israeli strike on the outskirts of the town Yater killed a Hezbollah official in the area. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the official sought to reestablish operations in the area in violation of the ceasefire. Israel had also assassinated a Hezbollah member in the southern town of Majdal Zoun on Monday.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Lebanon votes in municipal election seen as test of Hezbollah support
Voters in southern Lebanon are casting their ballots in municipal elections seen as a test of support for Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and armed group. The vote on Saturday in the mostly Shia area, where Hezbollah is allied with Amal – the party led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri – marks the final phase of Lebanon's staggered local elections. It comes after a November 2024 ceasefire between the group and Israel was supposed to end months of attacks. lsrael, however, has continued sporadic strikes as recently as on Thursday, when air raids hit multiple locations in the south. Both Hezbollah and Amal are widely expected to dominate the municipal races, having already secured control of numerous councils unopposed. Turnout was high in border villages ravaged by last year's conflict, with residents of Kfar Kila – a town nearly levelled by Israeli attacks – voting in nearby Nabatieh. Others from surrounding areas cast ballots in Tyre. 'The will of life is stronger than death and the will of construction is stronger than destruction,' Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told reporters on Saturday, as he made a tour of the country's south. He said he voted for the first time in 40 years in his hometown of Aaichiyeh. Among those heading to the polls were Hezbollah members still recovering from a series of Israeli attacks in September 2024, when thousands of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously, killing more than a dozen people and wounding nearly 3,000. 'Southerners are proving again that they are with the choice of resistance,' Hezbollah legislator Ali Fayyad, who represents border villages, said in vote comes at a critical time for Hezbollah. While the group emerged from the conflict with reduced military capabilities and diminished political leverage, the elections offer a platform to reaffirm its influence in the region. 'Lebanon has still not fully recovered from last year's war between Hezbollah and Israel. In fact, Israel continues to target Hezbollah despite a ceasefire,' said Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Nabatieh. 'Hezbollah, no doubt was militarily weakened during the conflict; it lost a lot of its military power but it is using these elections as an opportunity to show that it still has political influence,' Khodr added. Many feel Hezbollah failed to shield them during the war, yet fears of isolation persist, she said. 'They feel vulnerable … not just towards Israel, but also in a deeply divided country and they feel that opponents of Hezbollah are also marginalising the community as a whole.' Lebanon's new government has pledged to create a state monopoly on arms, raising pressure on Hezbollah to disarm as required under the United States-brokered truce with Israel. Lebanon now faces the massive task of rebuilding after 14 months of war, with the World Bank estimating its reconstruction needs at more than $11bn. In October 2023, Hezbollah launched a rocket campaign on Israel in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which was being bombarded by Israel following a surprise attack led by Palestinian group Hamas. Israel responded with shelling and air attacks on Lebanon that escalated into a full-blown war before the ceasefire went into effect in late November.
