Latest news with #Unit4400
Ya Libnan
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Lebanese authorities detain people who were planning rocket attacks on Israel
Lebanese authorities detained several people who were allegedly planning to launch rockets into Israel and seized the weapons, the military said Sunday. The army said the arrests were linked to other detentions announced earlier this week. It added that as military intelligence was investigating that case they got information that a new rocket attack was being planned. The army said troops raided an apartment near the southern port city of Sidon and seized some of the rockets and the launchers and detained several people who were involved in the operation. It said they were referred to judicial authorities. Authorities on Wednesday detained several people , including a number of Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets toward Israel in two separate attacks in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon's Hezbollah group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets. Meanwhile on Sunday, a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed two people, the Lebanese Civil Defense said in a statement. The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Hussein Ali Nasr, whom it described as the deputy head of Hezbollah's Unit 4400. Israel said Nasr helped smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon via 'Iranian operatives,' including through Beirut airport. In a separate incident, three Lebanese soldiers were killed after ammunition a Lebanese army vehicle was carrying exploded, the army said in a statement. The circumstances in which the explosion happened were unclear. Since a November ceasefire ended a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli airstrikes have killed dozens of people in Lebanon including civilians and Hezbollah members. Israel says it's targeting Hezbollah holdouts in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem , who fled to Tehran last October said Friday that its fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force regularly violates Lebanese air space. AP/ Yahoo
Ya Libnan
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Israel kills Hezbollah commander in charge of smuggling arms from Iran
Israel continued its targeted killings of Hezbollah operatives and commanders this week, assassinating a senior commander of the group's Unit 4400 on Sunday. Unit 4400 is Hezbollah's body responsible for smuggling weapons to the group from Iran. At 12:27 pm, Lebanon's National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle on the village of Kawthariyat Al Saiyad's eastern road in the South Lebanon Governorate's Saida District. Initial reports indicated the strike killed one person and wounded two others . Four hours later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a statement on the strike, revealing that it had targeted and killed Hussain Ali Nasr, whose nom de guerrewas Abu Ali Hassan, Unit 4400's deputy commander. The IDF's statement noted that Israel had targeted and killed Unit 4400's former commander, Mohammad Jaafar Qasir, on October 1 and his deputy, Ali Hassan Gharib , on October 24, in an airstrike targeting a vehicle in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus. This statement suggests Nasr was Gharib's replacement, and Qasir has also likely been replaced. The IDF said that as part of Nasr's duties, he 'broadly oversaw Hezbollah's armament activities.' More significantly, the IDF said Nasr 'smuggled weapons, materiel, and funds into Lebanon to help Hezbollah rebuild its military capabilities.' The statement's language suggests that Nasr's activities were ongoing and continued after the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire on November 27, 2024, despite the agreement's terms. The IDF also alleged that Nasr advanced and oversaw deals to purchase weapons for Hezbollah from smugglers on the Syria-Lebanon border. As part of these duties, the IDF also claimed that Nasr, 'alongside Iranian officials […] advanced the transfer of weapons and funds to Lebanon, including through Beirut International Airport.' The IDF alleged Nasr was 'in contact with employees at the airport who secretly worked for Hezbollah and facilitated the smuggling.' An April 6 Asharq al Awsat report quoted an anonymous 'informed source' who alleged that Beirut's airport authorities canceled the licenses of over 30 Hezbollah-linked employees who carried travelers' luggage, transferred luggage onto planes, inspected bags, and worked in the lost items section. The source said that these dismissed employees had enjoyed total freedom of movement at the airport, acted as Hezbollah's source of intelligence on travelers, and were employed under pressure from the group. Lebanon's Public Works Ministry told L'Orient-Le Jour that the information in Asharq al Awsat's report was 'not factual.' However, two anonymous employees also told the publication that layoffs and revocations of licenses, particularly among baggage handlers, had occurred, and 'at least some of those targeted are linked to Hezbollah.' One source said these events occurred after Fadi Al Hassan, the interim head of Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport who is allegedly close to Hezbollah, was fired on March 13. However, the source also said they consider the firings 'normal,' given the 'changes occurring in the country following the formation of [Lebanese Prime Minister] Nawaf Salam's government.' The second source also insisted Asharq al Awsat's report was accurate but noted that the individuals who lost their licenses were 'not [airport] employees,' nor did they work for a 'tourism or travel company.' 'These [dismissed] people were given authorizations to enter the airport to meet travelers or to see them off,' the source explained, stating that they 'can no longer do so.' The source also alleged that a Hezbollah-linked employee who worked in Hassan's office also had their access authorization to the airport revoked. Long War Journal
LBCI
20-04-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Easter Sunday turns violent: A bloody day in South Lebanon as Israel steps up strikes
Report by Ghida Fayad, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi Three Lebanese soldiers were killed and four others wounded on Sunday after an explosion involving ammunition they were transporting in a military vehicle on the public road between Qsaybeh and Braikeh in the Nabatieh district. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation. The Lebanese Army identified the fallen as Lieutenant Mahmoud Ahmad Zeitoun from Akkar, First Sergeant Ali Ibrahim Ahmad from Hazerta in Zahleh, and First Sergeant Jawdat Salim Noura from Blat in Marjayoun. The deadly incident coincided with a sharp escalation in Israeli airstrikes across South Lebanon, marking one of the most intense days of violence since the ongoing hostilities began, despite the existing ceasefire agreement. Israeli warplanes carried out multiple raids targeting villages both north and south of the Litani River, including Arnoun, Jabal el Rafiaa, and the strategic hill of Mleeta in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region. The strikes reportedly involved bunker-buster missiles. In a separate attack on the eastern outskirts of Kaouthariyet El Saiyad, an Israeli drone strike hit a civilian vehicle, killing two people and wounding two others. Another Israeli strike in the town of Houla targeted a home, killing one person. Later in the day, the Israeli military announced the assassination of Hussein Ali Nasr, described as the deputy commander of Hezbollah's Unit 4400, in the Kaouthariyet El Saiyad strike. According to Israeli claims, Nasr played a central role in smuggling weapons and funds into Lebanon to bolster Hezbollah's military capabilities, including through Beirut's international airport in coordination with Iranian contacts. An Israeli security official described the day's operations as "highly significant" in terms of strikes inside Lebanon, as Israeli breaches and attacks have continued despite the declared ceasefire deal.
LBCI
20-04-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Israeli army: Airstrike kills senior Hezbollah figure in South Lebanon
The Israeli army said Sunday that it carried out an airstrike in South Lebanon that killed Hussein Ali Nasr, a senior Hezbollah figure it accused of coordinating weapons and funds transfers into the country, including through Beirut's international airport. According to Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee, Nasr served as deputy commander of Hezbollah's Unit 4400, which Israel describes as the group's logistical network responsible for smuggling arms and money into Lebanon. Nasr allegedly collaborated with Iranian operatives and maintained covert ties with airport staff in Beirut who secretly worked for Hezbollah to facilitate the movement of weapons, Adraee claimed. He also reportedly managed arms deals with smugglers operating along the Lebanese-Syrian border and oversaw broader military logistics for the group. Adraee added that the Israeli military had previously eliminated other key figures in Unit 4400, including its commander Mohammad Jaafar Qasir and his deputy Ali Hassan Gharib, in similar strikes.
Nahar Net
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
New Israeli strikes kill two in south Lebanon
by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 April 2025, 13:05 Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed Sunday in an Israeli strike in the country's south, the latest such raid despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. An "Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle in Kawthariyat al-Siyyad," located inland between the southern cities of Sidon and Tyre, killed "one person and wounded two people," the health ministry said in a statement. It later said a separate Israeli strike "on a house in Houla," near the border, killed one person. The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Hussein Ali Nasr, whom it described as the deputy head of Hezbollah's Unit 4400. Israel said Nasr helped smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon via 'Iranian operatives,' including through Beirut airport. Israel has continued to conduct regular strikes in Lebanon despite a November 27 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. On Friday, Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli air strikes killed two people in the south, with Israel announcing attacks in the same areas targeting Hezbollah militants. Under the truce, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon, although it continues to hold five positions that it deems "strategic". Lebanon's army has been deploying in the south near the border as Israeli forces have withdrawn. Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Friday that the group "will not let anyone disarm" it, as Washington presses Beirut to compel the Iran-backed movement to hand over its weapons.
