Source: Reuters
Security & Justice
Over 70% of Baalbek Residents Forced to Flee Amid Escalating Conflict
Over 70 percent of Baalbek’s residents have fled the eastern Lebanese city in recent days following heavy Israeli bombardment and evacuation orders, according to the National News Agency (NNA).
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Opinion
My Hope for Lebanon
A company of Lebanese soldiers assigned to maintain order in this anxious wartime capital is gathered at its headquarters 100 yards from the Mediterranean. I make the blunder of asking their commander how many of his men are Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Druze.
Monday, November 4, 2024
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Sports
FC Barcelona Fears First Team Star Will Be Banned From Playing, Reports SPORT
FC Barcelona is concerned that one of its main first-team stars will be banned from playing at the turn of 2025 because of issues related to his registration and Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Friday, November 1, 2024
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Tuesday 4 June 2024 19:06:24
Hezbollah Won't Widen War But Will Fight If Needed, Deputy Head Tells Al Jazeera
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement is not seeking to widen its conflict with Israel but is ready to fight any war imposed on it, its deputy leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday, as hostilities across the Lebanese-Israeli border remained intense.
Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire for the past eight months in parallel with the Gaza war, raising concerns that an even wider conflict could break out between the heavily armed adversaries.
The hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have been their worst since they waged war in 2006, and tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been forced to flee their homes.
Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem told broadcaster Al Jazeera that the group's decision was not to "widen the war" but that it would fight one if it was imposed on it, according to a newsflash run before the interview was screened.
Israel's war cabinet was due to meet later on Tuesday mainly to discuss the northern front, an Israeli official said.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the fighting in the area was "not a sustainable reality", adding that Israel was committed to ensuring the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north.
"It is up to Hezbollah to decide if this can be accomplished by diplomatic means or by force," he said. "We are defending this country and no one should be surprised by our response."
Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden at the heart of diplomatic efforts seeking de-escalation, said last week a land border agreement between Israel and Lebanon implemented in phases could dampen the conflict.
Israel has gone to war numerous times in Lebanon.
"WE MUST... DESTROY THEM"
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir both urged more military action.
"There cannot be peace in Lebanon while our land is hit and people here are evacuated,"
Ben-Gvir said following a tour in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona in a video statement shared on X. "They're setting fires here, we must burn all of Hezbollah's strongholds, destroy them. War!"
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are members of Israel's security cabinet but not of the war cabinet.
The violence, which has oscillated for months, escalated in recent days. Hezbollah announced on Tuesday it had launched a squadron of one-way attack drones at an Israeli military barracks for a second consecutive day, calling it a response to a deadly Israeli attack in Naqoura, Lebanon.
Sirens sounded in northern Israel, where rockets fired from Lebanon set off wildfires on Monday.
The Israeli military said a "suspicious aerial target" that crossed from Lebanon fell in the Mount Hermon area, with no injuries reported.
Israeli warplanes struck a Hezbollah member in Naqoura, as well as two other locations in southern Lebanon. Israeli artillery struck five locations in the south, the Israeli military said.
Israeli strikes have killed some 300 members of Hezbollah since Oct. 7, and around 80 civilians. Attacks from Lebanon on Israel have killed 18 Israeli soldiers and 10 civilians, the Israeli military says.
On Monday, Hezbollah said it launched a squadron of drones against an Israeli target in response to Israel's killing of a Hezbollah member. While Hezbollah has used drones in the conflict, it marked the first time it had declared launching a squadron of them.
