28 mar 2015
Lebanese civil defense workers carry a boy injured by an Israeli cluster bomb into the Lebanese-Italian Hospital in Tyre, Lebanon, on March 27, 2015
Security and medical officials say at least eight children have been injured when a cluster bomb dropped during Israel's military aggression against Lebanon in the summer of 2006 detonated in the country's south.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the blast took place in the southern Lebanese border village of Zebqin, situated near the city of Tyre and over 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the capital, Beirut, on Friday evening, and wounded eight kids, aged between six and eight years old.
"We were having a picnic next to a river in Zebqin and on the way back, my friend stepped on a device that exploded, and we were all hit," six-year-old Hussein Bazzi said.
"One child was wounded in the head and is in a critical condition in the operating room," an employee at Tyre’s Lebanese-Italian Hospital, where the children were taken, said.
According to the United Nations, the Israeli army dropped some four million cluster bombs on Lebanon during the July-August 2006 war, mostly during the last 48 hours of the conflict.
More than 400 people, 90 percent of them civilians and a third under the age of 18, have been killed by the munitions, while dozens more have been maimed.
Security and medical officials say at least eight children have been injured when a cluster bomb dropped during Israel's military aggression against Lebanon in the summer of 2006 detonated in the country's south.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the blast took place in the southern Lebanese border village of Zebqin, situated near the city of Tyre and over 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the capital, Beirut, on Friday evening, and wounded eight kids, aged between six and eight years old.
"We were having a picnic next to a river in Zebqin and on the way back, my friend stepped on a device that exploded, and we were all hit," six-year-old Hussein Bazzi said.
"One child was wounded in the head and is in a critical condition in the operating room," an employee at Tyre’s Lebanese-Italian Hospital, where the children were taken, said.
According to the United Nations, the Israeli army dropped some four million cluster bombs on Lebanon during the July-August 2006 war, mostly during the last 48 hours of the conflict.
More than 400 people, 90 percent of them civilians and a third under the age of 18, have been killed by the munitions, while dozens more have been maimed.
An expert inspects an unexploded Israeli cluster bomb in the village of Ouazaiyeh, Lebanon.
Southern Lebanon is littered with hundreds of unexploded Israeli cluster bombs, and the Lebanese army together with the UN and other international organizations are working to purge the area of the deadly ordnance.
Cluster bombs are a type of explosive weapons that blow up in the air and scatter dozens of sub-munitions over a large area.
Cluster munitions are banned in most countries due to the indiscriminate nature of the weapons. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which entered into force in 2010, has 114 members. Israel has not joined the treaty.
Southern Lebanon is littered with hundreds of unexploded Israeli cluster bombs, and the Lebanese army together with the UN and other international organizations are working to purge the area of the deadly ordnance.
Cluster bombs are a type of explosive weapons that blow up in the air and scatter dozens of sub-munitions over a large area.
Cluster munitions are banned in most countries due to the indiscriminate nature of the weapons. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which entered into force in 2010, has 114 members. Israel has not joined the treaty.
24 mar 2015
Israeli military forces at Lebanon's southern border
Israeli military forces have intensified military drills in the occupied territories of southern Lebanon, a move likely aimed at launching attacks on Hezbollah resistance movement, a security source says.
Amid reports of huge explosions in the border area, several of the Tel Aviv regime’s military patrols combed the Israeli-occupied section of Lebanon’s Shebaa Farms as their war planes flew sorties over the southern part of the country, local Daily Star news outlet cited a Lebanese security source as saying in a Monday report.
The loud blasts came from an area where Israeli army troops were carrying out military “training operations”, according to the source,
Additionally, a number of Israeli forces were detected while conducting surveillance and taking photographs of Lebanon’s southern border as Lebanese Army troops and United Nations UNIFIL peacekeepers in the Israeli-Lebanon border patrolled the al-Abad area of the town of Houla.
Last week, Israeli transport helicopters relocated the regime’s forces to the occupied portion of Syria's Golan Heights, located nearby, added the report, noting that the troops involved in the operation “were identified as members of the Israeli Nahshon Battalion” - an affiliate of Tel Aviv army’s newest Kfir Infantry Brigade.
The source further underlined that it was the first time members of the Israeli battalion were deployed along the Lebanese border, predicting that they would “likely be tasked with carrying out attack on Hezbollah positions” if a conflict breaks out, the report said.
Israeli military forces have intensified military drills in the occupied territories of southern Lebanon, a move likely aimed at launching attacks on Hezbollah resistance movement, a security source says.
Amid reports of huge explosions in the border area, several of the Tel Aviv regime’s military patrols combed the Israeli-occupied section of Lebanon’s Shebaa Farms as their war planes flew sorties over the southern part of the country, local Daily Star news outlet cited a Lebanese security source as saying in a Monday report.
The loud blasts came from an area where Israeli army troops were carrying out military “training operations”, according to the source,
Additionally, a number of Israeli forces were detected while conducting surveillance and taking photographs of Lebanon’s southern border as Lebanese Army troops and United Nations UNIFIL peacekeepers in the Israeli-Lebanon border patrolled the al-Abad area of the town of Houla.
Last week, Israeli transport helicopters relocated the regime’s forces to the occupied portion of Syria's Golan Heights, located nearby, added the report, noting that the troops involved in the operation “were identified as members of the Israeli Nahshon Battalion” - an affiliate of Tel Aviv army’s newest Kfir Infantry Brigade.
The source further underlined that it was the first time members of the Israeli battalion were deployed along the Lebanese border, predicting that they would “likely be tasked with carrying out attack on Hezbollah positions” if a conflict breaks out, the report said.
Aftermath of a Hezbollah missile attack on an Israeli military convoy in southern Lebanon’s occupied Shebaa Farms
On January 28, Hezbollah forces launched a surprise attack on an Israeli military convoy in Lebanon’s occupied Shebaa Farms, killing two officers and injuring eight more Israeli troops while destroying at least nine of their military vehicles.
Refuting claims by the Tel Aviv regime that the Hezbollah attack was in violation of a truce deal signed in 2006, Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement at the time arguing that the attack targeted Israeli troops inside the Lebanese territory.
Tensions have been on the rise in the area after an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian sector of the occupied Golan Heights killed six Hezbollah fighters and a top Iranian commander on January 18.
On January 28, Hezbollah forces launched a surprise attack on an Israeli military convoy in Lebanon’s occupied Shebaa Farms, killing two officers and injuring eight more Israeli troops while destroying at least nine of their military vehicles.
Refuting claims by the Tel Aviv regime that the Hezbollah attack was in violation of a truce deal signed in 2006, Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement at the time arguing that the attack targeted Israeli troops inside the Lebanese territory.
Tensions have been on the rise in the area after an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian sector of the occupied Golan Heights killed six Hezbollah fighters and a top Iranian commander on January 18.
11 mar 2015
Israeli soldiers crossed the “Blue Line," in southern Lebanon, and advanced approximately 50 meters into the Bostra farms area, while firing smoke bombs, the al-Manar TV in Lebanon has reported.
Bostra is the only area of the Sheba farms in southern Lebanon that the army withdrew from, while the remaining areas are under Israeli occupation.
“This is our land, a Lebanese territory; they invaded it and fired smoke bombs,” a local farmer said, “They were about 200 meters away from my home; we will never leave our homes and lands, no matter what,”
Later on, the soldiers fired nearly 16 rounds of live ammunition towards Lebanese security vehicles, patrolling close to the border.
The army also fired three rounds of live ammunition on al-Manar TV crew while documenting Israeli assaults in the Sheba Farms, in an attempt to force them away.
It added that the soldiers withdrew from the area later on, while the TV crew remained, and continued its work.
On January 17 of this year, Israeli soldiers attacked a Hezbollah convoy near the border, killing six Hezbollah fighters, and an Iranian general.
After the attack, Hezbollah fighters fired rockets into the occupied Shebaa Farms, in southern Lebanon, killing two soldiers and wounding several others.
Bostra is the only area of the Sheba farms in southern Lebanon that the army withdrew from, while the remaining areas are under Israeli occupation.
“This is our land, a Lebanese territory; they invaded it and fired smoke bombs,” a local farmer said, “They were about 200 meters away from my home; we will never leave our homes and lands, no matter what,”
Later on, the soldiers fired nearly 16 rounds of live ammunition towards Lebanese security vehicles, patrolling close to the border.
The army also fired three rounds of live ammunition on al-Manar TV crew while documenting Israeli assaults in the Sheba Farms, in an attempt to force them away.
It added that the soldiers withdrew from the area later on, while the TV crew remained, and continued its work.
On January 17 of this year, Israeli soldiers attacked a Hezbollah convoy near the border, killing six Hezbollah fighters, and an Iranian general.
After the attack, Hezbollah fighters fired rockets into the occupied Shebaa Farms, in southern Lebanon, killing two soldiers and wounding several others.
4 mar 2015
Practice drill in a simulated tunnel
Army expects Hezbollah to fight underground in the event of another war, conducts training for detonating tunnel openings and develops new communication equipment.
Less than a year after operations to destroy tunnels built by Hamas, the IDF has been training extensively to prepare for the possibility of similar structures being used by Hezbollah. Sources in the IDF estimate that the Shiite organization will, like Hamas, exploit the advantages of underground tunnels and attempt to kidnap soldiers.
While there has been no specific intelligence pointing to digging of tunnels beyond the northern border, it is believed that Hezbollah will, in the event of a third war in Lebanon, use tunnels against IDF soldiers conducting maneuvers in Lebanese territory.
The IDF seeks to implement lessons learned from Operation Protective Edge. Lieutenant Ethan Fund, who received the Medal of Distinguished Service after following Lieutenant Hadar Goldin into a tunnel in Rafah on "Black Friday", had no ability to communicate with forces above ground for minutes on end.
In recent weeks, the Nahal Brigade's reconnaissance battalion -- the first fighting force to enter Gaza during the ground operation in Operation Protective Edge -- has practiced destroying tunnel openings by blowing up concrete blocks that weight hundreds of kilograms.
A Nahal Brigade officer told Ynet that such concrete slabs were used by Hamas to build and fortify tunnel entrances. "This is a capability with which we will have to contend on the northern front as well," said the officer. "We dedicated a week to demolition training for sappers in order to implement lessons from Operation Protective Edge that are also relevant for Lebanon."
He added that for the first time, the brigade practiced using complex operating systems and special wiring.
Advanced communications and personal weapons
The advanced detonation training was an addition to the reconnaissance unit's concluding week, which included combat drills over an area of scores of kilometers and for 80 hours with no sleep. Training in the Upper Galilee, the soldiers simulated a lengthy exercise in south Lebanon that included locating and destroying long-range rocket launchers and close-range altercations with Hezbollah fighters.
Meanwhile, the Infantry Corps' special engineering forces have been improving their ability to destroy tunnels and fighting inside them by acquiring customized communication equipment that works underground. This equipment was previously the province of elite units such as Sayeret Matkal, whose soldiers served as "tunnel combat contractors" during ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
The army is also considering giving recon units handguns again, after several years in which they were equipped only with personal assault rifles.
A General Staff committee headed by Major General Yossi Becher has been discussing the most effective methods of handling the tunnel threat, as the army was aware of 20-30 tunnels on the eve of Operation Protective Edge but did not prepare a plan for their destruction.
In addition, no combat doctrine was developed to deal with the threat. The result was that many improvised methods – some of which have not been publicized – were used to destroy tunnels, while there were lengthy delays in locating them because of IAF bombardment of areas suspected of containing tunnels.
Army expects Hezbollah to fight underground in the event of another war, conducts training for detonating tunnel openings and develops new communication equipment.
Less than a year after operations to destroy tunnels built by Hamas, the IDF has been training extensively to prepare for the possibility of similar structures being used by Hezbollah. Sources in the IDF estimate that the Shiite organization will, like Hamas, exploit the advantages of underground tunnels and attempt to kidnap soldiers.
While there has been no specific intelligence pointing to digging of tunnels beyond the northern border, it is believed that Hezbollah will, in the event of a third war in Lebanon, use tunnels against IDF soldiers conducting maneuvers in Lebanese territory.
The IDF seeks to implement lessons learned from Operation Protective Edge. Lieutenant Ethan Fund, who received the Medal of Distinguished Service after following Lieutenant Hadar Goldin into a tunnel in Rafah on "Black Friday", had no ability to communicate with forces above ground for minutes on end.
In recent weeks, the Nahal Brigade's reconnaissance battalion -- the first fighting force to enter Gaza during the ground operation in Operation Protective Edge -- has practiced destroying tunnel openings by blowing up concrete blocks that weight hundreds of kilograms.
A Nahal Brigade officer told Ynet that such concrete slabs were used by Hamas to build and fortify tunnel entrances. "This is a capability with which we will have to contend on the northern front as well," said the officer. "We dedicated a week to demolition training for sappers in order to implement lessons from Operation Protective Edge that are also relevant for Lebanon."
He added that for the first time, the brigade practiced using complex operating systems and special wiring.
Advanced communications and personal weapons
The advanced detonation training was an addition to the reconnaissance unit's concluding week, which included combat drills over an area of scores of kilometers and for 80 hours with no sleep. Training in the Upper Galilee, the soldiers simulated a lengthy exercise in south Lebanon that included locating and destroying long-range rocket launchers and close-range altercations with Hezbollah fighters.
Meanwhile, the Infantry Corps' special engineering forces have been improving their ability to destroy tunnels and fighting inside them by acquiring customized communication equipment that works underground. This equipment was previously the province of elite units such as Sayeret Matkal, whose soldiers served as "tunnel combat contractors" during ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
The army is also considering giving recon units handguns again, after several years in which they were equipped only with personal assault rifles.
A General Staff committee headed by Major General Yossi Becher has been discussing the most effective methods of handling the tunnel threat, as the army was aware of 20-30 tunnels on the eve of Operation Protective Edge but did not prepare a plan for their destruction.
In addition, no combat doctrine was developed to deal with the threat. The result was that many improvised methods – some of which have not been publicized – were used to destroy tunnels, while there were lengthy delays in locating them because of IAF bombardment of areas suspected of containing tunnels.
28 feb 2015
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) forces patrolling Lebanon’s southern border
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has suggested that the Israeli regime deliberately targeted a base of UN peacekeeping forces along Lebanon’s southern border last month, in which a peacekeeper was killed.
“The incident happened at a UNIFIL base which is known perfectly by Israeli forces,” Ban said, using the acronym for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
According to Lebanon’s An-Nahar daily on Saturday, Ban also censured the killing of the Spanish peacekeeper who died in the Israeli shelling of the UNIFIL post in January.
During the Israeli raid on the Lebanese border, the observation tower of a Spanish UNIFIL position in Abbasieh, one kilometer east of Ghajar, was directly struck by an artillery shell, killing Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo.
A report submitted to the UN Security Council on Friday by the UN’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag held the Israeli regime “fully liable for the death of the peacekeeper.”
Israel launched the attack after Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah targeted an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms on January 28, killing two soldiers and wounding several others while destroying at least nine Israeli military vehicles.
The attack by Hezbollah was launched in response to an Israeli airstrike in the town of Qunaitra in Syria’s Golan Heights 10 days earlier, which killed several top members of the Lebanese resistance movement and an Iranian commander.
The Israeli attack on the UNIFIL post in January was not the first of its kind.
Four UN observers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their post in Khiam, southern Lebanon, during the 2006 Israeli war on the Arab country. Then-UN chief Kofi Annan said at the time that the attack appeared to be “deliberate.”
A French UN observer was also killed in 2005 near the Shebaa Farms by Israeli tank shelling.
The most notorious Israeli attack, however, came in April 1996, when artillery shells fired by the regime’s forces struck the Fijian battalion headquarters in Qana, killing 107 civilians who had taken refuge at the compound.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has suggested that the Israeli regime deliberately targeted a base of UN peacekeeping forces along Lebanon’s southern border last month, in which a peacekeeper was killed.
“The incident happened at a UNIFIL base which is known perfectly by Israeli forces,” Ban said, using the acronym for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
According to Lebanon’s An-Nahar daily on Saturday, Ban also censured the killing of the Spanish peacekeeper who died in the Israeli shelling of the UNIFIL post in January.
During the Israeli raid on the Lebanese border, the observation tower of a Spanish UNIFIL position in Abbasieh, one kilometer east of Ghajar, was directly struck by an artillery shell, killing Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo.
A report submitted to the UN Security Council on Friday by the UN’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag held the Israeli regime “fully liable for the death of the peacekeeper.”
Israel launched the attack after Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah targeted an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms on January 28, killing two soldiers and wounding several others while destroying at least nine Israeli military vehicles.
The attack by Hezbollah was launched in response to an Israeli airstrike in the town of Qunaitra in Syria’s Golan Heights 10 days earlier, which killed several top members of the Lebanese resistance movement and an Iranian commander.
The Israeli attack on the UNIFIL post in January was not the first of its kind.
Four UN observers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their post in Khiam, southern Lebanon, during the 2006 Israeli war on the Arab country. Then-UN chief Kofi Annan said at the time that the attack appeared to be “deliberate.”
A French UN observer was also killed in 2005 near the Shebaa Farms by Israeli tank shelling.
The most notorious Israeli attack, however, came in April 1996, when artillery shells fired by the regime’s forces struck the Fijian battalion headquarters in Qana, killing 107 civilians who had taken refuge at the compound.
22 feb 2015
Israeli fighter jets have once again violated Lebanon’s airspace, flying at low altitudes over several areas across the Arab country.
According to Lebanese media, the Tel Aviv regime’s warplanes penetrated Lebanese skies on Sunday and flew over the Marjayoun district in the southern governorate of Nabatieh.
In a similar move, Israeli aircraft also descended over the Beqaa valley in eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border.
Israeli warplanes have repeatedly violated Lebanon’s airspace in a breach of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which led to a ceasefire in the war of aggression the Israeli regime waged against Lebanon in 2006 and calls on Tel Aviv to respect Lebanon’s territorial integrity.
In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the United Nations, presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violations of the Lebanese territory.
While Israel regularly carries out aerial maneuvers over Lebanon, it has been also suspected of using the country’s airspace to conduct airstrikes against neighboring Syria on several occasions since March 2011.
According to Lebanese media, the Tel Aviv regime’s warplanes penetrated Lebanese skies on Sunday and flew over the Marjayoun district in the southern governorate of Nabatieh.
In a similar move, Israeli aircraft also descended over the Beqaa valley in eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border.
Israeli warplanes have repeatedly violated Lebanon’s airspace in a breach of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which led to a ceasefire in the war of aggression the Israeli regime waged against Lebanon in 2006 and calls on Tel Aviv to respect Lebanon’s territorial integrity.
In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the United Nations, presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violations of the Lebanese territory.
While Israel regularly carries out aerial maneuvers over Lebanon, it has been also suspected of using the country’s airspace to conduct airstrikes against neighboring Syria on several occasions since March 2011.
14 feb 2015
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has threatened that Israel might launch a new aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a cultural event in Beer Sheva on Saturday, Lieberman said, "Another round of fighting against Hamas in Gaza is a matter of time; changing the current reality and living peacefully need changing the balance of terror with enemies”.
Lieberman renewed his castigation of the Israeli leadership’s performance during last summer’s aggression on Gaza, including both war minister Moshe Yaalon and premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the same context, Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman condemned the Israeli leadership for refraining from responding violently to Hezbollah rocket attack against an Israeli military force in southern Lebanon a few weeks ago, similar to the Jordanian severe response to the burning alive of the Jordanian captive pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh by Islamic State.
Speaking at a cultural event in Beer Sheva on Saturday, Lieberman said, "Another round of fighting against Hamas in Gaza is a matter of time; changing the current reality and living peacefully need changing the balance of terror with enemies”.
Lieberman renewed his castigation of the Israeli leadership’s performance during last summer’s aggression on Gaza, including both war minister Moshe Yaalon and premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the same context, Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman condemned the Israeli leadership for refraining from responding violently to Hezbollah rocket attack against an Israeli military force in southern Lebanon a few weeks ago, similar to the Jordanian severe response to the burning alive of the Jordanian captive pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh by Islamic State.
9 feb 2015
The area of operations by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is safe and secure, the UN peacekeeping mission for the country says.
“UNIFIL’s rules of engagement come in conformity with the mission’s mandate which was set under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter,” the spokesman of the UNIFIL, Andrea Tenenti, said on Monday, adding that the area is “stable and under control.”
Chapter VI of the UN Charter deals with the peaceful resolution of disputes.
UN peacekeepers have consolidated “their presence on the ground and intensified their patrols across their area of operations in coordination with the Lebanese army,” Tenenti added.
Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, a Spanish peacekeeper, was killed on February 4 in what is widely believed to have been Israeli artillery fire.
“Currently, the situation along the Blue Line is calm,” Tenenti added, in reference to the UN border demarcation between Lebanon and Israeli-occupied territories.
“We continue to work to guarantee the full respect of Resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, he said. The resolution, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched on Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ten days before the death of the Spanish peacekeeper, six Hezbollah members and Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, an Iranian general, lost their lives in an Israeli aerial assault on the Syrian section of the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack on an Israeli military convoy in northern occupied territories on January 28, killing two Israeli soldiers and destroying at least nine Israeli military vehicles.
“UNIFIL’s rules of engagement come in conformity with the mission’s mandate which was set under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter,” the spokesman of the UNIFIL, Andrea Tenenti, said on Monday, adding that the area is “stable and under control.”
Chapter VI of the UN Charter deals with the peaceful resolution of disputes.
UN peacekeepers have consolidated “their presence on the ground and intensified their patrols across their area of operations in coordination with the Lebanese army,” Tenenti added.
Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, a Spanish peacekeeper, was killed on February 4 in what is widely believed to have been Israeli artillery fire.
“Currently, the situation along the Blue Line is calm,” Tenenti added, in reference to the UN border demarcation between Lebanon and Israeli-occupied territories.
“We continue to work to guarantee the full respect of Resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, he said. The resolution, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched on Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ten days before the death of the Spanish peacekeeper, six Hezbollah members and Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, an Iranian general, lost their lives in an Israeli aerial assault on the Syrian section of the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack on an Israeli military convoy in northern occupied territories on January 28, killing two Israeli soldiers and destroying at least nine Israeli military vehicles.
5 feb 2015
UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Luciano Portolano salutes coffin of departed Spanish peacekeeper Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo.
The United Nations is set to launch an inquiry into the death of a Spanish peacekeeper in clashes between Lebanon and Israel last month.
A senior UN official said on Wednesday that a fact-finding report by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was already being prepared and its result would be presented to the UN Security Council in the coming days.
"We are straight away launching a board of inquiry to look into the wider aspects of all of this," said the official, who asked not to be named. "These were violations (of ceasefire accords), but we need to know more."
Roman Oyarzun Marchesi, the Spanish envoy to the UN, had earlier asked for a full investigation into the death of the 36-year-old, who Madrid believes was killed by the Israeli regime.
"It was because of this escalation of violence, and it came from the Israeli side," the Spanish envoy told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York City after a Security Council meeting on January 28.
Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo was killed in an exchange of fire between Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah and the Israeli regime earlier in the day.
Ten days earlier, six Hezbollah members and Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, an Iranian general, lost their lives in an Israeli aerial assault on the Syrian section of the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah launched the January 28 retaliatory attack on a military convoy in northern occupied territories, killing two Israeli soldiers and destroying at least nine Israeli military vehicles.
The United Nations is set to launch an inquiry into the death of a Spanish peacekeeper in clashes between Lebanon and Israel last month.
A senior UN official said on Wednesday that a fact-finding report by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was already being prepared and its result would be presented to the UN Security Council in the coming days.
"We are straight away launching a board of inquiry to look into the wider aspects of all of this," said the official, who asked not to be named. "These were violations (of ceasefire accords), but we need to know more."
Roman Oyarzun Marchesi, the Spanish envoy to the UN, had earlier asked for a full investigation into the death of the 36-year-old, who Madrid believes was killed by the Israeli regime.
"It was because of this escalation of violence, and it came from the Israeli side," the Spanish envoy told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York City after a Security Council meeting on January 28.
Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo was killed in an exchange of fire between Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah and the Israeli regime earlier in the day.
Ten days earlier, six Hezbollah members and Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, an Iranian general, lost their lives in an Israeli aerial assault on the Syrian section of the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah launched the January 28 retaliatory attack on a military convoy in northern occupied territories, killing two Israeli soldiers and destroying at least nine Israeli military vehicles.
2 feb 2015
Debris is seen after a blast rips through a bus carrying Shia pilgrims in a central district of the Syrian capital Damascus on February 1, 2015
Lebanon has denounced a bomb attack in the Syrian capital Damascus, which claimed the lives of at least nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassi issued a statement on Monday censuring the attack as a “cowardly act”. He also sent condolences to the families of the victims.
At least 20 other Lebanese people sustained injuries in the explosion which happened on a bus in the central district of Souq al-Hamadiyeh in Damascus.
The Lebanese foreign minister further wished for quick recovery of the wounded.
The bus was carrying Shia pilgrims who were visiting holy sites in Damascus.
Hezbollah’s condemnation
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah also released a statement to hit out at the deadly attack.
Hezbollah said in the statement that such an act of terrorism parallels “barbarism”, noting that the attack serves the plots of the Tel Aviv regime in the region.
"This brutal bombing represents evidence of the barbarism that is simmering in the hearts of those terrorists who are serving the criminal Zionist entity and achieving its scheme," Hezbollah said.
Hezbollah further urged bringing to justice the perpetrators of the attack, calling those behind it criminals in the hands of the Israeli regime.
“Bombings, destruction of shrines and vandalizing sanctities carried out by those criminals around the world must be the catalyst for all the rational and vital forces of the nation and of the world to focus efforts on fighting" and terminating all those who have become "a criminal tool in the hands of the Zionist entity," Hezbollah underlined.
"This bombing is an episode of a series of bombings that target pilgrims in Syria, civilians in Iraq and worshipers in Pakistan, and claim the lives of dozens of martyrs", Hezbollah said.
No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, which took place near an ancient citadel but such attacks on civilians are usually carried out by Takfiri militants operating against the Syrian government.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fueled by Takfiri groups has so far claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, according to reports. New figures show that over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, lost their lives in Syria last year.
Over 7.2 million Syrians have also become internally displaced due to the ongoing crisis, according to the United Nations.
The Takfiri terrorist groups, with members from several Western countries, control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
Lebanon has denounced a bomb attack in the Syrian capital Damascus, which claimed the lives of at least nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassi issued a statement on Monday censuring the attack as a “cowardly act”. He also sent condolences to the families of the victims.
At least 20 other Lebanese people sustained injuries in the explosion which happened on a bus in the central district of Souq al-Hamadiyeh in Damascus.
The Lebanese foreign minister further wished for quick recovery of the wounded.
The bus was carrying Shia pilgrims who were visiting holy sites in Damascus.
Hezbollah’s condemnation
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah also released a statement to hit out at the deadly attack.
Hezbollah said in the statement that such an act of terrorism parallels “barbarism”, noting that the attack serves the plots of the Tel Aviv regime in the region.
"This brutal bombing represents evidence of the barbarism that is simmering in the hearts of those terrorists who are serving the criminal Zionist entity and achieving its scheme," Hezbollah said.
Hezbollah further urged bringing to justice the perpetrators of the attack, calling those behind it criminals in the hands of the Israeli regime.
“Bombings, destruction of shrines and vandalizing sanctities carried out by those criminals around the world must be the catalyst for all the rational and vital forces of the nation and of the world to focus efforts on fighting" and terminating all those who have become "a criminal tool in the hands of the Zionist entity," Hezbollah underlined.
"This bombing is an episode of a series of bombings that target pilgrims in Syria, civilians in Iraq and worshipers in Pakistan, and claim the lives of dozens of martyrs", Hezbollah said.
No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, which took place near an ancient citadel but such attacks on civilians are usually carried out by Takfiri militants operating against the Syrian government.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fueled by Takfiri groups has so far claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, according to reports. New figures show that over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, lost their lives in Syria last year.
Over 7.2 million Syrians have also become internally displaced due to the ongoing crisis, according to the United Nations.
The Takfiri terrorist groups, with members from several Western countries, control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
1 feb 2015
Israel’s foreign minister has described as "inevitable" a third war with Lebanon and a fourth aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip in the wake of a recent retaliatory attack by Hezbollah.
“A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable,” Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview with Israel’s Ynet on Sunday.
“There’s no doubt the rules of the game have been changed, what Hezbollah forced upon us. We don’t respond, but rather decide to contain this incident,” Lieberman said, adding that the Lebanese resistance movement is “more determined.”
The Israeli official also said that another war on the Gaza Strip was on the horizon, adding that Hamas was already rebuilding its military capacities.
“We saw 10 rockets being fired at the sea last week. We see every week how they’re rebuilding [their arsenal],” he said, referring to the Palestinian resistance movement.
Hezbollah killed two Israeli soldiers and destroyed at least nine Israeli military vehicles in a retaliatory attack on a military convoy in northern occupied territories on January 28. Tel Aviv said a 20-year-old sergeant and a 25-year-old captain were killed.
Following the attack, Hezbollah said the move was in retaliation for Israel’s January 18 attack on the Syrian section of Golan Heights, where six Hezbollah members and an Iranian commander lost their lives.
Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of martyred Hezbollah top commander, Imad Mughniyeh, was among those killed in the attack.
“A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable,” Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview with Israel’s Ynet on Sunday.
“There’s no doubt the rules of the game have been changed, what Hezbollah forced upon us. We don’t respond, but rather decide to contain this incident,” Lieberman said, adding that the Lebanese resistance movement is “more determined.”
The Israeli official also said that another war on the Gaza Strip was on the horizon, adding that Hamas was already rebuilding its military capacities.
“We saw 10 rockets being fired at the sea last week. We see every week how they’re rebuilding [their arsenal],” he said, referring to the Palestinian resistance movement.
Hezbollah killed two Israeli soldiers and destroyed at least nine Israeli military vehicles in a retaliatory attack on a military convoy in northern occupied territories on January 28. Tel Aviv said a 20-year-old sergeant and a 25-year-old captain were killed.
Following the attack, Hezbollah said the move was in retaliation for Israel’s January 18 attack on the Syrian section of Golan Heights, where six Hezbollah members and an Iranian commander lost their lives.
Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of martyred Hezbollah top commander, Imad Mughniyeh, was among those killed in the attack.
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A delegation from the Hamas Movement on Saturday held a meeting with senior Hezbollah officials in Beirut and discussed different issues of mutual interest.
The Hamas delegation was led by Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, deputy director of the Movement's political relations. The two sides discussed the situation in the region in light of the recent Israeli attacks and the role of the resistance in confronting the occupation and curbing its aggression. They also tackled the Palestinian-Lebanese relations and agreed on the need to protect security and stability in the country. |
The meeting was part of the Movement's efforts to communicate with different Lebanese parties in order to organize the issue of the Palestinian refugees in the country and promote the strong relations between Palestine and Lebanon.
