7 feb 2019
The Israeli army arrested a Lebanese national on Wednesday evening for illegally crossing the border between Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 and Lebanon.
“The army arrested the suspect for infiltrating Israel from Lebanon," Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said in a statement quoted by Anadolu News Agency.
The Lebanese citizen whose name was not given was arrested as he attempted to creep into Israeli-occupied territories.
The Lebanese national's reason for crossing the border remains unclear.
In recent months, the Israeli army has waged a wide-ranging campaign along the Lebanese border with aim of uncovering alleged tunnels believed to have been dug by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
“The army arrested the suspect for infiltrating Israel from Lebanon," Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said in a statement quoted by Anadolu News Agency.
The Lebanese citizen whose name was not given was arrested as he attempted to creep into Israeli-occupied territories.
The Lebanese national's reason for crossing the border remains unclear.
In recent months, the Israeli army has waged a wide-ranging campaign along the Lebanese border with aim of uncovering alleged tunnels believed to have been dug by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
23 jan 2019
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The Lebanese security authorities on Tuesday announced the arrest of a person accused of being involved in the attempted assassination of a senior Hamas official in early 2018.
In a statement, the Lebanese army said that the intelligence directorate was able to arrest, on January 21, 2019 in Sharhabil area of Sidon city, Hussein Ahmed Battu, whose mission was to monitor and gather information about Hamas official Mohamed Hamdan before the failed attempt to assassinate him on January 14, 2018 through detonating his car. According to the army’s statement, the detainee confessed to working as a spy for the Israeli intelligence apparatus, Mossad, since 2014 and that he met with his handlers outside Lebanon and received from them equipment |
he used to monitor the Hamas official.
He also confessed that he started to monitor Hamdan in the summer of 2017 and provided his handlers with the needed information that led up to the day when another group was assigned by the Mossad to assassinate the target.
He also confessed that he started to monitor Hamdan in the summer of 2017 and provided his handlers with the needed information that led up to the day when another group was assigned by the Mossad to assassinate the target.
13 jan 2019
The Israeli military claimed on Sunday that the sixth and final tunnel dug by Hezbollah for cross-border attacks has been unraveled by Israeli troops, saying it was wrapping up its operation along the Lebanese border.
The Israeli military spokesman said in a statement that the final tunnel was running from Ramyeh village, south of Lebanon, into Palestinian territory occupied in 1948.
Israel launched the “Operation Northern Shield” early last month to detect and destroy what it alleged is a vast network of Hezbollah tunnels aimed for militants to sneak across the border and carry out attacks.
The spokesman said the latest tunnel, originating from the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh, was 55 meters deep and ran 800 meters inside Lebanese territory and also “dozens” of meters into Israel. It included stairs, a rail system and a wide a passageway that allowed for the movement of equipment and a large number of forces.
The tunnel would be destroyed in the coming days, he said, adding that while more tunnels still existed on the Lebanese side of the border, this effectively marked the end of the military operation.
“We have achieved the goal that we set out to achieve a month and a half ago,” he said. “According to our intelligence, there are no longer any cross-border attack tunnels into Israel.”
He said the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, had been updated on the latest development.
The military said its forces would stay deployed along the border area to monitor for any other possible underground activity, and said it holds the Lebanese government responsible for everything happening in its territory.
The Israeli military spokesman said in a statement that the final tunnel was running from Ramyeh village, south of Lebanon, into Palestinian territory occupied in 1948.
Israel launched the “Operation Northern Shield” early last month to detect and destroy what it alleged is a vast network of Hezbollah tunnels aimed for militants to sneak across the border and carry out attacks.
The spokesman said the latest tunnel, originating from the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh, was 55 meters deep and ran 800 meters inside Lebanese territory and also “dozens” of meters into Israel. It included stairs, a rail system and a wide a passageway that allowed for the movement of equipment and a large number of forces.
The tunnel would be destroyed in the coming days, he said, adding that while more tunnels still existed on the Lebanese side of the border, this effectively marked the end of the military operation.
“We have achieved the goal that we set out to achieve a month and a half ago,” he said. “According to our intelligence, there are no longer any cross-border attack tunnels into Israel.”
He said the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, had been updated on the latest development.
The military said its forces would stay deployed along the border area to monitor for any other possible underground activity, and said it holds the Lebanese government responsible for everything happening in its territory.
12 jan 2019
Syrian state news agency says Israeli jets hit ammunition warehouse at Damascus airport, adding most Israeli missiles intercepted by Syrian air defenses; Syrian Observatory says Israel also targeted Hezbollah missile deport in Al-Kiswah area.
Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles reportedly fired by Israeli fighter jets on Friday night, according to state news agency SANA, causing damage but no casualties.
SANA reported that "over eight targets" exploded over the capital of Damascus, saying Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the Israeli missiles.
An ammunition warehouse at the Damascus airport was reportedly hit, but a Syrian Transport Ministry official said to SANA airport activity continues as normal.
"At 11:15 before midnight Israeli warplanes coming from Al-Jalil area launched many missiles towards Damascus area and our air defenses intercepted them and downed most of them," a Syrian military source said to SANA.
Syrian state media broadcast footage of what it said were the air defenses firing, with bright lights seen shooting across the night sky. Explosions were heard in one of the videos.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attack targeted missile depots that belong to Hezbollah in the Al-Kiswah area as well as the Damascus airport.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the attack was broader than usual, targeting areas ranging from the eastern Damascus suburb of Dmeir to Al-Kiswah south of capital all the way to the village of Dimas in the west near the Lebanon border. It also said Israeli fighter jets were also operating in Lebanese airspace.
Israel has mounted attacks in Syria as part of its effort to counter the influence carved out there by Iran, which has supported President Bashar Assad in the war that erupted in 2011.
The last Israeli attack reported by Syrian state media was on December 25, when a missile attack wounded three Syrian soldiers. It was the most extensive airstrike since a Russian intelligence plane was accidentally shot down during an Israeli strike.
An Israeli official said the air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations. He said the targets were primarily storage and logistics facilities used by Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah.
Russia criticized Israel's "provocative" strike, saying it directly threatened two civilian flights. Russia's Ministry of Defense, which did not specify which flights had been threatened, added that Syrian air defenses had destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles launched by six F-16 jets against unspecified targets near Damascus.
Lebanon's acting Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos confirmed Russia's account, saying the two airplanes in Lebanese airspace "narrowly" escaped Israeli warplanes, averting a "human catastrophe." Fenianos said Lebanon will present a complaint to the UN Security Council.
Russia said the Syrian military didn't fully engage its air defense assets to avoid accidentally hitting the passenger jets, adding that Syrian air traffic controllers redirected the Damascus-bound plane to a Russian air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
An Israeli official said it was Syrian air defenses that endangered the civilian planes, by firing 30 missiles in response to the airstrike. He also said that Iranian forces are operating less than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Israeli border, contrary to Russian assurances.
A senior Israeli official said in September Israel had carried out more than 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria in the last two years.
Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles reportedly fired by Israeli fighter jets on Friday night, according to state news agency SANA, causing damage but no casualties.
SANA reported that "over eight targets" exploded over the capital of Damascus, saying Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the Israeli missiles.
An ammunition warehouse at the Damascus airport was reportedly hit, but a Syrian Transport Ministry official said to SANA airport activity continues as normal.
"At 11:15 before midnight Israeli warplanes coming from Al-Jalil area launched many missiles towards Damascus area and our air defenses intercepted them and downed most of them," a Syrian military source said to SANA.
Syrian state media broadcast footage of what it said were the air defenses firing, with bright lights seen shooting across the night sky. Explosions were heard in one of the videos.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attack targeted missile depots that belong to Hezbollah in the Al-Kiswah area as well as the Damascus airport.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the attack was broader than usual, targeting areas ranging from the eastern Damascus suburb of Dmeir to Al-Kiswah south of capital all the way to the village of Dimas in the west near the Lebanon border. It also said Israeli fighter jets were also operating in Lebanese airspace.
Israel has mounted attacks in Syria as part of its effort to counter the influence carved out there by Iran, which has supported President Bashar Assad in the war that erupted in 2011.
The last Israeli attack reported by Syrian state media was on December 25, when a missile attack wounded three Syrian soldiers. It was the most extensive airstrike since a Russian intelligence plane was accidentally shot down during an Israeli strike.
An Israeli official said the air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations. He said the targets were primarily storage and logistics facilities used by Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah.
Russia criticized Israel's "provocative" strike, saying it directly threatened two civilian flights. Russia's Ministry of Defense, which did not specify which flights had been threatened, added that Syrian air defenses had destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles launched by six F-16 jets against unspecified targets near Damascus.
Lebanon's acting Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos confirmed Russia's account, saying the two airplanes in Lebanese airspace "narrowly" escaped Israeli warplanes, averting a "human catastrophe." Fenianos said Lebanon will present a complaint to the UN Security Council.
Russia said the Syrian military didn't fully engage its air defense assets to avoid accidentally hitting the passenger jets, adding that Syrian air traffic controllers redirected the Damascus-bound plane to a Russian air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
An Israeli official said it was Syrian air defenses that endangered the civilian planes, by firing 30 missiles in response to the airstrike. He also said that Iranian forces are operating less than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Israeli border, contrary to Russian assurances.
A senior Israeli official said in September Israel had carried out more than 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria in the last two years.
