Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

[SvennoJ]

Reports conflict on cause of damage in Tel Aviv after drone attack launched from Lebanon

Air raid sirens blared throughout the Tel Aviv area on Friday night as drones launched from Lebanon made their way towards central Israel.

That’s according to Israel’s army in a statement that they put out about the incident saying that two UAVs – unmanned aerial vehicles – were identified crossing from Lebanon into central Israel. The UAVs were monitored from the moment they crossed the Lebanese border. A hit on a civilian building was identified and one UAV was intercepted.

There is video showing that the building was hit but there were conflicting reports in various Israeli media outlets as to what exactly caused that damage.

Some suggested that perhaps it was one of those drones. Others suggested perhaps it was fragments of those drones after they had been intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems. Other reports wondered if perhaps that damage might have been caused by an Israeli interceptor missile that had tried to intercept that drone as it was over Herzliya.

The Israeli army has said that the incident is under investigation. So we expect to be hearing more from the Israeli army as to how exactly these drones got there at a time of heightened concern and when we have heard more and more over these past few days of more rockets being launched from Lebanon towards either central Israel or towards northern Israel.

Ireland’s PM tells Israel to ‘stop firing’ at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

Ireland’s Taoiseach Simon Harris has told Israel its forces must stop firing on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

“Israel must stop firing on UN peacekeepers serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon,” the Irish leader said in a statement late on Friday, the latest comments by Ireland on Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon that have ignited a fierce diplomatic backlash against Dublin.

“Israel must listen to the voice and the concerns of the international community,” Harris said.

Harris, who visited US President Joe Biden earlier in the week, said in the statement he and Biden “agreed that those who serve in Blue Helmets on behalf of the UN must always be afforded full protection”.

He also said he would raise the situation in Lebanon with EU colleagues during a European Council meeting this week.

Ireland accounts for 347 of the 10,000 soldiers serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, which is charged with maintaining peace in the south of Lebanon.

Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were hurt at UNIFIL’s main base in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, on Friday following two Indonesian soldiers suffering injuries when Israeli tank fire hit a UN watchtower the previous day, the mission said.

_{A UN vehicle at Camp Shamrock where Irish and Polish peacekeepers are stationed near Maroun al-Ras village close to the Israeli border, in southern Lebanon, in November 2023}

Lebanese army announces 2 soldiers killed by Israeli forces

The Lebanese military announced on Friday that two soldiers were killed and three others injured after Israeli forces targeted a military centre in the town of Kafra in Bint Jbeil district, southern Lebanon.

At least eight soldiers from Lebanon’s military have now been killed since the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel erupted in October 2023.

In response to the Israeli attack, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a “global stand of conscience to put an end to this aggression”. “This persistent Israeli crime against Lebanon today did not spare brave soldiers who are carrying out their national duty to protect the land and defend the people,” he said.

_{Lebanese soldiers stand next to debris at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs in September, 2024}

It's a bizarre situation. The country is under wide attack, yet the official army is not allowed to defend themselves nor the country...