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Lebanese president condemns Israeli attacks on country’s south
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has denounced today’s wave of Israeli air strikes as a “heinous political crime”.
“What Israel committed today in southern Lebanon constitutes a full-fledged crime under international humanitarian law, which criminalizes the targeting, terrorising, and forced displacement of civilians,” Aoun said in a statement.
“Nearly a year has passed since the ceasefire took effect, and during that period Israel has spared no effort in showing its rejection of any negotiated settlement between the two countries,” Aoun added.
The Lebanese army also condemned the Israeli attacks as “a continuation of the enemy’s destructive approach aimed at undermining Lebanon’s stability, expanding devastation in the south, and prolonging the war to maintain the threat against the Lebanese people”.
Tensions have been mounting in southern Lebanon for weeks, with the Israeli army intensifying near-daily air raids despite its November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah.
The Israeli army has killed more than 4,000 people and injured nearly 17,000 in its attacks on Lebanon, which began in October 2023 and turned into a full-scale offensive in September 2024.
‘Anxiety’ surrounds Syrian president’s upcoming visit to Lebanon
We have more from former US diplomat Nabeel Khoury, who has been speaking to Al Jazeera as Israel continues to attack both Gaza and Lebanon despite ceasefires in place.
Khoury said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa upcoming visit to neighbouring Lebanon “is being looked at with a lot of anxiety” amid the attacks.
The issue has been widely debated in the media and political circles, especially in Lebanon, Khoury noted, with some of the rhetoric echoing claims by right-wing Israeli ministers suggesting possible Israeli-Syrian collaboration against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He added that al-Sharaa has been “cozying up” to Israel, with discussions under way about possible normalisation.
“This cannot be good news for Lebanon,” Khoury said, explaining that it puts a lot of pressure – particularly from US President Trump’s administration – for Lebanon to follow suit.
“I see the visit, and the Israeli bombings, as more warnings,” he said.
UN Security Council lifts sanctions on Syria’s president
The council has voted to remove sanctions on Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian president who is due to meet Trump at the White House on Monday.
The US-drafted resolution, which also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab, received 14 votes in favour. China abstained.
“The US really wanted to push this through before al-Sharaa visits Washington next week,” Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reported from UN headquarters in New York.
Al-Sharaa previously headed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an armed opposition group that led the uprising that ousted Syria’s longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December of last year.
Formerly known as the Nusra Front, HTS was al-Qaeda’s official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. The group had been on a UN sanctions list since May 2014.
