US senator demands more be done to free US teen from Israeli detention
US Senator Chris Van Hollen released a video statement demanding more be done to secure the release of US teen Mohammed Ibrahim who has been detained in an Israeli prison for nine months without trial. The senator has learned that the Florida-born boy has been beaten and lost weight.
Israel attacks Lebanon’s capital, says top Hezbollah official ‘eliminated’
The Israeli military has launched an attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, killing at least five people and wounding 28 others, Lebanon’s health ministry says, calling it a “final toll”.
In a statement shortly on Sunday, the Israeli military said it “eliminated” Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai in the strike on an apartment block in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office earlier said Tabatabai was the target of the attack. Israeli media said it was the military’s third attempt to kill him since last year’s war.
Hezbollah has yet to confirm if Tabatabai was injured or killed in the attack.
However, senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati confirmed a central figure from the group was targeted, saying Israel’s strike crossed a “red line” and that the group’s leadership was considering whether it would respond.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that two missiles were fired at the apartment building on al-Arid Street in Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Dahiyeh, and significant damage was inflicted on cars and surrounding buildings.
Ambulances arrived immediately at the scene and transported the injured to nearby hospitals, it said. A large plume of smoke could be seen in the busy neighbourhood, according to the local media.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the international community to intervene firmly to stop the Israeli attacks on the country. In a statement on Sunday, Aoun said Lebanon “reiterates its call to the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people”.
Israel attacks Beirut suburb two days after Lebanon agreed for talks
Israel has attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs only two days after Lebanon’s president announced the country had succumbed to an Israeli pressure campaign and agreed to hold negotiations.
Israeli officials and media have warned of a renewed escalation against Lebanon in recent weeks, claiming Hezbollah is regrouping and rearming. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s government has come under pressure from Israel via its main benefactor, the United States, as both countries urge it to move faster to disarm Hezbollah and meet with Israelis for direct talks.
Despite an ostensible ceasefire, Israel has intensified attacks in Lebanon’s south and Bekaa Valley in recent days. At least 13 people were killed by an Israeli strike on Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp last week, in an attack that killed mostly children and marked the highest death toll in a single strike since a ceasefire was agreed in November last year.
Israel has killed more than 300 people in Lebanon since then, including around 127 civilians, according to the United Nations. It also continues to occupy at least five points in south Lebanon, despite the ceasefire stating Israel would withdraw its troops from Lebanese territory.
“The problem is that Israel is not interested in negotiating at the moment. It wants to eliminate Hezbollah or push the Lebanese army into a clash with the party,” Kassem Kassir, a Lebanese journalist close to Hezbollah, told Al Jazeera.
“Every time Aoun or [Prime Minister Nawaf] Salam talk about negotiations, Israel escalates its aggression.”
