Israel ‘lacks evidence’ for claims Hezbollah trying to rearm
Israel lacks evidence backing its claims that Hezbollah is trying to rearm, which it used as justification for the assassination of a top commander in Beirut, an academic says.
Speaking from Beirut, Imad Salamey of the Lebanese American University said Hezbollah’s statements that it would not give up its arms were being read by Israel that it was rearming itself.
“There is no substantial proof for that,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that according to the Lebanese government and UN forces in southern Lebanon, “there hasn’t been any kind of evidence showing that Hezbollah is rebuilding its bases or rearming itself, at least south of the Litani River.”
He said the group says it is willing to disarm south of the river and has no intention of rebuilding its military capabilities there.
Israeli army launches training ‘exercise’ in Golan Heights
The Israeli army has started a large-scale training exercise in the occupied Golan Heights, claiming to prepare itself for “a variety of scenarios” along the Syrian border.
In a statement, the army said it had started “conducting a Chief of Staff test as part of a headquarters exercise”, with the drill running from Monday morning and for the next two days.
It warned residents that there will be a noticeable movement of troops and vehicles in the Golan and surrounding valleys, with explosions and increased aircraft activity expected.
Syria has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military presence in the area, with Damascus denouncing a visit by Netanyahu to the country’s south last week, where he met troops stationed on Syrian land Israel has occupied for months.
Israel has maintained troop deployments in the UN-patrolled buffer zone since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, breaching Syrian sovereignty with air raids, ground infiltration operations, reconnaissance overflights, the establishment of checkpoints, and the arrest and disappearance of Syrian citizens.
Israeli forces launch incursion into southern Syria
The Israeli army has launched an incursion into the countryside of Quneitra in southern Syria with five vehicles entering Syrian territory.
The incursion followed a similar raid on Sunday and came after the Israeli army announced it had started a large-scale training exercise in the occupied Golan Heights to prepare itself for “a variety of scenarios” along the Syrian border.
