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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ 1 day ago

Israel blocking US doctors, nurses from leaving Gaza: Report

The Zeteo news website is reporting that Israeli authorities are denying permission for 11 American doctors and nurses to leave northern Gaza.

The health workers from the humanitarian organisation Rahma were meant to leave Gaza on Wednesday but Israeli authorities said that was not possible due to an unspecified “incident” at a security checkpoint, the outlet reported.

Israeli authorities are also preventing another larger team of health workers from Rahma from entering Gaza, Zeteo added.



‘Why are they treating us like this?’

As we’ve been reporting, Israeli forces have opened fire on Palestinians seeking to return to northern Gaza on Saturday. Palestinians there are calling for pressure on Israel to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire deal.

“We are calling for help now,” said Muhammad Al-Ghazali, who was displaced from Gaza City. “People are suffering, waiting, without food, drink, or anything. They are all waiting to return to Gaza City,” he said.

Khaled Abed, who was displaced from the Shati refugee camp, said he would stay put until he was allowed to go north. “I’m waiting. And I’m staying until the morning, until they open the road and I return,” he said. “Why are they treating us like this?”

According to Palestinian officials, there are some 650,000 displaced people waiting to return to the north.


Palestinian families wait early on Sunday morning on al-Rashid Street in central Gaza, as Israeli forces delay reopening access to the north of the Gaza Strip



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SvennoJ 1 day ago

Uncertainty in Lebanon after Israel delays troop withdrawal

We are in Borj Al Mlouk, a village in southern Lebanon, roughly 4km (2.5) from the border with Israel. Earlier on Saturday, Israeli forces on bulldozers approached the village and closed one of the main roads using earthmounds and barricades.

The Israeli military will not be pulling out from territory along the border, in line with a ceasefire agreement that set a 60-day deadline. They are supposed to leave Lebanon by early Sunday, but the Israeli prime minister is saying Lebanon is not upholding its side of the agreement. He is claiming that the Lebanese army is still not able to ensure that Hezbollah does not establish its military presence along the border.

Now, Lebanese officials are demanding that Israel respects that ceasefire agreement. They believe these are excuses and that the army is not able to deploy simply because of the presence of Israeli troops.

Israel’s position is supported by the Trump administration, with the White House saying that “there is an urgent need for a short and temporary extension” of that ceasefire deal.

So, the White House is saying that Israeli troops have to stay in Lebanon longer because, according to them, Hezbollah is still a threat.

There’s a lot of uncertainty about the continued stability of this ceasefire agreement, but Lebanon has few choices. The army is weak and Hezbollah has been severely weakened.

But tens of thousands of people want to return to their homes and the army has set up checkpoints across southern Lebanon and is only allowing people to visit their homes where Israeli forces have left.

So, this ceasefire agreement is really a test. A test of whether the state can extend its authority across southern Lebanon.


Macron says Lebanon ceasefire commitments ‘must be honoured as soon as possible’

The French president spoke with his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun, about “their common concerns” regarding deadlines in the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a statement by Emanuel Macron’s office.

The call came after Israel announced it would not withdraw from southern Lebanon by Monday as stipulated by the ceasefire agreement.

Macron also said Israel and Hezbollah must honour their commitments “as soon as possible” to ensure that Lebanon regains “sovereignty over the entire territory”.

Israel was meant to fully withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days of signing the agreement with Hezbollah, which was brokered by the US and France.

But the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said on Saturday that it would not be meeting the deadline, while The Times of Israel reported the White House has called for a “short, temporary extension”.



SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Trump floats plan to ‘just clean out’ Gaza

More on Trump’s comments on board Air Force One.

Earlier, Reuters reported that the US president had said he wants Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians from Gaza. Now, the Associated Press news agency is reporting that Trump wants Arab nations to take enough of the enclave’s population to “just clean out” the war-torn area.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” he said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”

He said such a mass movement of Palestinians “could be temporary or long term”, and added that the area of the world that encompasses Gaza has “had many, many conflicts” over centuries.

“Something has to happen,” Trump said. “But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.

“So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”


Ben-Gvir hails Trump’s Gaza ‘clean-out’ idea

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s former national security minister who has a history of making outrage-inciting comments and provoking Palestinians, has welcomed Trump’s suggestion to “clean out” Gaza.

“Congratulations to US President Trump on the initiative to transfer residents from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt,” said Ben-Gvir, who resigned from his role earlier this month, in protest of the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

“One of our demands from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to encourage voluntary immigration, and when the president of the world’s largest power, Trump, himself raises the idea, it would be wise for the Israeli government to implement it – encourage immigration now!”

Palestinians have long rejected suggestions that they should leave their ancestral homes and land, even in the face of relentless attacks, settler encroachment and economic dispossession.

Voluntary migration wtf.


Israel seeks to ‘ethnically cleanse as much of Gaza as possible

Abdullah Al-Arian, a Middle East specialist at Georgetown University in Qatar, says President Trump’s comments asking Egypt and Jordan to accept 1.5 million war-displaced Palestinians from Gaza is a credible threat and not just an off-the-cuff remark.

“There’s reason to take it seriously in part because we’ve seen this specific demand being made over the last year. This is something many Israeli officials indicated very early on in the course of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza is that they sought to ethnically cleanse as much of that territory as possible,” al-Arian told Al Jazeera.

“That plan has failed for multiple reasons with Arab leaders who were approached at that time simply declining to take on additional Palestinian refugee populations.”

The Palestinians themselves were also not interested in another “mass ethnic cleansing”, he added.

“They know all too well what it means to leave their home and what the status of Palestinian refugees has looked like for the past 70 years.”


Donald Trump’s plan to clear out Gaza ‘not a solution’

Alon Liel, a former director-general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, expressed concern over US President Trump’s suggestion that Egypt and Jordan should take in 1.5 million Palestinians from Gaza.

“Comments from the president are very surprising. I think he didn’t study the situation enough, and such comments are running against the mood here in the Middle East – in Egypt, in Jordan, and even in Israel. So I think he should check himself. I don’t think this is a solution,” Liel told Al Jazeera.

“In the past, he’s said things that nobody thought he’d carry out and he did. I hope this time he’ll check with the leadership of the region and withdraw from these ideas. These ideas can further complicate not only our conflict with the Palestinians, but the whole situation in the region.

“So I hope it’s just an initial feeling of his and once he talks to the CIA and State Department he’ll withdraw.”

Not surprising at all after his previous statements to turn Gaza into Dubai.



SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Will the ceasefire deal hold and progress?

More from Sami Abu Shahadeh, the former member of the Israeli Knesset.

The commentator said he believes the ceasefire will continue. But Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, will seek to delay the implementation of each of the three stages in order to gain more time and stay on as the country’s prime minister, said Abu Shahadeh.

“Unfortunately, this criminal of war is running the whole Israeli state according to his political interests,” he said.

“I think his main political interest now is to survive till the summer vacation of the Knesset that starts on July 28 and ends after the end of all the Hebrew feasts at the end of October,” he said.

And if Netanyahu is successful in prolonging the ceasefire talks till the end of July, “it means he will continue being a prime minister, at least till the beginning of 2026”.

Abu Shahadeh added:

“He has elections at the end of 2026, so I think in each period, in each part of the ceasefire talks, Netanyahu will try to win a few more days in order to get to this. But the whole issue here is that there’s a dangerous prime minister, criminal of war, wanted by the ICC, running the whole state according to his own personal political interests.”

And now joined by a criminal running the US...

Trump confirms releasing US hold on heavy bombs to Israel

The US president, speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, confirmed that he has instructed the military to lift the hold on the supply of 2,000-pound (900kg) bombs to Israel.

“We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage,” Trump said.

Asked why he lifted the ban on those bombs, Trump responded, “Because they bought them.”

As we’ve been reporting, the Biden administration had halted the delivery of the heavy bombs last May, citing concern over harm to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

They 'bought them' with US tax payer money...

Israeli minister praises Trump for US delivery of big bombs

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar thanked US President Donald Trump for authorising the release of a shipment of 2,000-pound (900kg) bombs to Israel that had previously been halted by the Biden administration.

“Thank you President Trump for yet another display of leadership by releasing the crucial defence shipment to Israel,” Saar said on X. The Middle East is safer when “Israel has what it needs to defend itself”, he added.

The MK-84 is a 2,000-pound ordnance and one of the heaviest pieces provided to Israel by the United States. The US suspended MK-84 supplies in May, worried Israel may use them to assault southern Gaza’s Rafah, which Israel proceeded to invade.

Armies tend to use the MK-84 sparingly but Israel is reported to have used it heavily on Gaza.


PM Netanyahu: France assures that Israeli firms can take part in Paris Air Show

The Israeli prime minister’s office says French President Emmanuel Macron has given him assurances that Israeli companies will be able to take part in the Paris Air Show.

The two had a phone conversation during which the assurance was given, according to a statement. Israeli defence companies were last year banned from participating in a defence industry exhibition held in Paris as Macron called for Israel to cease some military operations in Gaza.

The ban led to a strain in relations although a French court in October overturned a government ban on Israeli companies taking part in a naval arms exhibition near Paris.

The Paris Air Show, the world’s largest, is held every two years, alternating every other year with Farnborough in the UK. It is due to take place from June 16 until June 22. Leading aerospace, aviation and defence companies from around the world typically take part in both.



SvennoJ 13 hours ago

‘My heart is split in two’: The women waiting to return to northern Gaza

Inshirah Darabeh has just one thought on her mind as she prepares to leave the home of her in-laws near Deir el-Balah and travel to her home in Gaza City: finding the body of her daughter, Maram, and giving her a dignified burial.

“I am not going back to find my home. All I want is to find her grave and put her name on a tombstone,” she says. Inshirah, 55, will walk more than 10km (6 miles) through rubble and bomb craters to reach her home. She thinks it will take at least three hours.

Inshirah is overwhelmed with mixed feelings of dread, pain and relief, she says, as she finally leaves the place she has sheltered in for the past year from Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, which has left more than 46,000 Palestinians dead and many thousands more unaccounted for and assumed dead under the rubble. Most of those killed have been women and children.


Israeli military again warns Palestinians against returning to north Gaza

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, has issued a statement on X, warning Palestinians seeking to return to north Gaza against approaching the so-called Netzarim Corridor.

He blamed the delay in reopening the area on “Hamas’s breach of the ceasefire agreement”.

Adraee said the corridor will not reopen until the dispute over the release of Israeli captive Arbel Yehud is resolved between mediators and the Israeli authorities.

As we’ve been reporting, Hamas has said the delay in freeing Yehud was a technical issue. Reuters, citing a Hamas official, said the group had informed mediators that Yehud is alive and will be freed next Saturday.


‘We’re the rightful owners of the land’: Palestinians await north Gaza return

Palestinians gathered along al-Rashid Street are hoping to return to northern Gaza even if the area is in ruins from Israeli military attacks over the past 15 months.

“We have been here since last night and we are here, adamant to return, even if we live on the ruins of our home,” one resident camped along the road told Al Jazeera. “We are steadfast simply because we are the rightful owners of the land.”

He explained his ancestors have held the keys to their homes for seven decades, when Israel’s occupation of Palestine began and 750,000 were expelled during the “Nakba”, or catastrophe.

“Ask each and every Palestinian in the diaspora and everywhere, we all have one goal: To hold steadfast to our homeland. The Israeli occupation forces have turned the entire Gaza Strip into scorched land. We have lost our homes, all our possessions, yet we cannot abandon our homeland. It is our homeland.”


Tens of thousands prevented from reaching Gaza’s north

Gaza’s civil defence agency says tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are being blocked from returning to the north of the territory at an Israeli military barrier.

“Tens of thousands of displaced people are waiting near the Netzarim Corridor to return to the northern Gaza Strip,” said agency spokesperson Mahmoud Basal, with Israel refusing to allow them through in a dispute over a captive release.

Huge crowds of Palestinians gathered on a coastal road near the barrier waiting to get through.


A drone view shows Palestinians in central Gaza waiting to be allowed to return to their homes in the north


Israel violating truce by blocking Palestinians’ return to north Gaza

Hamas issued a statement on Israel’s violent prevention of Palestinians returning to the north:

  • We are following up with the mediators on the prevention of the return of the displaced from the south to the north, which represents a violation and breach of the ceasefire agreement.
  • The occupation is stalling under the pretext of the captive Arbel Yehud, even though the movement informed the mediators she is alive and gave all the necessary guarantees for her release.
  • We hold Israel responsible for obstructing the implementation of the agreement, and we are following up with the mediators with full responsibility to reach a solution that leads to the return of the displaced civilians.


Red Crescent says one dead, four injured evacuated near Wadi Gaza Bridge

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it has so far evacuated one dead and four wounded victims near the Wadi Gaza Bridge, following an attack by Israeli snipers.


‘See how valuable we are? We are worthless’

Israel says it won’t allow the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza until Israeli captive Arbel Yehud is released by Hamas. Her location and status remain unclear.

Crowds of people travelling by foot and carrying their belongings filled the main road leading to a closed Israeli checkpoint. “We have been in agony for a year and a half,” Nadia Qasem, a woman displaced from the north said as she waited. “Since 1am, we have been waiting to return.”

Fadi al-Sinwar, who was also displaced from Gaza City, said, “The fate of more than a million people is linked to one person,” referring to the Israeli abductee.

“See how valuable we are? We are worthless,” he said.

Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions overnight and into Sunday, killing two people and wounding nine, including a child, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Last edited by SvennoJ - 13 hours ago

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SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Israel’s anti-UNRWA rhetoric placing facilities, personnel at risk, says agency

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israel is violating its international law obligations by ordering it to vacate all premises in occupied East Jerusalem and cease its operations in them by January 30.

“United Nations premises are inviolable and enjoy privileges and immunities under the United Nations Charter,” it said in a statement, adding that Israel is obliged to respect UN privileges and immunities, including “respect for United Nations premises”.

“UNRWA property and assets including in East Jerusalem are immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation, and any other form of interference,” the agency added, alleging that the Israeli authorities’ “anti-UNRWA rhetoric” is placing its “facilities and personnel at risk”.

“The State of Israel must take all appropriate measures consistent with international law obligations to ensure that UNRWA’s property and installations are respected and protected,” UNRWA said.

Israel’s actions in West Bank do not indicate it is committed to peace

More from Xavier Abu Eid, the former communications director of the PLO.

When asked if the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal would continue to hold, Abu Eid noted that Egypt, Qatar and the US had all invested time and effort in securing the agreement.

“We have to note that the ceasefire was a huge victory for Qatari and Egyptian diplomacy. It was pushed also by the Trump administration,” he said.

“But let’s remember that it’s only a ceasefire. We’re not talking here about the peace process, and we’re not talking here about anything that goes beyond Gaza. What Israel has been doing over the past days, over the past weeks, since a ceasefire was reached, was to put all its weight, all its pressure, on the occupied West Bank,” he added.

“So, clearly, what the Israeli government is doing are not the actions of a government that is committed [to] any sort of agreement. And let’s also look at the record they have. They have never truly implemented any agreement signed with the Palestinian side since 1993 up until now.”

Grandmother of toddler shot dead by Israeli sniper describes murder

The grandmother of two-year-old girl Laila al-Khatib, who was killed by Israeli sniper fire on Saturday in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin while she was eating at home, shared details about the shooting.

The grandmother said in videos shared by journalists on Instagram: “We were here having dinner and there was gunfire, the windows broke. When the girls heard the gunfire, they started running inside. The girl, her mother was feeding her, she got a bullet from the sniper in her head.”

She said with sorrow: “When we asked the sniper what he gained by killing her, he said, ‘Sorry, it was not intentional.’ May God avenge them because they are child killers. This child had no fault. Why did they kill her?”

The grandmother is keeping the remains of her granddaughter’s skull, which was shattered by the bullet, in the home refrigerator until her burial.


Israeli forces demolish homes in Jenin refugee camp

Israeli forces continue to demolish homes in the Bashar neighbourhood, in Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank.

Earlier, the Israeli army also blew up a residential building in the camp belonging to the Talabeh family, reported Sanad, Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency. Israeli journalist Amit Segal’s channel on Telegram claimed the building hosted an explosives factory.

The Israeli army continues its military incursion in the Jenin camp for the sixth day with demolitions, explosions, and the burning of dozens of Palestinian homes.


Why are there so many Palestinian children in Israeli prisons?

At least 23 Palestinian child prisoners have been released by Israel as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, bringing into focus Israel’s systematic prosecution of Palestinian children in military courts.

According to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a rights group based in the occupied West Bank, 320 children were being held in Israeli prisons before the latest prisoner exchanges.

So, what do we know about Palestinian child prisoners and why are they tried in military courts? Read the full story here.



SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Israeli forces launch ‘violent bombings’ in south Lebanon

Israeli forces kept up attacks on southern Lebanon on Saturday evening, with “violent bombings” and “huge explosions” reported in the towns of Kfar Kila and Meiss el-Jabal, respectively, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

The attacks came hours before Israeli troops were supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon in line with a ceasefire deal agreed with Hezbollah in late November.

But as we’ve been reporting, Netanyahu’s office has said the Israeli military will remain in the neighbouring country beyond the 60 days agreed in the deal.

The 60 days is up today...


Israeli military renews warnings to south Lebanon residents

Adraee, the Israeli military spokesman, has issued a new warning on X, reminding residents of dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon not to return to their homes “until further notice”.

The renewed warning comes on the day Israeli troops were supposed to have completed their pullout from southern Lebanon. As we’ve been reporting, Netanyahu has blamed the move on what he called the Lebanese army’s failure to deploy in border villages.

He also said Hezbollah has not pulled back sufficiently from the border region.

Lebanon, however, denies the claims and is urging Israel to honour the deadline.


Israeli gunfire kills 1 in southern Lebanon

Israeli fire has killed one person in the border village of Hula, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Several others have been wounded as residents sought to return to homes in the border area that Israeli forces continue to occupy, ignoring a deadline for their withdrawal.


Six wounded by Israeli fire while returning to south Lebanon

At least six people have been wounded while attempting to return to their homes in southern Lebanon even as Israeli forces remain on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed.

The civilians were wounded in Kfar Kila after they crossed a barricade put up by Israeli troops, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported. Soldiers attacked the town last night as well.

The latest gunfire comes on the day Israeli troops were supposed to have completed their pullout from southern Lebanon. PM Netanyahu has blamed the move on what he called the Lebanese army’s failure to deploy in border villages.

‘Sense of defiance’ as Israeli troops open fire on Lebanese civilians

People here have been displaced from their homes for more than a year. They believe the Israeli military should have withdrawn in line with the ceasefire agreement. The 60-day deadline has passed.

A few hours ago, some of these people tried to advance towards their villages of Kfar Kila. It’s roughly 2km from where we are standing, but Israeli troops are positioned just a few metres away and they used live fire. At least six Lebanese civilians were injured.

There is a sense of defiance among the people here, but the Israeli army as well is confrontational. The Lebanese army is trying its best to prevent people from heading back, warning residents not to come to southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military claims it needs to stay longer in Lebanon because the Lebanese army is not doing its job to ensure Hezbollah is disarmed and its military infrastructure dismantled in southern Lebanon.

The Israelis are saying there are not enough Lebanese troops on the ground and allege Hezbollah is still here. There is no independent confirmation concerning those claims.



SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Israeli fire wounds 17 in southern Lebanon

We’ve been reporting on Israeli troops killing at least one person with gunfire in the southern Lebanon border village of Hula. Nine people have been injured in Hula and eight others in Kfar Kila, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a statement.

Residents sought to return to homes in the border area where Israeli forces remained on the ground despite the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah saying they must withdraw by Sunday.


Israeli fire kills 2 more in southern Lebanon

The Health Ministry is now reporting the killings of two more people due to Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon as residents attempted to return to their homes.

One citizen was killed in Aitaroun, while another was killed in the town of Blida, the ministry stated. Earlier, the ministry said Israeli fire had killed one person in the border village of Hula.

As we have been reporting, dozens have also been wounded by Israeli forces who remain on the ground despite a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah which stipulated they should have withdrawn today.


Lebanon’s leader blasts Israel for ignoring troop pullout deadline

President Joseph Aoun has denounced Israel for failing to abide by the ceasefire agreement in which it promised to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by Sunday.

Addressing residents of the Israeli-occupied south, Aoun said on X, “Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable, and I am following up on this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity.”

He urged the Lebanese to “exercise self-restraint and trust in the Lebanese Armed Forces”.

As part of the ceasefire, Hezbollah is supposed to retreat beyond the Litani River, 30km (20 miles) from the border with Israel, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure.

The Lebanese army has been gradually deploying in further areas in the south along with UN peacekeepers, as Israeli military troops have gradually withdrawn.


Lebanese soldier wounded in Israeli attack in south Lebanon: Report

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports Israeli troops opened fire on an army vehicle and wounded a Lebanese soldier.

The attack came in the southern town of Deir Mimas with the vehicle taking four rounds. The news report identified the soldier as Rawya al-Hajja. She sustained minor injuries from the shattering of glass.

“Army units are accompanying the entry of citizens into the towns of Aita al-Shaab, Bint Jbeil, Deir Siryan, Adshit al-Qusayr, Taybeh, Qantara, Marjayoun, in addition to other border areas,” the military said in a statement.

It highlighted “the Israeli enemy’s persistence in violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, and its assault on citizens, causing martyrs and wounded among them, and its refusal to abide by the ceasefire agreement”.

The shooting is one of a spate of attacks on displaced Lebanese trying to return to their homes in the south where Israeli troops remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed on Sunday.

Three people were killed and more than 40 wounded, the Health Ministry said.


Lebanese civilians on the front line in new form of resistance

People are frustrated. There is growing anger towards the Lebanese army and that’s dangerous.

Many of these people are supporters of Hezbollah and as part of the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah is supposed to leave this area and allow the Lebanese army to take control and extend its authority across this region.

What they’re saying now is the Lebanese army cannot protect us; it’s standing in the middle. The Lebanese army could have given orders for us to be able to enter our villages, but of course that is difficult because they are facing a much stronger enemy in Israel.

People here are looking to the newly elected President Joseph Aoun to force Israeli troops to leave, but Lebanon is in a weak position. The Lebanese army is weak, and Hezbollah has been severely weakened militarily because of the war on the group.

A new form of resistance is the people standing on the front line. Most officials tell us the only way for Israeli forces to withdraw is international pressure.



SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Lebanon speaker demands action against Israel as troops open fire

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement party is allied with Hezbollah and he served as an interlocutor between the group and the US during ceasefire negotiations.

Berri said in a statement Sunday’s bloodshed “is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act immediately and compel Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories”.

The Israeli army called for residents of border areas not to attempt to return to their villages. At least three people were killed and more than 40 wounded in Israeli gunfire.


Israeli fire kills Lebanese soldier, wounds another: Lebanon’s army

Lebanon’s army says Israeli fire has killed one Lebanese soldier and wounded another in Meiss el-Jabal village, in southern Lebanon.

It’s the latest death caused by the Israeli army on the day it was supposed to be withdrawing from southern Lebanon to allow residents to return to their homes, as part of a November ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.


‘This is a crucial scene we’re seeing today’

Ali Mourad, a journalist and political analyst, says war-displaced Lebanese civilians are taking matters into their own hands in a show of defiance against Israeli troops who are attacking them as they attempt to return home.

Footage circulating online shows convoys of vehicles attempting to enter the southern town of Aita al-Shaab, despite the Israeli army repeatedly opening fire on civilians.

“This is remarkable, actually. They are trying to impose an occupation of south Lebanon so the people took a decision to mobilise. The people took the step to make the Israelis reconsider their decision to have a permanent occupation,” Mourad told Al Jazeera.

“The Israelis are now facing the will of the people of south Lebanon. Of course they are risking their lives, but they’re expressing loudly that they’re willing to sacrifice to reach the goal of liberating their villages.

“This is a crucial scene we’re seeing today. They are defying not only the Israeli occupation; they are defying the Trump administration’s decision to greenlight a permanent Israeli occupation of some parts of south Lebanon.”


Lebanese defy Israeli warnings, attempt dangerous return home

Images online show people crossing a barbed-wire fence and entering the southern town of Kfar Kila carrying Hezbollah flags. Some locals were resolute about returning to their Israeli-occupied towns.

“We are determined to enter our villages – whatever the cost may be,” said Fatma, a woman from the southern town of Meiss el-Jabal, as she trekked towards her hometown.

Mohammed, a man from the southern town of Maroun al-Ras, said, “We are here as civilians and not as armed people. We are the people of the land.”

People could be seen entering Maroun al-Ras and standing facing nearby Israeli tanks.


Israeli army attacks kill 11, wound 83 in south Lebanon

At least 11 people have been killed and 83 others injured in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon so far, says the Health Ministry.

  • Three killed and 12 wounded in Aitaroun
  • One killed and two wounded in Blida
  • Three killed and 14 wounded in Hula
  • Two killed and 12 wounded in Markaba
  • One killed and 15 wounded in Kfar Kila
  • One Lebanese soldier killed
  • Seven wounded in Meiss el-Jabal
  • Two wounded in Bani Hayyan
  • Two wounded in Taybeh
  • Six wounded in Odaisseh
  • Seven wounded in Yaroun
  • One wounded in each of the towns of Maroun al-Ras, Shaqra, Deir Mimas, and Rabb Talatin


SvennoJ 13 hours ago

Israeli military says forces fired warning shots in southern Lebanon

Israeli soldiers have discharged warning shots in multiple areas of southern Lebanon after detecting threats posed by approaching suspects, the military has said.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that the death toll from Israeli fire on villages in southern Lebanon has risen to 11, with 83 wounded so far, as people were trying to return to their homes.

The military said several suspects, who allegedly posed an imminent threat to troops, were apprehended and are being questioned, without providing further details.


Israeli military accuses Hezbollah of sending ‘rioters’ to south Lebanon

The Israeli army has blamed Hezbollah for its deadly attacks in southern Lebanon, saying the group sent “rioters” into the area to cause trouble.

“Hezbollah does not care about Lebanon’s interests. The images coming from certain areas in southern Lebanon are evidence of this,” a statement said. “The defeated party is using all its media outlets to challenge Lebanese interests and divert attention from the sin of its leaders who brought southern Lebanon to this reality.”

Troops fired warning shots to “remove threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified approaching”. Many suspects in proximity to Israeli troops were apprehended and are being questioned, it added.

“The one who sent the rioters is Hezbollah, which is trying to heat up the situation in order to strengthen its status and position.”

Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Sunday opened fire on protesters demanding their withdrawal in line with a ceasefire agreement, killing at least 11 and injuring more than 80.


‘However much they destroy, we will rebuild’

In the village of Aita al-Shaab, families wandered over flattened concrete structures looking for remnants of the homes they left behind in southern Lebanon. No Israeli forces were present.

“These are our houses,” said Hussein Bajouk, one of the returning residents. “However much they destroy, we will rebuild.”

Bajouk added he’s convinced former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs in September, is really still alive. “I don’t know how much we’re going to wait, another month or two months… but the Sayyed will come out and speak,” he said, using an honorific for Nasrallah.

About 112,000 Lebanese remain displaced out of more than one million forced from their homes during the war.


Israeli gunfire in southern Lebanon kills 15

Israeli soldiers killed 15 people in south Lebanon as a deadline for Israeli withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes, in defiance of Israeli military orders.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 15 people were killed and another 83 wounded in numerous locations in the south, as a result of what it described as Israeli attacks on citizens while they were trying to enter their still-occupied towns.

The top UN official in Lebanon and the head of the UN peacekeepers in the south said conditions are “not yet in place” for the safe return of Lebanese citizens to villages near the border.


Frustrated Lebanese ask ‘where is the army?’

Israel was supposed to withdraw its troops from Lebanese territory before a 60-day deadline early on Sunday, part of the ceasefire that ended last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Supporters of Hezbollah – which has been seriously weakened militarily – are questioning the Lebanese army’s ability to protect them.

“Where is the army command? Why doesn’t it give an order to its troops to lead the way so we can enter our villages? Hezbollah has stepped aside and given the responsibility to the Lebanese army to act,” said Zaynab Hashem, a resident of Kfar Kila.

The Lebanese army was to deploy to the area alongside United Nations peacekeepers. Army commanders blame the presence of Israeli troops for delaying the deployment of Lebanese soldiers to southern villages.