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Blast in East Lebanon Kills 5 in Base Controlled by Palestinian Faction, Israel Denies Role

The site of the blast in Qusaya. (Safa)
The site of the blast in Qusaya. (Safa)
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Blast in East Lebanon Kills 5 in Base Controlled by Palestinian Faction, Israel Denies Role

The site of the blast in Qusaya. (Safa)
The site of the blast in Qusaya. (Safa)

A blast early Wednesday at a military base controlled by a Syria-backed Palestinian faction in eastern Lebanon killed five Palestinian militants and wounded 10 others, according to two Palestinian officials with the group.

The faction said an Israeli airstrike caused the blast, but that account was disputed by an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, who denied the country had any role in the incident. Israel does not typically respond to foreign reports.

In Beirut, a Lebanese military official said the explosion was the result of a blast within the base, adding that there was no airstrike. An official with a regional group allied with the Syrian government, said the explosion was the result of a “human error” that occurred when militants were handling ammunition. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Anwar Raja of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, told The Associated Press in Damascus that the Israeli strike hit positions in the eastern Lebanese town of Qusaya near the border with Syria. He said two of the wounded were in critical condition.

Another PFLP-GC official, Lebanon-based Abu Wael Issam, told the AP that his group will retaliate “at the suitable time.” He added that the strike will not deter his group from “escalating the fight against the Israeli enemy.”

The Lebanese army and Lebanon's Hezbollah party also had no immediate official comment on the airstrike.

Raja attributed Israel’s denial to “the sensitivity of the situation in Lebanon,” a suggestion that any acknowledgement of a strike by Israel would push Hezbollah to retaliate.

It has been rare for Israel to carry out airstrikes on Lebanon in recent years.

Israel launched strikes in southern Lebanon in April, a day after gunmen fired nearly three dozen rockets at Israel, wounding two Syrian workers and causing some property damage. The Israeli military said at the time that it had targeted installations of Hamas, the Palestinian movement, in southern Lebanon.

The PFLP-GC has positions along the Lebanon-Syria border as well as military presence in both countries. The group had carried out attacks against Israel in the past.

The group is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and other Western countries.

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US Shifts $100 Million in Military Aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon to Bolster Ceasefire

Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Shifts $100 Million in Military Aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon to Bolster Ceasefire

Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)

The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.
In separate notices sent to Congress, the State Department said it was moving $95 million in military assistance intended for Egypt and $7.5 million for Israel toward supporting the Lebanese army and its government. The notices were dated Jan. 3 and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Most of the money will go to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which have a critical role in standing up the ceasefire that was agreed to in November following an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah that battered much of southern and eastern Lebanon for two months.
It is intended to help the LAF deploy in the south of the country and supplement the role of the UN peacekeeping mission patrolling the so-called Blue Line, which has separated Israel and Lebanon since the end of a monthlong Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
“Successful implementation (of the ceasefire) will require an empowered LAF, which will need robust assistance from the United States and other partners,” the State Department said in the notices, both of which used nearly identical language to explain the funding shifts.
Both Israel and Hezbollah agreed to pull their forces out of southern Lebanon before the end of January, with compliance to be overseen by the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.
“US security assistance to the LAF increases its capacity as the country’s only legitimate military force and defender of Lebanon’s territorial integrity, enables the LAF to prevent potential destabilization from ISIS and other terrorist groups, and enables the LAF to provide security both for the Lebanese people and for US personnel,” the State Department said.
Pro-Israel members of Congress and others have in the past complained about any diversion of US assistance to Israel, although it was not immediately clear if there would be objections to such a small amount of shifted money.
At the same time, some of those who have been forceful advocates of Israel and critics of US assistance to the Lebanese military have often complained that it has been infiltrated by Hezbollah. The notices rejected that claim.
“US support to the LAF reinforces the LAF as an important institutional counterweight to Hezbollah, which receives weapons, training, and financial support from Iran,” the State Department said. “The LAF continues to be an independent, non-sectarian institution in Lebanon, and is respected across all sectors.”
In a third notice, also sent to Congress on Jan. 3, the department said it was going to provide $15 million to Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces to ensure that they become the primary law enforcement entity in the country and assist the LAF in controlling areas in the south.
That money will primarily be used to rebuild police stations, improve radio communications and purchase vehicles, the notice said.
The third notice also informed lawmakers that the administration would provide $3.06 million to the Palestinian Authority police to support its operations in the West Bank and $2.5 million to Jordan's Public Security Directorate to support its response to public demonstrations.