German Defense Minister Visits Troops at UN Force in Lebanon

11 October 2023, Berlin: German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius speaks with media after the meeting of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
11 October 2023, Berlin: German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius speaks with media after the meeting of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
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German Defense Minister Visits Troops at UN Force in Lebanon

11 October 2023, Berlin: German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius speaks with media after the meeting of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
11 October 2023, Berlin: German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius speaks with media after the meeting of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius traveled to Lebanon on Thursday to visit German soldiers serving in a UN peacekeeping force in the region in the wake of a major escalation between neighboring Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Berlin has deployed some 140 soldiers on a corvette off the Lebanese coast and at the headquarters of the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon that was hit by a rocket on Sunday without causing casualties, Reuters said.
"On the corvette Oldenburg, (the minister) thanked the sailors for their efforts and was briefed on the impact the conflict in Israel and Gaza is having on German soldiers in the region," the defense ministry in Berlin said on the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.
UNIFIL has operated in Lebanon since 1978 to maintain peace along the border with Israel and was expanded by the UN resolution that halted the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon.



Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis

Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis
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Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis

Israel Announces New Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis

Houthi militias in Yemen said Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah, following several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel.

The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports at Hodeidah, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib along with Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations. It came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned.”

Netanyahu monitored the new strikes along with military leaders, his government said. The Iran-backed Houthis' media outlet confirmed the strikes in a Telegram post but gave no immediate details. The US military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days.

Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in Tel Aviv. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeidah, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Houthis designated as a terrorist organisation.
The UN Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Houthi attacks against Israel, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday.