Israeli Shell Hits Southern Lebanon Following Truce Extension 

US peacekeepers patrol next to a damage house in the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Marwahin, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. (AP)
US peacekeepers patrol next to a damage house in the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Marwahin, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. (AP)
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Israeli Shell Hits Southern Lebanon Following Truce Extension 

US peacekeepers patrol next to a damage house in the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Marwahin, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. (AP)
US peacekeepers patrol next to a damage house in the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Marwahin, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. (AP)

Lebanese media reported that an Israeli shell struck the outskirts of a town in south Lebanon on Tuesday, hours after a temporary truce between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel was extended for two days. 

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said it was "currently not aware of such an incident". 

Lebanon's state-owned National News Agency and the Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed reported an Israeli shell had struck the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab on Tuesday morning. Both outlets cited their correspondents as the source. 

Weeks of cross-border shelling between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah came to a halt on Friday when the Palestinian group Hamas - a Hezbollah ally - and Israel agreed the temporary truce in their conflict which erupted on Oct. 7. 

A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon UNIFIL said it was looking into the reports. 



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.