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. 



Sweden Will No Longer Fund UNRWA Aid Agency

FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
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Sweden Will No Longer Fund UNRWA Aid Agency

FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

Sweden will no longer fund the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country's aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4 on Friday.
Israel, which will ban UNRWA's operations in the country from late January, has repeatedly accused the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Sweden's decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid to the Palestinians via the agency more difficult, Dousa said.
Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year, he added.
"There are several other organisations in Gaza, I have just been there and met several of them," the minister said, naming the UN World Food Program as one potential recipient.
The United Nations General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency's mandate and "enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction".