Israel Says Reviewing Strike that Killed Lebanese Soldier

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon shows Israeli artillery shelling of the southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh in response to anti-tank fire from Lebanon into northern Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon shows Israeli artillery shelling of the southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh in response to anti-tank fire from Lebanon into northern Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
TT

Israel Says Reviewing Strike that Killed Lebanese Soldier

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon shows Israeli artillery shelling of the southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh in response to anti-tank fire from Lebanon into northern Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon shows Israeli artillery shelling of the southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh in response to anti-tank fire from Lebanon into northern Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)

The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was reviewing a strike that “harmed” troops in south Lebanon, an apparent reference to Israeli shelling that killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded three others the previous day.
The Lebanese troops “were not the target of the strike,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

It expressed “regret over the incident,” saying “the incident is under review.”

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border since the start of the war between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7.
The Lebanese army said the soldier, a sergeant, was killed when an army position was shelled by Israel on Tuesday.
The Israeli army said its soldiers had acted in "self defense to eliminate an imminent threat that had been identified from Lebanon" from a "known launch area and observation point" used by Hezbollah.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon UNIFIL noted in a statement on Tuesday it was the first Lebanese army soldier killed during the hostilities, and that the Lebanese army had not engaged in conflict with Israel.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired guided missiles at a group of Israeli soldiers in Manara in northern Israel in retaliation for the killing.



Dozens Die of Mysterious Illness in Besieged Sudan Town

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
TT

Dozens Die of Mysterious Illness in Besieged Sudan Town

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

At least 73 people have died of mysterious causes in the Sudanese town of al-Hilaliya, besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese Doctors Union said late on Wednesday.
It is one of dozens of villages that have come under attack in eastern El Jezira state since the defection of a top RSF commander to the army, which prompted revenge attacks that have displaced more than 135,000 people.
The war between the two forces has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 11 million and plunging more into hunger while drawing in foreign powers and prompting fears of state collapse, Reuters said.
While high death tolls in other parts of Jezira came as a result of RSF shelling and gunfire, in Hilaliya people have fallen ill with diarrhea, overwhelming a local hospital according to the union and three people from the area.
A network blackout enforced by the RSF has made it difficult to determine the exact cause.
One man who spoke to Reuters said three of his family members had died of the same illness, but he only found out days later when others escaped to an area with internet access.
Those who wish to leave must pay high sums at RSF checkpoints, said another man.
According to pro-democracy activists, the siege began on Oct. 29 when the RSF raided the town, killing five and surrounding residents inside three mosques.
Hilaliya is home to the family of defected commander Abuagla Keikal, which locals say may explain the siege of a previously stable trade hub that had housed 50,000 people, including many displaced from other areas.
The town's markets and warehouses were looted, witnesses said.
Satellite imagery from a Yale Humanitarian Lab report showed rapid increase in cemeteries in several Jezira towns since the latest revenge attacks began in late October. It also showed evidence of the burning of agricultural fields in the village of Azrag.