Israeli Shelling on Southern Lebanon Leaves One Injured

Smoke billows after an Israeli raid on the town of Marwahin in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli raid on the town of Marwahin in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
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Israeli Shelling on Southern Lebanon Leaves One Injured

Smoke billows after an Israeli raid on the town of Marwahin in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli raid on the town of Marwahin in southern Lebanon. (AFP)

One person was injured on Thursday in Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that Israeli army positions in the Mount Hermon area came under missile attacks originating from Lebanese territory. The army confirmed that two anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel, with no reported casualties.

The "Islamic Resistance" released separate statements claiming responsibility for targeting surveillance equipment at the radar site in the Shebaa Farms, as well as Israeli positions in Ramta and Samaka.

In response to Israeli gunfire, the Lebanese Red Cross evacuated an injured individual from the town of Wazzani to the government hospital in Marjeyoun, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Additionally, Israel shot phosphorus shells over the southern Lebanese town of Al-Dhaira Al-Fawqa.

Israeli forces launched a morning offensive targeting Labbouneh and Alam mountains from positions near Mount Labbouneh. Israeli warplanes also carried out raids on the Al-Jabain and Tayr Harfa areas, targeting a commercial shop for the second time within days, with no reported injuries.

The Israeli army unleashed heavy artillery shells on the outskirts of several towns, including Naqoura, Mount Labbouneh, Alma al-Shaab, Tayr Harfa, Dhayra, Aita al-Shaab, Bayt Lif, and Rmeish. The attack caused severe damage to crops, olive and pine trees, and the water network.

Mohammad Nayef Hamoud, a Hezbollah member, was killed in an airstrike on a house in Bayt Lif.

Residents of the South continued to flee their homes to escape the unrest.

Latest figures from the International Migration Organizations and the Lebanese Ministry of Health revealed that over 83,000 residents in the south have evacuated their homes. A total of 151 people have been killed and 686 injured in the unrest.

In the Tyre district alone, 23,419 people have been officially registered as displaced, according to Bilal Qashmar, the media coordinator in the “Disaster Management Unit” of the Union of Tyre Municipalities.



Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

 A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
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Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

 A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)

The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money.

The offshore floating pier, announced by Biden in March as a response to the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, was constructed off the coast of the enclave by the US military as a way to bring in food and other aid supplies.

The US military has been authorized to operate it until the end of July, but a US Agency for International Development official said this week that the administration could seek to extend it for at least another month.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, sent to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has not been previously reported.

Rogers has long opposed the pier and has called in the past for it to be dismantled, but he had not previously expressed that view in a formal written letter to the administration.

His armed services committee is the Pentagon's top oversight body in the House of Representatives, and formal requests from its chairman traditionally require a response from Pentagon officials.

Aid first began arriving via the US-built pier on May 17 into Gaza, where nearly all the 2.3 million residents have been displaced by Israel's campaign against the Hamas movement.

But rough seas have damaged the pier, forcing repairs, and poor weather has limited the number of days the pier has been operational. Most of the supplies that have reached the shore have yet to be distributed by UN aid agencies which say their operations have been limited by insecurity.

"As of June 19, JLOTS had only been operational about 10 days and had only moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza," Rogers wrote, using the US military's acronym for the pier system, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

According to US military data, as of Tuesday, 8,332 pallets had been delivered via the pier. But around 84% of them have been sitting on Gaza's coast in a marshalling area waiting to be picked up by the United Nations for distribution.

The World Food Program paused deliveries earlier this month over security concerns.

Reuters was given rare access to the US military-run pier off Gaza on Tuesday and saw aid pallets being moved from a vessel onto the 1,200-foot (370 m)-long pier as it bobbed around with the incoming waves. The pallets were then taken by trucks to the coast.

The operation is complex, involving about 1,000 US military personnel. The Pentagon estimates the first 90 days of operation will cost about $230 million.

Rogers also noted that three US servicemembers suffered non-combat injuries while deployed on the operation.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," Rogers wrote.