Israeli Strikes Kill Civilian in Southern Lebanon

Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the southern Lebanese village of Houla near the border with Israel on February 6, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (AFP)
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the southern Lebanese village of Houla near the border with Israel on February 6, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill Civilian in Southern Lebanon

Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the southern Lebanese village of Houla near the border with Israel on February 6, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (AFP)
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the southern Lebanese village of Houla near the border with Israel on February 6, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (AFP)

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed a man identified as a civilian and wounded two others, according to the man’s family and a local hospital.

The man was identified by his family as Mohamad Awada and the strike hit the town of Khiam on Wednesday.

Israel and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group have been engaging in low-intensity but deadly fighting since the start of the war in Gaza.

During that time, 228 people have been killed in Lebanon, 173 of them identified by Hezbollah as fighters. Israeli authorities say nine soldiers and nine civilians have been killed in attacks by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah announced two attacks Wednesday, a rocket attack on a gathering of Israeli troops and another attack on what they called “technical equipment,” without elaborating.

International governments are scrambling to prevent hostilities on the Lebanon-Israel border from spiraling into all-out war. Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate.



US Criticizes ICJ Opinion that Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories is Illegal

FILE PHOTO: A view shows mobile homes in the Jewish settlement of Givat Haroeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows mobile homes in the Jewish settlement of Givat Haroeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
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US Criticizes ICJ Opinion that Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories is Illegal

FILE PHOTO: A view shows mobile homes in the Jewish settlement of Givat Haroeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows mobile homes in the Jewish settlement of Givat Haroeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

The United States criticized "the breadth" of the top UN court's opinion in which the International Court of Justice said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, with Washington saying it will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.
"We have been clear that Israel's program of government support for settlements is both inconsistent with international law and obstructs the cause of peace," a US State Department spokesperson said on Saturday in an email.
"However, we are concerned that the breadth of the court's opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict and bring about an urgently needed just and lasting peace, with two states living side-by-side in peace and security," the State Department added.

In The Hague, ICJ presiding judge Nawaf Salam said: "The court has found... that Israel's continued presence in the Palestinian Territories is illegal."

Israel is "under the obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible," the judge said in its finding, read at the Peace Palace, seat of the ICJ.

The ICJ added that Israel was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land.

Israel's policies and practices, including the maintenance of a wall between the territories, "amount to annexation of large parts" of the occupied territory, the court said.