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.



Moroccan Ex-minister Hit With Five-year Jail Sentence

The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)
The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)
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Moroccan Ex-minister Hit With Five-year Jail Sentence

The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)
The Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. (AFP)

Moroccan opposition figure and former minister Mohamed Ziane has been sentenced to five years in prison while serving a three-year term in another case, his lawyer said on Saturday.

The former Rabat bar association president was convicted on charges of "embezzlement and squandering of public funds", the lawyer Ali Reda Ziane, who is also his son, told AFP.

The charges relate to funds the Moroccan Liberal Party (PML) -- of which Mohamed Ziane was founder and chief -- received in a 2015 electoral campaign.

"This is a form of life sentence for an 81-year-old man while legally nothing has been proven", said the lawyer, who plans to appeal the ruling.

Ziane, who was human rights minister between 1995 and 1996, has been in detention since November 2022, after being sentenced the three years on appeal.

The opposition figure had become known in recent years for statements criticizing the authorities in Morocco, particularly the intelligence services.

He said he was being judged "because of his opinions".

The proceedings follow an interior ministry complaint on seven counts, among them contempt of public officials and justice, insults against a constituted body, defamation, adultery and sexual harassment.

In the same case, the financial crimes chamber of the Rabat appeals court sentenced the PML treasurer and a party administrative employee to five years in prison and one year in prison plus a one-year suspended sentence, respectively.