Hezbollah Fires Rockets Into Israel After Deadly Strikes

Hezbollah members prepare a Katyusha rocket launcher (Capture from Hezbollah video)
Hezbollah members prepare a Katyusha rocket launcher (Capture from Hezbollah video)
TT

Hezbollah Fires Rockets Into Israel After Deadly Strikes

Hezbollah members prepare a Katyusha rocket launcher (Capture from Hezbollah video)
Hezbollah members prepare a Katyusha rocket launcher (Capture from Hezbollah video)

Lebanon's Hezbollah on Sunday said it had fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel after Israeli strikes the day before left five dead in southern Lebanon, including three of the group's members.

Hamas ally Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.

Hezbollah said it had launched "dozens of katyusha-type rockets" in the morning on the Israeli village of Meron, eight kilometres (five miles) from the border.

Meron is home to a major air control base that the Iran-backed group has targeted several times since the start of the year.

Hezbollah said it had acted "in response to Israeli attacks against villages in the south and the homes of civilians", particularly the targeting of the home of a fighter in Kherbet Selm the day before, AFP reported.

A woman and another person were also killed in the same strike, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.

"Following the sirens that sounded in northern Israel, approximately 35 launches from Lebanon toward Israeli territory were identified, a number of which were intercepted," the Israeli army said on Sunday.

The statement added that the Israeli air force struck Hezbollah infrastructure during the night, including a "military structure in which Hezbollah militants were identified in the area of Khirbet Selm".

At least 312 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of cross-border violence on October 8, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 53 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed, according to the latest official figures.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting on both sides of the border.

Strikes have largely remained confined to border regions for the moment, but several have hit Hezbollah positions further north in recent weeks, raising fears of a full-blown conflict.

The group has repeatedly said that it will only stop its attacks on Israel with a ceasefire in Gaza.

But Israeli Defene Minister Yoav Gallant said recently that any truce in Gaza would not change Israel's goal of pushing Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon, by force or diplomacy.



Libya's Factions Make Progress in Central Bank Crisis Talks, Says UN Libya Mission

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
TT

Libya's Factions Make Progress in Central Bank Crisis Talks, Says UN Libya Mission

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Libya's rival factions made progress on talks over the central bank crisis and will continue discussions on Thursday to reach a final agreement, the UN Libya mission said on Wednesday, in a bid to defuse a crisis that has slashed oil output and exports.

"The participants of the two (legislative) chambers made progress in agreeing on the general principles governing the interim period leading to the appointment of a new governor and board of directors for the Central Bank," the United Nations Libya mission (UNSMIL) said in a statement.

According to Reuters, the meeting hosted by UNSMIL featured representatives from the Benghazi-based House of Representatives, the High Council of State and the Presidential Council, which are both based in Tripoli.

The standoff began last month when western Libyan factions moved to oust a veteran central bank governor, prompting eastern factions to declare a shutdown to all oil output.

Although Libya's two legislative bodies said last week they agreed to jointly appoint a central bank governor within 30 days, the situation remains fluid and uncertain.

Libyan oil exports fell around 81% last week, Kpler data showed on Wednesday, as the National Oil Corporation cancelled cargoes amid a crisis over control of Libya's central bank and oil revenue.