Lebanon to Complain to UN, Saying Israel Disrupts Navigation Systems

(FILES) Middle East Airlines' A321NEO plane is seen on the tarmac of Rafik Hariri international airport in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on August 10, 2022. (Photo by Roy ISSA / AFP)
(FILES) Middle East Airlines' A321NEO plane is seen on the tarmac of Rafik Hariri international airport in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on August 10, 2022. (Photo by Roy ISSA / AFP)
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Lebanon to Complain to UN, Saying Israel Disrupts Navigation Systems

(FILES) Middle East Airlines' A321NEO plane is seen on the tarmac of Rafik Hariri international airport in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on August 10, 2022. (Photo by Roy ISSA / AFP)
(FILES) Middle East Airlines' A321NEO plane is seen on the tarmac of Rafik Hariri international airport in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on August 10, 2022. (Photo by Roy ISSA / AFP)

Lebanon will file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council over what it called Israel's violation of its sovereignty by disrupting its navigation systems, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said Israel was affecting the safety of civil aviation in the airspace of Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport.
"Lebanon also holds Israel internationally responsible for the consequences of any accident or disaster caused by Israel's deliberate policy of jamming air and ground navigation systems, and deliberately disrupting signal receiving and transmitting devices," the statement read.
Lebanon did not provide specific details regarding the nature of Israel's actions disrupting its navigation systems, Reuters said.
"Lebanon enables and allows Hezbollah to attack Israeli civilians from its territory," an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson said.
"Lebanon is the last country to discuss sovereignty while it is harboring a terrorist organization that has displaced tens of thousands of citizens."
The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in hostilities since war broke out in Gaza five months ago, trading fire across the border.
It has marked the worst conflict between the heavily armed adversaries since a 2006 war, fueling fears of an even bigger confrontation. The border violence has forced tens of thousands on both sides to flee and raised fears the conflict in Gaza could spiral into the rest of the region.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.