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Iran-Backed Hezbollah Downs Israeli Drone in Southern Lebanon 

Smoke rises from an Israeli border town as a result of a rocket launched from southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel, 17 April 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises from an Israeli border town as a result of a rocket launched from southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel, 17 April 2024. (EPA)
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Iran-Backed Hezbollah Downs Israeli Drone in Southern Lebanon 

Smoke rises from an Israeli border town as a result of a rocket launched from southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel, 17 April 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises from an Israeli border town as a result of a rocket launched from southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel, 17 April 2024. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Sunday it downed an Israeli drone that was on a combat mission in southern Lebanon.

The drone that was brought down above the Al Aishiyeh area in southern Lebanon was "waging its attacks on our steadfast people," a statement said by the group said.

Israeli forces and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for over six months in parallel to the Gaza war, in the most serious hostilities since they fought a major war in 2006.

Hezbollah said the drone was an Israeli Hermes 450, a multi-payload drone made by Elbit Systems, an Israel-based weapons manufacturer.

The fighting has fueled concern about the risk of further escalation.

At least 370 Lebanese, including more than 240 Hezbollah fighters and 68 civilians, have been killed in the fighting according to a Reuters tally. Eighteen Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed on the Israeli side of the border, according to Israeli tallies.

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Libya's Eastern Parliament Approves Transitional Justice Law in Unity Move, MPs Say

Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
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Libya's Eastern Parliament Approves Transitional Justice Law in Unity Move, MPs Say

Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo

Libya's eastern-based parliament has approved a national reconciliation and transitional justice law, three lawmakers said, a measure aimed at reunifying the oil-producing country after over a decade of factional conflict.

The House of Representatives (HoR) spokesperson, Abdullah Belaihaq, said on the X platform that the legislation was passed on Tuesday by a majority of the session's attendees in Libya's largest second city Benghazi.

However, implementing the law could be challenging as Libya has been divided since a 2014 civil war that spawned two rival administrations vying for power in east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

"I hope that it (the law) will be in effect all over the country and will not face any difficulty," House member Abdulmenam Alorafi told Reuters by phone on Wednesday.

The United Nations mission to Libya has repeatedly called for an inclusive, rights-based transitional justice and reconciliation process in the North African country.

A political process to end years of institutional division and outright warfare has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.

In Tripoli, there is the Government of National Unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah that was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021, but the parliament no longer recognizes its legitimacy. Dbeibah has vowed not to cede power to a new government without national elections.

There are two competing legislative bodies - the HoR that was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a political transition, and the High Council of State in Tripoli formed as part of a 2015 political agreement and drawn from a parliament first elected in 2012.

The Tripoli-based Presidential Council, which came to power with GNU, has been working on a reconciliation project and holding "a comprehensive conference" with the support of the UN and African Union. But it has been unable to bring all rival groups together because of their continuing differences.