Israeli Army Shells Hezbollah Positions in South Lebanon

This picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon on May 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
This picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon on May 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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Israeli Army Shells Hezbollah Positions in South Lebanon

This picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon on May 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
This picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon on May 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The Israeli army said on Sunday that its fighter jets carried out several airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon last night.
Israel said the strikes targeted buildings and other infrastructure utilized by Hezbollah in the southern towns of al-Khyam and Aita al-Shaab, the Times of Israel newspaper reported Sunday.
The Israeli army also carried out artillery shelling on a number of other sites in southern Lebanon.
In three separate statements on Saturday, Lebanon-based Hezbollah said it targeted “with the appropriate weapons” two facilities in the Israeli settlement of Metula, a building in the settlement of Manara, and two buildings in the settlement of Shtula.
The Iran-backed party and Israeli forces have traded cross-border fire a day after the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7 on an almost daily basis. Since then, more than 400 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters, and more than 70 civilians and non-combatants, according to an Associated Press tally.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.