Israeli Strike in Southern Lebanon Kills 2 People Near Hospital, Officials Say 

Smoke rises on the Israeli side of its border with Lebanon following a rocket that was launched from Lebanon and fired towards Israel, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in northern Israel, May 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises on the Israeli side of its border with Lebanon following a rocket that was launched from Lebanon and fired towards Israel, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in northern Israel, May 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strike in Southern Lebanon Kills 2 People Near Hospital, Officials Say 

Smoke rises on the Israeli side of its border with Lebanon following a rocket that was launched from Lebanon and fired towards Israel, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in northern Israel, May 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises on the Israeli side of its border with Lebanon following a rocket that was launched from Lebanon and fired towards Israel, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in northern Israel, May 26, 2024. (Reuters)

An Israeli strike targeting a motorcycle in southern Lebanon hit next to a hospital entrance Monday, killing the motorcycle driver and a hospital security guard and wounding several civilians nearby, local health officials said.

It was not immediately clear who the driver was or why he was targeted in the strike in the town of Bint Jbeil.

The Israeli army did not give a statement on the strike but said it had targeted other areas of southern Lebanon in response to “terrorist launches.”

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been exchanging strikes with Israeli forces in the border area almost daily since Oct. 8, a day after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began.

Mohammed Suleiman, director of the Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil, said they had initially received one person killed and nine wounded in the strike, most of whom were “civilians who were in front of the hospital, where family members and people accompanying the patients usually gather.”

Hospital officials later said that a security guard who was wounded in the strike had died.

The strike also caused minor damage to the hospital, an Associated Press photographer at the scene said.

Hezbollah later said it had launched a barrage of dozens of missiles at Meron, Safsufa and Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel in response.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people in Lebanon since the war in Gaza began, most of them militants with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, strikes from Lebanon have killed 15 soldiers and 10 civilians.

The clashes have displaced tens of thousands on each side of the border. Israeli officials have said they may launch an offensive in Lebanon if no diplomatic solution is reached that would allow the displaced to return.

The Israeli military said Monday that its reservists had in recent weeks “conducted a division-level and brigade-level exercise that simulated ground operations in Lebanon."

Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah, who visited the site of the strike in Bint Jbeil, said that Israel “will not be able to return settlers (residents) to the north in this way.”

“The only way to stop everything that is happening in the region today and on the border with Lebanon is to stop the aggression against Gaza,” he said.

Western countries, in particular the US and France, have come forward with a series of proposals for a cessation of hostilities on the Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah has refused to enter into an agreement until a ceasefire is implemented in Gaza.

Initially, the proposals stipulated that Hezbollah would move its forces several kilometers away from the border, but a French diplomatic official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations said the latest proposal has abandoned this idea as Hezbollah would not agree to it unless Israel also halted its overflights in Lebanese airspace.

Instead, the new proposal would rely on a strengthened presence of the official Lebanese army and UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon to enforce the cessation of hostilities, with a long-term aim of negotiations for demarcation of the land border between Lebanon and Israel.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was expected to arrive in Beirut on a diplomatic visit Tuesday.



Arab League: Gaza ‘Is Not for Sale’

Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)
Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)
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Arab League: Gaza ‘Is Not for Sale’

Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)
Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)

The Arab League has reiterated its firm opposition to any attempts to displace Palestinians. Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit declared on Thursday that Gaza “is not for sale” and called for an “emergency relief plan” to support the Palestinian people.

Speaking at the opening session of the 115th ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Aboul Gheit emphasized the fast-moving developments in the Arab region.

He condemned Israel’s ongoing expansionist policies in the West Bank and the repositioning of its military forces, as well as rising calls from Israeli and American voices advocating for the forced displacement of Palestinians.

He reaffirmed the Arab League’s unwavering stance, rejecting any attempts to remove Palestinians from their land under any pretext.

The Arab official also warned that such actions constitute a clear violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights, and a direct threat to the Palestinian cause, which he described as “the central issue of the Arab world.”

“Gaza is not for sale,” Aboul Gheit stated. “For Palestinians and Arab nations alike, it is an inseparable part of the future Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, alongside the West Bank, with no separation between them, in line with the internationally recognized two-state solution.”

Palestinian Minister of Economy Mohammed Al-Amour also said: “Any talk of displacing our people from Gaza or the West Bank is nothing but an illusion that has no place in reality.”

He praised the steadfast Arab position in rejecting any attempts to undermine the Palestinian cause, stating: “Gaza will not break, and Palestine will never surrender.”

Al-Amour also commended Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan for their firm stance against forced displacement and their support for Palestinian statehood.

“Our people are not excess baggage, nor can they be forcibly removed,” he asserted. “Palestine is neither for sale nor for trade.”

The Economic and Social Council meeting comes amid widespread regional and international condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take control of Gaza” and transform it into what he described as the “Middle East Riviera.”

His plan also suggested that Egypt and Jordan should accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza—an idea that Cairo and Amman have repeatedly rejected, viewing it as an attempt to erase the Palestinian cause.

Regarding the situation in Gaza, Aboul Gheit stressed the need for continued and effective Arab action on all international and regional fronts—politically, economically, and socially—to mitigate the devastating consequences of Israeli crimes.

He stated that Israel’s war, which began in October 2023, has yet to reveal its full toll. “Beyond the human losses, this is the costliest war in every sense. The material devastation is immense, and the psychological scars left on the Arab consciousness will take years to heal,” he said.

Aboul Gheit urged the Economic and Social Council to adopt emergency relief plans to support the Palestinian people. He also called for clear mechanisms to ensure the coordinated and comprehensive implementation of these plans, as well as the effective management of Arab aid efforts.