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Israel Strikes Lebanon after Discussing 'Iranian Threat' with Trump

A ball of fire rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs on November 7, 2024. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
A ball of fire rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs on November 7, 2024. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
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Israel Strikes Lebanon after Discussing 'Iranian Threat' with Trump

A ball of fire rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs on November 7, 2024. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
A ball of fire rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs on November 7, 2024. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)

Israel launched fresh strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president-elect Donald Trump spoke about the "Iranian threat".

The Israeli premier was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump, calling the re-election "history's greatest comeback".

Over the phone on Wednesday, the pair "agreed to work together for Israel's security" and "discussed the Iranian threat", Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Not long afterwards, the Israeli military launched its latest strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah's main bastion of south Beirut, with AFP footage showing orange flashes and plumes of smoke over the densely populated suburb.

The Israeli army had issued evacuation orders ahead of the strikes, calling on people to leave four neighborhoods, including one near the international airport.

In Lebanon's east, the country's health ministry said Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed 40 people, with rescuers combing the rubble for survivors.

"The series of Israeli enemy strikes on the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek" killed "40 people and injured 53", the ministry said in a statement.

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Israeli Rights Group Accuses Prison Authority of Failing Palestinian Prisoners after Scabies Outbreak

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Rights Group Accuses Prison Authority of Failing Palestinian Prisoners after Scabies Outbreak

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)

An Israeli rights group said Monday that more than a quarter of all Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel had contracted scabies since an outbreak was identified in May, and accused the prison authority of improper care and prevention.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that more than 2,800 prisoners had caught the rash-like infection, with more than 1,700 still actively infected. The outbreak was seen in five different detention facilities, the group said. It was citing figures it said came from the Israel Prison Service.

The group said it filed a legal petition calling on the prison service “to eradicate the scabies epidemic,” accusing the authorities of failing “to implement widely recognized medical interventions necessary to contain the outbreak.”

It said that it halted the legal proceedings after it received a commitment from the prison service to address the outbreak. The prison service said the court had cancelled the petition because the prisons had shown they were dealing with the outbreak in a “systematic and thorough” way.

Nadav Davidovich, an Israeli public health expert who wrote a medical analysis for the group’s court proceedings, said the outbreak was a result of overcrowding in prisons and apparent neglect from prison authorities. He said such outbreaks could be prevented if prisoners were held “in more reasonable conditions.” If the first infections were treated as needed, such an outbreak could have been avoided, he said.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also said that the Israel Prison Service had cited scabies as a reason for postponing lawyers' visits and court appearances for prisoners. It said those steps “violate prisoners’ rights and serve as punitive measures rather than public health responses.”

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prisons, has boasted about hardening conditions to the bare minimum required by law.