Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
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Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others, including Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, Lebanon’s state news agency and the army said.

The Lebanese army said in a communique that three soldiers and four Malaysian peacekeepers were injured.

The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city. There was no immediate information on the identities of those who died.

The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.

A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.

The attack took place near Araya, where several similar drone strikes have taken place in the past week.



Arab Foreign Ministers Call for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani attends the opening session of the Rome Med 2024, Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome, Italy, 25 November 2024. (EPA)
Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani attends the opening session of the Rome Med 2024, Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome, Italy, 25 November 2024. (EPA)
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Arab Foreign Ministers Call for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani attends the opening session of the Rome Med 2024, Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome, Italy, 25 November 2024. (EPA)
Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani attends the opening session of the Rome Med 2024, Mediterranean Dialogues conference in Rome, Italy, 25 November 2024. (EPA)

Several Arab foreign ministers, gathering in Rome on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting, are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and the provision of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, and the secretary general of the League of Arab States, all participated in a Rome conference before joining G7 foreign minsters later in the day in nearby Fiuggi.

“Gaza is now a graveyard for children, a graveyard for human values, a graveyard for international law,” said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

The Mideast conflict was the top agenda item Monday for the G7, amid reported progress on a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel’s ambassador to the US said a deal could be reached within days.

“We all hope and pray that this ceasefire will be realized because the absence of it will mean more destruction, and more and more animosity, and more dehumanization, and more hatred, and more bitterness which will doom the future of the region to more conflict and more killing and more destruction,” Safadi said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed that Cairo would host a ministerial-level conference next Monday on mobilizing international aid for Gaza.

In remarks to the “Mediterranean Dialogues” conference, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, the release of hostages, provision of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the initiation of “a serious and genuine political process” to create a Palestinian state.