Israel Says it Targeted Hezbollah Sites in Lebanon, 2 Dead

People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
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Israel Says it Targeted Hezbollah Sites in Lebanon, 2 Dead

People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

The Israeli military said on Friday it struck several Hezbollah targets overnight in the Bekaa Valley and along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The army said the targets include a facility used for underground weapons development and another associated with the smuggling of arms into Lebanon.

Two people were killed and 10 others were wounded in an Israeli strike on an unofficial border crossing in eastern Lebanon early Friday morning, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Lebanon’s state news agency said Israel launched four strikes on the Janta border crossing in the eastern province of Baalbeck, while two other strikes targeted two illegal Syria-Lebanon border crossings in northern Lebanon late Thursday and early Friday.

On Thursday, Israel said it intercepted a surveillance drone launched by Hezbollah calling it "a breach of the ceasefire agreement" between Israel and Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel reached a ceasefire in late November, ending a deadly conflict that began with the Gaza war in 2023. The US confirmed on Sunday that the agreement, which includes a 60-day period for Israeli troop withdrawal, will remain in effect until Feb. 18, extending the original Jan. 26 deadline.

Israel has carried out multiple strikes on Lebanese territory since the ceasefire extension, killing and injuring more than 100 people.

In a statement, Hezbollah legislator Ibrahim Moussawi called Friday's strikes a very dangerous violation and a blatant and explicit aggression,” adding that “the Lebanese state, represented by the presidency, the government and the army, is required to take immediate action.”



UNRWA: West Bank Witnessing Alarming Spillover of Gaza War

26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
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UNRWA: West Bank Witnessing Alarming Spillover of Gaza War

26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday that West Bank is undergoing an alarming spillover of the Gaza war.

“More than 50 people, including children, have been reported killed since the Israeli forces’ operation started five weeks ago,” he said.

In a statement posted on his X account, Lazzarini said that destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing roads and access restrictions are commonplace.

People’s lives have been turned upside down, bringing back traumas and loss, he said, adding that around 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes especially in refugee camps in the north.

“Fear, uncertainty, and grief once again prevail. Affected camps lie in ruins,” he wrote.

The UN official showed that more than 5,000 children who normally go to UNRWA schools have been deprived of education, some for over 10 weeks now.

Also, patients cannot access healthcare, families are cut off from water, electricity and other basic services, he said.

“More and more people are relying on humanitarian aid at a time when aid agencies are overstretched and severely under-resourced,” Lazzarini noted.

“Our UNRWA teams are tracking displaced people and continue to provide them with much needed food, health care, and basics to keep them warm,” he added.

“This must end,” the UN official concluded.

Meanwhile, the recently-appointed Palestinian governor of Tulkarem, Abdallah Kmeil, said on Wednesday that the Israeli forces had notified residents of their intention to demolish 11 homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, where more than 5,000 people live.

“The Israeli occupation notice to demolish 11 homes under the pretext of constructing a road stretching from the camp square towards the Al-Manshiya neighborhood, is considered a new massacre against this camp through systematic destruction and sabotage,” he said.

Kmeil added that Israel’s unprecedented attack on Tulkarem and its camp will not break the resolve of its people.