Israel Intensifies Attacks against Hezbollah Field Commanders in Lebanon

The Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah members as they were transferring weapons in the Yohmor area in the South. (NNA)
The Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah members as they were transferring weapons in the Yohmor area in the South. (NNA)
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Israel Intensifies Attacks against Hezbollah Field Commanders in Lebanon

The Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah members as they were transferring weapons in the Yohmor area in the South. (NNA)
The Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah members as they were transferring weapons in the Yohmor area in the South. (NNA)

Six people were killed in Lebanon in the past two days in Israeli strikes against Hezbollah members.

Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli drone strike in the country’s south hit a car, killing two people on Thursday afternoon in the village of Baraachit.

The National News Agency gave no further details and it was not immediately clear if the two killed were members of Hezbollah. Israel's military said the strike targeted two members of the party.

Israel had earlier in the day fired artillery at Baraachit.

Also on Thursday, the Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah members as they were transferring weapons in the Yohmor area in the South.

The NNA said one person was killed overnight on Thursday in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the town of Maaroub in the Tyre region.

Meanwhile, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad said the party’s priority at the moment “lies in ending the Israeli occupation, kicking off reconstruction, consolidating sovereignty, achieving the desired reform, and ensuring national partnership.”

“The resistance in Lebanon has and will always be the resistance against occupation and injustice, and against invaders and violators,” he declared.

“The resistance has made major achievements (...) and repelled Israel’s world war against Lebanon in 2006 and defeated it,” he added.

The “support front” Hezbollah had launched in solidarity with Gaza on October 8, 2023, “was a preemptive move aimed at protecting Lebanon, the resistance and its people,” he went on to say.

Moreover, Raad said Hezbollah has been firmly committed to the ceasefire since it went into effect in November “even though it knew that the enemy will not respect it and despite its violations that have been ongoing since day one.”

Furthermore, he stressed that the “resistance was never an alternative to the state in assuming responsibility. Rather, it aided it in protecting Lebanon and forcing the enemy to withdraw” from occupied territories.

The resistance also helped the state “preserve national sovereignty and dignity,” he added.

Now, the new government is prioritizing reform, “and we will help it in achieving that,” remarked Raad.



Israel Says No Humanitarian Aid will Enter Gaza

A wounded Palestinian girl stands amid the debris of her family home after overnight Israeli strikes - AFP
A wounded Palestinian girl stands amid the debris of her family home after overnight Israeli strikes - AFP
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Israel Says No Humanitarian Aid will Enter Gaza

A wounded Palestinian girl stands amid the debris of her family home after overnight Israeli strikes - AFP
A wounded Palestinian girl stands amid the debris of her family home after overnight Israeli strikes - AFP

Israel said Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a "mass grave", a medical charity reported.

Air and ground attacks resumed across the Gaza Strip from March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities in the territory.

However, Israel has halted the entry of aid into Gaza since March 2, as the humanitarian crisis continues to grow amid ongoing military assaults which rescuers said killed at least 11 people Wednesday.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.

"Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population," Katz said in a statement, AFP reported.

"No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid."

Top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly cited military pressure as the only way to secure the release of the remaining 58 hostages held in Gaza.

Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli military operations and the blockage of aid had transformed Gaza into a graveyard for Palestinians and those who help them.

"Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance," said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle.

"With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care," she said.

- 'Worst' humanitarian crisis -

The United Nations had warned on Monday that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023.

"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In a statement, OCHA said no supplies had reached the territory for a month and a half, and medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply.

Israel tightly controls the entry of vital international aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since the Israeli offensive resumed.

On April 28, the International Court of Justice is set to open hearings on Israel's humanitarian obligations towards Palestinians.

The UN General Assembly approved a resolution in December requesting that The Hague-based top court give an advisory opinion on the matter.

It calls on the ICJ to clarify what Israel is required to do to "ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population".

Although ICJ decisions are legally binding, the court has no concrete way of enforcing them. They increase the diplomatic pressure, however.

Israel continued to pound Gaza on Wednesday.