UNIFIL Documents 6 Tunnels Crossing Blue Line Towards Israel

UNIFIL peacekeepers attend a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of their presence in South Lebanon, at the mission headquarters in Naqoura, on March 19, 2018 (Hassan Ammar/AP)
UNIFIL peacekeepers attend a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of their presence in South Lebanon, at the mission headquarters in Naqoura, on March 19, 2018 (Hassan Ammar/AP)
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UNIFIL Documents 6 Tunnels Crossing Blue Line Towards Israel

UNIFIL peacekeepers attend a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of their presence in South Lebanon, at the mission headquarters in Naqoura, on March 19, 2018 (Hassan Ammar/AP)
UNIFIL peacekeepers attend a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of their presence in South Lebanon, at the mission headquarters in Naqoura, on March 19, 2018 (Hassan Ammar/AP)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has recorded six tunnels in the region of Kfar Kela in southern Lebanon that cross the Blue Line towards Israel.

UNIFIL Commander Major General Stefano Del Col said the tunnels were “breaching the Blue Line.”

In a meeting with journalists on Tuesday in Naqoura, he emphasized that UNIFIL recorded violations on both sides of the Blue Line and raised them in periodic reports to the United Nations.
 
He added that the continued Israeli occupation of the northern part of the town of Ghajar was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Del Col called on the importance of tripartite meetings between the UN, Lebanon and Israel “in order to eliminate breaches on the ground.”
 
He pointed out that some violations that occur sometimes in the eastern sector, especially in the fishing seasons, are quickly resolved, stressing that approved engagement mechanism and tripartite meetings significantly reduce the occurrence of violations and events on the ground.
 
The UNIFIL commander revealed that the UN had introduced some amendments to Resolution 1701, without compromising its substance.

He explained that in 2017, UNIFIL reinforced its field patrols and the following year, it developed a plan to strengthen the capabilities of the Lebanese Army’s naval forces.
 
Del Col also emphasized UNIFIL’s role in protecting civilians and taking care of their needs through the civil affairs office, which is in constant contact with the municipalities.



Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.