Lebanon Foils Plot to Smuggle Hashish from Sidon Port to Egypt

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Lebanon Foils Plot to Smuggle Hashish from Sidon Port to Egypt

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy and security officers in front of the seized hashish shipment (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Lebanon has foiled a plot to smuggle four tons of hashish from Sidon to the Egyptian port of Alexandria

President Michel Aoun praised the security operation that thwarted the smuggling attempt of the KayfHash to Alexandria, saying it is an “achievement” for the Lebanese Customs.

Aoun stressed that cooperation and coordination between various security apparatuses achieve such results that show Lebanon's keenness to combat smuggling of all kinds and thwart all attempts that harm the country's reputation and its relations with brotherly and friendly countries, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The NNA stated that the Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy visited the old port of Sidon, after the Anti-Narcotics Office in South Lebanon, in coordination with Sidon’s customs office, managed to seize two trucks containing cannabis inside metal containers, ready to be transported for shipping.

Fahmy inspected the seized shipment, praising the distinguished coordination between the Customs Directorate, the Anti-Narcotics Office, and the Information Division, which led to this achievement.

He confirmed that Lebanon will soon have the most modern equipment, indicating that the operation is a completion of all the measures taken to end all kinds of smuggling networks.

The Acting Director-General of Customs, Raymond Khoury, spoke about the difficulties they face, referring to the power outage in the port in the absence of the required capabilities.

Khoury indicated that Lebanese Customs suffers from personnel and equipment shortage, especially modern equipment, noting there are also some problems with a number of vehicles.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.