At Lebanon Border, Israeli Minister Vows Reprisal for Rare Bomb Attack

Israeli armored military vehicles and humvees patrol along the border with Lebanon near the northern kibbutz of Bar'am on March 15, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
Israeli armored military vehicles and humvees patrol along the border with Lebanon near the northern kibbutz of Bar'am on March 15, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
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At Lebanon Border, Israeli Minister Vows Reprisal for Rare Bomb Attack

Israeli armored military vehicles and humvees patrol along the border with Lebanon near the northern kibbutz of Bar'am on March 15, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
Israeli armored military vehicles and humvees patrol along the border with Lebanon near the northern kibbutz of Bar'am on March 15, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday said those responsible for a rare roadside bomb attack this week which officials said may have involved Lebanon's Hezbollah, would be found and held accountable.

Israel's military said on Wednesday that security forces had killed a man carrying an explosive belt after he apparently crossed from Lebanon into Israel and detonated a bomb on Monday, seriously wounding a motorist. It was examining whether Iran-backed Hezbollah was involved.

"Whoever carried out this attack will regret having carried out an attack against the citizens of Israel and against the state of Israel. We will find the right timing and appropriate manner to hit back," Gallant told reporters while touring the Israel-Lebanon border.

But the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesperson, Andrea Tenenti, said on Thursday that no crossing of the Blue Line has been recorded recently between Lebanon and Israel.

Tenenti said the UNIFIL has inspected media reports claiming that a person has trespassed from Lebanon into Israel, according to dpa.



Erdogan Expects Support from Syria in Türkiye's Battle with PKK

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)
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Erdogan Expects Support from Syria in Türkiye's Battle with PKK

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Syria's new leadership is determined to root out separatists there, as Ankara said its military had "neutralized" 32 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in the country.

A rebellion by groups close to Türkiye ousted Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad last month. Since then, Türkiye-backed Syrian forces have occasionally clashed in the north with US-backed Kurdish forces that Ankara deems terrorists.

"With the revolution in Syria... the hopes of the separatist terrorist organization hit a wall," Erdogan told his party's provincial congress in Trabzon.

"The new administration in Syria is showing an extremely determined stance in preserving the country's territorial integrity and unitary structure," he said.

"The end of the terrorist organization is near. There is no option left other than to surrender their weapons, abandon terrorism, and dissolve the organization. They will face Türkiye's iron fist," Erdogan added.

The defense ministry separately announced the armed forces' operation in northern Syria that it said had "neutralized" - a term that usually means killed - the 32 PKK members. It said Türkiye's military had also "neutralized" four PKK members in northern Iraq, where the militants are based.