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)
TT

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.



More Than 50,000 Refugees Return to Syria from Türkiye

A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
TT

More Than 50,000 Refugees Return to Syria from Türkiye

A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Türkiye’s Interior Affairs Minister said Thursday that a total of 52,622 refugees have returned to Syria from Türkiye in the first month following Bashar Assad’s removal from power on Dec. 8.
Speaking at the Cilvegozu border crossing between Türkiye and Syria on Thursday, Ali Yerlikaya said that more than 40,000 Syrians had returned with family members while some 11,000 individuals crossed into Syria alone.
“The voluntary, safe, honorable and regular returns have started to increase,” Yerlikaya said.
Türkiye has hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 — more than 3.8 million at its peak in 2022.