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UN Commander in Contact with Lebanese and Israeli Officials about Tensions over Hezbollah Tents

A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
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UN Commander in Contact with Lebanese and Israeli Officials about Tensions over Hezbollah Tents

A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)

The UN peacekeeping force on the Lebanon-Israel border said Monday its commander is in contact with officials in both countries over tensions regarding two tents set up by the militant Hezbollah group last month.
Israel filed a complaint with the United Nations in June claiming that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters (yards) inside of Israeli territory, The Associated Press said.
The area where the tents were erected in Chebaa Farms and the Kfar Chouba hills were captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and are part of Syria’s Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon.
Israeli media reported Sunday that Hezbollah evacuated one of the two tents but there has been no confirmation from the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
The head of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, “continues to be in direct contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to resolve the situation of the tents,” UNIFIL said in a statement sent to AP. The borderline demarcated after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 is known as the blue line.
UNIFIL added: “We are looking into reports that a tent has been moved north of the Blue Line.” UNIFIL added that any unauthorized presence or activity “near the Blue Line is a concern, and has the potential to increase tension and misunderstandings.”
The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad said Saturday that the tents are in Lebanon. He added, referring to Israel: “You cannot remove two tents because there is resistance and strong men in this country.”
Israel and Hezbollah fought to a draw in a monthlong war in Lebanon in 2006. Last week, Hezbollah said it shot down an Israel drone flying over a village in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has in the past claimed downing Israeli drones, and Israel’s military also has said in the past that they have shot down Hezbollah drones.
Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

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Arab World

Houthi Attack on Western Yemen Tests Readiness of Govt Forces

Government forces are waging fierce battles against the Houthis in Taiz. (Military media)
Government forces are waging fierce battles against the Houthis in Taiz. (Military media)
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Houthi Attack on Western Yemen Tests Readiness of Govt Forces

Government forces are waging fierce battles against the Houthis in Taiz. (Military media)
Government forces are waging fierce battles against the Houthis in Taiz. (Military media)

The Iran-backed Houthi attack on western Yemen appears to be aimed at not only achieving gains on the ground, but pressuring the government forces to stretch out their troops on various fronts from Taiz to southern Hodeidah, while keeping marine passageways on the west coast under threat.

The Houthis carried out attacks on government forces in al-Barh, al-Kadha, Maqbanah, al-Ahtoub and Ghabari mountain in one of the fiercest assaults in years.

The attacks allow the Houthis to apply pressure on Taiz city on the west and cut supply routes between it and al-Mokha port.

Government forces on Friday recaptured a strategic position in western Taiz after fierce fighting with the Houthis.

Official military sources said clashes continued on the Maqbanah and al-Kadha fronts as government forces repelled Houthi advances. Government reinforcements have arrived in the area as the Houthis continued to dig in their positions in western Taiz.

Also on Friday, the Houthi launched a ballistic missile at a restaurant in western Taiz, causing fatalities and injuries among civilians. The restaurant and nearby property were heavily damaged.

AFP reported on Friday that over 120 people have been killed in the fighting since Thursday. No official or Houthi death tolls have been released.

The Houthis are focusing their attacks on western Taiz because it connects the city to the coast. Capturing al-Kadha and Maqbanah brings the militants closer to vital supply routes between Taiz and al-Mokha.

Moreover, capturing the areas brings them closer to the west coast and Red Sea waterways. The Houthis have no direct control over the regions overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, but they do hold Hodeidah city north of al-Mokha.

They had previously launched attacks against vessels transiting the Red Sea.

The legitimate Yemeni government had warned in August of Houthi plans to seize the Bab al-Mandeb coast, which it tied to the regional escalation and the war on Iran.

On the political level, Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi held talks with several military commanders, including PLC member Tariq Saleh, to review the latest developments in Taiz and Hodeidah.

He stressed that the armed forces are capable of handling any escalation and thwarting the Houthi plots, said official sources.

He hailed the level of readiness and morale of the armed forces, adding that the Houthi attacks will not alter the equation on the ground and they will not be allowed to make any advances.

The attacks go beyond defending ground positions, but are tied to restoring state institutions and protecting civilians, waterways and vital facilities, he stressed.

The government will firmly respond to the escalation, while ensuring that the fighting does not spread so as to protect civilian lives, al-Alimi said.

Arab World

Israeli Strikes on Lebanon Kill Three

04 September 2026, Lebanon, Tyre District: Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out an explosion targeting homes in Mansouri, southern Lebanon. (dpa)
04 September 2026, Lebanon, Tyre District: Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out an explosion targeting homes in Mansouri, southern Lebanon. (dpa)
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Israeli Strikes on Lebanon Kill Three

04 September 2026, Lebanon, Tyre District: Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out an explosion targeting homes in Mansouri, southern Lebanon. (dpa)
04 September 2026, Lebanon, Tyre District: Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out an explosion targeting homes in Mansouri, southern Lebanon. (dpa)

Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon late on Friday killed at least three people and injured 23, the Lebanese health ministry said. 

The ministry said in a statement that strikes hit five locations in the southern Tyre and Nabatieh regions and the Bekaa region in the east. 

It updated an earlier toll given by Lebanese official media which had reported two of the deaths in the south. 

The strikes came despite a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. 

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported the strike hit near the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge, which the Israeli army said it had captured, though Hezbollah did not confirm losing it. 

Two young men were targeted while riding a motorcycle in the city of Nabatieh, NNA said, adding that rescuers transported their bodies to a local hospital. 

Israel announced on Thursday it had taken control of the ridge. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would work to "prevent the enemy from re-establishing itself in the area". 

Israel stepped up strikes in the Nabatieh region on Friday and also targeted the village of Rmadiyeh in the Tyre area, located more than 10 kilometers from the Israeli border. 

The ministry said the third person was killed and 15 others hurt there, including two children, three women and six rescuers. 

A rescue service source earlier told AFP that the strike in the village, which is sheltering people displaced from other southern areas, had hit a house. 

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since March when the group dragged Lebanon into the wider Middle East war by attacking Israel in support of Iran. 

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people. 

The conflict has calmed since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon was agreed in June, but Beirut still reports Israeli strikes. 

Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, said on X on Friday that families returning to Nabatieh following the truce "face widespread destruction, lack of basic services, ongoing insecurity and uncertainty". 

Arab World

Libya: Tensions Flare in Al-Qatrun After a Young Man Killed in Shooting Blamed on LNA

The Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Fezzan offers condolences to the people of al-Qatrun (Council)
The Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Fezzan offers condolences to the people of al-Qatrun (Council)
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Libya: Tensions Flare in Al-Qatrun After a Young Man Killed in Shooting Blamed on LNA

The Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Fezzan offers condolences to the people of al-Qatrun (Council)
The Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Fezzan offers condolences to the people of al-Qatrun (Council)

Tension gripped the southern Libyan city of al-Qatrun following the killing of 16-year-old Hussein Matar, who was shot while at a petrol station in the city.

Accounts differed over who opened fire on Matar, as residents accused the Libyan National Army’s 87th Battalion of responsibility.

Al-Qatrun witnessed skirmishes and running clashes between residents and members of the 87th Battalion on Thursday evening, during which shots were fired indiscriminately. Several members of the Tebu tribe were seen carrying weapons.

The Fezzan National Political Gathering moved quickly to hold the perpetrators fully responsible and called on the 87th Battalion to “bear the full consequences of this crime”.

The Libyan National Army has not officially commented on the incident. However, a source close to its General Command said the leadership valued the people of al-Qatrun and was working to address their living difficulties.

Rania al-Sayd, a founding member of the Fezzan Gathering, said the incident “cannot be viewed as an isolated event or an individual dispute”.

She described it as “a direct attack on the social fabric and the fragile stability we are trying to preserve in the south”, saying it was intended “to drag the region back into chaos and cycles of revenge”.

Al-Sayd told Asharq Al-Awsat that “any attack on life, property or honor is unacceptable”, calling on the security and judicial authorities to carry out their duties by apprehending the perpetrators and bringing them to justice immediately.

She said she was counting on “the role of councils of elders, dignitaries and sheikhs in al-Qatrun and across the south”.

“Your role today is not ceremonial, but a duty,” she said. “You bear the responsibility of healing divisions, preventing bloodshed and containing the strife before it escalates.”

A delegation from the Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Fezzan, headed by Sheikh Ibrahim Abu Bakr Nasr, arrived in al-Qatrun on Thursday evening in an effort to contain the escalating unrest, offer condolences and assess the situation in the city.

The Fezzan Gathering called for “the formation of an urgent and transparent investigative committee, the disclosure of its findings to the public and the surrender of the perpetrators to justice without concealment or delay”.

It also called for an end to what it described as “any retaliatory measures or collective punishment against the people of al-Qatrun”, warning against burdening the region with further bloodshed and tension.

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the gathering called on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to “fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities to protect civilians in the south and open an independent international investigation into the incident”.

It also urged the international community to “intervene urgently to stop these acts targeting innocent people and put an end to human rights violations in southern Libya”.

Al-Sayd said Libya “cannot withstand further crises and divisions”, warning that “what is happening in al-Qatrun could be repeated in any city if we continue to treat the symptoms while ignoring the causes”.

She also warned against “being drawn into strife and hate speech, or turning the region into a weapon in the hands of those who seek to divide us”.

Al-Qatrun is controlled by the Libyan National Army. The interim Government of National Unity has no presence in the city, which is experiencing fuel shortages similar to those affecting most Libyan cities.

The Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Dignitaries of Fezzan said its delegation had offered condolences to the people of al-Qatrun “as part of its community role and efforts to reunite the people of the region and consolidate unity”.

The council said on Friday that the delegation was received by Tebu sheikhs, elders and young people in al-Qatrun.

It said they discussed the incident in the city and stressed the importance of social cohesion and containing its repercussions.

“The blood of the people of Fezzan is one, and al-Qatrun’s wound is a wound for all of Fezzan,” the council said, pledging to continue pursuing “tolerance, reconciliation, the prevention of bloodshed and the upholding of justice”.

Libya’s National Institution for Human Rights also weighed in, expressing concern over “the rising number of extrajudicial killings in many cities, regions and municipalities”.

It attributed the increase to “the security chaos affecting many cities across the country as a result of the absence of the Interior Ministry and the relevant security authorities”.

The institution called on the Interior Ministry, the al-Qatrun Security Directorate, the Criminal Investigation Agency and the attorney-general’s office within the jurisdiction of the Sebha Court of Appeal to open a comprehensive investigation into Matar’s killing.

It also urged them to intensify efforts to arrest those accused of involvement in the crime and bring them to justice.

Lieutenant General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army, previously met sheikhs and dignitaries in al-Qatrun during a wider tour of several southern cities to assess security conditions and residents’ living needs.