Israeli Strikes Reportedly Target Hezbollah Ammunition Depot in Lebanon

Lebanese army soldiers check the wreckage of a vehicle after an Israeli airstrike targeted the area near the village of Burj al-Muluk, some 18 kms from the town of Nabatiyeh on July 20, 2024.  (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanese army soldiers check the wreckage of a vehicle after an Israeli airstrike targeted the area near the village of Burj al-Muluk, some 18 kms from the town of Nabatiyeh on July 20, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Reportedly Target Hezbollah Ammunition Depot in Lebanon

Lebanese army soldiers check the wreckage of a vehicle after an Israeli airstrike targeted the area near the village of Burj al-Muluk, some 18 kms from the town of Nabatiyeh on July 20, 2024.  (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanese army soldiers check the wreckage of a vehicle after an Israeli airstrike targeted the area near the village of Burj al-Muluk, some 18 kms from the town of Nabatiyeh on July 20, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Israeli strikes late on Saturday targeted a depot storing ammunition belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, three security sources told Reuters.

The strikes on the town of Adloun, about 40 km north of Lebanon's border with Israel, set off a string of loud explosions heard by witnesses across the south of Lebanon.

At least four civilians in Adloun were wounded in the strikes, a medical source and a security source told Reuters.

Hezbollah said that its fighters fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel on Saturday, targeting a kibbutz for the first time in nine months in retaliation for an Israeli drone strike earlier in the day that wounded several people including children.
Also Saturday, Hamas said it fired rockets from Lebanon toward an Israeli army post in the northern Israeli village of Shomera in retaliation for the “Zionists massacres” in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has carried out such attacks form Lebanon over the past several months, but they have been rare.
Hezbollah’s attack with dozens of Katyusha rockets on the northern Israeli kibbutz of Dafna came few hours after an Israeli drone strike hit a car in the southern Lebanese village of Burj al-Muluk, and shrapnel from the missile wounded several people who were standing nearby. The state-run National News Agency said that the wounded civilians are Syrian citizens and they included children.

The Israeli military said that about 45 projectiles were detected crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel in three separate barrages. It said that some were intercepted, while others fell in open areas, causing no injuries, but triggering several fires in the Golan Heights.



Rubio Told Egypt about Need to Stop Hamas from Governing Gaza Again

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Rubio Told Egypt about Need to Stop Hamas from Governing Gaza Again

Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Internally displaced Palestinians make their way from southern to northern Gaza along Al Rashid road, central Gaza Strip, 27 January 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Egypt's foreign minister on Tuesday it was important to ensure Hamas can never govern Gaza again, the State Department said, with their call coming after President Donald Trump suggested Egypt and Jordan should take more Palestinians.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Trump on Saturday floated a plan to "clean out" Gaza, where Israel's war has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, in comments that echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.

The suggestion by Trump was not mentioned in the US State Department statement released on Tuesday after the call between Rubio and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Reuters said.

Jordan and Egypt had pushed back over the weekend after Trump's comments that they should take in Palestinians from Gaza. Asked if this was a temporary or long-term solution, Trump had said: "Could be either."

KEY QUOTES

"He (Rubio) also reinforced the importance of holding Hamas accountable," the State Department said after Tuesday's call.

"The Secretary reiterated the importance of close cooperation to advance post-conflict planning to ensure Hamas can never govern Gaza or threaten Israel again."

CONTEXT

Rubio held a call a day earlier with Jordan's King Abdullah and the US statement after that call, too, did not mention Trump's remarks on Palestinian displacement. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas group attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The fighting has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire.