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BYBLOS, Lebanon — The anguish in Lebanese archaeologist Nader Siklaoui’s voice is clear as he films Israeli missiles slamming down near ancient Roman columns he has spent much of his life protecting. But the conflict is also taking a devastating toll on Lebanon’s unique and ancient heritage, with airstrikes wiping out centuries-old villages and endangering fragile, millenia-old archaeological sites, like the celebrated Roman ruins of Baalbek, a United Nations world heritage site. First responders evacuate an injured person following an Israeli airstrike near Tyre, Lebanon, on Oct. 30. What can we do?” said Siklaoui, who oversees heritage sites in southern Lebanon, speaking to NBC News at the national museum in the capital Beirut. Israel’s military says it only targets Hezbollah, but accuses the group of embedding itself in and near civilian infrastructure, including heritage sites.

Persons: Nader Siklaoui’s, ”, Kawnat Haju, Umm Kulthumm, Nina Simone, Placido Domingo, Mo Abbas, Najat Saliba, Israel ’, Carthage, King Hiram of Tyre, “, Siklaoui, Nader Siqlaoui, Troy, Achilles, Tania Zaven, it’s, Zaven Organizations: Lebanese, Hezbollah, United, NBC News, United Nations, Getty, NBC, Islamic, Islamic State Locations: BYBLOS, Lebanon, Tyre, Israel, Baalbek, United Nations, Mhaibib, Nabatiyah, Ottoman, AFP, Beirut, Cadiz, Spain, Tunisia, Temple, Jerusalem, Lebanese, Iraq, Syria, Mosul, Byblos

UNRWA provides far more than humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. Many Palestinians see darker motives, viewing the UNRWA ban as Israel's latest attempt to make their lives unlivable, first imprisoning and bombing them, now taking away their main aid lifeline. Palestinians wait to receive medicines at the UNRWA health center in Khan Younis last month. Despite its endorsements, the United States is yet to resume funding to UNRWA after Israel's Oct. 7 allegations. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has said it will use other agencies, such as the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization, to distribute aid.

Persons: ”, Scott Paul, Ariel Schalit, ” Mustafa Barghouti, Ahmad Gharabli, Khan Younis, Bashar Taleb, —, Matthew Miller, “, David Lammy, Hazem Bader, Oren Marmorstein, António Guterres, Philippe Lazzarini Organizations: United Nations, UNRWA —, Hamas, UNRWA, Oxfam America, Palestinian National Initiative, NBC, United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, West Bank, Getty, ”, British, West, Foreign Ministry, NBC News, Israeli Foreign Ministry, Food, World Health Organization, General Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Jerusalem, AFP, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, United States, U.S, North Korea, West Bank, Hebron, Israel's

Israel is also heavily backed by the United States, which has supplied more than 29,000 guided bombs, artillery rockets and assorted missiles since 2009. A spiraling conflict between Iran and Israel, one of the United States’ closest allies, could pull U.S. forces positioned throughout the region into the fray. Israel has told the United States that it will not attack Iran’s nuclear or oil facilities in its expected attack. Though highly unlikely, an Israeli strike on Iran’s oil facilities could prompt Iran or its proxies to target refineries in Saudi Arabia or the U.A.E. This April, Iran’s attack involving more than 300 drones and missiles, in retaliation for Israel’s killing of seven Iranian officials in Syria, shattered that supposition.

Persons: Arash Khamooshi, Abbas Araghchi, Biden, emboldening Israel, Chang W, Lee, Yahya Sinwar, Israel Organizations: Iranian Revolutionary Guard, The New York Times, International Institute for Strategic Studies, United, Senior Pentagon, The Defense Department, Area Defense, Defense, New York Times, United Arab, United Nations Locations: Israel, Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, United States, Tehran, U.S, Gulf States, Guam, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Hormuz, Persian, Palestine Square, Gaza . Credit, Syria

AITOU, Lebanon — The scene of carnage in northern Lebanon showed heartbreaking snippets of everyday family life. Illy Edwan, whose villa in Aitou, Lebanon, was destroyed in the blast. Pages from a children’s book are strewn across the wreckage following an Israeli strike in Aitou, northern Lebanon, on Tuesday. More than 2,300 people, including 127 children, have been killed in Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attack and an estimated 1.2 million have been displaced, according to Lebanese officials. If they can’t, they will remain in Lebanon.”Emergency responders move a body bag following an Israeli strike in Aitou, Lebanon, on Tuesday.

Persons: Israel, Illy Edwan, “, Ziad Jaber, Edwan, ” Jeremy Laurence, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Rema Jamous, Mohamed Youssef, Nermin Khair, Sandy, Bashar Hanouf, he’ll, ” Matt Bradley, Alexander Smith Organizations: NBC News, NBC, Israel Defense Forces, ”, United Nations, Hamas, Palestinian, Israel Locations: AITOU, Lebanon, Lebanese, Aitou, Beirut, ”, Israel, Gaza, Middle East, Tripoli, Turkish, Mersin, Nermin, London

UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon) armoured personnel carriers depart a base to patrol near the Lebanon- Israel border on October 5. UNIFIL — the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon — has called the violations “shocking” while Israel has accused Hezbollah of operating in areas near UNIFIL posts. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established by the UN Security Council following Israel’s first invasion into southern Lebanon in 1978. It acts as a de-facto border between the two countries since Lebanon and Israel have an ongoing border dispute. The UNIFIL troops are tasked with monitoring border violations and keeping the area, which includes Hezbollah strongholds — secure.

Persons: Carl Court, Lebanon — Organizations: UNIFIL, United Nations Interim Force, UN, UNIFIL — Locations: Lebanon, Israel, UNIFIL, Indonesia, Italy, India, Nepal, Ghana, Malaysia

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari says the Israel Defense Forces will look into how a Hezbollah-launched drone entered Israel on Sunday without triggering an alert. Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of rockets towards Nahariya and Acre with the aim of engaging Israel’s air defense systems, while it also launched a swarm of drones – some used for the first time – toward areas of Acre and Haifa. The Israeli military said four soldiers were killed in the attack. Emergency services have said more than 60 people were injured. Hezbollah warned Israel that Sunday’s attack was the “easy part of what awaits if (Israel) continues its attack on our defiant people.”On Sunday, the Iran-backed group said it had launched 38 attacks on Israeli soldiers, army bases and barracks in Israel and southern Lebanon — the most since the start of Israel’s war with Hezbollah.

Persons: Daniel Hagari, Hagari, “, ” Organizations: Israel Defense Forces, Golani Brigade Locations: Israel, Binyamina, Lebanon, Nahariya, Acre, Haifa, Iran

"You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza," Netanyahu said in a video address Tuesday delivered in English. Israeli soldiers raise their national flag in Lebanon's southern border village of Maroun al-Ras. And Wednesday, a video, geolocated by NBC News, stoked outrage: Israeli soldiers raising the country's flag on the outskirts of a border village. Lebanese people who spoke to NBC News on Wednesday bristled at Netanyahu’s warning, with some also mocking the footage of Israeli soldiers planting the flag in the southern village of Maroun Al-Ras. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon amid its 1982 civil war resulted in a nearly two-decade occupation of the country’s south.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Israel's, Scott Peterson, ” Netanyahu, Gerges, “, ” Yossi Mekelberg, Mekelberg, ”, Hisham Karameh, ” “, ” Karameh, Matthew Miller Organizations: Israeli, United Nations, Getty, Israel, . Security, London School of Economics, NBC News, Chatham House’s, North Africa, Health Ministry, AFP, State Department Locations: Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Beirut, Iran, East, Maroun, Maroun Al, ” “ Israel, “, Dahieh

ZOUK MOSBEH, Lebanon — When night falls, it's no longer sleep but the humming threat of an Israeli strike that descends on the Lebanese capital. Israel's overnight attacks, which reached the heart of Beirut in the early hours of Thursday, mean that few in the city and beyond are getting any rest. The strike on central Beirut's Bachoura neighborhood was the deepest Israel has attacked into the capital. A man walks amid the rubble of a building leveled in an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the neighborhood of Moawwad in Beirut's southern suburbs Thursday. AFP - Getty ImagesA man stares at a building still smoldering Thursday after it was leveled in an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the neighborhood of Moawwad in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Persons: ZOUK, it's, Hala Kobaissi, Beirut's Salim Salam, —, people's, Emilie Madi, ” Hiam Khoury, Israel ramped, Marwan Naamani, Abdel Salam Abdallah, ”, Rayan Youness, “ They’re, Youness, Dr, Tania Baban, ” Baban, Matthew Savill, shouldn’t, Savill, Mahdi Ghuloom, Khoury Organizations: Residents, NBC News, Reuters, Israel, Getty, AFP, Royal United Services Institute, Israel Defense Forces, Le Beck Locations: ZOUK MOSBEH, Lebanon, Beirut, Israel, Bachoura, Beirut's Bachoura, Hadath, Dahieh, Sidon, Khiam, Illinois, Moawwad, Beirut's, AFP, United States, Iran

ZOUK MOSBEH, Lebanon — Israeli airstrikes and its burgeoning ground invasion have forced dozens of Lebanese Christians to take shelter in a monastery close to the border with Israel. Milad Louis, head of the municipality of Ain Ebel, a largely Christian town, said Israeli airstrikes forced the community to evacuate in just 45 minutes. Lebanese military personnel direct civilians Tuesday in the town of Rmeish along the border with Israel. Some 70 villagers were given shelter in the nearby monastery and school, with residents also opening up their homes to 30 fleeing the violence nearby, according to monastery officials. Lebanese civilians in the town of Rmeish along the border with Israel on Tuesday.

Persons: ZOUK, Milad Louis, ”, Israel, Louis, —, Jihan Kaisi Organizations: NBC News, Maronite, NBC, Union of Relief, Development Associations Locations: ZOUK MOSBEH, Lebanon, Israel, Ain, Ain Ebel, U.S, Rmeish, Ein, “, Lebanon's, Beirut, Lebanese

Israelis take cover as projectiles launched from Iran are being intercepted in the skies over in Rosh HaAyin, Israel, on October 1, 2024. The Pentagon said the attack on Tuesday was twice as large as Iran’s last barrage against Israel in April. Tehran said the barrage was a response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. It opted for a limited response back in April following pleas by the US and other allies to exercise restraint. But the words used by Israeli officials on Tuesday suggests the reaction might be more forceful this time.

Persons: Maya Alleruzzo, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Yemen —, Hassan Nasrallah, Israel, Daniel Hagari, ” Hagari, Israel didn’t, —, CNN’s Nic Robertson Organizations: Israel, Pentagon, Israel Defense Forces Locations: Iran, Rosh HaAyin, Israel, Tehran, Gaza, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria

☆ Israel faces a major issue in how deep it should go in Lebanon, security experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Israel launched ground incursions into Lebanon on Tuesday, opening up a new war front. AdvertisementIsrael faces a security dilemma in deciding how far it should go in its operations inside Lebanon, according to security experts. A more perilous terrain than GazaIsrael's ground operations inside Lebanon bear some resemblance to the ones it conducted in Gaza about a year ago. He mentioned Israel's own "costly" experiences of invasion in Lebanon, including the Second Israeli Invasion of Lebanon of 1982 and the Second Lebanon War in 2006. AdvertisementHowever, those sums, and Israel's overall military calculations, could quickly change if Iran gets involved on the side of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Persons: Israel, —, Hezbollah's, Hassan Nasrallah, Ameneh, MENAHEM KAHANA, ACLED, Israel isn't, Ramiz, Yannay Spitzer, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: IDF, Service, Israel Defense Forces, Global Governance Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute, Hezbollah, Getty, Middle East Security, Royal United Services Institute, Raleigh, Israel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Media, UN, Israeli Locations: Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Raleigh, East, Gaza, Galilee, AFP, Lebanese, Hiyam, Nabatieh, Anadolu, Mehvar, Israeli, Tehran

Meanwhile in southern Lebanon, an Israeli official told NBC News that Israeli forces had begun launching small special forces operations ahead of a potential ground offensive. People gather outside an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike in Beirut's Cola district on Monday. Thousands of families in southern Lebanon have also been displaced from their homes over the past year due to the cross-border attacks. Families rest on Beirut's corniche after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, on Monday. 'No safe place'Kaisi, the executive director of URDA, said humanitarian workers were "shocked" by the strike in Cola.

Persons: Israel, Kaisi, Fadel Itani, Hassan Nasrallah, Najib Mikati, Beirut's, Hassan Ammar, Fatima, I'm, Nayef Fouani, URDA, Charlotte Gardiner, Israel’s, ” Organizations: Union of Relief, Development Association, NBC News, Popular Front, Liberation, Residents, Getty, Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon's, NBC, IDF Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon, Beirut, Israel, Palestinian, Palestine, Lebanese, Washington, Beirut's Cola, AFP, Iran, Gaza, Beirut's, Cola, Saida, Sidon

☆ Why America is looking increasingly powerless as Israel’s war expands
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

And the US has incessantly pushed for a Gaza ceasefire that neither Netanyahu nor Hamas seems to want. For instance, the US and its allies helped repel a massive Iranian missile and drone attack against Israel in April. It has also killed other senior members of the two groups in strikes in Syria, Lebanon, Iran and in Gaza. And pro-Trump Republicans are goading him to go further — at least partly to weaken Biden and his chosen successor, Harris. This is just one of many reasons why Netanyahu is incentivized to expand his war no matter how powerless it makes America look.

Persons: CNN —, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Joe Biden, “, Netanyahu, Kamala Harris, Hassan Nasrallah, Biden, Antony Blinken, Nasrallah, dissed, CNN’s MJ Lee, Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler, Cedric Leighton, Leighton, Israel, it’s, Ismail Haniyeh, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, shuttler James Baker, —, Donald Trump, Harris, –, Trump Organizations: CNN, Monday, Israel Defense Forces, Democratic, Israel, Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, US, Washington, ”, Hamas, Republicans, Trump Republicans, Democratic Party, Arab American Locations: Lebanon, ”, Washington, East Israel, Israel, Gaza, Iranian, Damascus, United States, Hezbollah, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Africa, Tehran . Israel, Israeli, China, Michigan

☆ Israeli commandos raid Lebanon — the latest sign Netanyahu is ignoring Biden's warnings
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rapidly escalating Israel's campaign against its regional foes and trampling on US diplomatic efforts in the process. In the latest sign he's ignoring US warnings, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli special-operations forces were carrying out raids into southern Lebanon as the possibility of a ground incursion this week loomed. Getty Images"We are shocked," one US official told CNN after Netanyahu rejected the cease-fire proposal before Israel launched its attacks. It's the latest instance of the Israeli leader ignoring or rejecting Biden's attempts to restrain Israeli military action in Gaza and, more recently, Lebanon.

Persons: Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, —, Benjamin Netanyahu, Amir Avivi, Avivi, Fateh Sherif Abu el, Amin, Hezbollah's, Hassan Nasrallah, Israel's, Joe Biden, Gilbert Achcar, Jasmine El, Obama, He's, Netanyahu, Israel, Nasrallah, he's, Richard Dannatt, hadn't, Dannatt, It's, Sarah Leah Whitson, Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken, Blinken Organizations: Service, Street Journal, IDF, Hamas, SOAS University of London, US Marine Corps, Getty, CNN, Israel, British, East, Sky News, Foreign Relations, Political, Military Affairs, United Nations, White Locations: Israel, Lebanon, Beirut, Iran, Gaza, France

☆ Israel aims to upset the regional balance of power. History has a warning
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-29 | by ( Ben Wedeman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Beirut CNN —Killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was a step toward changing “the balance of power in the region for years to come,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Saturday. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon with the goal of crushing the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. This new group, with Iran’s help, proved to be far more lethal and effective than the Palestinian militants Israel had successfully driven out. People gather near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. Beyond Lebanon and Israel, there is the example of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, a lesson in the wages of unfettered hubris.

Persons: Hassan Nasrallah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ibrahim Aqil, Nasrallah, —, Dominique Faget, Bashir Al, Gemayel, Amin, Sabra, didn’t, Rafiq Al, Hariri, Iran’s, Israel, Hassan Ammar, George W, Bush, Saddam Hussein, Saddam Hussain, State Condoleezza Rice Organizations: Beirut CNN —, Lebanon —, Palestinian Liberation Organisation, PLO, Palestinian, West Bank, Getty, Maronite Christian, Arab, AP, Hezbollah, US, State Locations: Beirut, Middle East, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Palestinian, Tunisia, Yemen, Gaza, West Beirut, Galilee, AFP, Lebanon –, Beirut's, Iraq, Baghdad, Tehran, Damascus, Al, Afghanistan, State, Syria, Beirut’s

We’ve had challenges getting the prime minister across the line. “We stay up nights trying to figure out a way to get across the line on this ceasefire and hostage deal. And we have spoken out directly about our concern when we’ve seen the prime minister not take steps that we think are necessary to get to that deal,” he said. Vice President Kamala Harris has frequently cited the importance of reaching a ceasefire and hostage deal but hasn’t detailed any new approach in reaching an agreement. “Ultimately the thing that is going to unlock everything else in that region is getting this deal done,” she said last week.

Persons: Biden, Joe Biden, State James Baker, George Mitchell’s, “, ”, Bill Burns, Antony Blinken, Brett McGurk –, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, We’ve, we’re, Jake Sullivan, we’ve, Sinwar, they’re, it’ll, Kamala Harris, “ I’m, I’ve, Yahya Sinwar Organizations: CNN, Hamas, State, United Nations, State Department, CIA, MSNBC, UN Locations: Gaza, Lebanon, East, Northern Ireland, New York, Israel, United States, American, Saudi Arabia

☆ Rare Israeli airstrike in Beirut kills Hezbollah commander and more than a dozen others
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Israel launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated southern Beirut neighborhood on Friday. The Israeli military did not provide the identities of the other Hezbollah commanders allegedly killed in its strike on the crowded neighborhood just kilometers from downtown Beirut. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire regularly since Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel ignited the Israeli military's devastating offensive in Gaza. The last time Israel hit Beirut was in a July airstrike that killed senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur. After Friday's Israeli airstrike, Hezbollah announced attacks on northern Israel, two of which it said targeted an intelligence base from where it claimed Israel directed assassinations.

Persons: Daniel Hagari, Ibrahim Akil, Yoav Gallant, Akil, Hassan Nasrallah, —, Hussein Harake, Gallant, Israel, pagers, Fouad Shukur, Hagari, Nasrallah Organizations: American University of, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Hezbollah, Radwan Force, Israeli, Jihad, U.S, Embassy, U.S . Marine Corps, U.S . State Department, Lebanon's Health, Beirut's St, Therese Hospital, Gaza, Health Ministry Locations: American University of Beirut, Lebanon, Israel, Beirut, Dahiya, Lebanese, United States, Beirut's, Therese, Gaza, Israel's, Hamas, Gaza City

☆ Hezbollah leader warns Israel of war with 'no red lines,' threatens Cyprus
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The leader of Hezbollah has vowed a fight with "no rules and with no red lines" if full-out war erupts between the Lebanese militant group and Israel, warning Cyprus against getting mired in the conflict. Lebanon and Israel have regularly traded cross-border fire since the start of the Jewish state's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas — which, like Hezbollah, is backed by Iran — in the Gaza Strip. The Hezbollah leader also threatened war against the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, if the European Union member permits Israel to launch military operations from its territory. Nasrallah accused Israel of "conducting maneuvers in preparation for the Lebanon war" in Cyprus, without disclosing his sources. In response to Nasrallah, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday stressed that his country is not involved in the conflict and is, in fact, part of the solution, according to the Cyprus News Agency.

Persons: Iran —, Taleb Sami Abdullah, General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Seth Frantzman, Nasrallah, Israel, Manar, Nikos Christodoulides Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, Hezbollah, Foundation, Defense, Democracies, Associated Press, European Union, Cyprus News Agency, CNBC, Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Israel, Cyprus, Lebanon, Iran, Gaza, U.S, Cypriot

☆ The Middle East on the brink again after attack on Iranian consulate
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday may be the most dangerous escalation outside of Gaza since the start of the Hamas-Israel war nearly six months ago. The attack is the latest in a recent string of apparent Israeli strikes in Syria that targeted the IRGC and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Technically, Iran’s consulate is sovereign Iranian territory, making this the most overt attack on Iranian soil in years. Iran’s regional allies say they entered confrontations with Israel on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza, where over 32,000 people have been killed, according to local authorities. That may be an untenable position after today’s strike, which has again brought the region to the brink of an expanded war.

Persons: Israel, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, Lebanon —, Donald Trump, Soleimani, Ali Khamenei, ”, Mohammad Ali Shabani, “ Iran’s, Khamenei’s Organizations: CNN, Revolutionary Guards, Force Locations: Damascus, Gaza, Israel, Syria, Iran, Lebanese, Lebanon, Iran’s, Iranian, Baghdad, Washington

☆ In Hezbollah’s Sights, a Stretch of Northern Israel Becomes a No-Go Zone
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Isabel Kershner | Sergey Ponomarev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 60,000 Israelis who live far from Gaza but close to the front line of another spiraling conflict have in recent months been ordered from their homes along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon — the first mass evacuation of the area in Israeli history. In one Israeli border town, antitank missiles fired from Lebanon have damaged scores of homes. In another village, holdouts who refuse to evacuate said they avoided turning lights on at night to keep from becoming visible targets. The evacuations and an effort in Lebanon to move thousands of civilians away from the border are the result of an intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia and political organization. The skirmish along Israel’s northern border is being fought in parallel with the more intense war in Gaza, which Israel launched after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.

Persons: holdouts, Israel Organizations: Hezbollah, Lebanese Locations: Gaza, Lebanon, Israel

☆ Giandomenico Picco, Diplomat Who Freed Hostages in Lebanon, Dies at 75
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Giandomenico Picco, an Italian diplomat who as a lead negotiator for the United Nations helped resolve conflicts across the globe — most notably spending nearly a year in the early 1990s shuttling around the Middle East to secure the release of 11 hostages held by terrorist groups in Lebanon — died on Sunday in Wilton, Conn., north of Norwalk. His son Giacomo said the cause of his death, at an assisted living home, was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Picco spent 20 years with the U.N., mostly in a series of loosely defined roles that placed him at the center of some of the world’s most dangerous hot spots. Early in his career he helped manage the conflict between Greece and Turkey over the island of Cyprus; in 1986 he mediated between New Zealand and France after French secret agents sank the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace ship, in the Auckland harbor; and in 1988 he helped arrange the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Persons: Giandomenico Picco, Lebanon —, Giacomo, Picco Organizations: United Nations, Greenpeace Locations: Italian, Lebanon, Wilton, Conn, Norwalk, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, New Zealand, France, Auckland, Afghanistan

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle was damaged after its patrol was hit by Israel Defense Forces gunfire, UNIFIL said Saturday. ET) in the area of Aytaroun, in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This attack on peacekeepers, dedicated to reducing tensions & restoring stability in south Lebanon, is deeply troubling,” UNIFIL said Saturday. Remember: Fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed paramilitary group Hezbollah is centered on northern Israel and southern Lebanon — separate from Israel's fighting with Hamas further south, which is centered around Gaza. The group has linked its attacks on Israel to Israel’s targeting of Lebanese territory, and the fighting remains limited to this border region for now.

Persons: Arolodo Lázaro Organizations: United Nations Interim Force, Israel Defense Forces, UNIFIL, IDF, CNN, Hezbollah, Hamas Locations: Lebanon, UNIFIL, Aytaroun, Israel, Iran, Gaza, Lebanese

☆ Opinion: Will Israel-Hamas war mean a US-Iran escalation?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Opinion Charles Dunne | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

However, the White House has, for the moment, rightly stopped short of concluding that a major escalation is inevitable. While this risks escalation, it might be necessary — and a lack of resolve is also a risk in the face of ongoing attacks. There is a history here that goes beyond the fact that the US is allied with and supporting Israel in its war on Hamas. There has been much speculation about whether, given these well-documented ties, Iran ordered the Hamas operation in southern Israel. Miscalculations — whether by Iran, Israel, Hezbollah or even the US — could rapidly lead to a multifront regional war with casualties easily numbering in the tens of thousands.

Persons: Charles Dunne, John Kirby, Joe Biden, “, Qassem Soleimani, Bashar al, Assad, there’s, —, Biden, ”, It’s, Iran hasn’t, Israel, Geravand, it’s Organizations: US Foreign Service, Arab Center Washington DC, Middle East Institute, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, CNN, Hamas, White, National Security, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qods Force, Reuters, Washington Post, Force Locations: Iraq, Syria, Israel, Iranian, Washington, Tehran, Iran, United States, Europe, Sarajevo, Russia, Syrian, State, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Hezbollah, Sudan, Egypt, Qatar, Israel’s

For a Biden administration committed to stopping the Israel-Hamas war from widening, the conflict could amplify the economic strains and possibly cause governments to collapse. “Let’s support Egypt," Michel told reporters afterward. One major potential setback for Egypt stemming from the latest Israel-Hamas War would be the loss of tourists seeking to explore the country's ancient pyramids and history. Tourism is one of Egypt's leading economic sectors, and along with foreign investment provides needed access to the rest of the global economy. Before the latest Israel-Hamas war, some officials had pointed to Lebanon’s rebounding tourism industry as an economic lifeline.

Persons: Joe Biden, Christopher Swift, Ajay Banga, Charles Michel, Michel, Abdel Fattah el, Sissi, Israel, ”, Swift, ” Swift, it's, Mubarak, Moody’s, Mirette, Mabrouk, ” Mabrouk, Paul Salem, Abby Sewell Organizations: WASHINGTON, Hamas, International Monetary Fund, European Union, reverberations, Treasury Department, European Council, el, IMF, Tourism, Associated, World Bank, U.S, Middle East Institute Locations: Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Gaza, Sudan, East, Hamas, United States, Qatar, Washington, Beirut

The incidents underscored the risks that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas could spiral into a wider war. Israel has responded to the Hamas attacks with airstrikes and a “complete siege” of Gaza, which the group controls. About 200 American troops are stationed at Al Tanf, whose main role is training Syrian militias to fight the Islamic State. There were unconfirmed reports on social media of additional drone attacks in Syria late Thursday. “Clearly, this is an uptick in terms of the types of drone activity we’ve seen in Iraq and Syria,” General Ryder said.

Persons: “, ”, Patrick Ryder, General Ryder, Biden, Gholamhossein Gheybparvar, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ” General Ryder, Al Tanf, Al Asad Organizations: U.S . Navy, Navy, Pentagon, Palestinian, Military, Senior Biden, American, Hamas, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran’s, Guards, Al, ”, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, military’s, Command Locations: U.S, Yemen, Israel, ” Brig, Iranian, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Gaza, United States, Lebanon, Houthis, Syrian, Al, State, Al Asad Air

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