Category World News

The Israeli military says it has launched a wave of air strikes targeting what it says are Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon as Israel escalates daily attacks on its northern neighbour in flagrant violation of a one-year-old ceasefire.

The barrage on Thursday came soon after a separate Israeli raid targeted southern Lebanon’s Tyre district. The Israeli army claimed it hit members of Hezbollah’s construction unit and that it would “continue to operate in order to remove any threat to the territory of the state of Israel”.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency confirmed Israeli raids near the towns of Toura and Aabbasiyyeh in the Tyre area, and in the southern area of Taybeh but did not report any casualties. In also reported an Israeli warplane flying at a low altitude over Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The attacks come as Hezbollah issued a firm rejection of any political negotiations with Israel, saying such talks would “not serve the national interest”. The statement followed mounting pressure from the United States and Egypt for Lebanon to begin direct dialogue with Israel, the AFP news agency reported. Al Jazeera could not independently verify those claims.

“We reaffirm our legitimate right to defend ourselves against an enemy that imposes war on our country and does not cease its attacks,” Hezbollah said, referring to ongoing Israeli air raids despite a ceasefire agreed to in November 2024.

Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war, with communication limited to a United Nations-backed monitoring mechanism involving France and the US. The two sides meet separately under UN auspices but do not engage in direct talks.

Israel threatens Lebanon with more strikes

Despite reaffirming its commitment to the ceasefire, Hezbollah accused Israel of exploiting Lebanon’s internal divisions and continuing its attacks under the pretext of security operations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, warned last week that Israel could intensify operations in Lebanon. Defence Minister Israel Katz echoed the threat, saying, “Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify – we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned Israel for ramping up its attacks after he signalled willingness to discuss de-escalation. The Lebanese government, under heavy US pressure, has ordered the army to draft a plan to disarm Hezbollah – a move the group condemned as “hasty” and dangerous.

Last week, Aoun instructed the armed forces to confront any further Israeli incursion in the country’s south after Israeli forces crossed their shared border and killed a municipal worker during an overnight raid.

The Lebanese forces, unlike the armed group Hezbollah, have generally stayed on the sidelines of the conflict with Israel. But Aoun, a former commander of the Lebanese army, appeared to have finally lost his patience with the Israeli-enforced status quo.

Since the ceasefire, Israel has maintained troops in five areas in southern Lebanon and carried out regular strikes it claims target Hezbollah positions.

The situation remains volatile nearly a year after Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024, decimating much of the group’s senior leadership.

After months of blockade and starvation in Gaza, Israel allowed a new United States venture – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – to distribute food. Branded as a lifeline, its sites quickly became known by Palestinians and dozens of human rights groups as “death traps”.

Fault Lines investigates how civilians seeking aid were funnelled through militarised zones, where thousands were killed or injured under fire.

Attackers firing machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades have boarded a ship off the coast of Somalia, United Kingdom officials say of the latest assault, likely by resurgent Somali pirates, in the region.

“The Master of a vessel has reported being approached by 1 small craft on its stern. The small craft fired small arms and RPG’s towards the vessel,” the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said in an alert issued on Thursday. It warned ships in the area to “transit with caution”.

The private security firm Ambrey also said an attack was under way, saying it targeted a Malta-flagged tanker heading from Sikka, India, to Durban, South Africa.

Ambrey added that it appeared to be an assault by Somali pirates, who are reported to be operating in the area in recent days and who seized an Iranian fishing boat to use as a base of operations. Iran has not acknowledged the seizure of the fishing boat, called the Issamohamadi.

Details of the vessel attacked on Thursday correspond to the Hellas Aphrodite, which changed its track and slowed down at the time of the attack. The ship’s owners and managers could not immediately be reached for comment.

UKMTO WARNING 040-25 – 06 NOV 25

Click here to view the full Advisory⤵️https://t.co/yo0ifPJbtT#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/Hqa7sct7ab

Another maritime security firm, the Diaplous Group, said the attacked tanker had a crew of 24 mariners, all of whom reportedly locked themselves into the ship’s citadel for safety during the attack. The vessel did not have an armed security team on board it, the firm added.

The European Union’s Operation Atalanta, a counterpiracy mission around the Horn of Africa, has responded to other recent pirate attacks in the area and issued a recent alert to shippers that a pirate group was operating off Somalia and assaults were “almost certain” to happen.

Thursday’s attack came after another vessel, the Cayman Islands-flagged Stolt Sagaland, found itself targeted in a suspected pirate attack that involved both its armed security force and the attackers shooting at each other, the EU force said.

Piracy off Somalia peaked in 2011 when 237 attacks were reported. Somali piracy in the region in 2011 cost the world’s economy about $7bn with $160m paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.

The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols, a strengthened central government in Somalia and other efforts.

However, Somali piracy has surged again since late 2023. According to Solace Global Risk, a travel risk management company, the decline in antipiracy patrols and the relocation of funds to counter Houthi rebels activities contributed to the rise in attacks.