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Hezbollah Launched 25 Attacks From Near UNIFIL Posts Over Past Month
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles drive in Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
JNS.org — Over the past month, the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has fired 25 rockets and missiles at Israeli communities and forces from terrorist compounds embedded near United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) posts in southern Lebanon, the IDF said on Sunday night.
One of the attacks killed two Israeli soldiers.
The IDF accused the Iranian-backed terror army of “exploiting their proximity to UN forces.”
During a targeted ground raid in southern Lebanon, troops from the 146th Division located hundreds of weapons, including firearms, grenades and rocket launchers aimed at Israeli territory. These weapons were stored in compounds located from a few dozen meters up to a few hundred meters from UNIFIL posts situated near the Blue Line border.
“UNIFIL in southern Lebanon was deployed to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and prevent the presence of armed Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani River. However, both the State of Lebanon and the international community have failed to implement Resolution 1701, despite repeated requests to do so,” the IDF said.
“For years, Hezbollah has embedded itself in southern Lebanon in grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The organization has stockpiled large quantities of weapons aimed at Israeli civilians over the years and has deliberately built up its attack infrastructure near UNIFIL posts,” the military continued.
The IDF emphasized that its raids target only Hezbollah and not UNIFIL posts, forces or infrastructure, noting that on Sept. 30, before the start of ground operations in Lebanon, IDF representatives requested that UNIFIL move its personnel away from posts located within five kilometers of the Blue Line because this area would become an active combat zone.
However, the United Nations has refused to move its forces to safer areas, despite a plea from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
“I want to directly address the UN secretary-general from here: It is time for you to remove UNIFIL from Hezbollah’s strongholds and from the combat areas,” the premier said in a statement.
“The IDF has repeatedly requested this, only to be met with refusal, a refusal aimed solely at providing Hezbollah terrorists with a human shield. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers turns them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” he continued.
“We regret the harm caused to UNIFIL soldiers, and we are doing everything we can to prevent it. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure their safety is to simply remove them from the danger zone. Mr. Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said.
“Unfortunately, some European leaders are applying pressure in the wrong place. Instead of criticizing Israel, they should direct their criticism at Hezbollah, which uses UNIFIL as a human shield, just as Hamas in Gaza uses UNRWA as a human shield. Unfortunately, in Gaza, UNRWA even collaborates with Hamas,” he added.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was defiant on Sunday, saying that any attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime.”
“UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
For its part, the Israeli army said that “the IDF maintains continuous communication with UNIFIL to avoid, as much as possible, any harm to UNIFIL personnel in the area and will continue to do so, despite the complexities of the UNIFIL’s presence inside the combat zone.”
Gallant: Hezbollah will not be allowed to return to border
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Hezbollah will not be allowed to return to the Lebanese border area.
“The first line of villages contains Hezbollah military targets, where thousands of weapons and missiles are stored, and where there are hundreds of tunnels. These [military targets] will be destroyed, and even once IDF troops withdraw, we will not allow Hezbollah terrorists to return to these areas,” Gallant said during a visit to an observation post overlooking southern Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers entered southern Lebanon at the end of September, weeks after the Security Cabinet added the safe return of tens of thousands of internally displaced residents to their homes in the north to Israel’s official war goals.
Gallant conducted a tour and operational briefing with the commander of the IDF’s 91st Division and received an overview of the division’s activities, “with an emphasis on the progress made in ground operations aimed at locating and eliminating Hezbollah’s attack infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” according to his office.
“At this observation post we can see the entire first line of villages with Hezbollah infrastructure. These are military targets containing underground tunnels and weapon storages — our troops found hundreds of RPGs, munition and anti-tank missiles here. The IDF is currently destroying these means above and under the ground,” Gallant said.
“I have instructed the IDF at all levels to ensure the destruction of [attack infrastructure] and to ensure that terrorists may not return to these places. This is essential in order to ensure the safety of Israel’s northern communities.”
“The IDF’s actions are powerful and effective — we are operating in the entire area. We have destroyed [attack] infrastructure in Beirut, in the Bekaa [Valley] and across Lebanon, and now we are operating along the border. We will continue until operational requirements are achieved.”
Over 100 terrorists killed
The IDF said on Sunday night forces from its 146th Division have killed over 100 terrorists to date in targeted raids and ground operations in southern Lebanon.
Additionally, the division’s forces have located and destroyed dozens of tunnel shafts, terrorist infrastructure and over 50 rocket launchers and over 60 Hezbollah command posts.
Also, forces from the 205th Brigade uncovered terror infrastructure located in a tunnel around half a kilometer from the Israeli border. The tunnel contained equipment used by terrorists for prolonged stays, including electrical infrastructure, ventilation ducts and two rooms used for storing weapons and ammunition.
The tunnel itself was discovered several months ago and has now been destroyed.
Reports Beirut attacks halted ‘entirely false’
An Israeli official on Sunday night denied Hebrew media reports that Israel’’ political echelon had directed the IDF to pause airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut in the past three days.
The reports are “entirely false,” the source told the Times of Israel, adding that “Israel maintains freedom of action all across Lebanon, depending on the location of the targets.”
Ynet had reported that US President Joe Biden asked Netanyahu to curb strikes in the Lebanese capital when the two spoke last week.
Hezbollah airs audio recording of Nasrallah
Hezbollah on Sunday aired an audio recording of Hassan Nasrallah, just over two weeks after an Israeli strike killed the leader of the terror group in the Dahiyah district south of Beirut.
“We count on you … to defend your people, your families, your nation, your values and your dignity, and to defend this holy and blessed land and this honorable people,” Nasrallah is heard saying in the recording.
Hezbollah said that the recording was made as he addressed the Iran-backed terror group’s fighters during a military maneuver.
Israeli strike kills Radwan missile unit commander
The IDF announced on Monday afternoon that the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force’’ anti-tank missile unit was killed in an airstrike in the area of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.
According to the Israeli military, Muhammad Kamel Naeem was responsible for planning and carrying out many terrorist attacks, including anti-tank missile attacks against Israeli civilians.
The post Hezbollah Launched 25 Attacks From Near UNIFIL Posts Over Past Month first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy

Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.