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Israel Strikes Lebanon After Hezbollah Attack as Ceasefire Put in Fragile Position
A drone view of buildings in Lebanon, next to the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, as seen from Metula in northern Israel, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
The Israeli military said on Monday it struck dozens of targets throughout Lebanon, shortly after Hezbollah accused Israel of violating a ceasefire agreement and fired missiles on an Israeli military position in the Shebaa Farms area.
Residents in Beirut told Reuters they heard drones flying overhead late in the evening as Lebanon’s official news agency reported Israel had renewed strikes in southern Lebanon. Earlier, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah launched what it called a “defensive warning strike.”
On Monday, Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has for years wielded significant influence, killed at least two people.
The exchange of fire put a US-brokered ceasefire between the two in an increasingly fragile position less than a week after it took effect.
The truce prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from launching attacks on Israel.
The Israeli military reported no casualties from Hezbollah’s two missile launches but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a “strong” response.
Hezbollah said its rocket fire, the first operation the group had announced since the ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday, was in retaliation for Israeli violations of the truce.
Lebanese speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who negotiated the truce on behalf of Lebanon, said Beirut had noted at least 54 ceasefire violations by Israel since Wednesday.
Lebanon’s official news agency NNA said Israeli forces fired two artillery shells toward the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif in the Bint Jbeil district, while heavy machine gun fire targeted Yaroun. No injuries were reported in either incident, NNA said, but it added that a separate Israeli strike injured others in southern Lebanese town of Talousa.
Berri urged the committee tasked with monitoring the truce to “urgently” ensure Israel halts its alleged breaches.
“We are engaging through a mechanism with France, Israel, and Lebanon to investigate and address reports of violations,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, adding that early ceasefire periods are often fragile but had broadly succeeded in reducing violence.
DEADLY STRIKES
Lebanon and Israel have already traded accusations of breaches, and on Monday Lebanon said the violations had turned deadly.
One person was killed in an Israeli air attack on Marjayoun, about 10 km (6 miles) from Israel‘s northern border, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Lebanon’s state security agency said an Israeli drone strike in Nabatieh killed a member of its force, calling the incident a “flagrant violation” of the truce.
The Lebanese army said an Israeli drone struck an army bulldozer near the Syrian border, wounding one soldier.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the incidents in Marjayoun and Nabatieh but said it had targeted military vehicles near Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and near the Syrian border.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denied wrongdoing, accusing Hezbollah of moving weapons south of the Litani River in defiance of the agreement.
“Israel is committed to the successful implementation of the ceasefire, but we will not accept a return to the situation as it stood on October 6, 2023,” Saar said in a statement, referring to the day before the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel.
Hezbollah began firing barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel almost daily following the Hamas onslaught, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes. Israel exchanged fire with Hezbollah for months across the Lebanon border and intensified its military campaign over the last two months, leading to the recent ceasefire.
Public broadcaster Kan reported that US envoy Amos Hochstein, who brokered the truce, warned Israel over alleged violations.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a “powerful blow” against Hezbollah, saying the group had made a “big mistake” by targeting Israeli territory.
The post Israel Strikes Lebanon After Hezbollah Attack as Ceasefire Put in Fragile Position first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.