Kidnapping of Yemeni UN employees by Houthis widely condemned

BEIRUT: The Israeli Air Force on Thursday said that it shot down a Hezbollah surveillance drone launched toward Israel.

A ground-based air defense system was used to intercept the drone, and no warning sirens were sounded at the time.

The incident is the first of its kind since the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel came into effect on Oct. 27.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that Israeli forces “will not allow any Hezbollah activity from Lebanon to take place, and will take action to remove any threat against Israel and its citizens.”

Israeli troops have continued demolition and bulldozing operations in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon. The deadline for the total Israeli withdrawal from the border area has been extended until Feb. 18 with US approval.

Troops used machine-gun fire and grenades to prevent residents of several border villages in the central sector from returning to their homes.

Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Shebaa, while troops set a poultry farm on fire in Tallat Nahas-Deir Mimas. 

Israel seeks to remain in several strategic positions in the eastern sector, including the Owaida hill.

The Israeli army is still stationed in the Mfailha area, west of Mays Al-Jabal, and is bulldozing and destroying houses, according to residents trying to enter their town.

Israeli bulldozers removed mounds of earth, and expanded the bulldozing operations to include electricity poles, walls, and trees.

An Israeli drone on Wednesday night struck a house at the northern entrance of Yohmor Chkeif with a guided missile. Israel had previously targeted the property before the land war in southern Lebanon.

Adraee said that the Israeli air force aircraft destroyed an engineering vehicle that was used to rebuild Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure, “which violates the agreements between Israel and Hezbollah.”

An Israeli drone dropped explosives on a bulldozer that was helping ambulance teams pull the bodies of Hezbollah victims from the rubble in Yaroun.

Two people were injured after an Israeli drone dropped a bomb near their motorcycle on the outskirts of the town of Talusa.

The Israeli army still occupies nine villages — Aitaroun, Blida, Mays Al-Jabal, Odaisseh, Kfarkela, Hula, Markaba, Maroun Al-Ras, and Rab Al-Thalathine — in the central sector.

Activists on social media circulated calls on behalf of residents of border villages to gather next Sunday at specific points to return to the villages, accompanied by the Lebanese army.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the Israeli army has carried out demolitions in the border towns of Dhayra and Al-Bustan in the Tyre district.

A large crane, overlooking Birkat Risha, Al-Bustan, Yarine, and Marwahin, installed concrete walls along the border line, amid intensive movements of soldiers, and mounds were erected overlooking the towns of Yarine, Zalloutiyeh, Umm Al-Tout, and Dhaira.

Media reports on Thursday said that Hezbollah has provided Lebanese authorities with the names of seven Lebanese people captured by the Israeli army in the border region: Kamel Younes, who was seized in the town of Blida; and Hassan Jawad, Youssef Abdallah, Ibrahim Al-Khalil, Mohammed Jawad, and Hussein Sharif, all detained in the town of Aita Al-Shaab; in addition to maritime captain Imad Amhaz, who was abducted by naval commandos in the coastal town of Batroun, northern Lebanon.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday night said that three Turkish nationals had been killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese-Israeli border area while attempting to cross illegally into Israel.

“We condemn in the strongest terms this unlawful attack that resulted in the death of our citizens,” the ministry said.

“Israel must immediately end its aggressive policies that disregard human life and escalate tensions in our region,” it added.

A Lebanese security source told Arab News that the Israeli airstrike occurred on Dec. 12 on Al-Sadana, Shebaa.

“At the time, the identities of the victims were not immediately known, as neighboring villages did not report any missing persons.

“However, when the Turkish Embassy began following up on the three missing citizens, Lebanese authorities discovered that the victims were Turkish nationals who had attempted to infiltrate Israel for work.

“Their civilian clothes and traces of blood were found at the scene, but their bodies were not recovered at the time. The three had previously tried to cross through another entry point, but failed.”

BERLIN: Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday welcomed the release of two German-Israeli hostages captured by Palestinian militants in the October 7, 2023 attack and urged the release of all remaining captives.
Earlier, militants in Gaza freed five Thai and three Israeli hostages, among them two German-Israeli dual nationals, 80-year-old Gadi Moses and 29-year-old Arbel Yehud.
“We are relieved and rejoice with all the hostages who have been released,” Scholz said in a post on the social media platform X.

“All of the hostages must be released and all mortal remains of the deceased returned to the families.”
Thursday’s exchange is the third to take place under the current Gaza ceasefire.
Israel is to release 110 prisoners, including 30 minors, in exchange for the three Israelis, said the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also hailed the “blessing” of the release of Moses and Yehud, who she said had been “tormented by Hamas until the end.”
“Their strength moves me deeply,” she wrote in an X post in German and Hebrew, but added that “both have lost close relatives through cruel Hamas terror” and that their “worlds... are no longer the same.”
She said a second phase for the ceasefire was essential.
During the current first phase of the deal, the terms of the second phase are to be negotiated, with the aim of freeing the last hostages in Gaza and bringing the war to a definitive end.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had written to Moses’s and Yehud’s families to share his “deep joy” at the news of their release.
“We can scarcely imagine what Arbel Yehud and Gabi Moses have been through,” Steinmeier said.