Hezbollah on December 16announced that its fighters had targeted three Israeli military sites along Lebanon’s southern border, resulting in “many casualties and injuries among Israeli soldiers”, Anadolu Agency reports.The Lebanon-based group said in a statement that its forces “targeted the Ramim and Metulla military sites.” It also “targeted the Israeli military site of Birket Rishe off the Lebanese border with a guided missile,” the statement added. The group claimed that the target was hit with complete “accuracy,” resulting in “many casualties and injuries among Israeli soldiers.”
Tensions have flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.The border tensions come amid an ongoing Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz on December 15 warned: “If the world doesn’t get Hezbollah away from the border, Israel will do it.”
Houthi group targets 2 commercial ships heading to Israel
The Yemeni Houthi group, on December 15, said it struck two commercial vessels in the Red Sea, claiming that they were sailing to Israel, Anadolu Agency reports.In a statement, the Houthi group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said his group “carried out a military operation against two container ships – ‘MSC Alanya” and “MSC PALATIUM III” – that were heading to Israel.”
He said the attack was carried out by two missiles and took place “after the two ships’ crews refused to respond to calls from our naval forces.”Saree also said the attack was in support of the Palestinian people, and stressed his group “will continue to prevent all ships from heading to Israeli ports” until food and medicines are allowed into the Gaza Strip.
The Houthi group assured that all vessels are safe to go through the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea except for the Israel-owned ships or those heading to Israel.Previously, a Houthi spokesman said they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all shipping companies to avoid dealing with Israeli ports.
Migrants in Tunisia transferred to Libya prisons
Tunisian authorities have stopped and transferred thousands of migrants to Libyan prisons since last September, InfoMigrants reports.“We were stopped under the olive trees”; “I was stopped at sea”; “We were picked up in the street, near Sfax”. These are just a few examples of messages received by InfoMigrants in recent weeks from Senegalese, Guinean and Sudanese sub-Saharan Africans. They all tell the same story: an arbitrary arrest in Tunisia on land or at sea after an attempted crossing.
Tunisian authorities rounded up thousands of exiles in southern Tunisia this summer and sent them to the desert region along the border between Libya and Algeria, where at least 20 people died of thirst.
Earlier this year, President Kais Saied called on security forces to take “urgent measures” against the “hordes” of undocumented sub-Saharan Africans he accused of being responsible for a wave of crimes.
6 Gaza cemeteries destroyed by Israel
The Israeli military occupation forces have damaged or completely destroyed at least six cemeteries in the northern Gaza Strip during their recent ground invasion advancements, Middle East Monitor reported on December 15.
According to an analysis conducted by The New York Times using satellite imagery and video footage, Israeli forces demolished part of the Tunisian cemetery to establish a temporary military position in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in Gaza.A satellite image captured on Sunday reveals Israeli armoured vehicles and defensive structures on ground that previously housed intact graves, despite international law considering the destruction of religious locations as possible war crimes.
Moreover, the Israeli military vehicles had also damaged numerous graves at a smaller cemetery located half a mile north-west of the Tunisian cemetery. A video released by theIsraeli military on Sunday revealed soldiers involved in attacks in the area, the report added.
Global journalists’ body condemns Israel attack on Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf
The head of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on December 15 condemned the “violent and aggressive” attack on Anadolu photojournalist, Mustafa Alkharouf, by Israeli forces, Anadolu Agency reports.“It’s a nightmare. It’s a catastrophic situation. So, it’s difficult to say more except that we condemn,” Anthony Bellanger, told Anadolu.
“I watched the video and Mustafa, in particular, was only doing his job and nothing else, and when I watched the video it was really violent and aggressive,” Bellanger said.
The incident occurred as a group of Palestinians gathered in the Wadi Al-Joz neighbourhood near the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray, as restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on Friday prayers at the Mosque went into their 10th week.Israeli police, who set up barricades in the area, first pulled their weapons at Alkharouf, who was covering the news, and then threw him to the ground, beating and kicking him while he was on the ground.Alkharouf suffered severe blows resulting in injuries to his face and body and was transported by ambulance to the Makassed Hospital in Occupied East Jerusalem.Israeli police also attacked cameraman, Faiz Abu Ramila, who was with Alkharouf.
Bellanger said that the Federation will document all cases, including the attack against Alkharouf, to the International Criminal Court.
Over 100 Homeland Security staff denounce US leadership over Gaza genocide
More than 100 staff members at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have put their names to an explosive letter denouncing agency leadership for “turning a blind eye” to Israel’s brutal bombardment of Gaza that has now killed over 18,000 Palestinians, reports said on December 15.
In the scathing open letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the officials reportedly expressed their frustration over the “glaring absence” of any expression of “recognition, support and mourning” for the civilian victims of the unrelenting assault now in its third month. It stands in stark contrast to what they argue would be standard reactions from the department to humanitarian disasters elsewhere.
Israel ambassador to UK says ‘absolutely no’ to two-state solution, Palestine statehood
Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom has rejected the idea of an independent Palestinian State and the two-state solution, as a whole, in comments which further shed light on the Occupation’s intentions to avert Palestinian statehood, a report said on December 14.
The report said that, in an interview with Sky News, Israeli ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely, stated that “I think it’s about time for the world to realise the Oslo paradigm failed on October 7 and we need to build a new one”. When asked if that new paradigm would include an independent State for Palestinians, she replied, “absolutely no”.