The Japan Times - Israel targets Hezbollah in south Lebanon as US envoy visits

EUR -
AED 4.171645
AFN 82.380086
ALL 99.59518
AMD 443.334541
ANG 2.033166
AOA 1042.618794
ARS 1220.407847
AUD 1.799398
AWG 2.044351
AZN 1.92889
BAM 1.958603
BBD 2.292342
BDT 137.947443
BGN 1.958655
BHD 0.428425
BIF 3375.220075
BMD 1.135751
BND 1.499185
BOB 7.845229
BRL 6.6639
BSD 1.135355
BTN 97.745484
BWP 15.835083
BYN 3.715418
BYR 22260.711548
BZD 2.280524
CAD 1.574554
CDF 3264.715005
CHF 0.928164
CLF 0.028761
CLP 1103.677143
CNY 8.282003
CNH 8.270519
COP 4859.649621
CRC 582.549185
CUC 1.135751
CUP 30.097391
CVE 110.423047
CZK 25.099749
DJF 201.974419
DKK 7.464755
DOP 70.122217
DZD 149.648143
EGP 58.270482
ERN 17.036259
ETB 147.527552
FJD 2.588941
FKP 0.868236
GBP 0.867185
GEL 3.135125
GGP 0.868236
GHS 17.554054
GIP 0.868236
GMD 81.20509
GNF 9848.5699
GTQ 8.75521
GYD 238.703753
HKD 8.807474
HNL 29.209408
HRK 7.545358
HTG 150.843953
HUF 409.807477
IDR 19070.944558
ILS 4.19776
IMP 0.868236
INR 97.719914
IQD 1488.032763
IRR 47705.625512
ISK 145.272354
JEP 0.868236
JMD 179.131145
JOD 0.805212
JPY 162.902409
KES 147.389658
KGS 99.321396
KHR 4543.18073
KMF 491.924042
KPW 1022.17553
KRW 1615.949423
KWD 0.348666
KYD 0.931318
KZT 587.5739
LAK 24540.089185
LBP 102118.885293
LKR 338.707635
LRD 227.055799
LSL 21.715605
LTL 3.353576
LVL 0.687004
LYD 6.311709
MAD 10.582548
MDL 20.055505
MGA 5214.107674
MKD 61.583806
MMK 2384.29555
MNT 4015.712309
MOP 9.071922
MRU 45.196417
MUR 49.877865
MVR 17.552787
MWK 1968.883649
MXN 23.031954
MYR 5.025376
MZN 72.279859
NAD 21.715605
NGN 1816.802483
NIO 41.606399
NOK 12.08405
NPR 156.425152
NZD 1.942367
OMR 0.437376
PAB 1.135751
PEN 4.234387
PGK 4.672925
PHP 64.722048
PKR 318.665418
PLN 4.286741
PYG 9104.065327
QAR 4.13402
RON 4.984995
RSD 117.254997
RUB 94.783992
RWF 1601.927569
SAR 4.258854
SBD 9.555752
SCR 16.856553
SDG 680.442653
SEK 11.099026
SGD 1.498492
SHP 0.892522
SLE 25.872583
SLL 23816.103537
SOS 643.243343
SRD 41.688008
STD 23507.744124
SVC 9.938089
SYP 14766.737104
SZL 21.715605
THB 37.929589
TJS 12.339936
TMT 3.9729
TND 3.387085
TOP 2.726922
TRY 43.241279
TTD 7.744374
TWD 36.808104
TZS 3021.496726
UAH 47.163293
UGX 4174.209355
USD 1.135751
UYU 48.781321
UZS 14732.517713
VES 87.587606
VND 29211.826177
VUV 139.615338
WST 3.209245
XAF 655.898722
XAG 0.035363
XAU 0.000352
XCD 3.066606
XDR 0.839935
XOF 655.898722
XPF 119.331742
YER 279.80584
ZAR 21.682042
ZMK 10223.115721
ZMW 32.138051
ZWL 365.711226
  • GSK

    1.0400

    34.64

    +3%

  • NGG

    2.4700

    68.06

    +3.63%

  • BTI

    1.0200

    41.57

    +2.45%

  • BCE

    0.3800

    21.36

    +1.78%

  • RIO

    1.9900

    56.86

    +3.5%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    10.18

    -0.29%

  • CMSC

    -0.3500

    21.8

    -1.61%

  • CMSD

    -0.3000

    21.9

    -1.37%

  • RBGPF

    62.0100

    62.01

    +100%

  • BCC

    0.9800

    95.66

    +1.02%

  • RELX

    0.1000

    49.12

    +0.2%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.73

    +3.21%

  • AZN

    1.4200

    66.29

    +2.14%

  • JRI

    0.1450

    11.91

    +1.22%

  • BP

    0.3600

    26.59

    +1.35%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    9.12

    -0.11%

Israel targets Hezbollah in south Lebanon as US envoy visits
Israel targets Hezbollah in south Lebanon as US envoy visits / Photo: - - AFP/File

Israel targets Hezbollah in south Lebanon as US envoy visits

A strike Sunday that Israel said targeted Hezbollah killed two people in south Lebanon, according to authorities, as a US envoy was visiting for talks on the militant group and economic reforms.

Text size:

The strike came more than four months into a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus discussed disarming the Iran-backed group in meetings with senior figures, according to a Lebanese official.

On Sunday in the south, near the Israeli border, the Lebanese health ministry said two people were killed in an "Israeli enemy" strike on the town of Zibqin.

The Israeli military said it targeted two Hezbollah operatives in the area who were "attempting to rebuild Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites".

Israel has continued to launch strikes on Lebanon despite a November 27 ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities, with raids this week in south Lebanon and even on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold.

The truce was based on a United Nations resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.

The Lebanese official, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to brief the media, said that on Saturday Ortagus discussed "intensifying and speeding up" the Lebanese army's work in "dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure, leading to restricting weapons to state hands, without setting a timetable".

Under the truce, Hezbollah was to redeploy its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Israel, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Israel was to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but has missed two deadlines to do so and continues to hold five positions in south Lebanon that it deems "strategic".

- Reforms -

Ortagus has not made any official statements, but Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam -- whose appointments earlier this year ended a more than two-year leadership vacuum -- said their discussions with her on Saturday were positive.

They said the talks addressed the situation in the south as well as economic reforms.

The Lebanese official said Ortagus had "implied" that the reconstruction of war-ravaged areas "requires first achieving reforms and the expansion of state authority".

International creditors have long demanded reforms in order to unlock bailout funds that could help ease Lebanon's five-year economic collapse, which has been widely blamed on mismanagement and corruption.

Lebanon's finance ministry said Ortagus met Sunday with Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, Economy Minister Amer Bisat and new central bank governor Karim Souaid.

Discussions included "reforms initiated by the government... and the economic reform programme", a ministry statement said.

It added that the bank chief and the two ministers would attend meetings with the International Monetary Fund in Washington later this month.

The Lebanese official said Ortagus on Saturday "praised the government's reform plan, particularly the measures taken at the airport".

Authorities have been enforcing stricter measures and readying new technology at Beirut airport, seeking to prevent all smuggling, including funds, to Hezbollah, a Lebanese security source told AFP, also requesting anonymity.

Flights between Lebanon and Iran have been suspended since February after the United States warned that Israel might target Beirut airport to thwart alleged weapons shipments to Hezbollah, a Lebanese security source had told AFP at the time.

Hezbollah was the only Lebanese armed group that refused to surrender its weapons following a 1975-1990 civil war.

The group was left heavily weakened during its latest conflict with Israel.

burs-str-lg/ami

Y.Kimura--JT