Lebanon

14 October 2023; AA: The Israeli army said air defenses intercepted two flying aircraft overnight Friday above the northern city of Haifa. 

A statement said the aircraft were shot down after air-raid sirens blared near the Arab-majority city of Shefa-Amr in Israel.

No injuries were reported.

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer “a huge earthquake.”

Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible.

13 October 2023; MEMO: Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib yesterday warned of the outbreak of a “severe regional war” if the Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip does not cease.

This came during a phone call between Bou Habib and his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, according to the official Lebanese News Agency (ANN).

BEIRUT, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Friday that the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying the party was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting.

"The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect," he told supporters gathered in the southern Beirut suburb for a rally.

BEIRUT/TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Friday stressed Iran's keenness to protect calm and security in Lebanon, calling leaders in the region for a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Iranian diplomat made the remarks during a press conference in Lebanon's capital Beirut with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib.

12 October 2023; MEMO: Israel has shelled the Ahl Al-Qur’an Mosque in the town of Al-Dhahira in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon, Anadolu news agency reported.

Anadolu’s correspondent in southern Lebanon reported that the mosque and dozens of nearby homes were directly hit by the Israeli artillery shelling.

The Lebanese army patrols and inspects damage caused by the Israeli bombings.

12 October 2023; MEMO: The former head of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Joumblatt, sent a message to US President Joe Biden urging him to see the picture of the conflict between Gaza and Israel from both sides.

Tehran, IRNA- Multiple rockets have been launched from Lebanon towards the Israeli occupied territories on the third day of the largest retaliatory attack in decades by the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas on the Israeli regime.

Israeli media reported on Monday that about a dozen rockets were fired from Lebanon towards occupied al-Jalil and Jabal al-Shaykh.

It was not immediately known who was responsible for the rocket attack but some Israeli media sources blamed Palestinian resistance groups in southern Lebanon.

BEIRUT, Oct 7 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese navy, yesterday rescued 124 Syrians and one Lebanese, on board an illegal immigration boat, off the shores of al-Mina, in the northern city of Tripoli, near the Palm Islands.

The boat had set off from al-Abda Beach, however, its engine broke down yesterday afternoon. The passengers called for help from the army naval forces, whose members immediately intervened and rescued them.

The boat and passengers were transferred to the port of Tripoli, and were provided with first aid immediately.

BEIRUT, Oct 7 (NNN-NNA) – Three prisoners were killed and 16 others injured yesterday, in a fire inside a prison in Zahle, located in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon.

The fire was set by several prisoners, as they were trying to escape from the prison due to dire living conditions there, amid the current financial crisis, said the report.