78-year-old mukhtar killed by Israeli bombardment in Taybeh

A mukhtar from the village of Taybeh (Marjayoun district) in southern Lebanon, 78-year-old Hussein Ali Mansour, was killed in an Israeli air strike on his home, two local officials confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour.

The chairman of the village municipality, Abbas Diab, said that three other people were injured.

The official National News Agency (NNA) reported the death of the "local official of Taybeh, Hussein Mansour, when the Israeli enemy targeted" the village located nearly 2 km from the border with Israel. The shell did not explode, but hit the old man, who was on his balcony at the time, along with eight other people who escaped "miraculously," according to NNA.

Ahmad Charafeddine, another village mukhtar who knew Hussein Ali Mansour, told L'Orient-Le Jour that the latter was "loved and respected by all." He was also the brother of former MP Nazih Mansour. "He helped many people throughout his career," added Charafeddine.

Before becoming a mukhtar, Hussein Mansour was a teacher in the village's public school.

Jezzine targeted

Israel also carried out an in-depth strike on the outskirts of the village Rihan (Jezzine), local residents told our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah. The village, which lies in an important Hezbollah military zone, is more than 20 kilometers from the border. In addition to these attacks, Israel carried out strikes throughout the day against several border localities, including Aita al-Shaab, Kfar Kila, Khiam, Aitaroun, Naqoura and Tayr Harfa.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoting the Israeli army, reported that fighter jets "struck and destroyed a Hezbollah military site" in Lebanon. Hezbollah has also carried out strikes against northern Israel, without any major violations of the rules of engagement. It claimed to have attacked the Israeli sites of al-Raheb and Hadeb al-Boustane with rockets, "inflicting direct injuries." It also claimed to have hit the Israeli barracks at Pranit with artillery shells and an Israeli infantry assembly in the disputed Shebaa Farms.

In the morning, Hezbollah announced the death of two of its fighters, Abbas Hassan Arzouni, from the locality of Tayr Filsey, and Loutfi Farran, from Nabatieh, both presumably killed in an Israeli strike in Syria. NNA also reported that an Israeli drone crashed in Marjayoun, following a technical fault.

Since Oct. 8, cross-border violence has claimed more than 120 lives in Lebanon, the majority of them Hezbollah fighters, and 17 civilians, including three journalists. At least six Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed in Israel in attacks originating in Lebanon, according to the authorities.

Strike generally respected in Lebanon

In parallel with these developments on the ground, various Lebanese regions followed the "Gaza support strike." In the south, Saida's public and private schools closed their doors, as did the city's Serail, the Palace of Justice and some banks and shops, in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The Saida Merchants' Association said in a statement that it had complied with the strike to denounce "Israel's war of extermination." "We stand in solidarity with our loved ones in the border regions of southern Lebanon who have been suffering Israeli hostilities for over two months," said the association's president, Ali Charif. In Nabatieh and Jezzine, public administrations as well as most schools and banks were closed. The city of Sour also complied with the call.

The same was true in the North, where the public administration, the port of Tripoli, schools and banks all closed in support of the Palestinian people, according to our correspondent Michel Hallak. The Baalbeck-Hermel region also responded to the call, according to our correspondent Sarah Abdallah. Public and private schools, branches of the Lebanese University and private universities in the region have suspended classes. Shopkeepers in the region have announced that they will close their doors until Tuesday at 10 a.m. Only a handful of shops were open on Monday. In Beirut, too, shops, schools and banks closed their doors. A translation office in the capital confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour that all dealings with the public administration were on hold until Tuesday morning.

Hamas at Dar el-Fatwa

On the political front, the Mufti of the Republic Abdellatif Deriane received a Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abdel Hadi, at the head of a delegation at Dar el-Fatwa on Monday. "Despite the capabilities and equipment at its disposal, and with the support of the United States, the Zionist enemy has not achieved any of its objectives on the ground, be it to free the Israeli hostages [kidnapped on Oct. 7], or to force the Palestinians to leave their land. It has even failed miserably in the face of the resistance, which had been preparing for a long time and is capable of withstanding war, however long it may take," stressed Ahmad Abdel Hadi. Condemning "the massacres committed by Israel against children and women," but also "the suffocating blockade to which the population of Gaza is subjected," Ahmad Abdel Hadi lashed out at Washington for vetoing a ceasefire in Gaza at the UN Security Council. "It is the United States that is waging this war and covering up the massacres," he said. The Hamas leader also asked Mufti Deriane to "appeal to all international organizations and human rights defenders to work to stop the Israeli aggression and bring in humanitarian aid."