The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, during his press conference in Beirut, Sept. 12, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour)
On Thursday, a deadly drone strike targeted a road in the Nabatieh district. According to a security source contacted by our correspondent, the Israeli attack was aimed at the driver of a motorcycle, who was killed. However, another motorcycle, driven by a Syrian man and his son, passed by at the moment of the strike, killing them, the source added. A civilian car was also passing by, and its driver was lightly injured. As of press time, the identity of the motorcyclist targeted by the strike had not been confirmed.
Additionally, the Israeli army confirmed Thursday that it carried out two strikes in Syria, "eliminating" a Hezbollah member. "The Israeli army eliminated Ahmad Jabre, a Hezbollah terrorist in Syria, in the Quneitra area," the army said in a rare claim of an operation in Syria, adding that it had also conducted a strike in another area in southern Syria.
Earlier, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported that two people had been killed in an Israeli strike targeting a car in the southern province of Quneitra, in the part of the Golan Heights controlled by Damascus. "Two citizens were killed in an Israeli aggression carried out by a drone, which launched a missile at a civilian car" on the road linking Quneitra to Damascus, the agency said.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which has a wide network of sources in Syria, reported that a military officer was among the two killed. A local security source told AFP that "two charred bodies were removed from a car targeted by the strike."
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that the deadly airstrike carried out by Israeli forces last Sunday in Hama, central Syria, destroyed a Hezbollah missile production facility. In addition to the attacks mentioned earlier, Israeli warplanes targeted the village of Shihine and forests on the outskirts of Zebqine (both in the Sour district), as well as the outskirts of Yater and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil).
In the same district, an Israeli drone conducted a strike on Maroun el-Ras park, according to residents. This park, built with Iranian assistance over a decade ago, was also targeted by two Israeli explosive drones on Wednesday, in addition to an Israeli strike on a house on the outskirts of the village. Furthermore, Yaroun, Ramyeh, Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), and Marwahin (Sour district) were subjected to Israeli artillery fire, according to residents.
For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a dozen attacks against Israel on Thursday. One of these attacks was in response to the Israeli airstrike on a motorcycle in Biyada, Sour district, which killed two brothers the previous day. In a statement, Hezbollah announced that it had "added to its list of targets" the village of Rosh Hanikra, opposite Naqoura. The Rosh Hanikra naval base had previously been targeted by Hezbollah several times, but this was the first time the village itself was attacked.
In the same statement, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a "Katyusha rocket" strike on the village of Matzuva, facing Labbouneh. It then launched another retaliatory attack for the strike that killed the two brothers in Biyada. Hezbollah fighters "attacked the Israeli base of Nahal Gershom," located opposite Aitaroun, with "drone squadrons" that targeted "officer and soldier positions." In this context, sirens sounded in the village of Avivim, located in Upper Galilee, according to Haaretz.
Seven firefighting teams were also deployed to contain a fire near Avdon in northern Israel, caused by rockets fired from Lebanon, according to the same newspaper, citing Israel's Fire and Rescue Services. The source added that the fire had spread over several hectares.
'The right and the ability to defend itself'
At the same time, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, concluded his visit to Lebanon on Thursday. Speaking from Beirut during a press conference after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Borrell stated that a broader regional war was "not inevitable" and called for the "full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701."
Borrell, in Lebanon since Wednesday, said that "the wars in Syria and Gaza are negatively affecting Lebanon," lamenting that since his last visit to Beirut in January, "the drums of war have not stopped beating." However, he emphasized that, in his view, "the worst has been avoided." Expressing a desire to "limit military escalation" in the region, he urged all parties to "follow this path and act for the good of Lebanon and the Lebanese, and not for the interests of others." He assured that the European Union was making "every diplomatic effort to prevent escalation" but acknowledged that "there is no magic wand."
"A full-scale war in southern Lebanon with an invasion has not happened... but the threat remains," Borrell warned. He added that "the full implementation of Resolution 1701 should lay the groundwork for a comprehensive solution" in Lebanon, including the demarcation of the land border. The 2006 U.N. resolution ended the previous conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and calls for Hezbollah's withdrawal north of the Litani River. Lebanon's official position supports this, but only if Israel also commits to stopping violations of Lebanese airspace.
"War is not inevitable," Borrell reiterated, adding that avoiding it is a matter of "will." He urged continued efforts toward a "comprehensive peace" in the region. On Lebanon's political crisis, now nearing its second year without a president, Borrell stressed the need for institutions, "including the presidency and the Cabinet," to resume their functions.
Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stated that lasting peace in the region "requires resolving the Palestinian issue" and assured that Lebanon is adhering to Resolution 1701.
Borrell also met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. During their meeting, Berri expressed his "appreciation for Borrell's humanitarian stance" since the start of the Gaza war. "Lebanon does not want war, but has the right and the ability to defend itself," Berri told his guest. Borrell also met with Lebanese Army Commander Joseph Aoun at Yarzeh.