Hezbollah MP denounces Lebanese authorities' silence after Netanyahu's remarks on border villages
Following Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks that southern border villages had requested to be "annexed" by Israel, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah criticized Lebanese authorities for "daring not to respond" to the claims. He added that Netanyahu's remarks are "suspicious and reveal Israeli plans against our homeland."
According to Fadlallah, the Christian villages in the South, among the few still inhabited within the Israeli "buffer zone" in Lebanese territory, "just like the Muslim villages, remain attached to their belonging to the homeland, which is the ultimate homeland of all its citizens." The villages "are an integral part of the national and social fabric of southern Lebanon."
"As for the occupation and its collaborators, they will leave and will have no role in the future of our country," he added.
After Netanyahu's remarks, Berri praises response by south Lebanon mayors, local leaders
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri praised the response of municipal officials and religious leaders in border villages who rejected allegations made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed Sunday that some of the villages had requested annexation by Israel.
The positions taken by residents and officials in the inhabited and uninhabited villages along the border, and their "resilience and attachment to their land and identity, reflect the authenticity of their national identity, which they will not compromise under any circumstances," Berri said.
He also warned against "the lies and rumors spread by Israeli political figures, who are pursuing agendas aimed at sowing division among the inhabitants of the border areas."
Berri also called on the Lebanese state and the international community to "act to stop the systematic destruction" of villages in the border region. The demolitions "reveal Israel's true intentions to render large areas of southern Lebanon uninhabitable," he said.
Israeli strike on Nabatieh Fawqa: School principal, her mother and housekeeper killed, according to new reports
Sources working with our correspondent in the South have provided updated details on the three people killed in the Israeli drone strike on Nabatieh Fawqa.
Contrary to earlier reports, the victims were Esperanza Fakhri Ghandour, principal of the Salman Chamoun Public Kindergarten in the village where the strike took place, her mother and her housekeeper.
No men were in the vehicle.
Israeli strike in Nabatieh Fawqa has killed 3 people
The three people wounded in the Israeli strike on Nabatieh Fawqa in southern Lebanon have died from their injuries, according to our correspondent.
They were an engineer from Doueir, another village in the Nabatieh district, his wife and a foreign domestic worker.
South Lebanon: Israeli army purports it is prepaing to withdraw from 2 'pilot zones' for handover to Lebanese Army
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security cabinet meeting Sunday to oversee preparations for the Israeli army's upcoming withdrawal from two "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon, as stipulated in the framework agreement signed June 26 between Lebanon and Israel, according to the Israeli news outlet Ynet.
According to Ynet, Israel is allegedly waiting for the Lebanese Army to announce its readiness to enter the zones before proceeding, as well as for approval from U.S. Central Command, which is to coordinate between the two parties.
The gradual withdrawal, for which no timetable has been set, is to be followed by the dismantling of Hezbollah infrastructure in the transferred villages by the Lebanese Army.
Last week, the Israeli press reported that the launch of the withdrawal would be postponed until an agreement is reached on a new "joint supervision mechanism" between the two armies to replace the one established under the previous agreement of Nov. 27, 2024.
The two "pilot zones" agreed upon by Lebanon and Israel during the latest negotiations in Washington are Zawatr Gharbieh and Zawtar Sharqieh, in the Nabatieh district north of the Litani River, and Froun, in the Bint Jbeil district south of the river.
On the ground, the Israeli army continues to occupy a "buffer zone" of more than 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon, extending up to 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory.
South Lebanon: 3 seriously injured in 2 Israeli strikes on Nabatieh Fawqa; explosion in Bint Jbeil
Israeli army drones fired missiles twice at Nabatieh Fawqa, including at a Jeep-type vehicle in the al-Deir neighborhood. According to preliminary information from our correspondent, three people were seriously injured: a couple and an immigrant worker.
At the same time, the Israeli army carried out an explosion in the town of Bint Jbeil, while a drone dropped a stun grenade in Mansouri (Sour).
Israeli army claims found more than 150 weapons in Haddatha over past month
The Israeli army claimed its forces found "more than 150 weapons" in the village of Haddatha over the past month, claiming the locality had served as a "base" for Hezbollah operations. The village is one of dozens in southern Lebanon still occupied by Israel, where Israeli forces regularly demolish homes and infrastructure.
"Over the past month, forces from the 401st Armored Brigade, under the command of the 91st Division, established operational control over Haddatha," the army alleged in a statement.
It added that more than 90 structures it described as "terrorist" had been destroyed, more than 20 fighters killed, and more than 150 weapons seized, including RPG launchers, anti-tank missiles, machine guns and Kalashnikov assault rifles.
In late May, fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army lasted several days in Haddatha before the village, located north of Bint Jbeil and about 11 kilometers from the border, was captured.
Fifteen south Lebanon villages categorically deny Netanyahu's claims they 'request annexation by Israel'
The municipalities, mokhtars and local leaders of about 15 predominantly Christian villages in southern Lebanon have categorically denied allegations made Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed that residents of the villages had asked to be "annexed to Israel."
The signatories described reports carried by some media outlets, claiming local officials had "contacted Israeli authorities to request the annexation of their villages to Israel and the granting of Israeli citizenship," as "completely fabricated and without any basis in reality."
"The residents of the Christian border villages are proud of their national identity and consider Lebanon their permanent homeland."
"We remain committed to the Lebanese state and its legitimacy, having never deviated from this position despite the extremely difficult conditions imposed by the war, and we reject any attempt to distort our positions or exploit our suffering to serve agendas that are foreign to us," the statement said.
The previous day, Netanyahu told Fox News that several Christian villages in southern Lebanon had appealed to Israel to be "rid of Hezbollah." "Some Christian villages in Lebanon have even asked to be annexed to Israel because we protect them from Hezbollah, these Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them, and we do the same with Christians all over the world," he said.
The villages that signed the joint statement, which also include Druze and Sunni minorities, are Abu Qamha, Ain Ibl, Alma al-Shaab, Burj al-Muluk, Buwaida, Dibil, Deir Mimas, Ibl al-Saqi, Jdeidet Marjayoun, Kawkaba, Qlayaa, Qouzah, Rashaya al-Foukhar, Rmeish and Sarda.
Several of the villages have been isolated from the rest of Lebanon for several months because they fall within the occupation zone declared by the Israeli army, covering more than 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon.
Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the occupying forces would remain "indefinitely" in the "security zone" established in southern Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
South Lebanon: Another Israeli bombing in Aitaroun
Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon carried out a fourth bombing operation near the border village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district), following similar demolitions reported in Haddatha (Bint Jbeil), Houla (Marjayoun) and Kfar Tibnit (Nabatieh), according to our correspondent in the South.
Khamenei's funeral procession begins through Tehran
The funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began this morning through the streets of Tehran, according to state television, on the third day of national mourning, which Iranian authorities have framed as a demonstration of strength and unity.
The coffin had been on display for two days at the Great Mosque, a religious and political site in the capital, where Iranians gathered to bid farewell to the leader killed in Israeli-American airstrikes on Feb. 28.
The procession is expected to last 10 to 12 hours and pass through, among other places, the iconic Enghelab (Revolution) Street, according to authorities, who expect millions of people.
"We ask the public to peacefully gather in Azadi [Freedom] Square," where the procession is expected, Gen. Hassan Hassanzadeh said, according to state television.
Photos taken by AFP on Monday morning showed hundreds of people, many dressed in black, some waving Iranian flags or holding portraits of the late supreme leader. One person held a sign reading "Down with the USA," while another displayed an image of U.S. President Donald Trump with a target superimposed over it.
People gathered in Imam Hussein Square in eastern Tehran "symbolically hanged Trump," state television reported, sharing a video showing a mannequin hanging from a makeshift gallows.
🔗More information on the funeral here.
About 100 Israeli settlers cross into Syria in attempt to establish outpost
About 100 Israeli settlers, members of the "Pioneers of Bashan" movement, crossed the border into Syria on Sunday beyond the occupied Golan Heights, which Israel annexed, in the Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) region.
Reported by several local media outlets, the crossing prompted an intervention by the Israeli army, which said Monday morning that it had "intervened on the ground to prevent their crossing [of the border]." "The detained citizens were transferred for further processing by the Israeli police," the statement added.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that an Israeli outpost had been established last week in the part of the Syrian Golan Heights invaded by Israel following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, beyond the demarcation line established by the 1974 armistice between Syria and Israel.
Israeli demolitions in Houla, Kfar Tibnit, Haddatha
Overnight and into this morning, the Israeli army carried out large-scale demolitions in Houla (Marjayoun district), Kfar Tibnit (Nabatieh district) and Haddatha (Bint Jbeil district), according to our correspondent in the South.
Two Israeli Merkava tanks and an armored bulldozer also advanced this morning from the vicinity of Haddatha Stadium to the center of the town.
'No village in the South' has asked to be annexed by Israel, Rmeish mayor says after Netanyahu's remarks
The head of the Rmeish municipality, Hanna al-Amil, denied statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous day, in which he claimed that Christian villages in occupied southern Lebanon had asked to be "annexed" by Israel, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
"No village in the South has made such a request," said Amil, mayor of one of the largest still-inhabited villages in the border strip, where the Israeli army has established an occupied "buffer zone" of approximately 620 square kilometers. What Netanyahu claimed is "completely unfounded," and such an idea is "absolutely unthinkable," he said. He added that about 15 villages had already denied similar allegations.
Netanyahu alleged to Fox News that villages in the South, which he did not name, had made such a request in order to "protect themselves against Hezbollah."
Catch up on our Morning Brief
Our Morning Brief brings you an extensive roundup of the weekend's news so you're all caught up before today's live updates.
🔗Find it here.
Good morning. We are now launching our LIVE coverage of the region for today.
We are now launching our live coverage of the situation in Lebanon, where the Israeli army continues its systematic destruction of villages in the South, within whose "buffer zone" it operates, and carries out daily attacks despite a cease-fire that has been in effect since June 20.
We will also follow developments in the region, particularly in Iran, where the funeral procession for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, assassinated on Feb. 28 in Israeli-American airstrikes, has begun in Tehran.
Find our live coverage of yesterday's developments here.
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