Israel’s prime minister says he will “respond with force” after Hezbollah fired towards an Israeli military post in disputed territory in Lebanon.
Two projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported.
Israel said they had been launched toward Mount Dov, a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet.
Hezbollah said it fired projectiles as a “defensive and warning response” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal by Israel. The attack was Hezbollah’s first since the ceasefire was enacted last week.
It said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “were futile in stopping these violations”.
Earlier, Lebanese authorities said at least two people had been killed in the southern part of the country while the state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike injured people in the town of Talousa.
Lebanon has also accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days, including allegedly demolishing of homes in border villages, persistently flying Israeli reconnaissance drones, and launching airstrikes that have caused casualties.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hezbollah’s projectile firing was “a serious violation” of the ceasefire.
“Israel will respond to it with force,” he said.
“We are determined to continue enforcing the ceasefire and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah, whether minor or severe.”
Escalation as a form of deterrence could have uncontrollable consequences
Israel has struck Hezbollah positions a number of times since the ceasefire came into force at 4am last Thursday – only today, two people were killed by an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.
Now Hezbollah has fired two mortars into Israel close to the border in response.
No one was hurt and, compared to the hundreds of rockets and drones the group was previously firing into Israel, it is reasonably insignificant, except it does underscore just how fragile the truce is.
Both sides accuse the other of violating the ceasefire but neither seems eager to collapse it just yet. The United States, charged with monitoring the truce, says it is holding.
The IDF briefed from the off that they were prepared for some small skirmishes as both sides manage their withdrawals and Lebanese civilians have flooded south to return home.
That prediction appears to be playing out, but as long as calm heads remain there should be no reason for these incidences to threaten the ceasefire.
Benjamin Netanyahu has described Hezbollah’s mortar attack as a “serious violation” and has vowed to respond “with force” – that feels like an overreaction although could be designed to make Hezbollah reconsider any further attacks.
With things as tense as they are though, even a calibrated escalation as a form of deterrence, could have uncontrollable consequences.
Meanwhile, Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz promised “a harsh response”.
“What was, will no longer be,” he said.
It comes as the US defence department said the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel was mostly holding.
Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said: “Broadly speaking, it is our assessment that despite some of these incidents that we are seeing, the ceasefire is holding,”
The US and French-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday. It called for a 60-day halt in fighting, aiming to end more than a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Both the US and France are tasked with monitoring compliance with the accord. Israel says that it reserves the right under the truce to respond to perceived ceasefire violations.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
The Israeli military will show Greta Thunberg and other activists footage of the 7 October attacks after a Gaza-bound aid boat was diverted to Israel, the country’s foreign minister has said.
Early on Monday, the Israeliforeign ministry said that the British-flagged yacht Madleen – operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) – “is safely making its way to the shores of Israel”.
All passengers were safe and unharmed, the ministry added, sharing footage of the activists being handed sandwiches and water.
In a statement via his spokesperson, defence minister Israel Katz said that he has instructed the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to screen footage of the 7 October attacks for those aboard when they arrive at Ashdod Port.
Image: Greta Thunberg was ‘safe and in good spirits’ while en route to Israel, the foreign ministry said. Pic: Israel Foreign Ministry
“Antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly what the Hamas terrorist organisation – which they came to support and act on behalf of – truly is,” he said.
“They should see the atrocities committed against women, the elderly, and children, and understand whom Israel is fighting to defend itself.”
He then added, “I commend the IDF for its swift and safe takeover” of the vessel, and said the Israeli military “will continue its just and moral fight against the Hamas murderers until their defeat, the release of all hostages, and the full restoration of Israel’s security”.
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Image: Ms Thunberg and other activists after their boat was diverted to Israel. Pic: Israel Foreign Ministry
Israel’s foreign ministry said earlier that those aboard the Madleen “are expected to return to their home countries,” and that the humanitarian aid aboard the ship would be transferred to Gaza through established channels.
Ms Thunberg was “safe and in good spirits” while en route to Israel, it added, calling the vessel “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities'”.
The FFC claimed the passengers on the yacht had been “kidnapped by Israeli forces” and released pre-recorded messages from them after previously saying that the “Israeli army had boarded” the vessel.
Climate campaigner Ms Thunberg, 22, was one of a dozen activists aboard the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily on 1 May on a mission aiming to break Israel’s sea blockade.
Image: Ms Thunberg pictured in a pre-recorded video, released after the Madleen was diverted to Israel. Pic: FFC
Image: The climate campaigner aboard the Madleen on 2 June. Pic: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/Reuters
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament, who is of Palestinian descent, was also on the boat.
She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israel’s policies towards Palestinians.
Ms Hassan wrote on X as the FFC’s yacht was allegedly surrounded by other vessels: “The crew of the Freedom Flotilla was arrested by the Israeli army in international waters around 2am.”
The diversion of the Madleen came after Mr Katz said that he had instructed the IDF to prevent the vessel from reaching the shore and to “take whatever measures necessary”.
Image: The Madleen was heading for Gaza
Addressing Ms Thunberg and the other activists on Sunday, he said: “You should turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.”
But humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless there is an end to the blockade and the 20-month war, which began after a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, that killed more than 1,200 people.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign.
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Why is Greta sailing to Gaza?
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta.
The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Francesca Albanese, United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, also urged other boats to challenge the Gaza blockade.
She said on social media: “Madleen’s journey may have ended, but the mission isn’t over.
“Every Mediterranean port must send boats with aid & solidarity to Gaza.”
A 15 year-old-boy has been arrested after a Colombian senator running to be the country’s next president was shot and “critically” injured at a campaign rally in Bogota, authorities have said.
Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was targeted during the campaign event in a park in the Fontibon area of the Colombian capital, according to the Attorney General’s office.
He suffered two gunshot wounds when armed assailants shot him from behind and appeared to be bleeding from his head as he was helped by aides and people in the crowd, in a video posted on social media.
According to a medical report at the Santa Fe Foundation hospital, he was admitted there in a “critical condition” and is still undergoing a “neurosurgical and peripheral vascular procedure”.
Image: Opposition senator Miguel Uribe Turbay on 13 May. Pic: AP
His wife Maria Claudia Tarazone wrote on X that he is “fighting for his life” and urged Colombians to pray for him.
She later said he survived an initial operation for the injuries.
Ms Tarazone said: “Miguel came out of surgery, he made it. Every hour is a critical hour. He fought his first battle, and it went well. This will take time.”
The hospital said Mr Uribe Turbay had procedures on his head and his left thigh, and remained in intensive care as doctors try to stabilise his condition.
Two other people were injured in the attack but the nature of their injuries has not been made public.
A suspect, a 15-year-old boy, was arrested at the scene with a firearm and is being treated for a leg injury, police chief General Carlos Triana said.
The government is offering a $730,000 (£540,000) reward for information and President Gustavo Petro said the investigation will focus on who ordered the attack.
“For now there is nothing more than hypothesis,” he said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.
Image: People gather outside the hospital where Mr Uribe Turbay is ‘fighting for his life’. Pic: Reuters
Mr Uribe Turbay, who announced his presidential bid for the right-wing Democratic Center Party in March, was accompanied by a team of 21 people at the time of the shooting, his office said, including councilman Andres Barrios.
He was hoping to run in the presidential elections taking place on 31 May next year – and succeed Mr Petro, the country’s first leftist leader.
His mother, who was a journalist, was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the most violent periods in Colombia’s history.
Image: Forensic investigators at the scene of Mr Uribe Turbay’s shooting in Bogota. Pic: AP
His party described it as an “unacceptable act of violence”, while US secretary of state Marco Rubio condemned it in the “strongest possible terms”.
Writing on X, Mr Rubio also urged Colombia’s current president to “dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials”.
Image: Police outside the hospital where Mr Uribe Turbay is being treated. Pic: AP
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who is not related to Mr Uribe Turbay, said the gunman had “attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, son, brother, and a great colleague”.
He cancelled a planned trip to France due to the “seriousness of the events”, his office said in a statement.
Messages of support poured in from elsewhere in Latin America, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric saying: “There is no room or justification for violence in a democracy.”
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa added: “We condemn all forms of violence and intolerance.”
Israel’s defence minister has threatened to “take whatever measures necessary” to stop an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza.
The climate campaigner, 22, is one of a dozen activists aboard the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily last Sunday on a mission aiming to break Israel‘s sea blockade.
The activists have said they plan to reach Gaza‘s territorial waters as early as Sunday to deliver humanitarian aid.
But in a post on X, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said he has instructed the IDF to prevent the vessel reaching shore and to “take whatever measures necessary”.
Addressing Thunberg and the other activists, he said: “You should turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.”
He wrote: “I have instructed the IDF to act so that the “Madeleine” hate flotilla does not reach the shores of Gaza – and to take any means necessary to that end.
“To the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: You should turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.
“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organizations – at sea, in the air and on land.”
Image: Latest known position of the vessel
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2:38
Why is Greta sailing to Gaza?
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament, who is of Palestinian descent, is also on the boat, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israel’s policies towards Palestinians.
Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month after a three-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas and preventing the group from importing arms.
But humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless there is an end to the blockade and the 20-month war, which was ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 Oct 2023.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta.
The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.