
Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one: ministry
The ministry said an 'Israeli enemy strike' on a motorcycle killed one man in YaterThe Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attackBEIRUT: Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one man on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.In a statement, the ministry said an 'Israeli enemy strike' on a motorcycle killed one man in Yater, in south Lebanon's Bint Jbeil district.The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, which came after it said it killed a Hezbollah member in south Lebanon's Majdal Zoun on Monday.Israel has continued to launch strikes on its northern neighbor despite the November truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war.Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army should be deployed in southern Lebanon, though Israel has kept its forces in five areas it has declared strategic.Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.
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Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Israeli defense minister warns Hezbollah against joining conflict with Iran
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon's Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel's patience with 'terrorists' who threaten it had worn thin. The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called 'brutal Israeli-American aggression' against Iran. In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting and a Hezbollah official told Reuters last week that the group did not intend to initiate attacks against Israel.


Asharq Al-Awsat
6 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Katz Warns Hezbollah Against Joining Conflict with Iran
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon's Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel's patience with "terrorists" who threaten it had worn thin. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called "brutal Israeli-American aggression" against Iran. In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting. But it has condemned Israel's surprise strikes on Iran that sparked the conflict and endorsed Iran's missile barrages over Israel. "I suggest the Lebanese proxy be cautious and understand that Israel has lost patience with terrorists who threaten it,' Katz said in a statement on Friday, adding that "if there is terrorism -- there will be no Hezbollah." Qassem 'is not learning a lesson from his predecessors and is threatening to act against Israel in accordance with the Iranian dictator's orders,' Katz stated. He said on Thursday that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, 'cannot continue to exist.'


Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Explainer: What are the nuclear contamination risks from Israel's attacks on Iran?
Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear installations so far pose only limited risks of contamination, experts say. But they warn that any attack on the country's nuclear power station at Bushehr could cause a nuclear disaster. Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities in its military campaign, but that it also wants to avoid any nuclear disaster in a region that is home to tens of millions of people and produces much of the world's oil. Fears of catastrophe rippled through the Gulf on Thursday when the Israeli military said it had struck a site in Bushehr on the Gulf coast—home to Iran's only nuclear power station—only to say later that the announcement was a mistake. What has Israel hit so far? Israel has announced attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself. Israel says it aims to stop Iran building an atom bomb. Iran denies ever seeking one. The international nuclear watchdog IAEA has reported damage to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, to the nuclear complex at Isfahan—including the Uranium Conversion Facility—and to centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran. Israel has also attacked Arak, also known as Khondab. The IAEA said Israeli military strikes hit the Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, which was under construction and had not begun operating, and damaged the nearby plant that makes heavy water. The IAEA said that it was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so there were no radiological effects. In an update of its assessment on Friday, the IAEA said key buildings at the site were damaged. Heavy-water reactors can be used to produce plutonium, which—like enriched uranium—can be used to make an atom bomb. What risks do these strikes pose? Peter Bryant, a professor at the University of Liverpool in England who specializes in radiation protection science and nuclear energy policy, said he is not too concerned about fallout risks from the strikes so far. He noted that the Arak site was not operational while the Natanz facility was underground and no release of radiation was reported. 'The issue is controlling what has happened inside that facility, but nuclear facilities are designed for that,' he said. 'Uranium is only dangerous if it gets physically inhaled or ingested or gets into the body at low enrichments,' he said. Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at London think tank RUSI, said attacks on facilities at the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle—the stages where uranium is prepared for use in a reactor—pose primarily chemical, not radiological risks. At enrichment facilities, UF6, or uranium hexafluoride, is the concern. 'When UF6 interacts with water vapor in the air, it produces harmful chemicals,' she said. The extent to which any material is dispersed would depend on factors including the weather, she added. 'In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely.' The risk of dispersal is lower for underground facilities. Simon Bennett, who leads the civil safety and security unit at the University of Leicester in the UK, said risks to the environment were minimal if Israel hits subterranean facilities because you are 'burying nuclear material in possibly thousands of tonnes of concrete, earth and rock.' What about nuclear reactors? The major concern would be a strike on Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Richard Wakeford, honorary professor of epidemiology at the University of Manchester, said that while contamination from attacks on enrichment facilities would be 'mainly a chemical problem' for the surrounding areas, extensive damage to large power reactors 'is a different story.' Radioactive elements would be released either through a plume of volatile materials or into the sea, he added. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said an attack on Bushehr 'could cause an absolute radiological catastrophe,' but that attacks on enrichment facilities were 'unlikely to cause significant off-site consequences.' Before uranium goes into a nuclear reactor it is barely radioactive, he said. 'The chemical form uranium hexafluoride is toxic... but it actually doesn't tend to travel large distances and it's barely radioactive. So far the radiological consequences of Israel's attacks have been virtually nil,' he added, while stating his opposition to Israel's campaign. Bennett of the University of Leicester said it would be 'foolhardy for the Israelis to attack' Bushehr because they could pierce the reactor, which would mean releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.