Lebanon Financial News

By Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh

Hezbollah risks dragging Lebanon into a wider regional war after another night of intense cross-border fire with the Iran-backed militant group. As Israel’s military battles Gaza-based Hamas, following the group’s deadly attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, it has also been facing the threat to the north posed by Hezbollah, which last fought a war with its neighbour in 2006. Israel reported that anti-tank missiles were fired again from Lebanon Sunday and that it had intercepted a drone.

Hezbollah announced the deaths of five more militants as clashes along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified and the Israeli prime minister warned Lebanon on Sunday not to let itself get dragged into a new war. The tiny Mediterranean country is home to Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim political party with an armed wing of the same name. Israeli soldiers and militants have traded fire across the border since Israel's war with the Palestinian group Hamas began, but the launches so far have targeted limited areas.

Hamas, several Merkava tanks and troops have been positioned by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) near the Gaza border in South Israel. The visuals showed a significant presence of troops, armoured vehicles, and tanks near the Gaza border. Notably, the Israeli government has announced its intention to launch a ground operation against Hamas in the near future. The Merkava, a series of main battle tanks utilized by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serves as the cornerstone of the IDF's armoured corps. Its development commenced in 1970, with the inaugural version, the Merkava Mark 1, officially commissioned in 1979. Over time, four primary iterations have been put into service.

war mushrooming into a wider Middle East conflict rose on Sunday with the U.S. sending more military assets to the region as Israel pummelled Gaza anew and deadly clashes along its border with Lebanon intensified. Gaza's Health Ministry said 266 Palestinians, including 117 children, had been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours in the enclave, to which Israel laid «total siege» after a deadly mass infiltration into Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7. In neighbouring Syria — where Hamas's main regional backer Iran has a military presence — Israeli missiles hit Damascus and Aleppo international airports early on Sunday, putting both out of service and killing two workers, Syrian state media said. Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has clashed with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the deadliest escalation of frontier violence since an Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. Hezbollah said four fighters were killed in heavy exchanges of fire on Sunday and another died of wounds sustained earlier, raising to 24 the number of its members killed since Oct. 7.

Hezbollah will make «the mistake of its life» if it starts a war with Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as tensions continue to surge on the Israel-Lebanon border. Netanyahu visited troops on the Lebanese border in northern Israel where mounting artillery exchanges have heightened fears of a new war front opening as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli defence ministry on Sunday ordered 14 additional communities to join dozens that have already been evacuated from the border area. In the event of scaled up hostilities, Netanyahu said Hezbollah «will make the mistake of its life. We will strike it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the significance for it and the state of Lebanon will be devastating.» Hezbollah is allied with Hamas, which touched off the latest violence with an October 7 rampage that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel, according to authorities. Israel has retaliated with relentless strikes on Hamas in the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 4,650 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. It has in parallel exchanged fire with Hezbollah across its northern border. Since October 7, the exchanges have killed at least 33 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally — mostly combatants but at least four civilians, including a Reuters news agency journalist. Another four people have been killed in Israel — three soldiers and one civilian.

Strip through the Rafah border crossing, on the second day of its opening, Times of Israel reported on Sunday. The convoy comes a day after 20 trucks carried medical aid, food and water into the Palestinian enclave. Notably, it was the second aid shipment into the Strip since the horrific Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. The aid entered the Strip ahead of Israel's looming ground offensive and as the IDF continued to carry out airstrikes on terror targets. The Rafah border crossing was opened for a short window on Saturday morning to let 20 aid trucks enter Gaza from Egypt. Though many have welcomed the brief reopening, rights groups have asserted that much more aid is needed. The United Nations has estimated about 100 trucks per day are needed to meet the needs of Gazans. The trucks carrying humanitarian aid to deliver to Gaza only carried food, water, and medical supplies but no fuel, CNN reported. Thirteen trucks were carrying medicine and medical supplies; five were loaded with food; and two were transporting water, said the Egyptian authorities at the Rafah crossing. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed hostages abducted and held in Gaza since the shock assault rose to 212. Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces said that it carried out an airstrike against a Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon in response to anti-tank guided missile attacks on northern Israel earlier today, Times of Israel reported. Meanwhile, IDF spokesman Rear Adm.

Israel expanded planned evacuations of communities on its northern front with Lebanon on Sunday as cross-border clashes with fighters from Lebanese group Hezbollah have intensified since the war in Gaza erupted more than two weeks ago. After enacting a plan last week to move residents out of 28 border-area villages, and the nearby town of Kiryat Shmona, with state-funded temporary accommodation, the Defence Ministry said it was adding 14 communities to the evacuation list. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire at the frontier with increasing frequency since Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded with intense air strikes on Gaza. It is the worst escalation in violence along the Israeli-Lebanese border since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Iran-backed Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has yet to speak publicly about the escalation, but Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said on Sunday the group's leader was closely monitoring developments and directing commanders in battle. The Israeli military said on Sunday it struck several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight, including what it described as a compound from which a missile had been fired at one of its drones.

fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group on a near-daily basis since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days. For days, Israel has seemed to be on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza as part of its response to Hamas' deadly October 7 rampage.

Gaza overnight and into Sunday, as well as two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the two-week-old war with Hamas threatened to spiral into a broader conflict. Israel has traded fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group on a near-daily basis since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.

Iran issued a stinging public ultimatum to its arch-enemy Israel: Halt your onslaught on Gaza or we'll be forced to take action, its foreign minister warned. Only hours later, the country's U.N. mission softened the hawkish tone, assuring the world that its armed forces wouldn't intervene in the conflict unless Israel attacked Iranian interests or citizens. Iran, a longtime backer of Gaza's rulers Hamas, finds itself in a quandary as it tries to manage the spiralling crisis, according to nine Iranian officials with direct knowledge of the thinking within the clerical establishment. Standing on the sidelines in the face of an all-out Israeli invasion of Gaza would significantly set back an Iranian strategy for regional ascendancy pursued for over four decades, according to the people, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the discussions in Tehran. Yet any major attack against a U.S.-backed Israel could exact a heavy toll on Iran and trigger public anger against the clerical rulers in a nation already mired in an economic crisis, said the officials who outlined the various military, diplomatic and domestic priorities being weighed by the establishment. Three security officials said a consensus had been reached among Iran's top decision makers, for now: Give their blessing for limited cross-border raids by its Lebanese proxy group Hezbollah on Israeli military targets, over 200 km away from Gaza, as well as low-level attacks on U.S.

Israeli strikes on Sunday put out of service war-torn Syria's two main airports, state media reported citing a military source, with the transport ministry saying flights were re-routed to Latakia. While Israeli strikes have repeatedly caused the grounding of flights at the government-controlled airports in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, it is the second time simultaneous strikes have hit the facilities since this month's conflict between Israel and Hamas began. «At around 5:25 am (0225 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out… an air attack… targeting Damascus and Aleppo international airports, leading to the death of a civilian worker at Damascus airport and wounding another,» the military source said in the statement carried by state news agency SANA. «Material damage to the airports' runways put them out of service,» the statement added.

Israel said its aircraft struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Saturday and that one of its soldiers was hit by an anti-tank missile, in cross-border fighting that the Iran-backed group said killed six of its fighters. With the frontier region seeing its worst violence in years as Israel wages war against Gaza's Hamas militants, the Israeli military said it traded fire with Hezbollah in at least four different areas along the Lebanese border. The hostilities have forced residents on both sides to flee their homes. Israel's military says seven soldiers have been killed since Oct.

Defense Forces are known to be one of the most equipped militaries across the globe. Its annual budget exceeds $20 billion and Israel also has access to America’s high-tech equipment. Moreover, the cyber capabilities of Israel’s military is also commendable. It is to note that the military arm of Hamas has decreased dependency on guerrilla-warfare style strategy including rockets, snipers and explosive devices, as per Axios report.

Israel-Hamas War: ‘We’re here for you', Justin Trudeau assures support to Palestinian, Arab, Black Muslims 3. Qatar, which was key to the release of two US citizens abducted by Hamas, is optimistic that talks with the group will “very soon" result in the release of all civilian hostages 4. As many as 100,000 people marched through central London to demand a cease-fire in Israel’s war with Hamas and in support of the Palestinian cause.

Hezbollah vowed that Israel will pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and said on Saturday that his militant group based in Lebanon already is «in the heart of the battle». The comments by Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, came as Israel shelled and made drone strikes in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah fired rockets and missiles toward Israel.

Israel-Hamas war becoming a wider conflict. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said he'd agreed with US President Joe Biden that the Rafah crossing should be open “sustainably.” The Israeli Defense Force said it was responding with live fire on Saturday to a number of launches made toward Israel by Lebanon. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported earlier that Israel's military struck a village near the countries' border. Switzerland's top prosecutor announced the start of a criminal investigation into alleged payments made to Hamas weeks before the attacks on Israel, the Swiss public broadcaster reported on Saturday. Attorney General Stefan Blaettler said the accusation centers on financial support to a terrorist organization, while declining to say who the proceedings are directed against. Egypt opened its crisis summit in Cairo with the leaders of Italy, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and South Africa among those on hand, as well as senior officials from the EU, Turkey, Russia and China.

West Bank home of a senior Hamas leader and detained members of his family, witnesses said. Saleh al-Aruri is the deputy to Hamas' overall leader Ismail Haniyeh and one of the founders of the Islamist group's military wing. Based in Lebanon, he is a key target for Israel following the October 7 attacks when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Since then, more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Troops entered Aruri's home in Arura village, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Ramallah, at dawn on Saturday, arresting more than 20 people, including one of his brothers and nine of his nephews, mayor Ali al-Khasib and witnesses told AFP. Dozens more were pulled in for questioning. Outside the house, troops put up a banner of the Hamas deputy against the background of an Israeli flag that read: «This was the house of Saleh Aruri and has become the headquarters of Abu al-Nimer — Israeli intelligence», witnesses said, with images of it widely shared online. Village residents said Abu al-Nimer was an alias for the Israeli intelligence officer responsible for the area. In a statement, the army said the raid was jointly staged with the Shin Beth internal security service and resulted in the arrests of «dozens of Hamas members» among them relatives of Aruri.

NDTV reported. "It is quite possible that Hezbollah which is much more militarily capable and supported by Iran could get directly involved in the fighting," he told NDTV. Also Read: Israel-Hamas War LIVE Updates Bremmer said that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza is at risk of further deterioration as additional fronts open up.

Israel’s defense minister said Friday that after the country destroys the Hamas militant group, the military does not plan to control “life in the Gaza Strip” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s comments to lawmakers were the first time an Israeli leader discussed its long-term plans for Gaza. Gallant said Israel expected there to be three phases to its war with Hamas. He said it first would attack the group in Gaza with airstrikes and ground maneuvers, then it would defeat pockets of resistance and finally it would cease its “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip.” Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip early Friday, hitting areas where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town near the border with Lebanon, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil. Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy airstrikes in Khan Youni, a town in the territory's south, and ambulances carrying men, women and children streamed into the local Nasser Hospital.

Hamas organisation have behaved like 'animals' and emphasised that his country will target Hamas like 'human animals' during and after the war. «You don't need justification to fight against an organization like Hamas that have behaved like animals hunting other animals. It's not going to be to be stopped and we are not going to take it as something that was done, and that's it.