• The Lebanese military has accused Israeli forces of violating agreements by demolishing homes and launching strikes in southern Lebanon.

Israel divides southern Lebanon with West Bank-style checkpoints and Gaza-like ‘Yellow Line’

Israel has set up checkpoints in southern Lebanon, similar to those in the occupied West Bank. It has also created a “Yellow Line” restricted zone, much like the one established in Gaza.

Through these checkpoints and military lines, Israel is actively dividing and partitioning southern Lebanon.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa rules out military action in Lebanon

The Syrian president has set the record straight, making it clear that his country has no intention of intervening in Lebanon militarily.

Instead, he said he supports strong state institutions in Lebanon, and that relations should be established through the rule of law—an approach Damascus has engaged with Beirut on consistently over the past several months.

The two countries share a border and other shared issues of concern, including refugees and the threats of narcotics smuggling as well as weapons smuggling, which the Syrian government has been active in preventing – intercepting weapons that were being smuggled by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Syrian president said any instability or threat to Lebanon’s stability would cause a spillover into Syria, and that’s something he didn’t want to see.

Lebanon accuses Israel of ongoing breaches of ‘international law’

President Joseph Aoun has accused Israel of committing “a direct violation of human rights” through its continued military assault on southern Lebanon.

Following a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Aoun said Israel’s continued destruction of homes and bulldozing of villages in the south amounts to “a flagrant breach of international laws and customs”, calling for international action to bring it to an end.

He also accused Israel of targeting religious and heritage sites, saying the attacks revealed “premeditated intentions against both people and stone”, noting such sites “are neither military nor host any armed presence”.

Lebanon remains committed to implementing the “framework formula”, but Aoun warned continued Israeli actions risk undermining it.

Lebanon president thanks UAE for support; condemns attacks on Gulf states

Joseph Aoun has thanked the United Arab Emirates for its continued support to Lebanon and reiterated his condemnation of attacks targeting Gulf countries.

During a meeting with Saqr Ghobash, speaker of the UAE’s Federal National Council, Aoun thanked the emirates for support “in all fields” and renewed his “condemnation of attacks” which he said threaten “the security and stability in the Gulf countries and the region as a whole if they continue”.

Aoun welcomed the UAE’s recent decision to allow citizens to travel to Lebanon, saying it reflected the “depth of the fraternal relations” between the two countries and their peoples, said a statement from the Lebanese presidency posted on X.

Lebanon’s Raggi criticizes Hezbollah, says army will fulfill its mission

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi says the Lebanese military “possesses the necessary capabilities to fulfill” its mission.

“Our ambition is that of a Lebanon freed from all occupation and all illegal weapons; a Lebanon rebuilt, prosperous, and democratic, which lives in peace with its neighbours as well as with the rest of the world,” he wrote on X.

Raggi said Hezbollah is “Lebanese in name but Iranian in essence”.

“As long as it is not disarmed, any distinction between its military branch and its political branch is futile,” he added.

 “possesses the necessary capabilities to fulfill”

The Lebanese army cannot disarm Hezbollah because of severe military imbalances, deep political division, and the high risk of a new civil war.

Lebanon faces a massive economic crisis that has collapsed the local currency and left military salaries and equipment heavily degraded.

Hezbollah possesses a vast arsenal of rockets, missiles, and battle-hardened fighters, making it far more heavily armed than the national military.

UN rights commissioner says Israeli violations in Lebanon could be war crimes

Entire villages south of the Litani River in Lebanon have been razed by Israeli forces and are no longer habitable, says the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.

Speaking at a media conference in Beirut during a two-day visit, Turk said his office documented widespread Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, some of which may amount to “war crimes”.

UN rights commissioner says many Lebanese exhausted after repeated displacement

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, says many people in Lebanon have been displaced multiple times as a result of Israeli bombardment.

“They were displaced in ’24, were displaced again and again in ’26,” he told Al Jazeera. “So there is a deep sense of exhaustion and despair, I have to say, that I felt from people, [and] anxiety about what the future brings.”

One man he met tried to return to his home four days earlier only to be prevented from entering his village. “He saw how his village had been demolished in front of his eyes.”

“The ceasefire has to hold,” Turk said. “People have to find a way to get back to their lives and live in peace with their neighbors.”

UN’s Turk says ‘principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality’ not respected in Beirut attack

Speaking from Beirut, Turk said the UN has dispatched an assessment mission to Lebanon to look at “serious violations of humanitarian law” by all parties of the conflict.

Turk said that after visiting a residential building in a densely populated area in Lebanon’s capital, that was destroyed in an attack, he sensed that “the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality were absolutely not respected in this case, and that really needs to be brought to light.”

“We need to tell the truth about this, and we need to bring the human side of conflict into the spotlight, which also means, yes, there are issues around accountability because people should not get away with the committing of crimes,” he added.

UN’s Turk says killing of UN staff is ‘unfathomable’

UN Rights Commissioner Volker Turk says that after working for the United Nations for 35 years, he “never imagined that we’d end up in a situation where in Gaza, in Yemen, in Lebanon, our colleagues killed not only once or twice, but frankly in a way that is totally unfathomable”.

“We had, as you know, many hundreds of colleagues killed in Gaza,” he said, and “a lot of UNIFIL personnel killed” in southern Lebanon, as well as 74 colleagues detained in Yemen.

Turk said that his staff who have been monitoring the situation are exhausted and traumatized.

He called for protection for UN staff and all those who work in humanitarian and human rights positions, “because we are doing it impartially” in order to serve people all around the world.

“I do think that the majority of people around the world care about not only our work, but also about the truth coming out, and that’s what we are counting on,” he said, adding, “we need to point out that international law that nobody is above international law and there are no exceptions to it.”

Netanyahu’s waning influence over Trump could accelerate Lebanon withdrawal

The Israeli prime minister is unlikely to sway Trump away from talks with Iran when the two meet on Tuesday, says Joey Hood, a former acting US assistant secretary of state for the Middle East and North Africa.

Hood said that Trump has recognized the limits of Israeli intelligence on Iran – sharp on locating and striking targets but lacking real insight into Iranian society and negotiating dynamics, an area where the US has more experience. He is also aware Netanyahu faces elections and may not stay in power much longer.

The leverage in the relationship has shifted towards Washington, Hood says, arguing that Netanyahu’s influence in the US has eroded as his policies have alienated former allies in Congress and civil society. While Trump now holds sway, he could use his influence to speed up Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon and push a full peace deal, ending decades of conflict with Hezbollah and requiring its disarmament, the analyst said.

On Washington’s outreach to Iran, Hood was cautious about reports that a top US commander told Trump the military campaign has “reached the limit of its effectiveness”, citing dwindling ammunition. He noted that Trump has staged surprise attacks before, so such leaks could be a ploy – or genuine – pushing Trump towards other kinds of pressure, including freezing Iranian assets and using Gulf, Pakistani and Iraqi diplomacy to reopen key shipping routes.

Former senior Israeli defense ministry official says country’s multi-front war has been a ‘resounding failure’

Dror Shalom, a former head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Political-Military Bureau, says Israel’s multi-front war has been “a resounding failure” as Israel failed to achieve its objectives.

“We didn’t bring a decisive result on all the fronts,” Shalom said during an interview at a conference organized by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.

“Hamas is still on its feet; Hezbollah is far from disarming; Iran – we moved back the nuclear program a bit, but it still exists; and Israel’s [international] status is at a record low and relations with the United States are also not at their best.”

Shalom said that the next government should focus on creating an alternative to Hamas in Gaza and improving diplomatic relations with Syria and Lebanon.

He added that Israel was naive to think that a change in government in Iran could be achieved through air strikes.

Regarding Gaza, Shalom said that “one of the only achievements is that we returned the hostages,” adding the caveat that anti-government protests helped push the US to make this a priority.

The ex-Brigadier General said that once a state commission of inquiry has been established to probe the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, he would be “the first” to testify.