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The US administration has rebuked the Israeli army for more than 34 attacks against the Lebanese Armed Forces over the past two months, prompting condemnations from top Washington officials, according to CNN.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been involved in hostilities since October 7, with Hezbollah saying its attacks are in support of Hamas, as it aims to divert Israel's military focus from its offensive in Gaza.
The Lebanese army is not a party to the fighting and has not retaliated against these attacks. It is backed by western countries, including the US.
On December 5, a Lebanese soldier was killed when Israeli shelling hit a military outpost in south Lebanon. This marked the first Lebanese army casualty since the border conflict erupted.
The Israeli army said they were “sorry” for the attack, which, it said, had not targeted the Lebanese Army.
Kandice Ardiel, a spokeswoman for UNIFIL told The National that they "have expressed concern regarding the death and injuries of Lebanese soldiers, noting that they have not engaged in conflict."
She added that violations of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, are investigated and reported to the Security Council.
'Unacceptable'
The Israelis have struck Lebanese Armed Forces with small arms and artillery fire, drones and helicopters, injuring at least eight soldiers, according to US officials, a regional security source, and a list of the incidents compiled by the US and reviewed by CNN.
US officials said the Biden administration has told Israel that the strikes are unacceptable, according to CNN. If one attack seemed to have been accidental, according to one official, other attacks were “less clear”.
A spokesman for the Israeli army told CNN on Friday that any harm caused “to other forces is unintentional”.
“In response to Hezbollah’s aggression, the IDF strikes the terrorist organisation’s military infrastructure and works to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel,” Israeli army spokesperman Nir Dinar said.
“Any harm to civilians and other forces is unintentional. Such incidents are reviewed in order to improve operational precautions and to ensure accountability when necessary,” Mr Dinar added.
Since the cross-border exchanges began, more than 120 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also 17 civilians, three of them journalists
On the Israeli side, six soldiers and three civilians have been killed.
This comes amid concerns that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could spill over into Lebanon.
During an unannounced visit to Beirut on November 7, US envoy Amos Hochstein called for a “return to calm” on the southern Lebanese border.
“Restoring calm to the southern border is of the utmost importance to the United States and should be the top priority for both Lebanon and Israel,” he added.
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THREE
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.