Smoke rises from an Israeli border town following Hezbollah's attack. EPA
Smoke rises from an Israeli border town following Hezbollah's attack. EPA
Smoke rises from an Israeli border town following Hezbollah's attack. EPA
Smoke rises from an Israeli border town following Hezbollah's attack. EPA

Israel and Hezbollah exchange fierce rounds of air strikes and rocket attacks


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An Israeli drone strike on a car killed two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon on the Ramadiya-Qana road.

Hezbollah said in a statement that two of its fighters, Ali Fawzi Ayoub and Mohammad Hassan Ali Fares, were killed in clashes with Israel.

The Israeli military said that it carried out a drone strike on a vehicle with two Hezbollah operatives, saying they were “en route to carrying out an immediate terror attack” against Israel.

It added that it carried out strikes against 10 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon including buildings where operatives were gathered.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility earlier today for launching more than 60 rockets at three military bases in the occupied Golan Heights, in retaliation for overnight air strikes by Israel.

Israeli media reported sirens in northern communities.

The Lebanese militant group claimed the attack was in support of the “steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip” and was “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks last night” on the Bekaa region.

Israeli aircraft carried out overnight strikes on Lebanon's north-eastern Bekaa Valley in response to Hezbollah's deepest attack into Israeli territory since the start of the Gaza war.

The strikes hit the eastern mountain range between the towns of Britel and Al Khuraiba, a Hezbollah bastion bordering Syria, 100km from the border with Israel.

“The outskirts of the eastern Lebanon mountain range, at midnight [9pm GMT on Wednesday], was subjected to five enemy raids,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported.

The Israeli strikes injured a citizen and caused fires, it added.

The Israeli army said a target of the strikes was a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing plant used for building guided munitions and drones.

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a total of 12 attacks so far throughout Thursday on Israeli military positions, saying that they targeted “spy equipment” at each site.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported Israeli strikes in several villages in the south of the country.

According to the National News Agency, two civilians were injured in an Israeli bombardment on the Marjayoun Plain and subsequently hospitalised.

Rockets leave smoke trails behind as they are launched from southern Lebanon towards Israel on Thursday. AFP
Rockets leave smoke trails behind as they are launched from southern Lebanon towards Israel on Thursday. AFP

Deepest Hezbollah attack

The escalating tensions followed Hezbollah's drone attack on Wednesday on a military base west of Tiberias, which marked its deepest incursion into Israeli territory since the onset of the Gaza war in October.

One of Hezbollah's drones struck a military site near the Golani Junction in Lower Galilee, the Israeli army said. The second was downed by its air defences.

Hezbollah said it attacked part of the surveillance system used by the Israeli air force. The militant group added that the strikes “hit its limited targets accurately and achieved its objectives in this limited operation”.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address on Monday that “the resistance front remains steadfast in its support for the Gaza Strip and is escalating according to the field”.

Hezbollah opened a pressure front in support of its ally, Hamas, a day after the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Hezbollah has consistently conditioned a ceasefire in Lebanon to a truce in Gaza.

“The link between the supportive Lebanese front and Gaza is definitive, final and conclusive,” Mr Nasrallah said in his speech. “No one will be able to de-link them.”

The outlook for peace remains uncertain with Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas having stalled. Tensions on the Lebanese front have recently escalated as Israel bombs the city of Rafah ahead of an expected large-scale military operation against the city in southern Gaza, where about 1.4 million Palestinians had sought sanctuary.

For more than seven months, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging daily fire. At least 412 people have been killed in Lebanon. Most of the casualties have been militants, but 79 civilians have also been killed, AFP reported.

Israel has said 14 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed on its side of the border.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in both countries.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
%3Cp%3EEtihad%20Airways%20operates%20seasonal%20flights%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi%20to%20Nice%20C%C3%B4te%20d'Azur%20Airport.%20Services%20depart%20the%20UAE%20on%20Wednesdays%20and%20Sundays%20with%20outbound%20flights%20stopping%20briefly%20in%20Rome%2C%20return%20flights%20are%20non-stop.%20Fares%20start%20from%20Dh3%2C315%2C%20flights%20operate%20until%20September%2018%2C%202022.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20Radisson%20Blu%20Hotel%20Nice%20offers%20a%20western%20location%20right%20on%20Promenade%20des%20Anglais%20with%20rooms%20overlooking%20the%20Bay%20of%20Angels.%20Stays%20are%20priced%20from%20%E2%82%AC101%20(%24114)%2C%20including%20taxes.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIG MATCH

Arsenal v Manchester City,

Sunday, Emirates Stadium, 6.30pm

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Everton 1 Stoke City 0
Everton (Rooney 45 1')
Man of the Match Phil Jagielka (Everton)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog:

Favourite book: The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma

Pet Peeve: Racism 

Proudest moment: Graduating from Sorbonne 

What puts her off: Dishonesty in all its forms

Happiest period in her life: The beginning of her 30s

Favourite movie: "I have two. The Pursuit of Happiness and Homeless to Harvard"

Role model: Everyone. A child can be my role model 

Slogan: The queen of peace, love and positive energy

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

Famous left-handers

- Marie Curie

- Jimi Hendrix

- Leonardo Di Vinci

- David Bowie

- Paul McCartney

- Albert Einstein

- Jack the Ripper

- Barack Obama

- Helen Keller

- Joan of Arc

How it works

Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.

Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.

As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.

A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.

Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.

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

SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S24%20ULTRA
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Updated: May 16, 2024, 5:55 PM`