Spotlight
The Israeli army fired machine guns Wednesday from the Israeli post of al-Assi in northern Israel toward two areas in the southern border town of Mays al-Jabal, which was largely destroyed during the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

President Joseph Aoun told the extraordinary Arab League summit in Cairo that Israel is still occupying Lebanese land and incarcerating Lebanese detainees.

Lebanese official media said two people were wounded Wednesday when Israeli drones struck a vehicle in the south, a day after a deadly raid and despite an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
"Israeli drones carried out more than one strike on a vehicle in Ras al-Naqoura, near a rubbish dump" south of a United Nations peacekeeping position, the National News Agency (NNA) said.

Israel's military said it killed a Hezbollah navy commander in an air strike Tuesday in south Lebanon, accusing the slain militant of violating the November ceasefire.
The Israeli air force "struck and eliminated" Khodor Saeed Hashem, a naval unit commander for the Lebanese armed group, near the town of Qana, a military statement said.

There is a "quiet understanding" between Lebanon, Israel and the U.S. that Israel's presence in south Lebanon will continue for several weeks or months "until the Lebanese army stabilizes the situation in southern Lebanon and ensures Hezbollah is no longer a threat," Axios said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has approved an exception to expend $95 million of foreign military funding to Lebanon's army, according to the American news website, which quoted a U.S. official as saying that Joseph Aoun's presidency is "a historic opportunity to change the reality in Lebanon for the better."

Amnesty International said on Wednesday that Israel's attacks on ambulances, paramedics and health facilities during its recent war with Hezbollah should be investigated as war crimes.
A November 27 truce agreement largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war in which Israel sent in ground troops.

President Joseph Aoun held talks Tuesday with his Syrian counterpart Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Cairo, during which the pair agreed on containing incidents along their shared border.
Syria shares a 330-kilometre border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation at various points, rendering it porous and prone to smuggling.

The upcoming municipal elections will be held in four phases starting May 4, Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said on Tuesday.

War-hit Lebanon will not accept to receive aid for its reconstruction under political or military conditions, including the disarmament of Hezbollah, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said.
Amal leader and Hezbollah's ally Berri told ad-Diyar newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday, that the country's reconstruction must be a national priority and that Lebanon is seeking international support without relinquishing its sovereign rights or making concessions that could affect its national principles.

More than 100,000 residents of southern Lebanese border towns are still displaced, while Lebanese authorities have been informed that funds for reconstruction are currently frozen pending “the demarcation of the land border with Israel, security stability and transparency in the distribution of aid,” a media report said.
