Lebanon
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Israel-Hezbollah skirmishes: Latest developments

Israeli warplanes on Thursday targeted a house in the southern border town of Blida, the National News Agency said.

“Ambulance crews are heading to the location,” NNA added.

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Mawlawi says 'self-security' is 'rejected and prohibited'

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Thursday stressed that security agencies will “prevent any form of strife.”

“All security agencies will not accept any form of self-security,” Mawlawi added, emphasizing that “Lebanon will not accept self-security, which is rejected and prohibited.”

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Franjieh open to dialogue, warns Christians against erecting 'barricades'

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh on Thursday held talks in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

“We’re open to ever dialogue and we’re all working for the safety of Christians, not their security as some are proposing,” said Franjieh after the meeting, apparently accusing rival Christian parties of seeking to be in charge of security in certain areas.

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Lufthansa extends Beirut, Tehran flight suspensions

German airline giant Lufthansa on Thursday extended its suspension of flights to and from Tehran and Beirut to the end of April and said its planes would continue avoiding Iranian airspace.

"Our flights to Tehran and Beirut are cancelled up to and including 30 April and we are still not using Iranian airspace until the same date," a spokesman for the airline told AFP.

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Quintet ambassadors meet Bassil in presidential talks tour

Four ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon met Thursday with Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil at his residence in Bayyada, as they resumed their meetings for a second day in Beirut.

The ambassadors of Egypt, France, KSA, and Qatar agreed with Bassil on separating the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in the south from the presidential file, Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa said after the meeting.

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All you need to know about Mohammad Srour's mysterious killing

Lebanon's interior minister has alleged that the mysterious abduction and killing of a Hezbollah-linked Lebanese currency exchanger in a villa on the edge of a quiet mountain resort town earlier this month was likely the work of Israeli operatives.

The killing of Mohammad Srour, 57, who was sanctioned by the U.S., was like something out of an international spy thriller. Pistols equipped with silencers and gloves were found in a bucket of water and chemicals at the scene, apparently intended to remove fingerprints and other evidence, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in an interview with The Associated Press. Thousand of dollars in cash were left scattered around Srour's body, as if to dispel any speculation that robbery was the motive.

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Two killed in overnight strike on Kfarkila

Two Hezbollah members were killed Thursday in an overnight strike on the southern border town of Kfarkila, as tensions flared on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Israeli warplanes and artillery also heavily bombed the town of al-Khiam, including with white phosphorus bombs, while a drone targeted a house in Markaba.

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Parliament to discuss municipal vote postponement on April 25

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday took a decision to schedule a legislative session for April 25 to decide on a draft law calling for the postponement of this year’s municipal elections, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said after a meeting for the Parliament Bureau.

“I had a viewpoint that we can begin holding the municipal elections in the areas in which we can do that, but there is another viewpoint that says that we are in a state of war and that the Israeli enemy is sparing no areas in the south and the Bekaa,” Bou Saab said.

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14 injured in Arab al-Aramshe as Hezbollah retaliates for commanders' killing

Hezbollah targeted Wednesday three command centers in northern Israel, a day after Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed two local Hezbollah commanders and another operative.

Hezbollah said it targeted overnight a military vehicle in the Metula post and attacked later in the morning in the Beranit barracks a group of soldiers and a command center with a Burkan missile.

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Gallant says 'better to reach an agreement' with Lebanon

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant has visited Israel’s northern border, where he held an operational situation assessment together with senior army officials and troops operating in the area of the Western Galilee.

Gallant held a discussion with army commanders about “the importance of the operational activity conducted to drive Hezbollah forces away from the border area,” Israeli media reports said.

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