The Israeli army said it had thwarted an attempt to attack the border barrier with Lebanon, while Hezbollah said the Israelis had attacked the three men. Photo: Israeli military
The Israeli army said it had thwarted an attempt to attack the border barrier with Lebanon, while Hezbollah said the Israelis had attacked the three men. Photo: Israeli military
The Israeli army said it had thwarted an attempt to attack the border barrier with Lebanon, while Hezbollah said the Israelis had attacked the three men. Photo: Israeli military
The Israeli army said it had thwarted an attempt to attack the border barrier with Lebanon, while Hezbollah said the Israelis had attacked the three men. Photo: Israeli military

Three suspected Hezbollah fighters injured in blast on border with Israel


Nada Homsi
  • English
  • Arabic

Three members of Lebanon's Hezbollah were wounded in an explosion on the border with Israel on Wednesday, a Lebanese security source told The National.

A Hezbollah spokesman confirmed the incident, although he did not say whether the injured were members of the powerful Iran-backed party and militia.

“There has been an incident, and there was live fire from the Israeli side, but I cannot confirm what kind it was,” Mohammad Afif Naboulsi told The National.

“There are confirmed injuries, but no deaths.”

A Lebanese security source told The National that the incident occurred near the village of Boustan and that the injuries suffered were “quite minimal”.

“They didn't even require hospitalisation,” he said.

Surveillance video showed four people approaching the border fence, followed by an explosion which saw them scatter, another security source said.

The Israeli army said a number of people had approached the border and tried to “sabotage the security fence in the area”.

They were spotted immediately and troops “used means to push them away”, spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Twitter.

The Israeli army later published footage of the incident on Twitter.

Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force along the Israel-Lebanon border, said it was “aware of disturbing reports about an incident along the Blue Line”.

“We are looking into it,” the mission said. “In the meantime, the situation is extremely sensitive.”

The border incident took place on the day of the 17th anniversary of the July 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a pre-planned speech Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declined to comment on the incident before his party had investigated it, but called on Israel to end its occupation of areas claimed by Lebanon as sovereign territory.

Tension between Israel and Hezbollah have been rising over Ghajar, a town in an area near the Golan Heights that is claimed by Lebanon but occupied by Israel.

The town has been de facto annexed by Israel, a move never recognised by the international community.

"Ghajar is recognised by the UN and the West as Lebanese," Mr Nasrallah said in his speech. "It is the responsibility of all Lebanese to end the occupation of Ghajar after Israel annexed it officially this year."

Last week violence flared after Israel began constructing a fence north of Ghajar on the Lebanese side of the Unifil-demarcated border, prompting a rocket launch from Lebanon, although no group took responsibility for the attack.

Israel fired a barrage of missiles in response. No deaths or injuries were reported on either side.

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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

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Updated: July 12, 2023, 9:41 PM