CRIMINAL ZIONISM
Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – Israel struck south Lebanon on Thursday and threatened new attacks on Beirut despite an announcement hours earlier that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to implement a conditional ceasefire.
Issued on: 04/06/2026 - RFI
Strikes on Lebanon have persisted despite a ceasefire. © - / AFP
Israeli and Lebanese envoys held a fourth round of talks in Washington on Wednesday, agreeing to implement a ceasefire hinged on Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah halting its attacks.
But Hezbollah, which rejects the direct Israel-Lebanon talks, has not commented on the announcement, while Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said military operations would continue in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war to avenge the killing in US-Israeli strikes of Iran's supreme leader on February 28, and has vowed to keep fighting despite a push by the Lebanese government to disarm it.
Despite the agreement in Washington, Katz said Israeli forces retained the "freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory".
The army will "at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line – including in the Beaufort area – and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground," he said.
An April 17 truce was meant to halt the fighting and was extended several times but has never been observed, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other's alleged violations.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes along roads at several southern locations on Thursday, with a couple and their daughter wounded in an attack on their car.
Yemen edges closer to collapse after a decade of war and neglect, UN warns
Israeli and Lebanese envoys held a fourth round of talks in Washington on Wednesday, agreeing to implement a ceasefire hinged on Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah halting its attacks.
But Hezbollah, which rejects the direct Israel-Lebanon talks, has not commented on the announcement, while Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said military operations would continue in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war to avenge the killing in US-Israeli strikes of Iran's supreme leader on February 28, and has vowed to keep fighting despite a push by the Lebanese government to disarm it.
Despite the agreement in Washington, Katz said Israeli forces retained the "freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory".
The army will "at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line – including in the Beaufort area – and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground," he said.
An April 17 truce was meant to halt the fighting and was extended several times but has never been observed, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other's alleged violations.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes along roads at several southern locations on Thursday, with a couple and their daughter wounded in an attack on their car.
Yemen edges closer to collapse after a decade of war and neglect, UN warns
'Serious mistake'
Israel's military renewed a warning to Lebanese not to go south of the Zahrani River around 45 kilometres (28 miles), after it last week declared all areas south the river "combat zones".
Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said air raid sirens were sounded in northern Israel, with one incident involving a "suspicious aerial target" resolved, while another incident was found to be a false alarm.
Before the announcement, Hezbollah said it had launched rockets and drones early Thursday at Israeli troops who have invaded south Lebanon.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticised the deal, calling it a "serious mistake".
Israeli and Lebanese envoys held talks in Washington © Oliver Contreras / AFP
According statement issued after the meeting, the two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese armed forces "will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors".
More Lebanon-Israel talks are scheduled for later this month.
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati had told AFP this week that the group would "not accept a partial ceasefire".
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war with Iran.
Tehran, however, insists the conflicts are linked and its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of war.
Lebanon says Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war on 2 March, firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.
According statement issued after the meeting, the two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese armed forces "will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors".
More Lebanon-Israel talks are scheduled for later this month.
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati had told AFP this week that the group would "not accept a partial ceasefire".
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war with Iran.
Tehran, however, insists the conflicts are linked and its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of war.
Lebanon says Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war on 2 March, firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.
France opens torture, 'war crime' probe over Israel's treatment of Gaza flotilla activists
France's government had earlier asked prosecutors to investigate Israel's alleged violent mistreatment of activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, potentially opening a route for criminal proceedings.
Issued on: 05/06/2026
By: FRANCE 24
One Gaza Flotilla Boat Made It to Gaza—in Pieces
Gaza flotilla boats get their resilience from Palestinians.
A child carries part of a Global Sumud Flotilla vessel on shore in Gaza.
(Photo via Instagram)
Ann Wright
Jun 05, 2026
France's government had earlier asked prosecutors to investigate Israel's alleged violent mistreatment of activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, potentially opening a route for criminal proceedings.
Issued on: 05/06/2026
By: FRANCE 24
French activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla gesture upon arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, on May 22, 2026. © Abdul Saboor, Reuters
Rights Group Sounds Alarm After Israel Sends Gaza’s Dr. Abu Safiya to Solitary Confinement
“The international community cannot remain silent while a respected physician is reportedly subjected to harsh conditions, denied adequate medical care, and isolated from the outside world.”
Wide view of a large crowd holding a banner reading Free Hussam Abu Safiya during a pro Palestine demonstration in Paris Ile de France France on April 18, 2026.
(Photo by Djoudi Hamani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Jun 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
A prominent human rights group on Friday sounded alarms upon learning that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, has been sent to solitary confinement.
As reported by Haaretz, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said it learned on Thursday that Abu Safiya was moved to solitary confinement this week without any explanation.
‘We Cannot Forget the Palestinian Prisoners,’ Freed Gaza Flotilla Member Says While Returning Home
In Wake of NYT Uproar, UN Rights Office Calls for Independent Probe of Israel’s Sexual Abuse of Detainees
According to a report from The Palestine Chronicle, an attorney representing Abu Safiya claimed that his client was placed into solitary confinement in retaliation for appealing his continued detention.
Abu Safiya was first taken into custody by Israeli forces in December 2024 and has been held since then without being charged with any criminal offenses.
In a Friday statement, the Council of American-Islamic Relations said news of Abu Safiya’s solitary confinement was “deeply disturbing” and raised “even more urgent concerns about his welfare and basic human rights.”
“Congress must demand his immediate release and insist that Israel end the arbitrary detention, abuse, and mistreatment of Palestinian medical professionals and civilians,” CAIR added. “The international community cannot remain silent while a respected physician is reportedly subjected to harsh conditions, denied adequate medical care, and isolated from the outside world without any legal justification. Dr. Abu Safiya must be released immediately.”
PHRI has for months been raising concerns about Abu Safiya’s detention, long before he was transferred to solitary confinement.
While demanding the physician’s release in April, for instance, PHRI said Abu Safiya was being held “in harsh conditions, without access to medication or medical care, as his health continues to deteriorate.”
A 2025 report from Amnesty International, which has also called for Abu Safiya’s release, said that the Gaza-based physician “was detained in the course of caring for his patients and carrying out his medical duties.”
Amnesty also noted that, prior to his detention, Abu Safiya and other colleagues at the Kamal Adwan Hospital had “provided human rights and humanitarian organizations with reliable information about the health situation” in Gaza, which has been left devastated by years of Israeli attacks that have killed at least 72,000 Palestinians.
“The international community cannot remain silent while a respected physician is reportedly subjected to harsh conditions, denied adequate medical care, and isolated from the outside world.”
Wide view of a large crowd holding a banner reading Free Hussam Abu Safiya during a pro Palestine demonstration in Paris Ile de France France on April 18, 2026.
(Photo by Djoudi Hamani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Jun 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
A prominent human rights group on Friday sounded alarms upon learning that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, has been sent to solitary confinement.
As reported by Haaretz, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said it learned on Thursday that Abu Safiya was moved to solitary confinement this week without any explanation.
‘We Cannot Forget the Palestinian Prisoners,’ Freed Gaza Flotilla Member Says While Returning Home
In Wake of NYT Uproar, UN Rights Office Calls for Independent Probe of Israel’s Sexual Abuse of Detainees
According to a report from The Palestine Chronicle, an attorney representing Abu Safiya claimed that his client was placed into solitary confinement in retaliation for appealing his continued detention.
Abu Safiya was first taken into custody by Israeli forces in December 2024 and has been held since then without being charged with any criminal offenses.
In a Friday statement, the Council of American-Islamic Relations said news of Abu Safiya’s solitary confinement was “deeply disturbing” and raised “even more urgent concerns about his welfare and basic human rights.”
“Congress must demand his immediate release and insist that Israel end the arbitrary detention, abuse, and mistreatment of Palestinian medical professionals and civilians,” CAIR added. “The international community cannot remain silent while a respected physician is reportedly subjected to harsh conditions, denied adequate medical care, and isolated from the outside world without any legal justification. Dr. Abu Safiya must be released immediately.”
PHRI has for months been raising concerns about Abu Safiya’s detention, long before he was transferred to solitary confinement.
While demanding the physician’s release in April, for instance, PHRI said Abu Safiya was being held “in harsh conditions, without access to medication or medical care, as his health continues to deteriorate.”
A 2025 report from Amnesty International, which has also called for Abu Safiya’s release, said that the Gaza-based physician “was detained in the course of caring for his patients and carrying out his medical duties.”
Amnesty also noted that, prior to his detention, Abu Safiya and other colleagues at the Kamal Adwan Hospital had “provided human rights and humanitarian organizations with reliable information about the health situation” in Gaza, which has been left devastated by years of Israeli attacks that have killed at least 72,000 Palestinians.
Gaza flotilla boats get their resilience from Palestinians.
A child carries part of a Global Sumud Flotilla vessel on shore in Gaza.
(Photo via Instagram)
Ann Wright
Jun 05, 2026
Common Dreams
Gaza flotilla boats have become like Palestinians. They, like Palestinians, have been attacked, beaten, partially destroyed, and thrown to the four winds by a brutal, violent Israeli government.
Some of the 2026 Gaza flotilla boats were purposefully damaged so severely by Israeli military forces that they sank, like Palestinians who are under the genocidal rubble of endless criminal Israeli bombings.
‘Yet Another Act of Piracy’: Israel Raids Humanitarian Flotilla Bound for Gaza
‘May Day! May Day! May Day!’: Israeli Forces Intercept, Open Fire on Gaza Flotilla Activists
After two brutal interceptions in international waters in April and May 2026, many resilient Gaza flotilla boats have been found floating in a variety of places around the Mediterranean, just as Palestinians as refugees are found all over the world.
Flotilla boats been found adrift off the Turkish coast, some have been found off Crete, two have been found off Lebanon, one in Egypt, and several have been found near Cyprus.
Palestinians Welcome a Flotilla Boat to Gaza
In an allegory to Palestinian history with Palestinian homes bombed into pieces from Israeli government violence, one flotilla boat, the KASR-Sadabad, found its way home to Gaza where it washed ashore at the beach Mawasi Khan Younis… in pieces, where Palestinians lovingly welcomed the boat and pulled large pieces ashore.
For the first time since 2008, an international boat, although in pieces, reached the shores of Gaza.
Gaza flotilla boats have become like Palestinians. They, like Palestinians, have been attacked, beaten, partially destroyed, and thrown to the four winds by a brutal, violent Israeli government.
Some of the 2026 Gaza flotilla boats were purposefully damaged so severely by Israeli military forces that they sank, like Palestinians who are under the genocidal rubble of endless criminal Israeli bombings.
‘Yet Another Act of Piracy’: Israel Raids Humanitarian Flotilla Bound for Gaza
‘May Day! May Day! May Day!’: Israeli Forces Intercept, Open Fire on Gaza Flotilla Activists
After two brutal interceptions in international waters in April and May 2026, many resilient Gaza flotilla boats have been found floating in a variety of places around the Mediterranean, just as Palestinians as refugees are found all over the world.
Flotilla boats been found adrift off the Turkish coast, some have been found off Crete, two have been found off Lebanon, one in Egypt, and several have been found near Cyprus.
Palestinians Welcome a Flotilla Boat to Gaza
In an allegory to Palestinian history with Palestinian homes bombed into pieces from Israeli government violence, one flotilla boat, the KASR-Sadabad, found its way home to Gaza where it washed ashore at the beach Mawasi Khan Younis… in pieces, where Palestinians lovingly welcomed the boat and pulled large pieces ashore.
For the first time since 2008, an international boat, although in pieces, reached the shores of Gaza.
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