Zionist forces blow up houses in Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district
The Zionist forces carried out an operation to “blow up a number of houses in the town of Aita al-Shaab” in Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district, according to the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
The operation resulted in loud sounds that were heard in surrounding villages, NNA said.
On Friday, five people were martyred and four wounded in an “Israeli” strike on the town of Tayr Debba in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
A ceasefire between “Israel” and Hezbollah was implemented on November 27, but the Zionist side has violated the agreement numerous times since then.
Separately, Lebanon’s parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday, filling a post that has been vacant since October 2022.
In his first remarks as president, Aoun said he would work to assert the state’s right to hold the monopoly on arms, in line with the 60-day ceasefire that stipulates that only “official military and security forces” in Lebanon are authorised to carry arms.
The Lebanese president announced that the country is taking strong measures to ensure security and stability in the south, emphasising that with the return to constitutional institutions following the election of a president, “efforts will be made to revive Lebanon and guide it toward a better future.”
This statement came during a meeting on Friday at Baabda Palace in Beirut with the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who was on a visit to Lebanon, according to NNA.
Moreover, President Aoun is set to hold consultations with members of parliament from Jan. 13 to nominate a prime minister, who forms a government, in a process that often takes many months.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely seen as a frontrunner, but opposition parliamentarian Fouad Makhzoumi may have the backing of a number of lawmakers, political sources said.
