📹 Photos have emerged online showing the impact of Israeli strikes in Lebanon near a humanitarian convoy led by Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bashir Khader near the city of El Ain.

The aid convoy was jointly operated by the Lebanese Red Cross, the army and the UN. As a result of the raids, the highway on which the humanitarian convoy was passing has been damaged. One driver was injured.

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❗️Footage of a strike on the settlement of Karmiel in Israel and a working air alert system in Tel Aviv. Dozens of rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon in recent hours.

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What is UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission attacked by the Israeli troops?

As tensions across the Israel-Lebanon border escalate, The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have fired at several UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon. An IDF tank attacked a UNIFIL post in Ramyah near the Israeli border. At least five peacekeepers were wounded in recent days as Israel targets Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

This is not the first time the IDF has attacked UNIFIL peacekeeping forces. In 2006, UNIFIL reported dozens incidents of IDF attacks and shelling during the Second Lebanon War. On July 17 2006, a UNIFIL staff member and his wife were killed during Israeli air raid on Tyre. On July 25, 2006, four Ghanaian soldiers with the UNIFIL force were injured as a result of the IDF tank hitting their position. But the UN took no significant action in response.

What is UNIFIL’s mission?

🔸 According to official UN sources, the United Nations Interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) includes 10,500 peacekeepers from 50 countries. About 70% of its activities are carried out jointly with the Lebanese Armed Forces.

🔸 The mission was established in 1978 following the first Israeli invasion. The UN Mandate says UNIFIL should “confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon,” then “restore international peace and security” and “assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.”

🔸 UNIFIL operates in a 1,060 square kilometer area brodered by the Litani River to the north and the Blue Line – a temporarily negotiated border between Israel and Lebanon stretching 120 kilometers – in the south. Between those lines, UNIFIL mans about 50 positions and its headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.

UNIFIL under fire… politically

🔸 Despite UNIFIL’s mandate, the IDF invaded Lebanon in 1982, 2006 and 2024. During these military campaigns, both Lebanese and Israeli media repeatedly condemned UNIFIL as incompetent.

🔸 When Israel began its incursion into Southern Lebanon UNIFIL forces did not intervene and stayed in their positions. But Israeli media claimed the peacekeepers had already left their posts.

🔸 In September 2022, late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah strongly criticized a new amendment to the UNIFIL Mandate which stated that the peacekeeping force "is allowed to conduct its operations independently". Nasrallah called it an “Israeli trap” and a “violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

🔸 On December 2022, a 23-year-old Irish UNIFIL peacekeeper was killed in southern Lebanon after a “hostile” crowd surrounded the force’s armored vehicle. That prompted a wave of criticism of UNIFIL in national media, calling it “ineffectual and meaningless.”

🔸 In 2017, several Western webssites including Foreign Affairs criticized the UN Resolution to extend the peacekeeping force in Lebanon, describing UNIFIL’s job as “largely meaningless.”

🔸 UNIFIL did not intervene in border clashes between Lebanese Israeli forces in 2010. Lebanese media published a video of two Indonesian soldiers from UNIFIL leaving the site of the skirmish in a taxi. That prompted mockery of UNIFIL in Lebanese media.

🔸 In 2006, Israeli media accused UNIFIL of collaboration with Hezbollah. They accused the UN mission of broadcasting IDF troop movements near the front line. A UNIFIL spokesperson stressed that it was a peacekeeping force which must do its job and not “serve Israeli direct interests.”

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MMA fighter Jeff Monson got married according to Muslim rites, Ekaterina, now the wife of the athlete, told Sputnik.

"Since Jeff and I do not make our private life public, the wedding ceremony was quite modest. We plan to have a formal wedding with many guests in 2025, probably in the spring," Ekaterina stated, adding they plan to have one child.

Monson converted to Islam in the summer of 2024 during an Eid al-Adha reception in Moscow organised by the European Muslim Forum.

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🇷🇺🇵🇰 Russia-Pakistan Joint Exercises

The joint Russia-Pakistan tactical exercise "Friendship-2024" has commenced in Pakistan at the National Counter-Terrorism Center in Pabbi.

During the exercise, military personnel from both countries will practice cooperation in combat operations in mountainous terrain, focused on elmininating illegal armed groups. They will also train in reconnaissance and ambush operations in mountainous and forested areas.

The joint tactical exercise is aimed at strengthening and further developing military cooperation between the two countries. The joint Russia-Pakistan tactical exercise has been held annually since 2016.

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