International

The death toll from Israel’s attacks in Lebanon exceeds 2,000

More than 2,000 people have died and more than 9,500 have been injured by the attacks that Israel has launched against different parts of Lebanon in almost a year, although the vast majority of the victims have occurred in about two weeks after the start of the massive campaign of Israeli bombings.

According to a report by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers published on Friday, the number of victims increased after Israel launched a total of 153 attacks against different parts of Lebanon, mainly in the south, east and southern suburbs of Beirut known as the Dahye.

Israel intensifies its bombings against Beirut

In the early hours of Friday, Israel bombed several targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the intensity of the attacks caused the collapse of several buildings.

One of those targets, according to the Hebrew press, has been the candidate for leader of the Shiite group Hezbulá, Hashem Safi al Din.

The newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’ assured that the Israeli aviation intended to end the life of the clergyman, probable successor to the top leader of Hezbullah, Hassan Nasrala, who died a week ago in another Israeli bombing in Beirut.

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Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper ‘Haaretz’, specified that among the targets of this morning’s attacks was again a bunker in Hizbulá used by senior officials.

According to the state media, the Israeli aviation used vacuum and anti-bunker bombs during the campaign, and also reached other points on the outskirts of Beirut outside the Dahye.

Several collapsed buildings

The strong wave of bombings, which resounded throughout the capital, caused the collapse of a police station, a supermarket and other buildings on the outskirts of the capital’s Dahye, an important stronghold of Hezbulah, reported the National News Agency of Lebanon (ANN).

Israel and Hezbullah have been facing each other since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, but violence increased to an unprecedented level about ten days ago, when Israeli forces began a massive bombing campaign that has devastated towns and entire towns.

In this context, for a week, the Dahye has been the target of intense waves of air strikes almost daily.

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Two Israeli soldiers die in a drone attack

On the other side of the border, two Israeli soldiers died this Friday in northern Israel by the attack of a drone “launched from the east,” a statement that the Israeli Army usually uses when referring to projectiles fired by pro-Iranian militias from Iraq.

The deceased are Sergeant Daniel Aviv Haim Sofer and Corporal Tal Dror, both 19 years old, according to the armed forces in a statement this afternoon.

Israel orders the evacuation of 36 villages in southern Lebanon

Meanwhile, in the south, the Israeli Army ordered this Friday the immediate evacuation of 36 villages, under the premise that “Hizbulah’s activities force the armed forces to act” and anticipating a new wave of attacks against them.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River, save your lives,” Israeli Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a statement.

The Awali River, towards which the armed forces directed the Lebanese population, is located almost 50 kilometers from the Tyre region, where most of the villages called to evacuate are concentrated.

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Adraee warned that “anyone who is close to members, facilities and combat means of Hezbulá puts their life in danger,” as well as that any home that has served the objectives of the Shiite group will be a target of the Israeli fire.

“Be eare, you are forbidden to head south. Any direction to the south can expose you to dangers,” he added.

In addition, the Israeli Army detected the launch of about 100 rockets from Lebanese territory throughout the morning that it attributed to the Shiite group Hezbulá.

A bombing cuts the road that connects Beirut with Damascus

Since the beginning of hostilities, Israel’s attacks have killed almost 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million to leave their homes, mainly in the south and east of the Mediterranean country.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 235,000 Syrians and Lebanese have arrived in Syria in less than two weeks from Lebanon by land in their flight from Israeli bombings.

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This Friday, an Israeli bombing hit an area near the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, cutting on the Lebanese side the road that connects Beirut with Damascus through which tens of thousands of people are fleeing to Syrian territory.

“The enemy’s fighter jets attacked the Masnaa area, which caused the international road to be cut,” reported the Lebanese National News Agency (ANN).

The Israeli Army confirmed this morning the bombing against “infrastructure sites adjacent to the Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon.”

For its part, local television Al Manar, belonging to the Lebanese Shiite group Hizbulá, broadcast a video of the attacked point in which large gaps and significant destruction can be seen on the target road of the bombings.

The representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, assured EFE that the attack near the crossing is “unacceptable” and a “real shame.”

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Syria is the only land supply route for Lebanon, which also has only one operating airfield throughout the country, the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, in whose vicinity several missiles have already fallen in recent days.

Iranian Foreign Minister travels to Beirut

In the midst of Israeli bombing, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reaffirmed his support for Lebanon on Friday during a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who also informed that Tehran will start a diplomatic campaign with this objective.

“Iran will launch a diplomatic campaign to support Lebanon and request a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,” said the head of Iranian diplomacy during the meeting, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese Government.

Araqchi arrived in Beirut in the midst of an intense campaign of Israeli bombing against the bastions of its great Lebanese ally, the Shiite group Hezbula, and one week after the death of its leader, Hassan Nasrala, in an unprecedented bombing of the capital’s suburbs.

The head of Iranian diplomacy is also scheduled to meet this Friday with the president of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, another key ally of Hezbulah, although it is unknown if he will be able to meet directly with representatives of the armed movement.

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International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.