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United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon condemns attack as ‘deeply troubling’, no troops were injured.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon has said that Israeli fire hit one of its patrols in the country’s south, despite a truce between Israel and Hamas largely quietening the Lebanon-Israel frontier.

“At around 12:00 pm, a UNIFIL patrol was hit by [Israeli army] gunfire” in the vicinity of Aitarun, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement on Saturday.

“No peacekeepers were injured, but the vehicle was damaged,” it said, adding that “this incident occurred during a period of relative calm” along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

Since the Israel-Palestine conflict began on October 7, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen intensifying exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Shia movement Hezbollah, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a broader conflagration.

The scope of the border fighting has gradually increased over the weeks, but it has not turned into an all-out war yet. At first, the two sides started hitting each other with artillery attacks, and Israel also brought in its drones.

A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began on Friday, and a source close to Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that the Iran-backed group would also adhere to the truce if Israel did.

UNIFIL said “this attack on peacekeepers, dedicated to reducing tensions and restoring stability in south Lebanon, is deeply troubling,” adding, “we condemn this act.”

Today at around 12 pm, a UNIFIL patrol was hit by IDF gunfire in the vicinity of Aytaroun, in southern Lebanon.

No peacekeepers were injured, but the vehicle was damaged. This incident occurred during a period of relative calm along the Blue Line.

— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) November 25, 2023

Last month, shelling lightly wounded a UN peacekeeper near the border village of Hula, just hours after UNIFIL said a shell hit its headquarters in Naqura near the Israel-Lebanon border.

The force said it was investigating those incidents.

“We strongly remind the parties of their obligations to protect peacekeepers and avoid putting the men and women who are working to restore stability at risk,” Saturday’s UNIFIL statement said.

Cross-border fire has killed 109 people in Lebanon, including 77 Hezbollah fighters and 14 civilians, three of them journalists, according to an AFP count.

Six Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to the authorities.

Even as many Lebanese may feel for the plight of Palestinians, they also fear getting entangled in a new conflict, many having already experienced the 2006 war in which more than 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, many of them civilians. At least 165 Israelis were also killed.

Since the pause went into effect on Friday, calm has largely returned to Lebanon’s southern border.

UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.

It was bolstered after the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, and its roughly 10,000 peacekeepers are tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.

A rescue mission trying to save 41 construction workers from a collapsed tunnel in India has been stopped again.

Late on Friday, a drilling machine being used to rescue the workers trapped in a tunnel in the state of Uttarakhand broke down, forcing an end to the operation.

Arnold Dix, an international expert assisting the rescue in northern India, said: “The machine is busted.

“It is irreparable. The mountain has once again resisted the auger.”

Rescuers were just 30ft from breaking through to the workers before the auger broke, wedging the broken piece of equipment inside the tunnel.

As a result, workers will drill by hand to avoid the auger repeatedly getting stuck on pieces of metal in the debris, and as it would take days for a replacement to arrive.

Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, said the damaged machine would be removed by Sunday.

Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, said the operation was becoming “more complex” and the process would become slower, compared to when the auger was used to drill.

He added: “We have to strengthen our brothers stuck inside.

“We need to monitor their psychological state, because this operation can go on for a very long time.”

The workers have been trapped since 12 November – almost two weeks – when a landslide caused a section of a 2.8 mile tunnel being built to collapse some 650ft from the entrance.

Authorities have said the workers are safe, with access to light, oxygen, food, water and medicines via two small tunnels.

Mr Dhami also told reporters: “They are in good spirits. They said, ‘take as many days as you require, don’t worry about us’.”

But 13 days into the operation, rescuers have only seen a glimpse of those trapped via the lens of an endoscopic camera.

Read more:
Crews face ’17-hour mission’ to reach 41 workers
Hamas delays releasing Israeli hostages over aid

Meanwhile, a new drilling machine used to dig vertically was brought to the accident site on Saturday.

The vertical dig is seen as an alternative plan to reach the trapped men, and rescuers have already created an access road to the top of a hill.

However, rescue teams will need to dig 338ft down to reach the trapped workers – much longer than the distance of the horizontal shaft.

Digging work has also commenced on the far side of the road tunnel, an even longer third route estimated to be some 1,574ft.

Liverpool snap City’s 23-match winning run at the Etihad as clash between the Premier League’s top two ends 1-1.

An 80th-minute goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold secured Liverpool a 1-1 draw with leaders Manchester City on Saturday, keeping Juergen Klopp’s team a point adrift of the top spot in the tight Premier League title race.

Erling Haaland had given defending champions City a first-half lead at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, becoming the quickest player to score 50 goals in the league.

But Liverpool capitalised when the Norwegian failed to add a second from close range in the 79th. The visitors immediately went on the attack, and Alexander-Arnold swept a shot past City goalkeeper Ederson.

The draw ended a remarkable 23-game winning stretch at Etihad Stadium across all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s City, who top the table on 29 points after 13 games. Liverpool have 28 points.
Arsenal can go top if they beat Brentford later in the day.

Haaland opened the scoring with a low effort from the edge of the box in the 27th.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson misjudged a clearance that was intercepted by Nathan Ake, who played in Haaland.

From there, it felt inevitable where the ball would end up as the forward turned and fired into the bottom corner, despite Alisson getting a hand to his shot.

The landmark goal came in 48 games and broke the record held by former Manchester United and Newcastle striker Andy Cole, who reached 50 total in 65 games.

There was a double fist pump in the executive seats where Haaland’s dad, former City player Alf-Inge, was celebrating joyously.

Back on the field, the player was mobbed by blue shirts after giving the home side the advantage against the team that is likely to be one of its closest challengers for the title this season.

But he was left to regret his failure to convert in the second half after Liverpool punished City.

Alisson was handed another let-off 20 minutes from time when he spilled a corner under minimal pressure from Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias tapped home.

However, a VAR check did not overturn the referee’s on-field decision to award the Liverpool ‘keeper a soft free-kick.

Klopp turned to his bench to try and summon a response with Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch introduced.

Diaz’s father was among the crowd after being flown to England by Liverpool to enjoy the Christmas season following a kidnap ordeal in his native Colombia.

And Diaz was involved in Liverpool’s leveller against the run of play 10 minutes from time.

The Colombian picked out Salah, who laid the ball into Alexander-Arnold’s path for a fantastic finish into the bottom corner.

City pushed for a winner in eight minutes of added time but were thwarted as they failed to win at home for the first time since December 31 last year.

Alexander-Arnold said it was a big point on the road for Liverpool, who finished fifth last year.

“We haven’t had too many good results here in general. It’s a point gained,” Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports.

“It wasn’t an amazing performance from us, but there were positives and we had chances to win the game.”

Liverpool boss Klopp said it was a good result for his side at a “tough place” to play.

“It’s no coincidence that they win that many home games. It’s a place where you have to be ready to suffer. The quality that they have, the fluidity that they have, they really know exactly who is going where.

“We are still in a process but I think if we played really well today we could have won. We didn’t – we played OK.”

City boss Pep Guardiola said he was pleased with the performance, if not the result.

“Excellent performance. Against a top, incredible team – the way we played was excellent,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.

“We were good in all departments, in the back, with our build-up with the keeper. We conceded just two shots on target, which is a complement for how we work.

“We know the quality Erling has, it was a really good finish. He had the header as well.

“It was an excellent performance. I’m so pleased. After many years that we still perform and run that way – there is so much to be proud of.”

Nurses recall horror of Israeli raid, interrogations, saying troops beat and humiliated them as they refused to leave patients behind.

The Indonesian Hospital, one of northern Gaza’s largest healthcare facilities, was so severely damaged in Israeli attacks that it may never open again.

On Saturday, Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al Jazeera, “We are in shock and horrified at the scenes left by Israeli forces at the Indonesian Hospital.”

Israeli tanks and snipers had laid siege to the hospital in Beit Lahia for days, before targeting its main generator and raiding it in the early hours of Friday, shortly before a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect.

The ministry said on Friday that the hospital was undergoing “heavy bombardment” by the Israeli army and that there was fear for the lives of 200 injured people and medical staff. It added that intense Israeli fire killed a wounded woman and injured at least three others.

Now in ruins, the hospital is overwhelmed with large numbers of wounded people amid severe shortages in medical supplies. “Corridors have become wards and surgeons operate on the floor,” said Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, who gained access to the facility.

“Outside the hospital building, the stench of death forces people to cover their nose, as charred and decomposing bodies, children among them, pile up in corners. No burials have taken place for days because Israeli snipers targeted anyone who ventured out to dig a grave,” he said.

Reporting from the hospital after the raid, Anas al-Sharif, one of the few remaining journalists in northern Gaza, said, “The occupation forces have damaged and destroyed large parts of the hospital. There’s been major destruction here. Even equipment and supplies have been ruined by occupation forces.”

Recalling the horror of the Israeli raid and interrogation of hospital staff, a nurse told Al Jazeera, “When they stormed the hospital we told them we are nurses, civilians, and that we have children and sick people here.”

“They interrogated me and three other nurses. They asked me about the resistance and if there were any fighters here. They asked about the entrances and exits of the hospital. We were all panicking. We were very scared,” she added.

Another nurse recalled how Israeli forces targeted the facility’s fourth floor with a missile and cut off electricity and solar power to the buildings.

“We had 25 people with broken pelvises who couldn’t be moved. They blew up this entrance, they shot the patients inside. They searched us one by one and scanned everyone’s faces. I told them I’m a nurse,” the male nurse from the emergency department told Al Jazeera.

“They took me to this corner and beat me, and asked me many questions about the hospital, the Israeli captives and hostages – whether I know anything about them. Every question was accompanied by a slap.

“After they left, we could’ve gone but I promised I would never leave my patients alone and that I would be the last one to leave this hospital,” said the nurse.

Hundreds of displaced people had previously sought asylum at the hospital, which is also close to the Jabalia refugee camp.

With the facility out of service for weeks and the damage severe, it remains unclear whether it will ever reopen.

NewsFeed

“We’ve been tortured.” As dozens of Palestinian women and children return home from Israeli prisons as part of a Gaza truce deal between Israel and Hamas, many say they endured incredibly harsh conditions while detained.