Despite US efforts to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli forces are continuing to expand their operations against the militant group with heavy airstrikes and increasing ground incursions into Lebanese territory.
The current proposal to end the conflict is similar to the deal that ended the last Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006. It calls for an initial 60-day truce, during which Israeli troops would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah remove its armed presence along the nation’s southern border.
US envoys were in Israel to discuss the proposal last week, but its current status is now unclear in light of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election on 5 November.
The diplomacy comes as fighting intensifies between the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants. The ever-escalating conflict, now in its thirteenth month, started when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli targets in the aftermath of Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack — the massacre and mass kidnapping in southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
One of the main hotspots in Lebanon is the southern town of Khiam, which is located 6 kilometres north of the Israeli border and carries both strategic and symbolic importance.
Hezbollah has recently reported heavy fighting with Israeli troops in and around Khiam, which represents the IDF’s deepest incursion into southern Lebanon since it launched a ground operation at the end of September.
While Hezbollah is capable of damaging Israel and its forces with missiles and drone systems, military analysts say the militant group could struggle to maintain control of Khiam given its tactical significance as well as the IDF’s array of high-tech weaponry.
Agnés Hélou, a Lebanese analyst from Breaking Defence, a defence and security news outlet, says that Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) have been identifed around Khiam.
“We have seen the presence of UGVs like the M113, an (old) armoured vehicle … that the Israelis transformed into an autonomous (operating) system,” she told Euronews.
“This can be used for surveillance or it can be exploited as a suicide land drone, like a suicide armoured vehicle that can explode.”
Yossi Kuperwasser, a former Israeli military intelligence chief and senior official, said Israel had UGVs that can be “used for different purposes”, including fighting in towns.
Yet Kuperwasser — who is now an Israeli intelligence and security expert — said he could not “go into the technical procedures” or give any further details.
Taking control of the Khiam area is a priority for the IDF for two key reasons, analysts say.
Firstly, the region is home to Hezbollah tunnels and hideouts. Secondly, occupying Khiam would allow the IDF to open a wider front against Hezbollah. According to according to Kuperwasser, the line would stretch from southern Lebanon to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
“(Khiam) and the area in its vicinity is geographically located in a strategic point in southern Lebanon,” he said.
“This entire area is mountainous, and that’s why controlling the villages and the roads there is very important (for the IDF),” Kuperwasser explained, adding that the area would also be seen as a gateway to the Shebaa Farms, a 39-square-kilometre patch of land along the Israeli-Lebanon border that Israel has controlled since 1967. Both Syria and Lebanon claim the territory is Lebanese.
Kuperwasser says the IDF’s official goal is to eliminate Hezbollah’s ballistic arsenal with surgical operations, using advanced weaponry and innovative AI systems to take out the militants’ missiles and drone fleets.
An Israeli surveillance vehicle is exhibited at an expo of Israeli intelligence-gathering technology in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dan Balilty/AP
Although Hezbollah’s overall military capacity pales against the IDF’s, the group is considered by conflict experts to be the best-armed non-state actor worldwide.
“Mainly they are using short range missiles that they are launching from nearby villages to the places where the attacks or the ongoing clashes are taking place,” said Hélou.
But experts say Hezbollah also has medium- and long-range missiles that are capable of hitting targets and infrastructure across Israel — and Kuperwasser said Israel is seeking to gain ground in Lebanon and expand its front because the IDF had “underestimated” the range of some of Hezbollah’s weaponry.
For instance, Hezbollah’s long-range anti-tank missiles are able to hit targets up to 9 kilometres away, about double the range that the IDF had previously expected, he said.
“This gives a different depth to the battlefield,” he added.
Ultimately, the Biden administration has said it hopes a ceasefire can prevent the fighting in Lebanon from becoming as destructive as the conflict in Gaza.
More than 3,000 people have been killed by Israel’s incursions and strikes, and at least 1.2 million have been displaced, mostly in recent months, according to the Lebanese government.
The latest exchanges of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah have been bloody, with Lebanese authorities saying at least 20 people were killed on Tuesday following an Israeli airstrike on Barja, a town just south of Beirut.
On Wednesday, Israel’s troops carried out strikes on the southern city of Nabatieh — just 25 kilometres from Khiam — after issuing evacuation orders for specific neighbourhoods.
There are growing fears in Lebanon that the conflict could soon intensify following the appointment of Israel Katz as Israel’s new defence minister by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.
Katz has pledged to “defeat” Hezbollah to facilitate the return home of people in northern Israel who have been uprooted by the fighting.
Police in Kaduna State has denied the abduction of over 100 worshippers at Kajuru in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The state Police Commissioner, Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu, while addressing newsmen after the State Security Council meeting described the report as “mere falsehood peddled by conflict entrepreneurs,” that want to cause chaos in the state.
He challenged anyone to list the names of the kidnapped victims and other particulars.
The commissioner of Police warned rumor mongers to desist from trying to derail the prevailing peace in the state, threatening to unleash the full wrath of the law on such merchants of falsehood.
The Chairman of Kajuru local government, Dauda Madaki, while condemning the false report, explained that when he heard the rumour of the attack, they mobilized police and other security forces to the area, Kurmin Wali, but found out that there was no attack.
According to him, “We visited the church where the so called kidnap took place, there was no evidence of the attack. I asked the village head, Mai Dan Zaria, and he said that there was no such attack.”
He added that he also called the youth leader of the area, Bernard Bona who was interviewed by pressmen that accompanied him, refuting that no such thing happened.
The chairman challenged anyone to name the people that were kidnapped, saying, “I have been waiting for this list and no one has come forward with any name.”
He alleged that the rumor of the kidnap is being sponsored by people who are not happy with the relative peace that Kajuru has been enjoying since the coming of the present administration.
He advised the people of the area to remain calm and go about their lawful businesses, stressing that they should report any suspicious movements and rumour mongers to security agents.
The Commissioner of Internal Security and Home, Sule Shauibu (SAN), explained that the CAN chairman and other religious leaders have interacted with the people of the area where the so-called kidnap occurred, saying that they found out that what was pushed out to the public was completely false.
A Nigerian man has sparked widespread reactions online after publicly calling out a Babalawo identified as Ifayemi over claims linked to the death of late Afrofuji singer Destiny Boy.
In an emotional outburst that has continued to circulate on social media, the man accused the spiritualist of giving the young singer juju he described as “too much” for his age.
Speaking passionately, the man said he is still struggling to come to terms with the singer’s death.
“Ifayemi, I have not accepted that Destiny Boy is dead. If it is true, then you are one of those who killed him. What you gave him was too much,” he said.
He alleged that many young people are dying prematurely because some Babalawos give them rituals their ages cannot handle.
The man also questioned how Destiny Boy allegedly afforded a “N30 million plus car” despite claims that he was not financially buoyant.
In his words:
“Ifayemi, I have not accepted that Destiny Boy is dead. If it is true, then you are one of those who killed him. What you gave him was too much.
They said he only did ‘IFA’, and shortly after that, he went to buy a ‘N30 million plus car’. If someone does ‘IFA’, does that mean the person wants to do money ritual? ‘IFA’ does not make one rich. When you do ‘IFA’, it is your family curses that will be washed away, but that does not mean you will have money.
After that, they will ask you what you want. Do you want money? That is when they now do rituals for you. The type of ritual you ask for is what they will do for you. But ‘IFA’ and money ritual are two different things.
If you went ahead to do something heavy, you must have passed a certain age. These days, youth deaths are becoming common because what babalawos are giving young people is too much for their age.
Ifayemi, if they later bury that boy, it is you that killed him. The juju you gave that boy was too much. They said Destiny Boy did not have money, yet he was using a ‘N30 million plus car’. How much was he even getting from his shows?
My father is also a babalawo. If you go to meet my father and say you want to do ritual, the first thing he will ask is your age. If you say you are 20 or 30-something, he will tell you he cannot do it for you because untimely death is the consequence from ‘Ajonu’, and it will beat them to death.
Can’t you see that it is accidents killing most of them? It is only this one that died while drying up alive.
Someone told me just last night that he wanted to release a new album and asked me to help promote it. I told him we should talk this morning, and now today he is dead. Me, I have not accepted that this boy is dead o.”
See below;
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTq3SCWkrqG/?igsh=MWUxODM2azF4ajM5Yg==
A man has been left devastated after losing his savings to a failed football bet involving the Manchester City versus Manchester United.
According to reports, the man had confidently staked a large amount of money on Manchester City to defeat Manchester United.
However, the match did not go as expected, and the loss left him emotionally shattered.
In video trending on social media, the man was seeing shading tears while still at the bet shop after he had lost a huge chunk of his money.
X user,@general_somto said …
“He placed a huge bet using his savings On Manchester City to beat Manchester United and was very confident of winning. Manchester City lost, and he ended up in tears. he’s been crying ever since.”
Check out reactions below …
@tuyungNG said: “Him never hear “stake what you can afford to lose” before ?”
@mrboboskie remarked: “Don’t gamble they won’t listen, but if you must gamble, gamble with what you can afford to lose. Poor man wants to make it big”
@profff09 wrote: “The voice in the background is telling the man crying to find him small money 
… This is absolute”
@Stazingar wrote: “Gambling is a slow bleed. The house gives you a few initial wins to get you hooked and then wreck you down”
@Nigermouthpiece stated: “Crying over a bet you could never afford is pure irresponsibility. Confidence isn’t wisdom, and gambling your savings isn’t courage, it’s self-inflicted pain.”
Watch video below …
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