“Israel” and Hizbullah still negotiating on prisoner exchange…(1)

“ Negotiations for a prisoner exchange are still alive between Hizbullah and “Israel”, via German mediation, Hizbullah's second-in-command said Sunday.

Though the negotiations have not produced an agreement, Sheikh Naim Kassem told the Lebanese daily al-Mustaqbal that a German mediator "came to Beirut and then left, but continues to work on the case."

Kassem added that Hizbullah was waiting for responses following questions raised by his movement during the negotiations, but the official did not reveal what these points were, nor did he disclose the identity of the mediator.

Hizbullah considers any information on the health of the “Israeli” prisoners to be "an element of the negotiations and to have a price," he said.

"However, we have not yet received that price from the “Israelis”," he added.

Hizbullah, which spearheaded the struggle against “Israel’s” 22-year occupation of Lebanon, captured three “Israeli” soldiers during an October 7 raid on an army post in the Shibaa Farms border area.

Hizbullah announced October 18 that it had captured a fourth “Israeli”, who it said was a colonel working for his country's intelligence services.

Lebanese civilian shot dead by “Israeli” army at border…(2)

“ A 21-year-old Lebanese civilian from the southern Lebanon village of Wardiniye was shot dead Saturday by the “Israeli” army at the Fatima gate border post, Lebanese police said.

Hilal Ahmad Hajj was among a group throwing stones at an “Israeli” border post when a soldier fired a burst from his automatic weapon at them.

Hajj was hit in the head and taken by his friends to the Nabnatiyeh hospital, where he was declared dead, police said, quoting witnesses.

Five Lebanese civilians, including a five-year-old, were injured Thursday at another border post situated near a religious site claimed by both Muslims and Jews.

The “Israeli” army regularly fires on groups of stone-throwers who have turned the border into a pilgrimage site since May 24, when “Israel” ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon.

“Israeli” soldiers reportedly have orders to shoot on demonstrators if they feel they are in immediate danger.

At least 12 civilians have been killed, both Lebanese and other Arabs, and more than 40 have been injured by “Israeli” fire at the border over the past seven months.

“Israeli” army fires three shells on southern Lebanon…(3)

“ The “Israeli” army fired three shells on southern Lebanon early Saturday from the Shibaa farms area for the second time this month, Lebanese police said.

The shells were fired from an observation post on the western side of Mount Hermon and exploded in an uninhabited mountainous region two kilometres (1.3 miles) from the Lebanese border.

They were accompanied by bursts of heavy machine gun fire and flares, the police said.

As in the earlier incident on December 18, when three shells were also fired into the same area, nothing was reported that could have sparked the “Israeli” shooting.

“Israel” has warned Lebanon and Syria of firm retaliation if Hizbullah led one more attack on its troops in the Shibaa farms, an area “Israel” captured from Syria in 1967 and on which Beirut recently laid claim.

Since the May 24 withdrawal of “Israeli” troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation, Hizbullah has been leading military operations against the Shibaa farms.

On November 26, an “Israeli” soldier died in a bomb attack led by Hizbullah, and six weeks earlier, three were captured in the Shibaa farms.

Iranian girls throw stones at “Israeli”-Lebanese border…(4)

“ Around 150 Iranian high school girls on a visit to southern Lebanon threw stones at “Israel” Sunday, from the Fatima gate border post.

The girls, aged 10 to 18, chanted anti-”Israeli” slogans and waved portraits of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny, and his successor as its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

An organiser said the girls' visit would also take in the Khiam prison, which used to be run by the former pro-”Israeli” South Lebanon Army (SLA) during “Israeli” occupation.

“Israeli” troops withdrew from southern Lebanon on May 24 after 22 years of occupation and the SLA is now dismantled.

On Saturday, a 21-year-old Lebanese civilian from the southern Lebanon village of Wardiniye was shot dead by the “Israeli” army at the Fatima gate border post.

Footnotes:

1-     AFP, 31-12-2000.

2-     AFP, 30-12-2000.

3-     Same source.

4-     AFP, 31-12-2000.