Middle East latest: 4 peacekeepers lightly injured as UN base is hit by rockets in south Lebanon

Rockets likely launched by Hezbollah or affiliated groups on Friday hit a United Nations peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon, the U.N. said.

Italy’s Defense Ministry said four Italian soldiers were slightly injured after two exploding rockets hit the U.N. mission base in Shama in southern Lebanon.

Earlier Friday, a spokesman for the mission known as UNIFIL, Andrea Tenenti, told The Associated Press they were monitoring “heavy clashes” between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters in different areas in south Lebanon, including the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast.

Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded.

The fighting came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas military leader, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.

Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Health Ministry said. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel has also launched airstrikes against Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ attack last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.

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BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and the southern port city of Tyre on Friday, after the Israeli army issued several evacuation warnings saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites.

The strikes in Beirut came dangerously close to central Beirut and Christian neighborhoods. One strike hit a building housing a gym and medical and beauty clinics, located just meters (yards) from a Lebanese army base.

“What is there in the building to target? This attack they carried out on us in this building is a criminal and vile act,” resident Hassan Najdi told The Associated Press. “Because if their intention is targeting Hezbollah, this building has nothing to do with Hezbollah.”

Najdi said he purchased an apartment in the building last year but had not yet moved in. He allowed a displaced family to move in and urgently asked them to evacuate after receiving the Israeli warning.

The blasts sent plumes of smoke into the air and shattered glass in the vicinity. No casualties have been reported, but the strikes caused damage to nearby infrastructure and a key road connecting central Beirut to its southern suburbs.

“We remain steadfast,” said Ali Daher, an employee at a mall facing the targeted building. “Everything that is lost can be replaced, and whatever is destroyed can be rebuilt in (no time).”

In Tyre city, the Israeli military conducted multiple airstrikes after a series of warnings, claiming the targets belonged to Hezbollah’s Aziz unit, accusing it of firing projectiles into Israel.

The Israeli military carried out other airstrikes across Lebanon, many without warnings, as heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in villages along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified.

ROME — Italy said Friday it plans to discuss the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court over the Israel-Hamas war when it hosts Group of Seven foreign ministers next week.

Premier Giorgia Meloni insisted that one point remained clear for Italy: “There can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the state of Israel and the terrorist organization of Hamas.”

Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Meloni’s right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

In a statement Friday, Meloni said Italy would study the reasonings behind the decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy respects the ICC and supports it. “But at the same time we are also convinced that the court must have a judicial role, and should not take up a political role.”

Tajani will host G7 foreign ministers Monday and Tuesday outside Rome for the final meeting of the Italian G7 presidency.

“As far as decisions are concerned, we will take them together with our allies,” Tajani said.

During the G7 meetings, “we will talk about this with my allies there, and we will see what to do next.”

Another member of the governing coalition, the outspoken Transport Minister Matteo Salvini was more defiant in supporting Israel. “If Netanyahu comes to Israel he will be welcomed,” Salvini was quoted by Italian media as saying.

ROME — Four Italian soldiers were slightly injured after two exploding rockets hit the United Nations' peacekeeping mission base on Friday in Shama in southern Lebanon, Italy's defense ministry said.

Initial information suggested that two rockets hit a bunker and a room of the mission base, damaging the surrounding infrastructure, the ministry said. Shattered glass hit the four soldiers.

The incident was the latest in which UN peacekeeping posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto called Friday's attack “intolerable.” He said he will try to speak to the new Israeli Defense Minister to ask him “to avoid using the UNIFIL bases as a shield.”

Crosetto said the conditions of the four Italian soldiers “did not cause concern.” He reiterated that the Italian contingent remains in southern Lebanon “to offer a window of opportunity for peace and cannot become hostage to militia attacks.”

Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni on Friday said she learned about the new attack with “deep indignation and concern.”

Meloni reiterated that “such attacks are unacceptable,” renewing her appeal for the parties on the ground “to guarantee, at all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and to collaborate to quickly identify those responsible.”

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says nearly half of the attacks on health care in Lebanon have been deadly since the Middle East conflict erupted in October last year, the highest such rate anywhere in the world.

The U.N. health agency says 65 out of 137, or 47%, of recorded “attacks on health care” in Lebanon over that time period have proven fatal to at least one person, and often many more.

WHO’s running global tally counts attacks, whether deliberate or not, that affect places like hospitals, clinics, medical transport, and warehouses for medical supplies, as well as medics, doctors, nurses and the patients they treat.

Nearly half of attacks on health care in Lebanon since last October and the majority of deaths occurred since an intensified Israeli military campaign began against Hezbollah militants in the country two months ago.

The health agency said 226 health workers and patients have been killed and 199 injured in Lebanon between Oct. 7, 2023 and this Monday.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.

BERLIN — A German official has suggested that his country would be reluctant to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

The ICC’s warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant put Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, in an awkward position. The government said in a statement Friday that it is one of the ICC’s biggest supporters, but “at the same time, it is a consequence of German history that unique relations and a great responsibility connect us with Israel.”

The government said it takes note of the arrest warrants and that “we will examine conscientiously the domestic steps.” It said that any further steps would only be an issue if a visit by Netanyahu or Gallant were “foreseeable.”

Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit was pressed repeatedly at a regular news conference on whether it would be conceivable to arrest an Israeli prime minister. He replied: "It’s hard for me to imagine that we would carry out arrests in Germany on this basis.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday refused to comment on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, saying that the court's rulings are “insignificant” for Russia, which doesn’t recognizes the court’s jurisdiction.

The ICC last year issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of other top Russian officials, accusing them of war crimes in Ukraine. The Kremlin has brushed off the warrants, saying that in Moscow’s eyes they’re “null and void.”

Asked if the ICC warrants for Netanyahu and others can help resolve the tensions in the Middle East, Peskov said: “Well, in general, the actions of the ICC are unlikely to help anything. That’s the first thing. And secondly, we don’t see any point in commenting on this in any way, because for us these rulings are insignificant.”

DEIR AL-BALAH, The Gaza Strip — Large crowds of displaced people crammed themselves in front of a bakery in the Gaza Strip for the second day in a row, desperate to get their share of bread after bakeries closed for five days due to a flour shortage and the lack of aid.

“I am a 61-year-old man. This is the third day that I have come to Zadna Bakery and I still cannot get bread … I have children to feed,” said Majdi Yaghi, a displaced man from Gaza City.

The price of a small bag of pita bread increased to $16 by Friday, a stark increase from about 80 cents last month. A bag of pasta now costs $4 and a small bag of sugar costs nearly $14.

That has left many Palestinian families surviving on one meal a day and reliant on charitable kitchens to survive.

In Khan Younis, women and children lined up at the al-Dalu charitable kitchen for bulgur, the only food available at the makeshift charity.

One of the workers there, Anas al-Dalu, told the AP that they cook ten pots every day of either rice, beans, or bulgur. But that hardly fills the need for the thousands of people displaced in the area.

“The charity here is in a difficult situation. It is a drop in the ocean, and there is no aid or charities. There is nothing," said Nour Kanani, a displaced man from Khan Younis. “It is a crisis in every sense of the word. There is no flour, no charities, and no food.”

BEIRUT — Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hezbollah fighters on Friday in different areas in south Lebanon, including a coastal town that is home to the headquarters of U.N. peacekeepers.

A spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL told The Associated Press that they are monitoring “heavy clashes” in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast.

UNIFIL’s headquarters are located in Naqoura in Lebanon’s southern edge close to the border with Israel.

“We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. Asked if the peacekeepers and staff at the headquarters are safe, Tenenti said: “Yes for the moment.”

Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded.

Rescuers check a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Chiyah, the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Rescuers check a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Chiyah, the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from a building that collapses following an Israeli airstrike on Chiyah, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People hold boards during a protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Haifa, Israel, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. Placard on the right reads “Children refuse to die”. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A member of the Israeli security forces carries a piece of a projectile extracted from the site where a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area in the town of Nahariya, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A Palestinian girl looks at a damaged cars following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

The graves of three children from the same family killed during an Israeli army strike are covered during their burial in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Seven-year-old Hamza, his five-year-old brother Abdelaziz, and his four-year-old sister Laila Hassan were among 9 people killed by an Israeli strike in Khan Younis on Wednesday. Palestinian health officials say the death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mahmoud bin Hassan mourns over the bodies his three children before their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Seven-year-old Hamza, his five-year-old brother Abdelaziz, and his four-year-old sister Laila Hassan were among 9 people killed by an Israeli strike in Khan Younis on Wednesday. Palestinian health officials say the death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A woman weeps during the funeral of the victims of an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Palestinian health officials say the death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Women line up in front of a bakery to get their share of bread in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Some bakeries in the Gaza Strip reopened Thursday morning after shuttering for several days due to a flour shortage and lack of food aid. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A crowd gathers in front of a bakery to get a share of bread in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Some bakeries in the Gaza Strip have reopened Thursday morning after shuttering for several days due to a flour shortage and lack of food aid.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smoke rises between buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Burj al-Shamali village, as it is seen from Tyre city, south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man takes pictures by his mobile phone for the smoke rises between buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Burj al-Shamali village, as it seen from Tyre city, south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises between buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Burj al-Shamali village, as seen from Tyre city, south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — A second Australian teenager who fell critically ill after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has died in a hospital in Bangkok, her family said Friday, bringing the death toll in the mass poisoning of foreign tourists to six.

Holly Bowles, 19, had been in critical condition on life support following the poisoning in Laos more than a week ago.

“We are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace," her family said in a statement sent to Australian Network 10 and other Australian media. “We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly brought so much joy and happiness to so many people.”

An officer at Vang Vieng's Tourism Police office, who refused to give his name, told The Associated Press on Friday that a “number of people” had been detained in the case but that no charges have yet been filed. Staff at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, which was still operating but not accepting new guests, confirmed that the manager and owner were among those taken in for questioning.

Tourist police offices are common in Southeast Asia and are set up specifically to help with incidents involving tourists and other foreigners.

The U.S. State Department on Friday issued a health alert for citizens traveling in Laos, warning of “suspected methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng, possibly through the consumption of methanol-laced alcoholic drinks," following similar alerts from other countries whose citizens were involved.

Australia's prime minister announced Thursday that a 19-year-old citizen, Bianca Jones, had died in a Thai hospital where she had been evacuated for emergency treatment, and that her friend — Bowles — remained in a hospital "fighting for her life."

A 28-year-old British woman, Simone White, also died in the suspected poisoning, the British Foreign Office said.

An American and two Danish tourists also died, though specifics about the causes of death have not been released.

New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said one of its citizens was sickened in Laos and was a possible victim of methanol poisoning.

White’s family said they were “devastated by the loss of our beautiful, kind and loving daughter Simone,” who had “the most wonderful energy and spark for life.”

“Our hearts go out to all other families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy,” the family said in a statement issued by law firm Squire Patton Boggs, where White worked as a lawyer.

Laos is a one-party communist state with no organized opposition and the government keeps a tight lid on information. In this case, officials have released almost no details.

The Foreign Ministry has refused to comment, and in Vang Vieng the small hospital where some of the victims are believed to have been treated initially referred all questions to the town's health office on the hospital grounds. The town health officials refused to comment, saying they lacked proper permission.

Methanol is sometimes added to mixed drinks at disreputable bars as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, but can cause severe poisoning or death. It is also a byproduct of poorly distilled homebrew liquor, and could have found its way into bar drinks inadvertently.

Landlocked Laos is one of Southeast Asia’s poorest nations and a popular tourist destination. Vang Vieng is particularly popular among backpackers seeking partying and adventure sports.

Neil Farmiloe, a New Zealander who owns the Kiwi Kitchen restaurant in town, said a lot of his customers were very worried about the incident.

“I think it’s never happened before, so it is hopefully just a one-off incident," said Farmiloe, who has lived in Vang Vieng for 20 years. "It’s very sad all around. I’m sure nobody intended to cause injury, but it’s happened.”

The two 19-year-old Australian women who have both now died fell ill on Nov. 13 following a night out drinking with a group.

They failed to check out from the Nana Backpacker Hostel as planned and were found sick in their room and then taken to Thailand for emergency treatment.

Thai authorities confirmed that Jones had died by “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system.”

Duong Duc Toan, the manager of the Nana Backpacker Hostel, told the AP the day before he was detained that the two women had joined other guests for free shots of Laotian vodka before heading elsewhere and returning in the early hours of the morning.

Rising reported from Bangkok. Jill Lawless in London contributed.

A doctor comes out of the hospital where poisoned foreign tourists were admitted in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A woman cleans near the emergency section of a hospital where poisoned foreign tourists admitted in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Health officials leave Nana Backpackers hostel after investigation in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

The Nana Backpackers hostel wearing a deserted look in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

This photo shows the exterior of Bangkok Hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A foreign tourist rests near a swimming pool at Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A foreign tourist couple rest near a swimming pool at Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A woman with a bicycle walks pasts Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

The empty bar of Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A man walks past the tourism control police station in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Tourists ride on a motorbike near the tourism control police station in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Health officials check documents and ask questions to Nana hostel employees in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Health officials come out of Nana Backpackers hostel after checking documents in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

This photo shows the exterior of Bangkok Hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

This photo shows the exterior of Bangkok Hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)