BICOM

An Israeli news outlet reports this morning that a rare meeting took place yesterday between IDF representatives, counterparts from the Lebanese army and UNIFIL, the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

The Nana news website relayed a report from Lebanese media, which said that the three-way meeting was held to discuss the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which established the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to end the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Since then, Israel has routinely complained about Hezbollah rearmament in southern Lebanon, in violation of the ceasefire and earlier this year a Hezbollah rocket attack killed two Israeli soldiers patrolling the border. Yesterday’s meeting, which apparently took place in the Israeli border town of Rosh Hanikra, also addressed Lebanon’s demand to stop the “frequent infiltrations” of Lebanese territory by IDF planes.

Meanwhile, during the past few days, Hezbollah has been deeply involved in fighting the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra front in Syria, alongside troops loyal to its close ally, Syria’s President Assad. The bulk of the fighting has taken place in the mountainous Qalamoun region northeast of Damascus and reports indicate that Hezbollah and Syrian troops took the strategic Ras al Maara hill yesterday. However, Hezbollah has reportedly paid a price, with Syrian sources saying that senior Hezbollah commander Marwan Mughniyeh was killed in fighting several days ago. He was the cousin of late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was who was assassinated in 2008 and was thought to have been behind numerous terror attacks abroad.

Yediot Ahronot covers reports in the Gulf media that Hezbollah’s overall leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has been hospitalized in Beirut, having suffered either a heart attack or a stroke. However, previous rumours about Nasrallah’s ill-health appear to have been unfounded. He is due to deliver an address on 24 May, to mark the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.