An Israeli commando in Nabi Chit; Pezeshkian 'apologizes' to Arab countries!

The night of Friday, March 6 to Saturday, March 7, was marked by an Israeli helicopter-borne intrusion into a village in the Beqaa Valley, the apparent objective of which was to search for the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli airman who disappeared in 1986 after his plane was shot down.

The inhabitants of several Lebanese regions, notably Mount Lebanon, heard the incessant noise of Israeli low-altitude aviation throughout the night from Friday to Saturday. The operation itself took place in a village in Baalbeck in the northern Beqaa, Nabi Chit, which was the scene of a commando unit's operation.

In the middle of the night, the presence of soldiers on the ground attracted the attention of Hezbollah members and local residents. A confrontation therefore took place, resulting in a particularly heavy toll on the Lebanese side, with no less than 41 dead and as many injured (according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health) and a scene of total devastation in the village, as shown by videos circulated on Saturday morning. Indeed, to evacuate its soldiers, Israeli aviation heavily bombed the locality.

While Hezbollah reported this confrontation in one of its communiqués, claiming to have «repelled» an incursion, the explanation came from the Israeli army a little later: it seems that information provided by a Hezbollah member held prisoner by Tel Aviv put the Israelis on the trail of clues regarding the fate of the pilot who disappeared in Lebanon in 1986, Ron Arad. According to a message from the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, Ron Arad's remains were not found on the site. Mr. Adraee specified that the operation did not result in any casualties among the military personnel involved. Is the search for the remains of a man missing for 40 years, however important it may be, sufficient to explain this dangerous operation, or could there be a more rational justification that has not yet been revealed?

The most serious aspect of the matter is the involvement of the Lebanese army in the incident, as three of its soldiers are among the dead. The army specified in a communiqué that its patrols had spotted unusual movement of Israeli helicopters even as violent bombings continued in the surrounding villages. However, according to the text, the exchanges of fire mainly took place with the «inhabitants» of the region.

Blue Helmets injured

The other important news of the last 24 hours is the targeting of a UNIFIL position on the Lebanese-Israeli border, which resulted in injuries among Ghanaian peacekeepers. The UN reacted strongly, warning against overflows in South Lebanon.

Furthermore, Israeli bombings, preceded – or not – by warnings on social media, continue almost incessantly on the southern suburbs of Beirut, and on the regions of South Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.

And evacuation orders continue on both sides: the latest launched by the Israelis once again concerned the entire area south of the Litani, and particularly that of Tyre. The city was later targeted by a devastating bombardment. Hezbollah retaliated by calling on residents of the Nahariya and Kiryat Shmona settlements (a few kilometers from the border with Lebanon) to evacuate the area.

The launching of rockets, missiles, or drones by Hezbollah has not ceased, attracting increasingly violent reprisals on Lebanese regions. This is despite the Lebanese government's decisions to consider these activities «illegal»: in this regard, sources from Justice Minister Adel Nassar indicate that he is «studying» the possibility of initiating legal proceedings against Hezbollah's Secretary General Naim Qassem. To be continued.

As he does almost daily, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued threats against Lebanon, this time directly naming the Lebanese government and urging it to disarm Hezbollah «not to pay a very heavy price.»

For her part, the UN representative in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called for direct talks between Lebanon and Israel, at a time when the sound of boots far outweighs the voices of diplomacy.

A discourse and its opposite

From Iran's side, the most significant event in recent hours was the almost surreal speech by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in which he «apologized» to neighboring countries for the strikes against their territory. He also announced a «suspension» of these strikes, «unless an attack is launched from these countries.»

As if to contradict his statements, Iranian attacks against Gulf countries have been particularly virulent in recent hours. Notably, missiles directly targeted Dubai airport, leading to the suspension of flights to and from that airport. No fewer than ten drones were also launched towards Qatar almost simultaneously. And Bahrain says it intercepted dozens of missiles and drones.

The Revolutionary Guard, for their part, claimed responsibility for attacks against Iraqi Kurdistan. On this front, it should be noted that American and Israeli aviation bombed positions of the mullahs' regime on the Iraqi-Iranian border on Saturday. This bombing comes as there is increasing talk of a ground offensive, towards Iran, by Iranian Kurdish opponents stationed in Iraq.

In any case, President Pezeshkian's «apologies» to the Gulf countries and his commitment that missile launches against these countries would not recur were contradicted by new missile launches on Saturday morning against Qatar, Bahrain, and Dubai, where the airport was targeted, temporarily interrupting air traffic. Is the apparent contradiction between Pezeshkian's statements and the reality on the ground a tactic or an indication of a real schism beginning to appear within the regime, already severely shaken by the American-Israeli offensive?

Nevertheless, Iran continues to be violently pounded for the eighth consecutive day. Israel announced that it had carried out an offensive with 80 fighter jets that disabled various airports.

And US President Donald Trump, as if responding to the Iranian president who assured that his country «would never surrender,» threatened Iran with an intensification of strikes, promising for Saturday «a very harsh strike» on «areas and groups never before targeted.» Hot hours ahead.