Lebanon’s state-owned NNA reports Israeli bombing near border

Lebanon’s state-owned NNA reports Israeli bombing near border

Israeli forces overnight bombed a place in the town of Markaba, located about 1.5km from the Israel-Lebanon border, the state-owned National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The report of the bombing comes after the two countries signed a 14-point framework agreement hailed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the “first step” in the negotiations.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah sharply criticised the agreement, saying that Lebanese authorities would not be able to enforce it without bringing the country to "civil war".

Lebanese Member of Parliament Ashraf Rifi, a former justice minister, however, praised the agreement, saying Lebanon was finally “acting like a state”.

 “The notion that a state within a state protects Lebanon has fallen, and with it the illusion that illegal weapons create security or restore rights,” Rifi said, according to the NNA.

“It is no longer acceptable for Lebanese decision-making to remain hostage to the Iranian project, or for Hezbollah to continue its dominance over the state and its institutions.”