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Two civilians killed in Israeli strike on Naqoura

Two people were killed Monday in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon, according to the health ministry, with a Lebanese security source saying the car belonged to a U.N.-contracted company.

"The Israeli enemy's strike targeting a car in Naqoura left two dead," the health ministry said, without specifying whether they were civilians.

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Moving to Syria: Some Lebanese who fear war have unusual backup plan

Residents of Beirut's southern suburbs have been scrambling to make contingency plans since an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in a busy neighborhood killed a top Hezbollah commander and touched off fears of a full-scale war.

For most, that means moving in with relatives or renting homes in Christian, Druze or Sunni-majority areas of Lebanon that are generally considered safer than the Shiite-majority areas where Hezbollah has its main base of support.

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Geagea denounces Hezbollah fight with Israel

The head of the Christian political party Lebanese Forces has accused Hezbollah of dragging the country into a war with Israel without consulting the people.

In a speech attacking the Shiite Muslim group, Samir Geagea, who heads the main Christian bloc in parliament, accused Hezbollah of "confiscating the Lebanese people's decision on war and peace, as if there were no state".

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Bassil backs Berri's call for 'dialogue' over presidency

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has said that the FPM has always called for “consensus” and “dialogue” among the Lebanese over the presidential file.

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Berri urges election of 'unifying president' after talks in parliament

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the presidential file is “a domestic constitutional juncture that has nothing to do with the situations related to the Israeli aggression, whether in Gaza or in the Lebanese south.”

“We were the first to call … for all political and parliamentary parties to seize the current moment that the region is going through in order to finalize the presidential juncture as soon as possible, under the constitution’s ceiling and through consultations among everyone, without dictations or vetoes on anyone,” Berri said in a speech marking the 46th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his two companions.

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Bassil to Hezbollah: We're with defense strategy, not offense strategy

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has continued his criticism of Hezbollah over the conflict in south Lebanon, stressing that “Lebanon alone cannot liberate Palestine.”

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Israeli army stages defense drill near Lebanon's border

This week (Monday) the forces of the Israeli army’s Formation 91 in the eastern Galilee, near Lebanon, practiced defense scenarios and the transition from routine to emergency, the Israeli army said on Friday.

“The exercise took place in cooperation with police forces, the settlement defense departments, MDA (the Magen David Adom national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service) and other security forces,” the army added.

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Fadlallah says Israel hasn't shown any pic to prove Glilot not hit

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah on Friday said that Israel “thought that it targeted key weapons with a harsh and painful strike before realizing that it bombed its shadow.”

Fadlallah was referring to Israel’s claim that it waged a preemptive strike to foil Hezbollah’s retaliation to Fouad Shukur’s killing, an allegation that was dismissed by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said that Israel staged its airstrikes half an hour before his group launched over 300 rockets and several drones into Israel.

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Report: Presidential quintet expected to resume its efforts soon

The five-nation committee for Lebanon is expected to resume its efforts soon regarding the country’s presidential election file, media reports said on Friday.

The quintet comprises representatives of the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.

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UN peacekeeper chief warns of risk of an 'unintended' Israel-Hezbollah escalation

A broader regional war in the Middle East where conflict already rages between Hamas and Israel remains a "significant risk," the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force warned Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned against making assumptions about how regional actors will behave.

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