Samantha Granville

Lebanon has extradited Maj Gen Adel Issa, a former senior Assad-era officer, to Syria for prosecution over alleged murder, torture resulting in death, aggression and incitement of civil and sectarian conflict. Issa, who denies the charges, was detained in Beirut and transferred to Syrian custody under a 1951 bilateral agreement. The extradition follows demands from Syria’s new authorities for action against former officials who fled after Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December 2024. His case will be reviewed by a Damascus referral judge, while Syria is also pursuing prosecutions against hundreds of former regime figures, including Assad and his brother Maher, who were sentenced to death in absentia.

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed 11 people, including three children and two women, according to Lebanese authorities. Seven people died in a strike on a house near Ansar and four more were killed in Deir al-Zahrani. Israel said it was targeting Ali Samir al-Haj Hassan, a Hezbollah battalion commander, after an attack injured Israeli soldiers, and claimed civilians at the site had been used as human shields. Lebanese officials and Hezbollah rejected that account, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. The strikes occurred despite a June framework intended to reduce hostilities, which calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, an Israeli withdrawal and expanded Lebanese army deployment in the south.

Eleven people, including children and women, were killed in Israeli strikes on Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel said the main strike killed Hezbollah battalion commander Ali Samir al-Haj Hassan after an attack that injured three Israeli soldiers, and argued that civilians were used as human shields. Lebanon’s prime minister and president condemned the strikes as attacks on civilians and violations of the June ceasefire framework, while Hezbollah rejected Israel’s account. Despite reduced hostilities, Israeli strikes and demolitions continue in southern Lebanon as negotiations over the ceasefire and the region’s security arrangements remain unresolved.