4 Syrians and a Lebanese behind the kidnapping of the “Butcher of Baniyas”

On Friday, the United States condemned “criminal violence” in the occupied West Bank, without directly referring to the incident of Israeli settlers attacking an American photojournalist.

A State Department official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “We condemn the acts of criminal violence committed by any party in the West Bank, and we support conducting appropriate investigations and prosecuting those responsible for them,” adding that the United States is ready to provide “consular support” to the journalist who works for the Washington Post newspaper.

Heidi Levin, an experienced photojournalist, was injured on Friday by Israeli settlers who beat her while she was covering violence targeting Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, according to her personal testimony and the statements of witnesses and doctors.

Levin was covering the olive harvest season near the towns of Turmus Aya and Khirbet Abu Falah.

The American official said: “We are deeply concerned when Americans become victims of violence abroad, and we are ready to provide them with all necessary consular assistance.” He added that the administration of President Donald Trump is conducting “regular dialogue with our partners with the aim of enhancing stability and security in the West Bank.”

One of the first decisions Trump took upon his return to the White House was to lift the sanctions imposed by the Joe Biden administration on Israeli settlers.

Settler attacks increase coinciding with the olive season in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

In early October, settlers severely beat Agence France-Presse photographer Jaafar Shtayyeh.

Violence has escalated sharply in the West Bank since the outbreak of war in Gaza in 2023, and settlers launch almost daily attacks against Palestinians.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Armed Forces Minister Alice Ruffaut will visit Lebanon on Saturday and Sunday to discuss “mechanisms for the international presence” there after the end of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL), according to what several sources reported.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the aim of the visit is “to avoid the occurrence of a security vacuum that we consider extremely dangerous” after the end of UNIFIL’s mandate, in addition to supporting the implementation of the framework agreement concluded between Lebanon and Israel under the auspices of the United States in June, according to Agence France-Presse.

The agreement stipulates the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the lands it entered into in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army starting from “two experimental areas.”

The French Foreign Ministry said: “It is necessary to support this process.” This requires maintaining an international presence to accompany and support the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Internal Security Forces. The next challenge lies in defining the mechanisms for this international presence as of January 1, 2027.”

The Minister of Armed Forces’ circles said that this visit also aims to “renew France’s support for Lebanon’s stability and full sovereignty.”

The two ministers will meet with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Defense Minister Michel Mansi, Army Commander General Rodolphe Heikal, and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, according to the same source.

In June, France and Italy announced their intention to establish a multinational force with the end of UNIFIL’s mandate, with the aim of strengthening “sovereignty in Lebanon.” The European Union also announced, on Monday, the establishment of a mission to train the Lebanese army.

The visit comes a month after a conference was held in Paris on this topic, in the presence of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Jordanian King Abdullah, and the commanders of the armies of France, Britain, Italy, Jordan and Lebanon, along with senior American and Saudi officials.

During the visit, the French Foreign Minister intends to confirm Paris’ support for “approving the absolutely necessary economic reforms” that “have begun and must be completed,” according to the ministry.

He also intends to address “the response to the humanitarian emergency, given that more than 1.2 million Lebanese were forced to leave their homes” as a result of the Israeli bombing last spring. The equivalent of 139 million euros, including about 100 tons of medical aid and urgent relief materials, has been provided since 2024.

The Internal Security Forces in Lebanon announced that they raided a medicine warehouse in the southern suburb of Beirut and sealed it with red wax, despite the attempt of a number of young people to prevent the security forces from carrying out their mission.

The security forces were executing a judicial mandate from the discriminatory Public Prosecutor Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj to close a medicine warehouse in the area, based on the referral of the Minister of Health, Rakan Nasser Al-Din, who is one of Hezbollah’s representatives in the government.

The Central News Agency reported that “while patrols of the Central Criminal Investigation Department were carrying out the task of seizing and seizing medicines in warehouses belonging to a pharmaceutical company in the Gallery Semaan area in the suburb, to seize them due to their corruption and the lack of health conditions for their circulation, dozens of armed youths affiliated with (Hezbollah) gathered in order to besiege the patrol members, and asked them to withdraw.”

Information in Beirut stated that the patrol commander “contacted the Cassation Public Prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, and requested support from the army command and the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces after the number of armed groups exceeded hundreds.”

It was later reported that the armed groups that said they belonged to Hezbollah had withdrawn after the presence of a large Lebanese army force supporting the patrols that were besieged.

Security forces

The General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces announced, in a statement, that “while a force affiliated with the Central Criminal Investigation Department of the Internal Security Forces was carrying out a mission to seize invalid medicines stored inside a warehouse in the Gallery Semaan area, a number of young men gathered on their motorcycles and tried to prevent the force from raiding the warehouse, but it was able to continue its mission, raid it, seize the medicines, and seal the warehouse with red wax.”

She confirmed that the investigation is ongoing based on the reference of the competent judiciary.