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Joint Legislative Hearing on 2025 Exec. Budget Proposal: Public Protection – 02/13/2025
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National News
Israel kills senior Hezbollah militant, frees four Lebanese prisoners
Israel said Tuesday it killed a senior Hezbollah militant responsible for drones and missiles, even as it freed Lebanese prisoners as a "goodwill" gesture to the country's new president.
Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out air strikes in Lebanon, claiming they are necessary to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from rearming or re-establishing a presence along its northern border.
"Earlier today, the IAF (air force) conducted a precise intelligence-based strike in the area of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, eliminating Hassan Abbas Ezzedine, the head of Hezbollah's aerial array in the Bader regional unit," the military said in a statement.
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It said it carried out a second strike on Tuesday in the Froun area, targeting several militants.
"Several terrorists were identified in a site used by Hezbollah in the area of Froun in southern Lebanon," the military said. "An IAF aircraft struck the suspects."
Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that two people were killed in the Israeli strikes.
"An enemy Israeli drone strike targeting a car on the Deir El-Zahrani road resulted in one fatality," the news agency said, citing the health ministry.
It later reported that a second person was killed in an Israeli air strike on a vehicle in the Froun area.
Although a truce reached on November 27 largely ended more than a year of hostilities — including two months of full-scale war in which Israeli ground troops crossed the border — Israel has continued to launch periodic strikes in Lebanese territory.
Israel was initially expected to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18, after missing a January deadline, but it has maintained a presence in five strategic locations.
The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
- Border disputes -
In a separate development on Tuesday, Israel announced it had agreed to release five Lebanese citizens detained during its war with Hezbollah.
"In coordination with the United States and as a gesture to Lebanon's new president, Israel has agreed to release five Lebanese detainees," a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's office said four of the prisoners had been freed on Tuesday and the fifth would follow on Wednesday.
Their release followed a meeting earlier Tuesday in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura, attended by representatives of Israel, Lebanon and mediators France and the United States.
"During the meeting, it was agreed to establish three joint working groups aimed at stabilising the region," the prime minister's statement said.
"These groups will focus on the five points controlled by Israel in southern Lebanon, discussions on the Blue Line and remaining disputed areas, and the issue of Lebanese detainees held by Israel."
The Blue Line is the UN-patrolled demarcation line that has served as de facto border since 2000.
In an interview with Lebanese news channel Al Jadeed, US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus emphasised Washington's efforts to resolve the border issue.
"We want to get a political resolution, finally, to the border disputes," Ortagus said.
"When it comes to the border agreement, the land border agreement, there are 13 points -- I think that six are still problematic," she said.
Ortagus said Israel had "withdrawn from over 99 percent of the territory".
"I feel fairly confident that... we can have final resolution on the five points and ultimately on the remaining issues related to the Blue Line".
National News
‘So naive, so stupid’: Former lawmaker raises alarm over Musk’s Social Security plans
Plans by the Donald Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, to dismantle the Social Security Administration, were trashed by a former Democratic senator on Wednesday morning.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," ex-Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said the staffers working DOGE, with an assist from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), hope to slash half the Social Security staffers.
That, she claimed, would not only backfire, but is a sign they have no idea what they are doing.
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With "Morning Joe" regular Elise Jordan pointing out, "We were talking off camera about just how often you, when you were in office, you had to utilize the local social security offices to really get issues resolved by a caseworker who was local and in person. And I mean, just in terms of practicality, people who are on Social Security tend to be a little bit older. They aren't necessarily going to be as web savvy and immediately able to use the internet to solve whatever problem they have," McCaskill weighed in:
"I would like Elon Musk to sit down with a woman who is struggling with her benefits after her husband has died and trying to reconcile an error in the documents" the Missouri Democrat replied. "I would love him to sit down and talk to one of those people, instead of just assuming that tech can solve everything."
"It's so naive, it's so stupid," she bluntly stated.
You can watch below or at the link right here.
- YouTube youtu.be
