Lebanon committed to keeping war away from the country, PM says

Lebanon committed to keeping war away from the country, PM says
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrives to attend a parliament session in downtown Beirut on January 25, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 26 January 2024
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Lebanon committed to keeping war away from the country, PM says

Lebanon committed to keeping war away from the country, PM says
  • Hezbollah introduces Falaq-1 missile in operations against Israeli military for the first time
  • International coordinator inspects border villages, assesses losses of civilian communities

BEIRUT: Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed Lebanon’s commitment to keeping the war away from the country on Friday, responding to accusations the government is handing decision-making to political parties — a reference to the role of Hezbollah.

“This accusation is absolutely untrue,” Mikati told Parliament.

In his intervention during the session on Friday afternoon to approve the 2024 draft budget, Mikati said: “Our consistent and reiterated stance focuses on adherence to all international resolutions and agreements from the 1949 Armistice Agreement to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and all relevant international resolutions.

“We reiterate our demand for a ceasefire in Gaza, as it is the mandatory gateway to all solutions. This stance is grounded in political realism that dictates it.”

Mikati renewed his demand for “the international community to stop Israeli violations, provocations, and attacks on Lebanon.”

Mikati added: “Since the first day of the Gaza war, I have announced that the decision to go to war is not in our hands, but in Israel’s.

“Critics and supporters among the Lebanese will understand the content of this message, and we are seeking a diplomatic solution under the auspices of the UN.”

He added: “In my correspondences with the US secretary of state, and in response to an urgent message, I expressed the official stance, which is summed up by working toward achieving sustainable and long-term stability in the region.

“As per my message, stability is achieved by imposing a permanent end to the war in Gaza to secure humanitarian aid for its besieged population, which will allow the reconvening of mediation sessions for the exchange of prisoners and detainees.”

Mikati called for reconvening the tripartite meetings between military representatives from Lebanon, Israel, and UNIFIL at the latter’s headquarters in Ras Naqoura to resolve the remaining disputes between Lebanon and Israel by implementing all UN treaties and resolutions, starting with the 1949 Armistice Agreement to the implementation of UN Resolution 1701.

He stressed: “The diplomatic and negotiation approach is the real, guaranteed gateway to achieving permanent stability, starting from ending the aggression against Gaza and embarking on a fair and just solution to the Palestinian cause, based on reviving the two-state initiative, that will ensure fair and comprehensive rights for the Palestinians and sustainable security for the Israelis.”

Mikati’s remarks came as Hezbollah announced targeting “a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the outskirts of the Hunin Castle using appropriate weapons, as well as the Ma’ale Golan outpost using Falaq-1 missiles.

Since Oct. 8 the party has repeatedly announced its use of the Burkan (volcano) missile, but this is the first time it has revealed using the Iranian-made anti-armor, anti-tank Falaq-1.

According to information circulating on pro-Hezbollah social media accounts, Falaq-1 is “a surface-to-surface rocket, with a bore of 240 mm, a weight of 111 kg, and a warhead weighing 50 kg.” It has a maximum range of 10 km.

An interceptor missile launched by the Israeli Iron Dome exploded over Naqoura.

Israeli media outlets reported that “the Israeli army launched an interceptor missile against a suspicious target flying over sea opposite the Liman settlement in the Western Galilee.”

Israeli Channel 12 stated that “two missiles were launched from Lebanon toward the Margaliot settlement in the Galilee.”

An Israeli artillery targeted Houla and the outskirts of the Beit Lif village.

An Israeli raid struck the outskirts of the Aitaroun village.

As hostilities in southern Lebanon continue, Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, met with civilians who remained in their villages and other displaced people who left border towns for safer areas in the south.

“I spoke to some of those who left their homes and became displaced, as well as to those who decided to stay in their homes and villages despite the danger ahead of them,” Riza said.

“For many of those, the last three months were filled with fear, defeat, and uncertainty about the future.

“Today, the ability to confront challenges has significantly changed compared to the last time southern Lebanon witnessed a similar form of displacement — the 2006 war.

“The acute Lebanese economic crisis exacerbated the plight of those affected by the ongoing conflict. Here they are today, left with no savings or sufficient food supplies. They completely rely on slim livelihood chances.

“The ongoing destruction of agricultural lands in southern Lebanon, along with insecurity and the inability to move around safely due to daily attacks, deepens despair among communities,” he said.

“The economic, personal, and psychological losses borne by the affected communities are enormous, intensifying the magnitude of the challenges faced by the people.

“More than 86,000 people have been displaced since the escalation of hostilities, while 60,000 others remain in the targeted damaged villages,” he added.

“No less than 25 civilians have been killed to date, while health centers, civilian infrastructures, residential houses, and agricultural lands have been severely damaged.”

He renewed his call “to uphold international humanitarian law and safeguard civilians, medical personnel, residences, schools, and healthcare centres,” and reaffirmed the UN’s “steadfast commitment to stay and deliver emergency relief and protection to civilians in need wherever they are.”

Riza added: “What is needed most, however, is a de-escalation of tensions and an end to hostilities.”


UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
Updated 7 sec ago
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UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
  • UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far delivered 121 shipments in Gaza

GAZA: Two shipments of aid from the UAE entered the Gaza Strip this week via Egypt’s Rafah Crossing, state news agency WAM reported on Friday.

The UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far sent 121 shipments to ease the plight of Palestinians affected by Israel’s war on Gaza.

Nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, of the 2.3 million population in Gaza, are facing a dire humanitarian crisis.

The UAE’s various initiatives include the opening of a field hospital in Rafah last year, a floating hospital in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, and a prosthetics project to support those who have lost limbs.

The latest convoys involved 20 trucks carrying over 288 tonnes of aid, including food, medical supplies, children’s nutritional supplements, clothing, shelter materials, and health kits for women.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has so far delivered a total of 17,312 tonnes of aid for Gaza residents.


Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency

Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency
Updated 08 November 2024
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Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency

Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency
  • During his first term, Donald Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan Heights
  • Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements

RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights: Israeli residents of “Trump Heights” are welcoming the election of their namesake, hoping Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency will breathe new life into this tiny, remote settlement in the central Golan Heights.
During his first term, Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel thanked him by rebranding this outpost after him.
But a large-scale influx of new residents never materialized after that 2019 ceremony, and just a couple dozen families live in Trump Heights, or “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew. Job opportunities are limited, and Israel’s more than yearlong war against Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon has added to the sense of isolation.
Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements.
“Maybe it can raise more awareness and maybe some support to help here and help our kids here,” said Yarden Freimann, Trump Heights’ community manager.
Ori Kallner, head of the Golan’s regional council, showed off dozens of plots of land, replete with new asphalt roads, lampposts and utility lines, that residents have prepared for future housing developments.
“President Trump’s return to the White House definitely puts the town in the headlines,” he said.
Hanging on while war rages nearby
Kallner stood next to a metal statue of an eagle and a menorah, symbolizing the United States and Israel, as Israeli warplanes flew overhead. Two explosions from rockets fired from Lebanon punched the hills nearby, and just across the border in Lebanon, plumes of smoke rose into the air from Israeli airstrikes.
An enormous sign with the settlement’s name in Hebrew and English gleamed in the sun, while two large sunbaked metal flags of Israel and the United States were faded almost beyond recognition.
Surrounded by ashen ruins of villages fled by Syrians in the 1967 war, the town is perched above the Hula Valley, where Israel has amassed tanks, artillery and troops for its fight in Lebanon. Most towns in the valley have been evacuated. Trump Heights sends its kids to a makeshift daycare in a nearby settlement after the government shuttered all schools in the region in the wake of the Oct. 1 invasion of Lebanon.
“We find ourselves hanging by our fingernails to be in our own community, not be evacuated, and on the other hand, we cannot work, we cannot send our kids to any kind of an education system,” said Freimann.
Trump Heights is only about 12 kilometers from Lebanon and Syria. Alerts for incoming fire gives residents about 30 seconds’ head start to get to a bomb shelter.
Trump broke with other leaders on the Golan Heights
Israel annexed the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, in 1981 in a move that is not internationally recognized.
That changed in March 2019 when Trump, without notice, tweeted that the US would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory. His announcement drew widespread condemnation from the international community, which considers the Golan to be occupied Syrian territory and Israel’s settlements to be illegal. The Biden administration left the decision intact, but the US remains the lone country to recognize the Israeli annexation.
Kallner said he hopes Trump will now persuade European countries to recognize Israeli sovereignty there.
According to Israeli figures, the Golan is home to about 50,000 people — roughly half of them Jewish Israelis and the other half Arab Druze, many of whom still consider themselves Syrians under occupation.
Israel has encouraged and promoted settlements in the Golan, and the Druze residents operate farms and a tourism and restaurant sector popular with Israelis. But the area has struggled to develop because of its remoteness, several hours from Israel’s economic center in Tel Aviv.
That economic hardship has only worsened during the war as the hospitality sector cratered. On July 28, a rocket killed 12 Druze children on a soccer field in the city of Majdal Shams, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away. Israel invaded Lebanon months later.
In June 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led an inauguration ceremony for Trump Heights. The US ambassador at the time, David Friedman, noted that the ceremony came days after Trump’s birthday and said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”
As president, Trump was close with Netanyahu
The Golan recognition was among a series of diplomatic gifts that Trump delivered to Israel during his first term. They included recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American embassy to the contested city, and a series of diplomatic agreements with Arab countries known as the Abraham Accords.
He has vowed to bring peace to the tumultuous region during his second term, but has not said how.
Netanyahu enjoyed a close relationship with Trump during his first term but ran afoul of the former president when he congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 victory. The Israeli prime minister announced Tuesday that he was one of the first foreign leaders to call the president-elect and congratulate him on his victory. An official in his office, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal communications, said aides were upbeat and giddy.
“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” the Israeli leader said in a statement. “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”
At Trump Heights, Kallner was optimistic too: “The Golan community is strong and resilient, and people that want to come and live here are from the same material. I believe we will overcome these challenging times and won’t stop growing.”


US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms
Updated 08 November 2024
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US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms
  • US has given Israel until Nov. 13 to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza
  • The letter calls for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza

WASHINGTON: Israel has informed the United States that it will open an additional crossing for aid into Gaza, the State Department said Thursday, as a US-imposed deadline looms next week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-besieged Gaza Strip or risk the withholding of some military assistance from the United States, Israel’s biggest supporter.
They made the demands in a letter before Tuesday’s election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to give freer rein to Israel.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Israel, after recently reopening the Erez crossing, has informed the United States that they “hope to open an additional new crossing at Kissufim” in “the next few days.”
“We have continued to press them, and we have seen them, including in the past few days since the election, take additional steps,” Miller told reporters.
He stopped short of saying how the United States would assess Israel’s compliance with the aid demands.
In the letter, Blinken and Austin had urged Israel to “consistently” let aid through four major crossings and to open a fifth crossing.
Kissufim, near a kibbutz across from southern Gaza that was attacked in the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault that sparked the war, has mostly been in disuse except by the military since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
The letter called for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza. Miller said 229 trucks entered on Tuesday.
Outgoing President Joe Biden has repeatedly pressed Israel to improve humanitarian aid and protect civilians, while mostly stopping short of using leverage such as cutting off weapons.
Miller said Blinken hoped to keep using the rest of his term to press for an end to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.


US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

Children stare at the destruction following an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November
Children stare at the destruction following an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November
Updated 08 November 2024
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US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

Children stare at the destruction following an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November
  • The US has given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza
  • Letter calls for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza

WASHINGTON: Israel has informed the United States that it will open an additional crossing for aid into Gaza, the State Department said Thursday, as a US-imposed deadline looms next week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-besieged Gaza Strip or risk the withholding of some military assistance from the United States, Israel’s biggest supporter.
They made the demands in a letter before Tuesday’s election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to give freer rein to Israel.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Israel, after recently reopening the Erez crossing, has informed the United States that they “hope to open an additional new crossing at Kissufim” in “the next few days.”
“We have continued to press them, and we have seen them, including in the past few days since the election, take additional steps,” Miller told reporters.
He stopped short of saying how the United States would assess Israel’s compliance with the aid demands.
In the letter, Blinken and Austin had urged Israel to “consistently” let aid through four major crossings and to open a fifth crossing.
Kissufim, near a kibbutz across from southern Gaza that was attacked in the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault that sparked the war, has mostly been in disuse except by the military since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
The letter called for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza. Miller said 229 trucks entered on Tuesday.
Outgoing President Joe Biden has repeatedly pressed Israel to improve humanitarian aid and protect civilians, while mostly stopping short of using leverage such as cutting off weapons.
Miller said Blinken hoped to keep using the rest of his term to press for an end to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.


France mulling new sanctions on Israeli settlers, minister says in West Bank

France mulling new sanctions on Israeli settlers, minister says in West Bank
Updated 07 November 2024
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France mulling new sanctions on Israeli settlers, minister says in West Bank

France mulling new sanctions on Israeli settlers, minister says in West Bank
  • “France has been a driving force to establish the first sanction regime at the European level,” Barrot said
  • Barrot renewed France’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

RAMALLAH: France is mulling new sanctions on those enabling the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, regarded as illegal under international law, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on a visit to the territory on Thursday.
“France has been a driving force to establish the first sanction regime at the European level targeting individuals or entities, either actors or accomplices of settlement activities,” Barrot said after talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah.
“This regime has been activated two times already and we’re working on a third batch of sanctions targeting these activities that again are illegal with respect to international law.”
Barrot renewed France’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned settlement activities “threaten the political perspective that can ensure durable peace for Israel and Palestine.”
Before meeting Abbas, Barrot visited the adjacent town of Al-Bireh, where Israeli settlers set fire to 20 cars on Monday, damaging a nearby building.
After speaking with residents and local officials at the scene, Barrot noted that the attack took place in a part of the West Bank where the Palestinians were supposed to enjoy both civil and security control under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s.
“These attacks from extremist and violent settlers are not only completely inexcusable, not only contrary to international law, but they weaken the perspective of a two-state solution,” Barrot said.
Ramallah and Al-Bireh governor Laila Ghannam expressed outrage that settler attacks were “taking place in full view and hearing of the entire silent international community.”
“Perhaps today, with the visit of the French foreign minister, there will be a spotlight here,” she told AFP.
Speaking in Jerusalem earlier Thursday, Barrot said he saw prospects for ending Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump’s re-election, citing the Republican’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars” as well as recent “tactical successes” for Israel.