Lebanon has right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during an interview with Reuters at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, October 14, 2021. (REUTERS)
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during an interview with Reuters at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, October 14, 2021. (REUTERS)
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Updated 02 August 2024
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Lebanon has right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers

Lebanon has right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers
  • Hezbollah artillery breaks silence, targets Israeli military sites
  • Israeli airstrike kills mother and 3 children

BEIRUT: Lebanon is determined to defend its land and sovereignty, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday.

“We will not hesitate to do so, no matter the sacrifices,” he said.

Mikati described the regional developments as “worrisome,” signaling increased danger levels.

He said that “nothing indicates that Israeli arrogance will stop.”

Mikati met with senior officers in the Lebanese army command and cautioned that “the regional developments are concerning.”

He stressed that the army “remains the firm guarantee for the unity of Lebanon, its territory, people, and establishments, making it a national obligation for everyone to unite around the army institution.”

Mikati said that in response to the ongoing and severe Israeli escalation, “we affirm our right to defend our land, sovereignty, and dignity using all available means.”

He stated that he had informed “friendly and brotherly countries that we are advocates of peace, not war.

“We seek permanent stability through Israel’s commitment to implementing UN Resolution 1701 in all its provisions. No Israeli aggression will deter us from that.”

Mikati emphasized the importance of deploying the army in cooperation with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to prevent violations of “our internationally recognized borders. This is essential for ensuring stability and security for the people in the south.”

He added: “Our right to utilize the resources in our waters is absolute and not open to negotiation.”

Mikati also met with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, France, the UK, China, and Russia) and the representatives of the non-permanent member states present in Lebanon (Algeria, Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea).

The meeting came against the backdrop of escalating confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah, which reached their peak on Tuesday with the assassination of senior Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the heart of the southern suburb of Beirut.

Mikati’s media office stated that the assembled ambassadors affirmed Lebanon’s “commitment to implementing UN resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, as a top priority in the region.”

Lebanon has also filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel for its aggression against the southern suburb of Beirut.

It said Israel’s dangerous escalation affected a densely populated residential area in violation of international law and the UN Charter.

In the southern town of Shamaa, a funeral procession was held for a Syrian mother and her three children — Fatima Al-Raja Al-Hajj and her sons Suleiman, Mohammed, and Ahmed Al-Hajj — who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home on Thursday night.

The death toll of Syrian civilians who have been killed during the confrontations in the south since Oct. 8 has risen to 18.

The airstrike coincided with Hezbollah holding the funeral procession for Shukr in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Thursday evening during Shukr’s funeral to respond to his assassination.

He said that Israel “should expect the revenge of the honorable” and that “we have entered a new phase on all support fronts (for Hamas in the Gaza Strip).”

He said Israel “has crossed red lines and has no idea of the kind of aggression it has committed.”

The Israeli army on Friday launched airstrikes and targeted border towns with artillery fire, including Rab El-Thalathine, Dhayra, and Blida, as well as the outskirts of Naqoura and Tayr Harfa.

Hezbollah announced a series of targets that were within the rules of engagement.

It targeted the deployment of Israeli soldiers in the Dhayra site, the Al-Sammaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Kfarchouba Hills and the Bayad Blida site with artillery shells.

The party launched dozens of Katyusha rockets on the Matzuva settlement in the wake of the Israeli attack on Shamaa.

 


After Hamas rejection of hostage deal, US asked Qatar to expel the group

After Hamas rejection of hostage deal, US asked Qatar to expel the group
Updated 21 sec ago
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After Hamas rejection of hostage deal, US asked Qatar to expel the group

After Hamas rejection of hostage deal, US asked Qatar to expel the group
  • Negotiators from Israel’s Mossad spy agency have repeatedly met mediators in Doha over the last year and Qatari government officials have shuttled back-and-forth to Hamas leaders in the political office

WASHINGTON/DOHA: The US has told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian militant group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.
“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said. Washington has been in touch with Qatar over when to close the political office of Hamas, and it told Doha that now was the time following the group’s rejection of the recent proposal.
Three Hamas officials denied Qatar had told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country.
Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages the militant group is holding in the enclave.
The latest round of Doha talks in mid-October failed to reach a ceasefire, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.
The spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for confirmation or comment.
Last year, a senior US official said Qatar had told Washington it was open to
reconsidering the presence of Hamas
in the country once the Gaza war was over.
This came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
told leaders
in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that there could be “no more business as usual” with Hamas after the group led the Oct. 7 attacks on Southern Israel.
Qatar, an influential Gulf state designated as major non-NATO ally by Washington, has hosted Hamas’ political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the US Doha has come under criticism from within the US and Israel over its ties to Hamas since Oct. 7.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said repeatedly over the last year that the Hamas office exists in Doha to allow negotiations with the group and that as long as the channel remained useful Qatar would allow the Hamas office to remain open.
Negotiators from Israel’s Mossad spy agency have repeatedly met mediators in Doha over the last year and Qatari government officials have shuttled back-and-forth to Hamas leaders in the political office.

 

 


US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart

US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart
Updated 09 November 2024
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US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart

US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart
  • Katz was sworn in before parliament the previous day
  • The US defense chief also discussed “the need to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza“

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed Lebanon and Gaza on Friday in his first call with his new Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, the Pentagon said.
Katz was sworn in before parliament the previous day, after his predecessor’s shock dismissal by the prime minister over a breakdown in trust during the war in Gaza — a conflict that began with a devastating Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Austin “held an introductory call today with the new Israeli minister of defense, Israel Katz, and congratulated him on his recent appointment,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement.
He told Katz that Washington is committed to a deal that allows Lebanese and Israeli citizens displaced by more than a year of cross-border violence to return to their homes, as well as to the return of hostages seized by Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ryder said.
The US defense chief also discussed “the need to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza,” after he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel in a letter earlier this month that it needed to allow more aid into the small war-wracked coastal territory.


Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

Mahmud Abbas told Donald Trump he was ready to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza. (Reuters)
Mahmud Abbas told Donald Trump he was ready to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza. (Reuters)
Updated 09 November 2024
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Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

Mahmud Abbas told Donald Trump he was ready to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza. (Reuters)

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expressed readiness to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza during a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, his office said.
Trump’s victory came with the Middle East in turmoil after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Congratulating Trump on his victory, Abbas expressed “readiness to work with President Trump to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on international legitimacy,” his office said in a statement.
It said that Trump also assured Abbas that he will work to end the war.
“President Trump stressed that he will work to stop the war, and his readiness to work with president Abbas and the concerned parties in the region and the world to make peace in the region.”
While Trump struck a note of peace during his campaign, he also touted his status as Israel’s strongest ally, even going so far as to promise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would “finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.


Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre

Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre
Updated 08 November 2024
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Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre

Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre
  • The strikes targeted three buildings in the city
  • Israel had issued no evacuation warning ahead of the strikes

BEIRUT: The Lebanese health ministry said at least three people were killed and 30 others wounded on Friday in Israeli strikes on the southern city of Tyre.
The official National News Agency said the strikes targeted three buildings in the city and caused heavy damage to neighboring apartment blocks.
It said Israel had issued no evacuation warning ahead of the strikes.
Israel has been at war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since late September, when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its Palestinian ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.


‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts

‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts
Updated 08 November 2024
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‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts

‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts
  • The warning comes just days ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza

LONDON: There is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of the northern Gaza Strip, a committee of global food security experts warned on Friday, as Israel pursues a military offensive against Palestinian militants Hamas in the area.
“Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict, or have influence on its conduct, to avert and alleviate this catastrophic situation,” the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said in a rare alert.
The warning comes just days ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid.