US envoy Hochstein: Diplomatic resolution is achievable in Gaza

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US special envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US special envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 15 August 2024
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US envoy Hochstein: Diplomatic resolution is achievable in Gaza

US envoy Hochstein: Diplomatic resolution is achievable in Gaza
  • 10 civilians, including children, wounded in Israeli raid near Tyre

BEIRUT: US Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein believes a solution can be reached in Gaza. Speaking from Beirut on Wednesday, he said: “A diplomatic resolution is achievable because we continue to believe that no one truly wants a full-scale war between Lebanon and Israel.”

Hochstein’s visit to Lebanon comes on the eve of Thursday’s Doha negotiations which aim to avoid all-out conflict. Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to avenge Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political bureau chief, and prominent Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr.

The outcome is eagerly awaited as Hezbollah has said it will have a ceasefire in Lebanon if one is agreed in Gaza.

According to the Lebanese Information International Center this secondary war, launched in southern Lebanon on Oct. 8 last year, has resulted in 564 casualties to date. This includes 393 Hezbollah members, 88 civilians, 11 Palestinians, 18 Syrians and one Lebanese soldier, along with seven paramedics, three journalists, and others linked to parties allied with Hezbollah.

Hochstein met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally and channel of communication with the party. He also met with Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun and several opposition MPs representing the Kataeb Party, the Lebanese Forces Party, independents and reformists.

In a press conference after an hour-long meeting with Berri, Hochstein said: “When I was in Lebanon on my last visit in June, I told everyone that we believe the conflict has lasted too long, and that a diplomatic solution is both possible and urgently necessary. What was true in June, unfortunately, remains true today.”

He said his discussions with Berri centered on “the framework agreement that’s on the table for a Gaza ceasefire, and he and I agreed there is no more time to waste and there’s no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay.”

According to Mikati’s media office, the prime minister emphasized “the importance of exerting pressure on Israel to halt its aggressions and threats. He stressed that the key to a solution lies in establishing a ceasefire in Gaza and implementing the Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 1701, which ensures stability in the southern region.”

MP Hankash spoke about “great efforts by the international community to reach a ceasefire” and said: “All parties must abide by this. The Lebanese government must make the decision, deploy the army and implement Resolution 1701.”

An Israeli airstrike targeted a road at the junction of the entrance to the city of Tyre and the town of Abbasiyeh while Hochstein was in Lebanon. A motorcyclist sustained critical injuries, while ten civilians in a nearby vehicle and a number of other people were injured. Two young girls, Sara and Lara Tarmas, and their grandfather were struck by shrapnel.

Security reports indicated that the motorcyclist, who was targeted, was linked with Hezbollah. On Tuesday two of the organization’s members, Ibrahim Al-Ashi and Fadi Shihab, were killed in an Israeli drone attack on their car in the town of Baraachit.


Five Iranian security forces killed in attack

Five Iranian security forces killed in attack
Updated 9 sec ago
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Five Iranian security forces killed in attack

Five Iranian security forces killed in attack
TEHRAN: At least five members of Iran’s security forces were killed Sunday in a “terror attack” in the restive southeast, where authorities have been conducting operations against rebels, local media reported.
The Fars news agency reported that in a “terror attack in Saravan county, in the south of the Sistan-Baluchistan province, five members of the security forces were killed.”
Sistan-Baluchistan borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces. It is one of the few mainly Sunni Muslim provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran.
For years it has faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremists.
Fars said that after the attack in Saravan, “units stationed in the region were quickly deployed to pursue the criminals.”
Iranian forces launched a major operation in the area after an attack on October 26 killed 10 police officers.
That attack was later claimed by the Pakistan-based Sunni jihadist group Jaish Al-Adl (Arabic for Army of Justice).
Local media reported that those behind the October attack have been killed in the current security operation.
Some 15 militants have been reported killed in Sistan-Baluchistan province since the October attack, including three on Sunday, state television said.
It also said more than 30 suspects have been arrested.
Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, Jaish Al-Adl is designated a terrorist organization by both Iran and the United States.

Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks
Updated 10 November 2024
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Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks
  • Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-Sept.
  • They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel’s ongoing military operation in Lebanon

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he okayed a deadly September attack on Hezbollah communications devices which exploded in Lebanon, the first time Israel has admitted involvement.
Hezbollah had previously blamed its arch-foe for the blasts that dealt a major blow to the Iran-backed militant group, and vowed revenge.
“Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon,” his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks.
Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September.
They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel’s ongoing military operation in Lebanon.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.
Strikes have intensified since war broke out in Lebanon in late September, when Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah and later sent ground troops into south Lebanon.


Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut’s southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display.
A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut’s southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display.
Updated 10 November 2024
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Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut’s southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display.
  • Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September
  • They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he okayed a deadly September attack on Hezbollah communications devices which exploded in Lebanon, the first time Israel has admitted involvement.
Hezbollah had previously blamed its arch-foe for the blasts that dealt a major blow to the Iran-backed militant group, and vowed revenge.
“Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon,” his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks.
Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September.
They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel’s ongoing military operation in Lebanon.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.
Strikes have intensified since war broke out in Lebanon in late September, when Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah and later sent ground troops into south Lebanon.


Netanyahu says spoke again with Trump about Iran ‘threat’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday he had spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday he had spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump.
Updated 10 November 2024
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Netanyahu says spoke again with Trump about Iran ‘threat’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday he had spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump.
  • “We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in every aspect,” Netanyahu said
  • Analysts believe Netanyahu had hoped for a Trump return to the White House

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday he had spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump over the past few days about the “Iranian threat” to Israeli security.
“In the last few days, I have spoken three times with President-elect Donald Trump... Talks designed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the US,” Netanyahu said, quoted in a statement issued by his office.
“We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in every aspect,” he added during a weekly cabinet meeting, according to the statement.
Netanyahu also said he had talked to Trump about “great opportunities before Israel in the field of peace and its expansion.”
The United States is Israel’s top ally and military backer, and the election came at a critical time for the Middle East amid wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Analysts believe Netanyahu had hoped for a Trump return to the White House, given the longstanding personal friendship between the two as well as the former president’s hawkishness on Israel’s arch-foe Iran.
During his first term, Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and helped normalize ties between Israel and several Arab states under the so-called Abraham Accords.


Israeli strike near Damascus kills seven: war monitor

An Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah killed seven people Sunday in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups.
An Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah killed seven people Sunday in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups.
Updated 10 November 2024
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Israeli strike near Damascus kills seven: war monitor

An Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah killed seven people Sunday in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups.
  • “An Israeli strike killed seven people and wounded 14, including women and children, in the Sayyida Zeinab area,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights official says

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah group killed seven people Sunday in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups south of Damascus, a war monitor said.
“An Israeli strike killed seven people and wounded 14, including women and children, in the Sayyida Zeinab area,” Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP, revising an earlier toll of three dead.
The Britain-based monitor, which has a network of sources inside Syria, earlier said that “the Israeli attack targeted (Hezbollah) figures in the building where Lebanese families and members of the movement live.”
Syria’s official SANA news agency reported an “Israeli aggression targeting a residential building in the Sayyida Zeinab” area, home to a major Shiite shrine, that killed and injured an unspecified number of people.
On Saturday, four pro-Iran fighters were among five people killed in Israeli strikes in north and northwest Syria, the Observatory reported.
Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting army positions and fighters including from Hezbollah.
The strikes have increased since Israel entered an all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon on September 23.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.