Blinken starring in Groundhog day
Top US diplomat and Netanyahu discuss avoiding civilian harm and protecting infrastructure in Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken "stressed the importance of avoiding further civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza" in his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet in Tel Aviv Tuesday, according to a readout by the US State Department.
It suggests that the two sides discussed a proposal by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — also a member of the war cabinet — in which Israel would not allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza until all the remaining hostages are released. A US official told CNN Monday the matter was expected to be a part of the discussion.
Blinken and Netanyahu "discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages and the importance of increasing the level of humanitarian assistance reaching civilians in Gaza," according to a readout State Department.
His meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog also addressed the same issues, while reiterating US support for Israel's"right to ensure the terrorist attacks of October 7 cannot be repeated," according to another readout.
Israel needs to "finish the war", Foreign Minister tells Blinken
Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tuesday that his nation’s military needs to “finish the war” with Hamas, in order to secure the return of Israeli hostages and achieve the “security of our people.”
Speaking to Blinken in Tel Aviv, Katz also said that civilians who had been evacuated from towns in northern Israel due to cross-border fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon could not yet return home. “So we have to find a way. A diplomatic way to put a lot of pressure on Iran and Hezbollah to withdraw them as far as we can,” he said, adding: “The thing is to put a lot of pressure now to prevent war tomorrow.”
Hamas leader says Israel will not retrieve hostages until "all Palestinian prisoners are released"
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has reiterated the militant group's stance that Hamas will only release Israeli hostages from Gaza after all Palestinian prisoners are released from Israel's prisons.
“They will absolutely not retrieve their captives except after all our prisoners in occupation prisons are released,” Haniyeh said on Tuesday, speaking at an International Union of Muslim Scholars conference in Doha, Qatar.
Israeli forces have detained 5,755 Palestinians since October 7
At least 25 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied West Bank overnight and today, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said.
This brings the total number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces from the occupied territory since October 7 to 5,755, including 190 women and 335 children. Israel has also detained 50 journalists, including 20 who are under administrative detention, meaning that they are held without any charges or trial.
Israel-Hezbollah war in Southern Lebanon is heating further up
Hezbollah says its drones targeted IDF military base in northern Israel
Hezbollah drones targeted a military command center in northern Israel in response to the killings of a Hamas leader and a Hezbollah commander, the militant group said. The group said in a statement that “a number” of attack drones targeted the command center in Safed in what was Hezbollah's deepest attack into Israeli territory since October 8, the day after Hamas launched attacks on Israel from Gaza.
In response to the latest Hezbollah attack, the IDF said it struck a “UAV launch squad in southern Lebanon” and that “artillery is also striking the sources of the launches fired into northern Israel.” Israel killed Hezbollah senior commander Wissam Tawil in a targeted attack in southern Lebanon on Monday, and last week, the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas Saleh Al-Arouri was killed in a strike on southern Beirut.
Israeli army launches air strikes on Lebanon after Hezbollah attack
The Israeli army has launched strikes targeted at Hezbollah after the Lebanese group used drones to target the Israeli command centre.
The Israeli air force said it attacked the place where the Hezbollah drones were launched from, and also intercepted a number of them before reaching their targets. Videos and reports from the base have shown that at least one drone made it through. The Israeli army also said its base suffered no damage and no casualties were reported. It said it had targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in the village of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon earlier on Tuesday.
Israeli army, defence ministry distribute weapons to squads in north
The army and the ministry have said in a joint statement that they’ve also begun giving out equipment containers to the local militias in northern communities. Each community will receive weapons, ceramic vests and helmets. In addition, medical and logistical equipment will also be distributed, the statement said.
This is similar to the initiative by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who in October distributed assault rifles to civilian militias. That distribution was focused on areas near the besieged Gaza Strip, settlements in the occupied West Bank and “mixed cities” in Israel inhabited by Palestinians and Jews.
PM says Lebanon ready for talks on long-term border stability
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has told a senior UN official that his country is ready for discussions on long-term stability on its southern border with Israel. In a statement, Mikati’s office said he met UN Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix in Beirut to reiterate “Lebanon’s readiness to enter negotiations to achieve a long-term process of stability in southern Lebanon”.
“We seek permanent stability and call for a lasting peaceful solution – but in return we receive warnings through international envoys about a war on Lebanon,” Mikati said. “The position I repeat to these delegates is: Do you support the idea of destruction? Is what is happening in Gaza acceptable?”
Lebanon says Shebaa Farms must be part of conflict solution
Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, has told a UN official that reclaiming the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms must be a non-negotiable part of any solution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
“The Shebaa Farms are an essential pillar in the comprehensive solution and stopping tension in the south, and cannot be skipped,” he told Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the under-secretary-general for peace operations in a meeting in Beirut. He said “Hezbollah has a right to its position” in reference to the group’s firm stance that there will be no negotiations before there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Habib added that the “Lebanese army is an essential partner in ensuring security and stability in the south” and the fact that its forces have come under 34 Israeli attacks since the start of the war is not helping the situation.
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