Netanyahu pledges to use ‘full force’ until northern residents return
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his promise to return the tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from northern border areas and settlements, and said Hezbollah is being hit “harder than it could imagine”.
“I can’t go into detail about everything we do. But I can tell you one thing: We are determined to return our residents in the north safely to their homes,” he said in a brief video message that did not comment on reported US-led efforts to secure a ceasefire deal.
Last week, Netanyahu expanded his goals for the war on Gaza to include enabling Israelis who fled areas near the Lebanese border to return to their homes.
Turkey voices support for Lebanon during Israeli assault
In a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib that Israel’s attacks on Lebanon are “unacceptable” and meant to “drag the region into chaos”, an unnamed Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters news agency.
A NATO member, Turkey has denounced Israel’s devastating military assault in Gaza. Turkey has halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against it at the World Court.
Bou Habib thanked Fidan for a Turkish shipment of medicine that arrived in Lebanon earlier today, the source added, and also briefed Fidan on the latest developments in Lebanon.
UK PM Starmer urges ceasefire: ‘No military solution here’
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for diplomacy and an immediate ceasefire to bring Israel and Hezbollah back from the brink at a UN Security Council meeting.
Israeli air strikes, which killed at least 51 people, brought Lebanon’s deadliest day since the end of a 1975-90 civil war.
“The region is on the brink. We need an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah and the implementation of a political plan which allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes to live in peace and security,” Starmer said.
“That security will come through diplomacy, not escalation. There is no military solution here, nor is there a military-only solution to the conflict in Gaza. This council must demand, again, an immediate, full and complete ceasefire in Gaza with the release of all the hostages.”
Actions are louder than words Starmer.
US, France working on Lebanon diplomatic initiative
The United States and France are trying to hammer out an interim accord to halt hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group with a view to opening broader diplomatic talks, Cyprus’s President Nikos Christodoulides says.
“I don’t see that we can have a [broad] agreement but a form of interim agreement in order to avoid further escalation. This is the effort right now especially from the United States and France,” Christodoulides said.
“Avoid further escalation to give time to diplomacy to find a permanent solution.”
He said he spoke to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and French President Emmanuel Macron in New York and by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
France’s Macron calls for end of Israeli attacks on Lebanon
French President Emmanuel Macron pressed for an end to days of deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon as he spoke at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
“We urge Israel to cease this escalation in Lebanon, and to Hezbollah to cease these missile launches to Israel. We urge all of those who provide [Hezbollah] with the means to do so to stop doing so,” he said.
What about those who provide Netanyahu with the means to do so.... Oh wait, Lebanese lives don't matter. It's only the prospect of Hezbollah being capable of hitting more than military targets in Israel that has you worried.
The French president says he’s dispatching his foreign minister to Lebanon as part of efforts to stop a full-scale war from breaking out, calling on Israel and Hezbollah to immediately stop hostilities.
“There cannot be, must not be war in Lebanon,” Emmanuel Macron said in a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York City.
Macron also demanded a ceasefire “as soon as possible” in Israel’s war on Gaza, which he said “has gone on too long”. He added “there is no explanation possible” for the thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths.
Then you should dispatch your foreign minister to Israel....
Israeli ground troops ‘at a major disadvantage’ in south Lebanon
Israeli officials are currently meeting at the defence ministry, being briefed by their top military commanders. Some Israeli media are reporting there’s discussion of potential approval for a ground offensive into southern Lebanon.
I think we need to be very cautious with that. But yes, the Israelis pulled two combat brigades to the north with the army chief saying this is a possibility. They’ve been saying for the last three days that they’re prepared to go in.
But certainly, the Israeli military does know if it does go in boots on the ground that they are in Hezbollah territory – the south is their stronghold – and they’ll certainly be at a major disadvantage.
We’re also hearing from the Americans that their priority is to avoid a ground offensive. And now there are all these media leaks about talks on a ceasefire. I think all of these things need to be taken with a major grain of salt.
Yeah I doubt the IDF would actually go through with their 'threats'. They suffered badly last time they occupied Southern Lebanon. (1982-2006) However, you never know with Netanyahu. Ground invasion of Rafah was also off the table...
