Lebanon’s Mikati condemns Netanyahu’s call to move UN peacekeepers
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for UN chief Antonio Guterres to move UN peacekeepers away from Lebanon’s border.
Beirut “condemns Netanyahu’s position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL” peacekeepers, Mikati said.
“The warning that Netanyahu addressed to … Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international [norms],” he added.
Italy leader slams attacks on UN troops in call with Israel PM
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Prime Minister Netanyahu that attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are “unacceptable”. “Prime Minister Meloni reiterated the unacceptability of UNIFIL being attacked by Israeli armed forces,” the Italian government said in a statement.
In a phone call with Netanyahu, Meloni called for the “full implementation” of the UN’s Security Council Resolution 1701 on Lebanon, stressing the urgent need to de-escalate conflict.
Italy is a significant contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission on the Israel-Lebanon border.
‘No military solution’ for Israeli-Hezbollah conflict
With no sign of the war easing, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon warned against a “catastrophic” regional conflict erupting.
Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, said he fears Israeli attacks on Hezbollah could soon spiral “into a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone”.
There is “no military solution”, Tenenti added.
Camp Shamrock where Irish and Polish peacekeepers of UNIFIL are stationed
Israel accused of using cluster bombs in southern Lebanon
Hezbollah accused Israel of inundating border towns in southern Lebanon with internationally banned cluster munitions. The Lebanese group said the Israeli military bombed the area between the towns of Hanine and Tayri with rockets loaded with banned cluster bombs.
“We are not surprised at all by the new barbaric crime, which is added to Israel’s record of crimes against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
The use of cluster munitions in or near populated areas is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions as they pose a threat to the lives of civilians.
A defused cluster bomb that failed to explode on impact in Ukraine
Netanyahu doesn’t want to end the war, former Israeli diplomat tells CNN
Israel’s widening military operations in Gaza and Lebanon – and looming response to Iran’s missile attack – are testament to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s need for political survival, a former Israeli diplomat told CNN.
“Netanyahu does not want to end the war,” Israel’s former consul general to New York Alon Pinkas told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade. “He wanted to extend, to prolong the war in order to create … a war-like atmosphere which is important to him politically and expedient to him politically,” said Pinkas, who was speaking from Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu’s self-styled image as “Mister Security” seemed irrevocably shattered by the October 7 Hamas attack, but he has since staged a turnaround.
The war to eliminate Hamas in Gaza remains largely popular in Israel, but it has raised complex questions around long-term occupation, relations with Palestinians, and conflict with Israel’s neighbors including Iran-backed proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel’s war goals have expanded to target Hezbollah, and Netanyahu’s cabinet is weighing its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.
“I don’t see him ending the war,” Pinkas said, citing Netanyahu’s repeated rejection of US President Joe Biden’s post-war Gaza plans and refusal to make any ceasefire-for-hostages deal. “He doesn’t even mention the hostages anymore, there are still 100 hostages in Gaza,” he said.
Only a ceasefire in Gaza – where Pinkas believes Israel has already achieved its war goals – could bring about a de-escalation in Lebanon, yet the prime minister has “legitimately but wrongly refused to see that logic.”
