Israel ceasefire deal not yet done: Lebanese minister
Lebanese Labour Minister Mustafa Bayram, who was named to the cabinet by Hezbollah, has said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told him the atmosphere surrounding a possible ceasefire deal was positive but cautioned that a deal was not yet done.
“Then attention will turn to the Israeli position. Does it want a ceasefire … or to continue in its crimes?” Bayram said, according to a statement from Berri’s office.
United States envoy Amos Hochstein is due in Lebanon on Tuesday for talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The trip by Hochstein is expected to build on a US ceasefire proposal submitted to Lebanon last week.
This song and dance again, how many times have we heard this with Gaza...
Lebanon PM Mikati demands implementation of UN Resolution 1701
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, ended a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah and was intended to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
“All countries and decision-makers are required to end the bloody and destructive Israeli aggression on Lebanon and implement international resolutions, most notably Resolution 1701,” caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a post on X, minutes after an Israeli attack on central Beirut’s Zuqaq al-Blat neighbourhood.
The resolution is again on the table as part of a US proposal for a ceasefire deal, aiming to end 13 months of exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel ‘definitely not’ on board with ceasefire with Hezbollah
Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, says Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s top leadership hasn’t affected the Lebanese group’s ability to launch significant attacks inside Israel.
His comments come after a deadly strike in the north and one later in Tel Aviv that wounded five people and started a major blaze near a shopping mall. Ramani told Al Jazeera that estimates suggest Hezbollah has at least 100,000 long-range missiles capable of causing “lethal damage” inside Israel.
“Hezbollah has been able to consistently penetrate the seemingly ironclad Iron Dome system,” he said, adding the Israelis “are definitely not” on board with a ceasefire. “I think after this attack it will make the Israelis even more intransigent in their position,” said Ramani.
Netanyahu: Attacks on Hezbollah will continue even with truce
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will continue to operate militarily against Hezbollah even if a ceasefire deal is reached in Lebanon.
“The most important thing is not [the deal that] will be laid on paper,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament. “We will be forced to ensure our security in the north and to systematically carry out operations against Hezbollah’s attacks … even after a ceasefire.”
Israel insists any truce deal must guarantee no further Hezbollah presence in the southern area bordering Israel.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the state it was in on October 6” 2023 – the eve of the attack by its Palestinian ally Hamas into southern Israel, he said.
UNESCO’s ‘enhanced protection’ for 34 Lebanon heritage sites
Dozens of heritage sites in Lebanon have been granted “provisional enhanced protection” by UNESCO, which offers a higher level of legal shielding as fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah.
The 34 cultural properties affected “now benefit from the highest level of immunity against attack and use for military purposes”, the UN cultural body said in a statement. Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as World Heritage Sites.
UNESCO said the decision “helps send a signal to the entire international community of the urgent need to protect these sites”. “Non-compliance with these clauses would constitute ‘serious violations’ of the 1954 Hague Convention and … potential grounds for prosecution.”
Would be nice to have that (any) level of protection for civilians, paramedics, journalists and civilian infrastructure as well.
