JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday said those responsible for a rare roadside bomb attack this week which officials said may have involved Lebanon’s Hezbollah, would be found and held accountable.
Israel’s military said on Wednesday that security forces had killed a man carrying an explosive belt after he apparently crossed from Lebanon into Israel and detonated a bomb on Monday, seriously wounding a motorist. It was examining whether Iran-backed Hezbollah was involved.
“Whoever carried out this attack will regret having carried out an attack against the citizens of Israel and against the state of Israel. We will find the right timing and appropriate manner to hit back,” Gallant told reporters while touring the Israel-Lebanon border.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Thursday it had not observed any border crossings after Israel said it killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt who may have entered from Lebanon.
Hezbollah has not commented on the allegation.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “has not observed any crossing of the Blue Line in recent days,” said spokesman Andrea Tenenti, referring to the frontier demarcated by the UN in 2000 after Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon.
He said force commander Major General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz urged both sides to exercise restraint and use UNIFIL coordination mechanisms to “avoid misunderstandings and decrease tensions.”
UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, neighbors that remain technically at war and have no diplomatic relations.
The force operates in the south near the border, a Hezbollah stronghold.
The discovery of the explosive belt in Israel came with tensions already high over violence which has worsened in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this year.
There has been no suicide attack targeting Israelis since a bombing in Jerusalem almost seven years ago that wounded 21 people.
The suspected attacker is believed to have asked a driver to take him back to northern Israel, but he was intercepted on the way, the army said.
It released neither his identity nor his nationality.
Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah, considered a “terrorist” organization by many Western governments, is the only Lebanese faction that kept its weapons after the end of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating war in 2006 after the group captured two Israeli soldiers.
Lebanon and Israel agreed a deal last October to resolve a maritime border dispute involving offshore gas fields after years of US-mediated talks.
After the deal was struck, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said the group would end an “exceptional” mobilization against Israel after threatening to attack for months.
The Israeli prime minister at the time, Yair Lapid, said the agreement made conflict with Hezbollah less likely.
UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack. It was expanded after the 2006 war.
At Lebanon border, Israeli minister vows reprisal for rare bomb attack
https://arab.news/wzg37
At Lebanon border, Israeli minister vows reprisal for rare bomb attack
- Nobody crossed Lebanon-Israel border in recent days says UN peacekeepers
- Security forces had killed a man carrying an explosive belt after he apparently crossed from Lebanon into Israel
Palestinian PM: Gaza reconstruction advancing amid US talks, Saudi support
- In an interview with Arab News, Mohammed Mustafa said “Palestinian objective is clear,’ but we need to ‘get Gaza right first’
- Speaking at Davos panel, PM calls Kingdom a key stakeholder in the Palestinian cause
DAVOS: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa told Arab News that progress is underway in Gaza’s reconstruction talks, with clear dialogue between the Palestinian Authority, US President Donald Trump and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
“I think the Palestinian objective is pretty clear, it has been for a long time, which is to establish their own independent state, (achieve) international resolution,” Mustafa said, noting that “we need to get Gaza right first.”
Despite a ceasefire taking hold earlier in 2025, Gaza remains under what the international community describes as an Israeli-enforced blockade. Basic supplies such as food and medicine are still subject to Tel Aviv’s scrutiny, which controls all access in and out of the Strip.
On Sunday, Trump announced that his Gaza plan had entered its second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages, Israel would free more Palestinian prisoners and fully withdraw its forces — a step international actors say should pave the way from ceasefire to lasting peace.
The formation of a technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, composed of Palestinian figures, marks the first concrete step toward implementing the plan and restoring Palestinian ownership of the next phase.
A precise timeline for reconstruction remains unclear, with analysts warning that major works hinge on Hamas disarmament — a politically fraught task assigned to the Gaza Peace Board.
“It’s going to take more than two years to fix Gaza, but at least we want to make sure that things are in the right direction,” continued Mustafa, adding that the West Bank remains part of the broader conversation.
He stressed the urgency of reunifying Gaza’s institutions with the West Bank to achieve the PA’s political goal of independence.
“Our priority is what’s happening to our people in Gaza today. Despite four months passing (after) the ceasefire, people are still dying. Yes, there is a ceasefire but it’s not fully observed due to Israeli military actions,” he said, stressing that “shelter is the biggest challenge” at the moment.
Mustafa revealed he held “very active and useful” talks with US officials on Tuesday, saying both sides “share the same goals” on the matter.
Later in his panel, Mustafa said a Palestinian reform plan is in the works with the help of partners including Saudi Arabia.
In a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mustafa said Saudi Arabia and other partners such as Egypt and Jordan were not just contributors but key stakeholders in the Palestinian cause.
“Saudi Arabia along with France have been working with us on the two state solution and integrating it,” he said.
“We want to work with the board of peace to ensure that they do their part of things to prepare for reconstruction efforts,” he added.
Mustafa said although some view the Oslo treaty as outdated, it still holds its place as an internationally recognized framework.
“According to the Oslo agreement, Israel should have withdrawn from most of the West Bank and Gaza. We want to see Israel respecting this agreement,” he said.
“The Israelis did not respect the economic part of the treaty. We are praying for a heavy price, not only in Gaza and people being killed every day. But also actions on the ground in the West Bank. We said clearly, we want to achieve our goals by peaceful means,” he said.
“Israel today holds $4 billion of our government’s money. They control the borders and collect the tax fines. For the past four months they have sent zero dollars. Our ability to govern has been impacted due to this,” Mustafa said.
In a sideline interview with Arab News, Palestinian Ambassador to Switzerland Ibrahim Mohammad Khraishi said that he met an Egyptian minister who expressed hope that the Rafah crossing could soon reopen on both sides.
“We need the understanding from all,” Khraishi said. “Yes, we have this administrative committee (as part of the Gaza Peace Board), but without the Palestinian Authority, they cannot deliver. Because we have everything. We have the institutions, we have the government,” Khraisi said.
Commenting on recent West Bank developments, including Israeli bulldozers razing the UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, he warned: “This is the scenario for the Israelis. For them, there is nothing to talk about. It’s total crash and destruction. Now, what they are doing in West Bank is on the way.”
