NAPLES: The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.
“The number of civilian casualties has been far too high,” he told reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples. “We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
Tens of thousands of people have fled Beirut’s southern suburbs — once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations — since Israel began regularly targeting the zone approximately three weeks ago.
On Saturday afternoon, Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations in the city’s southern suburbs, leaving thick plumes of smoke wafting over the city horizon throughout the evening.
The strikes came as Hezbollah fired salvos of rockets at northern Israel, with one drone directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s holiday home, his spokesman said.
US wants to see Israel scale back some of Beirut strikes, Austin says
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US wants to see Israel scale back some of Beirut strikes, Austin says
- “The number of civilian casualties has been far too high,” he told reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples.
- “We’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes“
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
