Israel threatens to expand war if Hezbollah truce collapses

Israeli soldiers carry their belongings as they prepare for a military leave near their positions on the border with Lebanon on Dec. 3, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 03 December 2024
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Israel threatens to expand war if Hezbollah truce collapses

  • “If we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said
  • “If until now we separated the state of Lebanon from Hezbollah... it will no longer be [like this]“

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Israel threatened on Tuesday to return to war in Lebanon if its truce with Hezbollah collapses, and said this time its attacks would go deeper and target the Lebanese state itself, after the deadliest day since the ceasefire was agreed last week.
In its strongest threat since the truce was agreed to end 14 months of war with Hezbollah, Israel said it would hold Lebanon responsible for failing to disarm militants who violated the truce.
“If we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know: that there will be no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
“If until now we separated the state of Lebanon from Hezbollah... it will no longer be [like this],” he said during a visit to the northern border area.
Despite last week’s truce, Israeli forces have continued strikes in southern Lebanon against what they say are Hezbollah fighters ignoring the agreement to halt attacks and withdraw beyond the Litani River, about 30 km (18 miles) from the frontier.
On Monday, Hezbollah shelled an Israeli military post, while Lebanese authorities said at least 12 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon.
Katz called the Hezbollah attack “the first test” and described Israel’s strikes as a strong response.
The Beirut government must “authorize the Lebanese army to enforce their part, to keep Hezbollah away beyond the Litani, and to dismantle all the infrastructure,” Katz said.
“If they don’t do it and this whole agreement collapses then the reality will be very clear.”
Top Lebanese officials urged Washington and Paris to press Israel to uphold the ceasefire, after dozens of military operations on Lebanese soil that Beirut has deemed violations, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The sources said caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah ally who negotiated the deal on behalf of Lebanon, spoke to officials at the White House and French presidency late on Monday.
Mikati, quoted by the Lebanese news agency, said that diplomatic communications had intensified since Monday to stop Israeli violations of the ceasefire. He also said a recruitment drive was under way by the Lebanese army to strengthen its presence in the south.
US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters on Monday that the ceasefire “is holding” and that the US had “anticipated that there might be violations.”
Neither the French presidency nor the foreign ministry were immediately available to comment. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Monday, saying both sides should adhere to the ceasefire.
The truce came into effect on Nov. 27 and prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon, while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups including Hezbollah from launching attacks on Israel. It gives Israeli troops 60 days to withdraw from south Lebanon.

INTERNATIONAL MONITORING
A mission chaired by the United States is tasked with monitoring, verifying and helping enforce the truce, but it has yet to begin work.
Berri on Monday called on the mission to “urgently” ensure Israel halts its breaches, saying Beirut had logged at least 54 Israeli violations of the ceasefire so far.
Israel has said its continued activity in Lebanon is aimed at enforcing the ceasefire.
Lebanon’s Mikati met in Beirut on Monday with US General Jasper Jeffers, who will chair the monitoring committee.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that France’s representative to the committee, General Guillaume Ponchin, would arrive in Beirut on Wednesday and that the committee would hold its first meeting on Thursday.
“There is an urgency to finalize the mechanism, otherwise it will be too late,” the source said, referring to Israel’s gradual intensification of strikes despite the truce.


Palestinian president meets Red Cross chief in Ramallah

Updated 4 sec ago
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Palestinian president meets Red Cross chief in Ramallah

  • Mirjana Spoljaric assessed the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
  • Mahmoud Abbas underlined the significance of the upcoming ICRC conference in Switzerland

LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in Ramallah on Thursday.

Abbas expressed gratitude to Spoljaric for visiting the Gaza Strip this week to assess the humanitarian needs of nearly 2 million Palestinians who have endured 15 months of war with Israel.

Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, attended the meeting.

The PA is dedicated to allowing Red Cross teams to deliver humanitarian relief materials to the Gaza Strip without restrictions, the Palestine News & Information Agency reported.

Abbas outlined to Spoljaric the significance of the ICRC conference in Switzerland in March, which will address issues concerning Palestine, including the treatment of prisoners in Israeli jails and the occupation policies in the Palestinian territories.


US envoys working to resolve last-minute dispute over Gaza deal, US official says

Updated 15 min 17 sec ago
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US envoys working to resolve last-minute dispute over Gaza deal, US official says

  • The dispute was over the identities of several prisoners that Hamas is demanding to be released
  • Working on the issue is President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk

WASHINGTON: A last-minute glitch surfaced on Thursday in the details of the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal and US envoys are working to resolve it, a US official said.
The dispute was over the identities of several prisoners that Hamas is demanding to be released, the official said. The official said the issue is expected to be resolved soon.
Working on the issue is President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, and President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. They are both in Doha with Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, the official said.
“We’re aware of these issues and we are working through them with the Israeli government, as well as other partners in the region. We are confident these implementing details can be hammered out and that the deal will move forward this weekend,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said separately.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday, is supposed to begin to be implemented on Sunday.


Bootleg alcohol claims lives of at least 30 people in Turkiye

Updated 13 min 7 sec ago
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Bootleg alcohol claims lives of at least 30 people in Turkiye

  • Six people were detained for allegedly selling the counterfeit drinks and two suspects were charged with "deliberate murder"
  • Many people resort to cheaper alternatives or homemade spirits as the prices of alcoholic beverages continue to rise

ANKARA: At least 30 people have died in Istanbul over the past three days after drinking bootleg alcohol, Turkiye’s state-run news agency reported Thursday, as authorities intensified a crackdown on counterfeit drinks.
The dead were among some 80 people who sought treatment in hospitals around Istanbul, Anadolu Agency reported. At least 31 patients were in intensive care units.
Deaths from counterfeit alcohol has become increasingly frequent in Turkiye, where the prices of alcoholic beverages continue to rise. Many people, confronted with ever-increasing costs, resort to cheaper alternatives or homemade spirits, increasing the risk of poisoning from toxic substances.
A combination of soaring inflation and government taxes has driven beverage prices to all-time highs.
On Wednesday, six people were detained for allegedly selling the counterfeit drinks while two other suspects were charged with “deliberate murder,” the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
Authorities also seized 29 tons of bootleg alcohol in raids around Istanbul since Jan. 1 and revoked the licenses of 64 businesses for allegedly selling counterfeit or smuggled alcohol, according to the statement.
“We consider those who cause the death of dozens of our citizens by producing or selling fake alcohol to be no different from the terrorists who kill people,” the statement said. “Our fight against the scoundrels who attempt to kill our people for material gains will continue unabated.”


Netanyahu bets on political survival with Gaza ceasefire

Updated 16 January 2025
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Netanyahu bets on political survival with Gaza ceasefire

  • Parents of soldiers fighting in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of derailing months-long efforts to end the fighting for political gain
  • Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to quit his administration over any ceasefire deal

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure for months from political allies and the families of hostages and soldiers to end the Gaza war, but analysts say he now hopes the ceasefire will help him stay in power.
The ceasefire and hostage release deal announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday represents a pivotal moment for the Israeli leader.
Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Netanyahu has faced sharp public criticism for not securing the release of hostages sooner.
Parents of soldiers fighting in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of derailing months-long efforts to end the fighting for political gain, as he battles corruption charges in a lengthy trial.
Some 800 parents of soldiers earlier this month sent him a letter saying they could no longer “allow you to continue sacrificing our children as cannon fodder.”
More than 400 troops have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war.
But far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to quit his administration over any ceasefire deal and pushed for an even harder response in Gaza.
Despite the conflicting pressures, analysts say that the obstacles clouding his mandate in recent months are unlikely to bring down the leader long seen as a political survivor.
After the October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages.
During their assault, militants took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
While Hamas has not been defeated, Israel has decimated its leadership and its military structure.
It has also massively weakened its Lebanese foe Hezbollah in a parallel war to the north that took out the Iran-backed group’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and a string of other commanders.
Netanyahu could now seek a way to use the ceasefire agreement to his advantage, potentially by pivoting away from the far-right coalition partners he has relied on since 2022.
The deal could even pave the way to a long-sought normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, backed by incoming US president Donald Trump.
“The key is not the situation but how you play the game, and the bottom line is that (Netanyahu) is the best player of the game there is,” said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the political studies department at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv.
Before the Hamas attack, Israeli ally the United States was close to clinching a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
“The question is what is Netanyahu getting out of the deal beyond the hostage release and the ceasefire and that is where we get into the Saudi question,” said Anshel Pfeffer, a journalist and author of a 2018 biography of Netanyahu.
He said it was possible that the agreement “could be part of something much bigger... Trump wants a deal” between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
While Netanyahu’s far-right partners have vowed to oppose the ceasefire, Pfeffer said it was unlikely any disagreements in the ruling coalition would bring him down.
Still, the ceasefire will be “a moment of truth” for Netanyahu, where he might try to “pivot away from the far right in the coalition to some sort of legacy-defining deal with the Saudis.”
After all but crushing his enemies in Hamas and Lebanon, Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu may no longer need to rely on the far right.
Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, and Itamar Ben Gvir, the security minister, are both far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet and have expressed their opposition to the deal.
“It may well be that both Smotrich and Ben Gvir will not be part of such a deal, which means that behind heavy curtains, it may be the case that Netanyahu is preparing for that day,” Talshir said.
She noted that former defense minister Benny Gantz, opposition leader Yair Lapid and other figures have already indicated they would work with Netanyahu if he reaches an agreement to free the hostages or if he strikes a deal with Saudi Arabia.
Aviv Bushinsky, a political commentator and Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, said that despite some turbulence sparked by the ceasefire, “politically, it’s not a game changer.”
Nonetheless, the October 7 attack would continue to cast a shadow over Netanyahu, he said.
The prime minister “will want people to remember the ones he has managed to bring back but not the ones he was unable to bring back,” Bushinsky said.
“But this thing will continue to haunt him... It will be the first time since Israel was established” that its military was unable to rescue missing civilians, he added.


UAE president welcomes Egyptian counterpart in Abu Dhabi

Updated 16 January 2025
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UAE president welcomes Egyptian counterpart in Abu Dhabi

  • Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in the UAE capital on Thursday

LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Presidential Airport in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the deputy chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan, adviser to the UAE president; and Ahmed Al-Mazrouei, chairman of the President’s Office for Strategic Affairs, were present during the reception for El-Sisi.