New Hezbollah chief open to truce with Israel if offer is made

New Hezbollah chief open to truce with Israel if offer is made
People watch Hezbollah’s newly named leader Naim Kassem delivering a televised speech, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 30 October 2024
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New Hezbollah chief open to truce with Israel if offer is made

New Hezbollah chief open to truce with Israel if offer is made
  • Naim Qassem: ‘If the Israelis decide that they want to stop the aggression, we say we accept, but under the conditions that we see as appropriate and suitable’
  • Qassem insisted Hezbollah would not ‘beg for a ceasefire,’ however, and warned that it had not yet received a credible proposition

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Hezbollah’s new leader says the beleaguered Lebanese militia could agree to a ceasefire under certain terms, as Israeli forces warn civilians to flee more cities as they expand their bombardment of the group’s bastions.
His statement came as Israel’s security cabinet met to discuss a possible truce, but also as Israel attacked the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek and said it had claimed the scalp of yet another senior Hezbollah commander.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem became leader of the Iran-backed armed movement on Tuesday, after the long-serving former chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated by Israel in a massive air strike last month.
In his first speech since taking over, Qassem insisted he would follow his slain predecessor’s “work program” and that Hezbollah could continue to resist Israel’s air and ground attacks inside Lebanon for months to come.
But he also opened the door to a negotiated truce, if presented with an Israeli offer.
“If the Israelis decide that they want to stop the aggression, we say we accept, but under the conditions that we see as appropriate and suitable,” he said.
Qassem insisted Hezbollah would not “beg for a ceasefire,” however, and warned that it had not yet received a credible proposition.
Meanwhile, in a sign of political machinations behind the scenes of the devastating military conflict, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said the country’s security cabinet was meeting to discuss what terms it might offer to secure a truce.
“There are discussions, I think it will still take time,” Cohen told Israeli public radio.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 television, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with ministers on Tuesday evening on Israel’s demands in return for a 60-day truce.
These include that Hezbollah withdraw to the north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier, and that the Lebanese state’s army deploy along the border.
An international intervention mechanism would be established to enforce the truce, but Israel would demand a guarantee that it will maintain freedom of action in case of threats.
“Thanks to all the army’s operations these past months and particularly these past weeks ... Israel can come in a position of strength after the entire Hezbollah leadership was eliminated and over 2,000 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructures were hit,” said Cohen, a former intelligence minister.
According to Israeli media, US President Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and special envoy Amos Hochstein will head to the region Wednesday to meet Netanyahu and other Israeli officials to discuss conditions for a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Their goal is to implement the deal prepared by Hochstein, which is reported to be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Under the resolution, which ended Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006, only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL would be deployed in areas south of the Litani.
On the ground explosions rocked the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek shortly after Israel’s military warned residents it would “act forcefully against Hezbollah interests within your city and villages.”
Baalbek mayor Mustafa Al-Shall confirmed strikes hit in and around the city, while state media said “enemy warplanes launched a series of strikes on the Asira area of the city of Baalbek.”
The war in Lebanon began late last month, nearly a year after Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border fire into Israel in support of Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The war has killed at least 1,754 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, although the real number is likely to be higher due to gaps in the data.
Israel’s military says it has lost 37 soldiers in Lebanon since ground operations began on September 30.
In the year-old parallel conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, there were more deadly strikes on Wednesday, as international mediators prepared to propose a short-term truce to free hostages and avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
News of a potential breakthrough in truce talks came a day after an Israeli strike on a single Gaza residential block killed nearly 100 people and triggered international revulsion.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have for months been trying to negotiate a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to allow a prisoner swap, humanitarian access and talks on a longer-term peace.
Israel’s Mossad spy chief David Barnea, CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held their latest round of secretive talks on Sunday and Monday in Doha.
On Wednesday, a source close to the talks told AFP on condition of anonymity that the senior officials discussed proposing to the parties a “short-term” truce of “less than a month.”
The proposal included the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and an increase in aid to Gaza, the source added.
“US officials believe that if a short-term deal can be reached, it could lead to a more permanent agreement,” the source said.
A Hamas official said the group would discuss any ideas for a Gaza ceasefire that included an Israeli withdrawal, but had not officially received any comprehensive proposals.
A strike Tuesday in the northern Gaza district of Beit Lahia collapsed a building and left at least 93 dead, including a large number of children, according to the territory’s civil defense agency.
The US State Department described the bombing as “a horrifying incident with a horrifying result” and a spokesman said Washington had asked Israel for an explanation.
The United Nations aid coordination agency UNOCHA said the strike was just one of at least seven mass casualty incidents over the past week in Gaza.
“Only two... out of 20 health service points and two hospitals, Kamal Adwan and Al Awda, remain functional, although partially, hampering the delivery of life-saving health services,” UNOCHA said.
“Across the Gaza Strip, October has seen very limited food distribution due to severe supply shortages,” it warned, adding that 1.7 million people, 80 percent of the population, did not receive rations.
Israel launched a renewed offensive against Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza in recent weeks, one year after the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas attack that left 1,206 Israelis dead.
Israel’s response has led to the deaths of 43,163 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures which the United Nations consider reliable.


Qatar emir and UK prime minister discuss investment relations

Qatar emir and UK prime minister discuss investment relations
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani shake hands at Downing Street. (Reuters)
Updated 14 sec ago
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Qatar emir and UK prime minister discuss investment relations

Qatar emir and UK prime minister discuss investment relations
  • In talks at Downing Street, Keir Starmer welcomed Qatar’s £1 billion investment in British climate technologies
  • Sheikh Tamim wrapped up his two-day state visit to Britain, which included meeting King Charles

 

 

Arab News

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Qatar’s £1 billion investment in British climate technologies as he met the emir on the final day of a state visit to London.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani held talks with Starmer at his Downing Street residence on Wednesday afternoon.

During the meeting, the two leaders agreed that Qatar and the UK’s “thriving investment relationship would continue to grow and deliver significant benefits for both countries,” Starmer’s office said. 

They also discussed strengthening defense ties and Qatar’s mediation role in the Middle East, including in Gaza.

Earlier, the UK announced the agreement with Qatar to invest £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in British climate technologies.

Engineering company Rolls-Royce will receive investment in technology programs that “improve energy efficiency, support new sustainable fuels and lower carbon emissions,” the UK government said.

Qatar is one of the largest purchasers of Rolls-Royce engines, which are used in some Qatar Airways jets.

“Enabling the energy transition through lower carbon technologies is a key part of our strategy,” Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said. “We are delighted to welcome Qatar as a strategic partner, who will support the growth of these technologies. They share our ambition to make an impact on the challenge of climate change.”

The UK partnership with Qatar is expected to create thousands of highly skilled jobs and will launch climate technology hubs across the UK and Qatar, the UK government said.

It will include investment in start-ups in the UK and Qatar focusing on energy efficiency, carbon management and green power.

Starmer said that the deal was a “significant step in our ambition to become a clean energy superpower and further evidence that the UK is one of the best places in the world for companies to develop those technologies.”

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdulrahman Al-Thani said: “The United Kingdom has a proud history of innovation in cutting-edge technology, and Qatar has long been a trusted investment partner to British businesses.

“This new collaboration aligns with our long-term strategy to invest in the economies of the future.”

On Tuesday, Sheikh Tamim and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al-Thani were greeted by Prince William and the Princess of Wales, before taking a royal carriage procession to meet King Charles.

On Wednesday the emir visited Sandhurst military academy, which he attended in the 1990s.


Israel PM announces body of hostage recovered from Gaza in ‘special operation’

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said that Israeli forces have recovered the body of Svirsky in Gaza. (AP)
Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said that Israeli forces have recovered the body of Svirsky in Gaza. (AP)
Updated 23 min 14 sec ago
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Israel PM announces body of hostage recovered from Gaza in ‘special operation’

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said that Israeli forces have recovered the body of Svirsky in Gaza. (AP)
  • Body of Svirsky was recovered in an operation by the Shin Bet internal security agency, aided by the military
  • Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomed the return of Svirsky’s body while demanding the immediate release of the remaining hostages

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a statement Wednesday that the body of a hostage had been recovered from the Gaza Strip.
“In a special operation, the body of hostage Itay Svirsky, who was kidnapped on October 7 (2023) from kibbutz Beeri and murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists in January 2024, was brought back,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.
The body of Svirsky, who was 38 when he was kidnapped during Hamas’s surprise attack, was recovered in an operation by the Shin Bet internal security agency, aided by the military, both organizations confirmed in a joint statement.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group for relatives of those abducted to Gaza, welcomed the return of Svirsky’s body while demanding the immediate release of the remaining hostages.
“The families continue to wait for their loved ones after 425 days of captivity. Many hostages remain alive but in grave danger, requiring immediate release for urgent medical care and rehabilitation. Others must be returned for dignified burial,” it said.
Separately on Wednesday, the Israeli military released a statement on its investigation into the deaths of six hostages, whose bodies were recovered in August.
The military said they were likely executed by their captors as Israel struck near their location in February.
“According to the most plausible scenario, the terrorists shot the hostages close to the time of the strike,” the military said.
During the October 7, 2023 attack, militants kidnapped 251 people, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli military.
Svirsky’s is the 38th body of a hostage to be brought back from the Gaze Strip.


Israeli forces advance in Khan Younis area of south Gaza, 47 killed across enclave

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
Updated 04 December 2024
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Israeli forces advance in Khan Younis area of south Gaza, 47 killed across enclave

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
  • Later on Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike at a tent encampment in Al-Mawasi killed at least 17 people and wounded several others, medics said

CAIRO: Israeli tanks pushed into northern parts of the Khan Younis area in the south of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and Palestinian medics said further Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 47 people across the enclave.
Residents said tanks advanced one day after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders, saying there had been rocket launches by Palestinian militants from the area.
With shells crashing near residential areas, families left their homes and headed westward toward the nearby humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi. Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas left in Gaza and that most of its 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times.
Later on Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike at a tent encampment in Al-Mawasi killed at least 17 people and wounded several others, medics said. The Civil Emergency Service said the attack set several tents housing displaced families ablaze.
Another Israeli airstrike hit three houses in Gaza City, killing at least 10 people and wounding many others, the territory’s emergency service said. Many victims were still trapped under the rubble with rescue operations underway.
Medics said 11 people were killed in three airstrikes on areas in central Gaza, including six children and a medic. Five of the dead had been queuing outside a bakery, they said.
A further nine Palestinians were killed by tank fire in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics said.
Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the information given by Palestinian medics.
Israeli forces also fired on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza for the fifth straight day, hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said. Three of his medical staff had been wounded, one critically, on Tuesday night, he said.
Drone strikes
“Drones are dropping bombs filled with shrapnel that injure and anyone that dares to move,” said Abu Safiya. “This situation is extremely urgent.”
Residents in three towns — Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun — said Israeli forces had blown up dozens of houses.
Palestinians say Israel’s army is trying to drive people out of the northern edge of Gaza with forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone. The Israeli army denies this and says it has returned to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in an area where it had previously cleared them out.
The army says militants frequently use residential buildings, schools and hospitals for operational cover. Hamas denies this, accusing Israeli forces of indiscriminate attacks.
Israel launched its offensive in the densely populated enclave after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military campaign has since killed more than 44,400 Palestinians, injured many others, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.
Israel agreed to a ceasefire with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah last week that halted fighting in a conflict that has unfolded in Lebanon in parallel with the Gaza war.
But the war in Gaza has ground on with only a single ceasefire more than a year ago that lasted for one week.


Lebanon says Israel-Hezbollah war death toll at 4,047

Lebanon says Israel-Hezbollah war death toll at 4,047
Updated 04 December 2024
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Lebanon says Israel-Hezbollah war death toll at 4,047

Lebanon says Israel-Hezbollah war death toll at 4,047
  • Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad says 316 children, 790 women among dead
  • Says real numbers may be higher due to unrecorded deaths of Lebanese citizens

BEIRUT: The death toll in Lebanon in more than a year of war between Israel and Hezbollah has reached 4,047 people, most of them since a September escalation, authorities said Wednesday.
A week after a ceasefire took effect, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told reporters that “until now... we have recorded 4,047 dead and 16,638 wounded.”
Abiad said 316 children and 790 women were among the dead.
Most of the deaths occurred after September 15, he said, adding that “we believe the real number may be higher” due to unrecorded deaths.
A source close to Hezbollah had told AFP that hundreds of the group’s fighters had been killed, without providing a precise figure.
On the Israeli side, authorities reported at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians dead.
Israel stepped up its campaign in south Lebanon in late September after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges begun by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
A fragile ceasefire came into effect last week and is generally holding, though both sides have accused the other of repeated violations.
During the fighting, according to Abiad, there were “67 attacks on hospitals, including 40 hospitals that were directly targeted,” killing 16 people.
“Seven of these hospitals are still closed,” the minister said.
“There were 238 attacks on emergency response organizations, with 206 dead,” he said, adding that 256 emergency vehicles including fire trucks and ambulances were also “targeted.”
The Israeli military has insisted its actions were aimed at militants, and in October accused Hezbollah of using ambulances “for terrorist purposes.”
On Monday, Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed 11 people, according to the health ministry, after Hezbollah earlier in the day claimed its first attack on an Israeli position since the truce began.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that “if we return to war, we will act with greater force and penetrate deeper” into Lebanon, adding that “there will be no immunity” for the Lebanese state, which was not a party to the Israel-Hezbollah war.


Lebanon says Israel-Hezbollah war death toll at 4,047

Lebanese people mourn over the coffin of a relative in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
Lebanese people mourn over the coffin of a relative in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 48 min 31 sec ago
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Lebanon says Israel-Hezbollah war death toll at 4,047

Lebanese people mourn over the coffin of a relative in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
  • Health minister says victims killed in Israeli attacks include 316 children
  • Lebanese army redeploys at sites of previous positions in Shebaa

BEIRUT: The death toll in Lebanon in more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has reached 4,047, most of them since violence escalated in September, Lebanese Minister of Public Health Firass Abiad said on Wednesday.

A week after a ceasefire took effect he said that “until now ... we have recorded 4,047 dead and 16,638 wounded.”

He said 316 children and 790 women were among those killed.

Most of the deaths occurred after Sept. 15, he said, adding that “we believe the real number may be higher” because of unrecorded deaths.

During the fighting, according to Abiad, there were “67 attacks on hospitals, including 40 hospitals that were directly targeted,” killing 16 people.

“Seven of these hospitals are still closed,” the minister said.

“There were 238 attacks on emergency response organizations, with 206 dead,” he said, adding that 256 emergency vehicles, including fire trucks and ambulances were also targeted.

The Lebanese army at noon on Wednesday redeployed in the border town of Shebaa after withdrawing from the area following the Israeli army incursion on Oct. 1 during the war between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

The Lebanese army established positions in its previous locations in Shebaa, extending to the public school south of the town.

The redeployment, however, did not include border posts, such as Birkat Al-Naqar and the Kfarchouba Heights, pending the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.

The Israeli army is expected to evacuate the areas it infiltrated within a 60-day timeframe, as stipulated by the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

This step is the first phase of the agreement, focusing on security and border arrangements between Lebanon and Israel.

The five-party committee responsible for monitoring the ceasefire in Lebanon is expected to hold its first meeting within the next 24 hours, under the leadership of US General Jasper Jeffers.

The venue for the meeting, whether in Ras Al-Naqoura or the UNIFIL headquarters in the town of Naqoura, has not yet been announced.

In addition to the US representative, the committee includes representatives from France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.

The French military delegation representative is expected to arrive in Beirut within hours.

A military source said that the Lebanese army had appointed Brig. Gen. Edgar Lowndes, commander of the South Litani Sector, to represent Lebanon on the committee.

The US military delegation inspected the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura and held a meeting with the UNIFIL commander.

The invading Israeli forces, meanwhile, continued to demolish residential buildings and facilities in the towns they entered.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV reported that “an armored force supported by Merkava tanks was observed advancing into neighborhoods within the town of Yaroun, coinciding with the movement of an Israeli force inside Maroun Al-Ras and intermittent machine-gun fire toward the city of Bint Jbeil.”

Residents of towns near the border area heard loud explosions, suspected to be caused by the rigging and detonation of explosives in dozens of buildings in Khiam as part of Israel’s scorched-earth policy.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army renewed for the sixth time its warning to residents of more than 50 border towns against trying to return to their homes “until further notice.”

Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works Ali Hamieh said on Wednesday that several international airlines that suspended their flights to Lebanon during the war had sought permission to resume flights to and from Beirut, and approvals were being granted on the same day.

The minister said he expected most flights by Arab and foreign companies to return to a regular schedule by the middle of this month in time for Christmas and New Year. 

Hamieh said that Lebanon’s seaports had continued to operate “diligently during and after the war, and we are still committed to the same principle of providing prompt service to all traders across the nation.”

The minister indicated that ministry teams were trying to reopen all roads blocked by debris resulting from the destruction of buildings.

He said teams were still active in Nabatieh and the southern regions, and work had begun in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as in the Baalbek-Hermel area and Western Bekaa.

He said that nearly all roads in Lebanon are now accessible.

The minister said that the Masnaa Border Crossing between Lebanon and Syria was now open, and work was underway on the crossings in the northern part of the country. A series of Israeli airstrikes struck the Masnaa Border Crossing, resulting in craters that hindered the passage of vehicles.

Consequently, the movement was limited to foot traffic under the surveillance of Israeli reconnaissance aircraft, which the Israelis justified by claiming the action was to prevent weapons being smuggled to Hezbollah.

Former Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, meanwhile, urged Hezbollah to explore its future role and how to engage with the president — who will be elected on Jan. 9 — and the new government.

Hezbollah, he said, should also find ways to address its weapons after evaluating the fall-out from the war in support of Gaza, and its impact on the south, Lebanon, its people and institutions, Gaza, Palestine, Syria, and Iran.

Suleiman said: “We call on the authorities, politicians, citizens, and civil society organizations to speak out — without flattery or shame — and tell Hezbollah and its supporters that Lebanon does not want war, nor does it want to offer support.

“Tell Hezbollah that you wish to preserve the youth of Lebanon by ending brain drain, martyrdom, disability, or death caused by their inability to access medical care or meet basic needs such as tuition fees, housing costs, or even just adequate nutrition.”

Suleiman called on the incoming president to “establish a national dialogue entity focused on creating a timetable for Hezbollah to disarm and dissolve its armed factions within a maximum of one year.

“This process should occur through a national strategy, agreement, solution, or a Cabinet decree.

“If an agreement cannot be reached, the president must return to Parliament with a constitutional message and decide on the next course of action to fulfill his duties.”