[🇧🇩] Monitoring Israel and Lebanon War

[Saif]

Israel PM confirms he okayed Lebanon pager attacks that killed 40

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today said, in a first public disclosure, that he had okayed a September attack on Hezbollah in which hundreds of communication devices exploded across Lebanon

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Israel PM confirms he okayed Lebanon pager attacks that killed 40

Photo: Collected

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today said, in a first public disclosure, that he had okayed a September attack on Hezbollah in which hundreds of communication devices exploded across Lebanon.

"Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon," his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks that killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel's ongoing military operation in Lebanon.​

 

[Saif]

20 killed in Israeli strike north of Beirut

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike yesterday killed 20 people including three children in the village of Almat, north of the capital Beirut.

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20 killed in Israeli strike north of Beirut
Says Lebanon; three children among dead

Palestinians gather to receive meals cooked by a charity kitchen, amid the ongoing Israeli offensive, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike yesterday killed 20 people including three children in the village of Almat, north of the capital Beirut.

The Shia Muslim majority village of Almat is located in a mostly Christian region. It is outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds of south Beirut and south and east Lebanon which Israel has heavily bombed since late September in its war against the Iran-backed movement.

"The Israeli enemy strike on Almat in the Jbeil district killed 20 people including three children and injured six, in an updated toll," the health ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also said Israeli strikes killed three Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers in the south.

Earlier, Lebanese official media reported an Israeli strike on a house in the main eastern city of Baalbek, which was not preceded by an Israeli army evacuation warning.

"Enemy aircraft launched a strike on a house in the Al-Laqees neighbourhood" of the city, the state-run National News Agency said.

Overnight and yesterday morning, Israel conducted a series of air strikes on southern and eastern villages and locations, NNA said.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed 20 people in eastern Lebanon and 13 in the south, according to health ministry figures.

Israel intensified its air campaign mainly targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon on September 23 and a week later sent in ground troops.​

 

[Saif]

Israel cites progress on Lebanon truce

Israel said yesterday there was progress in talks about a ceasefire in Lebanon and indicated Russia could play a part by stopping Hezbollah from rearming via Syria, although the Iran-backed group said it had not received any truce proposals yet.

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Israel cites progress on Lebanon truce
Says Russia can help; Hezbollah says no official proposal received yet

Israel said yesterday there was progress in talks about a ceasefire in Lebanon and indicated Russia could play a part by stopping Hezbollah from rearming via Syria, although the Iran-backed group said it had not received any truce proposals yet.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the main challenge would be enforcing any ceasefire agreement, and that Israel was working with the United States on the diplomatic efforts.

"I think there is a certain progress," Saar told a press conference in Jerusalem. "We are working with the Americans on the issue."

"We will be ready to be there if we know, first of all that Hezbollah is not on our border, is north of the Litani river and that Hezbollah will not be able to arm again with new weapons systems."

Israel has been waging a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon since late September, pounding its strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley and sending troops into areas near the border.

The Litani river runs across southern Lebanon some 30 km (20 miles) north of the Lebanese-Israeli border.

In Beirut, a Hezbollah official indicated an intensification of diplomatic efforts was under way but said that neither the group nor the Lebanese state had received any new proposals.

"There is a great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals," Mohammad Afif said in a televised news conference.

"I believe that we are still in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas and proactive discussions, but so far there is nothing actual yet," he added.

Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that substantial progress has been made in diplomatic negotiations over a proposed Lebanon ceasefire that would require Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River, barring its military presence near the Israeli border, while the IDF would return to the international border.

Israel's offensive has forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes in Lebanon in the last seven weeks.

Since the eruption of hostilities a year ago, Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,189 people in Lebanon, the vast majority of them since late September, according to health ministry figures, which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.​

 

[Saif]

Israeli army unable to occupy any Lebanese villages: Hezbollah

Hezbollah said on Monday that the Israeli military has been incapable of occupying even a single village in Lebanon since launching cross-border ground operations six weeks ago.

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Israeli army unable to occupy any Lebanese villages: Hezbollah
Agence France-Presse . Beirut, Lebanon 12 November, 2024, 01:40

AFP photo

Hezbollah said on Monday that the Israeli military has been incapable of occupying even a single village in Lebanon since launching cross-border ground operations six weeks ago.

Israeli troops on September 30 began what the military called ‘localised and targeted raids’ against Hezbollah in Lebanon’s southern border area, a week after escalating air strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

‘After 45 days of bloody fighting, the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village,’ Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told a news conference in south Beirut, a stronghold of the movement and a repeated target of Israeli air raids.

Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, had on October 23 issued a similar statement that said Israel’s army ‘has not been able to fully establish its control or completely occupy any village’ in southern Lebanon.

Israel has said its aim is to make its northern border safe for the return of tens of thousands of Israelis displaced when Hezbollah began cross-border fire, which it described as support for Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza, more than a year ago.

On November 3, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops at the Lebanon border that the operation aimed to push Hezbollah back over the Litani River.

He said a second goal was to stop any attempt to rearm and the third was ‘to respond firmly to any action taken against us’, according to his office.

On Monday Hezbollah spokesman Afif said the group’s fighters had repulsed Israeli troops in Khiam, about six kilometres from the border.

He added that the Israelis also failed in attempts ‘to penetrate on several fronts at Bint Jbeil’, about 17 kilometres southwest of Khiam.

Footage verified by AFP last week showed massive detonations in the village of Mais al-Jabal, between Bint Jbeil and Khiam. Similar aerial scenes have been captured from several border villages since Israel sent in ground troops.

Hezbollah accuses Israel of seeking to create a ‘no man’s land’ on the frontier.

Afif denied that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had diminished the group’s missile stock.

He asked how that could be the case ‘when we targeted the suburbs of Tel Aviv several days ago’ and employed for the first time Fateh missiles.

The group announced on November 6 that it had begun to use Fateh-110 Iranian-made surface-to-surface guided missiles.

In a March report, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies described Hezbollah as ‘probably the most heavily armed non-state group in the world’, with an estimated 1,20,000-2,00,000 rockets and missiles.

Asked about ceasefire prospects, Afif said that since the election of Donald Trump last week to the United States presidency, there were ‘contacts between Washington, Moscow, Tehran and other capitals’.

But he said, ‘according to my information nothing official has reached Hezbollah or the Lebanese state.’

Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders but Afif said the group remains ‘ready for a long war’.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler called for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon at a joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit that will renew calls for a Palestinian state on Monday.

Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in Riyadh, more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war and regional escalation, in what is seen as a chance to send a message to Trump.

Opening the summit, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the international community must “immediately halt the Israeli actions against our brothers in Palestine and Lebanon”, condemning Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocide”.

Saudi Arabia “affirms its support for the brothers in Palestine and Lebanon to overcome the disastrous humanitarian consequences of the on-going Israeli aggression,” he said.

A draft resolution for the summit stresses ‘firm support’ for “national rights” for the Palestinian people, ‘foremost among which is their right to freedom and to an independent, sovereign state’.

Just hours earlier, newly appointed Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said it was not “realistic” to establish a Palestinian state, dismissing it as a ‘Hamas state’.

‘I don’t think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic,’ Saar said in Jerusalem.

Prince Mohammed also called on Israel not to attack Iran, highlighting improving ties between Saudi Arabia and its former regional rival.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati warned that the country was suffering an ‘existential’ crisis and hit out at countries meddling in its internal affairs — a thinly veiled swipe at Iran.

Countries should stop ‘interfering in its internal affairs by supporting this or that group, but rather support Lebanon as a state and entity’, Mikati said.​

 

[Saif]

Israeli air strikes hit Beirut suburbs

The Israeli military pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs with airstrikes yesterday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area after the defence minister ruled out a ceasefire until Israeli goals were met.

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Israeli air strikes hit Beirut suburbs
15 buildings destroyed; drone from Lebanon hits kindergarten yard in Israel

The Israeli military pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with airstrikes yesterday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area after the defence minister ruled out a ceasefire until Israeli goals were met.

Smoke billowed over Beirut as around a dozen strikes hit the southern suburbs from mid-morning. They followed an Israeli army warning identifying 12 sites in the area and saying it would take action against them soon. The warning, posted on social media, told residents they were near Hezbollah facilities.

In northern Israel, people were forced to take shelter as attack drones were launched from Lebanon, the military said. One hit the yard of a kindergarten in a Haifa suburb, where the children had been rushed into a shelter, meaning none were hurt, rescue workers said. TV footage showed damage to the building.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Beirut.

Residents have largely fled the southern suburbs since Israel began bombing it in September. Footage of one strike shared on social media showed two missiles slamming into a building of around 10 storeys, demolishing it and sending up clouds of debris. Yesterday's strikes destroyed 15 buildings in the southern suburbs, security sources said.

Meeting with Israel's general staff for the first time, Israel's newly appointed Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon until Israel achieves its goals.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said earlier on Monday there had been "a certain progress" in ceasefire talks, whilst adding the war was not yet over. The main challenge facing any ceasefire deal would be enforcement, he said.

Despite the blows it has suffered, Hezbollah has said it is ready for a long war against Israel.

Israel's offensive has driven more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon, causing a humanitarian crisis.

Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the area over the last year.​

 

[Saif]

Israel strikes Hezbollah bastion in south Beirut

Lebanese state media reported on Wednesday a third wave of Israeli raids on Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion in 24 hours, after the health ministry said another strike south of the capital killed six people...

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Israel strikes Hezbollah bastion in south Beirut
Agence France-Presse . Beirut 14 November, 2024, 04:12

Lebanese state media reported on Wednesday a third wave of Israeli raids on Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion in 24 hours, after the health ministry said another strike south of the capital killed six people.

‘Enemy aircraft targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs’, the official National News Agency said, reporting six strikes.

AFP TV footage showed plumes of black smoke rising over the area following the strikes, about an hour after Israel’s army issued evacuation warnings.

People hastily drove away from the area following the evacuation calls, with residents firing gunshots in the air to warn civilians to flee, an AFP photographer said.

Earlier Wednesday, an Israeli strike on Aramoun south of Beirut killed six people, Lebanon’s health ministry said giving a preliminary toll for the attack on the densely-packed area which is located outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.

‘Body parts were recovered from the site and their identities are being verified,’ it added, after the NNA said the strike targeted a residential apartment at dawn.

An AFP photographer saw rescuers pulling bodies out of the rubble in Aramoun, where the four-storey building had partially collapsed.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian group allied with Hamas released a video on Wednesday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since the October 7 attack.

In the video, a bearded man identifying himself as Sasha Trupanov spoke in Hebrew about Israeli military operations in Lebanon, and called on Israelis to put pressure on the government to secure the release of hostages.

Trupanov, who stated in the video he was 28 and who recently turned 29, is a dual Russian-Israeli citizen who was abducted with his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.

Trupanov’s mother, grandmother and girlfriend, also abducted during Hamas’s October 7 attack, were among those released during a week-long truce in November 2024 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Trupanov’s father, Vitaly, was killed during the October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israeli history.

‘I am relieved to see my son alive, but I am very worried to hear what he is saying,’ Trupanov’s mother, Lena, said in a statement published by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group.

‘I urge that every effort be made to secure his immediate release and that of all other hostages. They have no time left,’ she added.

This is the third video of Trupanov published by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Qatar announced on Saturday it would end its mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas after months of fruitless negotiations.

When Hamas militants staged the October 7 attack, they took 251 hostages into the Gaza Strip. Some were already dead.

Of those, 97 are still held hostage, while 34 are confirmed dead but their bodies remain in Gaza.

The war in Gaza erupted with the attack, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,665 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.​

 

[Saif]

Israel hits 30 targets in south Beirut

The Israeli military on Thursday said it struck around 30 targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a bastion of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, over the past 48 hours...

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Israel hits 30 targets in south Beirut
Agence France-Presse . Jerusalem 15 November, 2024, 00:19

A man walks amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the neighbourhood of Rweiss in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday. Israel’s air force ‘carried out a heavy strike on the southern suburbs targeting the Haret Hreik-Rueis’ area following a series of at least seven Israeli strikes since Wednesday. | AFP photo

The Israeli military on Thursday said it struck around 30 targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a bastion of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, over the past 48 hours.

‘Over the past two days, approximately 30 terror targets were struck in the Dahieh area in Beirut. These strikes were a part of the IDF’s on-going efforts to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah’s military capabilities,’ the military said in a statement, weeks after it began on September 23 escalating air raids against the group.

Shortly before the strike, Israel had issued a warning to residents to evacuate their homes.

‘You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests against which the Israeli military will operate in the near future,’ army spokesman Avichay Adraee said.

His post on X included a map identifying buildings in the Shouaifat al-Omrousiya and Ghobeiry areas.

Israel carried out two strikes on Ghobeiry and a large one on Shouaifat al-Omrousiya, which lies on the southern outskirts of Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Repeated Israeli air strikes on south Beirut have led to a mass exodus of civilians, although some return during the day to check on their homes and businesses.

NNA also reported heavy Israeli bombardment of the southern town of Bint Jbeil on Thursday.

Several blocks of flats in the town barely three kilometres from the Israeli border were destroyed by air strikes or shelling, it said.

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that at least 43,736 people have been killed in more than 13 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes 24 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 103,370 people have also been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Earlier on Thursday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 10 people were killed in ‘several air strikes’ by the Israeli army on the Palestinian territory.

The agency’s spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that ‘around 30 people, all civilians’ were wounded in the strikes in Gaza City, the northern town of Jabalia and the southern city of Rafah.​

 

[Saif]

Israeli strikes pound south, central Beirut

An Israeli strike on a building in a densely populated district of central Beirut yesterday killed Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters, though there was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

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Israeli strikes pound south, central Beirut
Hezbollah media head killed; new salvo of projectiles fired from Lebanon at Israel’s Haifa area

An Israeli strike on a building in a densely populated district of central Beirut yesterday killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters, though there was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

The Israeli military declined to comment in response to questions from Reuters. There was no evacuation order for the area published on the Israeli military spokesperson's account on social media platform X before the strike.

The strike hit the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood where many people displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs by the Israeli bombardment had been seeking refuge.

The security sources said it struck a building where the offices of the Ba'ath Party are located, and the head of the party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazi, told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed that Afif was in the building.

The broadcaster later also said Afif had been killed.

Earlier, the Israeli air strikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday, AFPTV images showed, shortly after the Israeli military warned people to evacuate the area.

Columns of smoke were seen rising over the capital's southern suburbs, where Lebanon's only international airport is located. Further south, Israeli air strikes and shelling hit the flashpoint town of Khiam, the NNA reported.

Following the bombardment, the Israeli army said about 20 projectiles were seen crossing from Lebanon into Israel, and that some of them were intercepted at Haifa Bay.

Israel has escalated its bombing of Lebanon since September 23 and has since sent in ground troops, following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Hezbollah militants in support of Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.
​

 

[Saif]

Israeli strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah media head, security sources say

An Israeli strike on a building in a densely populated district of Beirut on Sunday killed Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters, though there was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah. The Israeli military declined to comment in respo

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israeli strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah media head, security sources say
REUTERS
Published :
Nov 17, 2024 19:07
Updated :
Nov 17, 2024 19:07

The head of Hezbollah’s media office, Mohammad Afif, attends a media gathering protesting against Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 14, 2024. Photo : REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/Files

An Israeli strike on a building in a densely populated district of Beirut on Sunday killed Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters, though there was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

The Israeli military declined to comment in response to questions from Reuters. There was no evacuation order for the area published on the Israeli military spokesperson’s account on social media platform X before the strike.

The strike hit the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood where many people displaced from Beirut’s southern suburbs by the Israeli bombardment had been seeking refuge.

The security sources said it struck a building where the offices of the Ba’ath Party are located, and the head of the party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazi, told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed that Afif was in the building.

The broadcaster later also said Afif had been killed. It showed footage of a building whose upper floors had collapsed onto the first storey, with civil defence workers at the scene.

Afif was a long-time media advisor to Hezbollah’s former secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sept 27.

He managed Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station for several years before taking over the Iran-backed group’s media relations office.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire for more than a year, since Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israeli military targets on Oct 8, 2023, a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out a deadly attack on southern Israel.

In late September, Israel dramatically escalated and expanded its military campaign in Lebanon, heavily bombing the country’s south, east and the southern suburbs of Beirut alongside ground incursions along the border.

Afif hosted several press conferences for journalists amid the rubble in the southern suburbs of the capital. In his most recent comments to reporters on Nov 11, he said Israeli troops had been unable to occupy any territory in Lebanon and Hezbollah had enough weapons and supplies to fight a “long war”.

The Lebanese health ministry said the strike killed one and injured three.

Ambulances could be heard rushing to the scene, and bursts of gunfire rang out to prevent crowds of people from approaching the location.​

 

[Saif]

Over 200 children killed in Lebanon in 2 months: Unicef

Over 200 children have been killed and 1,100 injured in Lebanon in the past two months, a spokesperson for the UN children’s agency (Unicef) said yesterday.

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Over 200 children killed in Lebanon in 2 months: Unicef
US envoy says end to Israel-Hezbollah war ‘within our grasp’

Over 200 children have been killed and 1,100 injured in Lebanon in the past two months, a spokesperson for the UN children's agency (Unicef) said yesterday.

"The number of over 200 (children killed) is just in the last two months. It's at least 231 since the start of the war last year," James Elder told a Geneva press briefing in response to a reporter's question about casualties.

He did not comment on who was responsible for the killings, saying that it was clear to anyone who follows the media.

Meanwhile, US envoy Amos Hochstein landed in Beirut yesterday for talks with officials on a truce between armed group Hezbollah and Israel. Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have agreed to the US ceasefire proposal that was submitted in writing last week.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Hochstein spoke in Beirut following talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. "This is a moment of decision-making. I am here in Beirut to facilitate that decision but it's ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict," he said.

"It is now within our grasp... As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision," he added.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Naim Qassem, has postponed a speech set for yesterday to a later time, Hezbollah's media office said.

The speech had been announced minutes after Hochstein said there was a "real opportunity" to end the conflict.

The Israeli military said yesterday that some 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into central and northern Israel, with first responders reporting that four people were slightly injured by shrapnel.

That announcement followed earlier reports that some 15 projectiles fired that set of air raid sirens.

The Israeli police said they were searching the impact sites from projectiles intercepted by Israel's air defence systems but did not report any serious damage.​

 

[Saif]

US envoy says end to Israel-Hezbollah war ‘within grasp’

US special envoy Amos Hochstein said on a visit to Beirut that an end to the Israel-Hezbollah war was ‘now within our grasp’ as he met with officials to discuss a truce plan largely endorsed by Lebanon.

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US envoy says end to Israel-Hezbollah war ‘within grasp’
Agence France-Presse . Beirut 20 November, 2024, 00:45

US special envoy Amos Hochstein said on a visit to Beirut that an end to the Israel-Hezbollah war was ‘now within our grasp’ as he met with officials to discuss a truce plan largely endorsed by Lebanon.

The United States and France have spearheaded efforts for a ceasefire in the war, which escalated in late September after nearly a year of deadly exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops.

Israel expanded the focus of its operations from Gaza to Lebanon, vowing to secure its northern border to allow tens of thousands of people displaced by the cross-border fire to return home.

Since the clashes began with Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel, more than 3,510 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to authorities there. Most of the fatalities have been recorded since late September, including more than 200 children, according to the UN.

Following a meeting on Tuesday with Hezbollah-allied parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation on behalf of the group, Hochstein told reporters he saw ‘a real opportunity’ to end the Israel-Hezbollah war.

‘Im here in Beirut to facilitate that decision, but it’s ultimately the decision of the parties it is now within our grasp,’ he added.

The leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, was expected to give a speech later on Tuesday.

A Lebanese official who has been following the truce talks closely had said on Monday that his government had ‘a very positive view’ of the plan.

Another official said Lebanon had been waiting for Hochstein’s arrival ‘so we can review certain outstanding points with him’.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would continue to conduct military operations against Hezbollah even if a ceasefire was reached.

‘The most important thing is not (the deal that) will be laid on paper,’ Netanyahu told parliament.

‘We will be forced to ensure our security in the north of Israel and to systematically carry out operations against Hezbollah’s attacks even after a ceasefire’, to keep the group from rebuilding, he said.

Netanyahu also said there was no evidence Hezbollah would respect any ceasefire.

Hezbollah began its cross-border attacks on Israel in support of its ally Hamas, following the Palestinian group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Hamas’s attack — the deadliest in Israeli history — resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the war has reached 43,972 people, a majority of them civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Since expanding its operations to Lebanon in September, Israel has conducted extensive bombing campaigns primarily targeting Hezbollah strongholds there, though some strikes have hit areas outside the Iran-backed group’s control.

A strike on Monday on central Beirut killed five people and wounded 31 others, said the health ministry.

The area of the capital that was hit has in recent weeks become home to many who have fled Hezbollah’s main bastion in the southern suburbs.

The UN said Tuesday that more than 200 children had been killed in Lebanon since Israel escalated its campaign.

‘Despite more than 200 children killed in Lebanon in less than two months, a disconcerting pattern has emerged: their deaths are met with inertia from those able to stop this violence,’ said James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF.

Israel has also sent ground troops into Lebanon, while Hezbollah has continued to launch projectiles into Israel almost daily.

On Tuesday, Israel’s military said some 40 projectiles were fired into central and northern Israel, lightly wounding four people.

That followed salvos on Monday that killed one woman in Shfaram and injured 10 people there and five in Israel’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv.

Hezbollah said it launched attack drones against ‘sensitive military points in the city of Tel Aviv’ and shot down an Israeli drone in south Lebanon.

The group said on Tuesday it fired a salvo of rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States had shared proposals with both Lebanon and Israel for a ceasefire.

‘Both sides have reacted to the proposals that we have put forward,’ he said.

‘There has been an exchange of different ideas for how to see what we believe is in everyone’s interest, which is the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and we’re going to continue to stay at that process.’

Under UN Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces deployed in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway.

It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

Another Lebanese official said US ambassador Lisa Johnson discussed the plan last week with Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati and with parliamentary speaker Berri.

The official said the proposal comprised ‘13 points spanning five pages’.

If an agreement is reached, the United States and France will issue a joint statement, he said, followed by a 60-day truce during which Lebanon will redeploy troops in the southern border area, near Israel.

However, Eyal Pinko, a retired Israeli navy commander and senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, said hopes for a speedy ceasefire were ‘wishful thinking’.

‘The most important thing that is required is that there will be no Hezbollah 30 to 40 kilometres from the border so that Israel can protect itself if there is a ground manoeuver,’ Pinko said.

‘Iran and Hezbollah would not accept that.’

He cautioned that Israel was still ‘very far from’ bringing southern Lebanon under control, and warned of ‘more surprises’ to come.​