Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

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What is the Hezbollah-linked financial institution Israel is targeting in Lebanon?

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military has carried out a wave of airstrikes targeting branches of a financial institution affiliated with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, saying the quasi-banking system is being used to fund the militant group’s military wing.

https://apnews.com/article/alqard-alhassan-hezbollah-lebanon-israel-airstrikes-67220b894b55500b0be799a0be4245c3?

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AP PHOTOS: Images capture the exact moments an Israeli bomb strikes a building in Beirut

BEIRUT (AP) — Taking cover behind a large tree, an Associated Press photographer pointed his camera toward a Beirut apartment building the Israeli military warned was in its sights.

https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-beirut-israel-missile-41be424dcf3031457bd93acd0cb3389e?

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Israel says it killed a Hezbollah official expected to become the group’s next leader

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel said Tuesday that one of its airstrikes outside Beirut earlier in the month killed a Hezbollah official widely expected to have replaced the militant group’s longtime leader, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in September.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-hezbollah-news-10-22-2024-5a8d5a051e05267007192ac5c8d80efd?

Middle East

Lebanon marked the most fatalities in a single day since September 30, according to a CNN tally based on data from the Lebanese health ministry. At the same time, Palestinians trapped in three cities of northern Gaza are recounting scenes of horror after Israel's military launched a renewed incursion that it said is targeting Hamas. Aid workers say hospitals are running out of supplies and thousands of people in the Jabalya Refugee Camp are stranded without water. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the need to "capitalize" on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to secure the release of the remaining hostages and to end the war in Gaza during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Middle East latest: Seven people killed in Israel by rocket fire from Lebanon

A series of rocket barrages from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Thursday, killing a total of seven people, including four foreign workers. The attacks marked the deadliest strikes to hit Israel since its military invaded southern Lebanon earlier this month.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-hezbollah-mideast-latest-31-october-2024-f5910a533abaf7e78e445d24169d73cf?

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Adventists Share Hope, a Helping Hand in Lebanon amid Despair

Churches, schools, and ADRA are working together to assist those who are suffering.

https://adventistreview.org/news/commentary/adventists-share-hope-a-helping-hand-in-lebanon-amid-despair/

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Middle East

Israel has expanded its military ground operation in Lebanon, the country's defense minister said Wednesday, adding that Israel will not agree to "any ceasefires." This comes as Hezbollah has maintained a daily barrage of rockets against parts of northern Israel and continues to launch drones against Israeli cities. Separately, Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of mass displacement in Gaza amounting to a war crime. A new report published by the US-based advocacy group details more than 13 months of widespread destruction in Gaza that, according to the UN, has seen the displacement of about 1.9 million Palestinians, or more than 90% of the territory's population.

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An Israeli strike in Beirut kills Hezbollah’s spokesman, while another strike hits northern Gaza A rare Israeli strike in central Beirut killed the Hezbollah militant group’s chief spokesman on Sunday, while an Israeli strike in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya killed at least 30 people, a hospital director there told The Associated Press. Read more.

Key points: Mohammed Afif al-Naboulsi was killed in a strike on the Arab socialist Baath party’s office in Beirut, Hezbollah confirmed in a statement. There was no Israeli evacuation warning before the strike near a busy intersection that killed Afif. Four people were killed and 14 wounded including two children, the Health Ministry said. Israel’s military in a statement said Afif “wielded significant influence over Hezbollah’s military operations” and “glorified and incited” attacks on Israel.   In Gaza, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital said dozens were wounded in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya, and that more people likely were under the rubble. Fleeing residents told the AP that houses were hit. An Israeli military statement earlier said it conducted several strikes on “terrorist targets” in Beit Lahiya, and that efforts to evacuate civilians from the “active war zone” continued. Israeli forces have again been on the offensive in northern Gaza, saying Hamas militants have regrouped.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute ‘genocide’   The family of Israeli-American hostage pleads with Biden and Trump to bring hostages home   Why is only limited aid getting to Palestinians inside Gaza?

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Biden envoy: Lebanon and Israel now at decision point on ceasefire deal

President Biden's envoy Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday in Beirut that Lebanon and Israel have reached "a moment of decision-making" regarding a ceasefire agreement.

https://www.axios.com/2024/11/18/hezbollah-israel-ceasefire-deal-biden?

Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut near key government buildings and embassies

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike slammed into a densely populated residential area in Lebanon’s capital near key government and diplomatic buildings late Monday, killing at least five people as the U.S. pressed ahead with cease-fire efforts.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-lebanon-gaza-palestinians-hezbollah-news-nov-18-2024-e97ba8991d02530306d10b1962b1c6e1?

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Hezbollah fires about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel in heaviest barrage in weeks Hezbollah fired around 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday in one of the militant group’s heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war. Read more.

Recent developments: Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire in northern Israel. In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing. And the Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries that it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in the West Bank.   An Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon’s military said. The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military’s operations are directed solely against the militants. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on ceasefire efforts.   The Israeli ambassador to Washington says that a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached “within days.” Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there remained “points to finalize” and that any deal required agreement from the government.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ The United Arab Emirates arrests 3 Uzbek nationals for the killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi   An Israeli strike that killed 3 Lebanese journalists was most likely deliberate, watchdog says   Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims pay high price in war between Israel and Hezbollah   ?? Israel, Lebanon on cusp of ceasefire deal   Israeli officials near Tel Aviv inspect the scene of a Hezbollah rocket attack fired from Lebanon yesterday. Photo: Leo Correa/AP Israel and Lebanon are on the verge of a ceasefire agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid. Why it matters: The agreement would allow hundreds of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border to gradually return home. The fighting began after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, and escalated significantly after Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon last month. More than 3,500 Lebanese people have been killed and more than 15,000 injured in more than a year of fighting. ? Zoom in: The draft ceasefire agreement includes a 60-day transition period. The Israeli military would withdraw from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army would deploy in areas close to the border, and Hezbollah would move its heavy weapons north. ? Behind the scenes: The agreement was nearing completion last Thursday when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. and Israeli officials say. The news came while Netanyahu was meeting with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who has been mediating between Israel and Lebanon for a year. Netanyahu was outraged, and grew even angrier after the French Foreign Ministry announced that France would implement the court's ruling. That threw a wrench into the negotiations. Lebanon had wanted France to be part of the oversight committee to monitor the agreement. Keep reading.

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Israeli cabinet to vote on Lebanon ceasefire deal after Netanyahu approves ‘in principle,’ source says

The Israeli cabinet will vote on a ceasefire deal in Lebanon on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson told CNN, after a source familiar with the matter said the Israeli prime minister had approved the plan “in principle.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/25/middleeast/israeli-prime-minister-approves-lebanon-ceasefire-deal-in-principle-intl?

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Middle East

A ceasefire deal between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is "very close," a regional source told CNN, even as an uptick in Israeli attacks saw the death toll in Lebanon since September pass a grim milestone. "We are moving in this direction, but there are still some issues to address," a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Though ceasefire talks are underway, Israeli strikes have escalated in recent days as reports describe heavy fighting near the town of Khiam, a strategically important location for Hezbollah. More than 3,000 people have been killed and over 13,000 injured since Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah on September 16, according to Lebanese health ministry figures.

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What’s blocking a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah?

BEIRUT (AP) — Diplomats and other officials say there have been several sticking points in ceasefire talks to end the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, even as conditions for an agreement appear to be ripe.

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-lebanon-hezbollah-war-ceasefire-ce56620463c579a33a4d8b03de035ae3?

 

Ceasefire deal

The Israeli cabinet is expected to vote on a Lebanon ceasefire deal today. The US-backed proposal aims to achieve a 60-day cessation of hostilities with Hezbollah that some hope could form the basis of a lasting ceasefire. Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah in September, killing top commanders, carrying out waves of strikes and sending troops into southern Lebanon with the stated goal of allowing displaced Israelis to return to northern areas. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since then. In Gaza, the Israel-Hamas war continues. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, accusing him of war crimes in the Palestinian enclave.

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Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants began a ceasefire Wednesday in a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting as a region on edge wondered whether it will hold.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-lebanon-hezbollah-11-26-2024-aa165645d900a3d681ad127e05b0c561?

?? Israel, Hezbollah sign ceasefire deal

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs today. Photo: Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images Israel's Security Cabinet today approved a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. Why it matters: The agreement, which was also approved by the Lebanese side, will end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. It will allow hundreds of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border to gradually return home. ? The deal doesn't end the fighting in Gaza, which seems all but certain to carry into the Trump presidency. Go deeper.   Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire begins Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants began a ceasefire Wednesday in a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting as a region on edge wonders whether it will hold. Read more. Key points: The ceasefire calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance.   Israel has said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the agreement. There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected.   The ceasefire does not address the devastating war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ UN Resolution 1701 is at the heart of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. What is it?   Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump’s win   A look at the Israel-Hezbollah war, by the numbers

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?? Biden-Trump ceasefire challenge

Reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was a hard-won diplomatic achievement. But preventing it from collapsing could ultimately be more difficult, Axios' Barak Ravid writes.

• Why it matters: The U.S. will now be tasked with maintaining calm along one of the most volatile borders in the Middle East — between Israel and Lebanon — during a presidential transition and a broader regional crisis that is far from over.

The deal required months of complex negotiations. President-elect Trump and his team — who will inherit the agreement — were looped into in the final days.

• If successful, the deal will end a year of bloodshed and allow hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border to return home.
• But the deal gives the U.S. the onerous tasks of monitoring violations and, potentially, holding back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who vowed even before finalizing the deal to abandon it if Hezbollah crosses one of several red lines.

? Behind the scenes: On Oct. 31, a few days before the U.S. elections, senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein traveled to Israel and met Netanyahu.

• "I think there is a window," Netanyahu told him, according to a U.S. official who attended the meeting.

Five days after the elections, Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer met Trump at Mar-a-Lago. While walking together on Trump's golf course, Dermer told Trump about the Lebanon negotiations, two sources familiar with the conversation said.

• Trump offered no objections, and even signaled support for Netanyahu working with Biden to get a deal before Jan. 20.

Keep reading.

 

Middle East

Displaced residents began returning to their homes in Lebanon today after a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect. The truce could bring an end to the 13-month border conflict that has killed thousands. The deal stipulates a 60-day halt in hostilities, which negotiators have described as the foundation of a lasting truce. In that time, Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat 25 miles from the Israel border, while Israeli ground forces should withdraw from Lebanese territory. But there are questions about how long the truce may hold. Israel insists that it will take military action in response to any breach of the agreement. That could reignite the conflict, putting US-backed diplomatic efforts in jeopardy.

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The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire quiets one front but Gaza sees no end to war

JERUSALEM (AP) — For many across the Middle East, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came as a relief: the first major sign of progress in the region since war began more than a year ago.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-war-lebanon-ceasefire-hamas-1a091e620e72c0fe341ff9e866237c08?

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Israeli strikes kill 11 in Lebanon after fire exchanges with Hezbollah that test ceasefire’s limits

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel unleashed its largest wave of airstrikes across Lebanon since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week, killing at least 11 people on Monday after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were Israeli truce violations.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-hezbollah-iran-news-12-02-2024-3f334fcb469ac465c7ae2df6922c2c17?

 

Middle East

Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese authorities said Monday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire brokered by the US and France came into effect last week. But the uneasy truce between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah appeared to be holding — even as the two sides accused each other of breaching the deal. Hezbollah on Monday fired two projectiles toward Israeli-occupied territory, responding to repeated Israeli strikes that have hit Lebanon daily since Thursday, the day after the ceasefire came into force. Still, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that the truce has not broken down. “Broadly speaking,” the ceasefire “has been successful,” he said. 

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Middle East

As strikes conducted by both sides strain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah less than a week since it went into effect, Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday threatened to directly target the Lebanese state should the agreement fall apart. Monday was the deadliest day since that agreement brokered by the US and France came into force, with Israeli strikes killing nine in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired at Israeli-occupied territory, citing Israeli truce violations. “If we return to war, we will act with strength, go deeper,” said Israel Katz during a visit to Israeli troops near the Lebanese border. Were the ceasefire to collapse, he said, “there will no longer be any exemptions for the State of Lebanon.” 

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A diminished Hezbollah is made even weaker by the toppling of Assad in Syria

A severely hobbled Hezbollah was in no position to help defend former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime ally, from the lightning-fast insurgency that toppled him. With Assad gone, the militant group based in Lebanon is even weaker. Read more.

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Israel strikes Beirut for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war

The attack marked Israel’s first strike on Beirut since a ceasefire took hold last November between it and the Hezbollah militant group, though Israel has attacked targets in southern Lebanon almost daily since then. Read More.

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Survivors of Israel's pager attack on Hezbollah struggle to recover

The Associated Press explores the human toll of Sept. 17, 2024, when thousands of pagers distributed to the Hezbollah group blew up across Lebanon, remotely detonated by Israel. While most were Hezbollah fighters or members of its civilian branches, including medical workers, some were curious children or other family members. Israel has disputed human rights groups’ assertions that the attack was indiscriminate. Read More.

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Israel criticized for dropping grenades near UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli drones dropped four grenades close to U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel as they were working to clear roadblocks, the force said Wednesday. No one was hurt in the strike.

https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-peacekeepers-unifil-drones-drop-grenades-marwahin-79c44856265907a0a6f869f4d5e5fccc?

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A year after losing its longtime leader, Hezbollah is beginning to regroup

Hezbollah is regrouping after suffering significant losses in its recent conflict with Israel. The Lebanese militant group lost its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Israeli airstrikes a year ago Saturday. Despite being weakened militarily and politically, Hezbollah has managed to fill leadership gaps and continue its operations. The group faced challenges, including losing a key supply route from Iran and ongoing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon. Domestically, there is pressure for Hezbollah to disarm, but it retains strong support among Lebanon’s Shiite community. Hezbollah's financial situation remains stable, despite efforts to cut its funding. Read more.

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Israeli jets strike southern Lebanon towns, escalating near-daily attacks

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli jets struck several towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday after urging residents to leave, marking an escalation in their near-daily strikes on the country.

https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-airstrikes-a144881947fcaaef772ef689372cf3f3?

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Israel says it killed a senior Hezbollah official in its first strike on Beirut in months

HARET HREIK, Lebanon (AP) — Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon’s capital for the first time since June, saying it killed Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Tabtabai and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hezbollah-militant-attack-beirut-70397fba60b5cf504043a7dc7e4e403b?

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Israel launches intense airstrikes in Lebanon as deadline looms to disarm Hezbollah

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the militant Hezbollah group along the countries’ tense frontier.

https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-airstrikes-rihan-hermel-berri-0b10ae30cbec1ab92a9c1b14652d8467?