Middle East latest: Israel insists on right to act against Hezbollah in any

Israel’s defense minister says his country insists on the right to act militarily against Hezbollah in any agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s government is likely to view any such demand as an infringement on its sovereignty, complicating efforts to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted into all-out war in September.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Wednesday that “the condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of the intelligence capability and the preservation of the (Israeli military’s) right to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah.”

Lebanese officials mediating between Israel and Hezbollah have called for a return to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between the sides.

It calls for Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces to withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who has spent months trying to broker a cease-fire, held a second round of talks on Wednesday with Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who has been mediating on their behalf.

Hochstein told reporters the talks had made “additional progress,” and that he would be heading to Israel “to try to bring this to a close, if we can.” He declined to say what the sticking points are.

Israeli strikes and combat in Lebanon have killed more than 3,500 people and wounded 15,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The war has displaced nearly 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, 87 soldiers and 50 civilians, including some foreign farmworkers, have been killed by attacks involving rockets, drones and missiles. Hezbollah began firing on Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza.

That attack killed some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and another 250 were abducted. Around 100 hostages remain inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 44,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

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Israel explores options for delivering aid to war-ravaged Gaza

JERUSALEM — Israel’s government spokesperson has indicated that it is exploring the option of hiring a private contractor to deliver aid to war-ravaged Gaza.

Israel has come under heavy international criticism for a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The U.N. and international aid agencies say Israel is failing to ensure safe conditions allowing them to work, while Israel accuses the U.N. of logistical failures. Israel also claims Hamas has stolen much of the aid.

Israeli media reported Tuesday that the government is now looking into hiring private companies to deliver aid.

Asked about the government’s plans, spokesman David Mencer said: “Israel is looking at many creative solutions to ensure a better future for Gaza.” The army and COGAT, the military body responsible for Palestinian humanitarian affairs, declined comment.

Aid distribution is largely coordinated by UNRWA, the U.N. Agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel accuses the agency of cooperating with Hamas and has banned it from operating on Israeli soil. UNRWA denies the accusations.

“Certainly UNRWA has provided a failed past and we are ensuring that doesn’t continue into a failed future,” Mencer said. With the war in its 14th month, Israel has still not laid out a postwar plan for the territory.

Aid groups say the already grave humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated in recent weeks. Their efforts suffered another blow this week when armed gangs looted nearly 100 trucks loaded with food and other supplies.

Hezbollah says it supports cease-fire negotiations but has some reservations

BEIRUT — Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a televised speech Wednesday that the Lebanese militant group supports the ongoing negotiation process for a cease-fire with Israel after more than 13 months of fighting but had given some “remarks” on the proposal. He added that the outcome depends on Israel’s response.

Kassem’s speech coincided with a two-day visit to Lebanon by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein aimed at clinching a deal to halt the war that has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and more than 130 Israelis.

Speaking from an undisclosed location in a pre-recorded address, Kassem said, “We agree to the current negotiation process.”

Kassem also said that Hezbollah has “some reservations” on the cease-fire proposal, which it gave to the U.S. envoy.

“The cessation of fighting depends on Israel’s response and Netanyahu’s seriousness,” he added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “No one can guarantee” whether this will lead to an actual cease-fire, Kassem said.

He said that any cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel must include “a complete and comprehensive end to the aggression,” preserving Lebanon’s sovereignty and ruling out any freedom of movement for Israel in Lebanese territory.

Kassem said that before his predecessor, longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike on Sept. 27, the militant group had given its “approval of the Biden-Macron proposal” for a 21-day truce, which was under discussion at the time.

Israeli airstrike on Palmyra kills 36 people and causes damage, Syrian media say

DAMASCUS — An Israeli airstrike on the Syrian town of Palmyra, known for the historic Roman temple complex nearby, killed 36 people and wounded more than 50 Wednesday, Syrian state-run media said.

The SANA news agency said the strikes also led to “significant material damage to the targeted buildings and the surrounding area.”

The Israeli military declined to comment on the reported strike in Syria. Israel frequently targets military sites and facilities associated with Iran-linked groups in Syria but rarely acknowledges the strikes. The death toll from Wednesday’s strike was unusually high.

It was not immediately clear if the ruins were damaged. The temple complex already suffered significant damage years ago during the Islamic State group’s rampage across Syria. In 2015, the world watched in horror as the militants blew up an iconic arch and temple in Palmyra.

Since IS lost its hold on the area, restoration work on the site has been held up by security issues, leftover IS landmines and lack of funding.

The strike in Syria comes as negotiations are underway for a potential cease-fire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, but it is unclear if the ceasefire would include Syria.

Israeli bill targets families of minors convicted of security offenses

JERUSALEM — The Israeli parliament has passed a bill stripping some insurance benefits from families of minors convicted of security offenses.

A rights group denounced the legislation as a form of collective punishment of Palestinians.

The bill, which passed 29-8 late Monday, bans direct family members of minors convicted of security offenses from receiving a child allowance, study grants, or other welfare benefits under Israel’s National Insurance program while the minor is imprisoned.

It was passed to “cause parents to supervise their children and make sure that they do not engage in terrorist activity,” according to a press release on the website of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

Legal group Adalah, which called on Israel’s attorney general to withdraw the law, said the true aim of the legislation was “to impose punitive measures under the pretext of counterterrorism by denying welfare benefits.”

Adalah said that because the legislation only applies to those convicted of security offenses, who are overwhelmingly Palestinian, it “creates a distinction on the basis of nationality.”

It’s the latest in a series of measures passed by the Knesset that have been denounced by rights groups as draconian.

A law passed earlier this month would allow Israel to deport family members of Palestinian attackers to Gaza or other locations. In late October, the Knesset passed two laws banning UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, from operating on Israeli soil.

Lebanese army says one of its soldiers was killed by an Israeli airstrike

BEIRUT — A Lebanese army soldier was killed Wednesday by an Israeli airstrike that hit his vehicle on the road linking Burj al-Muluk and Qalaa in southern Lebanon, the army said in a statement. The Israeli military said it was looking into reports.

A day earlier, three soldiers were killed by an airstrike that targeted an army post in the town of Sarafand, near the coastal city of Saida.

Wissam Khalifa, a resident of Sarafand who lives next to the army post and was injured in the strike, said he was shocked that it was targeted.

“It’s a safe residential neighborhood. There is nothing here at all” that would present a target, he said. “Regarding the martyred soldiers, I don’t even know if there was a gun in the center. Why did this strike happen? We have no idea.”

The Lebanese army has not been an active participant in the fighting between Israeli forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah over the past 13 months, but more than 40 soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

Altogether, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, the vast majority of them in the past two months.

Wounded Al Jazeera reporter to be evacuated to Jordan for treatment

AMMAN, Jordan: Israel has allowed an Al Jazeera journalist wounded in an airstrike in Gaza last month to be evacuated to Jordan for medical treatment.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Ali al-Attar had been transferred to the kingdom with his sister in coordination with the World Health Organization. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Al-Attar was wounded by shrapnel when Israeli forces struck makeshift points used by Hamas-run police outside a hospital in central Gaza early on Oct. 7. There were no police present at the time.

Israel banned Al-Jazeera earlier this year, accusing it of serving as a mouthpiece of Hamas. It has also accused six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of being current or former fighters for Hamas and another armed group.

Al Jazeera has denied the allegations and accused Israel of trying to silence critical coverage. The Qatar-based network has reported round-the-clock from Gaza since the start of the war, with its field correspondents focusing on the killing of civilians in Israeli strikes. Several Al Jazeera reporters have themselves been killed or wounded.

Al Jazeera has also regularly broadcast videos released by militant groups in their entirety, including some that show Israeli hostages speaking under duress.

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