Hopes for a ceasefire in Lebanon are growing, as the Lebanese prime minister says he has received assurances from US special envoy Amos Hochstein that a truce could begin before the US election, which takes place on November 5. However, Israeli strikes continue to rain: the IDF claims to have killed several commanders of the Islamist group in new strikes in Nabatiyeh. Raids in villages in the south and east left at least 30 civilians dead, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The new leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, said he was ready to negotiate and continue the fight “for months”.
Information to remember
⇒ The American special envoy suggested to Lebanon that a ceasefire agreement was possible in the coming days
⇒ Hezbollah leader Naïm Qassem says he is ready to negotiate a truce, but also to continue the war “for months”
⇒ New Israeli strikes in South and East Lebanon
07:15
Israel denounces the “hatred” of a UN expert who accuses it of “genocide”
Israel on Wednesday demanded the resignation of an independent UN expert, who denounces “the eradication of Palestinians” from their lands through “genocide”. Francesca Albanese is a controversial expert accused of anti-Semitism by Israel and the United States.
“According to its hate-filled representation of the world, the State of Israel has no historical reason to exist, no right to defend its population, and the October 7 attack and the rescue of the hostages are just one excuse used by Israel”, wrote the Israeli embassy to the UN in Geneva, the day after a new report by the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. “This distorted reality is a smokescreen to hide its hatred towards Israel,” according to the Israeli mission, which only sees the Italian lawyer as a “political activist” who abuses her mandate.
07:00
US envoy suggests ceasefire is possible
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday that US envoy Amos Hochstein had suggested to him that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was possible before the US presidential election scheduled for November 5. “We are doing our best to achieve a ceasefire in the coming hours or days,” Najib Mikati also said, saying he was “cautiously optimistic.”
Israeli TV Channel 12 reported discussions Tuesday evening between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a limited number of Israeli officials regarding a 60-day truce.
The Lebanese Prime Minister also estimated that Hezbollah had “delayed” in dissociating the Lebanese front from the Gaza front. Hezbollah has not officially announced that it is dissociating the two fronts, but recent statements by certain leaders of the pro-Iranian movement suggest a change of position, after Israel weakened the movement by killing several of its leaders.
06:45
Hezbollah command centers hit by Israel
The Israeli army announced Wednesday evening that it had targeted Hezbollah “command centers” and “fuel depots” during strikes carried out during the day on the towns of Baalbeck, in eastern Lebanon, and Nabatiyeh in the south of the country. According to the Lebanese national information agency, around ten towns were bombed in the south and fighting was raging near the border.
The strike near Nabatiyeh (south) killed, according to the Israeli army, the number two of the al-Radwan unit, the elite force of Hezbollah, Moustafa Ahmad Chehadé, after the death of several other leaders, including the leader of the movement, Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel on September 27.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, eleven people also died in Israeli air raids in the village of Sohmor (east), and 19 others, including eight women, in Israeli strikes in the Baalbeck region (east), where the Residents fled en masse on Wednesday after a call from the Israeli army to evacuate.
For its part, the pro-Iranian movement said it had launched several attacks in northern Israel and fired rockets at a “special units training camp” southeast of Tel Aviv.
06:30
Hezbollah leader ready to continue war
The new leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, affirmed on Wednesday that the Lebanese Islamist movement could continue to fight Israel despite the blows it received, while saying he was ready for a ceasefire “under conditions”. “If the Israeli decides that he wants to stop the aggression, we say that we accept, but on the conditions that we deem suitable,” Naim Qassem said in a pre-recorded speech, affirming that “any political solution will take place through negotiations indirect”.
He said in his first speech after his appointment on Tuesday that no serious ceasefire plan was yet on the table. He pledged to continue “the war plan” prepared by his predecessor and added that his group, supported by Iran, could continue the war “for months”. Israel demands in particular the withdrawal of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Israeli border and an international mechanism for applying the truce.