Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu asks Red Cross to help hostages in Gaza
04/08/2025
Migrant boat sinks off Yemen, killing at least 68
Middle East
03/08/2025
Sweida: Clashes rattle civilians as truce frays
Middle East
03/08/2025
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir says he prayed at flashpoint holy site
Middle East
03/08/2025
Humanitarian needs escalate in Sweida as truce frays
Middle East
03/08/2025
'We want this war to be over': Israeli hostage families protest in Tel Aviv
Middle East
03/08/2025
'My children sleep without food': Gaza aid fails to reach most desperate
Middle East
03/08/2025
'Famine is unfolding. It's not pending anymore': Why isn't enough food reaching people in Gaza?
Middle East
02/08/2025
FRANCE 24 report in Sweida: Tens of thousands displaced since clashes began
Middle East
02/08/2025
Italy to begin air drops of aid into Gaza, minister says
Middle East
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Lebanon tasks army with securing a monopoly on arms in challenge to Hezbollah
Lebanon 's government on Tuesday tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict arms to the state by year end, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said, an unprecedented move that paves the way for disarming Hezbollah. After a nearly six-hour cabinet session headed by President Joseph Aoun on disarming the Iran-backed militant group, Salam said the government "tasked the Lebanese army with setting an implementation plan to restrict weapons" to the army and other state forces "before the end of this year". The plan is to be presented to the cabinet by the end of August for discussion and approval, he told a press conference after the marathon session. A November ceasefire deal that sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah stated that Lebanese government authorities such as the army, security forces and local police are "the exclusive bearers of weapons in Lebanon". Salam said the cabinet would continue discussions this week on a proposal from US envoy Tom Barrack that includes a timetable for disarming Hezbollah. Information Minister Paul Morcos said that the cabinet "set a deadline of the end of the year to consolidate arms in the hands of the Lebanese state". He said Hezbollah-affiliated Health Minister Rakan Nassereldine and Environment Minister Tamara Elzein, who is affiliated with its ally the Amal movement, "withdrew from the session because they did not agree with the cabinet decision". Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem had said a short time earlier, as the cabinet was in session, that "any timetable presented for implementation under... Israeli aggression cannot be agreed to". "Whoever looks at the deal Barrack brought doesn't find an agreement but dictates," he said, arguing that "it removes the strength and capabilities of Hezbollah and Lebanon entirely."
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Lebanon plans to disarm Hezbollah by year end
The thorny decision follows heavy US pressure and comes as part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah including two months of all-out war. The cabinet held a nearly six-hour cabinet session on Tuesday headed by President Joseph Aoun on disarming the group, which emerged badly weakened from the latest war, with its arsenal pummelled and its senior leadership decimated. The Iran-backed group is the only faction that kept its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, doing so in the name of "resistance" against Israel, which occupied the country's south until 2000. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the government "tasked the Lebanese army with setting an implementation plan to restrict weapons" to the army and other state forces "before the end of this year". Under the ceasefire, government authorities including the army and internal security forces should be the exclusive bearers of weapons in Lebanon. The cabinet is to continue discussions this week on a proposal from US envoy Tom Barrack that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament. Timetable Information Minister Paul Morcos said Hezbollah-affiliated Health Minister Rakan Nassereldine and Environment Minister Tamara Elzein, who is affiliated with its ally the Amal movement, "withdrew from the session because they did not agree with the cabinet decision". Long the strongest political force in Lebanon -- with detractors accusing it of using the threat of its weaponry to impose its will on domestic decisions -- Hezbollah has also seen that influence diminish since the conflict. The group's chief Naim Qassem, in a televised address while the cabinet meeting was underway, said it would not disarm while Israeli attacks continue. "Any timetable presented for implementation under... Israeli aggression cannot be agreed to," he said. Israel has kept up raids on Lebanon despite the November truce, mostly saying it is striking Hezbollah targets, and has threatened to keep doing so until the group has been disarmed. On Tuesday, Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike in Brital in the country's east killed one person. "Are we being asked to engage in dialogue, or to surrender our weapons without dialogue?" Qassem said. Hezbollah supporters on mopeds and motorbikes roamed Beirut's southern suburbs where the group enjoys strong support, brandishing the party's yellow flag and pictures of its leaders, an AFP photographer said. 'Dictates' Qassem criticised the US envoy's plan on disarming the group. "Whoever looks at the deal Barrack brought doesn't find an agreement but dictates," he said, arguing that "it removes the strength and capabilities of Hezbollah and Lebanon entirely." Last month, Barrack urged Lebanon to "act now" to impose a state weapons monopoly. A Lebanese official with knowledge of the talks told AFP on condition of anonymity that Hezbollah will not surrender its weapons "without something in return -- the Americans know this well". Aoun last week said Lebanon was committed to removing "weapons from all armed groups including Hezbollah" and seeing them surrendered to Lebanon's army. Lebanon is at "a crucial stage" and must choose "between collapse and stability", Aoun had said. The international community has linked its support for the crisis-hit country to disarming the group, while Washington has failed to provide guarantees it will prevent Israel from attacking Lebanon. Qassem warned Israel against launching any new "large-scale aggression" because "if it does, Hezbollah will go on the defensive, "and this defence will lead to rockets falling inside the Israeli entity". Before discussing the fate of its weapons, which it considers a matter of domestic defence strategy, Hezbollah has demanded that reconstruction of areas destroyed during the war begin. It has also demanded that Israel stop its attacks, withdraw from five border areas it has occupied since the war and release Lebanese prisoners. Ahead of the cabinet meeting, David Wood from the International Crisis Group said the militant group could apply pressure by objecting officially or encourage its supporters to demonstrate but a domestic confrontation was "not in Hezbollah's interest".
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
Hezbollah warns of resumed missile fire at Israel if it intensifies operations in Lebanon
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Tuesday that if Israel intensifies its military operations against his group, the Iran-backed armed faction will resume firing missiles toward Israel. Naim Kassem's comments came as Lebanon's cabinet was meeting to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament. Beirut is under US pressure to disarm the group that recently fought a 14-month war with Israel and was left gravely weakened, with many of its political and military leaders dead. Since the war ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops near-daily air strikes that have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members. Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities. Israel's military has said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis were displaced during the war. Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for one attack on a disputed area along the border. In a televised speech Tuesday, Kassem said Hezbollah rejects any timetable to hand over its weapons. 'Israel's interest is not to widen the aggression because if they expand, the resistance will defend, the army will defend and the people will defend,' Kassem said. 'This defense will lead to the fall of missiles inside Israel.' Since the war ended, Hezbollah has withdrawn most of its fighters and weapons from the area along the border with Israel south of the Litani river. Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated calls for Hezbollah to give up its weapons, angering the group's leadership. The ceasefire agreement left vague how Hezbollah's weapons and military facilities north of the Litani river should be treated, saying Lebanese authorities should dismantle unauthorised facilities starting with the area south of the river. Hezbollah maintains the deal only covers the area south of the Litani, while Israel and the US say it mandates disarmament of the group throughout Lebanon. Kassem said Hezbollah rejects a government vote over its weapons, saying such a decision should be unanimously backed by all Lebanese. "No one can deprive Lebanon of its force to protect its sovereignty,' Kassem said. Hezbollah's weapons are a divisive issue among Lebanese, with some groups calling for its disarmament. The Israel-Hezbollah war started a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack against Israel from Gaza. It left more than 4,000 people dead and caused damage worth $11 billion.
