50 years after Lebanon's civil war began, a bullet-riddled bus stands as a reminder
What happened next on April 13, 1975, would change the course of Lebanon, plunging it into 15 years of civil war. It would kill about 150,000 people, leave 17,000 missing and lead to foreign intervention. Beirut became synonymous with snipers, kidnappings and car bombs.
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Israel's settlement plan to split the West Bank in 2 gains momentum
LONDON -- A controversial Israeli settlement plan that would effectively split the West Bank in two is gaining momentum after a key government committee -- the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration under the Defense Ministry -- gave its approval. The settlement proposal approved by the Israel Defense Ministry on Wednesday consists of a plan to build 3,400 new housing units in an area known as E1 -- an area of land some 4.6 square miles in size separating Jerusalem from the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. The E1 area is particularly significant, given it is one of the last areas linking the West Bank Palestinian cities of Ramallah in the north and Bethlehem in the south. The construction of Israeli settlements there -- which has been proposed for decades but until now not approved -- is considered by supporters and critics alike as a major obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Any new settlement construction is expected to restrict the movement of Palestinians in the area. Israeli authorities maintain tight restrictions on Palestinian entry into and movement inside illegal settlements, as reported by the United Nations and a host of foreign, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. Bedouins – the descendants of historically semi-nomadic groups, many of whom now live in agricultural areas of the West Bank -- currently living in the area said this week that they have already received orders to leave. Atallah Al-Jahelin, the representative of the Bedouin community of Jabal Al-Baba to the west of Maale Adumim, said locals there had received notice of planned demolition works related to the plans. E1 is designated as part of Area C, which means Israel has full civil and security control there. Some 60% of the West Bank is designated as Area C, with only 18% classified as Area A, meaning it is under full Palestinian Authority control. Israel's far-right, pro-settlement Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the plan last week, saying it "definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state, simply because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize." "The seal has broken," Smotrich said at a press conference in Maale Adumim. "Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today, will receive our answer on the ground," he added, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "fully apply Israeli sovereignty" to the entire West Bank. Netanyahu has yet to comment on the plan. In a statement posted to X, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the E1 plan "undermines the prospects of implementing the two-state solution, embodying the Palestinian state on the ground, and fragments its geographical and demographic unity." "It entrenches the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons, disconnected from one another geographically, resembling actual prisons where movement between them is only possible through occupation checkpoints amidst the terror of armed settler militias spread throughout the West Bank," the ministry added. Locals have also condemned the move. Atallah Al-Jahelin, the representative of the Bedouin community of Jabal Al-Baba to the west of Maale Adumim, said some residents have already received orders to vacate their homes ahead of planned demolition works. Western governments have also expressed their opposition to the plan. British Foreign Minister David Lammy said of the proposal in a post to X, "If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution." The White House has not commented on the E1 settlement plan, but U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee this week signaled it will not interfere. "We will not dictate to Israel what to do, we will not interfere in the running of the country,' he said. 'It would be very strange to say that others can live in this area but Israelis cannot." Past U.S. administrations have opposed the construction of Israeli settlements in the E1 area. The German Foreign Ministry said Berlin opposed the plan as it "would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, effectively divide the West Bank into two halves and cut East Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank." The French Foreign Ministry urged the Israeli government to abandon the plan, which it said "constitutes a serious violation of international law." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will recognize an independent Palestinian state in September when the U.N. General Assembly convenes in New York unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and take other steps toward long-term peace. French President Emmanuel Macron has also announced that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly.
Washington Post
31 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Palestinian factions begin handing over weapons at Beirut refugee camp
Palestinian factions began handing over some of the weapons held in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut to the Lebanese army Thursday, an initial step in implementing a plan officials announced three months earlier for removing arms from the camps. It was a modest first step. One pickup left the camp loaded with light weapons packed in bags. The butts of machine guns could be seen protruding from some of the sacks.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Palestinians flee Gaza City as Israel says first stages of assault have begun
Large numbers of Palestinians are continuing to flee Gaza City after the Israeli military began the first stages of a planned ground offensive, officials in the city say. Israel's troops have established a foothold on the outskirts of the city - which is home to more than a million Palestinians - after days of intense bombing and artillery fire. It has prompted UN Secretary General António Guterres to renew calls for an immediate ceasefire "to avoid the death and destruction" an assault would "inevitably cause". Israel wants to signal that it is pressing ahead with its plan to capture all of Gaza City despite international criticism. A military spokesman said troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to lay the groundwork for the offensive, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and which will be put to the security cabinet later this week. Around 60,000 reservists are being called up for the beginning of September to free up active-duty personnel for the operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "shortening the timelines" for seizing what he described as "the last terror strongholds" in Gaza. In a statement, Hamas accused the Israeli leader of continuing a "brutal war against innocent civilians in Gaza City" and criticised what it said was his "disregard" for a new ceasefire proposal from regional mediators. Israel has yet to formally respond to the plan. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza as preparations for Israel's takeover plan get under way. Many of Israel's allies have condemned its plan, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning on Wednesday that it "can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war". The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said further displacement and an intensification of hostilities "risk worsening an already catastrophic situation" for Gaza's 2.1 million population. Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month. What we know about Israel's plan to take over Gaza City Speaking at a televised briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Hamas was "battered and bruised" after 22 months of war. "We will deepen the damage to Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation," he added. "We will deepen the damage to the terror infrastructure above and below the ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas." But Defrin said the IDF was "not waiting" to begin the operation. "We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City." Two brigades were operating on the ground in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, where in recent days they had located an underground tunnel that contained weapons, and a third brigade was operating in the Jabalia area, he added. In order to "minimise harm to civilians," he said, Gaza City's civilian population would be warned to evacuate for their safety. A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods. The agency reported that Israeli strikes and fire had killed 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. They included three children and their parents whose home in the Badr area of Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed, it said. Defrin said the IDF was also doing everything possible to prevent harm to the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Their families have expressed fears that those in Gaza City could be endangered by a ground offensive. The ICRC warned of a catastrophic situation for both Palestinian civilians and the hostages if military activity in Gaza intensified. "After months of relentless hostilities and repeated displacement, the people in Gaza are utterly exhausted. What they need is not more pressure, but relief. Not more fear, but a chance to breathe. They must have access to the essentials to live in dignity: food, medical and hygiene supplies, clean water, and safe shelter," a statement said. "Any further intensification of military operations will only deepen the suffering, tear more families apart, and threaten an irreversible humanitarian crisis. The lives of hostages may also be put at risk," it added. It called for an immediate ceasefire and the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance across Gaza. The UN secretary general also called for the unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas. Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to secure a ceasefire deal and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the hostages, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday. Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. On Wednesday Hamas accused Netanyahu of disregarding the mediators' ceasefire proposal and said he was the "real obstructionist of any agreement", according to a statement cited by Reuters. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties. Israel demands release of all Gaza hostages, casting doubt on ceasefire proposal Hamas source says group agrees to latest Gaza ceasefire proposal Bowen: Netanyahu is presiding over a divided Israel - the fault lines are now chasms
