Hamas rejects Israel's Gaza relocation plan
The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel in southern Gaza Strip was a "blatant deception."
Reuters
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Nahar Net
29 minutes ago
- Nahar Net
Europe pushes back as US seeks to end UN peacekeeping in Lebanon
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 August 2025, 11:35 The future of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon has split the United States and its European allies, raising implications for security in the Middle East and becoming the latest snag to vex relations between the U.S. and key partners like France, Britain and Italy. At issue is the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, whose mandate expires at the end of August and will need to be renewed by the U.N. Security Council to continue. It was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel's 1978 invasion, and its mission was expanded following the monthlong 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The multinational force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year, but has drawn criticism from both sides and numerous U.S. lawmakers, some of whom now hold prominent roles in President Donald Trump's administration or wield new influence with the White House. Trump administration political appointees came into office this year with the aim of shutting down UNIFIL as soon as possible. They regard the operation as an ineffectual waste of money that is merely delaying the U.S. goal of eliminating Hezbollah's influence and restoring full security control to the Lebanese Armed Forces that the government says it is not yet capable of doing. After securing major cuts in U.S. funding to the peacekeeping force, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off early this month on a plan that would wind down and end UNIFIL in the next six months, according to Trump administration officials and congressional aides familiar with the discussions. It's another step as the Trump administration drastically pares back its foreign affairs priorities and budget, including expressing skepticism of international alliances and cutting funding to U.N. agencies and missions. The transatlantic divide also has been apparent on issues ranging from Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict to trade, technology and free speech issues. Israel has for years sought an end to UNIFIL's mandate, and renewal votes have often come after weeks of political wrangling. Now, the stakes are particularly high after last year's war and more vigorous opposition in Washington. European nations, notably France and Italy, have objected to winding down UNIFIL. With the support of Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Lebanon, they successfully lobbied Rubio and others to support a one-year extension of the peacekeeping mandate followed by a time-certain wind-down period of six months, according to the administration officials and congressional aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic negotiations. Israel also reluctantly agreed to an extension, they said. The European argument was that prematurely ending UNIFIL before the Lebanese Army is able to fully secure the border area would create a vacuum that Hezbollah could easily exploit. The French noted that when a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali was terminated before government troops were ready to deal with security threats, Islamic extremists moved in. With the U.S. easing off, the issue ahead of the U.N. vote expected at the end of August now appears to be resistance by France and others to setting a firm deadline for the operation to end after the one-year extension, according to the officials and congressional aides. The final French draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, does not include a date for UNIFIL's withdrawal, which U.S. officials say is required for their support. Instead, it would extend the peacekeeping mission for one year and indicates the U.N. Security Council's "intention to work on a withdrawal." But even if the mandate is renewed, the peacekeeping mission might be scaled down for financial reasons, with the U.N. system likely facing drastic budget cuts, said a U.N. official, who was not authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. One of the U.S. officials said an option being considered was reducing UNIFIL's numbers while boosting its technological means to monitor the situation on the ground. There are about 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese Army has around 6,000 soldiers, a number that is supposed to increase to 10,000. Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon have frequently accused the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel and sometimes attacked peacekeepers on patrol. Israel, meanwhile, has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah's military activities in southern Lebanon and lobbied for its mandate to end. Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence analyst and founder of the Israeli think tank Alma Research and Education Center, said UNIFIL has played a "damaging role with regard to the mission of disarming Hezbollah in south Lebanon." She pointed to the discovery of Hezbollah tunnels and weapons caches close to UNIFIL facilities during and after last year's Israel-Hezbollah war, when much of the militant group's senior leadership was killed and much of its arsenal destroyed. Hezbollah is now under increasing pressure to give up the rest of its weapons. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNIFIL continues to discover unauthorized weapons, including rocket launchers, mortar rounds and bomb fuses, this week, which it reported to the Lebanese Army. Under the U.S.- and France-brokered ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese Army taking control in conjunction with UNIFIL. Israel has continued to occupy five strategic points on the Lebanese side and carry out near-daily airstrikes that it says aim to stop Hezbollah from regrouping. Lebanese officials have called for UNIFIL to remain, saying the country's cash-strapped and overstretched army is not yet able to patrol the full area on its own until it. Retired Lebanese Army Gen. Khalil Helou said that if UNIFIL's mandate were to abruptly end, soldiers would need to be pulled away from the porous border with Syria, where smuggling is rife, or from other areas inside of Lebanon — "and this could have consequences for the stability" of the country. UNIFIL "is maybe not fulfilling 100% what the Western powers or Israel desire. But for Lebanon, their presence is important," he said. The United Nations also calls the peacekeepers critical to regional stability, Dujarric said. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said deciding on the renewal of the mandate is the prerogative of the U.N. Security Council. "We are here to assist the parties in implementation of the mission's mandate and we're waiting for the final decision," he said.
LBCI
11 hours ago
- LBCI
Israelis stage nationwide protests to demand end to Gaza war and release of hostages
Thousands of Israelis took part in a nationwide strike on Sunday in support of families of hostages held in Gaza, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement with Hamas to end the war and release the remaining captives. Demonstrators waved Israeli flags and carried photos of hostages as whistles, horns, and drums echoed at rallies across the country, while some protesters blocked streets and highways, including the main route between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
L'Orient-Le Jour
14 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
'They need a Nakba every once in a while,' says former Israeli military intelligence chief
Former Israeli military intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, who was in office during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and has been blamed for failing to prevent it, said the human toll in the Gaza Strip is 'necessary,' adding that '[Palestinians] need a Nakba every once in a while,' according to a series of undated recordings aired Friday night by Israeli Channel 12, Israeli media reported. The Nakba, Arabic for 'catastrophe,' refers to 1948, when about 760,000 Palestinian Arabs were violently expelled and displaced from their homes during Israel's occupation of Palestine. In the Columbia Law Review, Palestinian legal scholar Rabea Eghbariah argued for recognition of the Nakba as a concept in international law and genocide studies to better understand what he described as the 'domination regime in Palestine.' 'The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations,' Haliva said, though the Health Ministry in Gaza puts the death toll at more than 61,000. 'For everything that happened on Oct. 7, for every person killed on Oct. 7, 50 Palestinians must die,' he said. 'I am not saying this out of revenge, but as a message to future generations,' he added. 'They need a Nakba from time to time in order to feel the consequences. There is no alternative in this deranged neighborhood.' A May poll by Penn State University found that 82 percent of Israeli Jews supported the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza. 'Hamas is good for Israel' Haliva also accused the Israeli government of deliberately allowing Hamas to rise to 'fight freely.' He said a plan drafted after the 2014 Gaza war to dismantle Hamas 'was never considered for implementation.' Instead, he argued, some leaders embraced the idea that 'Hamas is good for Israel — that's the argument of [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich,' according to remarks cited by the Times of Israel. Haliva claimed the far-right minister seeks to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and allow Hamas to take over the West Bank. 'Why? Because if the whole Palestinian arena is destabilized and goes insane, it is impossible to negotiate with, and there will be no agreement,' he said. 'Who decided to differentiate Gaza from the West Bank? The prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu]!' Haliva, who resigned in April 2024, six months after Oct. 7, accused Netanyahu of enabling Hamas's rule in Gaza, which took power in the 2006 legislative elections following Israel's 2005 withdrawal. 'He wants Hamas, which is far worse than the PA. Why does he want Hamas? Because the PA has international status,' Haliva said. 'Hamas is an organization that can be fought freely. It has no international justification, no legitimacy. You can fight it with the sword.'
