Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East ahead of Tuesday’s US presidential election were dashed as the fighting continued in Lebanon and Gaza on Friday.
Senior US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk left the region after talks with Lebanese and Israeli leaders, indicating that an agreement was not imminent. US secretary of state Antony Blinken had said the negotiators were making “good progress” on a potential deal, beginning with a 60-day ceasefire.
Holding up a deal to end the fighting in Lebanon is Israel’s insistence that it will act militarily if Hizbullah violates an agreement to keep its fighters from the border or attempts to rearm. Lebanon says such a condition would constitute an infringement of its sovereignty.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said enforcing security was his main priority. “As for the talk about an arrangement in Lebanon, I would like to make it clear: The agreements, documents, proposals and numbers – [UN resolutions] 1701, 1559 – with all due respect, are not the main point. The main point is our ability and determination to enforce security, thwart attacks against us and act against the arming of our enemies as necessary and despite any pressure and constraints.”
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Israel has continued its strikes against Hizbullah targets across Lebanon, including in the Dahiyeh quarter in Beirut after a four-day pause. Thirty-five people were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes on Baalbek, a Hizbullah stronghold northeast of Beirut, on Friday.
At least 2,897 people have been killed in by the Israeli offensive in Lebanon, according to the health ministry, and 1.2 million displaced. Hizbullah started firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The Hizbullah attacks have prompted some 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes close to the Lebanese border. Israel escalated the war and invaded southern Lebanon five weeks ago in what it said was an effort to force militants from the border area.
A Hamas delegation has rejected a new Gaza ceasefire proposal presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. The proposal included a release of some hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a limited truce of a few days, an increase in the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
“Our delegation reiterated that what our people demands is for a complete, comprehensive and permanent cessation of hostilities, a full withdrawal [of Israeli forces] from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced Gazans to their homes and the lifting of the blockade,” a Hamas source added.
The Hamas–run health ministry said more than 70 people were killed in Israeli strikes in central Gaza early on Friday. According to the ministry, more than 43,200 people have been killed since the start of the Gaza war on October 7th, 2023.
The Israeli military said it had killed senior Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab, describing him as one of the last surviving high-ranking members of Hamas responsible for co-ordinating with other groups in Gaza, in an air strike in Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, Israel remains on high alert following a number of threats from leading Iranian officials that Tehran plans an attack to avenge an Israeli strike last weekend that caused significant damage to Iran’s air defence and rocket production facilities. Israel believes Iran is likely to choose Iraqi territory to launch a retaliatory strike, according to foreign reports. The emerging scenario includes a combined attack of drones and ballistic missiles, to be carried out by pro-Iranian militias operating in the region.
Israel has made it clear that any action taken by Iranian proxies in Iraq would be considered a direct attack by Tehran and Israel would hit back against Iranian territory.
