There is no hope, at least for now, for a truce in Lebanon. The American and French proposal for a 21-day halt to hostilities, supported by the EU and other countries, was rejected by Benyamin Netanyahu , who according to Washington first accepted the ceasefire but then ordered to persist with attacks against Hezbollah positions. The result, yet another wave of raids and a new blitz targeted at Beirut, to eliminate the Shiite commander responsible for the drone attacks.
The diplomatic initiative on Lebanon has accelerated after the Israeli army announced preparations for a ground incursion. An escalation that according to Joe Biden risks leading to a large-scale conflict in the Middle East. The American president met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to agree on a strategy.
In a joint statement, the two leaders called for "an agreement on the border between Israel and Lebanon that guarantees safety and protection to allow civilians to return to their homes." The plan - also signed by the United Kingdom, the EU, Italy, Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar - provides for a three-week ceasefire to allow for broader negotiations, including on Gaza . Hopes for a break in hostilities were dashed by Netanyahu's wall. The Israeli prime minister, who arrived in New York to speak at the UN, did not even respond to the appeal from the United States and France, as his office said. Indeed, as soon as he set foot on land after the trip, he peremptorily stated that "we will continue to hit Hezbollah with full force until we return the residents of the north to their homes."
A decision greeted with ill-concealed irritation by the White House, which in the evening pointed out through spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre that the joint declaration for the ceasefire had been "coordinated" precisely with Israel. The last-minute about-face, with concessions offered and then withdrawn, is a tactic that Netanyahu has already adopted during the conflict in Gaza. And just as he promised to do in the Strip, the Israeli leader has announced that he wants to go all the way in Lebanon too, to definitively dismantle Hezbollah. Bibi, moreover, seemed to bet once again on the fact that the US, when it comes to choosing sides, has always sided with the Jewish state. As demonstrated by yet another huge package of 8.7 billion dollars in military aid.
The Israeli leader, to go all the way against Hezbollah, considers a further show of strength necessary. In this direction, the IDF announced that it conducted an exercise with a tank brigade "a few kilometers from the Lebanese border, in mountainous terrain" to "improve operational and logistical readiness for various combat scenarios in enemy territory on the northern front": once again, a dress rehearsal for an invasion. In the meantime, for the fourth consecutive day, the air force has bombed Lebanon intensively, claiming to have hit 75 Hezbollah military targets in the south and in the Bekaa Valley, up to the border with Syria.
In the Lebanese capital, Mohammed Surur, head of the faction's air units, was targeted. Another big shot of the Party of God's military elite, who had been sent to Yemen to train the Houthis in drone strikes. According to IDF sources, Surur was killed. From Lebanon, around 150 rockets were fired towards Israel in a single day, reaching as far as Haifa and the city of Safad. The death toll in the country of the cedars has continued to rise. On Thursday alone, according to Lebanese authorities, 81 people were killed, including an 87-year-old French citizen, in the collapse of a building . There have been over 700 victims since Monday. A tragedy in which the EU has "deplored the heavy price paid by civilians, including children and UN personnel". The situation of the displaced, who have reached one hundred thousand, is also disastrous.
(Online Union)
