Maintaining military pressure, the Israeli army is meanwhile carrying out incessant strikes on the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, on its southern border, and in southern Lebanon, on its northern border, according to local sources.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza was launched in response to an attack carried out on October 7, 2023 against Israel by Palestinian Hamas. The next day and in support of Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah opened a front against neighboring Israel before cross-border shooting degenerated into open war in September.
A few days before the presidential election in the United States on November 5 and against a backdrop of accelerated efforts towards a ceasefire, White House officials, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, visited Israel to discuss “a political solution” in Lebanon and “ways to end the conflict in Gaza,” according to the State Department.
According to the Israel Hayom newspaper, the Americans hope to reach a framework agreement in the coming days, while Israeli leaders want to neutralize Hezbollah in the border regions of southern Lebanon, stop its rocket attacks and allow the return of some 60,000 displaced in northern Israel.
In Israel, discussions between officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a truce framework are underway. Israel, Israeli Channel 12 said, demands the withdrawal of Hezbollah north of the Litani River, the deployment of the Lebanese army to the Israeli border, an international truce enforcement mechanism and a guarantee that Israel will retain its freedom action in the event of threats.
– “Houses blown up” –
On Wednesday, the new leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, affirmed that his movement could continue to fight Israel despite the blows inflicted by this country, while saying he was ready for a ceasefire “under conditions”, without specifying which ones. .
The same day, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Hochstein had suggested a ceasefire was possible before the US presidential election.
Mr. Mikati further estimated that Hezbollah had “delayed” in dissociating the Lebanese front from the Gaza front, while Hezbollah, whose leadership was decimated by Israel, had vowed to fight the “enemy” until the end of “Israeli aggression in Gaza”.
After weakening Hamas in Gaza, Israel has concentrated its operations in Lebanon since September 23 with intense and deadly Israeli strikes mainly on Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east of the country, and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. His army further launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon on September 30.
On Thursday, the Israeli army “dynamized a mosque and several houses” in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese national press agency.
Clashes between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah took place in the village of Khiam (south) where soldiers are trying to advance, Ani added. Heavy detonations were heard in Kfar Kila, near Khiam.
In Lebanon, more than 1,780 people have been killed since September 23, according to an AFP count based on official data.
– Bombings in Gaza –
In the devastated Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continues its strikes against Hamas and has mainly concentrated its offensive in the north of the territory since October 6, where according to it Hamas is seeking to regroup its forces.
Seven nighttime airstrikes targeted Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Gaza City, according to witnesses.
The mediating countries – Egypt, United States, Qatar – are preparing to propose a truce “of less than a month” in Gaza, providing for an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and an increase in humanitarian aid in the Palestinian territory threatened with famine according to the UN, according to a source close to the negotiations.
A Hamas official said Wednesday that the movement had not received an official proposal for a truce but that it would study any plan including an Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the attack it carried out on October 7, 2023 on its soil and which led to the death of 1,206 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. , including hostages killed or died in captivity.
That day, 251 people were kidnapped. A total of 97 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza left 43,163 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry.
