► An Israeli minister threatens Hezbollah with destruction
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday, June 18, threatened the Lebanese Hezbollah movement with destruction following a “total war”while cross-border shootings have continued since October 7.
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“We are very close to the moment when we will decide to change the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be hit hard”said Israel Katz, according to a press release from his office.
► Israeli intelligence knew that Hamas was preparing a hostage taking before October 7
Israeli military intelligence was aware shortly before October 7 of a planned Hamas attack whose aim was to take several hundred hostages in Israel, according to information from Israeli public broadcaster KAN published on Tuesday June 17.
Unit 8200, responsible for eavesdropping, wrote a report on September 19 detailing training by elite units of the Palestinian Islamist movement with a view to raids against military positions and kibbutzim in southern Israel, i.e. less than three weeks before Hamas launched its devastating October 7 attack, KAN reported.
Intelligence officials within the military’s Southern Command, which is responsible for the Gaza Strip, were aware of the report, KAN added, citing unnamed security officials.
The Unit 8200 memo mentions that the training of Hamas fighters focused on attacking military bases and “transfer of captive soldiers to company commanders”.
► Netanyahu to meet families of dead hostages in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited relatives of hostages killed in Gaza to a meeting at his residence, several families said, as criticism mounts over his response to the hostage crisis.
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“I was invited to meet the Prime Minister” confirmed Sharon Sharabi, whose two brothers, Yossi and Eli Sharabi, were kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Beeri, where they lived. He said he intended to accept this invitation on June 23. In February, the army told him that his brother Yossi had been killed and that his body was in the hands of Hamas.
A family member of a hostage who died in captivity said on condition of anonymity that she had declined the invitation. “He remembered a little late to invite us”she commented.
► Biden’s envoy considers “urgent” a de-escalation between Hezbollah and Israel
US special envoy Amos Hochstein called for a de-escalation of” emergency “ of the conflict between the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah and Israel on the border between the two countries, against a backdrop of war in Gaza.
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“The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has lasted long enough”said President Joe Biden’s envoy during a visit to Beirut, after a trip to Jerusalem. “It is in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and through diplomacy, it is both achievable and urgent. »
Hezbollah intensified its attacks on military targets in the north of the country last week, after one of its top commanders was killed in an Israeli strike. The movement, however, has not claimed any attack against Israel since Saturday afternoon, despite Israeli strikes on the border area in southern Lebanon, including one on Monday that killed a fighter.
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The situation is ” severe ” and the United States wants to avoid “a large-scale war”, said Amos Hochstein, who spoke in Beirut with the President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri.
► Calm in the fighting
In Gaza, witnesses reported Israeli strikes during the night from Monday to Tuesday in a context that was, however, calmer since the start of a humanitarian pause observed by the army in a sector of the south.
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The army announced a pause “from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. until further notice, on a road section of around ten kilometers going from the Israeli crossing point of Kerem Shalom, at the southern end of the territory, to the European Hospital of Rafah, a little further north.
This pause, announced on Sunday to coincide with the first day of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, was decided by the army to facilitate the delivery of aid that Gazans sorely need. .
► Demonstrations against the Netanyahu government
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Monday against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over its conduct of the war in Gaza and its inability to negotiate the release of dozens of hostages still held in the Palestinian territory.
War in Gaza: fragile hope for a ceasefire
” All ! NOW ! », they chanted, before observing a minute of silence for those still held in the territory. Some protesters wore t-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as “Stop the war” And ” We are all equal “.
Similar protests have brought together tens of thousands of people in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city, in recent weeks. Demonstrators went to Jerusalem in front of Parliament and the residence of Benjamin Netanyahu, calling in particular for early elections.
► Several hostages alive “certainly”
A senior Israeli official involved in negotiations for the release of the hostages said Israel knew for certain that several dozen hostages held in Gaza were alive.
“Dozens (of hostages) are definitely alive”said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “We can’t leave them there for long, they will die”he added.
Of 251 people kidnapped during the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel on October 7, 116 are still being held hostage in Gaza, of whom 41 are dead, according to the army. While negotiations seem to be stalling, the Israeli negotiator reiterated Israel’s refusal to immediately accept a permanent ceasefire.
