Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said Tuesday he had toured villages in southern Lebanon.with a stop in the villages of Kfar Kila and Adaïssé“, both in the east of the country.”I inspected areas that the terrorist group Hezbollah has transformed into forward military bases, using their infrastructure and residents as human shields“, he added on the social networkcarrying an important and clear message“.
A little earlier, the IDF announced the death of one of its soldiers in Lebanon, bringing to 49 the number of its soldiers killed since the start of its ground offensive in Lebanese territory on September 30. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, the majority since September 23. Among them, more than 200 children were killed in nearly two months of war, an average of “more than three” per day, according to Unicef.
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A “real opportunity”
Despite the escalation of tensions, “we have a real opportunity to end“to the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, declared Tuesday the special envoy of the American president, Amos Hochstein, currently in Beirut to negotiate a truce between the two belligerents.”It is the parties who must decide to put an end to this conflict“, he continued, before adding that “it’s now within reach“.
The American ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, presented last Thursday to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, and to the head of Parliament, Nabih Berri, a 13-point plan. The latter provides for a 60-day truce and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country.
In an interview with Israeli media Al-Awsat after a meeting with Mr. Hochstein, Parliament Speaker Naibh Berry said:that only a few details remain to be resolved“. He clarified. “that a representative from him and another from the Americans are responsible for discussing certain technical aspects [de l’accord] to finalize them before moving on to the next step, which will be Hochstein’s departure for Israel. We wait to see what he brings back“.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, warned Monday evening that Israel “will lead[it] operations“military forces against Hezbollah even in the event of a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.
Israel says it wants to remove the “party of God” border regions of southern Lebanon to allow the return of some 60,000 Israelis from the north of the country displaced by the shooting of the armed movement. More than a year after the first attacks carried out by Hezbollah against the Hebrew state on October 8 2023, all the initiatives aimed at a ceasefire in Lebanon undertaken by France and the United States have so far failed.
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