Latest news with #Israel Katz
Al Jazeera
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israeli air strikes kill 12 in eastern Lebanon despite ceasefire
Israeli air strikes have killed at least 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media reports, in what Israel said was a warning to the armed group against trying to re-establish itself. Eight other people were wounded on Tuesday in the Israeli air strikes that hit the Wadi Fara area in the northern Bekaa Valley, including a camp for displaced Syrians, Lebanon's National News Agency said. The Israeli military said its air strikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses the group used to store weapons. The air strikes were the deadliest on the area since a United States-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November – a truce repeatedly violated by Israel, which has carried out near-daily strikes across parts of the country. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals. Israel dealt Hezbollah significant blows in last year's war, assassinating its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a 'clear message' to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force. Israel 'will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding', he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement. There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes. Under the November ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region. Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country, but has kept them in five places it deems strategic. The US has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting air strikes and withdrawing troops from the positions they still hold in south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
Israel Katz's Rafah zone: Humanitarian façade for forced displacement
Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday that he has instructed the military and his ministry to draft a plan to establish a so-called "humanitarian city" in the southern Gaza Strip, on the ruins of the destroyed city of Rafah, Israeli media reported. According to Katz, the proposed area would initially accommodate around 600,000 Palestinians currently residing in the al-Mawasi coastal region after being displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip. Entry to the area would follow screening procedures aimed at identifying Hamas Resistance fighters, and movement out of the zone would be restricted, the Israeli minister said. Read more: Tony Blair Institute linked to disturbing Gaza reconstruction plan: FT Katz claimed that the broader goal is to relocate the entire Palestinian civilian population of the Strip into this zone, while the Israeli occupation forces maintain security control from a distance. International bodies would be tasked with managing the area, and four new aid distribution centers would be established within it, he added. In the briefing, Katz reiterated his long-term objective of promoting what he described as the "voluntary emigration" of Palestinians from Gaza, stating that such a plan "should be fulfilled." It remains unclear whether the area would serve as a temporary holding zone, as suggested in a Reuters report earlier in the day, which described so-called "Humanitarian Transit Areas" for Gaza's residents to 'temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so.' Amir Baram, Director General of the Israeli Security Ministry, has reportedly begun advancing plans for the project. However, Katz did not name any specific organizations to run the area, and with the exception of the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, few are expected to support a plan involving mass displacement, The Times of Israel noted. The Israeli news website pointed out that there are increasing concerns that the Israeli occupation intends to establish settlements in areas from which Palestinians are forcibly displaced. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that this is part of the plan, he remains under pressure from far-right coalition members who actively support such moves, the report highlighted. Katz also stated that "Israel" aims to retain control of the so-called "Morag Corridor", north of Rafah, as part of a potential prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. During a possible 60-day ceasefire, he said "Israel" would work on establishing the new "humanitarian" zone south of the corridor, claiming that the Israeli occupation military currently controls nearly 70% of the territory in the Gaza Strip. Read more: Details of Qatari negotiations framework for Gaza ceasefire revealed
The National
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Syria announces ceasefire in Druze heartland of Sweida
Despite Syrian authorities announcing a ceasefire in the Druze minority's heartland of Sweida after three days of urban warfare, dozens were killed in fighting on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Israel has renewed air strikes on the region after deadly clashes between Druze groups and pro-government forces, who have besieged Sweida, the provincial capital. Sources in Jordan said Israeli drones were flying over Sweida amid strikes against army and police convoys to the west. Israel said the Syrian government has breached demilitarisation arrangements in the south of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have ordered their troops 'to immediately strike regime forces and weapons introduced into the Sweida area in the Druze Mountain in Syria for regime activity against the Druze'. A senior source in Jordan said at least 50 Druze fighters and civilians were killed on Tuesday in Sweida city, with defenders of the provincial capital putting up tough resistance against thousands of pro-government troops. The source said thousands of civilians have fled to the Jordanian border, without entering the kingdom. Thousands of troops and auxiliaries entered Sweida city from the west and north after the Druze spiritual leadership, led by Hikmat Al Hijri, announced that the province 'should be spared' further bloodshed, and that security forces should be let into the provincial capital to restore security and stability. Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said the government had agreed on a ceasefire with "notables" from the city and that the security forces would only respond if they come under fire. Mr Qasra said only interior ministry forces would remain in Sweida after the army finishes 'combing' the city. But Suwayda 24, a network of citizen journalists, said clashes were continuing in the area. Looting has occurred in neighbourhoods taken by government forces and many residents have fled, it said. Sources in Jordan confirmed thousands had left Sweida and are now in areas on the border with the kingdom. Despite Mr Al Hijri instructing Sweida residents to allow government forces into the city, he later appeared in a video saying the provincial capital continued to come under random shelling and that its people should 'make a stand for dignity'. Mr Abu Qasra was previously a commander for Hayat Tahrir Al Sham when it was an Al Qaeda splinter group in north-western Syria. HTS took power after leading the assault that overthrew Bashar Al Assad in December. Mr Al Hijri has labelled the HTS government 'extremists' who are not interested in building a civil and pluralistic state following Mr Al Assad's downfall. A Druze political figure close to Mr Al Hijri said Syria's authorities had received a 'green light' from Thomas Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, to enter Sweida. Elsewhere, Mr Barrack has been pushing for an extension of government control over parts of east Syria which are under Kurdish-led forces. In the absence of international protection, the Druze have no option except to lay down their arms, the source said. 'This is Barrack's doing. We are being attacked by than 100,000 regime forces,' he said. Sweida is home to most of Syria's registered 800,000 Druze. But many have emigrated, particularly during the country's 13-year civil war, with an estimated 270,000 Druze remaining in the city. The Druze, who follow an offshoot of Islam, are also present in Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. In a failed attempt to ward off the government's advance, Israel launched air strikes on southern Syria on Monday after dozens of people were killed in the fightingbetween allies of the Syrian government and Druze fighters. More strikes followed on Tuesday. About 38 Druze were killed in the clashes on the ground, which began on Sunday. The Defence Ministry said 18 of its troops were among the dead, while an estimated 30 government auxiliaries were also killed. Druze sources said pro-Syrian government militias on Sunday launched attacks on Sweida from Sunni areas to its west as the province came under siege by government forces. A war monitor put the total death toll at 89 on Monday. On Sunday, at least one Druze town was seized by militias from neighbouring Deraa, in the worst violence against the Druze community since clashes in April, sources said. Sweida and parts of eastern Syria, where the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces are in control, are the only areas where the government does not fully exert control. The latest clashes in Sweida started last week after Fadlalah Duwara, a vegetable seller and member of the Druze community, was abducted while driving his lorry on the main road from Sweida to Damascus, which is under government control. His tribe responded by abducting a man in a Sunni neighbourhood of Sweida. The area is inhabited by members of Bedouin tribes who moved to the city decades ago from a rugged region on the outskirts.
Al Arabiya
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel's proposed ‘humanitarian city' in Gaza likened to a concentration camp
An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called 'humanitarian city' in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment, but officials say a practical plan has yet to be crafted. Even without a clear blueprint, opposition critics have denounced the proposal, with some likening the suggested site to a 'concentration camp', which could lead to ethnic cleansing in the coastal enclave devastated by 21 months of conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration has defended the project, saying it would offer civilians a safe haven while further weakening Hamas militants' grip on Gaza, but it remains unclear whether it is a concrete government policy. The idea was floated by Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this month and Netanyahu convened minister and defense officials to discuss it late on Sunday. The military had been asked to put together a detailed proposition, but Netanyahu dismissed it as far too costly and complicated, two Israeli officials who were present said, and ordered them to come up with something cheaper and faster. An Israeli military source said it was a complex initiative that required intricate logistics for infrastructure such as sewage, sanitation, medical services, water and food supplies. Planning was in a very initial phase only, the source said, and the goal was to help Palestinians who do not want to live under Hamas rule. Hamas did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Some commentators have suggested the real aim of floating the plan was to increase pressure on Hamas during ongoing ceasefire talks, while also appeasing right-wingers in the cabinet who oppose any truce. Netanyahu's office and the Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The plan Katz outlined the plan on July 7 at a briefing with Israeli military correspondents. It followed a proposal by US President Donald Trump, which was publicly embraced by Netanyahu but widely criticized abroad, for Gazans to move to third countries while the battered enclave was rebuilt. Almost all of Gaza's population of more than 2 million people has already been uprooted during the conflict, which was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel. Katz said last week that around 600,000 people would be moved to the new encampment, to be built in southern Gaza abutting the Egyptian border where Israeli forces have gained control and which, like much of Gaza, now lies in ruins. The new zone, in Rafah, would be free of any Hamas presence and run by international forces, not Israeli ones, Katz was quoted by both Israel public broadcaster Kan and Army Radio's military correspondents as saying at the July 7 briefing. He was also quoted as saying that the people who chose to move there would not be free to leave. Katz's spokesman declined to comment. Zeev Elkin, an Israeli minister who sits on Netanyahu's security cabinet, told Kan the plan aimed to weaken Hamas' power in Gaza. 'The more you separate Hamas from the population, the more Hamas will lose. As long as Hamas controls the food, the water and the money, it can go on recruiting militants,' Elkin said. Asked about concerns the relocations there would be forced and whether the new zone was meant to serve as transit camps with the ultimate aim of expelling Palestinians from Gaza, the military official who spoke with Reuters said: 'that is not our policy.' When asked about the plan, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: 'As we've said multiple times, we firmly stand against any plan that involves forced displacements of civilians in Gaza or forces (them) to make impossible choices.' 'Mainly spin' Since Katz's briefing, Israeli media has been awash with leaks. Left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, on July 9 citing senior military officials, said the plan had met resistance from the military because of its legal and logistical challenges. On Sunday, Israel's N12 News said the military objected to the plan because it could scupper ceasefire talks in Doha, while the Ynet news site cited officials as saying it would cost 10 billion to 15 billion shekels ($3 billion to $4.5 billion). The report drew a rebuke from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said that some people in the defense establishment were trying to sabotage the plan by presenting inflated budgets. 'Preparing a protected area for the population,' Smotrich's office said, 'is a simple logistical operation that costs only hundreds of millions – an amount that the Ministry of Finance is willing to transfer.' After Sunday's discussions, hardline national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dismissed the controversy as a smokescreen to distract from concessions Israel may be willing to make in the ceasefire talks with Hamas. Ben-Gvir, like Smotrich, wants Israel to press on with the war, Palestinians to leave Gaza and Jewish settlements that were dismantled there two decades ago to be rebuilt. 'The debate surrounding the establishment of the humanitarian city is mainly spin aimed at concealing the deal that is brewing,' Ben-Gvir posted on X. He said there was no way it could be built during the proposed 60-day ceasefire. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday the plan was dangerous and would not materialize. 'Will the residents of this city be allowed to leave it? If not, how will they be prevented? Will it be surrounded by a fence? A regular fence? An electrical fence? How many soldiers will guard it? What will the soldiers do when children want to leave the city?' he said at Israel's parliament.
Khaleej Times
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Syria defence minister announces ceasefire in Sweida, a day after Israeli air strikes
The Syrian defence minister announced a ceasefire in Sweida after agreement with the local leaders. On Monday, Israeli air strikes targeted Sweida. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were "a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime; we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria. Israel will not stand idly by".
