Lebanon
“It might be a first sign for peace that could maybe happen in the future,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week. But he warned that “there will be no peace with Lebanon as long as Hezbollah is in control of it.”
US-brokered Israel-Lebanon maritime border talks get underway
During the meeting, representatives held “productive talks and reaffirmed their commitment to continue negotiations later this month,” Washington and the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon said in a joint statement.
President Emmanuel Macron has been trying to push through a roadmap outlining political and financial reforms he believes Lebanon needs to adopt to prevent the country from sinking further into crisis and economic despair.
Jerusalem and the IDF hope that Hezbollah internalizes the risk that it would be taking by attempting another border attack, while bringing attention to its use of Lebanon’s embattled civilians as shields for a dangerous industry of guided missiles.
The Israeli-Lebanese announcement “offers the potential for greater stability, security and prosperity for citizens in both nations,” says U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Hassan Nasrallah says Israel’s prime minister lied to the United Nations when he exposed missile stockpiles the Iranian proxy has stashed in residential areas in Beirut.
“It’s time for the world to stand up against the use of human shields by Hezbollah,” says the Israeli military.
“Here is where the next explosion could take place. This is the Beirut neighborhood of Janah. It’s right next to the international airport. And here, Hezbollah is keeping a secret arms depot.”
The international community “must insist that Hezbollah stop using Lebanese civilians as human shields,” said the Israeli premier.
The blast was reportedly caused by a “technical error.”
verdict did not mention Hezbollah, according to the prosecutor’s office the two defendants, who were tried in absentia, “had links to the radical wing of the Shi’ite group.”
“You can’t allow Iran to have more money, power and arms, and at the same time try to disconnect Hezbollah from the disasters it provoked in Lebanon,” says the U.S. secretary of state.
