A few hours after the recent phase of negotiations which were meant to prevent the Israeli-Hamas confrontation in Gaza, ten people were killed by an Israeli air attack in Lebanon on Saturday, according to officials there. The Israel’s army declared that the attack went for a Hezbollah weapons storage complex close to Nabatieh.
According to Lebanon’s governmental news agency, the strike targeted a factory, resulting in the deaths of ten Syrian citizen and five injuries. Since hostilities started ten months ago, this strike’s death toll is among the greatest in the Lebanon.
Hezbollah responded by claiming to have fired a barrage of rockets on Ayelet HaShahar in northern Israel. The Israeli military, however, reported that many fires had been started in the region by around fifty-five missiles thrown from Lebanon, although at this time, no injuries had been reported. The Israeli military also claimed to have assassinated a Hezbollah leader in southern Lebanon on Saturday; in the other incident, two Israeli soldiers were hurt in a rocket assault from Lebanon.
Israel and Hamas Ceasefire Negotiations
The gunfire broke out as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to arrive in Israel on Saturday in an effort to move a settlement forward that would end the ten-month conflict between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of the approximately 115 captives that the terrorist organization still holds.
US and Arab leaders saw the ceasefire negotiations as their best chance to stop the conflict between Israel and Hamas—which began with the latter group’s strike on Israel on October 7—from getting worse and turning into a regional firestorm. After key Hezbollah and Hamas members were assassinated in Beirut and Tehran last month, fears of a wider battle have grown. Iran and Hezbollah have promised to exact revenge on Israel.
Following two days of meetings in Doha, the US, Qatar, and Egypt presented a plan on Friday that sought to close the differences between Israel and Hamas, who have not agreed on the parameters of a cease-fire agreement despite multiple rounds of talks.
The US, Qatar, and Egypt, who have been mediating the discussions, said in an agreement that another meeting is scheduled to take place in Cairo by the end of next week, with the goal of finalizing the agreement under the conditions set forth earlier. They went on, reportedly that there is no further opportunity to waste and no justifications from any side for additional delay. “Now is the time to start the truce, free the captives and prisoners, and carry out this agreements.
