Lebanese PM Calls on Israel to Stop Attacking South After UN Vote
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said that countries should pressure Israel to stop attacking Lebanon following a UN Security Council decision calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza (Arab News)
Mikati told Reuters in February that a ceasefire in Gaza would trigger indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel to reach a halt to hostilities on the southern border and to delineate the disputed border between the two countries (Reuters)
Hezbollah has also said it would halt its fire into Israel if a Gaza ceasefire were reached; Israeli and U.S. officials, however, have said a ceasefire in Gaza would not automatically extend to Lebanon (Reuters).
Lebanon to Complain to UN, Saying Israel Disrupts Navigation Systems
Lebanon will file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council over Israel’s violation of its sovereignty by disrupting its navigation systems; in a statement, the foreign ministry said Israel was affecting the safety of civil aviation in the airspace of Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport (Reuters)
Hezbollah Official Makes Landmark Visit to UAE
A senior official from the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has made a landmark trip to the United Arab Emirates to facilitate the release of more than a dozen Lebanese nationals detained there (AP)
The visit at the invitation of the UAE could signal a significant shift away from the hostility that has long defined relations between Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah and the Sunni Muslim UAE, a strategic ally of the United States, analysts said (Reuters).
Beirut Says French Plan for Lebanon-Israel Truce Could Be “Step” to Stability
Lebanon considers a French proposal meant to end hostilities with Israel and settle a border dispute a “significant step” towards peace, according to a letter by Lebanon’s foreign ministry (I24 News)
The French plan was submitted to Lebanon last month and outlines three phases in which military operations would cease (Times of Israel). To succeed, any deal would need approval from Hezbollah, which holds significant sway over the Lebanese state; Hezbollah says it will not stop clashing with Israel until an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire is reached in Gaza (Reuters)
UN Investigation Finds Israeli Tank Killed “Clearly Identifiable” Reporter in Lebanon
An Israeli tank killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon last year by firing two 120mm rounds at a group of “clearly identifiable journalists” in violation of international law, a United Nations investigation into the October 13 incident has found (Jerusalem Post)
The investigation by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said its personnel did not record any exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon for more than forty minutes before the Israeli Merkava tank opened fire (Al Jazeera)
Israeli Air Strike Kills Hamas Member in Southern Lebanon
Israel said Hadi Ali Mustafa was a senior operative, while Hamas did not specify his role (NYT)
Israeli Airstrike Kills Two, Wounds Twenty in Northeastern Lebanon
According to the Israeli military, the attacks were a response to Hezbollah’s earlier rocket strikes in the northern region (AP)
Hezbollah Fires More Than One Hundred Rockets Into Israel
Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed the strikes were in response to Israeli shelling of northern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley region for two consecutive days; both the Israeli and Hezbollah attacks underscore the potential of ongoing skirmishes on the Israel-Lebanon border area spreading farther afield (Reuters)
Hezbollah Stages Drone Strike on Israeli Outpost in Golan Heights
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it carried out a drone attack against an Israeli air defense outpost across the border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (Al Arabiya)
It said the rare attack, in which it deployed four drones, hit their target with “accuracy” in what it said was another operation in support of Palestinian militant groups in Gaza (Reuters).
U.S. Envoy Presses for De-escalation on Israel, Lebanon Border
U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein floated a proposal for de-escalation on the border in a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv (Times of Israel)
Hochstein had done the same in Beirut on Monday; the United States and partner countries have called for a lasting security pact on the Israel-Lebanon border as skirmishes between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continue (Times of Israel, AFP)
If tensions with Hezbollah are not managed, conflict could escalate on the Israel-Lebanon border despite a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, Hochstein said; Hochstein and Gallant spoke yesterday about the prospect of reaching an agreement that would see Hezbollah withdraw from the border area, according to an Israeli readout of their meeting (Reuters)
Gallant said that Israel was “committed to the diplomatic process,” but continued attacks from Hezbollah were “dragging the parties to a dangerous escalation” (Telegraph)
U.S. Envoy Warns of Conflict Escalation Between Israel, Lebanon
Amos Hochstein said that a temporary ceasefire in Gaza would not automatically end hostilities across Lebanon’s southern border, where skirmishes have increased in recent weeks (Reuters)
Hezbollah Targets Golan Heights
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched a barrage of rockets at the Golan Heights region in response to Israeli strikes on the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon; the Israel Defense Forces said another strike in southern Lebanon killed a senior Hezbollah leader (Times of Israel, Reuters)
Israeli Air Strikes Hit Southern Lebanon
According to the Lebanese security sources, the strikes that injured fourteen people hit warehouses and factories, but the specific target was unclear; however, Israel’s military spokesperson said the strikes were aimed at a weapons depot near the port city of Sidon in response to Hezbollah’s previous drone attack (Reuters)
Israel-Lebanon Tensions Escalate in Deadly Strike Exchange
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out several strikes in retaliation for Hezbollah’s rocket fire that resulted in two casualties in northern Israel yesterday, killing four people, including three militants (NYT)
The escalation comes after months of lower-scale violence across the border and Western diplomatic efforts to contain regional tensions (WaPo)
Hezbollah Fires Missiles into Israel, Injures Two
The Lebanese militia said the two separate strikes targeted Israeli soldiers and a police building in Kiryat Shmona; the attacks happened amid de-escalation talks mediated by Western countries, including France and the United States (NYT)
Lebanon Denies Reports of Withdrawal Extension, Orders Israeli Forces to Withdraw From Country by February 18
The announcement by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun came after reports of an extension to the February 18 deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw, a deadline which had already been extended from January 26 (Times of Israel)
Israel reportedly requested to extend its presence in southern Lebanon until February 28 (France24)
Air Strikes Hit Syrian City of Homs, Reportedly Killing at Least Eight
A United Kingdom-based war monitor said that two people from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at least six civilians were killed in the strikes; the Syrian military blamed Israel for the strikes, but Israel did not immediately comment (AP)
United States Targets Iranian and Hezbollah Financial Network Through Sanctions
Sanctions imposed on three entities and one individual based in Turkey and Lebanon aim to cut critical support to the financial network used by Iran’s Quds Force and Lebanon’s Hezbollah for terrorist activities (Reuters)
Israeli Strike Kills Hezbollah Fighter, One Civilian
The attacks continued a week of cross-border strikes across the region that reflected the multiple actors mobilized following the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas; on Saturday, an Israeli strike in the port city of Tyre killed a Hezbollah commander and two civilians (AP)
Strike Kills Hezbollah Commander in Lebanon
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said today that commander Wissam Hassan al-Tawil was killed in an air strike in southern Lebanon (NYT)
Unnamed Lebanese officials told Reuters that Israel was responsible; Israel did not immediately comment on the strike, which came after Hezbollah attacks damaged an Israeli military base on Saturday (Reuters)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned yesterday that the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas “could easily metastasize” to the wider region; Blinken and senior European officials are currently in the region, and Italy said that Group of Seven (G7) countries are working with Israel “to find a rapid way out of the military phase” of the war, which has now passed three months of conflict (Reuters)
Blast in Beirut Suburb Kills Senior Hamas Leader
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack(WaPo)
While Israel did not publicly claim responsibility for the blast near Beirut, a U.S. defense official told reporters that Israel was responsible and French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israel to refrain from escalation in Lebanon (Le Monde)
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading strikes across the Israel-Lebanon border since October 7, and Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah warned Israel in August that a strike inside Lebanon’s border would invoke a strong reaction (WaPo)
Senior Israeli Official Warns of Stronger Military Action Against Hezbollah in Lebanon
Benny Gantz, one of three members of Israel’s war cabinet, said at a press conference that “the stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out” at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where the Israeli military has clashed with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel (FT)
Violence Escalates in Confrontation Between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah
Israel increased the intensity and scope of airstrikes in response to continued Hezbollah drone and missile attacks on Israeli positions, and some people reported seeing warplanes flying over Beirut (Reuters)
Israeli National Security Advisor Indicates Possible War Against Hezbollah
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said that Israel was eliminating Hamas “seventeen years too late” and could not tolerate the possibility of a similar attack from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in the future; he added that residents will not return to border communities until the threat is eliminated (Times of Israel)
Israeli Defense Minister: Hezbollah Has Launched Over 1,000 Aerial Attacks Since October 8
The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah continue to exchange artillery fire and drone strikes almost daily; the strikes often result in few or no casualties but have displaced thousands and disrupted the local economy (Times of Israel)